TheTruthAbout

BY
Dr. ManehHammadal-Johani

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Tel.:
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English
82
 tsLAHtC STUDIES
ISLAMIC STUOTES
NO.
NO. 1

THETRUTH
THE TRUTHABOUT
ABOUT

JESUS
IE$US
BY
BY
Mlnch Hammad
Dr. Maneh
Dr. Al-Johrnl
Hemmrd AI-Johanl
 PREFACE
PREFAGE

The
The controversy
controvsrsy about the pcrsonality of Jesus
the personality Jcsus Christ is is the
thc major
lifference
lifferencc between
betwecn Islam and
and Christianity. This difference
differcnce keeps
keepsthe
the followers
followers
.rlf the
thc two religions
religions apart. Muslims look at Jesus
JesusChrist asas aa great
grcat Prophet of
:Iod
iod andand love
love and
and respect
respcct him as
as much
much asas they
thcy love
love and
and respect
respcct Abraham,
~oses
Vlosesandand Muhammad. Christians
Christians on the
thc other
othcr hand
hand consider
considcr Jesus
Jcsusas
asGod or
,on of God.
.on God, aa concept
conccpt that Muslims cannot accept.
acsept. Islam teaches
teachcsthat Jesus
Jesus
lever
rcver made
made such
such aa claim for himself. mattcr of fact
himsclf. As aa matter fact all the cardinal
loctrines
loctrines of Christianity that are are rejected
rejected by Islam center
center around the the
rcrsonality of Jesus.
.ersonality Jesus.Specifically
Specifically these
these are:
arc:
. The Trinity
Trinity
~'.
!..The
The Divinity of Jesus
Jesus
~.l. The Divine Sonship
Sonship of Christ
kf. Original Sin.
Sin, and
and
f.i. Atonement.
Atonement.
It is
is clear
clcar that all these
thcsedogmas
dogmasare are the
the result
rcsult of over-exhalting
over-exhaltingJesus
JesusChrist
Christ
lbove
rbovewhat God wants wants him to be.bc. These
Thesedifferences
differcncesfocusing personality
focusing on the personality
)f
rf Jesus
Jesus have
haye overshadowed
overshadowcdthe the many
many similaritic:s
similaritics between
betweenChristianity
Christianity and
and
slam.
slam. Some
Some examples
examples areare the
the moral
moral system
system and
and the
the emphasis
emphasison humane
humane
)rinciples.
rrinciples.They havehave even
even over-shadowed
over-shadowedthe the beliefs
beliefs that Muslims
Muslims associate
associatc
vith
vith Jesus
JesusChrist suchsuch asas the
the Virgin Birth of Jesus,
Jesus,being
being able
able to speak
spcak in the
the
;radle,performing miracles,
:radle, miracles,andand the
the second coming of Jesus
secondcoming JesusChrist.
Christ.
The following two articles prcsentinga true picture
articlesaim at presenting pictureof Jesus
Jcsusin Islam
lslam
.nd
,nd explaining
explaining why the
the Christians
Christiansdeviated
dcviatedfrom hishis original
original teachings.
teachings.The
Thc first
first
Irticle
rrticle also
also indicates
indicatcsthat many
many scholars
scholarsand
and thinkers,
thinkers, who areare still within the
the
old of Christianity,
Christianity,are gradually coming
arc gradually coming to agree
agrcewith thethe Islamic points of
lslamic points
'iew about
'iew about Jesus,
Jesus,in many
many cases
caseswithout realizing
realizing it. This corresponds
correspondsto my
onviction that the
the more
more scientific
scientificand biblical studies
and biblical studiesadvance,
advance,thethe more
morc they
they
viii
vill agree
agreewith Islam.
Islam. In other words,the
other words, thc Islamic
Islamictruth isis more
more evident
evidentwith the the
)assageof time.
lassage the Holy Quran
time. God in the Quran hints
hints to this in the
the following verse:
verse:
We shall show them Our signs
shall show signs in the horizons and in
horizons and in themselves,
themselves, till it
them that itit is the truth. (41:531
s clear to them (41 :53)

lt. J.
M.J.
It{TFODUCTIOTU
INTRODUCTION
The view of Jesus
lslamic view
Thc Islamic lics between
Jcsuslies bctwecntwotwo extremes.
cxtrems. TheThe Jews,
Jcws, who
who
rcjcctedJesus
rejected Jcsusasasaa Prophet
Prophetof God.,
God, called
calledhim
him an
an impostor.
impostor.TheThe Christians
Christianson on
the other
the other hand,
hand,consider
considerhimhim to
to be
bc the son of God
the son God and wonhip him
and worship him as
assuch.
such.
Islamconsiders
Islam considcrsJesus asone
Jesusas grcatProphets
thc great
onc of the Prophetsof GodGod and
andrespects
respccts him as
him as
much as
much Abraham,Moses
as Abraham, Mosesandand Muhammad.
Muhammad.This This is
is in
in conformity
conformity with
with the
the
Islamic point ofview
Islamicpoint of vicwof the oncness
thconeness theoneness
God,the
of God, oncncss guidancc,and
Divineguidance,
of Divine and
the complimentary
the complimcntaryrole role of the
thc subsequent
subscqucnt mcssages
messages of God's
God'smessengers.
mcsscngcrs. Thc
The
csscnce
essence of Islam, whichis
lslam,which isthe willingsubmission
thcwilling submission to the
to thewill of God,
God,was revealcd
wls revealed
to Adam
to Adam who passedit on
who passed on to
to his
hischidlren.
chidlrcn.All fohowing
followingrevelations
revelations to
to Noah,
Noah,
Abraham,Moses,
Abraham, Moses,Jesus andfinally
Jesusand finally Muhammad
Muhammadwere wereinin conformity with that
conformitywith that
messagc
message additionto some
in addition somcelaboration definethe
elaborationto define therelation
relationbetween
betweenman
man andand
God, man
God, manand man,man
and man, manandand his environment,and
hisenvironment, live.according
and to live.according to God's
God's
instruc'tions.
instructions. Thus, any
Thus, any contradiction
contradictionamong rcvealcdr~ligions
among revealed religionsis viewcdby
is viewed by
Islam as
Islam as aa man-made elcmentintroduced
man-madcelement introducedinto
into these religions.The
thcscreligions. positionof
The position
Jesus the three
Jesusin the threemajor religions:Judaism,
major religions: Judaism,Christianity
ChristianityandandIslam,
Islam,should
shouldnotnot
be an
be an exception.
cxoeption.
Although the
Although the Qur'an
Qur'andoes prcscntaa detailed
not present
docsnot dctailedlife-account
life-accountof Jesus,
Jcsus,it
highlightsthe
highlights importantaspects
the important aspcctsof his
his birth,
birth, his mission,his
his mission, his ascension
asccnsion to
to
hcavenand
heaven passess
and passess judgcmcnts on the
judgements on thc Christian
Christianbeliefs
bcliefsconcerning
concerninghim.
him.

MARY
The Qura'nic
The accountof Jesus
Qura'nicaccount startswith
Jesusstarts with the
the conception
conceptionof hishis mother,
mother,
Mary. The
Mary. Thc wife
wife of Imran,
Imran, Mary's
Mary'smother,
mother,vowed
vowedto to dedicate
dedicateher
hcr child to the
child to the
scrviceof God
service the temple.
God in the temple.Zacharia, who took
Zacharia,who took charge
chargeof Mary,
Mary, used
usedto fiRd
find
food with
food with Mary,
Mary. When
Whenhe askedher
heasked hcr how
howshe gotit she
shcgot sheanswered that it was
answercdthat wasfrom
from
God. The
God, The Quranic verscsread:
Quranicverses read:
When the wife of Imran 'Lord, you, in dedication,
When lmran said,
said. 'Lord, I have
havevowedto you, dedication,
within my womb.
what is within womb. Please
Pleaseaccept
accept it from me,mq youyott are
arethe
the Hearer and
Knower'.And
And when she gave birth
shegave hirth to her she 'Lord,l given birth
Knowe,', shesaid,
said,'Lord, I have
havegiven
ta her,
to her, a female...
female...And have named
And I have namcd her her Mary anddnd commend
commendher to You
toYou
with her seed, protactthem
seed,to protect tham from thethe accursedSatan. Lord received
accursedSatan.'' Her Lordreceived
the child with gracious favour, goodnassshe
favour, and by His goodness sDagrew up comely,
comely,
Zacharis charge of
Zacharia taking charge hel Whenever
of her. Whenever Zacharia
Zacharia went to her in the
'Mary', he said, 'how
provisioned. 'Mary',
senctuary,he found her provisioned.
sanctuary, 'how comes this
said, comas this to
youT 'From
God, sha
you?' 'From God', she answa red. Truly
answered. God provisionsfor whomsoever
Truly Godprovisions whomsoevarHe
will without
will without reckoning. (3:35-71
reckoning. (3:35·7)

