THEMES

FOR

THE DILIGENT

Nicola Yacoub Ghabril

THE GOOD WAY ■ RIKON ■ SWITZERLAND

All Rights Reserved

Order Number: RPB 4905 ENG

First Arabic edition: 1983; first English edition: 1989

English title: Themes for the Diligent

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version

of the Holy Bible, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All Qur'an quotations are taken from The Koran Interpreted,

by Arthur J. Arberry

The Good Way • P.O. Box 66 • CH-8486 Rikon • Switzerland

Internet: www.the-good-way.com • e-mail: info@the-good-way.com

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction

5-

First Discourse

9

Part I: The Authenticity of the

9

Torah and Gospel

Part II: Intellectual Proof

16

Part III: Historical Evidence

20

Part IV: Archaeological Evidence

24

Second Discourse 34

Has the Koran Abrogated the Torah

and Gospel?

Third Discourse 39

All Have Sinned, Even the Prophets

Fourth Discourse 60

Part I: God's Purpose in the 62

Crucifixion

Part II: Only Christ Was Fit for 67

this Task

Part III: Did Christ Willingly

69

Accept Crucifixion?

Part IV: The Crucifixion in the

78

Koran

Part V: The Crucifixion in History

85

Fifth Discourse

92

Christ's Sinlessness, Divinity and

Sonship

Sixth Discourse 100

The Superiority of Christ in the

Koran Over Others

Seventh Discourse 108

Trinity in Unity

Eighth Discourse 119

The Paraclete and Muhammad

Conclusion 126

INTRODUCTION

I have spent much time in the company of my

Muslim brethren most of whom are scholars.

When we engaged in friendly and sincere

discourses about religion we explored every

avenue and knocked at every door; so, it occurred

to me to summarize these discourses in book form.

As a result, this effort comes to all those who have

sought fairmindedness and made truth their goal,

in the hope that it will benefit and guide them in

the path of Truth. Then, if the truth is clear to

them, hopefully they will embrace it, selling every-

thing they have in order to buy it. Such folk will be

blessed and they will prosper.

In my discussion I have followed a method

suited to any reasonable Muslim, and no honor-

able seeker will disapprove of it. It is to furnish,

whenever possible, proofs from the Koran and the

Traditions, as well as from History, because these

carry more weight with the Muslim and meet with

no objections. Thus we shall arrive at the conclu-

sion of the matter. Surely, truth is the daughter of

investigation as scholars defined it. The seeker

after truth is not against roaming in the field of

discussion in order to find it. The one who already

possesses it will not refrain from discussion since it

will only establish him more firmly. Therefore, my

Muslim brother do not be upset by my invitation

to discuss in the spirit of piety, for in so doing, you

will either benefit others or yourself; in both cases

you will come out of the arena a winner. The fact

that I quote from the Koran and Traditions does

not commit me to acknowledging their veracity.

The rules of logical debate and civil laws permit

me this method; especially as I am obliged to by

necessity. For the Muslim brother, in the first

place does not accept the infallability of my Holy

Book (the Torah and Gospel). Otherwise I would

have quoted him numerous proofs from it of the

veracity of each of the discourses in this publica-

tion, thus removing from his heart every doubt

and exchanging certainty for suspicion.

My Muslim brethren, don't you and we have the

same purpose in religion, to worship the Creator

and enable us to secure eternal felicity after

death? So you follow a certain path to this end

while we follow another. How would it harm us if

we discuss the subject thoroughly in a spirit of

humility, piety and objectivity? Truth is one and

indivisible, so let us walk together in amity,

thereby gaining our Creator's favour, and at last

enjoy an Edenlike immortal bliss. It was only

genuine love which led us to compile this and

other messages. We wish you to walk side by side

with us, and share with us the Salvation which we

have obtained in Christ, and to enjoy with us

everlasting life. If we wish you the happiness, joy

and salvation we covet for ourselves, we cannot

hate you but rather are sincere friends who love

you. Do not therefore mistrust us; may God guide

you in the right path.

In discussion one should avoid shallow amiabil-

ity, and so I shall beg my Muslim brother's

indulgence if he finds some of my words hard to

bear, for it is not my intention to denigrate his

beliefs. At the same time, I would like to arrive at

some truths, and this does not permit me to set

aside my own convictions in order to please him.

Likewise I do not expect him to set aside his. This

is, after all, a debating opportunity. However, I

shall promise my esteemed reader to avoid any

trace of provocation, ridicule or scorn. Let it be

admitted that I have, in compiling this book, made

use of previous publications. My prayer to God is

that it will prove beneficial and a means of accord.

He it is who answers the petitions of the sincere,

and he is my sufficiency and the source of all my

help.

FIRST DISCOURSE

Part One

The Authenticity of the Torah and Gospel

We believe that the Holy Bible (the Torah and

Gospel) is the cornerstone of all Christian

doctrine, its foundation and the arbiter used by

Christians in solving problems. It is the fair judge

who fears not censure but exposes truth and

suppresses falsehood, the faithful witness in legal

cases. I have therefore placed it first in my discus-

sions so that, if I can prove its reliability by

convincing argument and logical proof, we can

together consult it in every case and refer to it in

every dispute, yielding to its judgments and being

enlightened by its guidance. Truly it is a light and

a right guidance to all beings.

1) In the Koran, House of Imran, 2, we read

these words: "He sent down the Torah and the

Gospel aforetime, as guidance to the people."

God sent down the Torah and the Gospel for the

guidance of mankind.

2. In The Table, 72: "Say: 'People of the Book,

you do not stand on anything, until you perform

the Torah and the Gospel.'" This shows that the

Torah and Gospel are reliable, otherwise

Muhammad would not attest to them.

3. Also in The Table, 51: "So let the People of

the Gospel judge according to what God has sent

down therein," meaning that the Gospel is sent

down from God and Muhammad recognized its

authority.

4. In The Women, 135: "O believers, believe in

God and His Messenger and the Book He has sent

down on His Messenger and the Book which He

sent down before. Whoso disbelieves in God and

His angels and His Books, and His Messengers,

and the Last Day, has surely gone astray into far

error." It judges the infidelity of the Muslim who

does not believe in the Torah and Gospel in the

same way that he believes in the Koran.

5. In Sheba, 30: "The unbelievers say, 'We will

not believe in this Koran, nor in that before it.'"

Thus the people of Mecca knew about the Torah

and Gospel in the same way they knew the Koran.

6. In The Story, 49: "Say: 'Bring a Book from

10

God that gives better guidance than these (the

Koran and the Bible), and follow it, if you speak

truly.'" Clearly Muhammad attests to the accuracy

of the Torah and Gospel and their equality with

the Koran.

