Death of Jesus in Quran - 5 Evidences

 

Death of Jesus in Quran -

5 Evidences

Nadeem Quraishi

( I invite the readers to join me in investigating the matter of death of Jesus in the light of Quran. Take a copy of Quran in Arabic or any translation you may prefer and follow the debate. Quran requests people to ponder over its message (47:24). I sincerely, knowledgebly and firmly believe and testify that there is no deity worthy of worshipping except Allah, and Muhammad(pbuh) is His last messenger. Before some zealous reader declares kufur judgement on me, remember that I testified Kalimah. Only Allah knows who is correct and perfect with his Imaan, so please do not pronounce your verdict and do not earn the wrath of Allah.

The Kalimah or Five-Pillars of Islam do not specifically recommend to believe Jesus is either alive or dead. The definition of a person having taqwa (al-muttakin) as given in various places also do not recommend to believe Jesus is alive or dead. So this factor is only secondary to your faith.

The reason for not believing in the death of Jesus is because originally Qadiani or Ahmadiyya groups propounded it. Let me assure you that I have no connection in whatsoever form with Qadiani or Ahmadiyya groups. However, if I read the Quran and try to understand it in its true spirit, I find the Quran clearly says, again and again, that Jesus is dead. If I believe Jesus is dead, all I am doing is following the teachings of the Qur'an. You can do the same, and still you will be a true Muslim by any means. It is a win-win situation. Brothers and sisters, please read the arguments and see the true teachings of Qur'an.) 
 

Majority Muslims all over the world believe that Jesus(pbh) is alive in the Heaven.  The accepted faith is Jews wanted to kill him on the cross, instead Allah raised him alive in the Heaven.  This faith has been the subject of so much investigation that a consensus is difficult to reach.  Those who believe and those who don’t believe come up with various evidences to justify their point of view.

This page is intended to show you plenty of evidences from Quran to prove that Jesus(pbh) is not alive --  he is dead and that he was not raised alive in the Heaven.  Yes, I know the evidences I will put forward will not be acceptable to most readers, although all the evidences will be from Quran.  I can provide at least 25 evidences, but for ease of comprehending just five evidences may suffice. The purpose is to raise interest in the reader's mind and let them investigate the issue in more detail.
 

Evidence #1:

The verse in 3:55 Allah  uses a word which means death or termination of life.  And the way the sentence is framed, it is evident that death will be be ahead of raising.  Let us read the verse before going any further:
  
3:55     Behold! Allah Said: "O Jesus! I shall cause you to die (wafat) and I shall exalt you
           towards me and I shall clear you of those who rejects Faith, and I am going to
           make  those who follow you above those who reject Faith - until the day of
           Resurrection. Then unto Me is your return, so that I shall judge among you as
           to in that wherein you used to differ.

They key words here are :  Ya Isa, inni mutawaffika wa rafi’uka  ilaiya

Meaning:  "O Jesus! I shall cause you to die and I shall exalt you towards me….."

In order to fulfil the prophecy,  first death will happen, second, he will be raised.  Allah did not say He will raise Isa in any manner before his death. This argument is based on the key word 'wafat'.  The meaning of "wafat" is death, or take away soul.  If soul is taken away from a person, it is nothing but death.  The problem arises when with regards to  this verse, Muslims refuse to interpret the meaning of "wafat" as death.  Irony is that  all scholars  who translated the Holy Quran do agree "wafat" means death.   They  translated the word "wafat" as  death in at least 20 different instances.  However,  in this particular verse, they interpreted the meaning as ‘take away’ and insinuate physical ascension.

Fact remains that the above verse states death must happen first before ascension.  If not, the verse is contradictory and false. 

 

Evidence #2:

Let us read a very crucial verse 21:34 regarding death of our beloved Prophet Muhammad(pbuh).

21:34   We have not ordained abiding to any mortal before you (O Muhammad). What! Then, if
           you die will they then be abiding?

The first part of the verse raises the question that if Muhammad(pbuh) being the most prominent Rasul has to die, how can previous Rasuls remain alive? Muslims kept Jesus alive in contrary to the obvious suggestion in the verse.  However, same Muslims quickly come up with solutions. According to them the issue here is that of immortality.  Jesus was not granted immortality, he will reamin alive for 2000+ years and later on die sometime in 21st, 22nd or 23rd century after his second coming!!! So the verse is valid either way.

Well,  there can be desperate argument by those who say Jesus is alive.  If this verse is viewed vis-a-vis 3:143, (see Evidence #4), all contention will come to an end.

Let us see another verse 19:31 where Jesus(pbh) is saying as under:

19:31  …. He has enjoined upon me Salat and Zakat so long as I live.

If Jesus(pbh) is alive in the Heaven in his physical body, then he has been performing Salat and paying Zakat.  I am not keen to know if he is performing salat but my question is who is enjoying Zakat paid by Jesus?  Is he paying the Zakat in the Heaven or to some one on the earth? I am sure you will agree that Zakat cannot be paid to Angels or to dead people.  Zakat must be paid to people on this earth.  Those who keep him alive cannot come up with convincing answers except for utterly illogical stories and rambling explanantions which I need not hear. Please apply your analytical mind and ask yourself about Zakat paid by Jesus. Do you see that if Jesus is alive, then this verse is somewhat irrational?

 

Evidence #3:

Verse 4:157-158 are often referred to drive home that Jesus(pbh) was raised alive in the Heaven.  This is done mostly by resorting to manipulation and corruption in translation.   Let me show one example here:

This translation is of verse 4:157, done by Hilali & Khan and published by the Saudi Government. They have placed Arabic text by the side of the English translation. Any naïve reader would think that the translation is representing the actual Arabic wordings. A naïve reader may further think that the combination of Hilali & Khan and Saudi Government must have produced correct teaching.  On the contrary, it is incorrect and extremely corrupt!

4:157  Hilali & Khan : "And because of their saying (in boast) "We killed Messiah Isa
        (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," -but they killed him not, nor
        crucified him, but the resemblance of Isa (Jesus) was put over another man (and
        they killed that man)….

Please note carefully, Hilali & Khan translated the Arabic wa lakin subbiha lahum as "but the resemblance of Isa (Jesus) was put over another man".  In the Arabic text given above, where are the words "of Isa" and "another man"?  Surprisingly Hilali & Khan put interpolated words inside the translation suggesting that these were "revealed text". This is noting but gross corruption.  Yusuf Ali, Pichthall, Shakir, Rodwell, and many others did not commit such extreme corruption.

Only adamant and corrupt people will keep arguing that the translation is OK. They say this theory is based on some Hadith or Islamic consensus or something!  Well, then let them put those interpolated and false words inside parenthesis. Let them put all the meandering stories as commentary in the footnote and not as translation. Why people like Hilali and Khan are trying to  fool the Muslims with this notion that all the junk and  fabricated words are "revealed text"? This is just one example of how 'scholarly persons' are cheating Muslims, and naïve Muslims are digesting the falsehood.

