JESUS(P.B.U.H.) PREDICTED MUHAMMAD(P.B.U.H.)

JESUS(P.B.U.H.) PREDICTED MUHAMMAD(P.B.U.H.)

The three most popular religions in the world are Judaism,Christianity and Islam. All three can be traced to father Abraham. Jews consider the Old Testament as their holy scripture and Moses as their prophet but do not acknowledge Jesus or Muhammad. Christians believe in the Old Testament and also the New Testament and call this collection The Holy Bible. They believe in Moses and Jesus but don’t believe in Muhammad. Muslims believe in all three and donot discriminate between them and believe in the Holy Quran as the final word of God. It is only in Islam that the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims can find accommodation. But most of our Christian and Jewish friends say that the Bible does not say anything about Muhammad and that Jesus never mentioned the coming of another prophet after him. However, a close examination of this subject will prove otherwise. Being a Muslim and at the sametime expounding prophecies from the Jewish and Christian scriptures may seem a bit strange. Even though all the information is given in the Holy Quran, Christians and Jews do not accept it as the word of God.

Old Testament:

God addresses Moses (Deuteronomy18:18):”I will raise them up Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee[Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that shall command him.” 1.Brethren of Israelites (descendants of Abraham through Isaac) are Ishmaelites (descendants of Abraham through Ishmael.) Therefore, Jesus is here excluded as he is an Israelite; otherwise it should be written “a prophet from among ourselves.” 2.”like unto thee”. Is Muhammad not like unto Moses? If not accepted, this promise has yet to be fulfilled. 3.”put my word s in his mouth. “So God’s revelation came through Gabriel, and Prophet Muhammad’s own thinking was not involved. In the next verse (Deuteronomy18:19), God says” And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” In the Roman Catholic version of the Bible it says,”I will seek vengeance of him”. No other verse in the Bible is followed by such a threat!

NewTestament: The Jews were waiting for the fulfillment of three distinct prophecies: One, the coming of Christ, two, the coming of Elias, and three, the coming of that prophet. Therefore, they sent priests and Levites to John the Baptist to inquire who he really was. (John1:20-21): And he [John the Baptist] confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him,What then? Art thou Eli’as? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. The crucial question here is: Art thou that prophet? Who was then the long awaited prophet after the advent of Jesus and John the Baptist? Was he not the one like unto Moses (eutronomy 18:18) who is Muhammad [pbuh]? To the followers of Christ I say, why not apply that acid test which the Master himself wanted you to apply to any would be claimant to prophethood? He had said:” By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes from the thorns, or fig from the thistles? every good tree will bear good fruit and every evil tree will bear evil fruit…by their fruits ye shall know them.(Matthew 7:16,20) 3. hereby know ye the spirit of God: every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in flesh is of God. (1John 4:2). Here, again the “Spirit of God” means prophet of God and “every Spirit” would stand for every prophet. At present one billion Muslims throughout the world accept the Immaculate Conception of Jesus, his miracles and him being the Christ on the authority of Muhammad alone without demanding any proof. I have yet many things to say unto you,but ye cannot bear them now ,howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you in all truth: for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak: and he will show you things tocome.”(John 16:13). Seven masculine pronouns in a single verse! There is not another verse in the 66 books of the Protestant Bible or in the 73 Books of the Catholic Bible with seven masculine pronouns, or even seven feminine pronouns, or even neuter genders. But still Christians argue that this “he” is the Holy Ghost. This unique verse is not for a ghost but for a unique person; “Muhammad”! 5. He(the spirit of truth) shall glorify me(Jesus):for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.(John 16:13) The rank hatred of the Jews which lead them to slander Jesus and his mother is bad, and the over infatuation of the Christians for Christ is also bad. Muhammad the messenger of God condemned both these extremes, and elevated Jesus to his true status, as the Messiah, a great prophet and reformer. Love him, respect him, revere him, follow him; but do not worship him!, because he never said, “I am God” or “worship me”. Worship is due to God alone. This is true glorification. Historically, morally and prophetically, Muhammad the last and final messenger of God,”The Spirit of Truth” is the only one to guide mankind into all truth. Without any real efforts on the part of the Muslims, we are told by the Westerners themselves that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. The world population has increased 136% from 1934 through 1984, Christianity with 47% and Islam with 235%. See The Plain Truth February 1984, in its 50 Year Anniversary issue, quoting from The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1935 and Reader’s Digest Almanac and Yearbook 1983. May God Almighty give us the courage and wisdom to see the truth and guide us to the right path. Amen.

44 responses to “JESUS(P.B.U.H.) PREDICTED MUHAMMAD(P.B.U.H.)”

a SLAVE of Christ

January 21, 2007 at 1:58 am

you don’t know the Scriptures. Old Testament never refers to Muhammed, it refers to Jesus over 120 Times in Fulfilled Prophecy.

John 14:7-10 [7] If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” [8] Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” [9] Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? [10] Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

John 17:11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name–the name you gave me–so that they may be one as we are one.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.”

see, you quote the New Testament but don’t understand it.

God created a Covenant with Noah and Abraham. why? because in his infinite Wisdom he knew what he was doing. Noah was the ever lasting Covenant fulfilled in Christ, while Abraham was the physical connection with God.

Isaiah 9:6-7 [6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [7] Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. …

Reply
1. Pip
  
  December 25, 2012 at 12:41 am
  
  THE COSMIC JOKE
  
  YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW ARABIC TO REALIZE THAT THE QURAN IS A “COSMIC” JOKE
  
  SO THIS IS ALLAH’S PERFECT BOOK?
  
  “The Qur’an escapes from the hearts of men faster than a runaway camel.”
  
  Islam provides only one prime source of information on Muhammad and the formation of Islam written within two centuries of the time he lived and it was conceived. Ishaq’s Sira, or Biography, stands alone—a singular and tenuous thread connecting us to a very troubled man and time. Over the next two hundred years, other Hadith Collections were compiled by the likes of Tabari, Bukhari, and Muslim.
  
  Their assemblages of oral reports, or Traditions, were said to have been inspired by Allah. They purport to convey Muhammad’s words and example. They also explain the Qur’an—a book so deficient in context and chronology, it can only be understood when seen through the eyes of the Sunnah writers. Their message is all that Muslims have. Together, the Sunnah and Qur’an are Islam.
  
  But you don’t have to dig very deep to find the truth. Even a cursory reading of the Qur’an is sufficient to prove that it is a fraud. There is no way the creator of the universe wrote a book devoid of context, without chronology or intelligent transitions. Such a creative spirit wouldn’t need to plagiarize. He would know history and science and thus wouldn’t have made such a fool of himself. The God who created man wouldn’t deceive him or lead him to hell as Allah does.
  
  Nor would he order men to terrorize, mutilate, rob, enslave, and slaughter the followers of other Scriptures he claims he revealed, wiping them out to the last. One doesn’t need a scholastic review of the Qur’anic text to disprove its veracity. It destroys itself quite nicely.
  
  Tradition tells us that Muhammad had not foreseen his death, and so he had made no preparations for gathering his revelations.
  
  He left it up to his followers to sift through the conflicting versions. Islam’s lone “prophet” left his Qur’an as vapor, sound waves that had long since faded.
  
  Bragging one day, Muhammad called his surahs a miracle:
  
  Bukhari:V6B61N504 “Muhammad said, ‘Every Prophet was given miracles because of which people believed. But what I have been given is Divine Inspiration which Allah has revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will outnumber the followers of the other Prophets.’”
  
  If the Qur’an was his only “miracle,” why would he leave it in such horrid condition? I believe the answer is clear. Muhammad knew his recitals had been nothing more than a figment of his less-than-admirable imagination, situational scriptures designed to satiate his cravings. Preserving these recitals would only serve to incriminate him, as this Hadith suggests.
  
  Muslim: C24B20N4609 “The Messenger said: ‘Do not take the Qur’an on a journey with you, for I am afraid lest it would fall into the hands of the enemy.’ Ayyub, one of the narrators in the chain of transmitters, said: ‘The enemy may seize it and may quarrel with you over it.’”
  A number of Bukhari Hadith suggest that Muhammad’s companions tried to remember what they could of what he had said, but there was a problem. Like today, those who knew the Qur’an were militants. So Abu Bakr feared that large portions would be forgotten. The best Muslims were dying on the battlefield subduing fellow Arabs. In one battle alone, most of the Qur’an’s most knowledgeable reciters were lost, and many Qur’anic passages along with them.
  
  Bukhari:V6B60N201 “Zaid bin Thabit, the Ansari said, ‘Abu Bakr sent for me after the (heavy) casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a great number of Muhammad’s Companions were killed). Umar was present with Bakr. “The people have suffered heavy casualties at Yamama, and I am afraid that there will be more casualties among those who can recite the Qur’an on other battlefields. A large part of the Qur’an may be lost unless you collect it.” I replied to Umar, “How can I do something which Allah’s Apostle has not done?” Umar kept on pressing, trying to persuade me to accept his proposal.’ Zaid bin Thabit added, ‘Umar was sitting with Abu Bakr and was speaking (to) me. “You are a wise young man and we do not suspect you of telling lies or of forgetfulness. You used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah’s Apostle. Therefore, look for the Qur’an and collect it (in one manuscript).” By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift one of the mountains (from its place) it would have been easier for me than the collection of the Qur’an. I said to both of them, “How dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not done?”
  Zaid declared that collecting the Qur’an’s surahs would be an impossible task. He said that it would be easier to move mountains than to turn Muhammad’s string of oral recitals into a book. The reason for this rather troubling statement is obvious: Zaid’s search for Qur’anic passages forced him to rely upon carvings on the leg or thigh bones of dead animals, as well as palm leaves, skins, mats, stones, and bark. But for the most part, he found nothing better than the fleeting memories of the prophet’s Companions, many of whom were dead or dying. In other words, the Qur’an, like the Hadith, is all hearsay.
  There were no Muslims who had memorized the entire Qur’an, otherwise the collection would have been a simple task. Had there been individuals who knew the Qur’an, Zaid would only have had to write down what they dictated. Instead, Zaid was overwhelmed by the assignment, and was forced to “search” for the passages from men who believed that they had memorized certain segments and then compare what he heard to the recollection of others. Therefore, even the official Islamic view of things, the one recorded in their scripture, is hardly reassuring.
  Worse still, the Muslim chosen for this impossible task was the one in the best position to plagiarize the Torah and Talmud. Moreover, it’s obvious he did. Remember:
  
  Tabari VII:167 “In this year, the Prophet commanded Zayd bin Thabit to study the Book of the Jews, saying, ‘I fear that they may change my Book.’”
  the worse it gets.
  