-_5 s_
-
GLAD TIDINGS
GLAD TIDINGS AND JESUS·S BIRTH
AND JESUS'S BIRTH
Mary bccame
When Mary
Whcn woman, thc
became Ia womrn, Spirit (the
Holy Spirit
the Holy Archangel Gabricl)
(the Archangcl Gabriel)
appeared to
appcared to her
heras
as ra mrn bringing her
man bringing news of
the ncws
her the son. We
ofaa son. We read the following
read the following
dialogue in
dialogue in thc
the Qur'an
Qur'an bctwecn Mary and
between Mary the angcls:
and thc angels:
'MEry, you good
gives You good tidings of of aa Word
When the angels
Whan said, ·Mary. God
dngels said, God gives Word
from
from HimHim whose
whose name
iamers is Messiah
A'fsssre h Jesus,
Jesus. son
son of MarY;
ofMary; high
high honoured
honouredshall shall
he
he be
he in
in this world
world and
and thd
the next,
next. near
near stationed
stationed to
to God.
God. He
He shall
shall speak
speak to
to
men in
man in the cradle,
cradle. and
and of age.and
of age. righteoushe
and righteous shall be.''Lord',
he shallbe. saidMary'
• ·Lord·. saidMary.
'how shall 'Even so' he
·how haveaa son
shattII have seeingno
son seeing no mortal
mortal has touched me7
has touched me?· ·Even so· he
said. 'God createswhat He will.' decreesa thing He does
will. • When He decrees doesbut say sa|
said,·Goducreates
to it.
to uBe • and
it, "Be"n and itit is.' (3:45-7)
is.'(3:45'4
conceived the
Mary conccivcd miraculoJ,lsly and
the child miraculopsly distant place
retired to a distant
and retircd place wherc
where
she awaited
shc awaited hcrher dclivery.
delivery. TheThe Qur'an entitled 'Mary' tells us
chapter entitled'Mary'tells
Qur'an in a chapter us how
how
Mary feltfelt and
and what
what the Jews told her
the Jcws when she
her when brought the
she brought child home:
the child home:
She conceived him
Sheconcaived withdrew with
him and withdrew him to a distant place.
with him place. And And the
birthpangs
birthpangssurprised
surprisedher bY the trunk
by the trunk of thethepalm-tree.
palm-tree. She She said. ·would I
said,'would
had died before
had heforethis. hecomea thing forgotten.'
this, and become forgotten. • The The one from below
'Do grieve; your has set below you I
a rivulet
her cal:~d he,, ·00 not
tal!.td to hp.... see.
see, Lord
Lordhas set
and shake toward you
and shake thepalmtrunk,
you the palmtrunk, and there cometumbling
shallcome
there shall tumbling upon upon
you dates
you dates fresh
lresh and ripe.
ripe. Eat
Eat therefore,
therefore. and drink,
drink. and
andbe be comforted;
comforted; and
andifif
you
you should
should see seeany mortal.
mortal, say, "l have
say,"1 All'Merciful a fast,
vowed to the All-Merciful
have vowed fast,
and today
todayI will
wilt not
not speak
speakto any Thenshe
man."" Then
any man. brought the child to her
shebrought
folk
'Mdry, you have have surely
surely committed a
folk carrying him; and they they said.
said, 'Mary. you
monstrous thing. Sister of Aaron,
monstrous thing. Aaron, your
Yourfather was was not
not a wicked man, nor
wicked man,
was
was your
your mother
motheraa woman
woman unchaste.
unchaste.' pointed to
• Mary pointed child; but they
the child;
to the they
said, 'How is
who is still inthe cradle, a little child?'He
stitlin the cradle. a little child?' He
said,'How shallshattwewe speak
speakto to one
one who
'Lo. am God's given me
hasgiven me the Bookand
the Book mademe
and made me aa
said,'Lo, II am
said. God'sservant;
servant;GodGodhas
Prophet. Blessed
Prophet.Blessed He
Ha has
has made
made me,
me, wherever
wherever I
I may
may be;
be; and
andHe He has
has enioined
enjoined
me
me toto pray.
pray, andand to give the
to give thealms,
alms, so as II live.
long as
so long likewiseto
andlikewise
live,and cherish
to cherish
my
my mother;
mother; He He has
hasnot not made
made me me arrogant
arrogant or wicked.Peace
or wicked Peacebe upon me,
he upon me,
the
th,eday
daVII was
wasborn,
born, andand the day II die.
the day and the
die, and the dayday II am raisedup
am raised up alive.'
alive-'
(19:22-23)
(l9:22'23)

NOT
NOTTHE
THESONSON OF OF GOD
GOD
In
In the
the same
same chapter,
chapter, following the above
following the quotation, God
above quotation, God assured
assured
Muhammad
Muhammadand andthe
thewhole thatwhat
worldthat
wholeworld whatwas mentioned
wasmentioned aboveisisthe
above truth
fhetruth
about
aboutJesus
Jesusalthough
althoughthe
theChristians mightnot
Christiansmight Jcsusisisnot
it.Jesus
bclicveit.
notbelieve thcson
notthe of
sonof
God.
God.HeHc was,
was,obviously
obviouslyenough,
enough,the Mary.The
of Mary.
sonof
theson verses
Theverses continue:
continue:

-6-
 That is Jesus,
That Jesus, son Mary, in word of
ofMary,
sonof truth, concerning which they are
oftruth,
doubting. ltIt is not for God
doubting. Godto
to take Himl When He
Him. Glory be to Himl
takea son unto Him,
decreesa thing,
decrees thing. He but says to it "8e",
but says is. (l9:34-Sl
"Be", and it is. (19:34-5)
strong statement
this strong
After this statement about
about thc nature of Jesus,
the nature God directed
Jesus, God directed
Muhammad to call
Muhammad call the Christians to a fair
the Christians deal: to worship
fair dcal: worship the
the one
one God:
God:
Surely Lard,andyour
Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord, serve Him.
Lord,so sarve Him. Ihis is the straight
This rs straight
path.
path. f(19:36)
l9:36)
The rejection
The rejection of the
the idca
idea of God
God having son is
having a son reported later
is rcported later in thc
the samc
same
chapter with
chaptcr with cvcn
even strong€r
stronger words:
words:
'The All-merciful has taken
taken unto Himself a son.' son.' You
And they say,
And say, 'The All-merciful You
advanced something hideous.
have indeed advanced hideous. The heavensdre
Theheavens are well nigh rent
of it and the
the earth split asunder, and the
split asunder, mountains well nigh fall down
the mountains
crashing for that
crashing that they have attributed to the
they have son: and it
the All-merciful a son:
behoves
behovesnot the All-merciful to take
the All-merciful take a son.
son.None there in the heavens
None is there heavens
and earth
earth but he comes
comes to thethe All-merciful asas a servant. (l9:88-931
servant.(19:88-93)
The
The Qur'an
Qur'an recognizes
recognizes the
the fact
fact that
that Jesus had no
Jesushad father but
humanfather
no human this
but this
docs not make him the son God God
does not make him the son of God or God Himself.
Himself. By
By this
this criterion
criterion Adam
Adam
would
would have been more
havebeen moreentitled
entitledto be
be the
the son God because
sonof God because hehe had neithcraa
had neither
father
fathernor
nor aa mother.
mother.So, the Qur'an
So,the Qur'an draws
draws attention
attention to
to the
the miraculous
miraculous creation
creation
of both
both in the
the following
followingverse:
verse:
Truly
fruly the likeness
likenessofo/ Jesus, God's sight.
Jesus, in God's r'sas
sight, is as Adam's likeness: He
likeness;He
created him of
created ol dust.
dust, then
then said
saidHe
He unto him, "8e", and he was.
him, "Be", (3:59)
was. (3:59)
The
The Qur'an
Qur'anrejects the concept
rejcctsthe the Trfnity
conceptof the Trinity as stronglyas
as strongly rejectsthe
as it rejects the
sonshipof Jesus.
sonship Jesus.This is because
This is bccauseGod
God isis One. This is
One. This the essence
is the cssenceof all all
monotheistic
monotheisticrevelations.
rcvelations.Thrce,by
Three, reasonand
by reason by simple
and by simplearithmetic, are not
arithmetic,are not
one.
one.The
TheQur'an
Qur'anaddresses
addresses theChristians
the Christiansin thcfollowing
in the vcrses
followingverses in thcchapter
in the chapter
entitled *'Women".
cntitled"Women".
People
Peopleof the
the Book,
Book,gogo not beyond the bounds
not beyond your religion.
bounds in your religion, and say
say
not as
as to
to God
Godbut
butthe Truth.The
the Truth. TheMessiah. Jesu,s,son
Messiah,Jesus, sanofMary,
of Mary, was
wasonly the
onlythe
Messengerof God,
Messenger God,and His His Word that He
Word that He committed
committedto Mary, and aa spirit
to Mary, spirit
from
from Him.
Him. So
So believe
believe in God and His
God and Messengers,and say
His Messengers, not.'Three',
sdynot. 'Three',
Refrain, better
Refrain. betteris you. God
is it for you. Godis only One
One God. Glory be
God.Glory to Him -- that He
be to He
should
should have
haveaa son!
sonl ToToHim
Him belongs
belongsall
all that is in
that is in the heavensand
the heavens in the
and in the
earth,
earth, God
God suffices for aa guardian.
suffices for guardian.
The Messiah will not disdainto
The Messiah will not disdain beaaservant
to be servantof of God, neither the
God,neither angels
theangels
who
who are close to Him.
are closeto Him. Whosoever
Whosoaver disdains
disdains to
lo serve
serva Him
Him and
and waxes
waxes proud,
proud,

_7_
-7 -
He
Ha will
will .ssuredly
issuradly muster thcm to Him, .11
mustcr them dl of them.
them.
thc believers,
As for the bcliavcrt , who dodo deeds
dccds of righteousness,
righteousnass,He will paythem
He willpay them
thair rewards
their rewards in full, and He
andHe will givc
willgive thcm
them mora,
more, of His bounty;liS
ofHis bounty; them
as for them
disdain lind
who disdain and wax proud. them
wax proud, thcm He Hc will punish with aE SIlVllre
will punish scvcrc
punishment, and thllY
punishment, thay shall lor them, aparl
find for
shall not find God, aefriand
apart from God, friend or
7l
helpar.(4:171-3)
helper. l4:t -Jl
The vcrsescontinue
The verses draw the
continucto draw theattention of pcople,all people,
attcntionofpeople, pcople,to tbe proof
theproof
which Muhammad
which Muhammadbrought. brought.God knowsthat
God knows pcoplefrequently
that people frequentlyinherit
inhcrit certain
certain
ideas and
ideas and beliefs which include,
bcliefs which include, among
among other
other things,
things, the
the mistakes
mistakesandand
interpretations prcviousgenerations.
interpretationsof previous generations. They haveno
They have no way
wayof discovering such
discovcringsuch
mistakcsfor themselves.
mistakes thcmsclvcs.ThusThus God prescntsthe
God presents thc Qur'an such
as aa proof to such
Qur'an as
peoplc.He
people. says:
He says:
o
O men, manifest proof hasnow
men a manifestproofhas naw come
come totoyou Lord; We
you from your Lord; We have
have
sent you a clear
sent down to you clear light.
light. As for those
those who believe
believein God,
God, and hold
fast to Him,
fast Him, He will surely
Ha will surely admit
admit them Him, andbounty,
them to mercy from Him, and bounty, and
guide them to Him on a straight
will guide path. (4:173-5)
straight path. l4:173-51
The denial
The dcnial of Jesus's
Jesus'sdivinity (and for that
divinity (and that matter
matter Mary's
Mary's divinity)
divinity) isis
presented
presented theQur'an
in the Qur'anas topicof dialogue
asaa topic dialogueatat the
theDay of Judgemcntbetween
DayofJudgement betwcen
God Alniightyand
God Almighty and Jesus.
Jesus.All the mcsscngers
themessengers thenations
and the
and nationswill bcgathcred
will be gathered in
hont of God
front and He
God and Hc will ask the messengers
ask the messengcrs how they
how thcy were
wercreceived
rcccivedby theirtheir
pcoplcsand
peoples what they
and what they said them. Among
said to them. thosc who
Among those who are going to be
are going be
qucstioncdis
questioned is Jesus:
Jcsus:
'O you say
And when God
And said, '0 Jesus
God said, Mary, did you
Jesus son of Mary, men,
sdy unto men,
"Take me and my mother
"Take gods, apart
mother as gods, dpart from
from God?"
God7" He He said, 'To You be
said,'ToYou he
lt is not
gloryl It not mine to say what I have
tu say have no right to. lf I indeed said
to. If Yw
it, You
said it,
knew it. knowing what is within my soul,
*new it, soul, 8nd do not know what is within
and I do
Your
Your soul," Youknow the
soul; You unseen. I only said to them what You
thc things unseen. Yw did
command
command me: "serve God,
me: "serve God, my Lord and your your Lord." And I was witnegs
was a witness
them, while
over them, whila I remained among them; but when You
but when Yw did t8ketake me to
Yanrsnlf,You
YourseN, Yw were Ywr*lt
YourseN the
the Watchgr
WatchJfJr over them; You
You are the witness of
witness
everything.
everything. If Yw punish them,
lf You them, they areareYwr seruants,if
Your servants, ilYw forgivethem,
You forgive them,
Youare
You are the Almighty, the
the Almighty, All-wise.' God
the All-wise.' God said,
said,'This day the
'This is the day the truthful
shall protitedby their truthfulness.
shallbe profited truthfulnass.For await gardensunderneath
Forthem awaitgardens underneath
rivers flow, therein
which rivers forevar, God being
therein dwelling forever, wall-pleased with
heing well-pleased
well-plcased with
them and they well-pleased with Him: That is the mighty
Him; That tiumph'.
mighty triumph'.
(5:tt&t9)
(5:116-19)

MtSSlOt{
JESUS',SMISSION
JESUS'S
Now
Now one
onc might
might ask
ask : If
If the
thc Qur'an
Qur'an denies thc Trinity and
dcnicr the thc sonship
and the sonrhip of
Jesus,
Jcsus,what
what was
was the
thc real
real mission Jcsusaccordins
missionof Jesus thc Qur'an?
accordingto the Qur'an?