If we leave aside the stories and concentrate on understanding the verse we will see a different perspective.  In the verse 4:157 please notice carefully,  wa lakin subbiha lahum   means "He was made to resemble to them" or "it was made to resemble to them" or "a likenss of that was made for them"  or "a similitude was made for them"  -- not "someone was made to resemble him".  In the sentences, "it"  or "that"  refers to the incident and not a person.  So Jehova resembling Jesus(pbh) can not arise. It was Jesus(pbh) who was made to "resemble" to them. Resemble to the very issue in question here: likeness or similitude of death. The issue is not Jesus(pbh) resembling a different person or a different person resembling Jesus(pbh). Jesus(pbh) was set up on the cross and he was made (by Allah) to resemble to them (as if he really died) by sending him to a comatose or fainted state.

Jesus(pbh) survived the incidence of crucifixion and lived up to gray haired age (3:45, 5:40). Later on he was sheltered in a land full of meadows and springs (23:50). This proves he was not raised at the time of crucifixion.  It is important to understand that if Jesus(pbh) was not killed or crucified, he still could die a natural death.  There is no need to send him to the Heaven to save him from enemies.

If they really killed Jehova taking him to be Jesus(pbh), then his mortal remains or tomb should have been somewhere in Jerusalem. This tomb should have come to be recognized as the tomb of Jesus(pbh). In reality there is no tomb in Jerusalem that was ever identified or can be identified (correctly or otherwise) as the tomb of Jesus(pbh).
 

Evidence #4

In the battle of Uhud, prophet Muhammad(pbuh), leading the Muslim army, fell down injured. A rumor spread that Prophet has been killed. The Muslims were in despair and broken-hearted.  At that moment, in order to instill confidence and boost morale of the Muslim army, a revelation came saying:

3:144    Muhammad is no more than a messenger, surely the messengers before him have already
            passed away. If then he dies or be killed, will you turn back upon your heels?…

Among other things, this verse tells two things:

(1)     Muhammad(pbuh) was only a Rasul,
(2)     Rasuls before him have passed away.

In this verse, the meaning of 'passed away' is very clearly given by Allah as (a) he dies, (b) be killed.  So by 'passing away' Allah meant death and killing and nothing else. Thus we can conclude that the use of the word can not mean anything different other than death. If Jesus(pbh) was an exception and did not pass away, Allah surely would have mentioned it. It is not a small exception by any means.

Much later, when Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) actually died, it was hard for Muslims to accept the sad news. Thinking that it was conspiracy of the rumormongers, Hazrat Umar (r)  drew his sword and declared that whosoever would say that Muhammad(pbuh) was dead, he will behead him.  At this critical situation, Hazrat Abu Bakar arrived, seeing the critical situation, he went into the hut of the Prophet and ascertained the truth. Then he came out and recited the same verse from Surah Al-e Imran 3:143 and further declared that whosoever wants to worship Muhammad, let him know that he is dead, and whosoever wants to worship Allah, let him know that Allah is all abiding.

This incidence conclusively proves that all the companions of the Prophet and Caliphs knew that all Rasuls before Muhammad(pbuh) had died.  If the companions believed that Jesus(pbh) was still alive, then at least someone would have raised a point here. Also check outEvidence #2 once again.
 

Evidence #5:

If Jesus(pbh) is alive in the Heaven, his age today is about 2000 years!! How can he live that long defying rules and laws set forth by Allah?  Are we not making words of  Allah contradict when we say in case of Jesus(pbh) Allah changed his law and made him live that long?   Can a person live that long? Let us see what Allah has to say about it.

16:70      And Allah creates you, then He causes you to die; and among youis he who is
             brought back to the worst of the age, so that he knows nothing
             after knowledge. Allah is truly all Knowing, Powerful.

22:5        … And among you there is he who dies, and among you is one who is turned
             back to the worst stage of  life until he does not know anything after having known...

36:68     And  whomsoever We cause to live long, We reverse him in constitution

These verses tell us that whoever lives too long, Allah returns them as crippled and not knowing anything after knowledge. This is more like a cycle of life. Birth -- Infancy -- Childhood -- Adulthood -- Old age. At very old age, a person reverts to a state much like infancy, depending on assistance for almost every daily routine: eating, bath, walking, toilet etc. As if Allah reverts the person in constitution (36:68) and makes him another infant.  Like an infant, at this time he does not remember things and has no knowledge of events around him.

In this context,  if Jesus(pbh) is  allowed to live that long, by now he is so crippled and in the worst part of life that there is no use of him to come back and do anything for Islam.  In fact he can not do anything worthwhile at that age. If it is difficult to comprehend, then it is possible that the above verses are false.

The arguments above are not intended to agitate the readers in any manner. Rather the idea is to let them think independently and come up with best solution. There is absolutely no verse in the Qur-an that tells Jesus(pbh) will come back in a later day. The second coming of Jesus(pbh) is largely based on a few Hadith.  In order to validate the Hadith, most Muslims do not hesitate to twist the meaning of the Quran.  To them the Hadith is absolute, and Quran is secondary!  They would not express it, but their faith and action proves it.  They would vehemently protect Hadith at the cost of Quran.

If  a reader refuses the validity of the arguments above, I have no problem.  I am responsible to Allah for my conduct and you are for yours. May I request you to read one or two sites listed below?  Again, unless it fully convinces you, you need not believe everything .  I am trying to arouse your rational thought process with my arguments.  May Allah bless all of us and guide us in the right path. 

http://www.freewebs.com/nadqur/evid.htm

The seventh-day Adventist "prophet" Ellen G. White actually taught that the Sabbath is the most important of the 10 commandments above all others!

 The seventh-day Adventist "prophet" Ellen G. White actually taught that the Sabbath is the most important of the 10 commandments above all others!

This is an example of how false doctrine gives birth to some wild ideas!

This is one of the original arguments used by the Adventist's inspired prophet Ellen G. White! She falsely taught that the Sabbath is God's special law above all laws:

1. "I beheld the tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. I was amazed as I saw the fourth commandment in the very center of the ten precepts with a soft halo of light encircling it. Said the angel, 'It is the only one of the ten which defines the living God who created the heavens and the earth and all things that are there­in."' (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, Pages 95-96, Official Adventist publication)
2. "Jesus opened them, and I saw the Ten Commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one table were Four and on the other six. The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name. The holy Sabbath looked glorious­ a halo of glory was all around it. I saw that the Sabbath commandment was not nailed to the cross." (Early Writings of Ellen G. White, page 33, Official Adventist publication)

Proof that the Sabbath law was not special above all other laws:

A Do Sabbatarians really believe that God would make any law including the ceremonial Sabbath law above and more important than the very first commandment to "have no other God's before me"?

