themes for the diligent

THEMES FORTHE DILIGENT

Nicola Yacoub Ghabril

1 Introduction ...................................... 2

2 First Discourse.................................. 3

2.1 Part One: The Authenticity of theTorah and Gospel...................................3

2.2 Part Two: Intellectual Proof..........5

2.3 Part Three: Historical Evidence....7

2.4 Part Four: ArchaeologicalEvidence.................................................8

3 Second Discourse: Has the Qur'anAbrogated the Torah and Gospel?....... 11

4 Third Discourse: All have Sinned,even the Prophets................................. 13

5 Fourth Discourse............................. 20

5.1 Part One: God's Purpose in theCrucifixion: How This Reconciliationwas Accomplished............................... 20

5.2 Part Two: Only Christ Was Fit forthis Task...............................................22

5.3 Part Three: Did Christ WillinglyAccept Crucifixion?.............................22

5.4 Part Four: The Crucifixion in theQur'an...................................................25

5.5 Part Five: The Crucifixion inHistory................................................. 28

6 Fifth Discourse: Christ's Sinlessness,Divinity and Sonship........................... 30

7 Sixth Discourse: The Superiority of

Christ in the Qur'an Over Others......... 33

8 Seventh Discourse: Trinity in Unity35

9 Eighth Discourse: The Paraclete andMuhammad.......................................... 39

10 Conclusion.....................................41

11 Quiz............................................... 41

All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010http://www.the-good-way.com

http://www.the-good-way.com


1. Introduction

I have spent much time in the company ofmy Muslim brethren, most of whom arescholars. When we engaged in friendly andsincere discourses about religion weexplored every avenue and knocked atevery door; so, it occurred to me tosummarise these discourses in the form ofa book. As a result, this effort comes to allthose who have sought fair-mindednessand made truth their goal, in the hope thatit will benefit and guide them in the pathof Truth. Then, if the truth is clear to them,hopefully they will embrace it, sellingeverything they have in order to buy it.Such folk will be blessed and they willprosper.

In my discussion I have followed a methodsuited to any reasonable Muslim, and nohonourable seeker will disapprove of it. Itis to furnish, whenever possible, proofsfrom the Qur'an and the Traditions, as wellas from history, because these carry more

weight with the Muslim and meet with noobjections. Thus we shall arrive at theconclusion of the matter. Surely, truth isthe daughter of investigation as scholarsdefine it. The seeker after truth is notagainst roaming in the field of discussionin order to find it. The one who alreadypossesses it will not refrain fromdiscussion since it will only establish himmore firmly. Therefore, my Muslimbrother, do not be upset by my invitationto discuss in the spirit of piety, for in sodoing, you will either benefit others oryourself; in both cases you will come outof the arena a winner. The fact that I quotefrom the Qur'an and Traditions does notcommit me to acknowledging theirveracity. The rules of logical debate andcivil laws permit me this method. For theMuslim brother, in the first place, does notaccept the infallibility of my Holy Book(the Torah and Gospel). Otherwise I wouldhave quoted him numerous proofs from itof the veracity of each of the discourses inthis publication, thus removing from hisheart every doubt and exchanging certaintyfor suspicion.

My Muslim brethren, don't you and wehave the same purpose in religion, toworship the Creator and enable us tosecure eternal felicity after death? So youfollow a certain path to this end while wefollow another. How would it harm us ifwe discuss the subject thoroughly in aspirit of humility, piety and objectivity?Truth is one and indivisible, so let us walktogether in amity, thereby gaining ourCreator's favour, and at last enjoy anEden-like immortal bliss. It was onlygenuine love which led us to compile thisand other messages. We wish you to walkside by side with us, and share with us theSalvation which we have obtained in

THEMES FOR THE DILIGENT

2/42All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010




Christ, and to enjoy with us everlastinglife. We cannot hate you if we wish youthe happiness, joy and salvation we covetfor ourselves, but rather we are sincerefriends who love you. So do not mistrustus. May God guide you in the right path.

In discussion one should avoid shallowamiability, and so I shall beg my Muslimbrother's indulgence if he finds some ofmy words hard to bear, for it is not myintention to denigrate his beliefs. At thesame time, I would like to arrive at sometruths, and this does not permit me to setaside my own convictions in order toplease him. Likewise I do not expect himto set aside his. This is, after all, a debatingopportunity. However, I shall promise myesteemed reader to avoid any trace ofprovocation, ridicule or scorn. Let it beadmitted that I have, in compiling thisbook, made use of previous publications.My prayer to God is that it will provebeneficial and a means of accord. He it iswho answers the petitions of the sincere,and he is my sufficiency and the source ofall my help.

2. First Discourse

2.1. Part One: The Authenticity ofthe Torah and Gospel

We believe that the Holy Bible (the Torahand Gospel) is the cornerstone of allChristian doctrine, its foundation and thearbiter used by Christians in solvingproblems. It is the fair judge who fears notcensure but exposes truth and suppressesfalsehood, the faithful witness in legalcases. I have therefore placed it first in mydiscussions so that, if I can prove itsreliability by convincing argument andlogical proof, we can together consult it in

every case and refer to it in every dispute,yielding to its judgements and beingenlightened by its guidance. Truly it is alight and a right guidance to all beings.

1. In the Qur'an, Sura al Imran 3:2, weread these words: "He sent down theTorah and the Gospel aforetime, asguidance to the people." God sentdown the Torah and the Gospel for theguidance of mankind.

2. In Sura al-Ma'ida 5:72: "Say: 'Peopleof the Book, you do not stand onanything, until you perform the Torahand the Gospel.'" This shows that theTorah and Gospel are reliable,otherwise Muhammad would not attestto them.

3. Also in Sura al-Ma'ida 5:51: "So let thePeople of the Gospel judge accordingto what God has sent down therein,"meaning that the Gospel is sent downfrom God and Muhammad recognisedits authority.

4. In Sura al-Nisa' 4:135: "O believers,believe in God and His Messenger andthe Book He has sent down on HisMessenger and the Book which Hesent down before. Whoso disbelievesin God and His angels and His Books,and His Messengers, and the Last Day,has surely gone astray into far error." Itjudges the infidelity of the Muslimwho does not believe in the Torah andGospel in the same way that hebelieves in the Qur'an.

5. In Sura Saba', 34:30: "The unbelieverssay, 'We will not believe in this Qur'an,nor in that before it.' " Thus the peopleof Mecca knew about the Torah andGospel in the same way they knew theQur'an.

6. In Sura al-Qasas 28:49: "Say: 'Bring a






Book from God that gives betterguidance than these (the Qur'an and theBible), and follow it, if you speaktruly.' " Clearly Muhammad attests tothe accuracy of the Torah and Gospeland their equality with the Qur'an.

7. In Sura al-Ma'ida 5:47: "Yet how willthey make thee their judge seeing theyhave the Torah, wherein is God'sjudgement." Here we have a plainadmission that the Torah is sound,contains God's decrees and whoeverfollows it will not need anotherarbitrator.

The meaning of the foregoing verses isvery plain, and they do not requireinterpretation or explanation.

The gist of these texts is that the HolyBible (the Torah and Gospel) was sentdown by a wise and all-knowing God, as alight and guidance to the world. Itsprecepts are to be observed and should befollowed. If any Muslim does not believeit his religion is lacking and he will strayfar. Furthermore, the people of Meccawere as familiar with the Bible as theywere with the Qur'an.

My Muslim brother, do you still hold backfrom believing in this Book, in spite ofthese explicit verses, and consider it asirrelevant? How will you excuse yourselfon the day of reckoning for disobeyingGod's commands, when the books will beopened? I counsel you to read this book(the Torah and Gospel), believe it andobey its precepts. In so doing, you willdiscover the only way whereby God'sjustice and mercy are reconciled. You willfind cleansing from sins and will attaineternal joy through Christ Jesus, the mostimportant Person in this world and thenext.

It may be that a Muslim brother wouldobject: "The verses you have quoted aretrue and your conclusions right. However,the Torah and Gospel which you ask me tobelieve in and to which the Qur'an attestedhave been altered and distorted; acorrupting hand has been at work. Whatyou today call the Torah and Gospel differcompletely from the ones witnessed to bythe Qur'an. It is for this reason thatMuslims avoid them, rejecting theirprecepts. Surely, you don't blame them forthat!" I ask the objector and others likehim to pay attention and judge my replyfairly.

You have learnt from the aforementionedQur'anic verses that the Book (Torah andGospel) was quite perfect and reliable inMuhammad's day. Otherwise he would nothave testified to it and commanded peopleto keep its precepts. You have to admitthat at one time at least it was correct, freefrom alteration and forgery.

Also I would like you to read thefollowing verses to see for yourself if suchchanges could take place, or if humanscould alter it in such a manner:

"Recite what has been revealed to thee ofthe Book of thy Lord; no man can changeHis words" (Sura al-Kahf 18:26).

"No man can change the words of God"(Sura al-An'am 6:34).

"No man can change His words" (Suraal-An'am 6:115).

"There is no changing the words of God"(Sura Yunis 10:65).

"And thou shalt never find any changingthe word of God" (Sura al-Fath 48:23).

"A Book Sublime; falsehood comes not to






it from before it nor from behind it" (SuraFussilat 41:42).

"It is We who have sent down theRemembrance, and We watch over it"(Sura al-Hijr 15:9).

From these quotes you will see that no onecan change the words of God, becauseGod has sent down a Book and promisedto protect it. Should you say that what ismeant here by the "Remembrance" is theQur'an, I would respond that it also meansthe Torah and Gospel. Witness, forinstance, the Qur'anic statement: "Questionthe People of the Remembrance (the Torahand the Gospel), if you do not know" (Suraal-Anbiya' 21:7). In fact, the Torah itself isreferred to as "Qur'an" in the verse: "Wegave Moses and Aaron Salvation(al-Furkau) and a Radiance, and aRemembrance for the godfearing..." (Suraal-Anbiya' 21:49).

You say this applies only to the Qur'an; Isay, all that applies to the Qur'an appliesalso to the Torah and the Gospel. For theTorah and Gospel are the words of Godand the Qur'an, according to your belief, isthe word of God. If you believe that Godsaid in the Qur'an that there is no change,corruption, addition or deletion of hisword (as Jalalayn has stated), then howcan you say that the Torah and Gospelhave been altered in view of all this?

If you allow this possibility, then it wouldalso follow that the Qur'an could havebeen changed, because what is admissiblefor the Torah and Gospel is alsoadmissible for the Qur'an. If men are ableto alter God's words -- the Torah andGospel -- it follows that they wouldinevitably have been able to alter theQur'an, as al-Razi has stated. And you do

not admit that the Qur'an has beenchanged. Therefore, you are obliged toagree that altering the Torah and Gospel isan impossibility. You must admit that theyare genuine, observe their precepts andadopt them as your guide to Christ who isthe Way, the Truth and the Life. As for thealleged corruption referred to by theQur'an in the Medina Suras, it was withreference to some of the Jews only. TheGospel is free from this accusation. Thecorruption intended here was in themeaning of certain verses, that is, in theirinterpretation, since the Jews used tointerpret them contrary to Muhammad'swishes. This has been proven by Al-Raziand Al-Baidawi in their exposition of"corrupted texts". Otherwise, the words ofthe Qur'an in the Medina Suras wouldcontradict the Meccan Suras.

2.2. Part Two: Intellectual Proof

Every intelligent being knows that the Godwho, by the fiat of his eternal power madethe heavens, the worlds and all creatures,is Almighty. Furthermore, it is evidentfrom the perfection of his handiwork, theprecision of universal laws and theirconstancy over thousands of years thatGod is wise. Since God is both able andwise, he had to establish a constitution orproduce a canon for his intelligent humancreatures to enable them to comprehendtheir relationship to their Creator, and theirduties to one another. They needed toknow the destiny of mankind: for thedisobedient a punishment and for thebelieving and obedient a reward.Otherwise chaos would reign with norestraints or laws, like fish, the large eatingthe small. Ultimately, man wouldexterminate his kind, as savage tribes didthat have disappeared. Virtue then would






be the same as vice, in fact, no term ordistinction of these terms would exist.Such a state of affairs is unacceptable tothe Almighty, the Wise One.

If this constitution and canon are not theTorah and the Gospel, then tell me whatare they? Is there an ancient holy bookwhich meets such a need like the Torahand Gospel? Not at all!

Doubtless, God the Almighty and Wise, insending down a book to be the constitutionand guide for mankind would ensure itspreservation from change, addition,deletion or deterioration. If that were notso, it would be the target of every attacker.There would be a multiplicity of books, adiversity of opinions and truth would belost in perplexity and confusion. Far be itfrom God to do this! For he has preservedhis books, the Torah and Gospel centuryafter century, free from change and error.He has kept them as a beacon of light,guiding all who stray.

It is impossible to have unanimity for aplot to alter the Bible (the Torah andGospel). For a start, the Christian religionand Judaism had already spread in the Eastand West, in Syria, Turkey, Egypt,Ethiopia, India and Europe. The Bible,especially the Gospel, was translated fromthe original Hebrew and Greek into thelanguages of all the nations, such asArabic, Armenian, Amharic (Ethiopian),Coptic and Latin. Is it reasonable tosuppose that all these multitudes shouldcome together and agree on a scheme toalter their book, considering theirdifferences of language and creed,especially as there were numerousdenominations of Christians, each vyingwith the other for orthodoxy?

Doubtless, the Muslims' claim that theBible has been changed is a charge withoutproof. Otherwise, where are the textswhich have been altered. Which texts arethey, what were they originally, and whatwas the purpose in changing them? If thereis no answer to these questions, and it isclear that is so, I ask them: "How doessomeone dare to make such an allegation?The prudent scholar does not embark onsuch a scheme without first havingsomething to support his allegation." TheGospel had been translated into Arabicbefore the appearance of Islam, for thebenefit of those Arab tribes who wereChristianised, such as: Himyar, Ghassan,Rabiya and the people of Nijran, Heeraand others. How else would they haveunderstood Christianity? These facts arecorroborated in the book "Al-Aghanee"(The Songs), for it relates that Waraka BinNawfal (the most famous Arab writer ofMuhammad's time) wrote this book,copying in it whatever he desired of theArabic Gospel. Now, if the Gospel hadbeen subsequently changed, Muslimswould have kept the original, tosubstantiate their case.