  Bukhari:V6B61N511 “Zaid bin Thabit said, ‘I started searching for the Qur’an till I found the last two Verses of Surat At-Tauba with Abi but I could not find them with anyone other than him. They were: ‘Verily there has come to you an Apostle from amongst yourselves.’” [9:128]
  
  This is incriminating. The 9th surah was the second to last revealed. If only one person could remember it, there is no chance those revealed twenty-five years earlier were retained. Furthermore, this Tradition contradicts the most highly touted Islamic mantra: Most Muslims contend Uthman, not Bakr, ordered the collection of the Qur’an a decade later. And who knows what version they finally committed to paper, if in fact they ever did?
  
  Bukhari:V6B61N513: “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Gabriel [whom Muhammad said had 600 wings] recited the Qur’an to me in one way. Then I requested him and continued asking him to recite it in other ways, and he recited it in several ways till he ultimately recited it in seven different ways.’”
  
  So there were at least seven Qur’ans.
  THE QU’RAN CHALLENGE!
  • In Bukhari’s Hadith we find a sea of disturbing and contradictory claims regarding the compilation of Allah’s book. There were differing versions, even in Muhammad’s day:
  
  Then Abdallah came to him, and he learned what was altered and abrogated.” This is reasonably clear. The Hadith says that portions of the Qur’an were conflicting, changed, and cancelled.
  
  WHY QURAN WAS WRITTEN DOWN
  • Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif—Many (of the passages) of the Qur’an that were sent down were known by those who died on the day of Yamama . . . but they were not known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman (by that time) collected the Qur’an, nor were they found with even one (person) after them.
  
  THE REMAINDER QURAN
  Abu Bakr decided that it was time to gather what remained of the Qur’an in order to prevent more from being lost, and he appointed Zaid ibn Thabit to this task. After Zaid completed his codex around 634 AD, it remained in Abu Bakr’s possession until his death, when it was passed on to Caliph Umar. When Umar died, it was given to Hafsa, a widow of Muhammad. (For a fuller account see Sahih al-Bukhari 4986.)
  
  THE “PERFECT” QURAN IS MISSING
  When Ibn Umar—son of the second Muslim caliph—heard people declaring that they knew the entire Qur’an, he said to them: “Let none of you say, ‘I have learned the whole of the Koran,’ for how does he know what the whole of it is, when much of it has disappeared? Let him rather say, ‘I have learned what is extant thereof’” (Abu Ubaid, Kitab Fada’il-al-Qur’an).
  
  UTHMAN’S QURAN
  During Caliph Uthman’s reign, approximately 19 years after the death of Muhammad, disputes arose concerning the correct recitation of the Qur’an. Uthman ordered that Hafsa’s copy of the Qur’an, along with all known textual materials, should be gathered together so that an official version might be compiled. Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, Sa’id bin Al-As, and Abdur-Rahman bin Harith worked diligently to construct a revised text of the Qur’an.
  
  Bukhari:V4B56N709 “Uthman called Zaid, Abdallah, Said, and Abd-Rahman. They wrote the manuscripts of the Qur’an in the form of a book in several copies. Uthman said to the three Quraishi persons, ‘If you differ with Zaid bin Thabit on any point of the Qur’an, then write it in the language of the Quraysh, as the Qur’an was revealed in their language.’ So they acted accordingly.”
  
  Because there was such confusion, Uthman ordered competing versions to be burned. But by destroying the evidence, he destroyed the Qur’an’s credibility. Now all Muslims have is wishful thinking.
  WHO BURNT THE FIRST QURANS?
  When it was finished, “Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur’anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt” (Sahih al-Bukhari 4987). The Qur’an we have today is descended from the Uthmanic codex.
  
  ZAID’S QURAN REJECTED
  Muhammad once told his followers to “Learn the recitation of the Qur’an from four: from Abdullah bin Masud—he started with him—Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, Mu’adh bin Jabal and Ubai bin Ka’b” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3808). Interestingly, Ibn Masud (first on Muhammad’s list) held that the Qur’an should only have 111 chapters (today’s version has 114 chapters), and that chapters 1, 113, and 114 shouldn’t have been included in the Qur’an.
  
  FLAWED QURAN
  Due to these disputes among Muhammad’s hand-picked reciters, Muslims are faced with a dilemma. If Muslims say that the Qur’an we have today has been perfectly preserved, they must say that Muhammad was horrible at choosing scholars, since he selected men who disagreed with today’s text. If, on the other hand, Muslims say that their prophet would know whom to pick regarding Islam’s holiest book, they must conclude that the Qur’an we have today is flawed!
  
  2 CHAPTERS MISSING FROM THE “PERFECT” QURAN
  One of Muhammad’s companions, Abu Musa, supported this claim when he said that the early Muslims forgot two surahs (chapters) due to laziness:
  Sahih Muslim 2286
  
  THE PART THE GOAT EAT
  
  Aisha also tells us that individual verses of the Qur’an disappeared, sometimes in very interesting ways:
  Sunan ibn Majah 1944—It was narrated that Aishah said: “The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep/goat came in and ate it.”
  The verses on stoning and breastfeeding an adult not in the Qur’an today.
  
  MISSING PASSAGES
  We know further that large sections of certain chapters came up missing. For instance, Muhammad’s wife Aisha said that roughly two-thirds of Surah 33 was lost:
  Abu Ubaid, Kitab Fada’il-al-Qur’an—A’isha . . . said, “Surat al-Ahzab (xxxiii) used to be recited in the time of the Prophet with two hundred verses, but when Uthman wrote out the codices he was unable to procure more of it than there is in it today [i.e. 73 verses].”
  
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 5005—Umar said, “Ubayy was the best of us in the recitation (of the Qur’an), yet we leave some of what he recites.” Ubayy says, “I have taken it from the mouth of Allah’s Messenger and will not leave it for anything whatever.”
  •
  • But Ibn Masud wasn’t the only one of Muhammad’s trusted teachers who disagreed with Zaid’s Qur’an. Ubayy ibn Ka’b was Muhammad’s best reciter and one of the only Muslims to collect the materials of the Qur’an during Muhammad’s lifetime. Yet Ibn Ka’b believed that Zaid’s Qur’an was missing two chapters! Later Muslims were therefore forced to reject some of Ibn Ka’b’s recitation:
  •
  • Ibn Masud advised Muslims to reject Zaid’s Qur’an and to keep their own versions—even to hide them so that they wouldn’t be confiscated by the government! He said:
  Jami at-Tirmidhi 3104—“O you Muslim people! Avoid copying the Mushaf and recitation of this man. By Allah! When I accepted Islam he was but in the loins of a disbelieving man”—meaning Zaid bin Thabit—and it was regarding this that Abdullah bin Mas’ud said: “O people of Al-Iraq! Keep the Musahif that are with you, and conceal them.”
  
  • Because of this (along with hundreds of other textual differences), Ibn Masud went so far as to call the final edition of the Qur’an a deception! He said, “The people have been guilty of deceit in the reading of the Qur’an. I like it better to read according to the recitation of him [i.e. Muhammad] whom I love more than that of Zayd Ibn Thabit” (Ibn Sa’d, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p. 444).
  
  THE BOOK FROM HELL:
  DEMONS LOVE LISTENING TO THE QURAN
  
  And Allaah revealed other aayahs in a separate soorah, where He says:
  “Say (O Muhammad): “It has been revealed to me that a group (from three to ten in number) of jinn listened (to this Qur’aan). They said: ‘Verily, we have heard a wonderful Recitation (this Qur’aan)!” [al-Jinn 72:1]
  
  MUHAMMAD HAD A DEVIL COMPANION WHO BECAME A MUSLIM
  
  Even the Prophet had a shaytaan with him, his constant companion (qareen) from among the jinn, in the hadeeth which says that the Prophet said:
  “There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion (qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the angels.” They said, “You too, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “Me too, but Allaah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has become Muslim.”
  
  The Koran is a book of myths, fables and fairy tales.
  Do your research! The Qur’an is a revised counterfeit of 6th century polytheism, composed of previously existing pagan beliefs, practices and fairy tales.
  
  For example: The Koran says men were turned into apes because they broke the Sabbath. This was a popular legend in Muhammad’s day (Suras 2:65; 7:163-166).
  
  The Quran repeats fanciful Arabian fables as if they were true.
  “Arabic legends about the fabulous jinns fill its pages” (G.G. Pfander, Balance of Truth, pp. 283).
  
  “The story of the she-camel who leapt out of a rock and became a prophet was known long before Muhammad” (Suras 7:73-77,85; 91:14; 54:29).
  The story of an entire village of people who were turned into apes because they broke the sabbath by fishing was a popular legend in Muhammad’s day (Suras 2:65; 7:163-166).
  The gushing 12 springs story found in Sura 2:60 comes from pre-Islamic legends.
  
  In what is called the “Rip Van Winkle” story, seven men and their animals slept for 309 years in a cave and then woke up perfectly fine (Sura 18:9-26)! This legend is found in Greek and Christian fables as well as Arabian lore.
  
  The fable of the pieces of four dead, cut-up birds getting up and flying was well known in Muhammad’s time (Sura 2:260).
  
  It is also clear that Muhammad used such pre-Islamic literature as the Saba Moallaqat of Imra’ul Cays in his composition of Suras 21:96; 29:31,46; 37:59; 54:1, and 93:1.
  
  Many of the stories in the Quran come from the Jewish Talmud, the Midrash, and many apocryphal works.
  
