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Dear Muslim
brother/sisters, this booklet will be of great help to you when speaking to a
Christian. More than 60.5 million people around the globe have read “Da Vinci
Code.” This booklet will enable you to discuss the controversial parts of the
novel in the light of Quran and Bible. |
Da Vinci Code in the Light of the Quran and Bible
Contents
Foreword
4
Introduction
5
Chapter 1 – Is Jesus the son of God 6
Chapter 2 – Christmas
9
Chapter 3 - Is Jesus God? 11
Chapter 4 – Original sin 20
Chapter 5 – Is the Bible God’s word? 24
Chapter 6 –
Marriage of Jesus
30
Chapter 7 –
Sabbath day
33
Chapter 8 - Dan Brown’s fallacy 34
Foreword
All praise is to Almighty God
alone and peace be on all his messengers.
In this booklet, we analyze
the world’s best-seller “Da Vinci code” in the light of the Quran and the
Bible. Some people may wonder why I am saying “Quran”. The reason is because We
Muslims believe that Jesus Christ was one of the mightiest messenger of
Almighty God, He was born miraculously without any male intervention, he gave
life to the dead, he healed those born blind and lepers. We believe in his
virgin birth, which many modern day Christians including the bishops of the
Anglican Church deny. In fact, no Muslim can be a Muslim if he denies Jesus
because he has denied the clear text of the Glorious Quran.
I will not be dealing with
History as Islamic doctrines and Christian doctrines are not simply based on
history. It would be much more preferable to analyze the topics in the light of
the sacred scriptures of these two religions. Even Dan Brown doesn’t consider
history to be very authentic. His view on History
“Meaning that history is always written by winners. When
two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history
books – books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As
Napoleon once said, “what is history, but a fable agreed upon?” ‘He smiled. ‘By
its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.’ (Da Vinci Code, pg. 343)
Even Brown doesn’t consider
History to be fair. Now I am not saying that whatever history says is false,
but it is not always true. Therefore, the foundation of this booklet is the
sacred scriptures of the two religions, Islam & Christianity.
Introduction
The best-seller “Da Vinci
Code” happens to be the second novel of the British novelist Dan Brown. The
novel was a smash hit in 2004. More than 60.5 million copies have been printed
(as of May 2006) and the book has been translated in 44 languages.
The book happens to be a very
controversial one. It has 95% fiction and around 5% or so controversy. It hits
to some of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity. Brown has spoken
everything from the Historical records.
In this booklet, we shall be
discussing all the major topics touched by Dan Brown in the light of the Quran
and Bible.
The Holy Quran says
“Say: "O People
of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you:” (Quran 3:64)
The Bible says
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
(Isaiah 1:18)
So let us analyze the topics
that Dan Brown has touched in the novel in the light of Quran and the Bible.
I would like to make it very
clear to the reader that I am not a supporter of Dan Brown in anyway, but what
is true in the light of the sacred scriptures, we have to appreciate and
accept. While I was reading, the novel I was astonished to see that many things
that Brown touched were exactly what we Muslim say though Brown was speaking
from historical point of view and from other early writings of the disciples. I
do not support everything what Brown says but whatever conclusions I have drawn
are from the Bible and the Quran. As Dan Brown said in his interview
“The vast majority of devout Christians understand this fact and consider The Da Vinci Code an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate.”
Chapter 1
Is
Jesus The Son Of God?
“Teabing Declared, ‘until that moment
in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as
a mortal
prophet … a great and powerful man, but a man
nonetheless, A mortal.’
‘Not the son of God?’
‘Right,’ Teabing Said. “
(Da
Vinci Code pg.315)
Lets see what the Holy
Quran has to say. The Quran says
“He
begetteth not, nor is He begotten;” (Quran 112:3)
Furthermore
the Holy Quran condemns this idea of God begetting a son in very strong terms.
“They
say: "((Allah)) Most Gracious has begotten a son!”
“Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!”
“At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split
asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin,”
“That they should invoke a son for (Allah) Most Gracious.”
