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Chapter One: Christian Muslim Responses At the end of the debate - "Christianity and Islam" - which appeared on the SABC-TV program "Cross Questions" on Sunday 5 th June 1983, the Chairman, Mr. Bill Chalmers commented: "I think it can be said from this discussion that there is, at present, somewhat more accommodation on the Islamic side for the founder of Christianity than there is on the Christian side for the founder of Islam. What the significance of that is, we leave it to you, the viewer, to determine, but I do think you will agree that it is a good thing that we are talking together. "Bill" as he is popularly addressed, without any formalities, on all his programs, by all his panelists, is extremely charming and stupendous in his humility. He is a picture of what the Holy Quran portrays of a good Christian: .".. And nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say: 'We are Christians': because among these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world.
And they are not arrogant. " (The Holy Quran 5: 82) Were the Muslims on the panel trying to placate the viewers out policy, deceit or diplomacy? Nothing of the kind! They were only articulating what God Almighty had commanded them to say in the Holy Quran. As Muslims, they had no choice. They had said in so many words: "We Muslims believe, that Jesus was one of the mightiest messengers of God that he was the Christ, that he was born miraculously without any male intervention (which many modern-day Christians do not believe today), that he gave life to the dead by God's permission and that he healed those born blind and the lepers by god's permission. In fact, no Muslim is a Muslim if he or she does not believe in Jesus!" Over 90 % of the people who witnessed this debate must have been pleasantly, but skeptically, surprised.
They might have not believed their ears. They must have surmised that the Muslims were playing to the gallery - that they were trying to curry favor with their fellow Christian countrymen; that if the Muslims would say a few good words about Jesus, then in reciprocation the Christians might say a few good words about Muhammed (may the peace and the blessings of God be upon all His righteous servants, Moses, Jesus, Muhammed... etc. ); that I scratch your back and you scratch my back - which would be a sham or hypocrisy. We cannot blame the Christians for their skepticism. They have been so learned for centuries. They were trained to think the worst of the man Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, and his religion.
How aptly did Thomas Carlyle say about his Christian brethren over a hundred and fifty years ago: "The lies which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammed) are disgraceful to ourselves only. " We Muslims are partly responsible for this. We have not done anything substantial to remove the cobwebs. South Africa is an ocean of Christianity. If Libya boasts the highest percentage of Muslims on the continent of Africa, then the Republic of South Africa would also be entitled to boast the highest percentage of Christians. In this ocean of Christianity the R.
S. A. - the Muslims are barely 2 % of the total population. We are a voteless minority - numerically, we count for nothing; politically, we count for nothing; and economically, one white man, as Oppenheimer, could buy out the whole lot of us, lock, stock and barrel. So if we had feigned to appease, we might be excused. But no!
We must proclaim our Master's Will; we must declare the Truth, whether we liked it or not. In the words of Jesus: "Seek ye the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8: 32). The Christian does not know that the true spirit of charity which the Muslim displays, always, towards Jesus and his mother Mary spring from the fountainhead of his faith - the Holy Quran. He does not know that the Muslim does not take the holy name of Jesus, in his own language, without saying Eesa, alain assam ("Jesus, peace be upon him") The Christian does not know that in the Holy Quran Jesus is mentioned twenty five times. For example: "We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit" (The Holy Quran 2: 87) "O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary... " (3: 45) ."..
Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of god... " (4: 171) .".. And in their foot steps we sent Jesus the son of Mary... " (5: 46) "And Zakariya and John, and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the righteous. " (6: 85) Though Jesus is mentioned by name in twenty-five places in the Holy Quran, he is also addressed with respect as: Ibn Maryam, meaning "The son of Mary"; and as the Maseeh (in Hebrew it is the Messiah), which is translated as "Christ." He is also known as Abdullah, "The servant of Allah"; and as Result u Allah, the messenger of Allah. He is spoken of as "The Word of God", as "The Spirit of God", as a "Sign of God", and numerous other epithets of honor spread over fifteen different chapters. The Holy Quran honors this mighty messenger of God, and the Muslims have not fallen short over the past fourteen hundred years in doing the same. There is not a single disparaging remark in the entire Quran to which even the most jaundiced among the Christians can take exception.
