Rebuttal to Sam Shamoun's article
The Jewish Messiah And The Prophet of Islam
By
Sami Zaatari
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/messiah.htm
He Wrote
In this
section of our Christian-Islamic studies, it will be our specific goal to contrast the
Jesus of the Holy Bible with Isa (i.e. Jesus) of the Quran. This will be done in order to
set forth both the similarities and the differences within the Bible and the Quran on the
person of Jesus Christ.
We hope to
proceed from there and further contrast the life of Christ with that of the Muslim
Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah. Our reason for making such a comparison is the Muslim
assertion that in Muhammad one finds a perfect example of morality and virtue, making it
incumbent on all mankind to imitate him as he is the last and the greatest prophet.
To the
Christian, it is Christ who is the standard of moral and spiritual perfection. Hence, all
who claim to be prophets and messengers appearing after him,
must stand in his glorious light and pass or at least match the standards he has set.
Due to these
preceding factors we felt that an examination of the lives of both these men was indeed
necessary, in order to reach a conclusion regarding the question of which man should truly
be set forth as a role model for all mankind.
With this in
mind, we proceed to our investigation in the hopes that all who read this paper will do so
with an open and inquisitive mind.
My Response
I find it
very funny, that you a Christian missionary can actually be able to objectively contrast
the lives of Jesus and Muhamad. I find it funny that many other Christians also attempt to
do so. The fact is just like your brethren, you are biased when it comes to comparing both
of them, and the main goal for you is to simply attack the prophet, I have read many
comparisen and contrasts between Muhamamd and Jesus by Christians and was often amazed by
the huge biasness in the articles.
He Wrote
The
Annunciation Of Christ
Quran:
Behold! The
angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee - chosen thee above the women of all nations." S. 3:42
(Note - Mary is
the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran and is the only woman to have a whole
chapter named in her honor, Surat Al-Maryam -
"The chapter of Mary".)
The Quran
also declares that she is preferred over all women of creation. Although the Quran highly
honors Mary the mother of Christ, it does not provide the reader with a reason for such a
high esteem.
"Behold!
The angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him: his name will be the Messiah Jesus, The son of Mary, held in honor
in this world and the hereafter and of those
nearest to Allah.." She said: "O my Lord! How shall I
have a son when no man hath touched me?"
He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: when He hath decreed a plan, He
but saith to it, 'be; and it is!' " S. 3:45,47.
These
passages confirm that Jesus is 1) Al Masih, the Messiah, 2) virgin born, 3) Kalimat Minhu - a word from God and one of those
nearest to God.
Before
elaborating on these points, a final passage will be quoted in order to provide further
insight into the person of Jesus Christ.
Relate in the
book (the story of) Mary... She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them: then we
sent to her our angel (Ruh - spirit) and he
appeared before her as a man in all respects... He said: "Mary! I am only a messenger
from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy (i.e. faultless) son (Ghulamin Zakiyyan)." She said: "How
shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" He
said: "So (it will be): thy Lord saith, 'That is easy for
me: and (we wish) to appoint him as a sign (ayat)
unto men (alamin) and a mercy from us: It
is a matter (so) decreed." S. 19:16, 17, 19-21.
These verses
further establish the fact that Jesus is 4) faultless and 5) a sign from God to the entire
world, not merely to the Israelites. To summarize, we find that Jesus is:
The Messiah
Virgin born
son of Mary
The word of
God
Sinless
A sign and
mercy unto mankind.
There are
common Islamic objections to the ascribed attributes of Christ, objections which are
nothing but attempts to diminish the uniqueness of Jesus the Messiah in the Quran. In this
essay, we will attempt to refute each objection point by point:
My Response
Yes I will
love to see your refutations, because Shamoun will try to put his Christian theology into
the Islamic concept of Jesus which is funny.
Now Jesus is
indeed the Messiah, but that doesnt make him God, not at all, it is a title of honor given
to Jesus.