1. Do Adventists really think God would make the 4^th commandment GLOW brighter than the 1^st commandment to have no other God's than Jehovah???
2. Jesus identified the two FOREMOST commands and the Sabbath isn't one of them! He said that the ten commandments do not contain the two greatest moral commandments in Matthew 22:36-40 Too bad for Sabbatarians: This would have been a great place for Jesus to quote the Sabbath law or at least one of the 10 commandments! "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
3. Jesus taught that the Sabbath should be broken, if it conflicted with a higher law of God like human compassion!
4. Adventists need look closely at what Paul said about Sabbath keepers Gal 4:10 "You observe DAYS and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain"
5. Such a suggestion is deluded blasphemy!!! Think about it!
6. Remember Ellen White was a plagiarist who has been proven to even copy what she claimed were visions from books in the public library!
7. Ellen G. White was a false prophet: Colossians 2:18 "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by... taking his (her) stand on visions he (she) has seen, inflated without cause by his (Ellen White's) fleshly mind" (NASB)

B The Sabbath day is not elevated in any way above other holy days in the Old testament:

Look carefully at the language that describes the holy days below. They are all described equally "holy or high". We can't see where the Sabbath is elevated above other ceremonial feast days, CAN YOU???

1. Lev 23:1-7 "The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'The Lord's appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations-My appointed times are these:
2. WEEKLY SABBATH: "'For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings. Lev 23:1-7
3. PASSOVER: 'These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocationswhich you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. Lev 23:1-7
4. FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD: 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holyconvocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'" Lev 23:1-7

Revelation 12:17 and 14:12 do not teach we must keep the 10 commandments in addition to the Gospel

  Revelation 12:17 and 14:12 do not teach we must keep the 10 commandments in addition to the gospel.

Sabbatarians attempt to make a false distinction in Revelation 12:17 and 14:12 saying the verses prove we must keep the 10 commandments in addition to the Gospel of Christ.

"So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." (Revelation 12:17) "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. " (Revelation 14:12)

A. There are several "commandments of God" in the New Testament that are not the 10 commandments:

1. "And He answered and said to them, " Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition ? "For God said , ' Honor your father and mother ,' and, ' He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death .' " (Matthew 15:3-4) "commandments of God" include one of the 10 and one from the book: Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9
2. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of Godour Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, " (1 Timothy 1:1) Here the commandment of God refers to giving Paul the authority of his apostleship. See Gal 1:11-12
3. "but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, " (Titus 1:3) Here the commandment of God refers to giving Paul the authority of his apostleship. See Gal 1:11-12

B. Sabbatarians create a False chart like this:

	Ten Commandments	Gospel of Christ, Law of Christ, New Testament, word of God.
Revelation 12:17	Who keep the commandments of God	hold to the testimony of Jesus
Revelation 14:12	Who keep the commandments of God	and their faith in Jesus

1. This is false because, as we have seen the expression "commandments of God" always refer to something other than the 10 commandments exclusively in the Old Testament, and never the 10 commandments in the New Testament.
2. The testimony of Jesus is sometimes that part of the gospel
3. If Revelation 12:17 and 14:12 prove the "testimony of Jesus" is the word of God, then what do we do with Rev 1:2 and 1:9 and 20:4? Here the word of God is distinguished from the "testimony of Jesus".

"who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. " (Revelation 1:2)

"I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. " (Revelation 1:9)

"And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand" (Revelation 20:4)

4. In Revelation 19:10 "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" "Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."" (Revelation 19:10)
5. In 1 Cor 1:6 it is merely the message of the cross, burial and resurrection. "even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, "(1 Corinthians 1:6) This certainly does not include the Lord's supper, taking brother to Court (1 Cor 6) etc.

Sabbatarians make a distinction saying that one is the gospel and the "commandments of God" is the 10 commandments. So they say that we are under the gospel but must also keep the 10 commandments. This passage doesn't saying anything about "faith in Christ" but the "testimony of Christ" which they say is the NT. My point to you was that such is a superficial distinction. The testimony of Jesus Christ is a part of the gospel as the commandments are, but none of these expressions are in reference to the 10 commandments. It would be as absurd as approaching Rev. 1:2 and saying there is a difference between the "testimony of Jesus Christ" and "the word of God." Rather, the "testimony of Jesus Christ" is a part of the "word of God." Also see Rev. 1:9. If and when a Sabbatarian brings this up, ask him if the Lord has any other commandments than the 10? If so, how can he be certain that Rev. 12:17 is reference the 10 and not to the commandments that Paul and the apostles wrote (cf. 1 Cor. 14:37)? Philip preached "the name of Jesus Christ" to Samaria (Acts 8:12); but the apostles heard that Samaria received the "word of God" (Acts 8:14). Therefore the testimony of Jesus is the word of God.

C. The proper chart is like this:

Revelation 12:17 Revelation 14:12	Who keep the commandments of God	Everything God expects the Christian to Obey
	hold to the testimony of Jesus and their faith in Jesus	Continue to accept Jesus died and was risen the their day.

We Speak truth in LOVE
"you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth" Jn 8:40

Go To Start: WWW.BIBLE.CA

Muhammad, Satan, and Muhammad’s Prophetic Call

 

Muhammad, Satan, and Muhammad’s Prophetic Call

By Cornelius

Please consider the following statements from Islamic literature (Sirat, Hadith and Quran).

Ibn Ishaq’s "Sirat Rasul Allah," The Life of Muhammad, translated by A. Guillaume, p. 106

(Muhammad Speaking) "Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed — Never shall the Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest."

History of Tabari Translated [1150], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 71

(Muhammad Speaking) "There was no one of God’s creation more hateful to me than a poet or a madman; I could not bear to look at either of them. I said to myself, ‘Your humble servant (meaning himself) is either a poet or a madman, but Quraysh shall never say this of me. I shall take myself to a mountain crag, hurl myself down from it, kill myself, and find relief that way.’"

History of Tabari [1147], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 68

"He (Muhammad) said: I had been thinking of hurling myself down from a mountain crag, but he appeared to me and said, ‘Muhammad, I am Gabriel and you are the messenger of God.’"

History of Tabari [1148], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 69-70

"He (Muhammad) said: I had been thinking of hurling myself down from a mountain crag, but he appeared to me and said, ‘Muhammad, I am Gabriel and you are the messenger of God.’

‘O Muhammad, recite!’ He said, ‘What shall I recite?’ and he said:

Recite in the name of your Lord who creates! He created you from a clot of blood. Recite: And your Lord is the Most Bountiful, He who teaches by the pen, teaches man what he knew not.’

Then he went to Khadijah and said, ‘Khadijah, I think that I have gone mad.’ ‘No, by God,’ she said. ‘Your Lord would never do that to you.’"

History of Tabari [1151], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 72

"At last Gabriel left me and I went back to my family. When I came to Khadijah, I sat down with my thigh next to hers, and she said to me, ‘Abu al Qasim, where have you been? I sent messengers to look for you all the way to Mecca and back.’ I said to her, ‘I am either a poet or a madman.’ but she answered, ‘May God save you from that, Abu al-Qasim! God would not do that to you.’"