  This was pointed out by Abraham Geiger in 1833, and further documented by another Jewish scholar, Dr. Abraham Katsh, of New York University, in 1954 (The Concise Dictionary of Islam, p. 229; Jomier, The Bible and the Quran — Henry Regency Co., Chicago, 1959, 59ff; Sell, Studies, pp. 163ff.; Guillaume, Islam, p. 13).
  
  The source of Sura 3:35-37 is the fanciful book called The Protevangelion’s James the Lesser.
  The source of Sura 87:19 is the Testament of Abraham.
  The source of Sura 27:17-44 is the Second Targum of Esther.
  
  The fantastic tale that God made a man “die for a hundred years” with no ill effects on his food, drink, or donkey was a Jewish fable (Sura 2:259ff.).
  
  The idea that Moses was resurrected and other material came from the Jewish Talmud (Sura 2:55, 56, 67).
  
  The story in Sura 5:30,31 can also be found in pre-Islamic works from Pirke Rabbi Eleazer, the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziah and the Targum of Jerusalem.
  
  The tale of Abraham being delivered from Nimrod’s fire came from the Midrash Rabbah (see Suras 21:51-71; 29:16, 17; 37:97,98). It must be also pointed out that Nimrod and Abraham did not live at the same time.
  
  Muhammad was always mixing people together in the Quran who did not live at the same time.
  
  The non-biblical details of the visit of the Queen of Sheba (Saba) in Sura 27:20-44 came from the Second Targum of the Book of Esther.
  
  The source of Sura 2:102 is no doubt the Midrash Yalkut (chapter 44).
  
  The story found in Sura 7:171 of God lifting up Mount Sinai and holding it over the heads of the Jews as a threat to squash them if they rejected the law came from the Jewish book Abodah Sarah.
  
  The making of the golden calf in the wilderness, in which the image jumped out of the fire fully formed and actually mooed (Suras 7:148; 20:88), came from Pirke Rabbi Eleazer.
  
  The seven heavens and hells described in the Quran came from the Zohar and the Hagigah.
  
  Muhammad utilized the Testament of Abraham to teach that a scale or balance will be used on the day of judgment to weigh good and bad deeds in order to determine whether one goes to heaven or hell (Suras 42:17; 101:6-9).
  
  *The thing is you won’t debate, you won’t listen because you are what you are, a danger to society!
  
  Reply
  1. evidencesinbibleaboutmohammed
    
    July 8, 2017 at 9:10 am
    
    Dear brother you ve collected alot of information but all of it isn t true, first of all I should tell you that the hadis in sahih bukhari and sahih muslim are the only one known as authentic, means they can be trusted, secondly if you want to discuss Islam, you can discuss it with me, but don t offend it, I ll provide you with evidences, although I haven t read the whole bible but still I know almost everything about Christianity, we can talk on fb, if you want to as it will be easier, anyway for now I ll only tell you two things, Jesus said in gospel of John chapter no 16 verse 12 to 14 ends that he shall glorify me, that s what Mohammed did, if he doesn t tell us that Jesus was the biggest prophet and Messiah, how would be believe, he tell us that Jesus didn t died in fact according to God s wish, God bring him to skies, if he didn t tell this to us, like Jews we would also believed that a man claims prophethood and was killed, he told us about his miracles, if we didn t believe him we aren t muslims, we believe that he ll save us from jews before the end time and will kill the anti christ, so tell me didn t he glorify Jesus, secondly you said Quran isn t perfect, read it and tell me a single scientific error in it, if only one came, i ll convert to a Christian, it isn t possible for a ordinary guy to claim things 1400 years ago that now are fulfilled, I read Bible and I knew that their are 38 science errors in it, if you further want to discuss religion, send me either your gmail or fb, gmail would be preferred because I m online everytime and will be able to talk whenever you want to
2. Son vs Father
  
  May 17, 2014 at 6:47 pm
  
  In referring to Isaiah 9:6-7, please answer my question here – Is “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” the “Everlasting Father” when the Son is NOT the Father in the doctrine of Trinity?
  
  Reply
3. sayyaas khan
  
  July 5, 2014 at 7:36 am
  
  remember that Islam
  is fastest religion in the world.
  
  Reply
Gary

February 26, 2007 at 3:16 pm

Jesus said “I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one comes to the father except through me.”

Jesus is LORD, there is no other.

Reply
1. Christian Burgess
  
  January 17, 2013 at 3:19 pm
  
  I am the truth, the way and the “light” as i see it … to guide us through these dark times 😉
  
  Reply
2. Son vs Father
  
  May 17, 2014 at 6:56 pm
  
  Did the Jews plot to have Jesus crucified to save themselves from sin or to get rid of him for good?
  
  Did the disciples plot to have Jesus crucified to save themselves from sin?
  
  Do Christians want to have Jesus crucified to save themselves from sin?
  
  Reply
3. Son vs Father
  
  May 31, 2014 at 8:15 pm
  
  You cited about the Quran onTHE PART THE GOAT EAT in Sunan ibn Majah 1944 is unavailable or NOT there to be found, since it is among the fabricated or false hadiths attributed to Aisha.
  
  Reply
4. evidencesinbibleaboutmohammed
  
  July 8, 2017 at 9:17 am
  
  Yes he said this, but he said to believe him, that means to believe in Bible and believe in his every talk, isn t it right, you ve to believe everything he said, in Gospel of of John chapter no 16 verse no 12 to 14 he said I ve many things to say to you but I can t say them now, he shall the spirit of truth come and he ll guide you the truth, he ll not speak on his own but speak what he ll hears , he shall glorify me, till now only Muhammad has glorify Jesus if he doesn t tell us that Jesus was the biggest prophet and Messiah, how would be believe, he tell us that Jesus didn t died in fact according to God s wish, God bring him to skies, if he didn t tell this to us, like Jews we would also believed that a man claims prophethood and was killed, he told us about his miracles, if we didn t believe him we aren t muslims, we believe that he ll save us from jews before the end time and will kill the anti christ, so tell me didn t he glorify Jesus, secondly it is impossible for an ordinary guy to state scientific things that are now discovered by science, he said all these things 1400 years ago, and In whole Quran their isn t even a single scientific error, I read bible and i know that their are 38 scientific errors in it,
  
  Reply
Abdallah

February 26, 2007 at 6:31 pm

Great article. What a good read. I found an article that quenched my thirst. JazakALLAH Khair

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René

March 23, 2007 at 9:38 pm

Because of limited time, I cannot get into all the erreneous statements made in this article, here are just some reflections: Quote from this article: “…Muhammad the messenger of God condemned both these extremes, and elevated Jesus to his true status, as the Messiah, a great prophet and reformer.”
Well, quite to the opposite, Muhammad did not elevate Jesus, he downgraded Him out of the same ignorance as many “Christians” downgrade Jesus to a 2nd person of an alleged trinity (this teaching is not in the Bible)
The Jews understood this and accused Jesus: Joh 10:32-33 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

Another Scripture: 1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Also my friends, please check out Matthew 28;18 and all other Scriptures in the Bible. From the first Book of the Bible to the last Book of the Bible, there is only ONE God. Who is this God? It is Jesus, He is God manifested in the flesh. Jesus is God or you could also say: Jesus is Allah and every true prophet of God (Allah) will proclaim this truth.

Please study the Bible prayerfully and obey the plan of salvation, as the apostles preached in Act 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
If you ever receive the gift of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, your spiritual eyes will be opened.

”I have yet many things to say unto you,but ye cannot bear them now ,howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you in all truth: for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak: and he will show you things tocome.”(John 16:13) This scripture was badly misquoted by the writer of this article, Jesus refers here indeed to the spirit of God, which was poured out at the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Millions of people have received the Spirit of God in our days with the evidence of speaking in tongues as the spirit of God gives utterance. If you receive the Holy Ghost, you will speak not Arabic or English, but in an unknown language you never learned. It is the greatest gift from God to you. It is prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36,27 and in the Book of Joel etc.

When we seek for truth, we will find it. Jesus said: Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Even more, God is seeking us, because He loves you and me. Religion will not bring us to heaven, but when we follow Jesus, we will come to the Father. What we have to understand is, that Jesus had to natures, when He walked here on this earth. He was fully man and fully God. He was the Son of God, or God manifested in the flesh.

May God lead and guide you in all the truth. The Bible is the true Word of God and glorifies and exalts Jesus, and there is no other God beside Him. He is the Alpha and Omega. (Revelation 1,8, please read the whole chapter)
God bless you
A child of God, bought by the precious blood of Jesus

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René

March 23, 2007 at 9:48 pm

Sorry, caught a typo and correct it herewith: What we have to understand is, that Jesus had two natures, when He walked here on this earth. He was fully man and fully God. He was the Son of God, or God manifested in the flesh.
(apologize, wrote to instead of two)
God bless you
René – a child of the living God and so glad about it

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velvethammer

March 29, 2007 at 11:19 pm

One problem with this article is that Jesus is real and not linked to islam in any way, shape or form.
Good gosh you spit on all other religions and then assume you can call Jesus you own. How pathetic. He is not a prophet of islam. Never has been and never will be.

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1. anonymous
  
  May 16, 2015 at 2:37 pm
  
  Jesus has always been a prophet of Allah. He has always been a part of Islam. Don’t call a religion pathetic if you don’t understand it :). Besides why hate on each other’s religion ? Jesus is very well respected in the Quran and also mentioned as one of Allah’s most important and beloved prophets 🙂
  
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velvethammer

March 29, 2007 at 11:57 pm

One more thing if the Bible would of been written after the quran, then you all would not of even known of Jesus. Why is blasphemy against Christianity and the Bible ok, but when the tables are turned it is altogether different.