Jesus was
indeed born of a virgin birth, this was God showing his power and what he is capable of,
these are his signs that he gives to us to believe in him.
Jesus is just
a word of God, not THE word of God, it is different than your
concept of the word of God.
Jesus is not
sinless according to those passages. He is a righteous person, a holy birth, but in no way
does that make him sinless. Now before venturing off into Shamouns article, I will give
the Islamic conception of Jesus for all to see, I will be posting verses from the Quran
which talk about Jesus, and which show that according to Islam, Jesus
is no more than a prophet of God.
From Surah
Al-Imran:
003.045
YUSUFALI: Behold! the
angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name
will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and
of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;
003.046
YUSUFALI: "He shall speak to the people in
childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous."
003.047
YUSUFALI: She said: "O my Lord! How shall
I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth
what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!
003.048
YUSUFALI: "And Allah will teach him the
Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel,
003.049
YUSUFALI: "And (appoint him) a messenger
to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign
from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and
breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and
the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat,
and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;
003.050
YUSUFALI: "'(I have come to you), to
attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before)
forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey
me.
003.051
YUSUFALI: "'It is Allah Who is my Lord and
your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is
straight.'"
003.052
YUSUFALI: When Jesus found Unbelief on their
part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of)
Allah?" Said the disciples: "We are Allah's helpers: We believe in Allah, and do
thou bear witness that we are Muslims.
003.053
YUSUFALI: "Our Lord! we
believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among
those who bear witness."
003.054
YUSUFALI: And (the unbelievers) plotted and
planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.
03.055
YUSUFALI: Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I
will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the
falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those
who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will
judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.
003.056
YUSUFALI: "As to those who reject faith, I
will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they
have anyone to help."
003.057
YUSUFALI: "As to those who believe and
work righteousness, Allah will pay them (in full) their reward; but Allah loveth not those
who do wrong."
YUSUFALI: "This is what we rehearse unto
thee of the Signs and the Message of Wisdom."
003.059
YUSUFALI: The similitude of Jesus before Allah
is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him:
"Be". And he was.
YUSUFALI: The Truth (comes) from Allah alone;
so be not of those who doubt.
YUSUFALI: If any one disputes in this matter
with thee, now after (full) knowledge Hath come to thee, say:
"Come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons,
our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke
the curse of Allah on those who lie!"
YUSUFALI: This is the true account: There is no
god except Allah; and Allah-He is indeed the Exalted in Power, the Wise.
003.063
YUSUFALI: But if they turn back, Allah hath
full knowledge of those who do mischief.
That is what
Surah 3 of the Quran says about Jesus. From those passages we see that Jesus was born by a
miraculous birth. God will teach him the Torah and the Gospel, and that Jesus would talk
to people in his childhood and when he reached his manhood, the event of him talking to
people in his childhood is another great miracle. His mission was to bring people to God,
NOT to bring people to come and worship him. God gave him great miracles, the ability to breath into an object and give it life, this was by the PERMISSION of
God.
Often
Christians like to bring this verse up, disregarding the context, and the context is
clear, God gave this to Jesus, so hence its really God's works,
not Jesus. Jesus was also able to perform other miraculous deeds. Here is what Christians conveniantly always leave out which is that God raised
Jesus to himself, meaning Jesus did not die on the cross, so hence the Quran here is
denying the crucifixtion and death of Jesus. Which is basically
denying the entire doctrine of Christians, so hence I find it funny that Christians often
bring up Jesus' miracles that are mentioned but fail to read on.
We also see
God then say the similtude of Jesus is the same as Adam, an explicit verse showing that
Jesus is just like any other men, God here is clearing up the lie that Jesus is God,
something else the Christians conveniantly leave out. God then says that this is the TRUE
account, meaning the NT version is false, meaning the NT is also corrupt according to the
Quran. So hence in these passages the Quran clears up the lie that Jesus is God. The
passages basically show Jesus is a man like anyone else, he is a prophet, he was born of a
miraculous birth just like Isaac, and he was given miracles and that he taught the people
to come to the one and true God. Refuting Christian claims that Jesus is God.