History of Tabari [1155], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 76.

"Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-A’la-Ibn Thawr — Ma’mar — al-Zuhri: The inspiration ceased to come to the Messenger of God for a while, and he was deeply grieved. He began to go to the tops of mountain crags, in order to fling himself from them; but every time he reached the summit of a mountain, Gabriel appeared to him and said to him, ‘You are the Prophet of God.’ Thereupon his anxiety would subside and he would come back to himself."

Al-Bukhari, vol. VII, no. 660

"Narrated Aisha: Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle so that he used to think that he had had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not …" (Source)

Al-Bukhari, vol. VII, no. 658

"Narrated Aisha: A man called Labid bin al-A’sam from the tribe of Bani Zaraiq worked magic on Allah’s Apostle until Allah’s Apostle started imagining that the had done a thing that he had not really done. One day or one nigh he was with us, he invoked Allah and invoked for a long period, and then said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I have asked him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’ The first one asked, ‘Who has worked the magic on him?’ The other replied, ‘Labid bin Al-Asam’ …" (Source)

History of Tabari [1192-1193], vol. 6, pp. 108-110

"Ibn Humayd – Salamah – Muhammad b. Ishaq – Yazid b. Ziyad al-Madani – Muhammad b. Ka’b al-Qurazi: When the Messenger of God saw how his tribe turned their backs on him and was grieved to see them shunning the message he had brought to them from God, he longed in his soul that something would come to him from God which would reconcile him with his tribe. With his love for his tribe and his eagerness for their welfare it would have delighted him if some of the difficulties which they made for him could have been smoothed out, and he debated with himself and fervently desired such an outcome. Then God revealed:

By the Star when it sets, your comrade does not err, nor is he deceived; nor does he speak out of (his own) desire …

and when he came to the words:

Have you thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?

Satan cast on his tongue, because of his inner debates and what he desired to bring to his people, the words:

These are the high-flying cranes; verily their intercession is accepted with approval.

When the Quraysh heard this, they rejoiced and were happy and delighted at the way in which he spoke of their gods, and they listened to him, while the Muslims, having complete trust in their Prophet in respect of the messages which he brought from God, did not suspect him of error, illusion, or mistake. When he came to the prostration, having completed the surah, he prostrated himself and the Muslims did likewise, following their Prophet, trusting in the message which he had brought and following his example….The Quraysh left delighted by the mention of their gods which they had heard, saying, ‘Muhammad has mentioned our gods in the most favorable way possible, stating in his recitation that they are the high-flying cranes and that their intercession is received with approval.’ …Then Gabriel came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘Muhammad, what have you done? You have recited to the people that which I did not bring to you from God, and you have said that which was not said to you.’ Then the Messenger of God was much grieved and feared God greatly, but God sent down a revelation to him, for He was merciful to him, consoling him and making the matter light for him, informing him that there had never been a prophet or a messenger before him who desired as he desired and wished as he wished but that Satan had cast words into his recitation, as he had cast words on Muhammad’s tongue. Then God cancelled what Satan had thus cast, and established his verses by telling him that he was like other prophets and messengers, and revealed:

Never did we send a messenger or a prophet before you but that when he recited (the Message) Satan cast words into his recitation (umniyyah). God abrogates what Satan casts. Then God established his verses. God is knower, wise.

Thus God removed the sorrow from his Messenger, reassured him about that which he had feared and cancelled the words which Satan had cast on his tongue … Those two phrases which Satan had cast on the tongue of the Messenger of God were in the mouth of every polytheists …"

The above accounts are particularly interesting in light of the following verses in the Quran

³⁹"(Iblis) said ‘O my Lord! Because Thou hast put me In the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in wrong. – ⁴⁰"Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (By thy grace).’ ⁴¹(God) said: ‘This (Way of My sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to me. ⁴²For over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee. ⁴³And verily, Hell is the promised abode for them all! To it are seven gates: for each of those gates is a (special) class of sinners assigned.’" S. 15:39-43 (Yusuf Ali)

According to these Islamic traditions Muhammad was deceived by Satan and was bewitched by a sorcerer. Thus it is clear that Satan exercised some degree of authority over him. Since Surah 15:42-43 states that Satan has no authority over Allah’s servants, but Satan only has authority over those who put themselves in the wrong and follow Satan, and that the followers of Satan will be cast into hell, one can therefore logically deduce whom Muhammad followed and where he is today.

Do you want to follow Muhammad?

Qur'an Contradiction: How many angels were talking to Mary?

 Qur'an Contradiction

How many angels were talking to Mary?

Since the resurrection of Jesus is the main proof for his claims in regard to his deity, many have tried to disprove this account by pointing to contradictions in it. Since Muslims deny the crucifixion they obviously also have to deny the resurrection. One of the favorite items on the list of Bible contradictions, presented by atheists and Muslims alike, is therefore that in the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 16 [also Matthew 28], the women encounter at the grave on Jesus a man [angel] which is read to mean one and only one angel, while according to Luke, chapter 24 [also John 20], it is explicitely stated that they encountered two angels. I am not concerned about atheists here, but it is most interesting to see that these Muslims do not know their own Qur'an since otherwise they wouldn't make so much noise about things like this.

There are (at least) two passages in the Qur'an relating the announciation of Jesus' birth to Mary.

Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah has chosen thee ...

Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah gives thee glad tidings ...
-- Sura 3:42 & 45

  
... then we sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.
She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (Come not near) If thou dost fear Allah." 
-- Sura 19:17-18

How many angels came to Mary? In Sura 3, the Arabic uses the plural form, which means there were no less than three angels, but this could also mean that there were actually four, or a thousand, or a million etc.!

Why does Mary only seek refuge from one of the angels as she only addresses one in Sura 19:18? Were the others not like men and threatening to her?

Incidentally, this problem in the Qur'an is much harder to resolve for Muslims than the Biblical one for Christians, since in the Qur'an Mary addresses this one angel and it is clear she only speaks to one angel which would be strange if there are three or more around her. In the Bible the angels are not directly addressed by the women. Hence nothing establishes that there is only one. Mark and Matthew might have only mentioned the one who is prominent and who is the one talking while Luke and John make clear there were actually two of them.

After meeting the President and Vice-President on the street somewhere, I might come home and only say, I saw the President today. Nothing in such a statement precludes that I also met the second in command and maybe more people too.

I am happy to accept this same explanation for the Qur'an, but it is less convincing than for the Bible. One would have to explain why Mary twice addresses only one of them and also does not fear the other angels.