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1. anonymous
  
  May 16, 2015 at 2:42 pm
  
  The Quran mentions Jesus (P.B.U.H) again and again. Even if the Bible came after the Quran we would still know of him. As for blasphemy, Islam doesn’t allow me to degrade or speak against any religion. Islam DOES order all Muslims to bring all non-mislims to the true path of Allah. But not to insult any other religion or god 🙂 hope one day you’ll at least try to think of Muslims as good human beings 🙂
  
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Slave of Allah

June 25, 2007 at 7:35 am

This is to Velvethammer,

One problem with your opinion is that you are extremely ignorant of Islam so don’t make radical statements like “Jesus is not a prophet of Islam…Never has been and never will be…” Jesus is a prophet of Islam whether you recognize this fact or not. The only thing I have to say to you is ,” Oh Disbelievers, let you be with your religion and I will be with mine…And Allah will be the judge of truth on the day of Judgement…” Why don’t you do some REAL research before you state your opinions….May Allah guide you to the truth.

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sueyman

December 25, 2007 at 8:54 pm

Jesus peace be upon him never told his people to worship him,he told them to worship God Almighty..so if you claim he is god then think that how can a god tell his people to worship another God.You people are all mixed up.he was a man and a prophet of God Almighty.Our faith (Muslim faith) is not complete unless we accept all the prophets including Jesus peace be upon him.we testify that:
1.I Beleive in the oneness of God Almighty.
2.Beleive on the Angels of Allah
3.On all the Books prior to the Holy Quran.
4.On all the Prophets including Jesus Peace be upon him.
5.On the day of Judgement.
6.and on fate what ever good or bad from The AlMighty Allah.
7.And the life after death.

so it is clear that who ever claims to be a Muslim he must aslo beleive in the prophet Hood of Jesus.

Jesus has not died as written in the Holy Quran but was raised up Alive and his crusification appeared so .it never happend .and He will Come back and Follow the Quran and the sunnah.

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Saliiee

August 22, 2008 at 3:41 pm

Jesus is the Truine God!
You fools.
You worship God ha.
Muhammed worshipped himself!
How godly is that?
Are you people that dumb?

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1. shiraz554
  
  August 5, 2012 at 9:45 am
  
  @saliiee YOU SAY THIS ALL BCZ U THINK THAT ISLAM IS LIKE XITANITY, AND ALSO THINK QURAN IS LIKE BIBLE..!!! you know all that what the Muslims worship, if you have dont knowledge about that so go out from here..!!! *the follower of paul*..!!! I TELL YOU I SAY, I DID NOT AGREE THAT JESUS IS GOD OR SON OF GOD THEN 100% so what God done with me ???
  
  I have a question to you tell me “What Is The true Basic Message Of Bible”????
  
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2. anonymous
  
  May 16, 2015 at 2:46 pm
  
  Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) never told anyone to worship him. On his orders till this day, no man is allowed to pray to any being except Allah. We can’t pray to Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) because he specifically said that only God is God. Only Allah is God. 🙂
  
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Saliiee

August 22, 2008 at 3:42 pm

he had an epileptic fit and was inspired by the devil.

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GudNewS

August 22, 2008 at 4:06 pm

The Arabs will be granted an honored place in the Kingdom of Christ. In response to Abraham’s prayer, “O that Ishmael might live before Thee”, God promised, “I will make of him a great nation”.

In a prophecy relating to the future Kingdom of Christ on earth, the Bible declares of certain Bedouin Arab tribes descended from Ishmael: “They shall shew forth the praises of the Lord”. Their offerings “shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory” (Isaiah 60:6-7).

This passage predicts the conversion of the Arabs to the “hope of Israel” as the truth in Christ Jesus is called (Acts 28:20), and their incorporation into his Kingdom to be set up on earth. Both the land and the people will experience vast changes. They will have to replace the Koran with the Bible; they will have to change from the worship of Allah to that of Yahweh the God of Israel (Exodus 3:14); they will be compelled to acknowledge Christ instead of Mahomet; their mutual antagonism and restlessness, their hatred of Israel will cease, and they will have to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem instead of to Mecca (Zechariah 14:16).

I am a Christian.
Muhammed is totally wrong.
Why wouldn’t God want to save his people?
Hope. Is in Christ.
Peace

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1. shiraz554
  
  August 5, 2012 at 10:08 am
  
  @gudnews i have badNews for you… 🙂
  
  Things is not clear and dont be get satisfactions without these questions which have ask u here…!! firstly tell me the answer of this question like i have done with every xtian but no one tell truly *WHAT IS THE TRUE MESSAGE OF BIBLE*?
  
  and know some more questions are waited for u. i ask u why you follow this religion which is full by question marks? i think bcz God not want to show u the right path bcz like as u peoples turn away anytime!!
  
  Leave this all and come on point
  
  1: xtians say that “GOD LOST His only son to save us”. To whom did God lose Jesus if he owns the whole universe?
  
  2: if it was agreeable with God’s Majesty to have sons, He could have created a million sons the like of Jesus. So what is the big clear deal about this only son?
  
  3: why does the Bible say that Jesus wanted to die on the cross, when the one on the cross was shouting “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” according to Matthew 27:45 and Mark 15:33?
  
  4: if God had wanted to save us, couldn’t He have done that without sacrificing Jesus?
  
  5: God is Just, and justice requires that nobody should be punished for the sins of others, nor should some people be saved by punishing other people. Doesn’t the claim that God sacrificed Jesus to save us because He was Just, contradict the definition of justice?
  
  6: people sacrifice things they have to get something they don’t have when they can’t have both. Christians say that “God SACRIFICED His only son to save us”. We know that God is Almighty; to whom did He sacrifice Jesus?
  
  7: a real sacrifice is when you can’t get back what you have offered , so what would be the big deal about such a sacrifice if God could recover the same offering? (according to the Christians’ terminology)?
  
  8: if all the xtians are saved through Jesus and are going to Heaven no matter what they do, then the teachings of Jesus are irrelevant and the definition of good and bad are also rendered irrelevant. If this is not so, then do Christians who believe in Jesus yet do not follow his teachings nor repent go to Hell?
  
  9: how can xtians take deeds as irrelevant after becoming one when Jesus says in Matthew 12:36; “But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. For by the words thou shalt be justified, and by the words thou shalt be condemned”?
  
  10: xitans say that people go to Heaven ONLY THROUGH JESUS, yet Paul says in 1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-16 that the unbelieving husband is acceptable to God because he is united with his wife and vice versa, and their pagan children are also acceptable to God. So people can go to heaven without believing in Jesus according to this
  
  11: how come the bible says that ALL Israel is saved although they don’t believe in Jesus? Doesn’t that contradict the claim in the Bible that the only way to heaven is through Jesus?
  
  12: According to xtians, those who have not been baptized will go to Hell. So even the infants and babies go to Hell if not baptized, since they are born with an inherited original sin. Doesn’t this contradict the definition of justice? Why would God punish people for sins they never committed?
  
  ACCEPT THE TRUE GOD WORDS… WE HAVE NEED TO JUST GUIDE TO YOU NOTHING MORE, BECAUSE I PITY ON YOU, MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU AND SHOW THE RIGHT PATH.
  
  Reply
2. anonymous
  
  May 16, 2015 at 3:34 pm
  
  God loves human beings. All of them. He wants to save us, that is why He sent Prophrt Muhammad (P.B.U.H) to guide us to the right path 🙂 Why do you hate Muslims so much ?
  
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Tom A

March 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm

The BIBLE DOES NOT talk or predict MOHAMMAD’S coming in any verse.Please be honest to yourselves. The BIBLE IS VERY CLEAR CONCERNING THESE THINGS.

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peace

April 13, 2009 at 7:12 am

to saliiee can u please get ur facts straight where does mohamud ever says “worship me ” research on ur own religion jusus warned his brother of all the false that will be created about him.quote a verse for me where jesus has said that “people should worship me istead of god and i his god”

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1. anonymous
  
  May 16, 2015 at 3:37 pm
  
  Spell Muhammad (P.B.U.H) correctly please. 🙂
  
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Sulaiman

May 3, 2009 at 4:17 am

Please people before you start talking aout trinity and that Jesus is son of God or got promoted to God, look at history first. Yeshua his real name as well as Esa in the Quran was never part of any trinity until 300 years after Yeshua PBUH left. Everything that Christians are today today is manipulated . Another thing is that the people that wrote the Bible….yes people wrote the Bible not God had made major errors and ALOT of contradictions. i dont believe in people, I believe in one God. Allah is God, Jesus called his father Ellah, Jesus prayed like muslims do, so did all the other prophets. It was until the white man decided to construct Christianity and have everyone seated on benches. Please know your history before you start talking words out of the bible written by PEOPLE not God.

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Sulaiman

May 3, 2009 at 4:19 am

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Rawnok Khan

July 17, 2009 at 12:29 am

For those of you who question Prophet Muhammad (SAW)’s recognition in Christians’ Scriptures, please read the following:

Old Testament
The Qur’an mentions in Surah Al-Araf chapter 7 verse 157:

“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures) in the law and the Gospel”.

Prophet Muhammad, prophesised in the Book of Deuteronomy:

Almighty God speaks to Moses in Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18:

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”

The Christians say that this prophecy refers to Jesus (pbuh) because Jesus (pbuh) was like Moses (pbuh). Moses (pbuh) was a Jew, as well as Jesus (pbuh) was a Jew. Moses (pbuh) was a Prophet and Jesus (pbuh) was also a Prophet.

If these two are the only criteria for this prophecy to be fulfilled, then all the Prophets of the Bible who came after Moses (pbuh) such as Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, John the Baptist, etc. (pbut) will fulfill this prophecy since all were Jews as well as prophets.

However, it is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who is like Moses (pbuh):

Both had a father and a mother, while Jesus (pbuh) was born miraculously without any male intervention.
[Mathew 1:18 and Luke 1:35 and also Al-Qur’an 3:42-47]

Both were married and had children. Jesus (pbuh) according to the Bible did not marry nor had children.

Both died natural deaths. Jesus (pbuh) has been raised up alive. (4:157-158)

Muhammad (pbuh) is from among the brethren of Moses (pbuh). Arabs are brethren of Jews. Abraham (pbuh) had two sons: Ishmail and Isaac (pbut). The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmail (pbuh) and the Jews are the descendants of Isaac (pbuh).