The Holy Quran refers to Jesus as Eesa, and this name is used more times than any other title, because this was his "Christian" name. Actually, his proper name was Eesa (Arabic), or Esau (Hebrew); classical Yeheshua, which the Christian nations of the West latinized as Jesus. Neither the "J" nor the second "s" in the name Jesus is to be found in the original tongue - they are not found in the Semitic languages. The word is very simply "E S A U" a very common Jewish name, used more than sixty times in the very first booklet alone of the Bible, in the part called "Genesis." There was at least one "Jesus" sitting on the "bench" at the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Josephus the Jewish historian mentions some twenty five Jesus' in his "Book of Antiquities." The New Testament speaks of "Bar-Jesus" a magician and a sorcerer, a false prophet (Acts 13: 6); and also "Jesus-Justus" a Christian missionary, a contemporary of Paul (Colossians 4: 11). These are distinct from Jesus the son of Mary.
Transforming "Esau" to (J) esu (s) - Jesus - makes it unique. This unique (? ) name has gone out of currency among the Jews and the Christians from the 2 nd century after Christ. Among the Jews, because it came to be a name of ill - repute, the name of one who blasphemed in Jewry; and among the Christians because it came to be the proper name of their God. The Muslim will not hesitate to name his son Eesa because it is an honored name, the name of a righteous servant of the Lord. The birth of Jesus Christ is described in two places of the Quran - chapter 3 and chapter 19. Reading from the beginning of his birth, we come across the story of Mary, and the esteemed position which she occupies in the House of Islam, before the actual annunciation of the birth of Jesus is given: "'Behold'!
the angels said: 'O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of all nations" (3: 42) "Chosen thee above the women of all nations. " Such an honor is not to be found given to Mary even in the Christian Bible! The verse continues: "O Mary! Worship thy Lord devoutly: prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down. " (3: 43) What is the source of this beautiful and sublime recitation which, in its original Arabic, moves men to ecstasy and tears? verse 44 below explains: "This is part of the tidings, of the things unseen, which We reveal unto thee (O Muhammad! ) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary: nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). " (3: 44) The story is that the maternal grandmother of Jesus, Hannah, had hitherto been barren. She poured out her heart to God: If only God will grant her a child, she would surely dedicate such a child for the service of God in the temple.
God granted her prayer and Mary was born. Hannah was disappointed. She was yearning for a son, but instead she delivered a daughter; and in no way is the female like the male, for what she had in mind. What was she to do? She had made a vow to God. She waited for Mary to be big enough to fend for herself.
When the time came, Hannah took her darling daughter to the temple, to hand over for temple services. Every priest wanted to be the god-father of this child. They cast lots with arrows for her - like the tossing of the coin - head or tail? eventually she fell to the lot of Zakariya, but not without a dispute. This was the story. But where did Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, get this knowledge from?
He was an Um, Arabic for "unlettered." He did not low how to read or write. He is made by God Almighty to answer this very question in the verse above, by saying that it was all by divine inspiration. "No!" , says the controversialist. "This is Muhammed's own concoction. He copied his revelations from the Jews and Christians. He plagiarized it. He forged it. " Knowing full-well, and believing as we do, that the whole Quran is the veritable Word of God, we will nevertheless agree, for the sake of argument, with the enemies of Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, for a moment, that he wrote it. We can now expect some cooperation from the unbelievers.
Ask him: "Have you any qualms in agreeing that Muhammed was an Arab?" Only an ignorant will hesitate to agree. In that case there is no sense in pursuing any discussion. Cut short the talk. Close the book!
With the man of reason, we proceed. "That this Arab, in the first instance, was addressing other Arabs. He was not talking to Indian Muslims, Chinese Muslims, or Nigerian Muslims. He was addressing his own people, the Arabs. Whether they agreed with him or not, he told them in the most sublime form, words that were seared into the hearts and minds of his listeners that Mary the mother of Jesus, a Jewess, was chosen above the women of all nations.
Not his own mother, nor his wife nor his daughter, nor any other Arab woman, but a Jewess! Can one explain this? Because to everyone his own mother or wife, or daughters would come before other women. Why would the prophet of Islam honor a woman from his opposition! and a Jewess at that! belonging to a race which had been looking down upon his people for three thousand years?