“For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah)
Most Gracious that He should beget a son.”
(Quran 19:88-92)
Because begetting is an
animal act and one cannot attribute such lowly functions to Almighty God who is
the creator of the universe. In the catechism of the church it says
“Jesus is the only begotten
son of God, Begotten not Made”
Lets see what the bible has
to say.
According to the bible, God
has got sons by tons. It’s mentioned in the bible:
“That the sons of God saw the daughters of
men……” (Genesis 6:2)
“……when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men….”(Genesis 6:4)
“……Thus saith the LORD,
“…....for I am a father to
“……..which was the son of Adam, which was the son of
God.” (Luke 3:38)
“ I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto
me, Thou art my Son; this day
have I begotten thee.” (Psalms 2:7)
God also says to David
“26 He will call out to me,
'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' 27 I will
also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the
earth. (Psalms 89:26-27)
So we can see that from the
above quoted verses that in the idiom of the Jews. Every Righteous person is
the son of God. But the common verse quoted to show the difference between
Jesus and other “sons” of God is
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
King James Version goes to
the ancient manuscripts. But if we read the RSV (Revised Standard Version),
revised by thirty-two scholars of the highest eminence backed by fifty
cooperating denominations. They say:
“Yet the King James Version has grave defects.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the development of Biblical studies
and the discovery of many manuscripts more ancient than those upon which the
King James Version was based, made it manifest that these defects are so many
and so serious as to call for revision of the English translation” (Preface
RSV)
And in the RSV this
blasphemous word “begotten” has been expunged as a fabrication, as an
interpolation. This is how the verse reads in RSV.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (RSV,
John 3:16)
This word “begotten” is not there in the most ancient manuscripts. Its not there even in some other versions like NIV and Good News Bible.
“Son of God” only means a righteous servant of God, a peacemaker, the one who obeys God, the one who is led by the spirit of God. Who says so? Jesus says so
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Mathew 5:9)
“9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Mathew 5:9, NIV)
Paul testifies the same thing.
“For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
(Romans 8:14)
See what John (the supposed author of the fourth
gospel writes)
12Yet
to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God— 13children born not of
natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(John 1:12-13)
“Son of God” does not prove anything. It only means a
righteous servant of God as Jesus (pbuh) and Paul both testify.
It is the term, which was
frequently used in Semitic languages like Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic etc, but
Alhumdulillah we have dropped this term in Arabic because of the
misunderstanding that was created.
Even in Arabic, son of
something, father of something only meant metaphorical. Like there was a
companion of the Prophet (pbuh) by the name of “Abu Huraira”. “Abu Huraira”
literally means father of the kitten. He was given the name because he loved
cats. It doesn’t mean he literally gave birth to a kitten.
If someone calls Jesus
the son of God in a sense of a righteous person, as a peacemaker then there is
no problem. But he is not the begotten son of God as the Christian says.
Chapter 2
Christmas
The pre-Christian God Mithras – called the Son of God and the Light of the World – was born on December 25, died, was buried
in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 is
also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus.
(Da Vinci Code pg.314)
The celebration of birthdays
is a pagan custom. The people mentioned in the Bible who celebrated their
birthdays are Herod and Pharaoh. Both of them were pagans.
“Now the third day was Pharaoh's
birthday..” (Genesis 40:20)
“On Herod's
birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so
much” (Mathew 14:6)
Today we people too have adopted these pagan
customs of birthday and in them, we very often find dancing etc.
As far as the Christmas is
concerned, there is no mention of it in the Bible. The Christians did not use
to celebrate the birthday of Christ for the first three centuries. Infact, we
do not even have any historical evidence that Jesus was born on 25 December.
According to the Christians, Jesus is God (The subject is dealt with in the
next chapter). So when they say it’s the birthday of Jesus, they say it’s the
birthday of God. Can you imagine, celebrating birthday of God? Furthermore, The
Bible also forbids cutting of trees, which Christians usually do on Christmas.
“For the customs
of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a
craftsman shapes it with his chisel.” (Jeremiah
10:3)
God according to the Bible
also considers those customs in which people cut down trees to be worthless.