Surah 19 has
some more to say on Jesus:
019.016
YUSUFALI: Relate in the Book (the story of)
Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.
019.017
YUSUFALI: She placed a screen (to screen
herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared
before her as a man in all respects
019.018
YUSUFALI: She said:
"I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear
Allah."
019.019
YUSUFALI: He said: "Nay, I am only a
messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.
019.020
YUSUFALI: She said: "How shall I have a
son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"
019.021
YUSUFALI: He said: "So (it will be): Thy
Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a
Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed
019.022
YUSUFALI: So she conceived him, and she retired
with him to a remote place.
YUSUFALI: And the pains of childbirth drove her
to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would
that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing
forgotten and out of sight!"
YUSUFALI: But (a
voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for
thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;
019.025
YUSUFALI: "And shake towards thyself the
trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.
019.026
YUSUFALI: "So eat and drink and cool
(thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most
Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'"
019.027
YUSUFALI: At length she brought the (babe) to
her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly
an amazing thing hast thou brought!
019.028
YUSUFALI: "O sister of Aaron! Thy father
was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"
019.029
YUSUFALI: But she pointed to the babe. They
said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
019.030
YUSUFALI: He said: "I am indeed a servant
of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
019.031
YUSUFALI: "And He hath made me blessed
wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as
long as I live;
019.032
YUSUFALI: "(He) hath made me kind to my
mother, and not overbearing or miserable;
019.033
YUSUFALI: "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)"!
019.034
YUSUFALI: Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it
is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.
019.035
YUSUFALI: It is not befitting to (the majesty
of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and
it is.
019.036
YUSUFALI: Verily Allah is my Lord and your
Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight.
019.037
YUSUFALI: But the
sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment
of a Momentous Day!
In Surah 19
some more information is given. In this account we are told the hardship that Mary went
through, and we also see how her people reacted, and the miracle of Jesus speaking when he
was a baby. We also see Jesus saying he is a servant of God, and we see that he is not
rude to his mother, nor arrogant. Also just like all other Muslims, he has been commanded
to pray, and pay the zakah as long as he lives. Allah then goes on to stay that it is not
befiting to him to have a son, he is clearing up the grave the
lie about God having a son. Therefore once again an explicit verse denying the Christian
version of Christ, which Christians conveniantly ofent leave
out. God then warns the people who disagree. So once again from these passages we Jesus is
not God, and just a servant, a prophet, and that God denies Jesus is his son. So two
accounts of Jesus in the Quran, both deny the Christian claims, both EXPLICITLY deny the
Christian claims.
Let me post
some more verses on Jesus from the Quran:
004.157
YUSUFALI: That they said (in boast), "We
killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";-
but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and
those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only
conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-
004.158
YUSUFALI: Nay, Allah raised him up unto
Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-
004.159
YUSUFALI: And there is none of the People of
the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a
witness against them;-
004.171
YUSUFALI: O People of the Book! Commit no
excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the
truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word,
which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His
messengers. Say not "Trinity" : desist: it will be
better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having
a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a
Disposer of affairs.
004.172
YUSUFALI: Christ disdaineth nor to serve and
worship Allah, nor do the angels, those nearest (to Allah): those who disdain His worship
and are arrogant,-He will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer).
Once again
lots of interesting information on Jesus. The Quran explicitly denies the entire
crucifixtion episode, the Quran says that Jesus was not killed,
but that Allah saved him. This denies the death and resurection of Jesus, therefore
denying the entire doctrine of Christianity, therefore also denying Jesus is God. So hence
again, the Quran explictly denies Jesus is God, so once again Christians conveniantly
leave verse 4:157 out, which also calls the Bible corrupt. The verse says anyone who
believes differently, they follow nuthing but conjecture, what do the Christians follow? They follow the Bible, therefore also an explicit verse
calling the Bible corrupt. The Quran goes further by telling the people of the book namely
Christians to no commit excesses in the religion, meaning dont past the boundries by
calling Jesus God and the son of God. The Quran says he was no more than a messenger, a
word and spirit from God, a spirit from God basically means a soul sent by God which is
nuthing unique. The Quran then also says Jesus is not ashamed to worship Allah neither.