As for the Jews, their zeal in preservingtheir book is proverbial. They know theexact number of words and letters itcontains, as all who have associated withtheir leaders know. Thus, the Holy Biblein its entirety is free from alteration andchange will never overtake it, as iswitnessed by common sense and historictransmission.

If books proliferate, do not allow truth tobecome clouded; investigate, search andcompare. Thus you will arrive at the facts.For the book which condemns lusts andselfish inclinations, which transformsmen's evil hearts, conforms to God's pure






attributes, sustains a civilised life,commands love of one's enemies, frownson repaying evil and regards all sons ofAdam as brethren, is most indeed TheBook, given by the Creator of all to beobserved by his creatures everywhere.

2.3. Part Three: Historical Evidence

The timelessness of the Bible (Torah andGospel) and its authenticity isindisputable. No other book in theuniverse is so well-attested. Since historyis the fairest witness and the truest proof, Ihave decided to use it in our discussion touncover and reveal the truth indubitably.

It is obvious that the Bible contains a largenumber of prophecies, most of which havebeen fulfilled. The remainder will come topass in their time. God, through his nobleprophets, foretold the occurrence ofnumerous events such as the rise of certainkings and the fall of others, the destructionof great cities and the extinction ofglorious and haughty nations which neverdreamed of their coming destruction.

For instance, the prophet Nahumprophesied clearly the destruction ofNineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians.This was a great metropolis whose wallswere 100 feet high, with a perimeter of 60miles, having 1500 towers, which, at theheight of its grandeur, rose to 200 feet.This prophecy was literally fulfilled.

Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold thedestruction of Babylon, the capital of theChaldeans, at the height of its splendour,and prosperity. In less than 160 years fromthe date of the prophecy the great Babylonhad fallen according to the word of theprophets. The details of its downfall asdescribed by the historians Herodotus and

Xenophon agree remarkably with what theprophets described.

Among the other biblical prophecies is theone by Ezekiel about the city of Tyre,where we see the following facts whichhistory witnessed and recorded for us:

In Ezekiel 26:8 we read thatNebuchadnezzar would destroy the city ofTyre. In verse 3, the prophet says thatmany nations would rise against it, inverse 4, that it would become a barren rockand in verse 5, that fishermen would casttheir nets on its site. In verse 12, it isprophesied that its remains would be castinto the sea, in verse 14, that it wouldnever rise again and verse 21 says that itsdisappearance is determined and certain.

Three years after Ezekiel's prophecy theKing of Babylon besieged Tyre for 13years until it surrendered on his terms(585-573 BC). When he finally stormed it,he discovered that its inhabitants had fledby sea to a new island half a mile from thecity. He then razed it to the ground, as theprophet Ezekiel foretold in chapter 26,verse 8.

Then came Alexander the Great, whosurrounded the rebellious new city,employing the ruins of the old city tocreate a 60 meter wide causeway. Heconquered it as Ezekiel had prophesied inchapter 26:3,12, and it became a barrenrock again as the prophecy describes it inverses 4 and 5.

Although the history of Tyre did notfinally end after Alexander's horrendouscampaign, the successive attacks byAntigones (314 BC) followed byPtolemais Philadelphus (285-247 BC)extinguished its trade and its importance asa maritime power. Later, in the year 1321






AD, the Muslims occupied and completelydestroyed it. It became, in the words of theArab traveller Ibn Batuta, "a byword...nowa complete ruin," exactly as the prophecyhad stated in chapter 26, verse 14.

In his day, Ezekiel looked at Tyre and sawa great city, at the height of its splendour,so that to those who heard the words of hisprophecy and beheld the wealth and gloryof the powerful city, it sounded likehallucinations. According to humanwisdom, the likelihood of his propheciescoming true within seven years on thebasis of pure chance were one in 750million. And yet all his prophecies came topass in detail!

"Therefore this is what the SovereignLORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, andI will bring many nations against you, likethe sea casting up its waves. They willdestroy the walls of Tyre and pull downher towers; I will scrape away her rubbleand make her a bare rock" (Ezekiel26:3,4).

2.4. Part Four: ArchaeologicalEvidence

If history encounters a challenge to itswitness, the evidence of archaeology(antiquities) cannot be challenged.

The Scriptures have been, and still are, thetarget of critics and the object of theattacks of atheists and infidels. It iscontrary to their sensuous desires, theirnaive views and their destructivephilosophies. Hence, many of them haveturned to the remains of antiquity inPalestine, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, inthe hope of finding, if possible, somethingto discredit inspired Scriptures. They wantto prove to the world that the Bible is a

mixture of distorted sayings and traditions.However, God has thwarted theirintentions; their arrows have missed themark and their hopes have been dashed.For the testimony of these archaeologicalfinds was in complete harmony with theinspired books, even though the writers ofthese inscriptions themselves were pagans.

When our Muslim brethren found that thebooks of the Torah and Gospel werecontrary to the fundamental Qur'anicteachings, they levelled at them the chargeof corruption, claiming they wereerroneous. But their charge lacked properevidence. Since the witness of archaeologyhas convinced many atheistic enquirers, Idecided to refer to some of theseantiquities in the hope that it would helpour Muslim brethren as it helped othersbefore.

The criticism of infidels and their disbeliefof the Bible can be traced to two factors.Firstly, to the idea that writing was eitherunknown or else little used in Palestineuntil just before the Babylonian Exile(around 540 BC). Consequently, theythink it is unlikely that Moses or othersused writing at the time. Secondly, to thebelief that the Torah highly exaggeratedthe level of civilisation in the ancient NearEast in contrast with the contemporaryhistorians. But recent discoveries havecome out in favour of the biblicalaccounts, depicting clearly the advancedcivilisations of Egypt, Babylon andAssyria. Sennacherib, Tiglath Pileser andNebuchadnezzar are portrayed to usthrough their chronicles, their culture andthe battles they engaged in. We can nowsee for ourselves the form of the lettersused by Isaiah, Jeremiah and even Mosesin their writings. Thus the stones havespoken out in support of God's






declarations. These antiquities haveestablished the fact that the art of writinghad been perfected in the days of Ezekiel,Moses and Abraham, in fact since 2234BC, to a level similar to what we havetoday.

I shall now proceed to mention theimportant subjects and great eventsmentioned in the Torah which have beencorroborated, as you will see, by ancientantiquities.

The original Assyrian tablets exhibitedtoday in the British Museum confirm thecreation story (mentioned at the beginningof the Torah) in detail, in an amazing way.If not for the need for brevity I would havetranslated it to the reader. While thisaccount has elements of legend in it, thetruth shows through. It confirms theexistence of a single human pair, for itstates, "that there be two, created by theLord of the noble face." In the samemuseum one can see a picture on anancient Babylonian column, depicting ourfirst parents, with the tree between themand the snake behind Eve. This agreesexactly with the account of the Fall in thefirst chapter of the Torah.

Formerly, unbelieving scholars haveregarded the biblical story of the Flood asmere myth, one of the ancients' legends.They supposed it could not bear thescholar's scrutiny; rigorous enquiry wouldprove it to be a forgery. However, afterlengthy investigations, they ended bylosing their case when later archaeologicalfinds exposed their glaring errors. Theyconfessed that the Flood was a fact, andacknowledged the truth. Notable amongthem were the geologists, for among thefinds in Assyria were tablets, now in theBritish Museum, bearing an inscription of

how an ark was built, how men and allkinds of animals were preserved, howrains covered the face of the earth(inhabited by living beings) destroyingmen and beasts, with all the details of theFlood story.

In every continent of the world largequantities of sea fossils have beendiscovered, either concentrated orscattered in solid layers, on mountains andin deep valleys. Some of them are specificto certain seas. There are remains of fishand marine plants in fossil form embeddedin mountain strata. Anyone interested caninspect these since they are on display inmost museums. All this proves the truth ofthe Biblical account of the Flood.Otherwise, how could those shells andfossils of fish and plants have reachedthese remote places where they are notnative?

A certain Mr. Smith came across a tabletin the ruins of Nineveh, which is now inthe British Museum. On it there is anaccount of the confusion of tongues andthe building of the Tower of Babel(Genesis 11). The same man found a tabletin the ruins of Assyria relating thedestruction of Sodom and Gomorrah withfire and brimstone as the Bible mentions inGenesis 19:24. These finds corroborate theaccount of the raid on Canaan byChedorlaomer King of Elam and his allies.Among them was Amrafel King of Shinarand Southern Babylon, referred to inGenesis chapter 14.

The historians Plutarch and Herodotusdenied the existence and use of wine inEgypt in the time of the prophet Moses'writings. However, we now know from thediscoveries of Egyptian archaeology thatthese historians were wrong in their






assumption and that Moses, the lawgiver,was right. In some Egyptian tombs thereare pictures showing the process ofwine-making, from the culture of the vine,to crushing the grapes, to extracting thejuice and storing it in vessels. Some bottleswere found with the word ERB whichmeans wine. The ruins also give proof ofthe famine in Joseph's day, mentioned inthe Torah (Genesis 41:30).

Egyptian inscriptions have shown thatRamses the Great employed foreigners inthe construction of the two towns ofPithom and Ramses. This is in agreementwith Exodus 1:11, and archaeologistsdiscovered in a tomb in Thebes mention ofthe Israelites and their slavery andconscription in public works.

Among the silent witnesses to the truth ofthe Bible is a piece of marble, knownamong the antiquarians as the MoabiteStone. A priest by the name of AugustusKlein found it. He was of German originand lived in Palestine for a long time,serving 20 years in Cairo as Secretary forthe English Church Mission. He was afamous scholar and knew severallanguages. The discovery was made inTransjordan, in what was ancient Moab,and dates back to 890 BC At present it isin the Louvre Museum in Paris. The stonebears an inscription, consisting of 30 linesof Phoenician writing which tells of thewars between Misha, King of Moab, andOmri, King of Israel, and the Edomites aswe find it in the book of 2 Kings 3:4-27. Italso mentions other precise details whichare in accord with the Bible, but spaceprevents us from giving them.

Furthermore, the discovery of the Siloaminscriptions in Jerusalem confirm theaccuracy of what we read in 2 Kings

20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30 and Isaiah22:9,11, to the effect that Hezekiahstopped the higher source of the GihonSpring, running it underground to thewestern flank of the City of David.

In the ruins of Nineveh a cylinder wasfound bearing a record of the war betweenSargon, King of Assyria in 722 BC andAshuri, King of Ashdod, in the reign ofHezekiah (Isaiah 2:1). This cylinder is nowin London.

Another hexagonal column was found withan account of the siege of Jerusalem. It isalso in London. Sennacherib, King ofAssyria, besieged it in 705 BC, as relatedin 2 Kings 18:13-16.

We have, in the numerous ancientmanuscripts of the Bible, irrefutabletestimony to the veracity of the Book.These are to be found in the foremostlibraries and museums in Europe. They arewritten on leather parchment in theoriginal Greek language of the Gospel aswell as other languages. Some of themconsist of the Torah and the Gospel intheir entirety. Others are of certain booksof the Bible. The following are some ofthese manuscripts:

1. "Codex Vaticanus" (VaticanManuscript) - You will find this in theVatican in Rome. It was writtenapproximately 250 years before theHijra.

2. "Codex Sinaiticus" (SinaiticManuscript) -Named after Mount Sinaiwhere it was found. It is now in theBritish Museum in London andconsists of the Torah and the Gospel. Itwas penned approximately 200 yearsbefore the Hijra.

3. "Codex Alexandrinus" (Alexandria






Manuscript) - This document is in theTreasure Room of the British Museumin London. It was also writtenapproximately 200 years before theHijra, and contains the Torah and theGospel.

4. "Codex Ephraemus" (EphraimManuscript) - It is now in Paris andwas written approximately 150 yearsbefore the Hijra and contains theGospel.

Furthermore, the following story madeheadlines in the year 1948 and wasconsidered among the most momentous ofhistorical events. A certain MuhammadAl-Deeb Badawi of the Taamirahs wasshepherding his flock near the Dead Sea.When one sheep climbed the mountainside he threw a stone at it. Hearing thesound of smashed pottery he threw anotherstone. Then he climbed the mountain andstepped cautiously through a hole into acave, thinking he would find treasure. Infact he found it; however, it was not justfor himself and his tribe but for the worldat large!

This discovery consists of a collection ofbundles of the Holy Scriptures, amongthem the Book of the prophet Isaiah, oneof the biblical books which dates back 700years before Christ. It came as an eloquenttestimony to the accuracy of the Biblesince it agreed with the copies incirculation today. Thus, it refuted thecharges that the Book has been corrupted,and challenged and exposed the falseaccusations. These scrolls are now knownas "Qumran" or the "Dead Sea Scrolls."

Since the discovery of this preciousstorehouse, it has become abundantly clearthat the copying and transmission of God'sHoly Book is living proof of the guidance

of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Churchof Christ - the repository of God'smysteries. Christians possess numerousother manuscripts, some written beforeIslam, others contemporary to it. We havenot listed these for the sake of brevity. Ifwe compare the copies of the Scriptures inmore than 300 languages in the hands ofJews and Christians today with thoseancient manuscripts, we shall find a greatdegree of harmony between them. Theyare there for everyone to examine!

3. Second Discourse: Has theQur'an Abrogated the Torah andGospel?

When the Muslim steed fails in the arenaof discussion, lacking proof and evidence,having to accept the proposition that theTorah and Gospel are free from corruptionand change, as well as being sent downfrom an All-wise God, to be guidance andlight to all men, he resorts to the chargethat the Qur'an has abrogated the Torahand Gospel. However, this is anunsupported charge and a grave slander,because the Qur'an itself does not claimthis. On the contrary, it proclaimed overevery head, in clear Arabic, that it was sentdown confirming the Torah and Gospeland keeping watch over them, as you willsee from the following verses:

"And believe in that I have sent down,confirming that which is with you" (Suraal-Baqara 2:38).