Jochen Katz

Postscript / update / correction : At the time of formulating the above observation, I used the translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali. Only later it became clear that Yusuf Ali actually mistranslates S. 19:17 where the Arabic text does not speak of an angel, but says that "We sent her our spirit". Although Muslims generally assume that this spirit was the angel Gabriel (so that the above formulation is still relevant under this assumption), this identification is actually questionable, see these articles (1, 2). Fact is, the name Gabriel is not mentioned at all in either one of the quranic accounts. However, since the above version received so many Muslim responses and was discussed in the above stated form, I decided to rather add this note instead of changing the above text. The reader is advised to consult the below listed responses which provide detailed discussions on this and other issues related to these two texts in the Qur'an.

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Muslim responses to the above are available from Randy Desmond, Misha'al Al-Kadhi, Moiz Amjad (Understanding Islam), Mahmoud Hussein, Ahmad al-Majed, Ansar Al-'Adl (Load Islam).

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Muslim Response by Randy Desmond
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997

There is an assumption that the author of the contradiction makes which I can not verify. That assumption is that 3:42-45 and 19:17-18 are the same occasion. Is it not reasonable that Mary (may God be pleased with her) was informed of what was to happen more than once? Keep in mind assumptions which do not contradict the Qur'an and allow an uncontradictory solution, like the one I am entertaining with respect to the number of times Mary was informed angelic beings, may not be the actual truth (and I am not saying that Mary was told this information once, twice, or many times), but nevertheless those assumptions which illustrate that a contradiction has not been proven are just as valid as assumptions which lead to contradictions. Therefore, the contradiction has not been proven at all, and with that I leave it with the following: God knows best how many times Mary was told this information and who told her.

So according to the criteria of proving a contradiction, the contradiction author's argument fails. If the reader is wondering what the criteria of proof of contradiction is, see my response to this web site's page on "Heavens or Earth, Which was created first?" In that response I detail how to determine whether or not a proposed contradiction has proven its point.

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We observe that even the responding party is uncomfortable with his own proposed solution. I don't have much more to add. I don't have to prove contradictions in the Qur'an. I leave it to the reader to judge how credible the suggestion of multiple announcements is. After all, this would indicate the lack of belief on the part of Mary to the first announcement. Read the whole passage and observe that both times Mary reacts to the announcement of the son with the same question of "How can this be, having never been with a man". Can we really believe she would have forgotten such a momentous encounter with angelic messenger(s) and the explanation given then to the very same question?

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Misha'al Al-Kadhi gave another response which was incredibly verbose (more than a dozen pages) ... maybe in the hope that the reader would be so overawed by his "scholarship" just because of the mere volume of it? Maybe he hoped nobody would read to the end and realize the crucial flaws in his argument? Anyway, I tortured myself and an Arab brother,Bassam Khoury, to study it, and here is the essence of it as well as the rebuttal. Al-Kadhi's full argument is available at this site. Mr. Al-Kadhi's arguments are indented.

This is why to this day we find the Queen of England, French dignitaries, and most Arab leaders referring to themselves, or referred to by others in the plural sense.

This is wrong already in English or French and is just as wrong in Arabic. Because in Arabic when using the "royal we" it takes a plural *verb*, but never a plural *noun*. That is exactly as in English, and it was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who announced the birth of a granddaughter by saying: "We are a grandmother," but she did not and could NEVER say "We are grandmothers". And it is the same in Arabic. Only the verb can be plural, not the noun. In the above text the noun is plural: "angels".

A similar case to the above is the one presented by our current author. The first three verses (Aal-Umran(3):42-45) do indeed use the word "angels." However, this plural form of the word is used to describe only one angel, specifically, angel Gabriel. Such constructs are used in the Arabic language as a symbol of dignity and respect for that person. This is a popular Arabic grammatical construct called "al-majaz al-mursal" which falls under the subheading of Arabic grammar titled "Balaghah" ...

Wrong again because:

"Al majaz al mursal" means "A word used in a different way than its original like saying "the fire has eaten the wood" the word "eaten" here is not in the normal use as eating is for human and animals but not for fire. There are two kinds of Majaz:

1- majaz aqli `logical metaphor' 
2- majaz lughawi `lingustic metaphor'

(Quote translated from "Student reference in the Arabic language" by Raajee al Asmar, Beirut 1995 pg 381)

"Majaz mursal" is a type of the latter. "If there is no similarity between the new word and the referent (original word), it's called "majaz mursal". An example would be: I have drunk one glass". There is no similarity between the glass and what is in it; we drink what is in it not the glass itself (example also found in the above quoted text).

I cannot see how the above falls under this heading. Continuing where we left off:

... and which we can not get into here since it requires a basic knowledge of the Arabic language and its grammar. Suffice it to say that there are at least two quick clues to this matter which even non-Arabic speaking people can appreciate. The first one is that in the first set of verses, verses 46-48 say: "The angels said... Mary said... HE replied" meaning that we are speaking about an angel designated as "he" and not "they," in the same very verses themselves.

In the orginal Arabic text of the Qur'an it is clear that the "He" refers to God. At-Tabari in his comment on this verse 3:47 says: "Allah said to her "Even so; Allah createth what he willeth"

But even if it should refer to one angel here (against the witness of at-Tabari), then it only means that his particular answer to Mary's question was spoken by only one angel, and the others might have been silent. Plural nouns still can't be interpreted to be singular.

Secondly, a similar construct can be found elsewhere in the Qur'an which can hopefully clarify this construct to non-Arabic speakers. For example, in Al-Nahi(16):120 we read: "Verily Abraham was a nation obedient to Allah and he was not of the polytheists."

We notice here that prophet Abraham (pbuh) is described as a "nation." Does this mean that he is literally a few hundred thousand people? No. This is an Qur'anic term of exaltation and elevation for Abraham above all humans such that he is higher in regard and reward with God than an entire nation of mortals. In the same manner, the status of the angel Gabriel with God is of a similar stature among the angels. There are many other similar constructs in the Arabic language, many of which are applied to angel Gabriel in more than one location in the Qur'an to set him apart from all other angels....

I found this a lot these days: Muslims use Yusuf Ali's translation when they like what he says and they ignore it when they don't like it.

If we look at Ali's translation of this verse, we see that he says: Sura 16:120 - "Abraham was indeed a model..." Jalal as-Suyuti in his comment on this verse says: "Umma" - which Al Kadhi translates as nation - means "Imaman", i.e. a model/example/leader:

Truly Abraham was a community, a leader (imām), a [good] example, comprising [in his character] all the good traits, obedient to God, a hanīf, inclining towards the upright religion, and he was not of the idolaters; (Tafsir al-Jalalayn)

Ibn Abbas interprets similarly:

(Lo! Abraham was a nation) a leader who was emulated (obedient to Allah, by nature upright) sincerely surrendered to Allah, (and he was not of the idolaters) he did not follow the idolaters in their religion; (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs)

Moreover, the Quran may be using the word "Umma" in reference to Abraham being the federal head of a community of believers. The plural may be including the multitudes of believers from the descendants of Abraham, with Abraham standing in their place as their corporate head. This concept is not foreign to either the Holy Bible or the Quran since both books teach the concepts of federal headship and corporate solidarity, just as the following texts demonstrate:

"One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor." Hebrews 7:9-10

When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful": Or lest ye should say: "Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?" S. 7:172-173

Yet such a usage provides no support for al-Kadhi's argument, since "Umma" is being used for Abraham and his seed whereas "angels", according to al-Kadhi, refers to Gabriel alone.