More verses
on Jesus from the Quran:
002.136
YUSUFALI: Say ye: "We believe in Allah,
and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and
that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make
no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)."
This verse
also throws out any claims on divinity on Jesus, the verse puts
Jesus just like all other prophets such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. So this verse
shows that Jesus was the same, he was just a prophet like the rest.
More verses:
005.116
YUSUFALI: And behold! Allah will say: "O
Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in
derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never
could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed
have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden.
005.117
YUSUFALI: "Never said I to them aught
except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord';
and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou
wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.
005.118
YUSUFALI: "If Thou dost punish them, they
are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in power, the Wise."
These are
very interesting verses as well, in them Jesus denies in ever telling people to worship
him, so hence this means Jesus is not God. Another explicit statement
which Christians conveniantly leave out. Jesus also shows that he is not all
powerful and can do nuthing when he tells Allah that it is him who will either punish or
forgive the people. So hence Jesus denies being all powerful and denies in telling people
to worship him meaning he is not God, it also shows that Jesus spoke the words and
commands of God which were simply to worship one God, this can be found in Surah 3.
Some more
verses:
043.063
YUSUFALI: When Jesus came with Clear Signs, he
said: "Now have I come to you with Wisdom, and in order to make clear to you some of
the (points) on which ye dispute: therefore fear Allah and obey me.
043.064
YUSUFALI: "For Allah, He is my Lord and
your Lord: so worship ye Him: this is a
043.065
YUSUFALI: But sects from among themselves fell
into disagreement: then woe to the wrong-doers, from the Penalty of a Grievous Day
Once again we
see what Jesus' mission was, it was to preach about the one God, and the verses also once
again deny the Christian claim when it says that sects fell into disagreement namely the
Christians who believe he is God, and that he died for them. So hence again explicit
verses denying that Jesus is God, another verse often conveniantly left out by Christians.
Some more
verses:
061.006
YUSUFALI: And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary,
said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming
the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me,
whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said,
"this is evident sorcery!"
This is one
of the most interesting verses, here we see that Jesus spoke of
Muhammad! Jesus told his people about the future prophet named Ahmed who could come after
him, this not only proves Jesus is not God because Ahmed said Jesus is not God. So this is
another verse that Christians conveniantly leave out, they try to insert their Christian
theology by taking one verse out of context while leaving out the rest which completly
crushes their case.
So to
summarize the Islamic point of Jesus from the Quran we see that
1- Jesus is
born of a miracle birth
2- Jesus is a
prophet, the Messiah, which is a title of honor.
3- Jesus
performed great miracles by the permission and help of God.
4- Jesus was
able to talk to people from childhood.
5- Jesus was
commanded to pray and give zakat like all Muslims.
6- Jesus'
message was to bring people to the one God, he never told people to worship him.
7- Jesus
denied being God, he said he never told anyone to worship him.
8- Jesus's
likeness is like Adam meaning he is a man, and he is also a prophet like Abraham, Jacob
etc. Meaning he is just a man, a prophet and no more.
9- The Quran
warns of those who disagree and say Jesus is God and the son of God.
10- Allah
denied that Jesus was his son.
11- Allah
said that Jesus did not die on the cross, but that he saved him, hence denying the death
and resurection of Christ and also called the bible corrupt.
12- Jesus
spoke of a prophet comming after him who's name is Ahmed, this was the prophet Muhammad
therefore Jesus recognized Muhammad as a true prophet of God.
13- Jesus is
a Muslim.
So it is
quite clear that the Quranic account on Jesus does not give any impression that he is God,
this is a Christian lie and myth, they take verses out of context and quote one verse and
apply Christian theology to it and leave out the rest.