"Confirming what was before it" (Suraal-Baqara 2:91).

"Then there shall come to you aMessenger confirming what is with you"(Sura al Imran 3:75).






"He has sent down upon thee the Bookwith the truth, confirming what was beforeit" (Sura al Imran 3:2).

"You who have been given the Book,believe in what We have sent down,confirming what is with you" (Suraal-Nisa' 4:50).

"This Qur'an could not have been forgedapart from God; but it is a confirmation ofwhat is before it, and a distinguishing ofthe Book" (Sura Yunis 10:38).

"And We have sent down to thee the Bookwith the truth, confirming the Book thatwas before it, and assuring it" (Suraal-Ma'ida 5:52).

"Say: People of the Book, you do not standon anything, until you perform the Torahand the Gospel" (Sura al-Ma'ida 5:72).

The prudent will not embark on a charge,unless he is confident that he is able toprove it by a thousand proofs. Some of ourMuslim brethren approach this matterwithout thought. If we tell them: "Produceyour evidence if you are truthful," theybring us empty and feeble reasons such as:"The later abrogates the earlier." In otherwords, the Qur'an came after the Torahand Gospel, therefore it abrogates them!Others say that, since the Qur'an containsthe Torah and Gospel, we no longer needthem. I don't think, with due respect to thereader's intelligence, that I need tochallenge such feeble "evidences,"especially since the Qur'an itself hasspared me this effort. The previous sevenverses, like tens of others, demonstrateunequivocally that the Qur'an cameattesting to the veracity of the Torah andGospel, confirming them and watchingover them as a guardian and preserver. Itnever claimed that it was sent to abrogate

their precepts and there is no trace in theQur'an of such a claim; indeed, oneunderstands the opposite, for, in additionto confirming and attesting them, itexhorts the Jews and Christians openly,saying: "People of the Book, you do notstand on anything until you perform theTorah and the Gospel."

Had the idea of abrogation been true, wewould not have seen Muhammad urgingthe Jews and Christians to keep thecommandments of the Torah and Gospel.Also, we would not have seen him askingthe Muslims to believe in them. Nowheredoes the Qur'an state that it contains theTorah and Gospel, so that the Muslimcould say that he has no need of them. Infact, the Qur'an does state the contrary, asone can see in Sura al-Shu'ara' 26:193-196:

"Brought down by the Faithful Spirit uponthy heart, that thou mayest be one of thewarners, in a clear, Arabic tongue. Truly itis in the Scriptures of the ancients (theTorah and Gospel)."

So, the last quotation confirms that theTorah and Gospel contain the Qur'an,"truly it is in the Scriptures of theancients." How strange it is that ourMuslim friends allege that the Qur'anencompasses them, without giving proof.

Even assuming that the Qur'an failed toaffirm the Torah and Gospel, one cannotargue from silence that it has abrogatedthem and that they are no longer needed.God be thanked, it did no such thing, butinstead, sought to establish its own wordson their authority and placed itselfalongside the Torah and Gospel, "Say:'Bring a Book from God that gives betterguidance than these (the Qur'an and theBible), and follow it, if you speak truly' "






(Sura al-Qasas 28:49). And many a timethe Qur'an tried to convince the Arabs ofthe truthfulness of the Bible's message andhow badly they needed it, by mentioningthat the Torah and Gospel came down inforeign languages to a foreign nation, "anda guide to every people" (Sura al-Ra'd13:8). And since the Arabs could notunderstand those languages, the Qur'ansays that God sent down the Qur'an, in thesame way (as the Torah and Gospel) inyour own language, in a clear Arabictongue: "Yet before it was the Book ofMoses for a model and a mercy; and this isa Book confirming, in Arabic tongue, towarn the evildoers, and good tidings to thegood-doers" (Sura al-Ahqaf 46:11).

4. Third Discourse: All haveSinned, even the Prophets

God created man pure, and made for him ahappy home in the Garden of Eden. Therewas nothing there to distract him fromworship. However, he disobeyed the wordof his Lord, eating of the forbidden fruit.Thus he lost everything. Adam was arepresentative of his descendants, and byhis rebellion he broke the covenant thatGod made with him. His descendants haveever since regretted this representationbecause of its consequence. Adamresponded to the temptation and fell intosin. Since we humans are his offspring, wehave inherited this weakness and are bornwith the same inclinations, according tothe laws of heredity. However, we are notpunished for his sin; for we too have beendisobedient, even though we know ofGod's disapproval. We have committedactual sins just as he did. The followingstatement confirms this: "Adam fell, andso his offspring fell; Adam forgot and ateof the tree, and his offspring forgot; Adam

sinned and his offspring sinned." It isattributed to Tarmathi and others and is afair and truthful statement. In short,Adam's representation of his descendantsis an indubitable reality among Muslimscholars. The Sheikh Muhyi Ed Din Ibn ElAraby has written an article on this subjectin chapter 305 of his book.

If Adam, whom God created pure,disobeyed his Lord's commands, howmuch more can be said of his weakdescendants? Then we find that all havesinned and come short of God's glory andmercy.

Both history and experience teach us thatman's heart is wicked and these hearts ofours tell us that: "Surely the soul of manincites to evil" (Sura Yusuf 12:53).Whenever it finds a way to satisfy its lusts,it follows it, unless it has a deterrent fromits Creator. Although we know that sin andwickedness are forbidden, we violate ourconscience, submit to our corrupt naturesand commit what is forbidden. Have younot noticed that the drunkard, though heknows what harm his habit does to hishealth, livelihood and religion, still doesit? He is drawn by forces within him;likewise the fornicator, thief and slanderer.

Our personal experience teaches us that wehave leanings and passions within uswhich are reprehensible. These are theresult of the corruption of human nature,and they fight our consciences and opposeour good intentions. Thus we findourselves captives, doing that which iscontrary to the will of our Creator God.

We do not know anyone who has no faults.No human has ever claimed to beabsolutely pure except Jesus. We willdiscuss this later on in this book.






The following verse points to the fact thatall men are corrupt when it says, "Surelythe soul of man incites to evil" (SuraYusuf 12:53). Al-Razi has commented,"The soul of man incites to evil: in otherwords, it leans to wickedness, is desirousof rebellion and has a nature which cravespleasures. Since attraction to the materialworld is predominant, and desire to rise tothe higher world rare, it was judged tohave incited us to evil" (Al-Razi's words).What is also clear is that the definitearticle "the" refers here to the species,mankind. Therefore, we are permitted tosay that every soul incites to evil. Theform (la-ammara in Arabic) rendered"surely" is a form of emphasis orexaggeration by the use of "l am". It iscertain then, that every man's soul inciteshim to wickedness and has a strong desireto commit disobedience.

Another proof that all have sinned is thefollowing verse: "Not one of you there is,but he shall go down to it; that for thyLord is a thing decreed, determined. ThenWe shall deliver those that weregodfearing; and the evildoers We shallleave there, hobbling on their knees" (SuraMaryam 19:72,73). Al-Razi said, "Onecannot say, 'then we shall deliver etc.,'unless all were destined to go down to it(the fire)." Information on this subjectpoints in the same direction. When Jaberwas asked about this verse he said, "Iheard God's Prophet... saying that'al-worood', going down to it meansentering, and everyone, without exception,whether he is good or evil, will enter it."Jalal Ed Din interprets the word"wariduha" (shall go down to it) byentering and being burnt. Al-Razi confirmsthis in his exposition of the verse "hewhose scales are heavy" (Sura al-A'raf

7:7), "But the sins of the believer will beforgiven."

Does not this clearly show that everyonecommits sins, and some will be punishedfor a while, whereas others will stay in thefire eternally? Another proof of the factthat all have sinned is the verse, "Whosoblinds himself to the Remembrance of theAll-merciful, to him We assign a Satan forcomrade" (Sura al-Zukhruf 43:35). Sincethe remembrance of God's name isperpetually beyond man's power, it is notsurprising that Satan is in continuous battlewith every man. When Muhammad wasasked which fight (jihad) is the better hereplied, "Your struggle with yourpassions." This fight has been named the"supreme struggle". It has also been said,"Your worst enemy is yourself, which iswithin you." From this one sees thecorruption of nature and the evil whichlurks in the heart and the inclination to sinin ways both great and small.

The truth of the matter is that mankind iscorrupt and sinful; and but for the grace ofGod and his mercy not one would bejustified. Muslims have regarded it a gravesin to consider oneself safe from God'swrath. We have thus concluded withirrefutable proofs that everyone hassinned. Therefore they are in need ofChrist's sacrifice to atone for their sins.Otherwise they are sent to hell to satisfyGod's justice. Since they have thisinherited weakness and leaning to sin,inherited from their father Adam, they alsoneed the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, topurify their souls. This is needed toremove evil inclinations bit by bit and totransform twisted thoughts and corruptemotions. This is what the Bible calls theNew Birth or the Second Birth.






Christians believe that according to theBible all have sinned, and corruption hasovertaken the whole human race. Since theprophets are human they too are sinners.They also believe that these prophets andapostles, whom God chose to warn menand deliver his message, were preservedfrom error in their task, whether themessage was spoken or written. Thus Godkept them from forgetting or erring,guiding their efforts by his Holy Spirit andinspiring them in what they should say tomen. However, they (prophets andapostles) were not immune to sin in theiractions and normal behaviour, thusindicating the inherent weakness of humannature and establishing the fact thatsinlessness and perfection are God's alone,the Almighty and Glorious One.

Moreover, sin deserves God's wrath andthe fires of hell, whether that sin is great orsmall. So, although murder is differentfrom stealing or cursing, all merit the samepunishment from God, because they eachconstitute an offence and a disobedience.This fact is supported by many verses inthe Torah and Gospel, for example, "Allhave turned away, they have togetherbecome worthless; there is no one whodoes good, not even one" (Romans 3:12),and, "for all have sinned and fall short ofthe glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In theHadith (Tradition) we find this confirmed;here is its text: "If anyone extorts another'sdue with his right hand, God must consignhim to the fire and deny him paradise." Aman said, "Oh Prophet of God, even if it isa small matter?" He replied, "Even if it is arod of arak wood."

Let us now come to the sins of theprophets. Muslims have disagreed amongthemselves as to the sinlessness of theprophets. Some have said that they were

absolutely sinless. Others have said thatthey sinned as children but when theyattained adulthood they became sinless.Yet others have restricted their sinlessnessto their role in delivering their messages,but admitted that they could sin in otherrespects. This last view is the oneespoused by the late Sheikh MohammadAdo, although the Qur'an clearly indicatesthat most of the prophets have committedtransgressions, not just minor but alsomajor sins, according to their admissions,as you will see presently.

Muslim theologians have differentiatedbetween two kinds of sins, major andminor. God forgives the minor ones butnot the major. In their opinion there are 17major sins:

1. infidelity

2. persistence in committing minor sins

3. despairing of God's mercy

4. considering oneself safe from God'swrath

5. false witness (perjury)

6. defaming a Muslim

7. swearing falsely

8. magic

9. drinking alcohol

10.extorting the money of orphans

11.usury

12.adultery or fornication

13.sodomy or the like

14.stealing

15.murder

16. fleeing in battle from infidels

17.disobedience to parents

Thus, in their judgement, every believer






who has committed any of these offencesand has not repented will be punished inthe fires of hell. Anything else isconsidered minor.

Adam sinned, as one can conclude fromSura Ta Ha 20:119: "Adam disobeyed hisLord, and so he erred." Expositors havesaid that he disobeyed his Lord by eatingof the tree, "...but draw not nigh this tree,lest you be evildoers" (Sura al-Baqara2:33). Baidawi said, "He strayed fromwhat was required and went wrong inseeking immortality by eating of the tree;or in what he was commanded or from theright course by being deceived by theenemy." Al-Razi admitted that Adamsinned, but he claimed that it happenedbefore his prophethood. He went on to saythat he disobeyed and erred but only inrespect to eating from the tree. Since herepented of it, this transgression will notbe counted against him. However, Al-Razihas not confirmed to us that sin occurredbefore the call, but only that he wasforgiven, since he repented. We agree withhim in this last phrase, but this does notdeny that he disobeyed and erred from thepath.

Furthermore, disobedience is among thegrave sins, as we find expressed in thisverse, "And whoso rebels against God andHis Messenger, for him there awaits theFire of Gehenna" (Sura al-Jinn 72:24).And by saying, "...and turned again untohim, and He guided him" (Sura Ta Ha20:120), it shows that Adam disobeyedand then repented. Repentance is beingsorry for one's sin, confessing it anddetermining not to repeat it. Andrepentance can only be for disobedience,for Adam himself repented of hisdisobedience in his words, "They said,'Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if

Thou dost not forgive us, and have mercyupon us, we shall surely be among the lost'" (Sura al-A'raf 7:22).

Here we have Adam, one of the foremostprophets, obeying Satan, listening to him,doubting his sublime Lord and covetingimmortality. In so doing, he sinned andthis sin is considered among the graveones.

Noah sinned, as one can see from SuraNuh 71:24-29, "Increase Thou not theevildoers save in error!" And Noah said,"My Lord, leave not upon the earth of theunbelievers even one." When it was clearhe had sinned, he said: "My Lord, forgiveme." It follows that the plea to be forgivencomes from a sense of having committed amajor sin. However, commentators try tosoften this verse. The meaning, though,can only be as we have stated.

Abraham sinned as we find written in Suraal-An'am 6:76, "When night outspreadover him he saw a star and said, 'This ismy Lord.' But when it set he said, 'I lovenot the setters.' When he saw the moonrising, he said, 'This is my Lord.' But whenit set he said, 'If my Lord does not guideme I shall surely be of the people whohave gone astray.' " This happened to himwhen he saw the sun. If he said thisbecause he believed it, then he was anidolater; otherwise, he was lying. In eithercase, these are grave sins.