Islamic Viewpoint
There is not direct verse or Sahih Hadith of the
Prophet (pbuh) which deals with the issue of celebrating birthdays. Based on
the above information, the Muslim scholars (Many of them) say its haram
(forbidden) for the Muslim to celebrate birthdays. Whereas there are, other
scholars who consider it Makruh (discouraged).
I as far my view is
concerned, I agree with the first group of scholars who consider it to be haraam
(forbidden) as far as celebrating the birthdays of Prophets of god or of anyone
else who is not physically alive in this world to commemorate them.
As far as celebrating birthdays of individuals
is concerned who are alive today simply for fun and enjoyment, I personally
discourage it because it’s a pagan custom and secondly there are other haraam
(forbidden) activities involved in it many times like dancing, music etc.
Chapter 3
Is Jesus
God?
‘At this
gathering,’ Teabing said, ‘many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted
upon – the date of Easter, the role of the bishops, the administration of
sacraments, and, of course, the divinity of Jesus’
‘I don’t follow.
His divinity?’
‘My dear,’
Teabing chuckled, ‘until that moment
in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet . . . a great
and powerful man, but a man
nonetheless. A mortal’
(Da Vinci Code
pg.315)
This topic “Is Jesus God?”
has been discussed and debated over and over by Muslims and Christians. In
fact, a separate book can be written on this very topic. I’ll deal with it
briefly.
The Quranic viewpoint.
The Holy Quran is very
clear on this topic. The Quran says
“They do
blaspheme who say: "(Allah) is Christ the son of Mary." But
said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your
Lord." Whoever joins other gods
with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode.
There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.” (Quran 5:72)
“They do blaspheme
who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One
Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous
penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.” (Quran 5:73)
Islam strictly believes in
One God who is without any partners. The best definition of God Almighty, which
one can give you from the glorious Quran, is
1. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him. (Quran 112:1-4)
Jesus Christ (pbuh) hold a very high position in the house of Islam. We in Islam believe him to be one of the Mightiest messengers of Almighty God, we believe that he gave life to the dead with God’s permission; we believe that he healed those born blind and lepers with God’s permission. We believe that he was the Messiah translated Christ. We believe that he was born miraculously without any male intervention, which many Christians today including the Bishops of the Anglican Church deny it, but we Muslims believe it.
Before we say whether Jesus is God or not. We
may ask a counter question; did he claim to be God? The Buddhists say that
Buddha is God incarnate i.e. God in human form. I say ask these Buddhists, did
Buddha say “I am God” and the answer is No! Millions of Germans marched and
they said that Hitler is second God incarnate. I say ask these Germans, Did
Hitler say I am God incarnate. The answer is No! Simple easy. Before we impose
divinity on anyone, let the person speak for himself. Now we may ask the
question, did Jesus say, “I am God” The answer is No! There is not a single
unequivocal statement in the complete Bible where Jesus Christ (pbuh) himself
said “I am God” or where he says “Worship me.” There are certain statements
that can be assumed but in context when we read them, they are clarified. The
Christian may say, well for God he doesn’t need to say “I am God” but we find
in the Old Testament, God repeatedly saying “I am God” Just consider these
following verses
I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of
“I am the LORD, and there is no
other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,” (Isaiah 45:5)
“I am the LORD your God, who
brought you up out of
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”(Psalms
81:10)
“I, even I, am the LORD, and
apart from me there is no savior.” (Isaiah
43:11)
See how Almighty God clearly says that he is
the only savior unlike as the Christians that Jesus is the personal savior. We
find God repeatedly saying “I am God” in the Old testament, but he NEVER even
said once in the New Testament. Why is that so? God clarifies about himself to
the human beings. The Old Testament even denies that God is “man” or “son of
man”.