7) In The Table 47: "Yet how will they make

thee their judge seeing they have the Torah,

wherein is God's judgment." Here we have a plain

admission that the Torah is sound, contains God's

decrees and whoever follows it will not need

another arbitrator.

The meaning of the foregoing verses is very

plain, and they do not require interpretation or

explanation.

The gist of these texts is that the Holy Bible (the

Torah and Gospel) was sent down by a wise and

all-knowing God, as a light and guidance to the

world. Its precepts are to be observed and should

be followed. If any Muslim does not believe it his

religion is lacking and he will stray far. Further-

more, the people of Mecca were as familiar with

the Bible as they were with the Koran.

My Muslim brother, do you still hold back from

believing in this Book, in spite of these explicit

11

verses, and consider it as irrelevant? How will you

excuse yourself on the day of reckoning for

disobeying God's commands, when the books will

be opened? I counsel you to read this book (the

Torah and Gospel), believe it and obey its

precepts. In so doing, you will discover the only

way whereby God's justice and mercy are recon-

ciled. You will find cleansing from sins and will

attain eternal joy through Christ Jesus, the most

important Person in this world and the next.

It may be that a Muslim brother would object:

"The verses you have quoted are true and your

conclusions right. However, the Torah and Gospel

which you ask me to believe in and to which the

Koran attested have been altered and distorted; a

corrupting hand has been at work. What you

today call the Torah and Gospel differ completely

from the ones witnessed to by the Koran. It is for

this reason that Muslims avoid them, rejecting

their precepts. Surely, you don't blame them for

that!" I ask the objector and others like him to pay

attention and judge my reply fairly.

You have learnt from the aforementioned

Koranic verses that the Book (Torah and Gospel)

was quite perfect and reliable in Muhammad's

12

day. Otherwise he would not have testified to it

and commanded people to keep its precepts. You

have to admit that at one time at least it was

correct, free from alteration and forgery.

Also I would like you to read the following

verses to see for yourself if such changes could

take place, or if humans could alter it in such a

manner:

"Recite what has been revealed to thee of the

Book of thy Lord; no man can change His words"

(The Cave, 26).

"No man can change the words of God"

(Cattle, 34).

"No man can change His words"

(Cattle, 115).

"There is no changing the words of God"

(Jonah, 65).

"And thou shalt never find any changing the

word of God" (Victory, 23).

"A Book Sublime; falsehood comes not to it

from before it nor from behind it"

(Distinguished, 42).

13

"It is We who have sent down the Remem-

brance, and We watch over it" (El Hijr, 9).

From these quotes you will see that no one can

change the words of God, because God has sent

down a Book and promised to protect it. Should

you say that what is meant here by the "Remem-

brance" is the Koran, I would respond that it also

means the Torah and Gospel. Witness, for

instance, the Koranic statement: "Question the

People of the Remembrance (the Torah and the

Gospel), if you do not know" (Sura 7, The

Prophets). In fact, the Torah itself is referred to as

"Koran" in the verse: "We gave Moses and Aaron

Salvation (Al-Furkau) and a Radiance, and a

Remembrance for the godfearing..." (Sura 49,

The Prophets).

You say this applies only to the Koran; I say, all

that applies to the Koran applies also to the Torah

and the Gospel. For the Torah and Gospel are the

words of God and the Koran, according to your

belief, is the word of God. If you believe that God

said in the Koran that there is no change, corrup-

tion, addition or deletion of his word (as Jalalayn

has stated), then how can you say that the Torah

and Gospel have been altered in view of all this?

14

If you allow this possibility, then it would also

follow that the Koran could have been changed,

because what is admissible for the Torah and

Gospel is also admissible for the Koran. If men are

able to alter God's words - the Torah and Gospel

- it follows that they would inevitably have been

able to alter the Koran, as Al-Razi has stated.

And you do not admit that the Koran has been

changed. Therefore, you are obliged to agree that

altering the Torah and Gospel is an impossibility.

You must admit that they are genuine, observe

their precepts and adopt them as your guide to

Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. As

for the alleged corruption referred to by the Koran

in the Medina Suras, it was with reference to some

of the Jews only. The Gospel is free from this

accusation. The corruption intended here was in

the meaning of certain verses, that is, in their

interpretation, since the Jews used to interpret

them contrary to Muhammad's wishes. This has

been proven by Al-Razi and Al-Baidawi in their

exposition of "corrupted texts." Otherwise, the

words of the Koran in the Medina Suras would

contradict the Meccan Suras.

15

Part Two

Intellectual Proof

Every intelligent being knows that the God

who, by the fiat of his eternal power made the

heavens, the worlds and all creatures, is Almighty.

Furthermore, it is evident from the perfection of

his handiwork, the precision of universal laws and

their constancy over thousands of years that God

is wise. Since God is both able and wise, he had to

establish a constitution or produce a canon for his

intelligent human creatures to enable them to

comprehend their relationship to their Creator,

and their duties to one another. They needed to

know the destiny of mankind: for the disobedient

a punishment and for the believing and obedient a

reward. Otherwise chaos would reign with no

restraints or laws, like fish, the large eating the

small. Ultimately, man would exterminate his

kind, as savage tribes did that have disappeared.

Virtue then would be the same as vice, in fact, no

term or distinction of these terms would exist.

Such a state of affairs is unacceptable to the

Almighty, the Wise One.

16

If this constitution and canon are not the Torah

and the Gospel, then tell me what are they? Is

there an ancient holy book which meets such a

need like the Torah and Gospel? Not at all!

Doubtless, God the Almighty and Wise, in

sending down a book to be the constitution and

guide for mankind would ensure its preservation

from change, addition, deletion or deterioration.

If that were not so, it would be the butt of every

attacker. There would be a multiplicity of books, a

diversity of opinions and truth would be lost in

perplexity and confusion. Far be it from God to do

this! For he has preserved his books, the Torah

and Gospel century after century, free from

change and error. He has kept them as a beacon of

light, guiding all who stray.

It is impossible to have unanimity for a plot to

alter the Bible (the Torah and Gospel). For a

start, the Christian religion and Judaism had

already spread in the East and West, in Syria,

Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, India and Europe. The

Bible, especially the Gospel, was translated from

the original Hebrew and Greek into the languages

of all the nations, such as Arabic, Armenian,

Amharic (Ethiopian), Coptic and Latin. Is it

17

reasonable to suppose that all these multitudes

should come together and agree on a scheme to

alter their book, considering their differences of

language and creed, especially as there were

numerous denominations of Christians, each vying

with the other for orthodoxy?