So we find in Sura Ibrahim 14:42, "OurLord, forgive Thou me and my parents,and the believers, upon the day when thereckoning shall come to pass." HereAbraham plainly asks forgiveness forhimself, his parents and the believers. Alsoin Sura al-Baqara 2:266, "And whenAbraham said, 'My Lord, show me how






Thou wilt give life to the dead,' He said,'Why, dost thou not believe?' 'Yes,' hesaid, 'but that my heart may be at rest.' "

Here we find Abraham doubting the powerof God, and this constitutes a grave sin. Inthe Hadith we read, "We are more inclinedto doubt than Abraham."

In Sura al-Anbiya' 21:64, we read thatAbraham said, "No; it was this great oneof them that did it." Abraham had brokenthe idols, and when asked, he lied, sayingthat the large idol had smashed the smallones. According to Abi Huraira, theProphet of God stated that Abraham onlylied three times, two lies of whichconcerned the person of God. When hesaid: "I am ill," "this great one (the idol)did it," and "Sarah is my sister," when thegiant wanted to approach her (quoted byBukhari and Muslim).

Moses sinned as we find in Sura al-Qasas28:14,15: "And he entered the city, at atime when its people were unheeding, andfound there two men fighting; the one wasof his own party, and the other was of hisenemies. Then the one that was of hisparty cried to him to aid him against theother that was of his enemies; so Mosesstruck him, dispatched him, and said, 'Thisis Satan's doing; he is surely an enemymisleading, manifest.' He said, 'My Lord Ihave wronged myself. Forgive me!' SoGod forgave him, for He is theAll-forgiving, the All-compassionate."Also in Sura al-Shu'ara' 26:19, "...Said he,'Indeed I did it then, being one of thosethat stray.' And when Moses returned tohis people, angry and sorrowful, he said,'Vilely have you done in my place, afterme; what, have you outstripped yourLord's commandment?' And he cast downthe Tablets, and laid hold of his brother's

head (Aaron) dragging him to him. Hesaid, 'O my Lord, forgive me and mybrother and enter us into Thy mercy; Thouart the most merciful of the merciful.' "

It is evident from these verses that Mosescommitted murder and felt that this was agrave sin. So he confessed it and pleadedforgiveness. Likewise, he sinned when hewas angry and threw the stone tablets andinsulted his brother. When he becameaware of his sin, he asked forgiveness forhimself and his brother. As for Aaron's sin,it was that he made the golden calf for theIsraelites to worship.

Joseph sinned as we read in Sura Yusuf12:24, because of his affair with the wifeof Potiphar, the head of Pharaoh's army,"For she desired him; and he would havetaken her, but that he saw the proof of hisLord. So was it, that We might turn awayfrom him evil and abomination; he wasone of Our devoted servants."

David sinned, as we find in Sura Sad38:23,24, "And David thought that We hadonly tried him; therefore he soughtforgiveness of his Lord, and he fell down,bowing, and he repented. Accordingly Weforgave him that, and he has a near placein Our presence and a fair resort." Hesinned by committing a murder andadultery as described in detail in the Torahin 2 Samuel 11,12. However, when he feltthat he had committed a crime he askedforgiveness of God and was forgiven. Allthis is clearly stated in the Torah, whichwould spare you the lengthy andconflicting sayings of the commentators.Recurring stories prove that David fell intosin and reveal his penitence and greatsorrow and the forgiveness he obtained, aswas mentioned by Ibn Malek, Ibn Abbas,Wahb Ibn Munabbeh and others.






Solomon sinned as we see from Sura Sad38:30-32: "When in the evening werepresented to him the standing steeds, hesaid, 'Lo, I have loved the love of goodthings better than the remembrance of myLord, until the sun was hidden behind theveil. Return them to me!' And he began tostroke their shanks and necks. CertainlyWe tried Solomon, and We cast upon histhrone a mere body; then he repented. Hesaid, 'My Lord, forgive me, and give me akingdom such as may not fall to another'slot after me.' " Expositors such as theal-Kashaf, al-Razi and others haveinterpreted these verses in quite divergentways, quoting numerous accounts to provetheir case. However, the upshot is thathorses diverted him from the remembranceof God and Prayer. They even said that hefinally slaughtered them.

Verses 33 and 34 of Sura Sad reveal thatSolomon actually sinned. Otherwise whywould he ask forgiveness, unless he felthis guilt?

Jonah (Yunis) sinned, as we find in Suraal-Saffat 37:139-144, "Jonah too was oneof the Envoys; when he ran away to theladen ship and cast lots, and was of therebutted, then the whale swallowed himdown, and he was blameworthy. Now hadhe not been of those that glorify God, hewould have tarried in its belly until the daythey shall be raised." The verb "tarried"indicates that Jonah disobeyed his Lordand the strange thing is that he disobeyedin spite of being "one of the Envoys."What proves this is his saying, "he isblameworthy." Further confirmationcomes in the words, that for thisdisobedience he deserved to remain in thewhale's belly "until the day they shall beraised," except that he was of "those thatglorify God" (that is, of those who ask

forgiveness). Otherwise what would be thesignificance of "glorify" in this context?

Muhammad sinned, as can be inferredfrom Sura al-Fath 48:2, "that God mayforgive thee thy former and thy latter sins,and complete His blessing upon thee, andguide thee on a straight path," and fromSura Muhammad 47:21, "and askforgiveness for thy sin, and for thebelievers, men and women," and fromSura al-Mu'minun 23:57, "And askforgiveness for thy sin," and from Suraal-Nisa' 4:106, "Surely We have sent downto thee the Book with the truth, so thatthou mayest judge between the people bythat God has shown thee. So be notadvocate for the traitors; and prayforgiveness of God; surely God isAll-forgiving, All-compassionate."

The first verse shows that Muhammadsinned even before this saying and that hewould sin thereafter. If, like Al-Razi,Al-Kashaf and others, one says that he isseeking forgiveness for his people, thesecond verse refutes this and demonstratesthat what is required of him is to askforgiveness for his sin first, then for thesins of believers both male and female.

Some Muslim scholars have said that themerits of the pious are the evils of God's"near ones" (muqarrabin). If the pious mandisobeys God in small matters God willreckon it to him among the grave sins.Often, what he does not regard as sin iscounted against him as such until he asksforgiveness for it. They say that this iswhat happened to Muhammad. What theyforget is that God is the speaker in thisverse, according to their belief, when hesays, "and ask forgiveness (Muhammad)for thy sin, and for the believers, men andwomen." Does God imagine to be sin what






in fact is not, and require him to askforgiveness for it?

From Sura al-Ahzab 33:37, "When thousaidst to him whom God had blessed andthou hadst favoured, 'Keep thy wife tothyself, and fear God, and thou wastconcealing within thyself what God shouldreveal, fearing other men; and God hasbetter right for thee to fear Him. So whenZaid had accomplished what he would ofher, then We gave her in marriage to thee,so that there should not be any fault in thebelievers, touching the wives of theiradopted sons, when they haveaccomplished what they would of them;and God's commandment must beperformed.' "

The story is that Muhammad freed hisslave Zaid and adopted him as son after hebelieved, and married him to a noblewoman called Zaina. But sometime laterhe indicated to her his attachment with theremark, "Praise be to the one who changesthe hearts." Zainab then mentioned this toher husband. He understood Muhammad'sintentions. Approaching him, as though byhis own accord he said, "I wish to leavemy woman companion." Muhammadappeared to ignore him and said, "What'sthe matter with you? Do you suspect her?"He replied, "No, except that owing to hernobility she lords it over me." He then toldhim, "Keep thy wife to thyself." (See whatAl-Kashaf said in commenting on thisverse; page 213, second volume, and whatBaidawi has said).

Here he is seen as concealing in himselfwhat God was revealing. He tried to makeit appear to men that he did not marryZaid's wife except in obedience to God'scommand. You can see from the texts thatMuhammad did wrong in concealing his

affection for Zainab and by pretendingsomething that was not in his heart.Therefore he was rebuked in the words,"concealing within thyself what Godshould reveal."

In his exposition of this verse Al-Razisays, "In that you wanted to marryZainab." But Al-Razi retracts by saying,"He feared God and was afraid of men,and so God rebuked him," for he said,"God has a better right for thee to fearHim." Therefore Muhammad sinned in thismanner also, and feared what he shouldnot have feared.

We read in Sura al-Isra' 17:76, "And hadWe not confirmed thee surely thou wertnear in inclining unto them a very little."Al-Razi writes, after Al-Zajjaj: "Had Wenot confirmed thee, meaning in the truth,by our protection, you were 'near toinclining' to them, that is to lean towardsthem 'a very little,' that is a littleinclination." Qatada remarked that whenthis verse descended, the Prophet said, "OhGod, do not leave me to myself (even amoment or 'for the twinkling of an eye')."Does this verse not show that Muhammadsinned, or at least that he was not immunefrom sin, for he said "do not leave me tomyself for the twinkling of an eye."

In the sayings of Muslim and Bukhari theyattribute to Muhammad this statement,"None of you will enter heaven except byGod's mercy." One said, "not even you, OhProphet of God," he said, "Not even me,except that God encompass me with Hisgrace." Of Abu Huraira he stated that heheard the Prophet say, "Surely I'll askGod's forgiveness and repent seventytimes daily," and in some accounts morethan seventy. It is said of Ibnat Khaled andAbu Huraira -- "The Prophet of God






would say, 'Oh God, I take refuge in youfrom the torment of the grave and thetorment of the fire' " (Bukhari, Part One).

It is absolutely clear from the foregoingpassages to those who are honest that ourFather Adam fell into disobedience, andthe thoughts of his heart became corrupt,and he started to incline to evil. Also, wehis descendants have naturally inheritedfrom him this corruption and tendency tosin. This has also been confirmed to usfrom personal experience.

We have seen that the great prophets havecommitted transgressions, evenMuhammad the Prophet of the Muslims.So all men everywhere are in need of aSaviour from the torment prepared for allwho transgress God's laws and commitsins. They need a spotless redemption inorder to redeem their souls anddemonstrate God's justice and mercy. Thisthing can be fulfilled only by thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ, his death as asacrifice for mankind, so that whoeverbelieves in him will have his sins forgivenby God and made clean by his Holy Spirit.Thus he will receive eternal life andeverlasting bliss.

I do not understand why our Muslimbrethren try to exonerate the prophets fromthe stain of sin, contrary to the declarationsof every book considered to be revealed(munzal). This is especially so, since noneof the prophets ever claimed thissinlessness but admitted that they wereweak and sinful. Truly God has sent downthe books and recorded the creedsaccording to his supreme wisdom. He isall-wise in his works, and all-knowing ofthe needs of mankind.

5. Fourth Discourse

IntroductionBoth Islamic and civil law prescribe thatthe punishment for transgression or crimeshall be severe or mild in proportion to theone sinned against. For instance, if astudent at school insults his fellow pupil,he is punished lightly, whereas if he insultshis teacher he would be expelled fromschool. In legislative terms, if someonereviles his equal it is considered anoffence, but if he insults the judge hispunishment would be greater. However, ifhe insults the king his sentence would begreater still. But if he should sin againstGod, who is unsurpassed in greatness andholiness, how much more would be hispunishment! Doubtless he would becondemned to painful endless torment.

God is just, so he cannot overlook theslightest offence. Therefore we have toadmit that those who sin against God, "forall have sinned and fall short of the gloryof God" (Romans 3:23) will have to stayforever in the fire as a punishment forthem. Therefore when this takes place,where is the mercy of God? And if Allahhas mercy on those sinners, forgives themand does not punish them, then where ishis righteousness? For this reason hearranged a means of reconciling hisrighteousness and his mercy.

5.1. Part One: God's Purpose in theCrucifixion: How ThisReconciliation was Accomplished

Adam disobeyed his Lord (that is, hesinned) and was expelled from Eden(Genesis 3). This is echoed in Suraal-Baqara 2:34, "Then Satan caused themto slip therefrom and brought them out ofthat they were in." He thus deservedeternal death. Evil desires grew in him,






and the tendency to commit sin took rootin his heart. His descendants also inheritedthese tendencies and so they followed intheir father's footsteps. The earth becamefull of evil, and men's destruction becameinevitable so as to satisfy God's justice,since they could not find a way to reformand return to their original state: the stateof purity and holiness which befits heaven,where only the pure can enter.Furthermore, God cannot deviate from hisown laws, because his justice demands thatthe sinner pay with his life and that justicerun its course. "The soul who sins is theone who will die. The son will not sharethe guilt of the father, nor will the fathershare the guilt of the son. Therighteousness of the righteous man will becredited to him, and the wickedness of thewicked will be charged against him"(Ezekiel 18:20). If the legislator does notenforce his own laws, then there is no suchthing as justice left!

Linguistically, justice is the opposite ofinjustice and means fairness, correction,requital. Mercy, linguistically, signifiestenderness of heart, graciousness,benevolence and forgiveness. Others havesaid it is to forgo punishing one whodeserves it. Since God is merciful, hewanted to show mercy to man and savehim from the fires of punishment (albeit,without ignoring justice). Therefore he hasordained the work of redemption frometernity. At first it started with bloodsacrifices, which are pivotal to the MosaicLaw. The sons of Adam offered sacrificeseven before the written Law was sentdown. Those coming after them did thesame until the Law was given to Moses,God's spokesman, where the subject isgiven in detail. In it we see how God, toimpress on men the ugliness of sin and its

painful consequences, proceeded to teachthem as children. He divided the animalsinto "clean" and "unclean" and taught themthe principle, "In fact, the law requires thatnearly everything be cleansed with blood,and without the shedding of blood there isno forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22). Thus heinstructed the sinner to offer as a sacrificefor his sin a clean animal, in whom was noblemish. He was to slay it and place it onthe fire to remind him that the sinnerdeserved to be put to death. However, bymeans of the substitute sacrifice he couldobtain forgiveness. All these sacrificespointed to Christ's great sacrifice, sincethey could never in themselves redeem oneman because of their inferior value.