He Wrote
1-The Messiah
Although the
Quran knows of only one Messiah namely Jesus, referring to him as such a total of eleven
times, Muslims object to the uniqueness that this title implies by stating that there are
many who are called messiah in the Old Testament - Tawrat, demonstrating the fact that
there is absolutely no real significance in its usage.
The Hebrew
word for Messiah, Mashiach, means to anoint. All
prophets, priests and kings were consecrated to their respective positions by being
anointed with the special oil that God commissioned the priests to prepare. (Exodus
30:22-31, 1 Samuel 10:1, 16:12-13) This would in a sense make them
"messiahs". In fact, the king of
Although it
is quite true that many are referred to as being anointed by God, the Hebrew Scriptures
point to one person in particular who was to be greater than all the rest and would
ultimately be the supremely anointed one of
God, more so than any other person; the Messiah, son of David:
"Why do
the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the Earth set themselves,
and the rulers take council together, against the LORD and His Anointed (Mashiach), saying, 'The Messiah
Although the
Quran knows of only one Messiah namely Jesus, referring to him as such a total of eleven
times, Muslims object to the uniqueness that this title implies by stating that there are
many who are called messiah in the Old Testament - Tawrat, demonstrating the fact that
there is absolutely no real significance in its usage.
The Hebrew
word for Messiah, Mashiach, means to anoint. All
prophets, priests and kings were consecrated to their respective positions by being
anointed with the special oil that God commissioned the priests to prepare. (Exodus
30:22-31, 1 Samuel 10:1, 16:12-13) This would in a sense make them
"messiahs". In fact, the king of
Although it
is quite true that many are referred to as being anointed by God, the Hebrew Scriptures
point to one person in particular who was to be greater than all the rest and would
ultimately be the supremely anointed one of
God, more so than any other person; the Messiah, son of David:
"Why do
the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the Earth set themselves,
and the rulers take council together, against the LORD and His Anointed (Mashiach), saying, 'Let us burst
their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; The
LORD has them in derision, then He will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in
His fury, saying, 'I have set my king on
My
Response
To start off,
the Messiah title in the Quran is not connected to the OT. Secondly the Messiah of the NT
fails the test of being the Messiah of the OT. Here are some links:
http://www.evilbible.com/jesus_false.htm
http://www.messiahtruth.com/anointed.html
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/jews-jesus/jews-jesus-index.html
http://www.karaite-korner.org/light-of-israel/how_we_know.shtml
http://members.aol.com/pagandude8/messiah.htm
So Jesus the
Messiah in Islam is not connected to your theology or views.
He Wrote
And,
"The
LORD says to my Lord [i.e. David's sovereign]: 'sit
on my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool'... The LORD has sworn and
will not change his mind, 'you are a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.'" Psalm 110:1, 4
These two
passages point out the fact that the one specific Messiah predicted to come would be the
Son of God, the King of all the nations and the Eternal Priest of God who sits on the
right hand of majesty forever.
The fact that
Jesus is the one being referred to in these passages becomes quite clear when
reading
the Gospel accounts of the angel's annunciation to Mary:
"In the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of
My Response
I am glad
that Shamoun shows the narrative of Jesus' birth in the chapter of Luke. I will now show
the narrative of Jesus' birth in each book of the 4 gospels where you will see for your
self how each one evolved on Jesus.
Starting from
Matthew 1:
20 But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his
people from their sins. 22 Now
all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, 23 Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then
Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto
him his wife: 25 And
knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Now in
Matthew Jesus is just born of a miracle, Mary would give birth to a son who would be
called Jesus, who save people from their sin, and this is a fullfilment of what was
written that a virgin shall give birth to a child and call him immanuel. So there is
nuthing ground breaking here, nuthing implies Jesus is God or having any divinity.
Now lets read what Mark 1 says:
9 And
it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee, and was baptized of John in
So now here
we see that Jesus is the son of God, and that God is pleased in him! A
huge change in the start of both narratives of Jesus.