Doubtless, the Muslims' claim that the Bible has

been changed is a charge without proof. Other-

wise, where are the texts which have been altered,

"which texts are they, what were they originally,

and what was the purpose in changing them? If

there is no answer to these questions, and it is

clear that is so, I ask them: "How does someone

dare to make such an allegation? The prudent

scholar does not embark on such a scheme without

first having something to support his allegation."

The Gospel had been translated into Arabic

before the appearance of Islam, for the benefit of

those Arab tribes who were Christianized, such as:

Himyar, Ghassan, Rabiya and the people of

Nijran, Heera and others. How else would they

have understood Christianity? These facts are

corroborated in the book "Al-Aghanee" (The

Songs), for it relates that Waraka Bin Nawfal (the

most famous Arab writer of Muhammad's time)

18

wrote this book, copying in it whatever he desired

of the Arabic Gospel. Now, if the Gospel had

been subsequently changed, Muslims would have

kept the original, to substantiate their case.

As for the Jews, their zeal in preserving their

book is proverbial. They know the exact number

of words and letters it contains, as all who have

associated with their leaders know. Thus, the Holy

Bible in its entirety is free from alteration and

change will never overtake it, as is witnessed by

common sense and historic transmission.

If books proliferate, do not allow truth to

become clouded; investigate, search and compare.

Thus you will arrive at the facts. For the book

which condemns lusts and selfish inclinations,

which transforms men's evil hearts; one which

conforms to God's pure attributes, sustains a

civilized life, is the source of love for God and all

men, whatever their creeds, commands love of

one's enemies, frowns on repaying evil and

regards all sons of Adam as brethren, is most

indeed The Book, given by the Creator of all to be

observed by his creatures everywhere.

19

Part Three

Historical Evidence

The timelessness of the Bible (Torah and

Gospel) and its authenticity is indisputable. No

other book in the universe is so well-attested.

Since history is the fairest witness and the truest

proof, I have decided to use it in our discussion to

uncover and reveal the truth indubitably.

It is obvious that the Bible contains a large

number of prophecies, most of which have been

fulfilled. The remainder will come to pass in their

time. God, through his noble prophets, foretold

the occurrence of numerous events such as the rise

of certain kings and the fall of others, the destruc-

tion of great cities and the extinction of glorious

and haughty nations which never dreamed of their

coming destruction.

For instance, the prophet Nahum prophecied

clearly the destruction of Nineveh, the capital city

of the Assyrians. This was a great metropolis

whose walls were 100 feet high, with a perimeter

of 60 miles, having 1500 towers, which, at the

height of its grandeur, rose to 200 feet. This

prophecy was literally fulfilled.

20

Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold the destruction of

Babylon, the capital of the Chaldeans, at the

height of its splendour, and prosperity. In less

than 160 years from the date of the prophecy the

great Babylon had fallen according to the word of

the prophets. The details of its downfall as

described by the historians Herodotus and

Xenophon agree remarkably with what the

prophets described.

Among the other biblical prophecies is the one

by Ezekiel about the city of Tyre, where we see

the following facts which history witnessed and

recorded for us:

In Ezekiel 26:8 we read that Nebuchadnezzar

would destroy the city of Tyre. In verse 3, the

prophet says that many nations would rise against

it, in verse 4, that it would become a barren rock

and in verse 5, that fishermen would cast their nets

on its site. In verse 12, it is prophecied that its

remains would be cast into the sea, in verse 14,

that it would never rise again and verse 21 says

that its disappearance is determined and certain.

Three years after Ezekiel's prophecy the King of

Babylon besieged Tyre for 13 years until it surren-

21

dered on his terms (585-573 B.C.). When he

finally stormed it, he discovered that its inhabit-

ants had fled by sea to a new island half a mile

from the city. He then razed it to the ground, as

the prophet Ezekiel foretold in chapter 26, verse

8.

Then came Alexander the Great, and

surrounded the rebellious new city, employing the

ruins of the old city to create a 60 meter wide

causeway. He conquered it as Ezekiel had

prophecied in chapter 26:3,12, and it became a

barren rock again as the prophecy describes it in

verses 4 and 5.

Although the history of Tyre did not finally end

after Alexander's horrendous campaign, the

successive attacks by Antigones (314 B.C)

followed by Ptolemais Philadelphus (285-247

B.C.) extinguished its trade and its importance as

a maritime power. Later, in the year 1321 A.D.,

the Muslims occupied and completely destroyed it.

It became, in the words of the Arab traveller Ibn

Batuta, "a by word... now a complete ruin," exactly

as the prophecy had stated in chapter 26, verse 14.

In his day, Ezekiel looked at Tyre and saw a

great city, at the height of its splendour, so that to

22

those who heard the words of his prophecy and

beheld the wealth and glory of the powerful city, it

sounded like hallucinations. According to human

wisdom, the likelihood of his prophecies coming

true within seven years on the basis of pure chance

were one in 750 million. And yet all his prophecies

came to pass in detail!

"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I

am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many

nations to come up against you, as the sea causes

its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the

walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will

also scrape her dust from her, and make her like

the top of a rock.'" (Ezekiel 26:3,4).

23

Part Four

Archaeological Evidence

If history encounters a challenge to its witness,

the evidence of archaeology (antiquities) cannot

be challenged.

The Scriptures have been, and still are, the

target of critics and the object of the attacks of

atheists and infidels. It is contrary to their

sensuous desires, their naive views and their

destructive philosophies. Hence, many of them

have turned to the remains of antiquity in Pales-

tine, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, in the hope of

finding, if possible, something to discredit inspired

Scriptures. They want to prove to the world that

the Bible is a mixture of distorted sayings and

traditions. However, God has thwarted their

intentions; their arrows have missed the mark and

their hopes have been dashed. For the testimony

of these archaeological finds was in complete

harmony with the inspired books, even though the

writers of these inscriptions themselves were

pagans.

When our Muslim brethren found that the

24

books of the Torah and Gospel were contrary to

the fundamental Koranic teachings, they levelled

at them the charge of corruption, claiming they

were erroneous. But their charge lacked proper

evidence. Since the witness of archaeology has

convinced many atheistic enquirers, I decided to

refer to some of these antiquities in the hope that

it would help our Muslim brethren as it helped

others before.

The criticism of infidels and their disbelief of the

Bible can be traced to two factors. Firstly, to the

idea that writing was either unknown or else little

used in Palestine until just before the Babylonian

Exile (around 540 B.C.). Consequently, they

think it is unlikely that Moses or others used

writing at the time. Secondly, to the belief that the

Torah highly exaggerated the level of civilization

in the ancient Near East in contrast with the

contemporary historians. But recent discoveries

have come out in favour of the biblical accounts,

depicting clearly the advanced civilizations of

Egypt, Babylon and Assyria. Sennacherib, Tiglath

Pileser and Nebuchadnezzar are portrayed to us

through their chronicles, their culture and the

battles they engaged in. We can now see for

ourselves the form of the letters used by Isaiah,

25

Jeremiah and even Moses in their writings. Thus

the stones have spoken out in support of God's

declarations. These antiquities have established

the fact that the art of writing had been perfected

in the days of Ezekiel, Moses and Abraham, in

fact since 2234 B.C., to a level similar to what we

have today.