Words in the mouth:

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was unlettered and whatever revelations he received from Almighty God he repeated them verbatim.

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” [Deuteronomy 18:18]

Both besides being Prophets were also kings i.e. they could inflict capital punishment. Jesus (pbuh) said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36).

Both were accepted as Prophets by their people in their lifetime but Jesus (pbuh) was rejected by his
people. John chapter 1 verse 11 states, “He came unto his own, but his own received him not.”

Both brought new laws and new regulations for their people. Jesus (pbuh) according to the Bible did not bring any new laws. (Mathew 5:17-18).

It is Mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18:19

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not harken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

Muhammad (pbuh) is prophesised in the book of Isaiah:

It is mentioned in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12:

“And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”

When Archangel Gabrail commanded Muhammad (pbuh) by saying Iqra – “Read”, he replied, “I am not learned”.

New Testament

Al-Qur’an Chapter 61 Verse 6:

“And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said, ‘O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmed.’ But when he came to them with clear signs, they said, ‘This is evident sorcery!’ ”

All the prophecies mentioned in the Old Testament regarding Muhammad (pbuh) besides applying to the Jews also hold good for the Christians.

John chapter 14 verse 16:
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.”

Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 26:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”

Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 7:
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”.

“Ahmed” or “Muhammad” meaning “the one who praises” or “the praised one” is almost the translation of the Greek word Periclytos. In the Gospel of John 14:16, 15:26, and 16:7. The word ‘Comforter’ is used in the English translation for the Greek word Paracletos which means advocate or a kind friend rather than a comforter.

Paracletos is the warped reading for Periclytos. Jesus (pbuh) actually prophesised Ahmed by name. Even the Greek word Paraclete refers to the Prophet (pbuh) who is a mercy for all creatures.

Some Christians say that the Comforter mentioned in these prophecies refers to the Holy Sprit. They fail to realise that the prophecy clearly says that only if Jesus (pbuh) departs will the Comforter come. The Bible states that the Holy Spirit was already present on earth before and during the time of Jesus (pbuh), in the womb of Elizabeth, and again when Jesus (pbuh) was being baptised, etc. Hence this prophecy refers to none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 12-14:

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is
come, he will guide you unto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me”.

The Sprit of Truth, spoken about in this prophecy refers to none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version.

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1. gost
  
  August 6, 2009 at 7:04 pm
  
  well said Rawnok Khan …keep it up
  
  Reply
Michael

July 20, 2010 at 4:13 am

In regard to Christianity:
Is it correct that King James of England had all Bibles burned and his scholars versions written as it remains today. Could their have been predudical loss of correctness at that point? The light of GOD is clear, when it is interpretted by mankind is as the same as the great sunlight as it passes through the stained glass and forms another color. Now the bigger question is the distain for religious tolerance far worse or a collorary as hate? More wars and death hac=ve occurred in the name of GODfor immoral reasons that can be counted in the cells of a human body. Is GOD however you believe really proud of your hate, distain and insults forwarded to one another. In the end I hope we are not all blind and toothless.

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Guess Who ?

July 26, 2010 at 10:19 pm

(Matthew 19:14) “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
SO, CHILDREN ARE BORN WITHOUT SIN.
(Jeremiah 31:30) “But eyeryone shall die for his own iniquity…”
(Matthew 7:1&2) “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
SO, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN SIN, NOT ANYONE ELSE.
32 Christian Bible Scholars of the highest eminence backed by 50 Christian denominations have expunged Jesus’ Resurrection as narrated in Mark 16:9-20 from the RSV based on historical instead of theological discovery of ancient manuscripts.
ENOUGH SAID !

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Donna

September 14, 2012 at 8:38 pm

If we all spent just half as much time doing for each other instead of arguing over religion(s) we would see the truth. It is not about religion(s) and politics, it about treating others as you want to be treated.
The Golden Rule
The verse that immediately comes to mind is the very basis of the concept of treating others the way you would want to be treated. It has come to be known as the Golden Rule, and it is found in Matthew 7:12. The best-known wording of it comes from the King James Version of the Bible: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In the New Revised Standard Version, it reads, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you…” Jesus goes on to say that “on this hangs all the law and the prophets.”

I know that I do not want to be abused, in any way. Hunger, shelter, water, and air. We can not live without it in this earthly body. Feed the sprirt and the soul along with the body. This is not done by hatred and violence look at what we have done to each other and the world God has given us.

Mark 3:25 A house devided against it’s self can not stand. The time has come where the sides are beinging drawn up for the Lord God our Father and creator to interviene or we will all parish. I am just saying.

Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

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Pip

December 25, 2012 at 12:45 am

Jihad in Islam:
Is Islam Peaceful or Militant?
and
An Initial Christian Response

In the past months and years, especially after September 11, 2001, how often you may have read or heard that:
Islam means peace.
Islam is a religion of tolerance. It rejects violence and promotes religious and racial harmony.
The word “jihad” does not mean holy war. Our enemy is fanaticism, not Islam.
Or how often you may have heard or read that
Islam is intolerant, militant, supports terrorism.
The claims differ greatly. Our intention here is to consider these claims, especially on the basis of Islam’s sources, and to provide an initial Christian response to them.
Jihad literally means “to strive”, “to struggle”. Muslims have recognized the following kinds of jihad: 1. The greater jihad: the struggle of the self with evil; the struggle to control the body’s members. 2. The lesser jihad: physical struggle, often associated with fighting and killing. It occurs in the Qur’an most frequently with the meaning of “warfare”, often coupled with “fi sabil Allah” (in the way of Allah).[1]Technically, it is war against non-Muslims only, since Muslims are forbidden to fight Muslims.
This statement seeks to focus on jihad as warfare in Islam and, at least, to touch on its significance for the Muslim community throughout the history of Islam. To accomplish this, we turn to Islam’s source materials (which virtually the total Muslim community has recognized as foundational for any serious formulation and understanding of Islam, its beliefs and its practices, including jihad): the Qur’an (God’s eternal and inspired Word revealed through Muhammad), the Hadith (Muslim Canonical Tradition, the Way of the Prophet Muhammad, who is the recipient of the Qur’an and its primary interpreter) and theShari‘ah[2] (Islamic Law as shaped especially by the Qur’an and the Hadith). Jihad as warfare is a pivotal concern for the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Shari‘ah. All Islamic legal schools deal with it.
But before we turn to Islam’s source materials, let us grasp two fundamental assumptions with which traditional Islam has operated throughout its history and which will provide us with an Islamic context for a clearer understanding of jihad’s significance:
1. Islam is a total way of life. It knows no separation of church and state, of sacred and secular.
2. Islam condemns all polytheism and idolatry, affirming that God alone is God. It is the culmination of all God’s previous revelations (Judaism and Christianity included), it supersedes them and virtually renders them obsolete. Islam is now God’s sole revelation and religion for all humanity, Muhammad is God’s final prophet and the Qur’an is God’s final book. World sovereignty is the sole prerogative of Islam.
Jihad in the Qur’an
Bearing in mind these fundamental assumptions of Islam, we move on to the Qur’an’s presentation of jihad as warfare, particularly as it is portrayed in the ministry of Muhammad.
Muhammad’s Ministry in Mecca
Generally Muslims have recognized that Muhammad began his ministry among his own people (the Arabs) in and around Mecca in A.D. 610. For thirteen years he faithfully proclaimed that God alone is God. Yet his followers were few and mostly of lower status. With Muhammad they endured opposition, ridicule and even persecution. Still, throughout this period he responded with restraint. In fact, the Qur’an itself documents how he was to respond to rejection and abuse. The following are a few examples:
I (Muhammad) am but a plain warner. (67:2; passim)[3]
We have not sent thee (Muhammad) as a warden over them. (17:54)
So proclaim that which thou art commanded, and withdraw from the idolaters. (15:94; cf. 15:94-99)
And bear with patience what they utter, and part from them with a fair leave taking. (73:10)
… And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity! (90:17)
Call unto the way of the Lord… and reason with them in a better way…. Grieve not for them and be not in distress because of that which they devise. (16:125-127)
Repel evil with that which is better. (23:96)
All of the above passages are Meccan passages, i.e., passages Muhammad received while he proclaimed Islam in Mecca. As long as he remained in Mecca, he responded to his enemies peacefully and with restraint. He never responded militantly. What a fine resource of Quranic references to demonstrate that Islam is peaceful, non-violent!
Muhammad’s Ministry in Medina
In A.D. 622 Muhammad moved from his home in Mecca to Medina, where Arab tribes had invited him to reside and where they became members of the new Islamic movement. So important is this event in Islamic history – it is called the hijrah (“emigration”) – that it actually marks the beginning of the Islamic era.[4]
In Medina Muhammad quickly assumed both religious and political leadership over the whole Medinan community. Soon after he arrived in Medina, he received the first of many Quranic passages (called Medinan passages) which directed him and the Muslim community to fight in the cause of Allah against their enemies. The Qur’an alludes to Muhammad’s conflicts with the Arab polytheists throughout Arabia, with the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and with the hypocrites (Arab polytheists who feigned conversion to Islam: cf. 49:14). The earliest extant Muslim biographies of Muhammad detail Muhammad’s military struggles.[5] It is these conflicts which serve as the seeds for the traditional Islamic divisions of society into 1. the House of Islam and the House of War and 2. the Muslim Community; the People of the Book (Jews and Christians, cf. 9:29,30); the Polytheists (who could become Muslim or accept death or slavery).
The following are a few of the Medinan passages which refer to jihad as military struggle in the Qur’an:
Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged… (22:39; cf. 22:39-41)[6]
The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere. (49:15; 22:78; 25:52)
Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.
And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.
But if they desist, then lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers.
The forbidden month for the forbidden month, and forbidden things in retaliation. And one who attacketh you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you. Observe your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is with those who ward off (evil).
Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah…. (2:190-195; cf. 2:216-218; 2:244; 8:38-40; 8:65,66; 4:84; 5:33-35; 61:4)
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free…. (9:5)
Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they! (9:29,30)
O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey’s end. (9:73)
O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him). (9:123)
As for Jihad’s motivation and benefits:
O ye who believe! Shall I show you a commerce that will save you from a painful doom?
You should believe in Allah and His messenger, and should strive for the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is better for you, if ye did but know.
He will forgive you your sins and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in Gardens of Eden. That is the supreme triumph.
And (He will give you) another blessing which ye love: help from Allah and present victory. Give good tidings (O Muhammad) to believers. (61:10-13; cf. 9:19-22; 9:111; 2:154; 2:243-245; 47:4-6; 3:195)
… Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than those who sit (at home). (4:95)
From the above Meccan and Medinan verses Muslims have understood that there is a chronological progression in Muhammad’s ministry from peaceful proclamation only in Mecca to peaceful proclamation supported, if needed, by the sword in Medina. This was not to suggest that God had changed His mind and that peaceful proclamation of Islam had ceased. It simply meant that when Muhammad entered Medina, initially he was allowed to defend himself against his enemies with the same weapons they used to attack him and eventually was ordered even to fight all idolaters.
The well known Egyptian scholar, Sayyid Qutb, notes four stages in the development of jihad: 1. While the earliest Muslims remained in Mecca before fleeing to Medina, God did not allow them to fight; 2. Permission is given to Muslims to fight against their oppressors; 3. God commands Muslims to fight those fighting them; 4. God commands the Muslims to fight against all polytheists. He views each stage to be replaced by the next stage in this order, the fourth stage to remain permanent.[7] To justify the universal and permanent dimensions of jihad he cites the following passages:
They ought to fight in the way of God who have sold the life of this world for the life of the Hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of God and is killed or becomes victorious, to him shall We (God) give a great reward…. (4:74-76)
… and fight them until there is no oppression and the religion is wholly for God…. (8:38-40)
Fight against those among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) who do not believe in God and the Last Day, who do not forbid what God and His messenger have forbidden, until they are subdued and payjizyah (tax on non-Muslims) … (9:29-32)
But, as we sometimes hear, does not Islam teach that jihad as physical warfare is solely defensive? True, a few voices in earlier Islamic history and even more voices from the nineteenth century onwards have held this opinion. No doubt, today also many Muslims in the West espouse this opinion, though one might wonder how familiar some of them are with the source materials and history of Islam. Sayyid Qutb, however, pours scorn upon those who view jihad as solely defensive:
… They are ignorant of the nature of Islam and of its function, and that it has a right to take the initiative for human freedom.
Thus wherever an Islamic community exists which is a concrete example of the Divinely-ordained system of life, it has a God-given right to step forward and take control of the political authority so that it may establish the Divine system on earth, while it leaves the matter of belief to individual conscience.[8]
He then cites, during the early advance of Islam, the Muslim response to the Persian general, Rustum, after Rustum enquired why the Muslim leaders had come to Persia with their army:
God has sent us to bring anyone who wishes from servitude to men into the service of God alone, from the narrowness of this world into the vastness of this world and the Hereafter, and from the tyranny of religions into the justice of Islam. God raised a Messenger for this purpose to teach His creatures His way. If anyone accepts this way of life, we turn back and give his country back to him, and we fight with those who rebel until we are martyred or become victorious.[9]
Likewise the popular Pakistani Muslim revivalist Abu’l Ala Mawdudi rejects any distinction between offensive and defensive jihad. So also the distinguished contemporary Pakistani scholar, Fazlur Rahman, while recognizing the extensive presence of jihad in the Qur’an, rejects
the stand of those modern Muslim apologists who have tried to explain the jihad of the early (Muslim) Community in purely defensive terms.[10]
According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, “the fight is obligatory even when the unbelievers have not started it.”[11] In the words of Rudolph Peters the “ultimate aim of jihad is ‘the subjection of the unbelievers’ and ‘the extirpation of unbelief’”.[12] All of these authorities simply echo Islam’s fundamental assumption that world sovereignty must be in the hands of Muslims.
Still, others may ask, is there not a possible conflict in the Qur’an between its peaceful and militant passages? Or, at least, cannot Muslims choose, between the two, which to follow? In fact, the Qur’an itself addresses the problem of change or conflict in general:
Such of Our revelations as We (Allah) abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things? (2:106)
And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, – and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth – they say: Lo! thou art but inventing. Most of them know not. (16:101)
On the basis of these verses there arose within the Muslim community the principle of Quranic interpretation, called naskh (“abrogation”) which stipulated that earlier peaceful verses could be abrogated by later militant verses, i.e., in the case of jihad the Meccan verses were abrogated by the Medinan verses. It is well known that many Muslim scholars in the early history of Islam contended that Qur’an 9:5, sometimes called “the verse of the sword”, abrogated a host of peaceful passages in earlier portions of the Qur’an. The nineteenth century Indian Muslim leader, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and a few others have rejected this contention.
Finally we should note here also that at the time of Muhammad’s death most of Arabia had submitted to Islamic sovereignty. With logical consistency his earliest successors dutifully carried on Islam’s expansion beyond the borders of Arabia. Within a century following Muhammad’s death Islam had moved westward across North Africa into Europe and eastward as far as present day Pakistan, a military accomplishment that perhaps remains unparalleled up to that time in history. The enterprise itself was in accordance with the Qur’an’s direction, implemented by Muhammad in Arabia, initiated beyond Arabia by his faithful caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, and continued by their successors.[7] Here is a portion of a poem in praise of Muhammad, his army and jihad, composed by Ka’b b. Malik prior to the siege at Ta’if (in Arabia), about two years prior to Muhammad’s death:
Our leader (Muhammad) the prophet, firm,
Pure of heart, steadfast, continent,
Straightforward, full of wisdom, knowledge, and clemency;
Not frivolous nor light minded.
We obey our prophet and we obey a Lord
Who is the Compassionate, most kind to us.
If you offer peace we will accept it
And make you partners in peace and war.
If you refuse we will fight you doggedly,
‘Twill be no weak faltering affair.
We shall fight as long as we live
Till you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge.
We will fight not caring whom we meet
Whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains.
How many tribes assembled against us
Their finest stock and allies!
They came at us thinking they had no equal
And we cut off their noses and ears
With our fine polished Indian swords,
Driving them violently before us
To the command of God and Islam,
Until religion is established, just and straight, and
Al-Lat and al-‘Uzza and Wudd are forgotten[14]
And we plunder them of their necklaces and earrings.
For they had become established and confident,
And he who cannot protect himself must suffer disgrace.[15]

Jihad in the Hadith
Islam’s Hadith collections too, the second important source of Islam, devote considerable space to jihad. Almost one-third of the fourth of nine volumes of Bukhari, Islam’s principal collector of Hadith, focus on jihad as physical war. The following are a few examples:
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar: Allah’s Apostle said: “I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform all that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws, and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah.”[16]
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle was asked, “What is the best deed?” He replied, “To believe in Allah and His Apostle (Muhammad).” The questioner then asked, “What is the next (in goodness)?” He replied, “To participate in Jihad (religious fighting) in Allah’s cause….”[17]
Abu ‘Abs reported God’s messenger as saying, “No man whose feet become dusty in God’s path will be touched by hell.” Bukhari transmitted it.[18]
Al-Miqdam b. Madikarib reported God’s messenger as saying, “The martyr receives six good things from God: he is forgiven at the first shedding of his blood, he is shown his abode in paradise, he is preserved from the punishment in the grave, he is kept safe from the greatest terror, he has placed on his head the crown of honour a ruby which is better than the world and what it contains, he is married to seventy-two wives of the maidens with large dark eyes, and is made intercessor for seventy of his relatives.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.[19]
Jabir b. Samura reported God’s messenger as saying, “This religion will not cease to endure with a company of the Muslims fighting on its behalf till the last hour comes.” Muslim transmitted it.[20]
Worth noting here also is the fact that 66 page Introduction to the nine volumes of the widely distributed The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari contains a 19 page essay “The Call to Jihad (Fighting for Allah’s Cause) in the Holy Qur’an” by Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Hamid, Sacred Mosque of Mecca. The author writes in his concluding appeal to his readers:
So it is incumbent upon us (Muslims) to follow the path which Allah’s Messenger (Muhammad) adopted to avoid polytheism and heresy in all its shapes and to take the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Traditions as torches in front of us to guide us. We have to teach our brethren and convey the Message to non-Muslims all over the world as much as possible in order to save them from the Hell-fire. We have to prepare ourselves to stand in the face of our enemy and to possess the means of power and to participate in the progress of useful industries in order to protect our religion and be powerful enough to face our enemy, as Allah, the Elevated says in Surat al-Anfal (8:60):
And make ready against them all you can of power, including steeds of war (tanks, places, missiles and other weapons, etc.) to strike terror into the (hearts of) the Enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside, whom you may not know, but whom Allah does know. Whatever you shall spend in the Cause of Allah, shall be repaid to you, and you shall not be treated unjustly.[21]
How many terrorists would appeal to this verse “to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy”?