Now lets read what Luke 1 says:
26 And
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of
Now we see
that Mary will give birth to a son who shall be named Jesus, and that Jesus shall be a
great man, he shall be called the son of the highest, and that God would make him king
over the throne of David, and he shall reign over the house of Israel for ever and his
kingdom shall never end. So yet another huge change in the first
narrative of Jesus. Now Jesus is king and more than the son of God, in Mark he was
the son of God, in Matthew he was just born of a miracle as it is written and to save
people from there sin.
Now lets see what john 1 goes on to say:
1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2
The same was
in the beginning with God. 3 All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4
In him was
life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The
same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all
men through him might believe. 8 He
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That
was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10
He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11
He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. 12 But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: 13 Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Now john has
gone all the way in making Jesus seem divine! A huge step forward and
change than the other three. So Jesus has gone from being born of a miraculous
birth, to becoming the son of God, then becoming the king to the throne of David and
ruling the house of Jacob, now he has gone to become divine! There is definatly an
evoloution in the first narratives of Jesus in each book of the 4 Gospels. It cannot
become more clear than this, although that is not a real
translation of John 1:1, it is still obvious that John has raised Jesus to a divine state.
Now let me post all 4 after another
Mattthew
1
20 But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost. 21 And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his
people from their sins. 22 Now
all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, 23 Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then
Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto
him his wife: 25 And
knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Mark 1
And it came
to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee, and was baptized of John in
Luke
1
26 And
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of
John 1
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The
same was in the beginning with God. 3 All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4
In him was
life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The
same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that
all men through him might believe. 8 He
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That
was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10
He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11
He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. 12 But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: 13 Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So it crystal
clear that there is indeed an evoloution in the first narratives of each Gospel.
Jesus goes from miraculous birth as it was written, to son of God, to King of the throne,
to being divine and creating all things. It cant get more
obvious than that. The fact there is an evoloution in these texts shows that these books
are indeed corrupt and evolved over time and Jesus' character evolved with it.
He Wrote
Not only does
this account confirm the Quranic narrative of Mary's election over all women, but goes one
step further by describing why she is so highly preferred:
"...and
she (Elizabeth) exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!'" Luke 1:42
Indeed Mary
is so highly blessed due to the reason that she was to conceive the greatest man who ever
lived; the Son of the Most High, the Savior of the World, Jesus the Messiah
My Response
Mary is
blessed because she is giving birth to a great man, not the GREATEST man on the planet, nor the saviour of the world, nor is she giving birth to God which is
blasphemy! Shamoun believes Mary gave birth to God, what more can you say?
He Wrote
2-The Virgin
Birth.
To the
Christians, the virgin birth proves that the son of Mary was divine. Yet, to the Muslim
Christ's virgin birth is comparable to Adam's creation without mother or father. Muslims
point out that if Christians accept Jesus' virgin birth as evidence for his divinity then
they should also accept Adam as being the son of God. After all, he was fashioned more
miraculously than
Christ,
having been created without mother or father.
In Islamic
understanding, Christ's conception in Mary's womb without the aid of a man was an awesome
display of God's ability to create anything He chooses by divine utterance of His word, Kun Fayakun, "Be and it is." In the
Islamic thought process the virgin birth does not and should not suggest that Christ was
or is divine.
To point out
the fallacy of comparing Adam's creation with the birth of Jesus, it must be stressed that
it was necessary for Adam to be created without mother or father. The very fact that he
was the only man on earth at the time of his creation renders it impossible for him to be
conceived in the natural fashion of sexual reproduction. The same logic applies to Eve
since she was the first woman.
However, why
was it necessary for Christ to be conceived in such supernatural fashion, when God had
already put into motion the natural reproductive cycle of human birth? Why did God
override his own laws of sexual reproduction and intervene personally by causing Jesus to
be born from a virgin?