I shall now proceed to mention the important

subjects and great events mentioned in the Torah

which have been corroborated, as you will see, by

ancient antiquities.

The original Assyrian tablets exhibited today in

the British Museum confirm the Creation Story

(mentioned at the beginning of the Torah) in

detail, in an amazing way. If not for the need for

brevity I would have translated it to the reader.

While this account has elements of legend in it, the

truth shows through. It confirms the existence of a

single human pair, for it states, "that there be two,

created by the Lord of the noble face." In the

same museum one can see a picture on an ancient

Babylonian column, depicting our first parents,

with the tree between them and the snake behind

Eve. This agrees exactly with the account of the

Fall in the first chapter of the Torah.

26

Formerly, unbelieving scholars have regarded

the biblical story of the Flood as mere myth, one

of the ancients' legends. They supposed it could

not bear the scholar's scrutiny; rigorous enquiry

would prove it to be a forgery. However, after

lengthy investigations, they ended by losing their

case when later archaeological finds exposed their

glaring errors. They confessed that the Flood was

a fact, and acknowledged the truth. Notable

among them were the geologists, for among the

finds in Assyria were tablets, now in the British

Museum, bearing an inscription of how an ark was

built, how men and all kinds of animals were

preserved, how rains covered the face of the earth

(inhabited by living beings) destroying men and

beasts, with all the details of the Flood story.

In every continent of the world large quantities

of sea fossils have been discovered, either concen-

trated or scattered in solid layers, on mountains

and in deep valleys. Some of them are specific to

certain seas. There are remains offish and marine

plants in fossil form embedded in mountain strata.

Anyone interested can inspect these since they are

on display in most museums. All this proves the

truth of the Biblical account of the Flood. Other-

27

wise, how could those shells and fossils of fish and

plants have reached these remote places where

they are not native?

A certain Mr. Smith came across a tablet in the

ruins of Nineveh which is now in the British

Museum. On it there is an account of the Confu-

sion of Tongues and the Building of the Tower of

Babel (Genesis 11). The same man found a tablet

in the ruins of Assyria relating the destruction of

Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone as

the Bible mentions in Genesis 19:24. These finds

corroborate the account of the raid on Palestine by

Chedorlaomer King of Elam and his allies. Among

them was Amrafel King of Shinar and Southern

Babylon, referred to in Genesis chapter 14.

The historians, Plutarch and Herodotus, denied

the existence and use of wine in Egpyt in the time

of the prophet Moses' writings. However, we now

know from the discoveries of Egyptian

archaeology that these historians were wrong.in

their assumption and that Moses, the lawgiver,

was right. In some Egyptian tombs there are

pictures showing the process of winemaking, from

the culture of the vine, to crushing the grapes, to

extracting the juice and storing it in vessels. Some

28

bottles were found with the word ERB which

means wine. The ruins also give proof of the

famine in Joseph's day, mentioned in the Torah

(Genesis 41:30).

Egyptian inscriptions have shown that Ramses

the Great employed foreigners in the construction

of the two towns of Phithom and Ramses. This is

in agreement with Exodus 1:11, and archaeologists

discovered in a tomb in Thebes mention of the

Israelites and their slavery and conscription in

public works.

Among the silent witnesses to the truth of the

Bible is a piece of marble, known among the

antiquarians as the Moabite Stone. A priest by the

name of Augustus Klein found it. He was of

German origin and lived in Palestine for a long

time serving 20 years in Cairo as Secretary for the

English Church Mission. He was a famous scholar

and knew several languages. The discovery was

made in Transjordan, in what was ancient Moab,

and dates back to 890 B.C. At present it is in the

Louvre Museum in Paris. The stone bears an

inscription, consisting of 30 lines of Phoenician

writing which tells of the wars between Misha

King of Moab and Omri King of Israel and the

29

Edomites as we find it in the book of 2 Kings 3:4-

27. It also mentions other precise details which are

in accord with the Bible, but space prevents us

from giving them.

Furthermore, the recent discovery of the Siloam

inscriptions in Jerusalem confirm the accuracy of

what we read in 2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30

and Isaiah 22:9,11, to the effect that Hezekiah

stopped the higher source of the Gihon Spring,

running it underground to the western flank of the

City of David.

In the ruins of Nineveh a cylinder was found

bearing a record of the war between Sargon King

of Assyria in 722 B.C. and Ashuri King of Ashdod

in the reign of Hezekiah (Isaiah 2:1). This cylinder

is now in London.

Another hexagonal column was found with an

account of the siege of Jerusalem. It is also in

London. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, besieged it

in 705 B.C., as related in 2 Kings 18:13-16.

We have, in the numerous ancient manuscripts

of the Bible, irrefutable testimony to the veracity

of the Book. These are to be found in the foremost

libraries and museums in Europe. They are

30

written on leather parchment in the original Greek

language of the Gospel as well as other languages.

Some of them consist of the Torah and the Gospel

in their entirety. Others are of certain books of the

Bible. The following are some of these

manuscripts:

I. "Codex Vaticanus" (Vatican Manuscript) -

You will find this in the Vatican Palace in Rome.

It was written approximately 250 years before the

Hijra.

II. "Codex Sinaiticus" (Sinaitic Manuscript) -

Named after Mount Sinai where it was found. It is

now in the British Museum in London and consists

of the Torah and the Gospel. It was penned

approximately 200 years before the Higra.

3. "Codex Alexanderinus" (Alexandria

Manuscript) - This document is in the Treasure

Room of the British Museum in London. It was

also written approximately 200 years before the

Hijra, and contains the Torah and the Gospel.

4. "Codex Ephraemus" (Ephraim

Manuscript) - It is now in Paris and was written

approximately 150 years before the Hijra and

contains the Gospel.

31

Furthermore, the following story made

headlines in the year 1948 and was considered

among the most momentous of historical events.

A certain Muhammad Al-Deeb Badawi of the

Taamirahs was shepherding his flock near the

Dead Sea. When one sheep climbed the mountain

side he threw a stone at it. Hearing the sound of

smashed pottery he threw another stone. Then he

climbed the mountain and stepped cautiously

through a hole into a cave, thinking he would find

treasure. In fact he found it; however, it was not

just for himself and his tribe but for the world at

large!