Just as they still look down upon their Arab brethren today. " The Jews learn, from the Bible, that their father, Abraham, had two wives Sarah and Hagar. They say that they are the children of Abraham through Sarah his legitimate wife; that their Arab brethren have descended through Hagar, a "bondwoman", and that as such, the Arabs are an inferior breed. Will anyone please explain the anomaly as to why Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, if he is the author, chose this Jewess for such high honor? The answer is simple, he had no choice he had no right to speak of his own desire. "It is no less than an inspiration sent down to him. " (53: 4) There is a Chapter in the Holy Quran, named Surat u Maryam "Chapter Mary", named in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; again, such an honor is not to be found given to Mary in the Christian Bible. Out of the 66 books of the Protestants and 73 of the Roman Catholics, not one is named after Mary or her son.
You will find books named after Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul and two score more obscure names, but not a single one is that of Mary! If Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, was the author of the Holy Quran, then he would not have failed to include in it with Mary, the mother of Jesus, his own mother Admin, his dear wife Khadija, or his beloved daughter Fatima. But No! No! This can never be. The Quran is not his handiwork! . " 'Behold!' the angels said: 'O Mary!
Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him: his name will be Jesus, the son of Mary; held in honor in this world and the hereafter; and (of the company of) those nearest to Allah. " (3: 45) "Nearest to God, " not physically nor geographically, but spiritually. Compare this with "And (Jesus) sat on the right hand of God. " (Mark 16: 19). The bulk of Christendom has misunderstood this verse as well as many others in the Bible. They imagine the Father (God) sitting on a throne, a glorified chair, and His Son, Jesus, sitting on His right hand side.
Can you conjure up the picture? If you do, you have strayed from the true knowledge of God. He is no old Father Christmas. He is beyond the imagination of the mind of man.
He exists. He is real, but He is not like anything we can think of, or imagine. In eastern languages "right hand" meant a place of honor, which the Holy Quran more fittingly describes as "In the company of those nearest to Allah. " The above verse confirms that Jesus is the Christ. and that he is the Word which God bestowed upon Mary. Again, the Christian reads into these words, a meaning which they do not carry.
They equate the word "Christ" with the idea of a god-incarnate; and the "Word" of God to be God. The word "Christ" is derived from the Hebrew word Messiah, Arabic Maseeh. Root word martha, meaning "to rub", "to massage", "to anoint." Priests and kings were anointed when being consecrated to their offices. But in its translated Grecian form, "Christ" seems unique: befitting Jesus only. Christians like to translate names into their own language; like Cephas to "Peter", Messiah to "Christ." How do they do that?
Very easily. Messiah in Hebrew means "Anointed." The Greek word for anointed is Christos. Just lop off the 'os' from Christos, and you are left with "Christ"; a unique name! Christos means "Anointed", and anointed means appointed in its religious connotation.
Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him, was appointed (anointed) at his baptism by John the Baptist, as God's Messenger. Every prophet of God is so anointed or appointed. The Holy Bible is replete with the "anointed" ones. In the original Hebrew, he was made a Messiah. Let us keep to the English translation "anointed. " Not only were prophets and priests and kings anointed (Christos-ed), but horns, and cherubs and lamp-posts also. "I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar... " (Genesis 31: 13) "If the priest that is anointed do sin... " (Leviticus 4: 3) "And Moses... anointed the tabernacle and all things that was therein... " (Leviticus 8: 100) ."..
the Lord shall... exalt the horn of his anointed" (I Samuel 2: 10) "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus... " (Isaiah 45: 1) "Thou art the anointed cherub... " (Ezekiel 28: 14) There are an hundred more such references in the Holy Bible. Every time you come across the word "anointed" in your Bible, you can take it that that word would be christos in the Greek translations, and if you take the same liberty with the word that the Christians have done, you will have Christ Cherub, Christ Cyrus, Christ Priest and Christ Pillar, ... etc. Although, every prophet of God is an anointed one of God, a Messiah, the title Maseeh or Messiah, or its translation "Christ" is exclusively reserved for Jesus, the son of Mary, in both Islam and in Christianity. This is not unusual in religion.