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man,”
(Numbers
Jesus calls himself a man in
the Bible
“As it is, you are
determined to kill me, a man who
has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.” (John 8:40)
He even calls himself “Son of
Man”
"Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of men." (Luke
9:44)
On the contrary,
what Christians attribute to Jesus (pbuh), Jesus says
“…for the Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)
“My Father, who
has given them to me, is greater than
all” (John
Jesus denies any
equality with Almighty God. Jesus Christ (pbuh) even asks people NOT to call
him “good”
“And, behold, one came and
said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal
life?And he said unto him, Why callest
thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God:" (KJV, Mathew
Qualities of God
If Jesus Christ (pbuh) is “God” then lets
see the qualities of this “God”
A. Powerless “God”
“By myself I can do nothing; I judge
only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but
him who sent me.” (John 5:30)
Can you imagine
God coming in this world and telling us that he himself cannot do anything?
“Then Jesus came to them
and said, "All authority in heaven
and on earth has been GIVEN to me.” (Mathew
28:18)
See what he says “given to
me” something that he himself did not own. Given by whom? Obviously God!
B. Ignorant “God”
"No one knows
about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark
Can you imagine God being
ignorant of the hour? God created the Day of Judgment and he doesn’t even know
about it. Can you imagine?
C. Brothers and Mother of “God”
46While Jesus
was still talking to the crowd, his
mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone
told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak
to you. (Mathew 12:46-47)
Now this is interesting, God has
mother and he has brothers, but yet they aren’t God but Jesus is, as per the
Christians. Mary gave birth to other children as well and she even gave birth
to “god” but yet his (Jesus’) brothers aren’t God nor is Mother Mary God, but
Jesus is according to the Christians!
D. “God” tempted by the Satan and he was hungry?
where for forty days
he (Jesus) was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at
the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:2)
The Bible tells us that God cannot be tempted
“…For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;” (James
Can you imagine God being tempted
by Satan, his own creation?
E. Thirsty “God”
“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the
Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus
said, "I am thirsty." (John
19:28)
F.
Weeping “God”
“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
Can you imagine God (The maker of this
universe) weeping?
G. “God”
came out of a woman and got circumcised?
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise
him (Jesus), he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been
conceived.” (Luke 2:21)
The very fact that Jesus was given birth is
alone sufficient to convince any rational thinker that Jesus Christ is not god.
Just look at a born baby and see how tiny it is, how helpless is it, God used
to be like that at one time? The babies then get breastfed by their mothers;
you mean to say “god” used to get breastfed? When a baby is few months old,
people play around with him and try to make the baby feel good. People use to
play around with “god”?
Can you imagine God Almighty being
circumcised? Can you just even think that someone cut foreskin of God’s private
part? How insulting is it to God Almighty. Today surgeons circumcise the
babies; previously it was the job of the barbers to circumcise the baby. Just
imagine, if you were that barber two thousand years ago, would you EVER think
that the child you are circumcising is your God He is your Allah?
One can go on with these things, just sit,
and contemplate about it.
Does God eat?
There was another interesting passage in the
novel.
‘And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual – the mitre, the altar, the doxology and communion, the act of “God-eating” – were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions’ (Da Vinci Code, pg.314) (emphasis are mine)
In the above passage, Dan Brown is telling us
that God does not eat. The Holy Quran says
“Say: "Shall I take for my protector any other than Allah, the Maker of
the heavens and the earth? And He it is
that feedeth but is not fed." (Quran
6:14)
In other words, the Quran is telling us that
anyone who eats can never be God because when we eat, we excrete. For that, we
have to find a toilet, if we do not find one then we have run behind a bush or
a rock and God Almighty Doesn’t do that. He doesn’t go around finding toilets
or running behind the rock or a bush. The Quran speaks more specifically about
Jesus (pbuh)
“Christ the son of Mary was no more than an apostle; many were the apostles
that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food.
See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are
deluded away from the truth!” (Quran
5:75)
See how the glorious Quran says “They had both to eat their (daily) food.”
We all eat food, but no “They had both to eat their (daily) food.”
And you (Christians) are worshipping Jesus
Christ as God, mother Mary as the Mother of God (as the Catholics say).
Did Jesus eat according to the Bible?