It is also possible that Sura 16:120 contains a grammatical error, that the author wrongly used a plural for a singular subject. That this is a plausible interpretation can be readily seen from the fact that the Quran contains dozens of grammatical errors, see this section.

Whatever the case maybe, Sura 16:120 does not support al-Kadhi's position.

Al-Kadhi continues:

Getting back to our current example, we find that in both of the quoted verses angel Gabriel is referred to through popular Arabic constructs of respect and exaltation. In the first it is demonstrated in the use of the plural construct, in the second it is demonstrated in the use of his official title of "Holy Spirit," where we see that the verse says that "We (God) sent unto her (Mary) Our Spirit (Gabriel)..."

So why doesn't the Qur'an say then: "We sent unto her our spirits"? Since elsewhere the singular word malaak (angel) becomes malaa'ika (angels)? The one with the highest honor among the angels is left in the singular?

Furthermore, it does only say "Spirit" and not "Holy Spirit".

Even in English is not too much of a stretch to understand the intent. If a president has a highly esteemed ambassador whom he has entrusted with a significant task, and this president wishes to bestow upon this ambassador and his message an air of importance, then he would not say "I have sent some guy...." or "I have sent one of my people.." since this would reflect badly on that ambassador as someone who is not even worthy to remember his name or his service. It would also reflect badly on the message itself since it would imply that the message was of such little importance that it was entrusted to someone of such little merit. Rather, one way to convey an air of dignity and importance to the messenger as well as the message would be to mention the man's office, such as to say "I sent my ambassador.." Another way would be to directly exalt him such as saying "I sent my most trusted and faithful aid..." And finally, in Arabic one could use the plural form such as to say "I sent THEM (him).."

... etc. etc. without end ... and without substance ... It should be clear by now that Mr. Al-Kadhi knows more about skillful propaganda than he knows Arabic.

No, we do NOT say "I sent THEM (him).." in Arabic. I wish he could find for me one single example of someone saying "we sent our ambassadors" when he means one man. This is a propaganda trick and plain false. "Bring your proof if you are truthful," is the charge of the Qur'an to you.

I have heard statements made by Arab leaders or even individuals using the pronoun "WE" for just themselves.

I have heard individuals addressing leaders, religious people, or even government employees, with "YOU" (in the plural form, like "Sie" in German or "Vouz" in French), or with words like "your majesty" or "excellency" in the plural form. But I never heard anybody using the third person pronoun in the plural form even if the third person was a king or president.

Arabs may address a president or anybody by the word "Hadratoukom", "Seyadatoukom", Jalalatoukom" ... but when mentioning those people as a third person, it is never said, "Hadratouhom, "Seyadatouhom", or Jalalatouhom", but in the singular third person form, i.e. "Hadratouhou", "Seyadatouhou" or "Jalalatouhou", regardless of the importance of that third person.

The use of the plural form when talking about the angel in 3:42 & 45 does not make any sense unless the Qur'an really means that there were more than one angel speaking with Mary. The Verse 47 in Sura 3 uses the verb "Qala" in the singular form refering to one angel.

And my Arab friend who wrote up this rebuttal, concludes:

Finally: it is *our* opinion that his argument does not hold water (or should that be *their* argument, or arguments, doesn't or don't hold water or waters) ??

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My conclusion: The difficulty remains. I still think it is relatively weak in comparison to some of the others on this site, but it is nevertheless real.

The response by Mr. Al-Kadhi though is worth pondering well since it shows what amount of false propaganda some people are ready to produce in order to defend the indefensible and to deceive those whom they think cannot see through their schemes. The rebuttal fraud was worse then the difficulty we started out with. It certainly would have deserved an entry in the "Dictionary of Misinformation" by Tom Burnam, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1975.

Quran- Word of God or Muhammad ?

 

Mukto-mona (Collection)

This article is mainly focused to show that when we read some of the verses in Quran, we clearly understand that those were Muhammad's own word, not Allah's.

According to the Muslims the Quran contains the words of God. Quran is to be read as if God Himself had spoken these words stated in it. It is important to emphasize this point because if Quran is the word of God then it should not contain any errors and it should hold true for all times. However, such is not the case.

He we will see how some of the content of the verses in the Quran clearly shows that these words were obviously spoken by Muhammad and Not God.

Let's start with the opening Sura of Quran.

The Opening Sura Fatihah:
(Quran 1:1-7)
In the name of the Merciful and Compassionate God.
Praise belongs to God,
The Lord of the worlds, the merciful, the
compassionate, the ruler of the day of
the day of judgment! Thee we serve and Thee
we ask for aid. Guide us in the right path,
the path of those Thou art gracious to;
not to those Thou art wroth with, nor of
those who err.

Someone need not be a rocket-scientist to comprehend that these words are clearly addressed to God, in the form of a prayer. They are Muhammad's words of praise to God ("Guide us in the right path,..." ~ 001.006), asking for God's help and guidance. Some Muslim compilers conveniently add the imperative "say" in the English translation of the Quran at the beginning of the sura to remove this difficulty. This imperative form of the word "say" occurs at least 350 times in the Quran, and its obvious that this word has, in fact, been inserted by later compilers of the Quran to remove countless similarly embarrassing difficulties. Thus, we have direct evidence that the Quran starts out with the words of Muhammad.

Let us see some other examples in Quran:

(Quran 113:1)
I take refuge with the Lord of the Dawn.

One can clearly see, its Muhammad and NOT GOD HIMSELF who is seeking refuge in God.

(Quran 6:104)
Now have come to you, from your Lord, proofs
(To open your eyes): If any will see, it will
be for (the good of) his own soul; If any will
be blind, it will be to his own (harm):I am not
(here) To watch over your doings.

In this verse the speaker of the line "I am not to watch over your doings"- is clearly Muhammad. In fact Dawood in his translation adds a footnote that the "I" refers to Muhammad here. And in previous verse (Quran 6:103) it is stated - 'No mortal eyes can see Him, though He sees all eyes. He is benignant all knowing'. R. Bell said in his "A commentary on the Quran (Manchester, England: Victoria university of Manchester, 1991) vol. 1. p. 201 '-  The end of the verse shows that Phrophet is speaking his own words'.

(Quran 27:91)
For me, I have been commanded to serve the
Lord of this city, Him Who has sanctified it
and to whom (Belong) all things; and I am
commanded to be of those who bow in Islam to
Allah's Will

Again, the speaker here is clearly Muhammad who is trying to justify puning the Meccanswho were not willing to follow Muhammad's Islamic version of God. Dawood and Pickthall both interpolate "say" at the beginning of the sentence which is lacking in the original Arabic version of the sura.