This discovery consists of a collection of bundles

of the Holy Scriptures, among them the Book of

the prophet Isaiah, one of the biblical books which

dates back 700 years before Christ. It came as an

eloquent testimony to the accuracy of the Bible

since it agreed with the copies in circulation today.

Thus, it refuted the charges that the Book has

been corrupted, and challenged and exposed the

false accusations. These scrolls are now known as

"Qumran" or the "Dead Sea Scrolls."

Since the discovery of this precious storehouse,

it has become abundantly clear that the copying

32

and transmission of God's Holy Book is living

proof of the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the life

of the Church of Christ - the repository of God's

mysteries. Christians possess -numerous other

manuscripts, some written before Islam, others

contemporary to it. We have not listed these for

the sake of brevity. If we compare the copies of

the Scriptures in more than 300 languages in the

hands of Jews and Christians today with those

ancient manuscripts, we shall find a great degree

of harmony between them. They are there for

everyone to examine!

33

SECOND DISCOURSE

Has the Koran Abrogated the Torah and Gospel?

When the Muslim steed fails in the arena of

discussion, lacking proof and evidence, having to

accept the proposition that the Torah and Gospel

are free from corruption and change, as well as

being sent down from an Allwise God, to be

guidance and light to all men, he resorts to the

charge that the Koran has abrogated the Torah

and Gospel. However, this is an unsupported

charge and a grave slander, because the Koran

itself does not claim this. On the contrary, it

proclaimed over every head, in clear Arabic, that

it was sent down confirming the Torah and Gospel

and keeping watch over them, as you will see from

the following verses:

"And believe in that I have sent down,

confirming that which is with you" (The Cow, 38).

"Confirming what was before it" (The Cow, 91).

34

"Then there shall come to you a Messenger

confirming what is with you" (House of Imran,

75).

"He has sent down upon thee the Book with the

truth, confirming what was before it" (House of

Imran, 2).

"You who have been given the Book, believe in

what We have sent down, confirming what is with

you" (Women, 50).

"This Koran could not have been forged apart

from God; but it is a confirmation of what is

before it, and a distinguishing of the Book"

(Jonah, 38).

"And We have sent down to thee the Book with

the truth, confirming the Book that was before it,

and assuring it" (The Table, 52).

"Say: People of the Book, you do not stand on

anything, until you perform the Torah and the

Gospel" (The Table, 72).

The prudent will not embark on a charge, unless

he is confident that he is able to prove it by a

thousand proofs. Some of our Muslim brethren

approach this matter without thought. If we tell

35

them: "Produce your evidence if you are truthful,"

they bring us empty and feeble reasons such as:

"The later abrogates the earlier." In other words,

the Koran came after the Torah and Gospel,

therefore it abrogates them! Others say that, since

the Koran contains the Torah and Gospel, we no

longer need them. I don't think, with due respect

to the reader's intelligence, that I need to

challenge such feeble "evidences," especially since

the Koran itself has spared me this effort. The

previous seven verses, like tens of others,

demonstrate unequivocally that the Koran came

attesting to the veracity of the Torah and Gospel,

confirming them and watching over them, that is,

as a guardian and preserver. It never claimed that

it was sent to abrogate their precepts and there is

no trace in the Koran of such a claim; indeed, one

understands the opposite, for, in addition to

confirming and attesting them, it exhorts the Jews

and Christians openly, saying: "People of the

Book, you do not stand on anything until you

perform the Torah and the Gospel."

Had the idea of abrogation been true, we would

not have seen Muhammad urging the Jews and

Christians to keep the commandments of the

36

Torah and Gospel. Also, we would not have seen

him asking the Muslims to believe in them.

Nowhere does the Koran state that it contains the

Torah and Gospel, so that the Muslim could say

that he has no need of them. In fact, the Koran

does state the contrary, as one can see in The

Poets, 193-196:

"Brought down by the Faithful Spirit upon thy

heart, that thou mayest be one of the warners, in

a clear, Arabic tongue. Truly it is in the Scriptures

of the ancients (the Torah and Gospel)."

So, the last quotation confirms that the Torah

and Gospel contain the Koran, "truly it is in the

Scriptures of the ancients." How strange it is that

our Muslim friends allege that the Koran encom-

passes them, without giving proof?

Even assuming that the Koran failed to affirm

the Torah and Gospel, one cannot argue from

silence that it has abrogated them and that they

are no longer needed. God be thanked, it did no

such thing, but instead, sought to establish its own

words on their authority and placed itself

alongside the Torah and Gospel, "Say: 'Bring a

Book from God that gives better guidance than

37

38

these (the Koran and the Bible), and follow it, if

you speak truly'" (The Story, 49). And many a

time the Koran tried to convince the Arabs of the

truthfulness of the Bible's message and how badly

they needed it, by mentioning that the Torah and

Gospel came down in foreign languages to a

foreign nation, "and a guide to every people"

(Thunder 8). And since the Arabs could not

understand those languages, the Koran says that

God sent down the Koran, in the same way (as the

Torah and Gospel) in your own language, in a

clear Arabic tongue: "Yet before it was the Book

of Moses for a model and a mercy; and this is a

Book confirming, in Arabic tongue, to warn the

evildoers, and good tidings to the good-doers"

(The Sand-Dunes, 11).

THIRD DISCOURSE

All Have Sinned; Even the Prophets!

God created man pure, and made for him a

happy home in the Garden of Eden. There was

nothing there to distract him from worship.

However, he disobeyed the word of his Lord,

eating of the forbidden fruit. Thus he lost every-

thing. Adam was a representative of his descen-

dants, and by his rebellion he broke the covenant

that God made with him. His descendants have

ever since rued this representation because of its

consequence. Adam responded to the temptation

and fell into sin. Since we humans are his

offspring, we have inherited this weakness and are

born with the same inclinations, according to the

laws of heredity. However, we are not punished

for his sin; for we too have been disobedient, even

though we know of God's disapproval. We have

committed actual sins just as he did. The following

statement confirms this: "Adam fell, and so his

offspring fell; Adam forgot and ate of the tree,

and his offspring forgot; Adam sinned and his

39

offspring sinned." It is attributed to Tarmathi and

others and is a fair and truthful statement. In

short, Adam's representation of his descendants is

an indubitable reality among Muslim scholars. The

Sheikh Muhyi Ed Din Ibn El Araby has written an

article on this subject in chapter 305 of his book.

If Adam, whom God had created pure,

disobeyed his Lord's commands, how much more

can be said of his weak descendants? Then we find

that all have sinned and come short of God's glory

and mercy.