Jihad in the Shari‘ah
From the Qur’an and the Hadith we move to the Shari‘ah. The Shari‘ah is God’s Law, distinct from all human codes of law. It is God’s indispensable link between Himself and His people (ummah), the manifestation of His divine will for Muslims and for those non-Muslim minorities (or majorities) under the domination of the Muslim community. All Muslim schools of Shari‘ah acknowledge the presence and importance of jihad as warfare. Since, however, the Shari‘ah essentially reflects what its principal sources (Qur’an and Hadith) have pronounced, we limit our quotations from the Shari‘ah to the following:
The sacred injunction concerning war is sufficiently observed when it is carried on by any one party or tribe of Mussulmans; and it is then no longer of any force with respect to the rest. It is established as a divine ordinance, by the word of God, who has said, in the Koran, “slay the infidels”, and also by a saying of the prophet, “war is permanently established until the day of judgement,” (meaning the ordinance respecting war)….
The destruction of the sword is incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from various passages in the sacred writings which are generally received to this effect.[22]
When the Mussulmans enter the enemy’s country, and besiege the cities or strongholds of the infidels, it is necessary to invite them to embrace the faith, because Ibn Abbas relates of the prophet that “he never destroyed any without previously inviting them to embrace the faith.” If, therefore, they embrace the faith, it is unnecessary to war with them, because that which was the design of the war is then obtained without war. The prophet, moreover, has said, “we are directed to make war upon man until such time as they shall confess THERE IS NO GOD BUT ONE GOD; but when they repeat this creed, their persons and properties are in protection.” – If they do not accept the call to the faith, they must then be called upon to pay Jizyat , or capitation-tax; because the prophet directed the commander of his armies so to do; and also, because by submitting to this tax, war is forbidden and terminated, upon the authority of the Koran. (This call to pay capitation tax, however, respects only those from whom the capitation tax is acceptable; for as to apostates and the idolaters of Arabia, to call upon them to pay the tax is useless, since nothing is accepted from them but embracing the faith, as it is thus commanded in the Koran.)[23]

Summary
Numerous Meccan passages from the Qur’an uniformly indicate that while Muhammad resided in Mecca, he preached Islam patiently and peacefully, avoiding physical warfare with his enemy. Probably few would challenge this fact. Given this fact, then, it becomes understandable that some Muslims, claiming that Islam means peace and avoids violence, are able to substantiate their claims with Meccan passages from the Qur’an. So let all, Muslims and non-Muslims, recognize this thirteen year period of peace which endured until the Hijrah.
It is just as clear, however, as Muslims generally have understood, that after the Hijrah Muhammad resorted to the sword in support of his ministry, at first by the permission and later by the command of God. True, a few Muslims in the past, and more at present, have described this warfare as defensive only. On the other hand, all the recognized source materials for jihad have led their traditional Muslim expositors to acknowledge a development of jihad by stages during the ministry of Muhammed, a jihad which is both defensive and offensive, a jihad which the Muslim community is to pursue until the end of time. What it has signified in the past and signifies at present for masses of Muslims is well summarized in a statement by the world renowned Ibn Khaldun (A.D. 1332-1406), Islam’s great historian, sociologist and philosopher:
In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the (Muslim) mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force. Therefore, caliphate and royal authority are united in (Islam), so that the person in charge can devote the available strength to both of them at the same.[24]
It is also reflected in the Muslim salutation at the tomb of Muhammad:
Peace be upon thee, O Apostle. We witness that thou hast truly delivered the message, that thou hast striven in the way of God until God glorified His religion and perfected it.[25]
Herein lies the Islamic priority of the peaceful proclamation of God’s unity and sovereignty and, if circumstances demand it, the enforcement of the peaceful proclamation through “striving in the way of Allah” upon those who resist the peaceful proclamation.
Is this, then, to say that Islam is intrinsically violent and supportive of violence?[26] Is one to attribute the New York Trade Centre catastrophe directly to Islam? Surely there are masses of Muslims who, consciously or unconsciously, reject terrorism and even the military face of Islam associated with jihad in Islam.[27] And surely even if they recognize the historical reality of jihad in traditional Islam, it is still theirs to reject its present validity because, they feel, jihad ought to have been a temporarily imposed duty only and is now obsolete and in need of reinterpretation.[28] In any case, it is ultimately God’s prerogative to judge the terrorist and his act, as well as his intention and source of inspiration.
Yet, at the same time, if jihad is a concern for society (Muslim and non-Muslim), it is imperative that society examine Islam’s source materials and the understanding of the great expositors on the subject. The majority of the Qur’an’s texts themselves clearly identify jihad as physical warfare in Islam and, Islamically, God’s way of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. They hardly require to be interpreted metaphorically. Likewise, from the Hadith and the earliest biographies of Muhammad it is just as evident that the early Muslim community understood these Quranic texts to be taken literally. Historically, therefore, from the time of Muhammad onwards, jihad as physical warfare in support of the message of Islam has been a reality for the Muslim community. Hence it comes as no surprise when even terrorists easily appeal to these source materials to justify their actions, not to speak of their teachers who teach the theory and the art of terrorism.
Nor, it may be added, should it cause surprise that many other Muslims today seriously oppose its violent implications and seek out new interpretations. For this we may be grateful.
Then, what about the Muslim claims that Islam means peace, that it is in harmony with other religions, that it rejects violence? No doubt, for Muslims Islam may mean peace in its traditional Muslim sense, i.e., in so far as they have submitted to the conditions Islam imposes upon them. However, Islamically speaking, Islam has never meant peace for idolaters unless the idolaters abandon idolatry and embrace Islam. Nor, Islamically, has Islam meant peace for the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), unless the People of the Book submit to Islamic political rule and the dhimmi conditions which the Shari‘ah imposes upon them as the People of the Book. Thus, Muslims must clarify the nature of Islam’s peace, for whom and under what conditions Islam means peace, and how Islam promotes racial and religious harmony with other races and religions. Likewise, if jihad does not mean holy war, let Muslims explain why not and what it does mean. Surely, if by Islamic definition the primary purpose of jihad is the extension and defence of Islamic dominion, it also includes, under the shadow of war, the invitation to the enemy to submit to Islamic rule, perhaps even to embrace Islam itself, or to fight. Islamically, the invitation is compulsory and naturally precedes any battle. Truly, both word and sword are integral to jihad, yoked equally and working in harmony.

A Christian Response
But, as conversation on the topic frequently continues, who are the Christians to complain about jihad when they themselves have engaged in their own forms of jihad throughout their history, and that not only against non-Christians but also, on occasions, even against other Christians! Have they forgotten the Crusades? Contrast how Jews and Christians thrived under Muslim rule in Spain with how the Christians later drove Muslims and Jews out from Spain. And what about European imperialism, colonialism and the occupation of Muslim lands?
Whatever Muslim and non-Muslim response to the above episodes of history may be, there is no doubt that both Muslims and non-Muslims can compile their own long lists of shameful actions by Christians, perpetrated in the name of the Messiah.
That these actions were shameful, yet perpetrated in the name of the Messiah, makes them that much more reprehensible. Hence, finally, measured by the standards of the New Testament and by the teachings and actions of Jesus Himself, such actions cannot be deemed truly Christian!
What, then, does the New Testament teach about physical warfare and the Kingdom of God?[29]
Initially, we note that Jesus Himself clearly distinguishes between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Caesar: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)
With the coming of Jesus the Messiah the Kingdom of God has come. He comes not to abolish God’s Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He summarizes the Law as love for God and love for the neighbour:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus elaborates on what it means to love one’s neighbour:
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 6:43-48)
Jesus as the Messiah sets an example of love when He Himself washes the feet of His disciples (John 13:1-17):
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:12,13)
The disciples of Jesus are to love with the greater love, even as Jesus has loved His disciples by dying for them. He also says:
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24,25; Matthew 10:39; Mark 8:35; Luke 17:33; John 12:25)
Especially relevant to our whole concern here is Jesus’ own definition of His Messiahship in terms of servanthood and self-sacrifice, and His rejection of resorting to the sword against those who reject Him and His message when
1. He (a Jew) rebuked His disciples (Jews) for suggesting that He destroy the Samaritans (the enemy) who rejected them (Luke 8:51-56). No doubt, the angry disciples were aware of His power! How effective – and sweet – even a small dosage of revenge, clinically executed! More so when executed against the Samaritans, Israel’s despised enemy! It is this context of mutual contempt between Samaritans and Jews which lends deeper significance to Jesus’ “Good Samaritan” parable, i.e., for the Jew how could any Samaritan be good, even better than a Jew?
2. He rebuked His disciple Peter for rejecting His prophecy that He, as the Messiah, must suffer, be killed and rise from the dead. (Mark 8:27-33)
3. He told His power-hungry disciples that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Here, clearly, Jesus suggests His death has redemptive meaning for others.
4. He, in the Garden of Gethsemane, rebuked Peter for defending Him with his sword:
Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me? (John 18:11)
5. Jesus, during His trial before the Roman governor Pilate, stated:
My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here. (John 18:36)
The New Testament testifies to Jesus’ resistance to constant temptations throughout His ministry, whether from Satan (Matthew 4:1-11), from “the people” (John 5) or even from Jesus’ own disciples (Mark 8:31-33), to abandon His Heavenly Father’s will for Himself as Messiah and for the advent of the Kingdom of God. Do we see all these temptations coalescing and culminating as He, the Messiah, actually hangs naked on a cross, a spectacle of pathos, shame and derision?
Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him (Mark 15:29-32).[30]
Yet, given His power, who would doubt that He could have come down from the cross! His disciples clearly understood His power. What they misunderstood was how His power was to be used! It was His Father’s will that He so be baptized (= drowned) and drink the cup (of suffering and death) for which He had come: He had come to heal the sick, to be the friend of sinners. He had come not to destroy but to save, to redeem. How often it has been said – and how often it bears repeating! – that God’s love, not nails and ropes, held Jesus on the cross! To lay down one’s life for one’s friends: Greater love has no one than this. What Jesus taught, He lived, and what He taught and lived, He taught His disciples to live and to teach. How much Christians, too, need to remember that Christian ethics are inextricably connected with Jesus’ Cross! Who Jesus is, what He has done and the manner of His invitation to us to follow Him are wonderfully summarized in the New Testament’s early hymn of praise:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
But emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
Truly, both sovereignty and service characterize the Messiah’s person and are equally yoked in His ministry on earth. The motivating power is God’s love and holiness.
For Jesus’ bewildered disciples it all came together when they saw Jesus risen from the dead, when they experienced that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, death had lost its sting, had died. Everything in the New Testament points to the death and resurrection of the Messiah and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit as the source of the disciples’ conversion, their new understanding, their new hope and unflagging courage in proclaiming the Christian Gospel. These same Gospel events became the heart of the disciples’ message which changed the hearts of so many others throughout the Roman Empire. Even with all the weaknesses and flaws within the early Church, the early Church rapidly spread throughout the Empire, with little or no support from the Empire’s political, economic or social institutions and, in fact, despite the Empire’s continual persecution of the Church for about three hundred years. There is no other explanation for its spread. For our purposes here it is significant that throughout the New Testament’s account of the Acts of the Apostles and the spread of the Church no disciple of Jesus appeals to the sword in support of the defence or advancement of the Kingdom of God and the Church.
In brief, Jesus’ disciples are to follow the way of Jesus. They are to have the mind of Jesus the Messiah, to look at the world, the people of all nations, and even their own enemies through the eyes of Jesus. They will share God’s message of reconciliation, forgiveness of sin, new life and eternal peace through Jesus with all. Their motivation will be His love and their means His means.
On the basis of the New Testament there is no place for the sword for advancing the Kingdom of God!