When the time came, God sent his Word,Christ, who took on him human form andbecame man like us. He shared manythings with us, but he never committed sin,neither was there any deceit in his mouth.(See a discussion of Christ's sinlessness inthe fifth discourse of this book). This"Word," that is, Christ, offered himself upon a cross as a victim and substitute for thesouls of men. In this way Divine justicewas satisfied because God accepted thisoffering in exchange for all souls. He alsoreconciled God's justice with his mercy,fulfilling the Prophet David's saying,"Love and faithfulness meet together;righteousness and peace kiss each other"(Psalm 85:10). All who believe in Christ'sdeath on the cross obtain this salvation.Also all who will have this same faith willobtain salvation, on the condition they goon to live according to God's commands,as recorded in the Torah and Gospel. Thus,Christ was crucified as a man and not asGod, as some of our Muslim brethrenimagine, raising great objections beforethey understand the Christian's real belief






in this matter.

I don't think I need to show in detail theplace given in Islam to sacrifices as doother religions. Namely, that it is a way toobtain forgiveness of sins and acceptancewith God. All Muslims know that theslaying of sheep in the al-Adha feast is notfor food, but is regarded as a redemption toobtain God's bounty and beneficence.Likewise, the ram which Abraham offeredwas a substitute for his son, "And Weransomed him with a mighty sacrifice"(Sura al-Saffat 37:107). Thus, everysacrifice is regarded as a substitute for theofferer and a means to obtain pardon. EvenMuhammad himself considered the bloodof sacrifices a means to atone for sins andto obtain pardon, as we know from thefollowing hadith:

He told his daughter Fatima, "Be present,Oh Fatima at the head of the victim for assoon as the first drop of his blood falls tothe ground your sins will be forgiven."And on the basis of another hadithattributed to Muhammad, Muslims believethat on the Day of Reckoning they willmount the sacrifices which they offeredduring their lifetime, and cross the straightand narrow path to paradise. Thesesacrifices are not equal to the souls forwhom they were offered; in fact all theanimals offered are not worth one rationalbeing. They are not adequate to atone forsin, but are only a symbol of the greatestsacrifice of Christ about whose institutionwe hear in the Torah, and we read theaccount of its fulfilment on the cross in theGospel. This is the sacrifice which Godconsidered equal to the souls of allmankind, "For God so loved the world thathe gave his one and only Son, thatwhoever believes in him shall not perishbut have eternal life" (John 3:16).

5.2. Part Two: Only Christ Was Fitfor this Task

Yes, only Christ was fit for this enterprisefor the following reasons:

1. The sacrifice had to be pure andwithout blemish.

2. The sacrifice was to be of such valueto equal the number of souls to beredeemed.

3. It had to be of the same kind as man.

4. It had to have the necessary standingbefore God to serve as a connectinglink between God and man.

If one were to search among all mankindone would not find any who would meetthese conditions except Christ. The reasonis that all have sinned, even the prophets,and need someone to redeem them. No onepossesses the necessary worth in God'ssight. No one has the intrinsic standing,except the Word of God.

For my soul, O my healer is in miseryand decay,

Grant it healing at your hands throughthe Cross.

O mediator of peace I seek refuge in theCross,

For me present this plea, to your Fatherwho will heed.

5.3. Part Three: Did Christ WillinglyAccept Crucifixion?

If you were to ask the Muslim why he doesnot believe that Christ was actuallycrucified he would reply: Because he wasone of the foremost prophets and it wouldhave been impossible for God to deliver






his worthy servant to vile Jews to put himto death on the cross in such a horriblefashion. The Muslim has forgotten a versein his Qur'an about God permittingsomething like this to happen, as we see inSura al-Nisa' 4:154, "So for their breakingthe compact, and disbelieving in the signsof God, and slaying the Prophets withoutright."

In Sura al-Baqara 2:82, "And whensoeverthere came to you a Messenger with thatyour souls had not desire for, did youbecome arrogant, and some cry lies to, andsome slay?" Even Muhammad himselfconfessed that he died of poisoning by thetreachery of a Jewish woman (as we see inthe history of Almaghazi, and thebiographies by Mohammad Ibn Ishaq, andthe hadiths). In addition, the Torah, thePsalms and the Gospel have declared thatChrist's crucifixion was voluntary, as Godhad ordained from the beginning. Christhimself said plainly that the purpose of hiscoming was to complete the work ofredemption; that is, to offer himself up as asacrifice on the Cross. When one of hisdisciples told him, "Never, Lord! Thisshall never happen to you," Jesus rebukedhim saying, "Get behind me, Satan! Youare a stumbling block to me; you do nothave in mind the things of God, but thethings of men" (Matthew 16:23). Alsowhen one of his disciples wanted to defendhim from the Jews who came to arrest himJesus said to him, "Put your sword back inits place, for all who draw the sword willdie by the sword. Do you think I cannotcall on my Father, and he will at once putat my disposal more than twelve legions ofangels? But how then would the Scripturesbe fulfilled that say it must happen in thisway?"

Some of our Muslim brethren say, "How

can God punish Christ by crucifixion forthe sins of others, since it says in 2 Kings14:6: 'Yet He did not put the sons of theassassins to death, in accordance with whatis written in the Book of the Law of Moseswhere the Lord commanded: "Fathers shallnot be put to death for their children, norchildren put to death for their fathers; eachis to die for his own sins.'" " I would replythat God did not condemn Christ to deathfor the sins of mankind, but rather Christ,out of love for us, volunteered to offerhimself in our place. This is the ultimateexpression of love and deservesglorification. However, if I volunteer topay that debt, what can he say butcommend and praise such action?

When the Jews seized Christ to crucifyhim he said, "Am I leading a rebellion, thatyou have come out with swords and clubsto capture me? Every day I sat in thetemple courts teaching, and you did notarrest me. But this has all taken place thatthe writings of the prophets might befulfilled. Then all the disciples desertedhim and fled "(Matthew 26:55,56). Christwas not crucified because he hadcommitted an offence. The Jews could findno fault in either his character or hisactions, but he was crucified to be oursacrifice, taking our place in judgementand standing in our stead. Therefore, hewas made a curse for us, not because hedeserved it but, because he willinglyagreed to lay down his life in place of theguilty sinner who deserved the curse. Soyou see from the foregoing that Godpermits the killing of his prophets fornoble purposes and that Christ diedwillingly, out of love for us, to redeem usfrom the curse of the law, satisfy divinejustice and grant us salvation and eternallife. Therefore, apart from Christ Jesus,






God does not forgive the believer, or havemercy on him.

This is the only way which God ordainedfor the salvation of believers whereby hedemonstrates his justice and mercysimultaneously. As for Islamic Law it doesnot harmonise God's justice and his mercyand neither in the Qur'an nor theTraditions (Hadith) do we find an effectiveway to deal with judgement, reckoning andforgiveness. The verses which our Muslimbrethren quote on the subject of judgementare, "Whether you publish what is in yourhearts or hide it, God shall make reckoningwith you for it. He will forgive whom hewill, and chastise whom he will" (Suraal-Baqara 2:284).

If God settled accounts with men on thebasis of this verse there would be noindication either of his justice or hismercy. While it is true he can do as hepleases, yet he would not will what denieshis original attributes and his divine law.Supposing the judge pardoned yourbrother's murderer after his crime wasproved, then went on to forgive him.Would you regard him as being just? Notat all! You would regard him as unjustbecause he violated the law. This isunthinkable with God for it does notreflect his decrees. Furthermore, itcontradicts sound thinking.

"The weighing that day is true; he whosescales are heavy -they are the prosperous,and he whose scales are light -- they havelost their souls" (Sura al-A'raf 7:7,8). Thisverse shows the reckoning system to besimple, and it is the one used by theancient Egyptians and the Magi, wherebyGod places a man's good deeds on one sideof the scales and his sins on the other. Ifthe side of good is the heavier he will be

delivered and prosper, but if the evil deedstip the scales he will be among the loserswho will spend eternity in hell. Thiscannot be true because heaven or paradise,which men aspire to enter, is a pure spotwhere only the purified and those maderighteous can enter. Thus he who commitsone sin has transgressed and becomeunclean. In that condition it is impossiblefor him to enter paradise. I shall give anexample to make the matter clearer.

Suppose a Muslim is dressed in a whiterobe and while on his way to prayer aspeck of dirt fell on his robe or person.Wouldn't he be considered unclean? If thatwas his state wouldn't he have to returnand purify himself to be able to startprayer? This is the state of man towardsGod in respect to purity and impurity.Therefore it is impossible for the believerto enter paradise before completepurification and renewal of heart. For if hewere cleansed from sins and forgiven histransgressions, yet the germ of evilremained entrenched in his heart, he wouldremain wicked and unfit for heaven. Also,if the Muslim believes he can atone for hissins in the fire, "Not one of you there is,but he shall go down to it; that for thyLord is a thing decreed, determined. Thenwe shall deliver those that weregodfearing; and the evildoers We shallleave there, hobbling on their knees" (SuraMaryam 19:72,73). Without a man'scorrupt heart and inclinations beingchanged, he too would not be fit forheaven nor heaven for him. Likewise,neither punishing the thief byimprisonment nor cutting his hand norflogging the adulterer changes theinclination of the first to theft or thesecond to adultery. Rather, the punishmentmight aggravate them and make them






worse as Sura Yusuf 12:53 says, "Surelythe soul of man incites to evil." TheChristian faith or more accurately the HolyBible (the Torah and Gospel), has ordaineda way which cannot be objected to becauseit is God's provision. By it the believer canattain purity and forgiveness by means ofChrist's sacrifice and obtain renewal or achange of heart through the Holy Spirit. Inthat way the believer becomes fit to enterparadise and happy to do so.

"Surely God shall not wrong so much asthe weight of an ant; and if it be a gooddeed He will double it" (Sura al-Nisa'4:44). This verse presumes on God'sfavour, because it indicates that he willdouble a man's good deeds, and youyourself know that doubling these is notfair.

"And every man -- We have fastened tohim his bird of omen upon his neck; andWe shall bring forth for him, on the Day ofResurrection, as book he shall find spreadwide open" (Sura al-Isra' 17:14,15). Thisverse shows that for every man there is abook to be opened at the Resurrection. Hewill read it and judge himself. However, itis not clear what the method of writing thisbook is, nor how man will judge himselfand what rule he will follow.

"...surely the good deeds will drive awaythe evil deeds. That is a remembrance untothe mindful" (Sura Hud 11:116). Thisverse shows that one good deed cancels anevil deed. If the good ones exceed the evil,the person will be saved; otherwiseperdition is inevitable. Muslim scholarshave said, "No one can complain that Goddid not reward him for his good deeds;because the wicked whose bad deedsoverweigh are rewarded on earth for theirgood deeds." It is said if the account is

reckoned and every man's deeds areweighed justly, all creatures will startexacting their wrongs, that is, giving theiradversary his deserts. Thus everyoppressed person will obtain redress fromhis oppressor. This is what Muslims call"disputing and requiting injustices."Accordingly, angels will take from themerits of the oppressor a portion equal tohis injustice and add them to the merits ofthe oppressed. If the merits of anyoneoutweighs his demerits even by a grain,God will double them out of mercy, so hewould enter paradise. If one's merits arecancelled and he is left with the unrequitedsins, God will add to him an equal amountof the burdens of those he wronged. Hewill cast him in hell to be punished for hissins and theirs. All this is not justice.

Don't you see that all these things do notachieve the required end, namely to purifythe heart from the pollution of sin anduproot the germ of evil desires from it tomake it fit for God's pure presence in aspotless heaven?

There is no doubt that the way Godprovided and appointed in the Torah andGospel for man's salvation is the idealway. We have to follow it in order toreceive pardon and heart cleansing andenter paradise to live there eternally.

5.4. Part Four: The Crucifixion inthe Qur'an

The Muslim believes that the crucifixiontook place, but that it was not Christ butanother on whom his likeness fell, as Suraal-Nisa' 4:156 indicates, "Yet they did notslay him, neither crucified him, only alikeness of that was shown to them...andthey slew him not of a certainty - noindeed; God raised him up to him." The






statement in the Qur'an is confused andambiguous and no conclusion can be basedon it. To me, it is as though the Qur'an, notwishing to deny the crucifixioncategorically, stated "I did not see!"

It is permissible to expound this Qur'anicverse in this way, "they slew him not of acertainty," meaning, they could not hurthis real person because the Jews thoughtthat by crucifying Jesus they woulderadicate his memory and make his nameridiculed among men. The verse shows theJews that they failed to do this. For hisdeath became a means of spreading hisname and glorifying his cause. Further,that the cross did not extinguish him,because physical death is not extinctionnor perdition. Though Christ died, yet Godraised him up and this death was theprelude of his raising. To clarify this letme give you an example. Suppose I insult,curse and belittle you. But you arenoble-minded and do not recompense mein kind. Could you not rightly say to me,"You did not insult or degrade me butraised and honoured me in people's eyes,because of my forbearance and degradedyourself by reason of your vulgarity?" Thetruth is that the crucifixion was attributedto the Roman Governor Pilate, whoordered it, and not to the Jews!

As for the words, "a likeness...was shownto them," who does this refer to? It couldnot be to Christ, since he is the one likenedto not the likeness. If you say it refers tothe victim, no victim has been mentioned.Thus you see that the verse is vague. IfGod had intended to rescue Christ fromdying on the cross he would have done itwith a crystal-clear miracle demonstratingto the Jews their inability to harm hisprophet and messenger. However, themiracle which the Muslims devise in order

to save Christ did not achieve the desiredresult, in spite of the deception involvedwhich ill befits the Lord, as it did notdemonstrate to the Jews God's power andtheir impotence. Had God regardedcrucifixion as demeaning to his holiness,would it have been reasonable for him toperform a miracle which actually showshis disdain? But he raised up Christ tohimself in order to save himself that scorn,according to the belief of most Muslims.

We have found verses in the Qur'an whichhint, if not declare, that Christ actuallydied. It serves to clarify the obscureportions of the former verse as you willsee from Sura Al Imran 3:48, "When Godsaid, 'Jesus I will take thee to Me and willraise thee to Me, and I will purify thee ofthose who believe not.' " Somecommentators have said that the wordmutawaffeeka ("will take thee to Me")means to put you to sleep. One cannot seeat all the wisdom of putting someone tosleep before raising them. I wish thelearned successors can enlighten us wherethe predecessors have failed!