(Quran 81:15)
So verily I call to witness the planets - that recede...

Again, here it is Muhammad and NOT God who is swearing by the turning planets.

 

(Quran 84:16-19)
I swear by the afterglow of sunset, and by the night, and by the moon when she is at the full.

Once again it is Muhammad and NOT God. He is unable to disguise his pagan heritage. (Omnipotent Allah should not swear, right?) Muhammad  swears again in the name of the Sun and Moon, both of which were considered as holy deities by pre-Islamic Arabs. (Dear Readers, have you noticed that YUSUFALI cleverly escaped the word "swear" while making the translation, but PICKTHAL and SHAKIR used it).

(Quran 6:114)
Should I seek other judge than God, when
it is He who has sent down to you, the
distinguishing book (Quran)?

Any sane person can comprehend that those words are not spoken by God but Mohammed himself. Yusuf Ali in his translation adds at the beginning of the sentence "say", which is not there in the original Arabic and he does so without comment or footnote. 

Do we need to give any other further evidence that Quran actually contains the words of Muhammad, not Allah ! Interested readers, may also check sura 19:9, 19:64, 37:164-166, 51:50, 53:2, 70:40-41, 86:17 to understand that those can be uttered by anybody but Allah. 

Reading above passages, researchers R. Bell and W. M. Watt who were more sympathetic towards Islam admitted :

'The assumption that God is himself the speaker in every passage, however leads to difficulties. Frequently God is referred to  third person. It is no doubt allowable for a speaker to refer to himself in third person occasionally, but the extent to which we find the Prophet apparently being addressed and told about God as a third person is unusual. It is in fact been made a matter ridicule that in the  Quran God is made to swear by himself.'

Also Suyuti, one of the great muslim philologist and commentator on Quran was able to point to the five passages whose attribution to the God was disputable. Indeed he admitted that some of the words in some verses were obviously spoken by Muhammad himself and some by Gabriel. Ali Dashti, in his famous book, '23 years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad' also points to several passages from Quran where the speaker cannot have been God.

 

References:

Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not a Muslim, Prometheus Books, 2003

R. Bell, and W. M. Watt, Introduction to the Quran, Edinburgh, 1977

Jesus or Muhammad: Who is God's True Seal of Prophethood?

Sam Shamoun

The Quran claims that Muhammad is God's seal of prophethood, and therefore the last and final messenger to mankind:

"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things." S. 33:40

Muslims further reason that since the Lord Jesus clearly stated that false prophets would come to deceive many, this strongly argues that there would be another true prophet to come after Christ. Had there been no more prophets after Christ, there would have been no need for Jesus to give a criterion to distinguish false prophets. Christ could have simply stated that there would be no more prophets at all. (Cf. Matthew 7:15-20; 24:23-26)

The problem with such reasoning is that it completely ignores the entire context of the Holy Bible. For instance, the Lord Jesus states that God has given him his personal seal of approval, backing up all of Christ's words and deeds:

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placedHIS SEAL OF APPROVAL." John 6:27

This is reiterated elsewhere by the Lord:

"I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent." John 5:36-38

"But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." John 8:16-18

"Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." John 10:36-38

"Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.’" John 14:9-11

Part of Jesus' claims, which God has given his approval to, includes Christ's statement that he is the final messenger. This essentially means that the Lord Jesus is God's final and only perfect commentary in relation to the things pertaining to God:

"He then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. HE HAD ONE LEFT TO SEND, A SON, WHOM HE LOVED. He sent him LAST OF ALL, saying, "They will respect my son." But the tenants said to one another, "THIS IS THE HEIR. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.’" Mark 12:1-8

After sending his servants the prophets, God sent his beloved Son last of all. This indicates that Christ believed that he was not just the last spokesperson sent by God to the people, but that he was also God's beloved Son and the Heir of all things. (Cf. Matthew 28:18; Luke 10:22; John 5:17-31; 10:36; 13:3; 16:13-15; 17:10; Hebrews 1:2-3)

In fact, the Father himself has personally testified that Jesus is his beloved Son:

"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘YOU ARE MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; with you I am well pleased.’" Mark 1:9-11

"After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE. LISTEN TO HIM!’" Mark 9:2-7

This by itself is sufficient to prove that Muhammad is not God's prophet or seal since he denies God's testimony regarding the divine sonship of Christ.

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.'" Revelation 1:17-18

"'Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End ... I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star' ... He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:12-13, 16, 20

The Lord Jesus claims to be the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, as well as the First and the Last. This implies that Jesus is both the source of all creation and the consummation of all things. Christ sovereignly controls and guides all creation to accomplish all he intends and desires.

In light of its Old Testament background, the title "the First and the Last" indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only true God:

"This is what the LORD says - Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God." Isaiah 44:6

"Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last." Isaiah 48:12

Muhammad denied that Jesus is the source and consummation of all things and that Christ, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the only true God. This means that Muhammad was not God's seal nor was he a true prophet sent by the true God.

Both the Old and New Testaments emphatically state that with Christ's advent both prophecy and vision have been consummated:

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, BUT IN THESE LAST DAYS HE HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3

After having spoken to the people through the prophets, God has given his final revelation through his Son. The Son has communicated this final message through the men that he appointed:

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." John 15:16

"He said to them (the disciples): 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'" Acts 1:7-8

"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do' ... But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.'" Acts 9:1-6, 15-16

"In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me AND TO THOSE IN WHICH I WILL APPEAR TO YOU, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" Acts 22:12-18

"Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy." 1 Corinthians 7:25

"If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledgethat what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored." 1 Corinthians 14:37-38

"For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus ... Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 4:2, 8

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." Hebrews 2:1-4

"Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles." 2 Peter 3:1-2

"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw - that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near ... On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: 'Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.'" Revelation 1:1-3, 10-11

These passages establish that the holy Apostles did not speak from their own desires. Rather, these men spoke the very words given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ, having received the authority of Christ to record and pass on the very instructions of the Master.

"While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill - while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: 'Seventy "sevens" are decreed for your people and your holy city to FINISH transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, TO SEAL UP VISION AND PROPHECY and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One (Messiah), the ruler, comes, there will be seven "sevens," and sixty-two "sevens." It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two "sevens," the Anointed One (Messiah) will be CUT OFF and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.'" Daniel 9:20-26

According to this passage, Gabriel tells Daniel that a period of 69 "sevens" have been decreed where the Messiah would arrive on the scene, be killed ("cut off") with both Jerusalem and the second temple being destroyed by the governing authorities. During this time, both vision and prophecy would come to an end.