-8-
 Jesus wasaa link
Jesuswas link in
in aa long chain of
long chain prophetsand
of prophets and messengers
messengcrs sent
scnt by
by God
God toto
various societies
various societiesand nations 'whenever
and nations whenevertheythey needed
neededguidance
guidanceor or deviated
deviatedfrom
from
the teachingsof
the teachings of God. Jesuswas
God, Jesus was especially prcpared by
espcciallyprepared by God
God toto be
be sent
senttoro the
thc
Jewswho
Jews who had
had deviated
dcviatedfromfrom the
the teachings
teachingsof of Moses
Mosesand
and other
other Messengers.
Messengers. As
As
he was miraculously
hc was miraculouslysupported
supportedb.y by God
God in in conception,
conception,birth
birth and
and childhood,
childhood, he hc
wasalso
was supportedby
alsosupported numcrousmiracles
by numerous miraclesto provethat
to prove that he
hewas
wasaa messenger
m€ssenger from
from
God. However,
God. However,thethe majority
majority of of the
the Jews
Jewsrejected
rejectedhis
his ministry.
ministry. The
The Qur'an
Qur'an tells
tells
us aboutJesus'smission
us about Jesus's mission in the following
in the following verses
verseswhich
which are
areaa continuation
continuationof the the
verses quoted earlier
verscsquoted earlierinin which the.glad
which the, glad tiding
tiding was
was brought
brought toto Mary:
Mary:
And He will
And He wilt teach
teach him the
the 800k,
Book,the
the wisdom,
wisdont, the the Torah,
Torah,the
the Gospel
Gospel
and make himhim a Messenger
Messenger to thethe child/en
childrbn of israel
israelsaying,
saying, "1"l have come to
you with
with a sign from your Lord Lord. I will
will create for you out of clay as the
likeness bird; then I wl?1
likeness of a bird: will breathe
breathe into it,it. and it will
witl be a bird, byhy the
power of God.
power will also
God. I will heal the blind
also heal hlind and the leper and bring hring to life
tife the
dead, by the
dead, power of God.
the power God. It will
will inform
inform you too of the thingsthings you eat,
eat, and
and
what you treasure up in your houses.
what houses. Surely
Surely in thatthat is a sign
sign for you ifif you
Likewise I will
are believers. Likewise will confirm
confirm thethe t."uth
uuth of thethe Torah
Tarah that is
rs before
me. and
me, and to make
make lawful
lawful to you certain
certain things
things that
that before
before were
were forbidden
forbidden
you. I have come to you with
unto you. with a sign from
from your Lord:
Lord; so fear God,
God, andand
Surely God is my Lord
obey me. Surely Lard and your Lord; so serve serye Him. This
fhis is a
path", (3:45-51)
straight path".
straight (3:45-51 l

another verse
In another verseof the
the Qur'an,
Qur'an, Jesus
Jesuscqnfirmed
co.nfirmedthe
the validity
validity of the
the Torah
which was
which was revealed
revealedto Moses
Mosesandand he
he also brought the
also brought the glad
glad tidings
tidingsof the
thc coming
coming
messengerafter
of a final messenger aftcr him. This isis clearly
clearly indicated
indicated in the
the following verse:
versc:
And when Jesus 'chiklren
And when Jesas son
son of
of Mary
Mary said, 'children of of Israel,
lsrael, I am indeed
indeed thethe
Messenger to you, confirming
Messenger confirming thethe Torah that
that is before
before me, andgiving
and giving good
good
tidings of
of a Messenger
Messenger who who shall
shall come after me, whose name name shall
shall be the
the
praised one (note
(note that
that this is translation
this is translation of AhmadAhmad which
which isis Prophet
Prophet
M u hamma d ' snam
Muhammad's e) ((61:6)
name). 61: 6)
The
The messe nger.ofwhom Jesus
messenger.ofwhom Jesus gave
gave glad
glad tidings
tidings is
is referred
referred to in both the
the old
old
and testaments~of the
new tcstamentsrof
and new the Bible.
Bible. The old testament
testament contains
contains several
several prophecies
prophecies
that
that apply
apply only to fhe
the Prophet
Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad. II quote
quote only oneone of those
those which
which
applies
applies to none
none except
except Prophct
Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad. This This prophecy
prophecy which
which was
was
addressed
addressed to Moses
Moses said that God will send
said that send among
among the the 'brethren'
"brethren' of the
the
Israelites,
Israelites, a prophet
prophet like Moses who will be
like Moses founder, a leader,
be a foundcr, leader, and
and an exemplar
exemplar
of
of a community
community of believers.
believers. We rcad
read this
this in the
the following
following verses
verses of
of Deut.
Deut. Ch.
r18:8 :
I will
will raise them a8 prophet
raise up for them like you from
prophet like from among
among their brethren;
brethren;

_9_
and II witt
and will put My words
put My words in
in his mouth, and
hismouth" andhehe shall speak tothem
shall spaat to them all that II
allthat
commandhim.
command him. And
And whoever
whoever will giva heedto
will not give heed to MyMy words which he
words which shall
he shall
speak inin My nam8~ II Myself
My name, MyseH will
will reguire
require itit of
of him. (Deut l8:18-2O)
him. (Deut 18:18-20)
Anyone
Any who is
onc who is familisr
familiar with
with Prophet
Prophet Muhammad's see that
life, can easily sec
Muhammad's lifc, that
no onc
no one fits thc
the above description better
better than
than Prophet Muhammad. ItIt was
Prophet Muhammad. was
Prophet Muhammad,
Prophct Muhammad, not not Jesus,
Jesus, who
who like Moses was
like Moses was born from ordinary
born from ordinary
parents, got marricd,
parcnts, married, founded a faithful
faithful community, established a great law and
community, established
died a natural death.
dicd death.
Careful study of
Carcful of thc
the New Tcstament
Testament shows same prophet is
shows that this same
referred to by Jesus
referred Jesus in John 14:16,17:
14:16,17:
And tI witt
And will pray
pray the and He will
the Father, and will give dnother Counselor, to
give you another
ba with
be with you for ever~ even
for ever, even the
the Spirit of truth.
Spirit of
Later in John specific
l^ater specific dcscription
description of
ofthis Spirit of
this Spirit Truth and his role is given
of Truth given
a we rread
ass we c ad in JJohn
oh n 16: 13,14.:
1 6 :1 3 ,1 4 .:
When
When thethe Spirit of Truth
Spirit of comes~ he
fruth comes, he will guide you
will guide you into a/l the
into all truth, for
the truth, fOI
ne
ne will
witt not
not speak
speak on hfs his own authority~ but
own authority, whatever
but whatever he hears will
hears he will
speak
speak and
and he will dectare to you the
witl declare the things
things that are to come. He will will glorify
glorify
Me...
Me...
The terms
terms of the
the prophecy
prophecydo not warrant the the conclusion usuallyattributed
conclusionusually attributed
to this
this prophecy,
prophecy, namely
namely that
that it refers
refers to the
the Holy Ghost. Thc
Ghost. The Holy Ghost
Ghost
explanation is excludelt
cxplanation is excluded by a
a previous
previous verse
versc in John which
which reads:
reads:
Nevertheless
Nevertheless I/ tell
tell you the truth:
truth: it
fi is
rs to your advantages that I go
advantages that
away, for if
if I do not
not go away, the counselor
counselor will
will not
not come you.
come to you.
It is
is clear
clcar from the
the Bible
Bible that
that the
the Holy Ghost
Ghost used
usedto visit men before
visit men and
beforeand
the life-time of Jesus.
during the Jesus.John was
was filled with the
the Holy Ghost
Ghost before he was
beforc he was
born and
and Jesus
Jesushimself
himsclf received
reccivedthe
thc Holy Ghost
Ghost in the shapeof aa dove.
the shape dove.
The
The characteristics
characteristicsof this counselor,
counselor,asascan
can be derived from the
be derived prophecy,
the prophecy,
are the
are thc following:
1.
l. He
Hc will not
not come
come until Jesus
Jesusleaves.
leaves.
2.
2. He
He will stay
stay forever,
forever, with the
the believers.
believers.
3.
3. He
Hc will
will glorify
glorify Jesus.
Jesus.
4.
4. He
Hc will
will speak
speakwhat
what he
he hears
hearsfrom
from God.
God.
These
Thesccharacteristics
characteristicsare
are applicable
applicableonly
only to
to Prophet Muhammad, as
Prophet Muhammad, the
as the
following
following brief
bricf remarks
remarksshow:
show:
J.l. Prophet
Prophct Muhammad
Muhammad was wasthe
theonly
only messenger
mcsscnger that cameafter
that came afterJesus. There
Jcsus.There
was
wasaa period
periodof
of six
six centuries
centuriesbetween them.Jesus'smission
betweenthem waslimited
Jesus's mission was limited to
to
thc Mlost
the "lostsheep
sheepofthe
of thechildren
childrenof
of Israel",
Israel",but Muhammad'swas
but Muhammad's wasaauniversal
universal

_10_
_t0_
 message. This
mcssagc. This explains
explains thc
the sccond
second characteristic-
characteristic.

2.
2. Only Prophet
Only Prophet Muhammad's
Muhammad's message
message waswas intcndcd
intended by God to
by God be aa
to be
universal and everlasting message. This
universal and everlastingmessage.This agrees
agrees with
with the
the statemcnt
statement that
that thc
the
counselor will
will stay forever with
with the
the faithful.