The truth is "will take thee to Me" meansdeath, and this is according to Ibn Abbasand Mohammad Ibn Ishaq. They differedregarding the duration of death. Wahb saidthat Christ remained dead for three hours,then was raised. Mohammad Ibn Ishaqsaid that he was dead seven hours, thenGod raised him. Ibn Anas said that Godcaused him to die when he raised him upto heaven. As for the Imam al-Baidawi hebelieved that Christ actually died for threehours. In the language dictionary it says ofthe verb 'tawaffa' "God made him die, thatis, he took his soul, of so and so, that hedied, meaning his soul was taken and hedied."






The word mutawaffeeka and thederivatives of this verb (tawaffa) in thissense occur 23 times in the Qur'an. In allbut two cases it means absolute death. Inthese two exceptions the context refers tofigurative death during sleep, "It is He whorecalls you by night, and He knows whatyou work by day" (Sura al-An'am 6:60);and in Sura al-Zumar 39:43, "God takesthe souls at the time of their death, and thatwhich has not died, in its sleep."

Some commentators have said that thewaw (and) in the phrase mutawaffeeka is aplay on words to mystify the reader. Intheir opinion the real meaning is thatChrist will come again and die. Oh God!Save us from the evil of deception! Wouldit hurt if they considered these words intheir real sense? If the Qur'an intendedwhat they desire, it would surely not havecouched it in an ambiguous statement!

As you see in Sura Maryam 19:15, "Peacebe upon him, (refers to John) the day hewas born, and the day he dies, and the dayhe is raised up alive!" And in SuraMaryam 19:34, "Peace be upon me (Jesus)the day I was born, and the day I die, andthe day I am raised up alive!"

There is no disputing that all Muslimsbelieve that (Yahya) John was born anddied according to the first verse. Then whynot believe the same of Isa the Christaccording to the second verse? Becausethe order of the two verses is the same andthe words are practically the same. Thecontext in the second can only mean onething.

As we find in Sura Maryam 19:32, "...andHe has enjoined me to pray, and to givethe alms, so long as I live." Legally, alms(Zakat) is a certain sum of money given by

the Muslim, in the way of God, to thenon-Hashimite Muslim, not being hisslave, etc. According to authoritieswherever 'Zakat' is found in the Qur'an itmeans money except its saying, "and atenderness from Us, and purity," (SuraMaryam 19:14) where purity is intended.

Now if Christ went up to heaven withoutdying as most of our Muslim brethrenbelieve, it was his duty to pay almsaccording to the commandment. Are there,I wonder, poor Muslims in heaven towhom his alms would be given? If, on theother hand, Christ is still alive on earth,where is he and who are the recipients ofhis alms (Zakat)?

When we learn that he is not on earth andthat he is not giving alms, we know of acertainty that he died and therefore hisobligation to pay alms has been removed!

As we read in Sura al-Ma'ida 5:117, "I wasa witness over them, while I remainedamong them; but when you let me die (fallasleep or take me to you) you wereyourself the watcher over them!" Of thisAl-Razi and Al-Jalalayn said: "This versewill be said by Christ Isa to God mostlikely on the day of reckoning." And whileAl-Razi explained the words "to let medie" by ascension, he had forgotten that hehad previously explained it with "makinghim fall asleep" where it occurs in Sura AlImran 3:55 "Oh Isa, truly I let you fallasleep and will lift you up to me."Therefore if we go with Razi and othertranslators, agreeing that "falling asleep"means only "lifting up," these words willcome into existence on the last day ofjudgement and mean that Christ never willdie. This is contradicting the text of theQur'an that "All that dwells upon the earthis perishing, yet still abides the Face of thy






Lord, majestic, splendid" (Sura al-Rahman55:26,27). "All things perish, except HisFace" (Sura al-Qasas 28:88).

This also contradicts the belief of manyMuslim scholars who believe that Christ infact died, contrary to those among themwho believe that Christ has to die in thisworld before the Day of Resurrection.What harm would it do if they believedthat "take me to Thyself" (mutawaffeeka)here does mean death and that this sayingoccurred before the Qur'an as theintroduction to the verse indicates, "whenhe said" which indicates past tense and notfuture. In that case this Qur'anic text fallsinto line with the Torah and the Gospeland the belief of the Christians about thecrucifixion and death of Christ.

Oh God, I beseech you reveal the Truth tothose who seek it and grant Light to thosewho need it, you are the best to beinvoked, Oh most Bountiful of Givers!

5.5. Part Five: The Crucifixion inHistory

The event of the cross is not of man'sinvention. Otherwise Christians would nothave been content to attribute to theirleader, prophet and Saviour, yea their Lordthis great ignominy. The Law of Mosessays, "...because anyone who is hung on atree is under God's curse" (Deuteronomy21:23). The Gospel says, "Christ hasredeemed us from the curse of the law,having become a curse for us, (for it iswritten, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs ona tree' " (Galatians 3:13). Not only haveChristians confessed the fact of theCrucifixion but they have proudlyregarded it the source of their bounties andheavenly blessings and the fountain of allSalvation; for themselves as well as for all

who believe in the Crucified Christ and theredemption he accomplished by hismemorable death. It seems to me, indiscussions with my Muslim brothers, thatthe subject of Christ's crucifixion is anhistorical event in some respects.Therefore I have chosen now to discuss ithistorically.

The prophets of old, David, Isaiah, Danieland others prophesied on every aspect ofthe life of Christ, especially his death andresurrection, starting more than 1,050years before it happened. In fact some hadfixed the place of the crucifixion and thetime, citing signs, some of which werenatural such as the eclipse of the sun andearthquake. Others were historical such asthe final cessation of the sacrifice, becauseit had pointed to Christ's great sacrifice;also of the end of the monarchy among theJews.

When Jesus came, he announced to theJews plainly that what was written in theirLaw concerning his death had to come topass and that he had to be crucified toatone for the sins of mankind. The apostlesafter him gloried in this Crucifixion,leading one of them to say, "For I resolvedto know nothing while I was with youexcept Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1Corinthians 2:2). A few days after thecrucifixion one of them stood up before agreat crowd of Jews and declared, "You,with the help of wicked men, put him todeath by nailing him to the cross" (Acts2:23). The result of his speech was that3000 of those present believed in theCrucified One.

The crucifixion became the theme of thedisciples and of apostolic preaching, thepivot of all their sermons, and the onlyway to obtain forgiveness of sins. They






used to say, "God forbid that I shouldboast, except in the cross of our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ," in spite of beingfollowers of the Crucified. The ChristianChurch, in every century since hasregarded the crucifixion of Christ as theoriginal disciples did. The reason is thatnothing in the Torah and Gospel is clearerthan this fact.

The famous Jewish historian Josephusmentioned the crucifixion of Christ,saying, "Pilate sentenced Christ to becrucified to satisfy the clamour of the chiefpriests among us, and those who lovedChrist at first did not leave him butcontinue with us to this day. They arecalled Christians after him." Even Jewstoday admit that Christ was crucified andthe Qur'an itself witnesses that the Jewsadmit that they killed Christ, as you cansee in Sura al-Nisa' 4:156, "...and for theirsaying, We slew the Messiah Jesus son ofMary, the Messenger of God." The RabbiYohanan Bin Zakka, disciple of thefamous Hillel wrote a book in Hebrew along time ago, mentioning the Jewssentencing Christ to be crucified becausehe claimed to be God's Son and that theyhanged him on a tree outside Jerusalem, inaccordance with the order of the king andthe Jewish rulers.

The Talmud incidentally mentions thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the paganhistorian Tacitus mentioned in chapter 15of his work, written nearly 40 years afterChrist, that he was killed by order ofPontius Pilate, the local governor duringthe reign of Tiberius.

This historian wrote to people who lived atthe time of Christ and in all likelihoodsome had been eye witnesses at his death.He had access to Roman records, where

the official chronicles of the variousgovernors were kept. Among them werethe chronicles of the governors ofPalestine, where Christ was crucified.Consequently this author's writings wereheld in high esteem since they related toofficial events and public information.

The important fact is that Pilate sent areport to Rome about the crucifixion anddeath of Christ which has been preservedamong the records of Rome as wascustomary with civilised empires of theday. From this legal inscription Tacituswas able to obtain his information inaddition to other public sources. Referenceto this inscription was made by thephilosopher Flavius Justinus in writing tothe Emperor Antonius Pius in the year 139AD; also by the scholar Tertullian, writingfrom Carthage in the year 199 AD.

Thus you see that the incident of thecrucifixion of Christ was a thingpredetermined and a notable event knownamong pagans, Jews and Christians; notonly among the common people but alsoamong the elite for 600 years. Until theQur'an came and denied it, not openly, butby means of ambiguous statements andvarious texts which have caused muchuncertainty for Muslims, causing some todeny it emphatically and others to believeit, as you noted from the previous section.

Now thoughtful reader, assume that 50honest men witnessed clearly that Zaidkilled Amr, and that the eyewitnessesknew perfectly both the killer and victim.Then assume that the killer confessedpublicly to his ugly deed. For about 600years it is the general belief and anundisputed fact that Zaid killed Amr. Butthen, after this long period a contradictorywitness presented himself before the






judge, obviously not an eye witness. Let usassume that he was an impartial witnessand said, "I testify that the killing didoccur but that the one killed was not Amrbut Bakr." How do you think the judgewould decide the case? Would he confirmthat Amr had been killed or would hejudge that the one killed was Bakr, basinghis decision on this latest isolatedtestimony? There is no doubt that afair-minded judge would confirm thedecision that it was Amr who was killedon the basis of numerous witnesses and theconfession of the killer. Anyone whojudges otherwise would demonstrate hisignorance of civil and canonical laws andonly confirms to others that he is totallydevoid of justice!

I do not have to warn you that thisexample concerns the case of Christ'scrucifixion and applies to it in every way.

What will you say after this, oh Muslimbrother, you who are looking for the truth?I counsel you to leave your credal bias andjudge in this matter as a free man,according to justice and your intellectualhonesty. You will find that the case issimple, and does not require all thistroublesome pursuit. You will then knowthat Christ (Isa) was killed and crucified toredeem the world. But he arose from thegrave and ascended up to heavenvictorious. Henceforth, death will not havedominion over him.

6. Fifth Discourse: Christ'sSinlessness, Divinity and Sonship

According to what God has revealed in hisPrecious Book, we Christians believe thatJesus Christ is infallible since he is not inthe genetic line of corrupt human nature,

as the inspired books have confirmed. Wehave in the Qur'an and the Hadith a basisfor the inspiration of the Holy Bible.

We also believe Christ to be God and manat the same time in the light of the divineinspiration in the Gospel. As an expressionof this truth and by way of illustration wesay: The one God appeared in the manJesus Christ and indwelt him with thefullness of his deity, a limitless indwelling,"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deitylives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). "Inthe past God spoke to our forefathersthrough the prophets at many times and invarious ways, but in these last days he hasspoken to us by his Son, whom heappointed heir of all things, and throughwhom he made the universe. The Son isthe radiance of God's glory and the exactrepresentation of his being, sustaining allthings by his powerful word. After he hadprovided purification for sins, he sat downat the right hand of the Majesty in heaven"(Hebrews 1:1-3). Therefore it is correct tosay that Christ is God and man at the sametime. For the man is not a God but God isGod, and man is man. He is not two godsas the Muslims imagine Christ to be.Christ, by his divine power performedmiracles and superhuman acts, unlike theprophets -- for they performed the miraclesby the power of God and not by their ownstrength. As man he ate and drank andslept like any other human. He would attimes speak of himself as God andsometimes as man. As we have said, thiswas only because he was both God andman. Our Muslim brethren and someChristians have had doubts regarding thedivinity of Christ, since they have seenmany passages in the Book which showhim to be man. However, if they reviewthe numerous texts which point to his






divinity and do it meticulously and withcare, the clouds of doubt which obscuretheir vision would disappear. Jesus said tohim, "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied."But I say to all of you: In the future youwill see the Son of Man sitting at the righthand of the Mighty One and coming on theclouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64). Jesussaid to him, "Don't you know me, Philip,even after I have been among you such along time? Anyone who has seen me hasseen the Father. How can you say, 'Showus the Father'?" (John 14:9).

Moreover, Christ as man lived for a whileon earth, was crucified, died and roseagain, but the crucifixion and death fell onhis physical nature.

As for Christ's divinity, it is very clear inthe Torah and Gospel, from theprophecies, the words of Christ himselfand in the teachings of the apostles. Alsofrom the following verse from Sura AlImran 3:40, "Mary, God gives thee goodtidings of a Word from Him whose nameis Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; highhonoured shall he be in this world and thenext, near stationed to God." If theexpositors claim that what is meant by'Word' is the verb 'be' (kun) or speech inother texts there is no way they can claimthis meaning in this instance. The words,"a Word from him whose name isMessiah" shows that the Word here is aperson and not an utterance or commandas will be clear upon the slightestreflection. It is almost like saying, "Abeing from him." Notice that the pronounin the Arabic ismihi ("whose name") ismasculine referring to kalima (Word)which in Arabic is feminine phoneticallybut masculine in meaning; otherwise,linguistically it would not be permissible.

Muslim scholars have stated that all God'screatures can be termed God's words sincethey were created by a word. I would saythat this is false, for otherwise one can calla cause effect, and a book a pen becausethe pen is the means or the tool whichwrote the book but not the book itself. IfGod created Isa, the Christ, by a word ofcommand (kun, in Arabic) as they allege,he could not be called (kalima) word,because he is not the word but the effect ofthe word (the command). If I write a bookwith my mind, that book is not called amind (or my mind) but the object of themind. Otherwise, truth will be mixed witherror, and essentials will be confused withaccidentals.

What is clear from other verses is thatChrist is the Spirit of God. You know thatwhatever is of God is God. Therefore theWord of God is God eternal, and Spirit ofGod is God, eternal, everlasting. Thisexactly corresponds with what we have atthe beginning of John's Gospel:

"In the beginning was the Word, and theWord was with God, and the Word wasGod. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made;without him nothing was made that hasbeen made. In him was life, and that lifewas the light of men. The light shines inthe darkness, but the darkness has notunderstood it" (John 1:1-5).