“41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and
amazement, he (Jesus) asked them,
"Do you have anything here to eat?" 42They gave him (Jesus) a piece of broiled fish, 43and he (Jesus) took it and ate
it in their presence.” (Luke
24:41-43)
God has a God?
“Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the
Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father
and your Father, to my God and your
God.' (John 20:17)
Imagine if a man came to you and said that he
has a God. Would you take that man to be your God?
We can discuss much more on this subject, but
I think this should convince any sincere, truthful, and logical Christian.
Jesus Christ (pbuh) describes his identity.
“Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent
me.” (John 7:16)
“49For I did not speak of my own accord, but the
Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I
know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the
Father has told me to say." (John
12:49-50)
“These words you hear are not my own;
they belong to the Father who sent me.”
(John 14:24)
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
Anyone that is sent by God is a Prophet of
God.
Testimony
of Peter
“"Men of
Testimony
of the blind man
Jesus Christ (pbuh) healed the blind man, the story can be found in John 9. There was a man who was born blind, Jesus mixed the saliva with mud and rubbed his eyes with it, and he could see. So the Jews got hold of him and asked him.
“Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say
about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet." (John 9:17)
A blind man who was healed testifies that
Jesus was the Prophet! He did not say well this man is God or anything such, he
simply said that he is a Prophet of God.
The religion of Jesus
Now this may be interesting to some people.
What was the religion of Jesus Christ (pbuh). Was he a Christian?
He never claimed to be a Christian, infact he
never even heard the word “Christian” in his life. It is not a Greek/Aramaic
word. The Hebrew word for “rub, massage, anoint” is “Masaha” from which we get
the Hebrew word “Messiah” in Arabic as “Maseeh” Which when translated into
Greek becomes “Christoss” i.e. the anointed one, and when we chop of the “oss”
we are left with “Christ”. The word “Christianity” doesn’t even exist in the
Bible. The word that is found in the Bible is “Christian” which was used first
time by the people who did not believe in Jesus.
“and when he found him, he brought him to
The word “Christian” is nowhere to be found
in gospels. So the question arises what was the religion of Jesus if not
Christianity.
Suppose we get hold of Jesus Christ (pbuh) in
his second coming and ask him what is his religion. Will he say “Christian”?
No! He never heard the word in his life. If Christian, then which Christian
Catholic, Protestant, Jehovah’s Witness? He never heard either of those words.
When we ask him this question, we’ll expect him to say “My religion is total
submission to God’s will” and one short word for this in Arabic language is
“Islam”
Now someone may say, well how can this be his
religion because Islam came into existence only 1400 years ago and did not even
exist at the time of Jesus?
The answer is that it is a GRAVE
misconception that Islam started 1400 years ago. Infact, Islam is there since
man first set foot on the earth and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was not the founder
of this religion, infact he was the final messenger of God to whom was revealed
the Holy Quran. Islam (Submission to God’s will) was the religion of ALL the
Prophets of God, they all taught human beings to submit their wills to Almighty
God. Jesus too did the same. See what the Bible says
“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is
just, for I seek not to please myself
but him who sent me.” (John 5:30)
"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you.
Take this cup from me. Yet not what I
will, but what you will." (Mark
Anyone who says “not what I will but what God
wills” in Arabic that person is called a Muslim. Jesus Christ (pbuh) also
commanded his followers to submit their wills to the will of God.
“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven” (Mathew
The Holy Quran too testifies that Jesus
Christ and his disciples were Muslims
“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.” (Quran 3:52)
In a nutshell, Jesus Christ
(pbuh) was one of the mightiest messenger of Almighty God who submitted his
will to God and asked people to do the same. In other words, he (Jesus) was a
Muslim and he commanded his followers to become ones as well.
Chapter 4
Original Sin, status of woman and
childbirth
Meaning of original sin according to Catholic
Encyclopedia
“Original sin may be taken to mean: (1) the sin that Adam
committed; (2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which
we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam.”