3.
3. No other prophet glorified
glorified Jesus
Jesus as
as much as
as Prophet Muhammad did.
Prophet Muhammad
Jews called
The Jews accused his mothcr
called him an impostor and accused of immorality.
mother of
to crucify him. Prophet Muhammad considered
tried to
They tricd considered Jesus as great
Jesus as great
Prophet and
Prophet and the "Word of
the "Word of God". The Qur'an attributed to him miracles
Qur'an attributed miracles
are not menti<,ned
that are mentiuned in the Bible. considered the most chastc
Bible. Mary is considered chaste
woman and and the best of all women
best of paradise. Thus did Muhammad
women in paradisc.
really glorify Jesus.
really Jesus.

4.
4. The fourth characteristic
characteristic also
also applies
applies neatly
neatly to Prophct Muhammad. Thc
Prophet Muhammad. The
Qur'an
Qur'an was
was revealed
revealed to Prophet
Prophet Muhammad through the angel
angel Gabriel.
Gabriel.
When thcthe angel
angel finished
finished reciting
reciting the
the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad used
Qur'an, Prophet used to
convey verbatim to his
convcyverbatim his companions
companionswhatwhat he heard from the
he heard angelwithout
the angel without
adding, changing or forgetting
adding, changing forgetting anything.
anything. The Qur'anQur'an also describes
also describes
Prophet Muhammad
Prophet Muhammad saying saying"He
"Hi does speakout of his
doesnot speak his own fancy.He
own fancy. He
*He will
utters what is
utterswhat is revealed (53:4,5).If
revealedto him." (53:4,5). tf we
we compare
comparethis with, "He
this with,
not speak
speakon hishis own authority",we
own authority", we see
seethe
thestriking
strikingsimilarity betweenthe
similaritybetween the
characteristics
characteristics of the
the counselor
counselor and
and those
those of Prophet
Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad. These
These
and
and other
otherprophecies
propheciesin the the old
old and
and new
newtestaments
testaments predict unequivocal
predictin unequivocal
terms
termsthethe advent
adventof Prophet
ProphetMuhammad
Muhammad who who isis rejected
rejectedby thethe Jews and
Jewsand
Christianson the
Christians the basis
basisof misunderstanding
misunderstandingand and bias rather than
bias rather thc
than on the
basis
basisof careful
carefulstudy
studyof the
the Bible,
Bible,the
the Qur'an
Qur'an and
and modern findingsin
modernfindings the
in the
field of comparative
field comparativc religion.
religion.

JESUS
J E S U S RAISED
R A I S E D TO
T O HEAVEN
HEAVEN
*the straight
It is
It is aa sad
sadfact
fact of history
history that not many
many follow "the straight path", to which
people
people were called by
wcre called by Jesus.
Jesus. HeHe was
was followed
followed by by aa fewfew disciples
disciples who wcre
who were
inspired
inspiredby by God
God toto support
support him.
him. Not only
only that,
that, but
but the
thc non-believers
non-bclicvcrsplotted (as
plottcd(as
they did to
they did to Muhammad
Muhammad six six centuries
ccnturies later)
later) to
to kill
kill Jesus,
Jesus,butbut God had a bctter
God had a better
plan
plan for him and
for him and his
his followers
followcrs asas the
thc Qur'an
Qur'an tells
tclls usus in
in the
thc following verscs:
following verses:
'who will my
And when
And when Jesus Jesus perceived
perceived their
their unbelief,
unbelief, he
he said,
said, 'wfJo will be
be my
helpers
helpers inin the
the cause
causeof of Godl
G od?The
fhe Apostles
Apostlessaid, 'we will
said,'we will be
be helpers
helpersofof God.
G od.''
We
We believe
believe in in God;
God; bebe witness
witness of
of our
our submission.
suhmission. Lord,Lord, we we believe in that
believc in that

_11_
- ll -
 Youhave
You have sent down, and
scnt down, and we followthe
we follow Messenger.Inscribe
the Messenger. lnscribe usus therefore
therefore
those who bear
with those witness.'' And they devised,
hcar witness. devised.and God devised, and
God devised,
God is
God is the bestof devisers.
the best devisers.When
When God said.'Jesus.
God said, 'Jesus, II will
will take you to
take you to me
me
will raise
and will you to
raiseyou Me, and II will
to Me, youof those
will purify you thosewhowhodo believe. II
notbelieve.
do not
will set
will set your followers above unbelievers till
above the unbelievers till the Ressurrect;on
RessurrectionDay. Day.
Then unto Me shall you
Then you return,
return, and I will decide
decidebetween you, as
between you, as to what
you were
you were at variance
variance on.on. As for the unbelievers, punish them with a
unbelievers,I will punish
punishment in this
terrible punishment this worldand
world and the next; they
the next; haveno helpers.
they shall have helpers.''
(3:52-6)
As the
As thc above versesindicate,
aboveverses indicate,Jesus wasraised
Jesuswas raiscdto to heaven
heavenbefore
beforchehedied.
died.
This means
This meansthatthat according
accordingto thetheQur'an
Qur'anhe wasnot
hewas not crucified.
crucified.It was
wasthe planof
theplan
thc enemies
the enemiesof Jesus Jesusto put him
to put him to death
deathonon the cross,but
thc cross, but God
Godsaved
savedhim
him and
and
somebodyelse
somebody elsewas
wascrucified.
crucified.This plot and
This plot the false
and the accusationof Mary
falseaccusation Mary arearc
consideredby
considered thc Qur'an
by the Qur'anto to be someof the
besome thc sins
sinsof thethe non-believing
non-believing Jews.
Jews.All
this is
this is clear
clearin in the
thc following quomtion:
followingquotation:
And for their unbelief,
And unbelief, and their uttering against against Mary a mighty
calumny, and for their their saying, 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary,
saying, 'We slew
the Messenger
the Messengerof God'... yet they
God'...yet they did not slay him, neither crucified
slayhim, crucified him,
him,
likenessof that
only a likeness that was
was shown
shown to them.them. Those
Thosewho who are
are at variance
variance
concetning him surely are in doubt regarding him, they have no
concf:tning
knowledge of him, except exceptthe following of surmise; and they did not slay slay
him ofol certainty...
certainty... no indeed,'
indeed; God
God raised him up to Him; God God is Almighty,
There is not
All-wise. There not one
one of the people of the Book
the people Book but will assuredly
assuredly
believe in him before his his death,
ddath, and on the tha Ressurrection
f,essunection Day he will will be IIa
witness against
witness againstthem. (4:t 56-91
them. (4:156·9)
Who was
Who was the personcrucified
the person crucified instead
insteadof Jesus?
Jesus?The
The Qur'an
Qur'an does
does not
not
elaborateon
elaborate on this point nor
this point nor does give any
doesit give any answer
answcrtoto this question.The
this question. The
interpretersof the
interpreters the Qur'an have suggested
Qur'an have suggested aa few
few names.
names.But
But all these
theseare
are
individual guesses
individualguesses not supported
not supportedby thc Qur'an
by the Qur'anor the
the sayings
sayingsof the
the Prophet
Prophct
Muhammad.
Muhammad.
This means
This that Jesus
meansthat Jcsuswill come
comcback
backbefore
beforethe
the Day of Judgement.Again
Day ofJudgement. Again
thc Second
the SecondComing
Coming is is not clearly mentionedin the
clcarly mentioned thc Qur'an.
Qur'an. However,
However,thethc
explanatorsof the
explanators the Qur'an understoodthe
Qur'an understood the last
last verse
vcrscof the
the above quotation:
abovequotation:
there is not ona of the people of
not one ol the Book
Eook but will
will assuredly
assurcdlybelieve
believa in him
belore his death,
before his dcath,and on the ResurrectionDay
the Resurrection Dayhe willbe
will he a witness
witness against
against
tham,
them, to mcan
mean that Jcsus
Jesus will comc
come back and all the
back and the Christians
Christians and
and the
the Jcws
Jews will
believe
believe in him bcfore
before he
he dies.
dies. This
This undcrstanding
understanding is supported
supported by authentic
authentic
sayings of thc
Bylngs the Prophct
Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad.

-_1 212_
-
P OI N TS TO
POINTS TO BE
B E CONSIDERED
CO NS I DER ED
After reading
After rcading this prescntation aa believing
this presentation believing Christian
Christian might
might say .This isis
say "This
what the
what the Muslims,
Muslims, whom
whom we we always
always considered
consideredasas heathens
heathensoror infidels,
infidcls, say
say
about Jesus."
about Jcsus." But
But the point of
the point of view
view which
which the
the Qur'an
Qur'an presents
presents deserves
deserves serious
serious
consideration, to
consideration, to say
say the
thc least.
least,by
by those
thosewho
who are
are really
really concerned
concernedabout
about God,
God,
faith and
faith and even
evenChristianity
Christianity itself
itself for
for the
the following
following reasons:
reasons:
I.l. The Qur'an
The Qur'an is the last
is the last version
vcrsionofof God's
God's revelation
revelarionandand what
what itit says
saysisis the
the
ultimate truth.
ultimate truth. This
This might
might not
not mean
meanmuch
much for
for those
thosewho
who dodo not
not believe
believein in
the Qur'an
the Qur'an asassuch.
such.However,
However,the the history
history of
of the
the Qur'an,
Qur'an, modern
modern textuai
textuai
criticism and
criticism and scientific
scicntific research
researchof of the
the content
content of of this
this scripture
scriptureleave
lcaveno no
about the
doubt about the truth it contains.
contains.The
The frequently
frequently made
madestatements
statementsthat that
the Qur'an
the Qur'an isis the
the word
word of Muhammad
Muhammad who who copied
copiecihishis information fromfrom
Jcwish and
Jewish and Christian sourcesis
Christian sources is made
made by
by people
people whowho do notnot know the thc
history of the
history the world, the the Qur'an
Qur'an or Muhammad.
Muhammad. The Thc first
first Arabic
Arabic
translation of the
translation the Bible
Bible appeared
appeared two centuries
c€nturies after Muhammad's
Muhammad's
mission. If
mission. If we
we addadd to this
this Muhammad's
Muhammad's illiteracy
illiteracy and
and the
the scarcity
scarcity of
religiousbooks
religious books in any any language
languageoutside
outsidechurches
churchesandand temples
templesin the the sixth
sixth
ccntury we
century we can
can understand
understandthe the absurdity
absurdity of this
this allegation.
allcgation.
2.
2. The oneness
onenessand
and universality
universality of God's
God's message
messagcrequires
requires that people
people
accept all the
accept the messengers
mcssengcrsof God.God. Rejecting
Rcjecting one
one of them
thcm amounts
amounts to
rejccting them all. The Jews
rejecting Jcws reject
reject Jesus's mission and Muhammad's
Jesus'smission
mission; the
mission; the Christians
Christians reject
reject Muhammad's
Muhammad's mission;
mission; whereas
whereas the
the
accept them
Muslims accept thcnt all,
all, but reject
reject incorrect
incorrect historical
historical interpretations
intcrpretations
and human
and elementsin these
human elements these missions.
missions.