As to Christ being the Son of God, that ispossible and not an infidelity. The Hadith,speaking on God's behalf says, "The poorare my family." This is not impossible, asshown in the saying in Sura al-Zumar39:6, "Had God desired to take to Him ason, He would have chosen whatever Hewilled of that He has created." No wonderthen that the Book has announced that






Christ is the Son of God, not by way ofreproduction as some Muslims thinkbecause 'Son' is an expression notexclusive to the male child by procreationbut is also used figuratively, as in, "sons ofthe word," or "son of the sea," or "son ofthe desert" and so on. We also use theexpression "so and so is the son (or child)of so and so" by way of adoption,metaphorically or analogically. God hascalled the believers his children. Howeverhe declared that Christ is "his onlybegotten Son." In other words the latter isa different sonship from the former.

We do not comprehend this sonship fullybecause it is beyond humancomprehension. And as Christ was calledSon of God so as to elevate him abovemen for his deity, he was called 'Son ofMan' to indicate his humanity. This is whatis intended in Daniel's prophecy chapter7:13,14, which points to Christ being Godand man in one.

Beyond all question, the mystery ofgodliness is great: He appeared in abody, was vindicated by the Spirit, wasseen by angels, was preached among thenations, was believed on in the world,was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

That which was from the beginning,which we have heard, which we haveseen with our eyes, which we havelooked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Wordof life. (1 John 1:1)

The sins of the prophets are mentioned inthe Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel oneby one (and the Qur'an supports theirevidence). The corruption of the wholehuman race is also mentioned as you haveseen. However, none of these books

mentions any sin of Jesus Christ. On thecontrary, they all testify to his holiness andpurity beyond any other human, and hisinfallibility with respect to sin. He standsout unique among men in this regard, asyou will see from the coming discussion ofthe excellence of Christ.

No prophet or apostle, however great, hasdared to claim infallibility for himself,because sinlessness in human creatures isimpossible. Only God possessesinfallibility and perfection. As to Christwho excelled all others by virtue of hisjoint divinity and humanity; he had suchutter confidence in his perfection andpurity that he could boldly ask, "Can anyof you prove me guilty of sin? If I amtelling the truth, why don't you believeme?" (John 8:46). "I will no longer talkmuch with you, for the ruler of the worldis coming, and he has nothing in me"(John 14:30). Numerous other testimonialsin the Book testify to Christ's infallibility.Even his foes could not find any fault inhis behaviour.

When the governor Pilate examined thecharges of the Jews, he declared that hecould not find any fault in Christ whichdeserved death (John 18:38 and 19:4,6).Pilate's wife also sent a message during thetrial advising her husband, "Don't haveanything to do with that innocent man, forI have suffered a great deal today in adream because of him" (Matthew 27:19).After that Pilate washed his hands. "I aminnocent of this man's blood," he said. "Itis your responsibility!" (Matthew 27:24).

So the Jews said, "Let his blood be on usand on our children!" It was then thatChrist was delivered to be crucified.Christ's whole life and walk speakseloquently of his absolute purity, integrity






and infallibility, in contrast with theconduct of the rest of humanity, includingthe prophets and apostles, which are full offaults, inconsistencies, injustice andcorruption of heart.

This purity of Christ and his sinlessnesswere essential so that he would be fit tooffer himself an atonement and a pure andunblemished sacrifice for the souls ofsinful humanity.

7. Sixth Discourse: TheSuperiority of Christ in theQur'an Over Others

Prophets and Apostles have been givendifferent titles and participated in manydeeds, but Christ excelled them all. Let usnow mention what the Qur'an has to say onthis subject.

1. That he was the Word of God and hisSpirit as we find in Sura al-Nisa' 4:169,"The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary wasonly the Messenger of God, and HisWord that he committed to Mary, anda Spirit from Him." In Sura Al Imran3:40, "Mary, God gives thee goodtidings of a Word from Him whosename is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary;high honoured shall he be in this worldand the next, near stationed to God."

Tell me my friend, of whom, whetherprophets or men, did the Qur'an statethey were: God's Word or Spirit?

God has called some people Apostles,some prophets, some "warners," somePreachers. But all these names are lessthan "Word of God" and "Spirit ofGod" which Jesus Christ was called.He is thus undoubtedly greater than all,particularly as the spirit is greater than

the apostle because "Spirit of God"means God himself whereas "Hisapostle" is another individual.

Commentators such as Al-Razi,Al-Jalalayn and others have said thatChrist was called the "Word of God"because he was called into being by aword without a father; therefore he isreferred to as the Word. However, wewould ask them, "If that is so, why wasnot Adam, who was created by a wordof command, also called Word of Godand of his Spirit?"

Does not this designation require thelearned Muslim to look into the words"word" and "spirit" in the foregoingtexts, which suggest, if not declare,Christ's pre-eminence and divinity?

2. He creates, as we find in Sura Al Imran3:43: "I will create for you out of clayas the likeness of a bird; then I willbreathe into it, and it will be a bird, bythe leave of God."

God has permitted his creatures toshare with him in several attributessuch as generosity, justice, mercy andcharity. He also bestowed on hisprophets the power to performsupernatural miracles and to foretellfuture events before they happened.This was for man's benefit and toauthenticate their heavenly message.But he has left for himself some thingswhich he will not share with anyone.

First, omnipresence, being present inevery place (an imperceptible presencewithout limit), in order to be in totalcontrol and hear the call of every livingsoul world-wide, even simultaneously.But the creature cannot be present inevery place at the same time. In






summary, no person or king can beomnipresent, otherwise he wouldbecome God.

Second, omnipotence as an original notderived power. The prophets haveperformed amazing deeds andcompelling miracles which no humancan equal, but these were by God'senabling power and not intrinsic. ForGod alone is the cause of all causesand the fountain of all power. Ifanyone should acquire intrinsic powerhe would become like God and that isobviously absurd.

Third, creating and bringing a soul intobeing. This word signifies making orbringing into being something out ofnothing and the dictionary definition is"to bring into being or fashioningsomething like nothing before."

God Almighty has endowed prophetsand apostles with power to raise thedead, heal the dumb, cure a variety ofdiseases and foretell events (beforethey happen). But he did not permitanyone to create or give the spiritexcept Jesus Christ. Why? Onlybecause Christ is greater than theprophets and apostles and occupies adifferent position. Of whom was it saidin the Qur'an that he created, even byhis Lord's permission? This was notsaid of anyone, as anybody who isfamiliar with the Qur'an will confirm.

From the preceding verse you will seethat the Qur'an asserts that Christ usedto create birds in the same way thatGod created Adam, since he fashionedman from the soil of the ground andbreathed on him the breath of life, andhe became a living soul.

3. His miraculous birth as we read in Suraal-Nisa' 4:169, "The Messiah, Jesusson of Mary, was only the Messengerof God, and His Word that Hecommitted to Mary, and a Spirit fromHim." Meaning that Christ was bornwithout a father by the Holy Spirit in asupernatural manner. It is true, Adamhad no father, but that was ofnecessity, since there were no humanbeings before him. As for Christ's birthit was not of necessity but purposed ofGod, a miracle to the world: "...andappointed her and her son to be a signunto all beings" (Sura al-Anbiya'21:91). "...and that We may appointhim a sign unto men and a mercy fromUs" (Sura Maryam 19:21).

Does not Christ's unusual birth capturethe attention of the honest Muslim andbring him to a belief that Christ (Isa)had no equal among men, and that heoccupies the highest station?

4. Eminence in this world and the next aswe find in Sura Al Imran 3:40, "Mary,God gives thee good tidings of a Wordfrom him whose name is Messiah,Jesus, son of Mary; high honouredshall he be in this world and the next,near stationed to God."

Al-Kashaf has said, "Eminence in thisworld means prophecy and precedenceover men and in the next intercessionand exaltation of position in paradise."Al-Razi and Jalal Ed Din al-Suyuti hasexpounded this verse in exactly thesame way.

Regarding the eminence of Moses inSura al-Ahzab 33:69, "...and he washigh honoured with God." Al-Razi hasexpounded it as being knowledge. Hehas also said, in explaining the phrase






'high honoured with God' as follows:"Not every eminent one ishigh-honoured because the people ofParadise are in ranks and degrees,therefore did God say, 'and you shallbe three bands,' going on to, '...theoutstrippers those are brought nigh theThrone'" (Sura al-Waqi'a 56:7,10,11).

From a study of the Qur'an one learnsthat no one has been described as beingeminent in this world and the nextother than Christ (Isa), and none of theprophets and apostles enjoyed thisdistinction except him. Search and see,and afterwards please tell me why.Enquire after the reason, you will beamazed!

5. The absence of any mention of sin laidto his account (review the FifthDiscourse).

6. He raised him to heaven as we find inSura Al Imran 3:48: "When God said,'Jesus, I will take thee to Me and willraise thee to Me, and I will purify theeof those who believe not.'"

Earlier we discussed the question of what"taking thee to me" (mutawaffeeka)means, so there is no need to repeat it, butwe desire to clarify the meaning of "raise."Al-Razi has said, "what is intended byraise, is to raise to the level of God'shonour; he has used the form "to Me" forpurposes of exaltation and magnification.By using purify thee, he means, removingyou from among the infidels. As he hasexalted him by the term "raise" he hasindicated the sense of deliverance by theword "purify". All this points to a desire toexaggerate in honouring him andmagnifying his position with GodAlmighty."

In explaining the phrase "taking thee toMe," Al-Kashaf said, "taking thee to myheaven and the place of my angels."Raising Christ in the Qur'an signifiesexaltation (of the high honoured). TheGospel informs us of the reason for theexaltation of Christ, saying:

Who, being in very nature God, did notconsider equality with God something tobe grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness. Andbeing found in appearance as a man, hehumbled himself and became obedientto death-- even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to thehighest place and gave him the namethat is above every name, that at thename of Jesus every knee should bow, inheaven and on earth and under theearth, and every tongue confess thatJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of Godthe Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

Does not this subject call upon us toenquire into the reason? If you, theesteemed reader, want the reason from meI shall answer you with a verse from theGospel which has expressed this in theclearest terms:

"For the word of God is living andactive. Sharper than any double-edgedsword, it penetrates even to dividingsoul and spirit, joints and marrow; itjudges the thoughts and attitudes of theheart" (Hebrews 4:12).

8. Seventh Discourse: Trinity inUnity

For the reader to be well-informed aboutthe Christian doctrine of the Unity of Godand the Trinity, I shall now present in






detail the first doctrine of the ChristianFaith.

"There is no god but God the One; Living,True, Eternal, Everlasting, without body,parts or emotions. Whose might andwisdom and goodness know no limits,Creator of all things visible and invisible.In this One God are three Persons of thesame substance, the same might and thesame eternal existence, they are TheFather, The Son and the Holy Spirit."

This creed is well supported by verses inthe Torah and Gospel. Therefore it is notan invention of the Christians. However,whether it was first realised, or arrived atby logical discussion, will be answeredfrom what follows.

It is not fully understood because it isbeyond the perception of the sons ofAdam. However, it is a reality and anaccepted fact even though the majority ofMuslim enquirers have failed tocomprehend it, in accordance with theIslamic doctrine which says, "Investigationregarding the essence of God is infidelity"(Hadith).

I shall not, at present, attempt to explain adoctrine which the ancients failed toexplain, and whose essence the modernscannot grasp, because it is an enquiry intothe nature of God, the Creator of allbeings. Since scholars cannot comprehendthe secret of any of these beings, how thencan they comprehend the nature of theFirst Cause, the Creator? I want todemonstrate firstly that we have to acceptthis concept by faith, with our heart, eventhough our minds do not comprehend it.The reason is that we have it given indetail in God's inspired Book which is formankind's guidance; I mean by it the

Torah and Gospel. Secondly, I would liketo point out to my Muslim brethren thatthey themselves have many basicfundamental beliefs which are not logical.Of these and foremost among them is thebelief in God. Why then do they require usto prove what they themselves cannotprove?

First of all, all believers in God whetherJews, Christians or Muslims know nothingabout God except what he has revealedabout himself. Anything beyond that is theimagination or speculation of scholars. Itcannot be relied on by the God-fearing norused to convince the sceptics.

Our own perceptions are incapable ofcomprehending their creator. If we could,he would cease to be God. Only God canunderstand God. Although God is theultimate being yet, unlike other beings hefills the heavens and the worlds, withouthaving length, breadth, height, depth ororigin. Because he is boundless andincomprehensible, he has soared wayabove analogy and representation.Whatever your mind can conceive, God issomething other. Therefore we should notoverreach ourselves in trying to fathomwhat our minds are incapable offathoming. Let us instead accept what Godhas revealed to us of himself withoutprobing or debate. That is closer togodliness.

The important thing is to find out: Doesthe Book (the Torah and Gospel) comefrom God or not? If we answer in theaffirmative (and thank God it is so), wehave to believe all that we read in itwhether it agrees or disagrees with ourown opinion. For we are not permitted tobelieve some of the Book which weunderstand and disbelieve other parts due






to lack of understanding. In the Qur'ansuch folk are blamed as we see from Suraal-Baqara 2:79, "What, do you believe inpart of the Book, and disbelieve in part?What shall be the recompense of those ofyou who do that, but degradation in thepresent life, and on the Day ofResurrection to be returned unto the mostterrible of chastisement?"

Quite often our Muslim brethren attack theTorah and Gospel for mentioning that Godspoke, heard, wrote with his finger, wassad, sorry and other human-likeexpressions.

In order to remove any doubts in theirhearts we would remind them that theQur'an too uses similar statements. Hereare some of them:

"Hast thou received the story of Moses?When he saw a fire, and said to his family,'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps Ishall bring you a brand from it, or I shallfind at the fire guidance.' When he came toit, a voice cried,' Moses, I am thy Lord; putoff thy shoes'" (Sura Taha 20:8-12).