Dan Brown writes:
“The power of female and her ability to produce life was
once very sacred, but it posted a threat to the rise of the predominantly male
Church, and so the sacred feminine was demonized and called unclean. It was man, not God, who created the concept
of “original sin”
(Da Vinci Code pg.321-322)
Let us analyze the passage in
the light of Islam and the Bible.
“The power of female
and her ability to produce life was once very sacred, but it posted a threat to
the rise of the predominantly male Church, and so the sacred feminine was
demonized and called unclean.”
What Brown is referring here
is
“To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you
will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will
rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
So we can see that from the above verse
pregnancy is the curse to the woman according to the Bible.
In the Holy Quran in Surah
Araf ch.7 verses 19-27, Adam and Eve are addressed about a dozen of times. But
there is not a single verse in the entire Quran which singles out Eve (pbuh).
The blame in the Holy Quran is put equally on both.
Lets see what The Holy Quran
has to say about pregnancy and childbirth.
Remember the statement of Dan
Brown “The
power of female and her ability to produce life was once very sacred,”
This is true in the case of Islam. God
Almighty says in his Last Testament to Mankind.
“…and (reverence) the wombs (That bore
you):…” (Quran 4:1)
“And We have enjoined
on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear
him, and in years twain was his weaning:” (Quran 31:14)
“And We have enjoined
on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear
him, and in years twain was his weaning:” (Quran 46:15)
The Prophet of Islam,
Muhammad (peace be upon him) said :
Narrated Abu Huraira:
A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your father. "
In short, 75% of the love and companionship
goes to the mother and only 25% goes to the father. What has uplifted the
mother?? As the Glorious Quran describes, the pregnancy has uplifted the woman
in Islam, it does not degrade her like the Bible.
Lets analyze this statement of Brown in the
Light of Quran and the Bible
“It was man, not God, who created the concept
of “original sin”
Original sin in Islam
In Islam, there is no such
concept as “Original sin”. The Holy Quran clearly says
“Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself:
no bearer of burdens can bear bear the burden of another.” (Quran 6:164)
Every human being is
responsible for the sins that he does, No human being will be held responsible
for the sin, which Adam and Eve did. As I showed above, the pregnancy uplifts
the woman, and there is not a single verse in the entire Quran, which puts the
blame only on Eve (pbuh).
Original sin in the Light of Bible
The Bible says
20 The soul who sins
is the one who will die. The son will not
share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.
The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the
wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. 21
"But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and
keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he
will not die.(Ezekiel 18:20-21)
The above verses of the Bible
clearly deny the dogma of Original sin. The Bible says
“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor
children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin..” (Deuteronomy 24:16)
The same message is also
repeated in II Chronicles 25:4 and II Kings 14:6.
Jesus Christ (peace be upon
him) considered children to be innocent and NOT born in sin. Jesus Christ
(pbuh) said
“When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them,
"Let the little children come to
me, and do not hinder them, for the
Some people may insist that
the Christians are supposed to follow only the New Testament, but Jesus Christ
(pbuh) said
17"Do
not think that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew
5:17-19)
So the Christian is supposed to follow all the
Laws of the Old Testament.
Major Francis Yeats-Brown, DFC (August 15, 1886 - December 19, 1944) was an
officer in the colonial Indian army and the author of the celebrated memoir The
Lives of a Bengal Lancer. He writes in his book “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”
“"NO HEATHEN TRIBE HAS CONCEIVED SO
GROTESQUE AN IDEA, INVOLVING AS IT DOES
THE ASSUMPTION, THAT MAN WAS BORN WITH A HEREDITARY STAIN UPON HIM: AND THAT THIS STAIN (FOR WHICH HE WAS
NOT PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE)
WAS TO BE ATONED FOR: AND THAT THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS HAD TO SACRIFICE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON TO
NEUTRALISE THIS MYSTERIOUS CURSE."
The question arises; did
Adam and Eve ask me before eating the apple? If they did not ask me before
eating the apple how can I be held responsible?
Suppose your great great
grandfather commits a murder and I want to punish you for that, what will you
think of me? I am sure you will think this person is a loony he is mentally
unstable. I am asking, how can God be unjust? How can he punish you and me for
what Adam and Eve did?