3.
3. Because
Because of the
the Qur'an, Muslims lovelovc and respect Jesus
and rcspect Jesus as they love
as they love and
and
respcct
respect the
the Prophet
Prophet Muhammad. Morcover,
Moreover, the
the Qur'an
Qur'an rcports
reports some
some of
Jesus's
Jesus's miracles
miracles which areare not reported
reported in the
the present
present gospcl.
gospel. For
example,
example, the Qur'an tells
tells that Jcsus
Jesus spokc
spoke in thc
the cradle
cradle and was
was able
able to tell
pcople
people what they ate or trcasured
treasured in their houses, mention just a few.
houses, to mcntion few.

44.. It
It is common knowledge
knowledge that the divinity of of Jesus
Jesus was
was introduced
introduced by
Saint Paul and his followers
followers and was
was establishcd
established on thc
the dead
dead bodics of
bodies of
millions of
of Christians
Christians through history which evokcd
evoked thc
the Castillo's
Castillo's well-
known
known remark "To
"To burn
burn a man is not
not to
to provc
prove a doctrine."
doctrine."

5S.. Thc
The choicc
choice of the present
of the four gospels
present four gospels was
was imposcd
imposed in
in the
the conference
conference of
of
Nicca C.E. undcr
Nicea 325 C.E. under thc
the auspiccs
auspices of
of thc
the pagln
pagan Empcror
Emperor Constsntinc
Constantine for
for

-_13
13- _
 political purpolcs.
politicel purposes. Litcrally,
Literally, hundreds ofof gorpelc
gospels and religious writinp
writings
were considcred
wcrt considered apocqryha,
apocrypha, i.c.
i.e. books
books of
of doubtful authenticity. Some of
doubtful aufhenticity. of
those books
thorc books wcrc
were writtcn
written by Jesus's If thcy
Jesus's disciples. If they wcrc not morc
were not more
authentic than
authcntic than the four
four gospcls they were of
lospels they authenticity. Some of
of equal authcnticity. of
still arc
them still are availablc Gospel of
available such as the Gospel Barna6as and the
of Barnabas
Shepherd
thapherd of of Hermas agree with
which agrcc
Hermas which with the Qut'an.
Qur'an.

6. The Unitarian
Thc Unitarian concept and thc the humanness
humanness of Jesus is not
of Jssus only held by
not only
b\lt also
Muslims brrt also by Jews some early groups of
Jews and by somc christianity such
ofchristianity such as
as
the Ebionites,
thc Ebionites. the Cerinthians,
Cerinthians, thc
the Basilidians,
Basilidians, thc Capocratians and thc
the C;apocratians the
Hypisistarians to namc
Hypisistarians name scveral
several early sccts. Paulicians and
sects. The Arians, Paulicians
accepted Jcsus
Goths also acccptcd as a prophet of
Jesus as Even in the modcrn
of God. Evcn modern age
age
there are
thcrc are churchcs
churches in Asia, in Africa, church. and Jehova
Africa. the Unitarian church, Jehova
Witnesses
Witnesscs who do not worship Jesus Jesus as
as God.

7.
7. Most scrious
serious studies
studies of
of the Bible have contains a large
have shown that it contains large
portion of additions
podion additions which
which neither
neither Jesus
Jesus nor the
the writers
writers of the
the gospels
gospels
said. *put words
words into the
said. The church.
church, as
as Heinz
Heinz Zahrnt said,
said, "put the mouth of
Jesus
Jesuswhich hehe never
nevcr spoke
spoke and attributed actions
actions to him which he ncver
he never
performed."
performed." Those
Those conclusions
conclusions were
were arrived at by some members of the
somc members
church.
church. However,
Howevcr, they
thcy are
arc kept
kept secret
sccrctor available
availableonly to the specialists.
the specialists.
One
One of ,those,
.those,who has
has shown
shown that most
most of what
what the
the church saysabout
church says about
Jesus
Jesusis
is baseless
basclcssis
is Rudolf Augustein his book Jesus Son
Augustein in his Son of
of Man,
(published
(published in Germany 1972and
Gcrmany 1912 and translated
translated into English
English 1911).
1977).

8.
8. The
The problem
problem with present
presentChristianity
Christianity is is the personalityof Jesus
the personality which is
Jesuswhich is
completely
completelymisunderstood
misundcrstood,Jesus'sJesus's nature,
nature, mission
missionandand claimed
claimcd death
deathand
and
resurreCtion,
rcsurreCtion,are are all challenged
challengedby by studies
studiesin the the field.
field. One
One of those is aa
thosc is
entitlcd The
book entitled The Myth
Myth of God Incarnate
lncarnate whichwhich appeared
appeared 1977 (edited
I977 (edited
by John
John Hick) and and written
written by seven
seventheologian
theologianscholars
scholarsin England.
England.Their
conclusion
conclusion is is that
that Jesus *a man
.was "a
Jcsus,was man approved
approved by God, God, for special role
specialrole
withiQ the divine
withiq the divinc purpose.
purpose, and.....
and..... the
the later
later conception
conception of him as
as God
God
incarnate .... is
incarnate .... is aa mythological poetic way
mythological or poetic way ofexpressing
of expressinghis hissignificance
significance
for us."
us."
The
Thc best
bcst George
Gcorgc CareyC-areycould
could saysay in
in his
his attempt
attcmpt to refute
refutc the findings of
thc findings
those
those theologians
theologiansis is that
that unless
unlessoneone takes
takcs Jesus
Jesusas as God
God Incarnate
Incarnatc one one
won't
won't be able to
bc able to understand
understandJesus's
Jesus'smission
mission or or explain
explain its impact on
its impact on
people.
people.This
This definitely
definitelyis is aavery
very weak
weakargument
argumentbecause
becauseall greatprophets
all great prophcts
such as Abraham,
such as Abraham, Moses, Moses, and and Muhammad
Muhamqad have had aa tremendous
have had tremcndous
impact
impact on peoplcand
on people and none
nonc ofof them
thcm claimed
claimed that he was God
hc was God or or aa son
son of
of
God.
God.

__ 114_
4_
9.
9. concept of the
The concept Trinity is
thc Trinity is not, of course,
coursc, available
available even
cven in the prcsent
thc present
Biblc. There
Bible. arc statem~nts
Therc are statemqntswhich negate
negateit such
such as "The Lord
as'The Lord our God isis
one
one Lord (Math. 12:29)
Lord (Math. 12:29)and many others.
others.

t0.
10. It is
is worth noting
noting that Jesus ncverclaims
Jesusnever claims divinity even
evcn in the prcsenttext
the present tcxt
of the
thc Bible.
Biblc. The expression
cxprcssion"Son of God"God" cannot
cannot be bc said
said to have
have come
comc
from Jesus himsclf. Hasting in The
Jesus himself. fhe Dictionary
Dictionary of of the
the Bible
BrDle says
says
"Whethcr Jesus
"Whether Jesusused
usedit of himself
himsclf is
is doubtful."ln
doubttul." In my reading
rcadingof the
the Bible,
Bible,
I found instancesin John Chapter
found only two instances Chapter5 andand II
I I where
whereJesus
Jesususes
uses"son
of God" to refer
rcfer to himself. instanceswere
himself. Other instances were used
used by others.
others. Even
Even
those
thoseare vcry limited.
arc very limited. However.
Howcver, even "son of God" was
thc title "son
cvcn if the wasused
usedby
Jesus
Jesushimself
himself one
one should
should remember
rcmember the points:
thc following points:

a) As aa biblical
biblical scholar
scholarsaid. *semitic usage
said,"semitic usagewould never haveallowed
nev€rhave all.owedliteral
literal
sense eventhough
sensceven though such
suchan
an expression
expressionwould be interpretcdliterally
be interpreted the
literally in the
Hellenistic world of Jesus
Hellenistic Jesusfollowers".
followers".

b) The
The New Testament
Tcstamcnt Greek
Greck words
words used
uscd for "son" are pias and
are piss paida,
and paida,
which means
which means'servant' or'son
'servant' or 'son in the
the sense
senseof servant.
servant,are translatedson in
are translated
reference and servant in reference
Jesusand
referenceto Jesus refcrenccto others
others in some
sometranslations
translations
of the
thc Bible (Mufassir, P.
Biblc (Mufassir, P. IS).
l5).

c)
c) The
The title "son of man"
title "son man" which
which is
is aa self-designation
self-dcsignation of Jesus
Jesusand
and occurs
occurs818l
times gospclsis
the gospels
times in the is the
thc clearest
clearestdescription
descriptionand
and emphasis
emphasisby JesusJesusonon
his humanity.
his humanity. The The classical
classicalinterpretation given to this
interpretationgiven this title
title is
is that
that it is
is
used emphasizcthe
used to emphasize the human
human sideside of Jesus.
Jcsus.Now thethc question
questionwhich
which
suggests itsclf is
suggestsitself is : Do contemporary
contemporaryChristians
Christiansemphasize
emphasizethis
this aspect
aspectof
Jesus?
Jesus?

THE
T HE POPE
POPE CONTRADICTS
CO NT RA DI CT S THE T H E BIBLE
BIB L E
The traditional Biblical
Biblical account
account of Jesus's crucillxion is
Jesus'scrucifixion is that hehe was
was
arrested and
arrested and crucified
crucified by thethe orders
orders and plans of the
and plans pricst and
the chief priest and
Jewish
Jewish elders.
clders. This
This account
account waswas denied
denied in thethe 1960's
1960'sby the thc highest
highest
Catholic
CatholicChristian
Christianauthority,
authority,thethe Pope.
Pope. He issuedaa statement
He issued statemcntin which
which hehe
said
said the Jews had
the Jews nothing to do with
had nothing withJesus'scrucifixion.
Jesus's crucifixion. This
This definitely
definitcly
does
doescontradict
contradict the
thc Biblical
Biblical account.
account.You might say:
You might say : This
This is political
is aa political
decree.
decree. This agrees
agrees with whatwhat Muslims
Muslims are are saying:
saying: the
thc church
church had had
introduced
introduccd many
many elements christianity and
elementsinto christianity and was
was influenced
influencedby manymany
factors which made
factors which madc its view of christianity
its view christianitynot
not only changeable
changeablebut,but, by
and
and large,
large, contradict
contradict the
the early
early forms
forms of christianity.
christianity.