There are certain other honorific titles which may be applied to more than one prophet, yet being made exclusive to one by usage: like "Rasulullah", meaning "Messenger of God", which title is applied to both Moses (19: 51) and Jesus (61: 6) in the Holy Quran. Yet "Rasullullah" has become synonymous only with Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, among Muslims. Every prophet is indeed a "Friend of God", but its Arabic equivalent "Khalillullah" is exclusively associated with Father Abraham. This does not mean that the others are not God's friends. "Kaleemullah", meaning "One who spoke with Allah" is never used for anyone other than Moses, yet we believe that God spoke with many of His messengers, including Jesus and Muhammed, may the peace and blessings of God be upon all His servants.
Associating certain titles with certain personages only, does not make them exclusive or unique in any way. We honor all in varying terms. Whilst the good news was being announced (verse 45 above) Mary was told that her unborn child will be called Jesus, that he would be the Christ, a "Word" from God, and that... "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous. " (3: 46) "At length she brought the (babe) to her people carrying him. They said: 'O Mary! truly a strange thing has thou brought!' . 'O sister of Aaron! , thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!' " (The Holy Quran 19: 27 - 28) There is no Joseph the carpenter here.
The circumstances being peculiar, Mary the mother of Jesus had retired herself to some remote place in the East (19: 16). After the birth of the child she returns. A. Yusuf Ali, comments in his popular English translation of the Quran: "The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they were prepared to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kin for some time.
But now she comes, shamelessly parading a babe in her arms! How she had disgraced house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood! "Sister of Aaron": Mary is reminded of her high lineage and the unexceptionable morals of her father and mother. How, they said, she had fallen, and disgraced the name of her progenitors! What could Mary do? How could she explain?
Would they, in their censorious mood accept her explanation? All she could do was to point to the child, who, she knew, was no ordinary child. And the child came to her rescue. By a miracle he spoke, defended his mother, and preached to an unbelieving audience. " Allah azza wa jan says in the Quran: "But she pointed to the babe. They said: 'How can we talk one who is a child in the cradle?' He (Jesus) said: 'I am indeed a servant of Allah (God): He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet: 'and He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live. ' (He hath made me) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unless; 'So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life again) '!" (19: 29 - 33) Thus Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, defended his mother from the grave calumny and innuendoes of her enemies.
This is the very first miracle attributed to Jesus in the Holy Quran that, he spoke as an infant from his mother's arms. Contrast this with his first miracle in the Christian Bible which occurred when he was over thirty years of age: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, 'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. ' His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.
And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew; ) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. " (John 2: 110) Since this miracle, wine has flowed like water in Christendom. Many reason that what was good for the Master is good enough for them. Jesus was no "kill-joy" they say.
Didn't he make good potent wine, that even those "well drunk", those whose senses had been dulled could make out the difference? "That the best was kept for the last. ." This was no pure grape juice. It was the same wine that, according to the Christian Bible, enabled the daughters of Lot to seduce their father (Genesis 19: 32 - 33). It was the same wine which the Christian is advised to eschew in Ephesians 5: 18 - "And be not drunk with wine... " It is that innocent (? ) 1 % potency that eventually leads millions down into the gutter. America has 10 million drunkards in the midst of 70 million "born-again" Christians! The Americans call their drunkards "Problem Drinkers." In South Africa, they are called "Alcoholics"; drunkard is too strong a word for people to stomach. But the Prime Minister of Zambia, Dr.
Kenneth Kaunda, does not hesitate to call a spade a spade. He says, "I am not prepared to lead nation of drunkards", referring to his own people who drink intoxicants. Whether the water "blushed" or not "seeing" Jesus, we cannot blame him or his disciples for the drinking habits of his contemporaries. For he had truly opined, "have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16: 12). Mankind had not reached the stage of receiving the whole Truth of Islam. Did he not also say "You cannot put new wine into old bottles"? (Matthew 9: 17).
According to St. John, in the fourth verse above, describing the marriage feast at Cana, we are told that Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, behaved insolently towards his mother. He calls her "woman, " and to rub more salt into the wound he is made to say "what have I to do with thee?" What connection is there between you and me, or what have I got to do with you? Could he have forgotten that this very "woman" had carried him for nine months, and perhaps suckled him for 2 years, and had borne endless insults and injuries on account of him? Is she not his mother? Is there no word in his language for "mother"?