If the
Muslims argue that this was meant as a sign for mankind to illustrate God's awesome power
and glory, the counter argument would be that this would represent a rather inadequate
display of God's omnipotence. The reason for such inadequacy is that, unlike the empty
tomb of Christ where people would go and observe that the body was gone, the virgin birth
cannot be verified by conventional means. It must be accepted by faith alone since no one
was present to see the angel's annunciation of the virgin birth to Mary.
My Response
I would first
like to inform Shamoun that EVERYTHING he believes in is on faith. Have you ever seen God?
Have you ever seen Jesus? Did you see Jesus getting crucified? This is what we the Muslims
and the Quran call Al-Ghayb which is the unseen, to believe in God and so on. So This is nuthing special, the fact is people did know that Mary was a
virgin who gave birth, she first was accused of doing something bad, and that people did
not believe her, however so the fact is that they later on did believe her. So hence
people did recognize the great miracle birth, it was just for a little while in which they
didnt, so hence that is a wrong argument by Shamoun. Even if it were true, it still means
nuthing, because this is the belief in the unseen, Al-ghayb. I shall post what Ibn kathir
said about Al-Ghayb:
The Meaning of
Al-Ghayb
As for the
meaning of Ghayb here, the Salaf have different explanations of it, all of which are
correct, indicating the same general meaning. For instance, Abu Ja`far
Ar-Razi quoted Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, reporting from Abu Al-`Aliyah about Allah's statement, i
[íõÄúãöäõæäó ÈöÇáúÛóíúÈö]
((Those who)
have faith in the Ghayb), "They believe in Allah, His angels, Books, Messengers, the
Last Day, His Paradise, Fire and in the meeting with Him. They also believe in life after
death and in Resurrection. All of this is the Ghayb.'' Qatadah bin Di`amah said similarly.
Sa`id
bin Mansur reported from `Abdur-Rahman bin Yazid who said, "We were sitting with
`Abdullah bin Mas`ud when we mentioned the Companions of the Prophet and their deeds being
superior to our deeds. `Abdullah said, `The matter of Muhammad was clear for those who saw
him. By He other than Whom there is no God, no person will ever
acquire a better type of faith than believing in Al-Ghayb.' He then recited,
[Çáã
- Ðóáößó ÇáúßöÊóÇÈõ áÇó ÑóíúÈó Ýöíåö åõÏðì
áøöáúãõÊøóÞöíäó ÇáøóÐöíäó íõÄúãöäõæäó
ÈöÇáúÛóíúÈö]
(Alif Lam
Mim. This is the
Book, wherein there is no doubt, a guidance for the Muttaqin.
Those who believe in the Ghayb), until,
[ÇáúãõÝúáöÍõæäó]
(the successful). '' Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwyah and Al-Hakim, in his
Mustadrak, recorded this Hadith. Al-Hakim commented that this Hadith is authentic and that
the Two Shaykhs - Al-Bukhari and Muslim - did not collect it, although it meets their
criteria.
Ahmad
recorded a Hadith with similar meaning from Ibn Muhayriz who said: I said to Abu Jumu`ah,
"Narrate a Hadith for us that you heard from the Messenger of Allah.'' He said,
"Yes. I will narrate a good Hadith for you. Once we had lunch with the Messenger of Allah . Abu
`Ubaydah, who
was with us, said, `O Messenger of Allah! Are people better than us We
embraced Islam with you and performed Jihad with you.' He said,
«äóÚóãú Þóæúãñ ãöäú ÈóÚúÏößõãú
íõÄúãöäõæäó Èöí æóáóãú íóÑóæúäöí»
(Yes, those
who will come after you, who will believe in me although they did not see me.)''