_- 15_
15-
RELIGION
RE LI G I O N VS.
V S . SCIENCE
SC IEN C E
Thc religious
The religious views
vicws concerning
concerning God,Cod, the
the Bible,
Bible, and
and Man's
Man's relation
rclation toto God
God
which the
which the church prescntedforced
church presented people into
forccd people into anan unfortunate
unfortunate choice:
choicc: either
cithcr
scienceor
science or God.
God. MostMost educated
cducatedpeople
peoplehave
havecome come toto the
the conclusion
conclusionthatthat one
onc
tnn't be
can't bc aa scientist
scientist oror an
an educated person and
educated person and bebe aa christian.
christian. Thus
Thus many
many
philosophers,scientists
philosophers, scientistsand
and the
the majority
majority of
of the
the people
peoplelost
lost hope
hopc of
of reconciling
reconciling
rcligion and
religion and scinence.
scinence.This
This unfortunate
unfortunateunderstanding
undcrstandinglater later on
on was
wasgeneralized
generalized
includeevery
to include eyeryreligion
religionas resultof the
asaa result theinlfuence
inlfuenceof western
wcsterncivilization,
civilization,which
whiclr
was mainly
was mainly christian.
christian.This
This whole
whole issue
issuewould
would not not have
haverisen
risenin the
the first
first place
placeif
the teachings
the teachingsof Jesus
Jcsuswere
were not
not distorted
distorted or tampered
tamperedwith.
with. This
This is
is because,
because,as as
Islam views the
Islam views the matter, thereis
mattcr, there is no
no contradiction
contradictiori whatsoever
whatsoeverbetween
betweenreligion
religion
and science.
and science.Scientific
Scientificfacts
facts are
arejust one
one source
sourceof our knowledge
knowledgeof God. God. The
The
othcr source
other sourccis is revelation
rcvelationas asit is
is contained
containedi" ir-rthe
the original
original teachings
teachingsof Jesus
Jesusand
irnd
in the presenttext
ihe present tcxt of the
the Qur'an.
Qur'an. Both
Both religion
religion and
and true
true scientific
scientificknowledge
knowledge are
are
the same
from the samc source:
sourcc:God.
God. SoSo HeHe won't
won't contradict
contradict Himself.
Himself.
Thus, concepts
Thus, concepts like thethc Trinity, The son of God,
The Son God, Original
original Sin.
sin. the
the
Atoncment,etc.,whichwere
Atonement,etc.,which werethe
the product
productof distorti-on
distortionand
and mis-understanding
mis-understanding in
the history
the history of Christianity,
Christianity,drove peoplc away
drove people away not only from Christianity
Christianity but
also from other
also other religions,
religions, including
including Islam,
Islam, which
which is
is not afflected
afflectedwith these
these
problems. This
problems. This is
is due the fact
due to the fact that
that many
many people
peoplcthink that because
becauseIslam
Islam is
is a
religion (the meaning
religion (the meaningof the very word is
the very is limited
limited in western
westernlanguages)
languages) must be
it must be
$imilar to Christianity.
similar Christianity. Very
Very few peoplewill have
few people havethe
the interest
interestand
and the
the ability to
tu
discover the
discover falsehood of this assumption.
the falsehood assumption.

E V I D E N C E S FOR
EVIDENCES F O R THE
T H E QUR'ANtC
O U R ' A N I C ACCOUNT
ACCOUNT
T'his
This implicit assumption
assumption is is one
one of of the
the causes
causes of hesitation
hesitation and
and
unwillingness many people
unwillingness of many people to accept
accept the the Qur'anic
Qur'anic view
view of Jesus.
Jesus. This is
is in
spite
spite of thc
the fact
fact that this point of vielv
vic;.w is
is supported
supported by:
by:
a) early history
The early history of Christianity
Christianity which continued
continued for threc
three decades
decades aftcr
after
Jesus's disappcarance
Jesus's disappearance asas a sect
sect within Judaism.
Judaism.

b) The practicc
Thc of many Christian
practice of Christian sects
sects and
and scholars
scholars throughout the
the history
of Christianity.
Christianity.

c) The findings
findings of
of many Biblical
Biblical scholars
scholars and
and scientific
scientific rescarch
research which was
was
applied
applied to the
the Bible.
Bible.

__ t 616_
_
d)
d) The instinct
The instinct of
of many
many people (some of
peoplc (some of whom
whom think
think they
they are
are Christians)
Christians)
who believe
who belicveinin the
theOne
OneGod,
God, but
but can't
can't accept
acceptJesus
Jcsusas God or
asGod or The
Thc Son'of
Son'of
God.
God.
It is
It is worth
worth noting
noting that
that the
the main
main differences
differcncesbetween
bctweenthe thc Qur'anic
Qur'anic account
account
and what modern
and what modern research
researchand
and scholars
scholarshave found isisthat
havefound that the
theQur'an
Qur'an said
saidwhat
what
itit says now about
says now about Jesus
Jesusand
and hishis mission
rnission fourteen
fourtecn centuries ago and
centurics ago and never
never
changcd its
changed its stand.
stand.

R E ASONS HOLDING
REASONS HO LDI NG PEOPLE
P E O P L E FROM
F R OM ISLAM
ISL A M
Some of
Some of the other reasons
the other reasonswhich
which might
might account
account for
for the
the rejection
rejcction of
of the
the
Qur'anic account include:
Qur'anic account include:
a)
a) Thetime-honored
The time-honored bias
brasagainst
againstIslam
Islamwhich
which was
waspartly
partly the
the product
productof the
the
Crusadesand
Crusades and partly the productof the
the product the Arab-Israeli
Arab-lsraeliconflict
conflict in
in the
the Middle
Middle
East.
East.

b)
b) Confusion. Many people
Confusion. peoplealthough
although they
they do not
not accept
acceptChristianity.
Christianity, do
not know where
not where the
the truth is.
is.

c)
c) Social Pressure
Social Pressure and Academic Reputation.
Reputatian. Many people
peoplewere
were afraid
afraid
acccpt Islam
to accept Islam because
bccausetheythey felt
felt they
they would
would be
be mocked,
mocked, alienated
alienatedfrom
their relatives
their relativesand peersif they
and peers thcy openly
openly rejected
rejectedChristianity
Christianity and
and accepted
accepted
Islam. At
Islam. At the
the academic
academiclevel,
levcl, especially
especiallyamong
among orientalists,
orientalists,if one
one writes
writes
favourably about
favourably about Islam
Islam and the Qur'an no body will review
and the rcview hishis work,
quote from it or even
quote considerit a scholarly
even consider scholarly work.
work. HeHc could
could be be even
evcn
dcstroyed professionally.
destroyed professionally. The The Washington
washington Post Post (January
(January 5, i, 1978)
l97E)
reported
reported that a University
University of Richmond
Richmond Professor,
Professor, Dr. Robert Alley lost lost
thc chairmanship of the
the chairmanship the Department
Department of Religion
Religion there
there becausc
because he he holds
holds
the
the view
view that Jcsus
Jesus never
never claimed
claimed to bebe the
the son
son of
of God. Afterconsidcrable
After considerable
rcsearch
research into newly
newly found ancient
ancient documents,
documents. Dr. Alley concluded
concluded that:that:
The (Eiblelpassages
The (Bible) passages whereJesus
where Jesus ralts
talks about the son of of God areare
later
Jater additions..... what
what thethe church
church said about him.
said about Such a ctaim
him. Such claim ofof
deity
deity for
for himself
himself would
would not not have
have been
been consistent with his
consistent with his entire life-
entire life-
stlla as
style as lt/e
we can reconstruci For
can reconstruct. For the first three
three decades a{terJesus'
after Jesus'
death Christianity continued
death Christianity continued as as a sea
sect within Judaism. The first
within Judaism.
three decades
three decades of its existence of
of its of the church
church were
were within
within thethe
synagogue.
synagogue. That would would havehave been bevondbeyond belief
belief ifif they (the
they lthe
followers) had
followers) boldly proclaimed
had boldlv proclaimed the deity of of Jesus.

_- t 717_
-
ISLAM:: THE
l8tAif THE IIIATURAL
NATURAL CALL
CALL
Despite thesc
Dcspitc these factors,
factors, and
and some
some others
others which
which II did
did not mention, there
not mention, there have
have
been many
been many people
people who
who havc
have submitted
submitted toto truth.
truth. The Islamic point
The Islamic point of of view
view about
about
Jesus and othcr
Jesus other major
major issues
issues strikes
strikes thosc who get
those who introduced to
get introduccd to itit as
as something
something
which makes
which makes a lot of sense
lot of sense and something
something whichwhich they implicitly without
hold implicitly
they hold without
knowing it.it. This, and othcr
other characteristics
characteristics made Islam the
made lslam fastest growing
the fastest growing
religion in
religion in thc
the world
world throughout history.
history. ltIt appeals even to faithful Christians
appeals even Christians
because they discover
bccause discover that:
a) Islam does
lslam does not abolish
abolish Jesus, puts him in the right position
Jesus, it rather puts position in the
salvation to humanity.
of men who brought real salvation
long line of humanity. InIn reality
reality they
they
are adding a new dimension
arc understanding of
dimension to their understanding of God, prophct-
prophet.
revelation.
hood, and revclation.
b)
5) When Christianity and Judaism religion) are
Judaism (or for that matter any religion) are
lookcd Islamic perspective
looked at from the tslamic the universal
neatly in thc
perspective they fit in neatly universal
framework of
framcwork of the
the oncness
oneness of God and Hi,S plans
and Hip mankind. Moreover,
plans for mankind. Moreover,
one will understand
onc will understand clearly why there are
there ar€ some
some gaps
gaps discrepancies in
or discrepancics
the Biblical
thc Biblical account
account about
about certain issues.
certain issues.

c) Islam does
lslam docs consider
consider itself the
the final link in thc
the long chain of revelation.
long chain lt
revelation. It
promises
promisesthe
the followers previousfaiths
followcrs of previous faiths great
Ereat rewards
rewards if they
they add
add belief
belief in
Islam to their belief
Islam beliefin their previous
previousfaith.
faith. The Prophet
Prophct Muhammad said, said,
"He who has
has believed
believedin his
his religion
religion then
then believed
believedin what is revealedto
is revealed
me
me will be
be rewarded
rewardedtwice
twice(by God)." That is
God).''fhat is once believingin his
onccfor believing hisfaith
faith
and
and the
the other
other for recognizing
recognizingtruth and Islam.
bclieving in Islam.
and believing

To sum
sum up,
up, Islam
Islam considers
considersJesus
Jcsus as one of God's
as one God's great prophets. His
great prophets.
mission
mission was
was to preach
preach the
the Oneness
Onencss of God and
and to lead
lead man
man to his
his Lord. ncver
He never
claimed
claimed to be be other
other than
than aa servant
servant and and aa Messenger
Mcssengerof God. Thc Qur'anic
God. The
account of his
account his life and
and mission
mission is is supported
supported by overwhelming evidence.The
overwhclming evidence.
Muslims do believe
believe in andand are
are awaiting
awaiting thethe Second
SecondComing of Jesus. Jesus.HeHe will
come
come back
back not as as God
God to judge the the non-christians,
non-christians,but as asJesus,
Jesus,God's servant.
God's servant.
His coming is
His is to correct
correct the
the misconception
misconccption which people peoplehave
havedeveloped
dcvelopedaboutabout
his
his personality
pcrsonality and and his
his mission.
mission. According
According to a saying of the
to a saying of the PrpphetPrOphet
Muhammad,
Muhammad, he he will
will stay
stayforfor forty yearswhich
forty years which is going to
is going to be the happiest
bethe years
happiestyears
of life on this earth. At that
of life on this earth. At that time
timc everybody
everybody will
will beleive
beleive in
in him
him as
as the
the mcss€ngct,
messenger,
not
not the
the Son
Son ofof God.
God. However,
However, whatwhat about
about those
thoscwho will not
who will not be ableto
beable to live till
livc till
his
his second
second-coming?
coming? TheyThcy better
better do
do itit now!
now!