Both history and experience teach us that man's

heart is wicked and these hearts of ours tell us

that: "Surely the soul of man incites to evil"

(Joseph, 53). Whenever it finds a way to satisfy its

lusts, it follows it, unless it has a deterrent from its

Creator. Although we know that sin and wicked-

ness are forbidden, we violate our conscience,

submit to our corrupt natures and commit what is

forbidden. Have you not noticed that the

drunkard, though he knows what harm his habit

does to his health, livelihood and religion, still

does it? He is drawn by forces within him; likewise

the fornicator, thief and slanderer.

Our personal experience teaches us that we

40

have leanings and passions within us which are

reprehensible. These are the result of the corrup-

tion of human nature, and they fight our

consciences and oppose our good intentions. Thus

we find ourselves captives, doing that which is

contrary to the will of our Creator God.

We do not know anyone who has no faults. No

human has ever claimed to be absolutely pure

except Jesus. We will discuss this later on in this

book.

The following verse points to the fact that all

men are corrupt when it says, "Surely the soul of

man incites to evil" (Joseph, 53). Al-Razi, has

commented, "The soul of man incites to evil: in

other words, it leans to wickedness, is desirous of

rebellion and has a nature which craves pleasures.

Since attraction to the material world is predomin-

ant, and desire to rise to the higher world rare, it

was judged to have incited us to evil" (Al-Razi's

words). What is also clear is that the definite

article "the" refers here to the species, mankind.

Therefore, we are permitted to say that every soul

incites to evil. The form (la-ammara in Arabic)

rendered "surely" is a form of emphasis or exagg-

eration by the use of "lam." It is certain then, that

41

every man's soul incites him to wickedness and has

a strong desire to commit disobedience.

Another proof that all have sinned is the

following verse: "Not one of you there is, but he

shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing

decreed, determined. Then We shall deliver those

that were godfearing; and the evildoers We shall

leave there, hobbling on their knees" (Mary,

72,73). Al-Razi said, "One cannot say, 'then we

shall deliver etc.,' unless all were destined to go

down to it (the fire)." Information on this subject

points in the same direction. When Jaber was

asked about this verse he said, "I heard God's

Prophet...saying that 'al-worood,' going down to it

means entering, and everyone, without exception,

whether he is good or evil, will enter it." Jalal Ed

Din interprets the word "wariduha" (shall go

down to it) by entering and being burnt. Al-Razi

confirms this in his exposition of the verse "he

whose scales are heavy" (The Battlements, 7),

"But the sins of the believer will be forgiven."

Does not this clearly show that everyone

commits sins, and some will be punished for a

while, whereas others will stay in the fire

eternally? Another proof of the fact that all have

42

sinned is the verse, "Whoso blinds himself to the

Remembrance of the All-merciful, to him We

assign a Satan for comrade" (Ornaments, 35).

Since the remembrance of God's name is perpetu-

ally beyond man's power, it is not surprising that

Satan is in continuous battle with every man.

When Muhammad was asked which fight (jihad) is

the better he replied, "Your struggle with your

passions." This fight has been named the

"supreme struggle." It has also been said, "Your

worst enemy is yourself, which is within you."

From this one sees the corruption of nature and

the evil which lurks in the heart and the inclination

to sin in ways both great and small.

The truth of the matter is that mankind is

corrupt and sinful, and but for the grace of God

and his mercy not one would be justified. Muslims

have regarded it a grave sin to consider oneself

safe from God's wrath. We have thus concluded

with irrefutable proofs that everyone has sinned.

Therefore they are in need of Christ's sacrifice to

atone for their sins. Otherwise they are sent to hell

to satisfy God's justice. Since they have this inher-

ited weakness and leaning to sin, inherited from

their father Adam, they also need the Holy Spirit,

43

God's Spirit, to purify their souls. This is needed

to remove evil inclinations bit by bit and to trans-

form twisted thoughts and corrupt emotions. This

is what the Bible calls the New Birth or the Second

Birth.

Christians believe that according to the Bible all

have sinned, and corruption has overtaken the

whole human race. Since the prophets are human

they too are sinners. They also believe that these

prophets and apostles, whom God chose to warn

men and deliver his message, were preserved from

error in their task, whether the message was

spoken or written. Thus God kept them from

forgetting or erring, guiding their efforts by his

Holy Spirit, and inspiring them in what they

should say to men. However, they (prophets and

apostles) were not immune to sin in their actions

and normal behaviour, thus indicating the

inherent weakness of human nature and estab-

lishing the fact that sinlessness and perfection are

God's alone, the Almighty and Glorious One.

Moreover, sin deserves God's wrath and the

fires of hell, whether that sin is great or small. So,

although murder is different from stealing or

cursing, all merit the same punishment from God,

44

because they each constitute an offense and a

disobedience. This fact is supported by many

verses in the Torah and Gospel, for example,

"They have all gone out of the way; they have

together become unprofitable; there is none who

does good, no, not one" (Romans 3:12), and, "For

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

(Romans 3:23). In the Hadith (Tradition) we find

this confirmed; here is its text: "If anyone extorts

another's due with his right hand, God must

consign him to the fire and deny him paradise." A

man said, "Oh Prophet of God, even if it is a small

matter?" He replied, "Even if it is a rod of arak

(tree) wood."

Let us now come to the sins of the prophets.

Muslims have disagreed among themselves as to

the sinlessness of the prophets. Some have said

that they were absolutely sinless. Others have said

that they sinned as children but when they

attained adulthood they became sinless. Yet

others have restricted their sinlessness to their role

in delivering their messages, but admitted that

they could sin in other respects. This last view is

the one espoused by the late Sheikh Mohammad

Ado, although the Koran clearly indicates that

45

most of the prophets have committed transgres-

sions, not just minor but also major sins, according

to their admissions, as you will see presently.

Muslim theologians have differentiated between

two kinds of sins, major and minor. God forgives

the minor ones but not the major. In their opinion

there are 17 major sins:

1. infidelity

2. persistence in committing minor sins

3. despairing of God's mercy

4. considering oneself safe from God's

wrath

5. false witness (perjury)

6. defaming a Muslim

7. swearing falsely

8. magic

9. drinking alcohol

10. extorting the money of orphans

11. usury

12. adultery or fornication

13. sodomy or the like

14. stealing

15. murder

16. fleeing in battle from infidels

17. disobedience to parents.

46

Thus, in their judgment, every believer who has

committed any of these offenses and has not

repented will be punished in the fires of hell.

Anything else is considered minor.

Adam sinned, as one can conclude from Sura

Taha, 119: "Adam disobeyed his Lord, and so he

erred." Expositors have said that he disobeyed his

Lord by eating of the tree, "...but draw not nigh

this tree, lest you be evildoers" (The Cow, 33).