Strange as it may seem, that while the missionaries boast about their master's humility, meekness and long-suffering, they call him the "Prince of Peace" and they sing that "he was led to the slaughter like a lamb, and like a sheep who before his shearer is dumb, he opened not his mouth", yet they proudly record in the same breath, that he was ever ready with invectives for the elders of his race, and was always itching for a showdown i. e. if their records are true: "Ye wicked and adulterous generation!" Muhammed, allah Allah u ali wa sallam, the Messenger of God, is made to absolve Jesus from the false charges and calumnies of his enemies. "And He (God Almighty) hath made me (Jesus) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unless" (19: 31). On receiving the good news of the birth of a righteous son Mary responds: "She said: 'O My Lord! how shall I have a son, when no man hath touched me?"He said: 'Even so: Allah (God) create what He wallet: when He hath decreed a matter He but south o it 'Be, ' and it is! And Allah (God) will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah (Law) and the Gospel, " (3: 47 - 48).
Chapter Five: Quranic and Biblical Versions I was visiting the "Bible House" in Johannesburg. Whilst browsing through the stacks of Bibles and religious books, I picked up an Indonesian Bible and had just taken in hand a Greek - English New Testament, a large, expensive volume. I had not realized that I was being observed by the supervisor of the Bible House. Casually, he walked up to me. Perhaps my beard and my Muslim headgear were an attraction and a challenge? He inquired about my interest in that costly volume.
I explained that as a student of comparative religion, I had need for such a book. He invited me to have tea with him in his office. It was very kind of him and I accepted. Over the cup of tea, I explained to him the Muslim belief in Jesus, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I explained to him the high position that Jesus occupied in the House of Islam. He seemed skeptical about what I said.
I was amazed at his seeming ignorance, because only retired Reverend gentlemen can become Supervisors of Bible Houses in South Africa. I began reciting from verse 42 of chapters 3 of the Holy Quran: "'Behold!' The angels said: 'O Mary, Allah hath chosen thee... '" I wanted the Reverend to listen, not only to the meaning of the Quran, but also to the music of its cadences when the original Arabic was recited. Rev. Dunkers (for that was his name) sat back and listened with rapt attention to "Allah's Words." When I reached the end of verse 49, the Reverend commented that the Quranic message was like that of his own Bible. He said, he saw no difference between what he behaved as a Christian, and what I had read to him. I said: "that was true." If he had come across these verses in the English language alone without their Arabic equivalent, side by side, he would not have been able to guess in a hundred years that he was reading the Holy Quran.
If he were a Protestant, he would have thought that he was reading the Roman Catholic Version, if he had not seen one, or the Jehovah's Witness Version or the Greek Orthodox Version, or the hundred and one other versions that he might not have seen; but he would never have guessed that he was reading the Quranic version. The Christian would be reading here, in the Quran, everything he wanted to hear about Jesus, but in a most noble, elevated and sublime language. He could not help being moved by it. In these eight terse verses from 42 to 49 we are told: (a) That Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virtuous woman, and honored above the women of all nations. (b) That all that was being said was God's own Revelation to mankind. (c) That Jesus was the "Word" of God. (d) That he was the Christ that the Jews were waiting for. (e) That God will empower this Jesus to perform miracles even in infancy. (f) That Jesus was born miraculously, without any male intervention. (g) That God will vouchsafe him Revelation. (h) That he will give life to the dead by God's permission, and that he will heal those born blind and the lepers by God's permission, ... etc. The most fervent Christian cannot take exception to a single statement or word here.