_- 1 818_
-
FURTHER ISTAM AND CHRISTIANITY
READINGS ON ISLAM
FURTHERREAD·INOS CHRISTIANIW
M. M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the
Pickthall, The Glorious Our'an
the Glorious Aur'dn
T.
T. B.
B. Irving, et aI.,
Irving, et The Our'an
al., The Aur'an : Basic Teachings
Easic Teachings
Abdulati, Is/am
HamudaAbdulati,
Hamuda Focus
lslam in Focus
Qutb, Is/am:
M. Qutb, lslam : The
The Misunderstood Religion
MisunderstoodReligion
B. A. Bawany,
B. lslam : The
Bawany,Islam: The First
First and Final Religion
MauriceBucaille,
Maurice Bucaillc,TheThe Bible,
&ible, THe
THeOur'an
O,ur'anand Science
Science
Mauricc Bucaille,
Maurice Bucaille, The
fhe Origin of Man
Lordsaleand
Lordsale Ragg,The
laura Ragg,
and Laura The Gospel Barnabas
Gospelof Barnabas
MuhammadAta-ur-Rahman.
Muhammad Jesus : A Prophet
Ata-ur-Rahman,Jesus: lslam
Prophet of Is/am
Rudolf Augustein.
Rudolf Augustein,JesusJesus Son
Son of Man
John Hick
John (ed), The
Hick (ed). The Myth of God lncarnate
God Incarnate
S. Mufassir.
S. S.
S. Mufassir,Jesus
Jesus in the
the Qur'an.
Q,ur'an.

Someof these
Some thesebooks
booksand othersabout
and others about Islam
Islamcan
can be
be obtained
obtainedfrom:
from:
World Assembly
World Assemblyof Muslim
MuslimYouth (WAMY)
Youth(WAMY)
P. O.
P. O. Box
Box 10845
10845
(01)4et1663
Tel. (01)4641663
Tel.
Riyadh'11443,
Riyadh I1443,Saudi
SaudiArabia
Arabia
the nearest
Or the nearestIslamic
IslamicCenter your part
in your
Centerin part of the
the world.
world.

_19_
-19-
rt{TRoDucTtorI
INTRODUCTION
Thc Islamic
The lrlamic account
rocount of Jesus's
Jccur'r life and
and mission
mislion is quitc reasonable
ir quite rcaronebleand puts
andputs
Jcrur in his
Jesus plapeamong
hir right place rmong the grcat messenaen
thc peat mceccngcrgof God God to humanity.
humanity.
Although the
Althoup the Islamic
lthmic view
vicw of Jesus whet many
aSrccswith what
Jeuu agrees pcoplcinstinctively
mrny people inrtinctively
is sometimes
think, it is rcjcctcd because
romctimes rejected becaurc this is what
this is what Islam
lrlam says
reys about
about him.
him.
Howcvcr,those
However, thosewho
who come Islam with an
comcto Islam opcn mind
an open mind and
and free
freefrom
from bias
bits will
subm,it thc logic
subr1itto the logc and
andbelievability thc Islamic
belicvabilltyof the Isbmic account
accountofJesus.
of Jesus.The
The Islamic
Islamic
position is
position is especially
erpociallyappreciated
appreciatedby by those
thorewho
who have
havestruggled
strugglcdwith the thevarious
various
Christian dogmasthat
Christiandogmas that are
sre centered
ccntcredaround
around the pcrronality of Jesus
thc penonality JesusChrist.
Christ.
The following is
Thc following is aa letter which I received
lcttcr which receivcdfrom
from one
one of the
the viewers
vicwerswho
who
follow my
follow program: ISLAM IN PERSPECTIVE,
my program: PERSPECTIVE,televised
tclevisedbyby the
the Saudi
Saudi
Arabian Telcvision, Second
Arabian Television, Sccond Channel.
Channel. It isis aa response
r€$ponscto aa two-episode
two-episodc
discussion Jeguscalled:
discussionof Jesus callcd:JESUS
JESUSIN ISLAM. I includeincludethis
thisletter
lettcrhere
herefor the
the
following reasons:
following rcasons:
l.
I. The writer
The writer is
is an expeft on
an expert this topic
on this topic as
as aa student
studcntof religion
religionand
and an
an
objcctiveseeker
objective seekerof truth.
truth.

2.
2. The writer
The writcr was
wasaa believing
belicvingChristian who knows
Christianwho knowsChristians' feelings and
Christians'feelings and
beliefconcerning
belief concerningJesus
JesusChrist.
Christ.

3.
3. The writer's explanation
Thc writer's explanationof howhow the
the Christians
Christiansdeviated
deviatedfrom Jesus's
fromJesus's
instructionsand
instructions and mission
missionis quite plausible
is quite plausiblcand
and accounts
accountsfor the prescnt
the present
Christian beliefabout
Christianbelief about Jesus.
Jesus.
would like
I would like to thank
thank the
thc writer
writerfor her
hcr kind pcrmissionto include
kind permission includeher
herletter
letter
publication.
this publication.
in this

t. J.
M.J.

-_20_
20-
 CHRISTIANS CLAIM THAT JESUS IS THE
WHY DO CHRISTIANS THE SO'{
SON OF GOD?
GOD?
sir,
Dear rir,
Dcer
Arsalamo Alaikum rile
Assalamo Alrilum Wa Rahmrtullah
Rahmatullah
OPINION REGAR.DING
OPINION DISCUSSION ON YOUR PROGRAM
REGARDING THE DISCUSSION PROGRAM
was vcry
I nas interested in your discussion
very intcrcstod since this is
discussion on TV sincc a topic which
is a which
ha-/e discucsGd
I hevc discussed rnany
many times,
times, both as student of religion,
as studcnt and outsidc
relliion, and outside the
the
lcarDinI cnvironment,
lcarning many parts
environment, in many of thc
parts of the world.
world.
As sn Enalish Muslim convcrt,
an English SaudiArabia, |I find the
liviDI in Saudi
convert, now living the sharp
sharp
contrat betwecn
contrut societies, thought-provoking
between societies, thoulht-provokinl from many new points.
many new points.
Focussinl upon
Focussing upon thc nature of Jesus
the naturc and Mary as
Jesus and explained in thc
as cxplained the Koran,
Koran,
and
rnd in the Gospel the Ncw Testamcnt, $oetu,o
the Gospel of the New Testament, wc
we see two opposing
oPposinl vicws -- that of
views
Christian
Chrigtianteachinl
tcachingthat
that Jesus is'Son
Jcsusis of God'and
'Son ofGod' and that thc Koran
that of the Koran neglecting
neglectingall
all
such
ruch claims.
cleims. It then, becomes necessary
thcn, becomcs ask the
ncaessaryto ask qucstion WHY was
thc question was it
necessary
nccccsaryfor the eerly Christians
thc early suchaa claim
makesuch
Christhns to make about Jesus,
claim about whenafter
Jcsus,when after
all
ell he
hc never
ncvcr made
rnadc any
any such
such claim himselfl
himself?
It
tt is my opinion that answer if we
clcar if
becomes clear
answerbccomec wc study thc basis
study the thc
basis for the
rcligionsof Islam
reliaions Is}rm and
and Christianity.
Christianity.As
As Muslims
Muslimswe wc base uponGod
base our faith upon God and
and
upon
upon Him alone,
alone,andand upon thc Koran
uponthe Koran- God's wordto His
God'sword His Prophet Muhammad
ProphctMuhammad
(PBUH) in whom whom we we also
also believe as aI true
bclievc - as truc Prophet
Prophct of the one God.
the one God.
Muhammad
Muhammad (PBU (PBUH) is God's
H) is scnfant, - faithful
God's servant, raitMul and obcdicnt and
and obedient and totally
human
human- he hc remains
rcmainsthe instrumentof God's
the instrument purposcto lead
God'spurpose lcad His peopleback
His people backto
Him apin.
again.
Now,
Now, as
asaI total
total contrast
contrastwewc tum Christianity- aa reliaion
turn to Christianity built not
religionbuilt not around
around
God, or His
God, His book thcre was
book - for there vvrs no
no'book'until
'book' until ISO ycarsafterJesus's
150years aftcrJesus'sdcath.
death.
Christianity
Christianity became
becamebuilt
buitt around
around the personalityof Jetus
thc personality himsclf. By
Jcsushimself. leying
By laying
more
morc and
andmore
morestress
stressupon
uponthe magncticand
themagnetic andwonderful pcrsonalityofJesus
wonderfulpersonality and
of Jesusand
unableand
unable and un-willing
un-willing to describe
dcscribcthe Prophet'seffect
thc Prophet's cffcctupon
uponall whowhocame him
cameto him
in everyday
evcrydayterms
tcrms- more andmore
morcand morcattributes
attributcsare addcdto his
arcadded rcputation-- aa man
hisreputation man
who
who could perform miracles,
could perform miraclcs,bring
bring back deadto life,
thc dead
backthe hcalthe
lifc, heal lcpcr,cure
thc leper, thc
curcthe
blind God'swill, is
blind - all by God's is indeed wondcrful man
indecdaa wonderful man -- blessed
blesscdby God -- born
by God born by
by
God's
God'swill to do do His
His service.
scrvioc.But
But after
after his
hisdeath, thc'magicd'personality
dcath,the 'magical' personality must must
bc kept
be kept alive
dive and 'Son of God'
and 'Son appears to suitably
God'Eppcar$ qualify all his
suitably qualify his actions.
actions.
Living
Living in aa society,
socicty,strongly
stronglyflavoured
flavouredby theGreco-Roman
by the Greco-Roman gods,aU
gods, all'super
'super
human;
hum8n,'the
thc educated
cducatcdearly
carly Christians
Chrirtiansmust surelyalso
mustsurely havebeen
alsohave influenccdin
beeninfluenced
thouJbt
thought by
by their surroundings.Paul
their surroundings. Paul himself,
himsclf, one
onc of the grcat teachers
thc great teachcn of