This concept of Original sin is illogical and does not go into the logical mind
of a human being and it is against the teachings of the Bible and the Quran.
For salvation Jesus Christ (pbuh) said
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good
thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17"Why do you ask me
about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good.
If you want to enter life, obey the
commandments." (Mathew
19:16-17)
Jesus Christ (pbuh) said
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven.”(Mathew 5:20)
Chapter 5
The Bible
‘The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God.
The Bible did not fall magically from the
clouds. Man
created it as a historical record of
tumultuous times,
and it has evolved through countless
translations,
additions and revisions. History has never
had a
Definitive
version of the book.’
‘Okay.’
(Da Vinci Code pg.312-313)
According to Christian Scholars Bible is written by 40
different authors in a period of about 1600 years. The Christians boast of
24,000 manuscripts but out of the 24,000 no 2 are identical according to the
scholars. And he rightly says that it has gone through revisions. No wonder the
Christian Scholars are revising the Bible again and again. The preface of RSV
reads.
“Yet the King James Version has grave defects. By the middle of
the nineteenth century, the development of Biblical studies and the discovery
of many manuscripts more ancient than those upon which the King James Version
was based, made it manifest that these defects are so many and so serious
as to call for revision of the English translation” (Preface RSV)
The Bible says
“How can you say, `We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (RSV, Jeremiah 8:8)
See these different
translations of I John 5:7
“For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one.” (KJV, I John 5:7)
“For there are three
that testify:” (NIV, I John 5:7)
“And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the
truth.” (RSV, I John 5:7)
All three are telling us a
different thing. Its not simply the difference of a Translation as some
Christians may claim. RSV and NIV are from older manuscripts than KJV.
Lets see what does the Holy Quran have
to say:
“For each period is a
Book (revealed).” (Quran 13:38)
By name there are only four
revelations mentioned in the Holy Quran. Taurat, Zaboor, Injeel and the Quran
revealed to Prophet Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them)
respectively.
The “Taurat” we believe is
not the “Torah” which the Jews and Christians believe today. Similarly,
“Zaboor” which we believe is not present Psalms which is associated with the
name of Prophet David (pbuh). And the Injeel which we believe is
“Injeel-e-Eesa” i.e “Gospel of Jesus.” And there is no such thing in the Bible
as Gospel of Jesus. The Gospels in the Present day Bible are “according to”
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus (pbuh) did not write a single word during
his life and nor did he instruct anyone to write anything.
All the revelations that came
before the Quran have got corrupted by the passage of time. They have not
maintained their purity. The Quran says.
“Then woe to those
who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah,"
to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do
write, and for the gain they make thereby”
(Quran 2:79)”
Before someone puts forward
an argument, that its talking about “ANY BOOK”. We are to remind that its NOT
talking about ANY BOOK. In context if you read, the whole passage is talking
about the Jews.
The Present Bible
The present Bible, which the
Christians believe, it may contain certain portions, which we may consider to
be from God. For Instance
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is
no saviour.” (Isaiah 43:11)
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 45:5)
Who is this “I” here? It is
God !
But it also contains the
words of the Prophet. For instance:
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not
commit adultery.'
28But I
tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart..” (Mathew
5:27-28)
Who is this “I” here? It’s
the Prophet of God, Jesus Christ (pbuh).
Note : It is not God
dictating that Jesus said such and such thing. Its the writing of other people.
There is a Bible which is
called “red-letter Bible” in which every word uttered by Jesus (pbuh) according
to Christians is in red whereas the rest is in black. These words in red ink
are of Jesus’ i.e. Prophet of God. If we have to make a red-letter Quran in
which every word is of Muhammad (pbuh). Then there will not be a single letter
which will be in red.
The Bible also contains the
words of the Historians and supposed “eyewitnesses”
For instance, Consider the
Pentateuch i.e. the first five books of the Old Testament i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy. Only in these, five books the expression
“And Lord said unto Moses” ,
“And Moses said unto the Lord” is repeated no less than 700 times. Indicating
that it is not God writing, nor is it Moses (pbuh) writing. Its in third
person, somebody else is writing.