This Hadith
has another route collected by Abu Bakr bin Marduwyah in his Tafsir, from Salih bin Jubayr
who said: `Abu Jumu`ah Al-Ansari, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah
, came to Bayt Al-Maqdis (
«ãóÇ íóãúäóÚõßõãú ãöäú Ðóáößó
æóÑóÓõæáõ Çááåö Èóíúäó ÃóÙúåõÑößõãú íóÃúÊöíßõãú
ÈöÇáúæóÍúíö ãöäó ÇáÓøóãóÇÁö¡ Èóáú Þóæúãñ
ÈóÚúÏóßõãú íóÃúÊöíåöãú ßöÊóÇÈñ ãöäú Èóíúäö
áóæúÍóíúäö íõÄúãöäõæäó Èöåö æóíóÚúãóáõæäó ÈöãóÇ
Ýöíåö¡ ÃõæáÆößó ÃóÚúÙóãõ ãöäúßõãú ÃóÌúÑðÇ
ãóÑøóÊóíúä»
(What
prevents you from doing so, while the Messenger of Allah is among you, bringing you the
revelation from heaven There are people who will come after you and who will be given a
book between two covers (the Qur'an), and they will believe in it and implement its
commands. They have a greater reward than you, even twice as much.)''
[æóíõÞöíãõæäó ÇáÕøóáæÉó æóãöãøóÇ
ÑóÒóÞúäóÜåõãú íõäÝöÞõæäó]
(And perform
Salah, and spend out of what we have provided for them)
http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=802
So even if
Shamoun's argument was true, it still doesnt prove anything, because this is something
normal to us as Muslims, the belief in the unseen. Now as for you asking why did God do this, why did God do that. I have no idea, and I dont
believe you should question why God does this or that. I could similarly ask you why God
became a man? Why didnt he just die for us from the start? Why
didnt he send a dragon to preach to us? Why did he choose Mary? Why did didnt he name
Jesus John? Why didnt he send Jesus arabia but to
He Wrote
The Quran
itself testifies to the fact that there were those who even accused Mary of being
unchaste. It was chiefly due to another supernatural act which her innocence was upheld:
"At
length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: 'O
Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a
man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!'
"But she
pointed to the babe. They said: 'How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?' He
said: 'I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a
prophet...'" S. 19:27-30
A. Yusef Ali
writes in his footnote to this story:
"What
could Mary do! How could she explain? Would they, in their
censorious mood, accept her explanation? All she could do was 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." (1: p.750, f. 2482)
My Response
Shamoun is
going for anything now. Question for Shamoun, how would the people believe and know that
Mary carried out a birth while she was a virgen? For this to be a great miracle there
would have to be someone following Mary at all times, and recording her, so they would
have proof that Mary never had sex. The fact is is thet Allah is smart, and he gave Jesus
a great miracle by allowing him to speak when he was just a child, which therefore made
people believe in the ultimate miracle, which is the virgin birth! Shamoun is being very
illogical.
He Wrote
This still
does not address the necessity of the miraculous birth of Jesus. To seek an answer we must
refer back to the Bible:
"And
Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this be, since I have no husband?' And the angel said
to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; Therefore the child to be born will
be called holy, the Son of God.'" Luke 1:34-35
The reason
that the child is born of a virgin is because he is the Son of God and as such, he could
not be conceived in the normal fashion. Had he been born otherwise he would have
inherited
a sinful nature like all the rest of mankind.
In other
words, the virgin birth was a necessity only for the fact that this was the only befitting
way for the King of glory to become incarnate, since he is God's unique Son.
My Response
Wrong, the
fact that he was born of a virgin birth was to show God's strength, and that he could do
anything. If you dont like that, then thats your problem, not
the Qurans problem nor the Muslims problem.
He Wrote
Hence,
Christians do not believe that the virgin birth makes Jesus the Son of God. Rather, they
believe that because Jesus is the Son of God he had to be born of a virgin.
My Response
To bad, the
true book of God says that he has no sons:
019.035
YUSUFALI: It is not befitting to (the majesty
of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and
it is.
He Wrote
3-The Word of
God.
The typical
objection to this title of Christ points out that the Quran calls Jesus, "a word from
God" (Kalimat-Minhu) and not the Word of God. Those raising this objection,
routinely cite S.