__ 2 21
t _-
Christianity,
Christienrty, was
wrs a Hellenized
Hellcnizcd Jew,
Jcw, who never saw
saw or met Jesus
Jcsus during
during his
lifetime.
lifetime. Vet
Yet many ofof his reported sayings
saylngs show the influence of
of the times
timcs in
which he 'The Living
hc lived. 'The Living Lord' was very
Lord'was vcry real
real to him.
him,
The miraculous
miraculous nature ofJesus's birth, also could help to give credence
ofJesus'sbirth, credenceto
the idea
idea of
of Jesus
Jesusidentity as
as son
son of God. But it is
is child-like in its 1+ : 2 type
I * 1I = typc
philosophy. i.e., G~
i.G.,God blew into the womb of Mary -
- Mary
Mary Mary had Jesus, therefore
Jcsus,thcrefore
God is Jesus's father and Jesus
isfcsus'sfathcr Jesus is
is His son.
son.
t#hat Christians fail to see,
What scc, and to understand
undcrstand is
is that in Jesus's birth and
inJesus'sbirth
conception we see
$eea touching and wonderful revelation
revelation ofthe
of thc Kindness
Kindnessof9od.
of God.
We are
are told by both K.oran
Koran and Christian writings that Mary
Mary was
waria young
woman of exceptional
exccptional purity of of both mind and body, brought into thethc world
already pledged as
already pledged as God's
God's servant,
servant, blessed
blcssedby God, while in His service
servicc in the
synagogue
synagogucso so that she
she herself
herself could produce small 'miraculous' occurrences
small'miraculou$' occurrencesby
God's will. How natural then, that God, having chosen hcr to be
choscn her be the vehicle
vehicle by
which His new Prophet should be bc born on earth - chooses
choosesa means
means by which
none
nonc of her blessed
blesscdpurity is
is touched.
touched. She
She serves
servesher God, but in so
so doing He in
His infinite
infinite kindness
kindness preserves
preserves her prec;ious
precious purity. Surely this needs
needs no
embellishment -- no claims
embellishment 'Sonship' of God. God's
claims to 'Sonship' God's creation
creation yes,
yes,but not Son
by Paternity. That is obviously not the intention.
The fact that so
so much time elapsed
elapsedbefore
before any of the sayings
sayingsof Jesus
Jesusor hishis
teachings
teachings were
were written, also
also allows for the
thc "Oral
"Oral tradition',
tradition', by which they were
were
passed
passcdon, to have
have substantially
substantially changed
changcdthe original. And yet yct through the three
three
synoptic gospels
gospels(John being
being written last and obviously full of religious
writtcn last religious dogma)
Mathew, Luke and and Mark
Mark despite altcration -- a picture
despiteany alteration picture of Jesus
Jesusas
as a quiet,
quiet,
yet magnetic
magnetic personality -
personality - a Prophet inspired by God, with a great great love o.f
of 8/1
a//
humanity, sent
s€nt to sharpen
sharpen out awareness
awarenessof of God, in all the aspects
aspectsofof life; Jesus
Jesus
tries opcn our eyes'
tries to open and our hearts
cycs'and heartsto a greater awarcnessof God -- an
greaterawareness an unselfish
unselfish
appraisal of ourselves
appraisal of oursclves from our thoughts,
thoughts, to our actions,
actions, and to enlarge
enlarge Faith
and
and Trust in God.
God. Only by so so doing by the
the simple and Trust of a child is
simple Faith and is
God's
God's K.ingdom come on Earth -- this
Kingdom to come this idea
idea is
is repeated
repeatcdmany
many times
times in many of
his
his reported
reportcd sayings.
sayings.His closeness
closenessto God was was evident
evident from the
the strength
strcngth that he
he
drew from prayers,
praycrs, and the power he he was
was given pcrform miracles.
givcn by God, to perform miracles.
Yet in all this power and in the performance
performance of God's
God's wonders
wonders NEVER
NEVER does doeshehe
proclaim himself 'Son" we
himself Son of God. In Jesus Jesus sense
scnseof thethe word 'Son" we are
are all
children
children of God, His sons
sonsand
and daughters,
daughters,here
hereon earth,
earth,and
and as
assuch
suchJesus
Jesustaught
taught
the people 'Our Father, which art in Heaven'.
peoplc to pray to 'Our Heaven'.
Of the actual
actual volume
volume of words
words he
he spoke
spoke or must
must have
have spoken
spoken in his
his
teachings
teachingsonly a pitiable
pitiable few,
few, and
and not all reliable,
reliable, have
have been
becn recorded.
recorded.Jesus
Jesus

_
_ 2 22_
2 _
 seemed to
seemcd to bc
be primarily concerned with
primarily concerncd the poor,
with thc poor, thcthe oppresscd, outcast, the
the outcast,
oppressed, thc the
- mcaninglcss religious 'cant' of
sick - and
sick and not not tolerant
tolerant of
of the
thc sanctimonious
sanctimonious and
and meaningless religious 'cant' of
so-called *pious.'
the so-called
the "pious." His call was
His call was to hearts of
the hearts
to thc ,men, and
of,tnen, theme was
his thcme
and his was
humanity and
humanity and lovc.
love. Did he mcan
Did he mean to to establish believe hc
church? II bclieve
establish aa church? did --but
he did but not
not
in the
in the scnsc
sense we
we sce the church
see thc today -- Jesus
church today was practical
Jesus was as well
practical as well as spiritual. II
as spiritual.
believe he
believc he wantcd
wanted to create aa society
to crcatc society ofof people Faith in
whose Faith
people whosc in God bound thcm
God bound them
to one
to one anothrr
another rcgardless
regardless ofof race in ea family-typc
creed, in
or creed,
race or caring relationship
family-type caring relationship
under God's
undcr guidance. ltIt is
God's guidancc. not really
is not really evident from his
evident from his teachings that hc
teachings that he saw
saw
himsC?lf as a great
himselfas grcatshiningshining light in this process.
process. He tended
tended morc
more to rcgard
regard himsclf
himself
as a tool in the
as the hands
hands ofof God,
God.
By raising unbelievable heights,
raising him up to unbclicvable the early
heights, the Christian followers
early Christian followers
brought upon
brought upon themselves
themselves the endless problems
the endless problems ofof theoretically explaining the
theoretically explaining the
crucifixion - and
crucifixion and from this comes the
this comes doctrine of
the doctrinc of the
the suffering servants, raiscd
suffering servants, raised
from the
the Jewish
Jewish ancicnt texts - spoken
ancient texts Isaiah, thc
spoken of in Isaiah, doctrine of
the doctrine Sacrifice for
of Sacrifice
the sins of
the sins man, man, and
and the
the consequential
consequential exclusivencss
exclusiveness of Jesus
Jesus -
- which
which is vcry
very
important to the
important the early Christians. A pagan
early Christians. could be
pagan could be cqually faithful to many
equally faithful many
'gods'
'gods' - but in Christianity
Christianity this could not bc
this could be -- ONLY by faith Jesus can
faith in Jesus can th€
the
Christian hope to gain
Christianhopc salvation-- ONLY by
gain salvation acceptinghis
by accepting deathfor the
his death sakeof
the sake
man's sin
manh sin -and ONLY by bclief his resurrection(foras
belief in his sonof God,
resurrection (for as son God must
God,God must
him up
lift him up again)
again)can
can the
thc Christian
Christianhope gain Paradise.
hopc to gain Paradise.Any other path is
othcr path i3
death -
death although
although this placcsJesus
this places Jesusabsolutely bctwccnGod
absolutelybetween and
God and His pcoplc -
people - aa
position he never occupied
position he neveroccupied his in his life
life on
on Earth.
Earth.
Doctrine
Doctrineonon doctrine
doctrinebecomes
becomcs intertwined,and
intertwined, andwe thehistory
find in the
wcfind historyoftheof the
church,
church,endless
cndlcssmeetings,
mcctings,theories
thcoriesand argumcntsas
andarguments asto thc Nature Jesus -- he
to the Nature of Jesus he
has bccomc now, fact, lessa tangible
has become now, in fact, less a tangible reality,
reality, and
and more
more ln
an uncarthly
unearthly scmi'
semi-
spiritual
spiritual being,
bcing, wrapped
wrappcdin endless doctrinc and
endle$ doctrine dogma-- far
and dogma indeedfrom
far indeed from thethe
simple,
simple,gentle
gcntlcpersonality,
personality,in in whom
whomGod placedso
Godplaced somuch powcr'in
muchpower, orderthat
in order that hehe
could
could bring
bring awareness
awarcncssto to His peoplc.Has
His people. not the
Has not churchthen
thc church defcatcdJesus's
thcn defeated Jesus's
own objcctive-- simplicity?
own objective rimplicity?
We
We find
find in
in the
thc "Trinity" Father -- Son-and
"Trinity' -- Father Son.and Holy Ghort, perhaps
Holy Ghost, pcrhapsthe thc
culmination
culminarion of of the
thc efforts
cfforts of pcoplestrugling
of people rtnrgglingfor for al'supremacy'
'Supremacy' in religiour
in reliJious
expressionand
expression and achievinl
achievingan an eniJllUl,
enigma,few Christiam can
few Christians adcquetclyexplain
can adequately explein
today.
today.
God's
God'sspirit
spirit is
ir as
ar real
realin thedays
in the daysof of Moses
Moscsand Abrahemas
ard Abraham ar itit isisin
in the titDc
thctime
of
of Prophet
ProphetMuhammad
Muhemmed(PBU (PBUtl).
H). ItIt does notneed
doccnot nccdtoto be hcHin
bcheld theconfines
inthe confinerofa of r
*man-mrde- trianale.
Mman-made" trienglc.Nor Nor did
did Jesus
Jcsusassociate
rsrociatchimself with any
himrclf with theoryof
any theory of this
thir
kind.
kind.

_23
-23- _
 ItIt isissad,
sad,that
thatin in the
thecoming
comingof of Islam,
Islam,Christians
Chrirtianrfelt
fclt they
thcysaw
cewthethccoming
coming(r
thc'frkc
the prophet'or
'fake prophet' Anti4hrist told
or Anti-ehrist toldofin
ofin the
thcBook
Boot of
ofRevelation
Rcvehtionto John (Ne1
toJohn(Ne'
Tcstamcnt).It
Testament). It isis even
evensadder
sadderthat
thlt the
thc noble
noblewhowho organized
orgenizrdthe thc 2nd
2nd Crusad
Crurad
against
against the theMuslims
Muelimswas wasoffered
offeredaI copy
copyofof aatranslated
tranststodKoran
Korento read•-and
to read andaucal
itit aside.
aside.It It isissad
sadbecause
bccauscitit reflects
reflcctsananattitude
attitndc to
to Islam
lclam seen
soeneven
cvcnuntil
until today
today
keptalive
kept alivcin in the
thchistory
hietoryof of the
thc Crusades,
Cnrsadec, and foundedon
andfounded onaatotal
total ignorance.
ignorancc.It It ii
for Muslims,
for Musliml, now nowto to assert
rsscrttheir
theirfaith
faithand
andfor
for Christians
Christianstoto at
st least
lcastbe bcwilling
willingtt
be madcaware
be made aw&rcof the meaning
of the mcaningof of Islam.
Islam.II amam sure
surethat
that toto many
mlny Islam
Islamandand i1il
teachingswill
teachings will be
bc as asaa mountain
mountainstream
strcamin in the
thedesert,
descrt,toto the
theparched
parchedsouls
souls(Jo
manysearching
many scarchingfor for truth.
truth.

Wassalam.
Wassalam.

Your•• in~.r.ly,
Yourr rincercly,

ZAHRA AZIZ (Mnl

AZIZ (Mr.)
1 .,/ - t't
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