These events were fulfilled during Christ's first advent where he was cut off violently on the cross with the destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple occurring shortly thereafter (c. 33-70 AD). This clearly establishes that there would be no other prophet to come after Christ's advent who isn't comissioned by the Lord Jesus personally. Anyone claiming to be a prophet after Christ must prophesy solely in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, confirming the Gospel preached by Christ and his Apostles:

"Therefore I AM SENDING YOU PROPHETS AND WISE MEN AND TEACHERS. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town." Matthew 23:34

The Lord Jesus states that he will commission prophets for the people. This establishes that Jesus is God since God alone empowers and commissions prophets. This also affirms that a prophet must speak in the name of the Lord Jesus, confirming the message preached by Christ and his Apostles. Again:

"It was he (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, SOME TO BE PROPHETS, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13

This passage reiterates the point made by the Lord Jesus, namely that it is Christ who would commission prophets, teachers, evangelists etc. Some of these prophets included:

"During this time some prophetscame down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea." Acts 11:27-29

"After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, 'The Holy Spirit says, "In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles."'" Acts 21:10-11

"Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers." Acts 15:32

Basically what this means is that Jesus was the last One sent directly by God and from now on Christ would be the One sending out all the rest of the messengers, prophets, emissaries etc.:

"As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." John 17:18

"So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.’" John 20:21-23

Christ had predicted:

"I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." Mark 14:9

This is reiterated elsewhere:

"Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth-to every nation, tribe, language and people." Revelation 14:6

These passages affirm that the gospel is the means of salvation for all men and for all time, and will be proclaimed throughout the world. Anyone bringing a message contrary to the gospel proclaimed by the Lord Jesus is not of God. In the words of the Apostle Paul:

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we OR AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" Galatians 1:6-9

Seeing that the angel that spoke to Muhammad brought a message contrary to the gospel of Christ means that this angel falls under God's eternal condemnation. This implies that this angel could not have been the angel Gabriel but a satanic counterfeit. This shouldn't surprise us since the Holy Bible clearly states that Satan is able to masquerade as an angel of light in order to deceive and prevent people from embracing the true message of salvation:

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

This is precisely why the Holy Bible gives us a test to distinguish between false prophets and true ones, or lying spirits from the Holy Spirit of God:

"Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:3

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father." 1 John 2:18-24

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood." 1 John 4:1-6

According to these passages any person or spirit that denies that Jesus is God's eternal Son that became flesh or denies Christ's sovereign Lordship is not of God. Since Islam denies all these fundamental truths it therefore cannot be from the true God.

In fact, Islam makes God a liar since it denies the testimony given by God on behalf of his beloved Son:

"We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:9-12

The Lord continues:

"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." John 15:26-27

According to Jesus, the function of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Christ. Any prophet that does not testify about the person and work of the Lord Jesus is a false prophet. In fact, the entire focus of prophecy centers on the person of Christ:

"He commands us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as the judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Acts 10:42-43

"At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'" Revelation 19:10

Jesus is the very focal point of prophecy, and of history for that matter, since it is in Christ that all things hold together and are reconciled to God:

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - " Colossians 1:19-22

God designed it this way in order that Christ might have the preeminence over all things:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:15-18 NKJV

To summarize:

• Jesus claims to be God's final spokesperson for mankind.
• The Old Testament affirms that at Christ's advent prophecy and vision would come to an end.
• The whole focus of prophecy is to testify to Jesus' Deity, divine Sonship and his sovereign authority and rulership over all creation.
• The message of the Gospel is universal, extending to all ages and for all men, being the only means of salvation.
• Any prophet after Christ must speak in Jesus' name, confirming the message preached by Christ as recorded within the pages of the New Testament.

In light of the preceding factors, Muhammad cannot be a true prophet nor God's seal of prophethood. Muhammad denied the very core and foundation of prophecy, namely the preeminence and supremacy of God's beloved, divine eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so Muhammad showed that he was not a prophet of the true God revealed in the inspired pages of the Holy Bible, Yahweh Elohim.

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ADDENDUM

MUHAMMAD AS THE PARACLETE

Some Muslims have attempted to show that Jesus did predict the coming of Muhammad. Muslims often point to Jesus' promise to send another Comforter (Greek, Paraclete) as a prediction of their prophet. (Cf. John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15)

Even though the Lord Jesus clearly identifies the Comforter as the Holy Spirit in John 14:26, Muslims try to use John 16:7 to prove that the Comforter cannot be referring to the Holy Spirit:

"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."

Christ makes it clear that he must depart in order for the Comforter to arrive. If Christ did not depart then the Comforter would not come. It is presumed that since the Holy Spirit was already present during Christ's ministry, the Comforter cannot be referring to him. This could only be referring to Muhammad who arrived nearly 600 years after Christ had departed. (Cf. Matthew 3:16-17)

The only problem with the Muslim interpretation is that it ignores the context of Jesus' statement. For instance, Jesus wasn't claiming that the Comforter was not already present, but that the Comforter would not be present in the manner that Jesus had described earlier. Here are Jesus' words in their context:

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, FOR HE LIVES WITH YOU AND WILL BE IN YOU." John 14:16-17

The Lord clearly states that the Comforter was already present with the disciples and that his followers knew him. The difference is that even though the Comforter was present with the disciples he would not be able to indwell and empower them until Jesus had been glorified by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. John reiterates this very point earlier in his Gospel:

"Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.’" John 1:32

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant THE SPIRIT, whom those who believed in him were LATER to receive. Up to that time THE SPIRIT HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." John 7:37-39

Hence, when John 16:7 is read within its immediate and greater context the Comforter can only be referring to God's Holy Spirit. It cannot be referring to Muhammad.

There are additional problems with viewing the Comforter as a prediction of Muhammad, some of which include:

• According to John 14:17 the Comforter would be able to indwell all the disciples at the same time. This means that the Comforter could only be an immaterial entity, a spirit, since a physical entity cannot indwell anyone, let alone a group of men at the same time. This also implies that the Comforter is omnipresent. Since God alone is omnipresent, this means that the Comforter is God. Unless a Muslim wants to claim that Muhammad is God then there is no basis to view these references as predicting the prophet of Islam.
• The Comforter was to glorify Christ by taking what belongs to Christ and making it known to his followers:

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." John 16:13-15

• Jesus claims that everything that the Father owns belongs to him. This makes Jesus the Heir of all things. Yet the Quran claims that Allah is the Heir of all things:

"And certainly We! We it is Who give life, and cause death, and We are THE HEIRS." S. 15:23

"Lo! We, only We, inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned." S. 19:40

Taking these points to their natural conclusion would inevitably mean that Jesus is Allah, the God of Muhammad! Note the following syllogism:

1. Muhammad is the Comforter.
2. The Comforter was to glorify Jesus.
3. All things belong to Christ.
4. Muhammad glorified Allah.
5. All things belong to Allah.
6. Therefore Jesus is Allah!

Which Muslim would agree to this? The fact that no Muslim would or could accept such reasoning only reinforces the absurdity of trying to make Muhammad the Comforter predicted by Christ.

In the service of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. We love you always.

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Articles by Sam Shamoun
Answering Islam Home Page