The Bible also contains
Pornography.
Now this may be shocking to
many Christians. But it is reality. For instance, consider the following
chapters of the Bible.
Ezekiel 16, Ezekiel 23, Song
of Solomon etc. Let me quote just one passage here.
Ezekiel 23.
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man,
there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They became
prostitutes in
5 "Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine;
and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians-warriors 6 clothed in
blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted
horsemen. 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the
Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. 8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in
9 "Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. 10 They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.
11 "Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. 13 I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.
14 "But she carried her prostitution
still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans portrayed
in red, 15 with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on
their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of
Can such things exist in the book of God?
Please just sit back and think about it. No decent human being can read this
passage to his mother or his sister. No preacher can read this passage to his
congregation.
The Human Origin in the Bible
It is not only that we Muslims or Dan Brown
say that Bible is a product of man. But the Bible proves this itself. Consider
the following passage.
1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that
have been fulfilled among us, 2just as they were handed down to us
by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3Therefore,
since I myself have carefully
investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most
excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may know the certainty of the
things you have been taught. (Luke
1:1-4)
Who is writing the prologue
of the gospel? Its Luke!
Out of the 27 books of the
New Testament, 14 are written by Paul, Corinthians, Galatians, Thessalonians, Philippians
etc. Read the following verses
“1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2To
the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and
called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:” (I Corinthians 1:1-2)
Who is this writing? It is obviously Paul.
Its not God. God does not write letters to churches.
Many verses of the Bible also fail to pass
its own test.
“All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:” (II
Timothy
The Bible tells us that anything that is from
God should serve one of the four purposes.
1.
Doctrine
2.
Reproof
3.
Correction
4.
instruction in
righteousness
There are many things in the Bible that
cannot be fit into any of the four categories. Like the passage, I quoted from
Ezekiel. Where does it fit in? There are other passages for instance.
‘One day Samson went to
Now where does this fit in? Is it a doctrine
that every man should go and spend a night with a prostitute? Is it a reproof
that after going and spending a night with the prostitute he got punished by
God? Is it correction? Is it instruction to the righteous that he should go
into a prostitute? The same person is glorified in the Book of God.
The Catholics and Protestants
have a different Bible. One Catholics’ has 73 books and Protestants’ has 66
books because the Protestants consider seven book of the Catholic Bible to be
Apocrypha i.e. Doubtful.
So from the above evidences we can surely
conclude that Bible per se is not the word of God as Dan Brown rightly writes. Some
portions may be the word of God, but entire is not the word of God, it has been
changed with the passage of time by human beings.
Chapter 6
Marriage of Jesus (pbuh)
One of the MOST controversial
topics, which Brown has touched in his novel, is the marriage of Jesus Christ
(pbuh) with Mary Magdalene and he also says the couple had children. Brown
writes
“Unfortunately for the early editors, one particularly troubling earthly theme kept recurring in the gospels. Mary Magdalene.’ He paused. ‘More specifically, her marriage to Jesus Christ.’
(Da Vinci Code pg. 329)
According to Brown he (Jesus)
also had a daughter by the name of Sarah (Da Vinci Code pg. 342)
Dan Brown in his novel backs
the claim of Jesus being married with certain reasons. First, he says that it
was unnatural for a Jewish man to remain unmarried, and since Jesus Christ was
a Jew, so he could not have remained unmarried. He then goes on to quote other
writings of the disciples like Gospel of Peter etc. which tell us that he
(Jesus) was married. Thirdly, he says that nowhere do the gospels in the
current Bible mention that Jesus was unmarried.
I have summarized the reasons
that Brown gave briefly, they are from chapter 58 and 59 of the novel.
As far as Islam is concerned, there is no direct verse in the Quran nor a Sahih Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which confirms the marriage of Jesus (pbuh) or denies it. The Quran is silent on this issue. Therefore, being a Muslim I can neither confirm nor deny t