Baidhawi said, "He strayed from what was

required and went wrong in seeking immortality

by eating of the tree; or in what he was

commanded or from the right course by being

deceived by the enemy." Al-Razi admitted that

Adam sinned, but he claimed that it happened

before his prophethood. He went on to say that he

disobeyed and erred but only in respect to eating

from the tree. Since he repented of it, this trans-

gression will not be counted against him.

However, Al-Razi has not confirmed to us that sin

occurred before the call, but only that he was

forgiven, since he repented. We agree with him in

this last phrase, but this does not deny that he

disobeyed and erred from the path.

Furthermore, disobedience is among the grave

47

sins as we find expressed in this verse, "And

whoso rebels against God and His Messenger, for

him there awaits the Fire of Gehenna" (The Jinn,

24). And by saying, "...and turned again untö

him, and He guided him" (Taha, 120), it shows

that Adam disobeyed and then repented. Repen-

tance is being sorry for one's sin, confessing it and

determining not to repeat it. And repentance can

only be for disobedience, for Adam himself

repented of his disobedience in his words, "They

said, 'Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if

Thou dost not forgive us, and have mercy upon us,

we shall surely be among the lost'" (The Battle-

ments, 22).

Here we have Adam, one of the foremost

prophets, obeying Satan, listening to him,

doubting his sublime Lord and coveting immortal-

ity. In so doing, he sinned and this sin is consi-

dered among the grave ones.

Noah sinned, as one can see from Sura Noah,

24-29, "Increase Thou not the evildoers save in

error!" And Noah said, "My Lord, leave not upon

the earth of the unbelievers even one." When it

was clear he had sinned, he said: "My Lord,

48

forgive me." It follows that the plea to be forgiven

comes from a sense of having committed a major

sin. However, commentators try * to soften this

verse. The meaning, though, can only be as we

have stated.

Abraham sinned as we find written in Sura

Cattle, 76, "When night outspread over him he

saw a star and said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it

set he said, 'I love not the setters.' When he saw

the moon rising, he said, This is my Lord.' But

when it set he said, 'If my Lord does not guide me

I shall surely be of the people who have gone

astray.'" This happened to him when he saw the

sun. If he said this because he believed it, then he

was an idolater; otherwise, he was lying. In either

case, these are grave sins.

So we find in Sura Abraham, 42, "Our Lord,

forgive Thou me and my parents, and the believ-

ers, upon the day when the reckoning shall come

to pass." Here Abraham plainly asks forgiveness

for himself, his parents and the believers. Also in

The Cow, 266, "And when Abraham said, 'My

Lord, show me how Thou wilt give life to the

dead,' He said, 'Why, dost thou not believe?'

'Yes,' he said, 'but that my heart may be at rest.'"

49

Here we find Abraham doubting the power of

God, and this constitutes a grave sin. In the

Hadith we read, "We are more inclined to doubt

than Abraham."

In The Prophets, 64, we read that Abraham

said, "No; it was this great one of them that did

it." Abraham had broken the idols, and when

asked, he lied, saying that the large idol had

smashed the small ones. According to Abi

Huraira, the Prophet of God stated that Abraham

only lied three times, two lies of which concerned

the person of God. When he said: "I am ill," "this

great one (the idol) did it," and "Sarah is my

sister," when the giant wanted to approach her

(Quoted by Bukhari and Muslim).

Moses sinned as we find in The Story, 14,15:

"And he entered the city, at a time when its

people were unheeding, and found there two men

fighting; the one was of his own party, and the

other was of his enemies. Then the one that was of

his party cried to him to aid him against the other

that was of his enemies; so Moses struck him,

dispatched him, and said, 'This is Satan's doing;

he is surely an enemy misleading, manifest.' He

said, 'My Lord I have wronged myself. Forgive

50

me!' So God forgave him, for He is the All-forgiv-

ing, the All-compassionate." Also in The Poets,

19, "...Said he, 'Indeed I did it then, being one of

those that stray.' And when Moses returned to his

people, angry and sorrowful, he said, 'Vilely have

you done in my place, after me; what, have you

outstripped your Lord's commandment?' And he

cast down the Tablets, and laid hold of his

brother's head (Aaron) dragging him to him. He

said, 'O my Lord, forgive me and my brother and

enter us into Thy mercy; Thou art the most

merciful of the merciful.'"

It is evident from these verses that Moses

committed murder and felt that this was a grave

sin. So he confessed it and pleaded forgiveness.

Likewise, he sinned when he was angry and threw

the stone tablets and insulted his brother. When

he became aware of his sin, he asked forgiveness

for himself and his brother. As for Aaron's sin, it

was that he made the golden calf for the Israelites

to worship.

Joseph sinned as we read in Sura Joseph, 24,

because of his affair with the wife of Potiphar, the

head of Pharaoh's army, "For she desired him;

and he would have taken her, but that he saw the

51

proof of his Lord. So was it, that We might turn

away from him evil and abomination; he was one

of Our devoted servants."

David sinned, as we find in Sura Sad, 23,24,

"And David thought that We had only tried him;

therefore he sought forgiveness of his Lord, and

he fell down, bowing, and he repented. Accord-

ingly We forgave him that, and he has a near place

in Our presence and a fair resort." He sinned by

committing a murder and adultery as described in

detail in the Torah in 2 Samuel 11,12. However,

when he felt that he had committed a crime he

asked forgiveness of God and was forgiven. All

this is clearly stated in the Torah, which would

spare you the lengthy and conflicting sayings of

the commentators. Recurring stories prove that

David fell into sin and reveal his penitence and

great sorrow and the forgiveness he obtained, as

was mentioned by Ans Ibn Malek, and Ibn Abbas,

and Wahb Ibn Munabbeh, and others.

Solomon sinned as we see from Sura Sad,. 30-32:

"When in the evening were presented to him the

standing steeds, he said, 'Lo, I have loved the love

of good things better than the remembrance of my

Lord, until the sun was hidden behind the veil.

52

Return them to me!' And he began to stroke their

shanks and necks. Certainly We tried Solomon,

and We cast upon his throne a mere body; then he

repented. He said, 'My Lord, forgive me, and give

me a kingdom such as may not fall to another's lot

after me.'" Expositors such as the Al-Kashaf, Al-

Razi and others have interpreted these verses in

quite divergent ways, quoting numerous accounts

to prove their case. However, the upshot is that

horses diverted him from the remembrance of

God and Prayer. They even said that he finally

slaughtered them.

Verses 33 and 34 of Sura Sad reveal that

Solomon actually sinned. Otherwise why would he

ask forgiveness, unless he felt his guilt?