A Prayer
O God, pour out Your blessing on the people of Islam.
Grant that these, who always proclaim Your greatness, may know the greatness of Your love revealed in Jesus the Messiah.
Forgive us that so little of Your love has reached the Muslims through us.
Take away from us our pride and our coldness.
Teach us to love our Muslim neighbor as ourselves.
Help us to understand them and to help them understand Your Gospel.
And if any of us should suffer at the hands of Muslims, teach us to overcome evil with good,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.[31]

________________________________________
Footnotes:
1 Or “on the path of Allah” or “for the cause of Allah”.
2 To understand Islam it is imperative that one understands the Shari‘ah, Muslim Law. Perhaps nothing so engages the scholars and their differing interpretations of Islam in our rapidly changing world today as the status and interpretation of the Shari‘ah and its application for contemporary society. For a detailed exposition of the manifold aspects of jihad see Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1966). He also discusses Shi‘ah and Kharaji understandings of jihad.
3 Quranic quotations are taken from M.M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: The New American Library, n.d.). Pickthall was an English convert to Islam.
4 Why does the hijrah mark the beginning of the Islamic calendar? Does it help define Islam?
5 See especially Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, A Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (London: Oxford University Press, 1955).
6 Guillaume, Ishaq’s Sirat (Biography) Rasul Allah, 212, 213 identifies these verses as the first verses in the Qur’an to sanction jihad.
7 See especially Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, Revised Edition, especially ch. 4, “Jihaad in the Cause of God” (Cedar Rapids: Unity Publishing House, n.d.) 53-76, in which Sayyid Qutb also acknowledges his debt to Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. The following Quranic translations are by the author.
8 Sayyid Qutb 76; see also 73. His rationale and a resolution to the tension between Islamic world sovereignty and the often cited Qur’an 2:256 (“There is no compulsion in religion”): Only Islamic sovereignty and the Shari‘ah can offer the requisite justice that allows all people genuine freedom of conscience and choice. It might well be noted here that Muslims frequently quote Qur’an 2:256 as Islam’s declaration of freedom in religion. But how absolute is this freedom? From our discussion on jihad it should be clear how Islam through jihad imposes severe limitations on the freedom of both non-Muslims and Muslims. On the other hand, it should be clarified also that traditional Islam does not limit Jews and Christians to choose either to become Muslim or to fight/die; it also allows them a third choice: to remain what they are (i.e., Jew or Christian) but to come under Islamic rule. Need we add also that Muslim traders and brotherhood movements have also spread Islam peacefully?
9 Sayyid Qutb 71.
10 Fazlur Rahman, Islam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979) 37.
11 E. Tyan, “Djihad”, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: Brill, 1965).
12 Rudolph Peters, “Jihad”, The Encyclopedia of Religion (NewYork: Macmillan, 1987) Vol. 8:88-91. One wonders, in the light of the immediately above cited evidence, how Jamal Badawi, a prominent Canadian Muslim leader, teacher and debater is able to contend that jihad is “permitted only in self-defence or against tyranny and oppression – not as a tool to promote Islam” (Macleans, “The Will to Fight and Die,” Feb. 11, 1991, 39). Or how Dr. Abdelwahab Boase is able to state “that jihad in the military sense does not have as its object the propagation of religion” (Arabia “Distorting the Image of Islam,” July, 1986, 78). See also “Jihad in the Shari‘ah” and Ibn Khaldun’s comments in this essay.
13 According to the great Muslim jurist, Shaybani (Kitab al-Siyar al-Kabir, 1,14,15), “Allah gave the Prophet Muhammad four swords (for fighting the unbelievers): the first against polytheists, which Muhammad himself fought with; the second against apostates, which Caliph Abu Bakr fought with; the third against the People of the Book, which Caliph Umar fought with; and the fourth against dissenters, which Caliph Ali fought with” (Majid Khadduri 74). All students of early Islamic history are familiar with the Wars of Apostasy in Arabia, in which Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s successor, crushed the Arab tribes who insisted on apostatizing from Islam immediately after the death of Muhammad. It is also well known that when Muslims invite non-Muslims to embrace Islam, they are to warn them that according to the Shari‘ah the punishment of apostasy from Islam is death.
14 Pagan deities in Arabia.
15 Guillaume 587,588.
16 The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammad M. Khan (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1984) Vol. 1:25,26.
17 The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1:26.
18 Mishkat al-Masabih, trans. by James Robson (Lahore: Ashraf, 1975) Vol. 1:807.
19 Mishkat al-Masabih, Vol. 1:814.
20 Mishkat al-Masabih, Vol. 1:808.
21 The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1:xxiv-xliii.
22 The Hedaya, Commentary on the Islamic Laws, trans. by Charles Hamilton (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1985) Vol. 2:140,141.
23 The Hedaya, Commentary on the Islamic Laws, Vol. 2:143,144. Those who pay the tax jizya(t) are the Dhimmis (The People of the Book: Jews and Christians). For their low status under Muslim rule, see “Dhimma,” Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Ithica: Cornell University, 1953).
24 Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, trans. by Franz Rosenthal (New York: Pantheon Books Inc., 1958) Vol. 1:473. According to Ibn Khaldun Islam’s universality and “obligation to gain power over other nations” distinguishes Islam’s jihad from the holy war of other religions. As to the importance of jihad he states: “Although the personal exercise of the office of judge was to have been the task of (the caliphs), they entrusted others with it because they were too busy with general politics and too occupied with the holy war, conquests, defense of the border regions, and protection of the center. These were things which could not be undertaken by anyone else because of their great importance…” (Vol. 1:454). For further observations on jihad, including his assertion that revenge is man’s motive for war, see Vol.2:70-73.
25 Kenneth Cragg, Muhammad and the Christian (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984) 26. A very useful volume, not least for its discussion on jihad. See especially “The Political Equation” 33-52.
26 For a provocative discussion in the form of a “case history” (Islam in Iran at the time of the Shah and the Revolution vs. the Church in Iran, the assassination of converts from Islam, and the status of Christian mission activity) see Kenneth Cragg’s “Editor’s Postscript” in Bishop Dehqani Tafti’s The Unfolding Design of My World (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2000) 257-266. During the revolution the son of the Bishop was murdered and, on one occasion, the Bishop himself narrowly escaped being killed.
27 For the Ahmadiyya Movement, which virtually dissociates jihad from its traditional Islamic meaning of warfare and its history, see “Ahmadiyya,” Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Ithica: Cornell University, 1953). Many Muslims and some Muslim nations consider this movement to be non-Islamic.
28 Thus the moderate Muslim Sa‘id al-Ashmawy, former chief justice of Egypt’s supreme court, in his popular article in Readers Digest, Jan. 1996, 25-28. He says: “Actually, the Koran’s call to arms, or jihad, relates to a specific episode when the Prophet prepared to attack his enemies from the city of Mecca. It was never intended as a prescription for permanent warfare…” Another contemporary Egyptian scholar, Mahmud Shaltut, criticizes the traditional Islamic doctrine of abrogation as a valid principle for Quranic interpretation. For this latter comment see Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Medieval and Modern Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1977) 26. The Sudanese scholar, Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, has contended that Meccan Islam alone (not Medinan Islam) qualifies to be the substance of a relevant and universal religion today. He understands the Medinan textual abrogations (naskh) of Meccan texts to be temporal only. Given this understanding, he says, Muslims can develop a new Shari‘ah which is based on the morality of Meccan (earlier) Islam and which would abandon the various forms of discrimination that characterize Islam’s present Shari‘ah, including discrimination against women (Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, The Second Message of Islam, Translation and Introduction by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na‘im [Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1987] 21-25). For his comments on jihad see 132-137. His stance, considered by the Sudanese government as blasphemy, eventually cost him his life.
29 This is not to forget the indications of violence in the Old Testament.
30 The Qur’an’s principal reference to the crucifixion of Jesus reads: “And because of their (the Jews) saying: We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger – they slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them…; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself” (4:157,158). Though Muslim interpretations of these verses widely differ, generally Muslims have accepted that God rescued Jesus: Before Jesus was put on a cross, God took him to heaven and someone else, made to look like Jesus, was crucified. The rationale: How could God allow Jesus’ enemies to triumph over Jesus, His faithful prophet, let alone allow him to suffer and die the shameful and accursed death of crucifixion! How vivid here the difference between Muslim and Christian understanding of “the power and wisdom of God”! (See Kenneth Cragg, Muhammad and the Christian, 46.)
31 Christian Witness among Muslims, 1994 (Bartlesville: Living Sacrifice Book Company) 118.
by Ernest Hahn

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June 13, 2013 at 1:50 am

Prophecy Servant of God
` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
word Atmak not necessarily means ‘whom I uphold’ but is infact a name

the writing of Atmak is אתמך
the writing of Ahmad is אחמד

Isaiah 42:1
God says
“Behold, ‘My Servant’ (pronounced as Abd-ee), ‘whom I uphold’ (pronounced as Atmak);

God mentioning about the coming of His servant
Behold My Servant Ahmad (Isaiah 42:1) – so who is this Ahmad as in God’servant?

He is none other than
Abd-Allah Ahmad (Servant of God, Ahmad) – Prophet Muhammad s.a.w

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Syed Shabbir Hashmi

May 17, 2014 at 1:02 am

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About Me

A South Asian Muslim on his journey..sometimes confused and dazed.. These are collected articles, bits of knowledge picked up along the way. Visit the pages and posts to find a vast array of subjects that irked my curiosity. Hope you may find a gem or two to enlighten you. Peace be upon you.

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