But the difference between the Biblical and the Quranic narratives is that between "chalk and cheese."To me they are identical, what is the difference?" the Reverend asked. I know that in their essentials both the stories agree in their details, but when we scrutinize them closely we will discover that the difference between them is staggering. Now compare the miraculous conception as announced in verse 47 of the Holy Quran with what the Holy Bible says: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, (as husband and wife) she was found with child of the holy ghost. " (Matthew 1: 18) The eminent Billy Graham from the United States of America dramatized this verse in front of 40, 000 people in King Park, Durban, with his index finger sticking out and swinging his outstretched arm from right to left, he said: "And the Holy Ghost came and impregnated Mary!" On the other hand St. Luke tells us the very same thing but less crudely. He says, that when the annunciation was made, Mary was perturbed. Her natural reaction was: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1: 34) meaning sexually. "She said: O my Lord!
how shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" (3: 47) meaning sexually. In essence there is no difference between these two statements "seeing I know not a man" and "when no man hath touched me." Both the quotations have an identical meaning. It is simply a choice of different words meaning the same thing. But the respective replies to Mary's plea in the two Books (the Quran and the Bible) are revealing. "And the angle answered and said into her: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee" (Luke 1: 35) Can't you see that you are giving the atheist, the skeptic, the agnostic a stick to beat you with? They may well ask "How did the Holy Ghost come upon Mary?"How did the Highest overshadow her?" We know that literally it does not mean that: that it was an immaculate conception, but the language used here, is distasteful. Now contrast this with the language of the Quran: "He said (the angel says in reply): 'Even so: Allah (God) create what He wallet: when He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be, ' and it is!' " (3: 47) This is the Muslim concept of the birth of Jesus.
For God to create a Jesus, without a human father, He merely has to will it. If He wants to create a million Jesus' without fathers or mothers, He merely wills them into existence. He does not have to take seeds and transfer them, like men or animals by contact or artificial insemination. He wills everything into being by His word of command "Be" and "It is." There is nothing new in what I am telling you, I reminded the Reverend. It is in the very first Book of your Holy Bible, Genesis 1: 3 "And God said... " What did He say? He said "Be" and "It was." He did not have to articulate the words.
This is our way of understanding the word "Be", that He willed everything into being. "Between these two versions of the birth of Jesus, the Quranic version and the Biblical version, which would you prefer to give your daughter?" I asked the supervisor of the Bible House. He bowed his head down in humility and admitted "The Quranic Version. " How can "a forgery" or "an imitation", as it is alleged of the Quran, be better than the genuine, the original, as it is claimed for the Bible? It can never be, unless this Revelation to Muhammed is what it, itself, claims to be viz. The pure and holy Word of God! There are a hundred different tests that the unprejudiced seeker after truth can apply to the Holy Quran and it will qualify with flying colors to being a Message from on High.
Does the miraculous birth of Jesus make him a God or a "begotten" son of God? No! says the Holy Quran: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah (God) is that of Adam; He created him from dust then said to him: 'Be', and he was. " (3: 59) Yusuf Ali, comments in his notes in the Quran translation: "After a description of the high position which Jesus occupies as a prophet in the preceding verses we have a repudiation of the dogma that he was God, or the son of God, or any thing more than man. If it is said that he was born without a human father, Adam was also so born. Indeed Adam was born without either a human father or mother. As far as our physical bodies are concerned they are mere dust.
In God's sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is. The greatness of Jesus arose from the divine command 'Be': for after that he was more than dust a great spiritual leader and teacher" The logic of it is that, if being born without a male parent entitles Jesus to being equated with God, then, Adam would have a greater right to such honor, and this no Christian would readily concede. Thus, the Muslim is made to repudiate the Christian blasphemy. Further, if the Christian splits hairs by arguing that Adam was "created" from the dust of the ground, whereas Jesus was immaculately "begotten" in the womb of Mary, then let us remind him that, even according to his own false standards, there is yet another person greater than Jesus, in his own Bible. Who is this superman? "For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God...
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life... " (Hebrews 7: 1, 3) Here is a candidate for Divinity itself, for only God Almighty could possess these qualities. Adam had a beginning (in the garden), Jesus had a beginning (in the stable); Adam had an end and, claim the Christians, so had Jesus "and he gave up the ghost." But where is Melchisedec? Perhaps he is hibernating somewhere like Rip Van Winkel (a fairy tale character who slept for many ages. ) And what is this "Hebrews"? It is the name of one of the Books of the Holy Bible, authored by the gallant St.
Paul, the self appointed thirteenth apostle of Christ. Jesus had twelve apostles, but one of them (Judas) had the Devil in him. So the vacancy had to be filled, because of the "twelve" thrones in heaven which had to be occupied by his disciples to ju...
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