"God is the Light of the heavens and theearth; the likeness of His Light is as aniche wherein is a lamp (the lamp in aglass, the glass as it were a glitteringstar)..." (Sura al-Nur 24:35).

"God's hand is over their hands" (Suraal-Fath 48:10).

"He said, (Abraham) I am going to myLord" (Sura al-Saffat 37:97).

"Whoso emigrates in the way of God..."(Sura al-Nisa' 4:101).

"...and for their saying, 'We slew theMessiah, Jesus son of Mary, theMessenger of God...'" (Sura al-Nisa'

4:156).

"...and unto God all matters are returned"(Sura al-Baqara 2:206).

"...then sat Himself upon the Throne"(Sura al-A'raf 7:52).

"...then He lifted Himself to heaven..."(Sura al-Baqara 2:27).

"When God said, Jesus I will take thee toMe and will raise thee to Me, and I willpurify thee of those who believe not" (SuraAl Imran 3:48).

"All that dwells upon the earth isperishing, yet still abides the Face of thyLord, majestic, splendid" (Sura al-Rahman55:27).

"All things perish, except His Face" (Suraal-Qasas 28:88).

In the Qur'an we have sayings whichattribute to God love, anger and pleasurewhich are emotional reactions; also regretand forgetfulness: "Therefore today Weforget them..." (Sura al-A'raf 7:49).

If you accept the foregoing verses at facevalue you would have to admit that Godwas represented by fire or was inside it.But if you say he wasn't fire nor was he init but it was in order to direct Moses tosomething, I would reply that the end ofthe verse, "put off thy shoes; thou art in theHoly Valley, Towa," contradicts you andproves me right. If you admit God is lightand that this light is, "as a niche, whereinis a lamp," etc., this is what is known as'yes and no' (hulul and hasr) - a dilemma.Then you are bound to admit that God hasa place and a face, and so on. And this, noMuslim would accept.

Secondly, you say, my Muslim brother,






that you do not believe the doctrine of theTrinity (i.e. that God is one in threePersons), because you are unable tounderstand it and no one can prove it toyou. What you forget is that you as aMuslim believe many things in commonwith the Jew and the Christian. However,if disbelievers in inspiration ask you toprove one of these beliefs you and theablest scholars could not do so nor respondwith an answer supported by proof.

Every believer in God believes that he hascreated the heavens and all that is in themof suns and moons and planets and stars.He fashioned the world and all that istherein of plant and animal life in six daysand created living rational man with aword from his mouth. Now every believerbelieves that the noble prophets and thegood apostles performed miracles such asraising the dead, healing the dumb andparalytic, and so on. Every believerbelieves in the Resurrection, namely thatevery being from Adam to the last personon earth will be resurrected, those whohave died natural deaths as well as thosewhom the fish have eaten. Also thoseeaten by beasts of the field shall have theirspirits return to their bodies which havedecomposed into various forms of earth,plant, animal and matter; and this for thepurpose of reckoning and judgement.

Supposing an infidel challenged youregarding these truths and denied them.Would you be able to defend your beliefsby logical reasoning, sound proof andintellectual arguments without the inspiredbooks? You know better than I do that youwould not be able to furnish proofsestablishing the foregoing beliefs.

You believe in God and trust him. But if Iask you: what is God, and where is he?

You would fail to give a convincinganswer. You also know you have a spiritand believe in that. However, you areignorant of what the spirit is or of where itexists. Furthermore, you know and believeyou have a mind and intellectual capacitiesbut you do not understand their nature.You do not even understand much ofintangible things. Learned men have statedthat we do not understand the essence ofmaterial things, but only know theirproperties and characteristics. How muchmore can this be said of intangible things!

I know and you know, and the Jews,Christians and Muslims all know that weand they believe statements about creation,miracles, the resurrection, the judgementand immortality of the soul. We alsobelieve in God, not because we are capableof proving these doctrines but becausethey are mentioned in books we regard assent down from God and infallible. Thusthe Jew believes in obedience to his Book,the Torah, the Christian on the authority ofthe Torah and Gospel, and the Muslim insubmission to the Qur'an.

If it is valid to deny the Trinity because wehave no way to prove it, we must deny allother doctrines, in fact denying allrevelations which we cannot prove; suchas God's self-existence and eternal nature,his being the first cause of everything,omnipresent and omniscient, knowing allthat has happened from eternity to eternityat every moment in time, and that hisknowledge does not allow any additions oromissions.

God is one in essence, three in person.Since he is unique in the universe in hisnature and attributes it is no wonder thathe is superior to all else in the mode of hisbeing, even as he excels in his supreme






attributes. It is said that one essencehaving three hypostases is impossible. Wewould say this is an unsupported claim andthat our finite minds cannot measure ofwhat is possible and what is not beyond itslimits of comprehension. The persons ofthe Trinity are in essence one, not ingeneric or qualitative essence. Thereforeplurality in trinity does not affect theessence, and does not involve essentialdichotomy since God's essence is notmaterial but spiritual. Spirit does not,under any circumstances, permit division.Thus the Father, the Son and the HolySpirit are in respect to their hypostasis ofthe same essence. Each of them enjoys theessence of one deity without division orseparation. In our language there is noequivalent to the meaning of hypostasis inorder to be able to describe the HolyTrinity more easily.

After what I have said, do you still insistthat the Christian's belief in the Trinitybelies ignorance? Do you insist, after allthese examples that you do not accept theTrinity, because you do not find anintellectual proof for it? Don't you knowthat to every matter there is proof of acertain kind? For instance, in the historicrealm, you cannot prove Alexander ofMacedon and all his campaigns in Egypt,Syria, Persia, India and others by means ofa chemical, geometrical or a logical proof.No, because these events pertain to historyand nothing else! Or can you demonstrateto me that the whole is greater than its partby chemical means? If this principle istrue, we conclude that everything has ademonstration of its own kind. Thusreligious things are demonstrated fromrevealed (or inspired) books, mathematicalproblems by mathematical proofs such asin arithmetic, algebra and geometry,

astronomical matters from the science ofastronomy, and so on and so forth.Therefore, my Muslim brother, do not tryto prove religious doctrines by means ofscientific proofs, lest you go far astray.And why do you disagree with me on thequestion of Trinity? It may be that we arebasically in agreement. For you say: Godand his Word and his Spirit, that makesthree. And I say: The Father, the Son andthe Holy Spirit. "So believe in God andHis Messengers, and say not, 'Three,'Refrain; better is it for you. God is onlyOne God. Glory be to Him" (Sura al-Nisa'4:169). We believe that God has a Wordand Spirit and he is one with his Word andSpirit. Everything which is in God is Godaccording to you. Therefore God's Word isGod having all his attributes such as beingand infinity and much else. Also God'sSpirit is God, and is partner with him inbeing from eternity to eternity.

In closing I would beseech God, who isone in substance and triune in number, togrant you his Holy Spirit and convince youin your heart of the truth of this doctrine.In this way, you will believe in it even asyou have believed that he is able to do allthings and is worthy of your response.

9. Eighth Discourse: The Paracleteand Muhammad

Our Muslim brethren claim that the nameof their prophet Muhammad is mentionedin the Gospel, based on the words in theQur'an in Sura al-Saffat 37:6, "And whenJesus Son of Mary said, 'Children of Israel,I am indeed the Messenger of God to you,confirming the Torah that is before me,and giving good tidings of a Messengerwho shall come after me, whose nameshall be Ahmad.'"






It was said that the meaning of the GreekParaclete in the Gospel is the same asAhmad, the praised one, and that Ahmadand Muhammad are the same. Some allegethat the Gospel has been altered becausethis announcement is no longer in it, eventhough it is still recorded there as it was inMuhammad's day in the Greek.

However, what the Qur'an understood bythe intended word was misconstruedbecause the word in the Greek is this:HAPAKAHTOE not HEIPIKAHOTE.

In the Latin spelling thus, PARACLETOSand not PERICLUTOS is its correct form.The first means the comforter while thesecond is the famous or praised one.

This verse is still in the Gospel, provingthat it has not undergone change. Let usnow return to study the verses containingthe word Paraclete in order to understandits meaning in the Qur'an, and see if it isright to attribute it to Muhammad as ourMuslim brethren claim.

1. And I will ask the Father, and hewill give you another Counselor tobe with you forever-- the Spirit oftruth. The world cannot accept him,because it neither sees him norknows him. But you know him, forhe lives with you and will be in you(John 14:16,17).

2. When the Counselor comes, whom Iwill send to you from the Father, theSpirit of truth who goes out from theFather, he will testify about me(John 15:26).

3. But I tell you the truth: It is for yourgood that I am going away. Unless Igo away, the Counselor will notcome to you; but if I go, I will sendhim to you. When he comes, he will

convict the world of guilt in regardto sin and righteousness andjudgment (John 16:7,8).

4. On one occasion, while he was eatingwith them, he gave them thiscommand: "Do not leave Jerusalem,but wait for the gift my Fatherpromised, which you have heard mespeak about. For John baptized withwater, but in a few days you will bebaptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts1:4,5).

5. When the day of Pentecost came,they were all together in one place.Suddenly a sound like the blowing ofa violent wind came from heavenand filled the whole house wherethey were sitting. They saw whatseemed to be tongues of fire thatseparated and came to rest on eachof them. All of them were filled withthe Holy Spirit and began to speakin other tongues as the Spiritenabled them (Acts 2:1-4).

It is clear that Christ was the disciples'teacher while he was among them. He wasa guide and a comforter to them, defendingthem, so that they became attached to him.With his foreknowledge he knew that hisdeparture from them through death wouldbreak their hearts. He was convinced thatthey were in need of heavenly help tostrengthen, guide and comfort them afterhis departure. For this reason he promisedto send them the Holy Spirit to be theirComforter, as you have seen from theprevious verses.

After close examination of these texts itbecomes clear to us that the Person whowas promised could not possibly beMuhammad the Prophet of Islam, forreasons that we see in the same verses.






First, the one promised was not corporeal(Spirit of Truth), therefore the world couldnot receive him because they could not seehim. This description does not fitMuhammad because he had a body and theworld saw him, both believers and infidels.

Second, the Promised One came to staywith the disciples forever. This too cannotbe said of Muhammad because he did notcome at the time of the disciples and didnot remain in the world forever.

Third, the Promised One was at that timewith the disciples, "because he is withyou." This also cannot apply toMuhammad because he was not with thedisciples.

Fourth, Christ instructed the disciples "notto leave Jerusalem but wait..." for thatComforter, the Holy Spirit. In obedience totheir Master (and Muslims believe thatdisciples are obedient) they waited tendays in Jerusalem until that Comfortercame and "everyone was filled with theHoly Spirit." This, too, cannot apply toMuhammad. Otherwise it would have beennecessary for the disciples to wait inJerusalem 600 years until Muhammad'sarrival. How long could they live,especially as Christ promised them to sendthe Spirit Comforter quickly?! Otherwiseit was no use comforting them after death.Therefore to encourage them he said, "ForJohn baptized with water, but in a fewdays you will be baptized with the HolySpirit" (Acts 1:5).

I do not think that the Muslim brotherwants to believe that Christ is the one whosent Muhammad, because the verses aboveshow that Christ was the one who sent theComforter Spirit. If that was so, it wouldbe another matter, for he would have to

agree to the divinity of the one who sent(Christ), because Muhammad claimed tobe God's Apostle. Imagine! I ask God togive my Muslim brother this Holy Spirit ashe gave to those disciples, so that hewould guide him to the truth and guidehim to the right path and enlighten hismind so that he may distinguish betweenthe worthless and the worthwhile!

10. Conclusion

You have seen from the above that there isno way to obtain pardon for sins andcleansing of heart except in Christ, and nobook which shows the way to thissalvation except the Bible, the Torah andGospel. There is no religion whichreconciles the justice of God and hismercy, showing us God's love to man savethe Christian religion. Seize theopportunity, my brother, because the timeis a time of salvation and today is a day ofgrace and acceptance.

The purpose of these discourses and thestudy of them is to reach the truth andobtain happiness by following this truth. Inclosing I ask God to grant you, my Muslimbrother, his Holy Spirit and to enlightenyour mind in your search after truth. MayGod guide you in the straight path whenyou pray daily to obtain salvation in Christand everlasting life in heaven forever.

11. Quiz

If you have been diligent in reading thisbook, you will be able to answer thefollowing questions easily. Please send usyour answers using our feedback–form.

1. What position does the Bible occupy inthe Christian religion?

2. How does the Qur'an regard those






Muslims who do not believe in theBible?

3. Mention one Qur'anic verse thattestifies to the truth of the Torah andGospel in Muhammad's day and after?

4. How is the veracity of the Torah andGospel proved intellectually?

5. Are those who speak of the Book asbeing altered or corrupted able to pointto the altered texts and give thepurpose for doing so?

6. What did Nahum the prophet prophesyabout? Were his prophecies and othersof the prophets fulfilled?

7. Give one archaeological proof whichtestifies to the accuracy of the Torahand Gospel?

8. What did the scholar Smith find in theruins of Nineveh?

9. Give the names of the ancientmanuscripts of the Bible.

10.Give one Qur'anic verse which refutesthe theory of "abrogation".

11. In what state did God create Adam andEve? Did they stay in that condition?

12.Mention a text from the Biblesupported by a reference in the Qur'anwhich speaks of the corruption andstraying of all mankind?

13. Is there evidence that the prophets fellinto sin?

14.According to divine justice what do allsinners deserve?

15.To whom did the sacrifices point?

16.How do you confirm the death ofChrist from the Qur'an?

17. Is there a historical proof of Christ'scrucifixion?

18.How is Christ superior to the rest of

the prophets and the rest of mankind?

19.What does the Book of Acts 4:13 sayabout Jesus Christ?

20.How can you explain the doctrine ofTrinity if you are asked?

21.Summarise your understanding of thisbook in two lines.

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to:

The Good Way

P.O. BOX 66

CH-8486 RikonSwitzerland

www.the-good-way.com/en/contact/




../contact/index.html

../contact/index.html

http://www.the-good-way.com/en/contact/



themes for the diligent

Documents