Jonah (Yunis) sinned, as we find in The

Rangers, 139-144, "Jonah too was one of the

Envoys; when he ran away to the laden ship and

cast lots, and was of the rebutted, then the whale

swallowed him down, and he was blameworthy.

Now had he not been of those that glorify God, he

would have tarried in its belly until the day they

shall be raised." The verb "tarried" indicates that

Jonah disobeyed his Lord and the strange thing is

that he disobeyed in spite of being "one of the

53

Envoys." What proves this is his saying, "he is

blameworthy." Further confirmation comes in the

words, that for this disobedience he deserved to

remain in the whale's belly "until the day they

shall be raised," except that he was of "those that

glorify God" (that is, of those who ask forgive-

ness). Otherwise what would be the significance of

"glorify" in this context?

Muhammad sinned, as can be inferred from The

Victory, 2, "that God may forgive thee thy former

and thy latter sins, and complete His blessing upon

thee, and guide thee on a straight path," and from

Sura Muhammad, 21, "and ask forgiveness for thy

sin, and for the believers, men and women," and

from The Believers, 57, "And ask forgiveness for

thy sin," and from Women, 106, "Surely We have

sent down to thee the Book with the truth, so that

thou mayest judge between the people by that

God has shown thee. So be not advocate for the

traitors; and pray forgiveness of God; surely God

is All-forgiving, All-compassionate."

The first verse shows that Muhammad sinned

even before this saying and that he would sin

thereafter. If, like Al-Razi, Al-Kashaf and others,

one says that he is seeking forgiveness for his

54

people, the second verse refutes this and

demonstrates that what is required of him is to ask

forgiveness for his sin first, then for the sins of

believers both male and female.

Some Muslim scholars have said that the merits

of the pious are the evils of God's "near ones"

(muqarrabin). If the pious man disobeys God in

small matters God will reckon it to him among the

grave sins. Often, what he does not regards as sin

is counted against him, as such until he asks

forgiveness for it. They say that this is what

happened to Muhammad. What they forget is that

God is the speaker in this verse, according to their

belief, when he says, "and ask forgiveness

(Muhammad) for thy sin, and for the believers,

men and women." Does God imagine to be sin

what in fact is not, and require him to ask forgive-

ness for it?

From The Confederates, 37, "When thou saidst

to him whom God had blessed and thou hadst

favoured, 'Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God,

and thou wast concealing within thyself what God

should reveal, fearing other men; and God has

better right for thee to fear Him. So when Zaid

had accomplished what he would of her, then We

55

gave her in marriage to thee, so that there should

not be any fault in the believers, touching the

wives of their adopted sons, when they have

accomplished what they would of them; and God's

commandment must be performed.'"

The story is that Muhammad freed his slave

Zaid and adopted him as son after he believed,

and married him to a noble woman called Zaina.

But sometime later he indicated to her his attach-

ment with the remark, "Praise be to the one who

changes the hearts." Zainab then mentioned this

to her husband. He understood Muhammad's

intentions. Approaching him, as though by his

own accord he said, "I wish to leave my woman

companion." Muhammad appeared to ignore him

and said, "What's the matter with you? Do you

suspect her?" He replied, "No, except that owing

to her nobility she lords it over me." He then told

him, "Keep thy wife to thyself." (See what Al-

Kashaf said in commenting on this verse; page

213, second volume, and what Baidhawi has said).

Here he is seen as concealing in himself what

God was revealing. He tried to make it appear to

men that he did not marry Zaid's wife except in

obedience to God's command. You can see from

56

the texts that Muhammad did wrong in concealing

his affection for Zainab and by pretending

something that was not in his heart. Therefore he

was rebuked in the words, "concealing within

thyself what God should reveal."

In his exposition of this verse Al-Razi says, "In

that you wanted to marry Zainab." But Al-Razi

retracts by saying, "He feared God and was afraid

of men, and so God rebuked him," for he said,

"God has a better right for thee to fear Him."

Therefore Muhammad sinned in this manner also,

and feared what he should not have feared.

We read in The Night Journey, 76, "And had

We not confirmed thee surely thou wert near in

inclining unto them a very little." Al-Razi writes,

after Al-Zajjaj: "Had We not confirmed thee,

meaning in the truth, by our protection, you were

"near to inclining" to them, that is to lean towards

them "a very little," that is a little inclination.

Qatada remarked that when this verse descended,

the Prophet said, "Oh God, do not leave me to

myself (even a moment or 'for the twinkling of an

eye')." Does this verse not show that Muhammad

sinned, or at least that he was not immune from

57

sin, for he said "do not leave me to myself for the

twinkling of an eye."

In the sayings of Muslim and Bukhari they attri-

bute to Muhammad this statement, "None of you

will enter heaven except by God's mercy." One

said, "not even you, Oh Prophet of God," he said,

"Not even me, except that God encompass me

with His grace." Of Abu Huraira he stated that he

heard the Prophet say, "Surely I'll ask God's

forgiveness and repent seventy times daily," and in

some accounts more than seventy. It is said of

Ibnat Khaled and Abu Huraira - "The Prophet of

God would say, 'Oh God, I take refuge in you

from the torment of the grave and the torment of

the fire'" (Bukhari, Part One).

It is absolutely clear from the foregoing passages

to those who are honest that our Father Adam fell

into disobedience, and the thoughts of his heart

became corrupt, and he started to incline to evil.

Also, we his descendants have naturally inherited

from him this corruption and tendency to sin. This

has also been confirmed to us from personal

experience.

We have seen that the great prophets have

58

committed transgressions, even Muhammad the

Prophet of the Muslims. So all men everywhere

are in need of a Saviour from the torment

prepared for all who transgress God's laws and

commit sins. They need a spotless redemption in

order to redeem their souls and demonstrate

God's justice and mercy. This thing can be fulfilled

only by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his death as

a sacrifice for mankind, so that whoever believes

in him will have his sins forgiven by God and made

clean by his Holy Spirit. Thus he will receive

eternal life and everlasting bliss.

I do not understand why our Muslim brethren

try to exonerate the prophets from the stain of sin,

contrary to the declarations of every book consi-

dered to be revealed (munzal). This is especially

so, since none of the prophets ever claimed this

sinlessness but admitted that they were weak and

sinful. Truly God has sent down the books and

recorded the creeds according to his supreme

wisdom. He is all-wise in his works, and all-

knowing of the needs of mankind.

59

FOURTH DISCOURSE

Introduction

Both Islamic and civil law prescribe that the

punishment for transgression or crime shall be

severe or mild in proportion to the one sinned

against. For instance, if a student at school insults

his fellow pupil, he is punished lightly, whereas if

he insults his teacher he would be expelled from

school. In legislative terms, if someone reviles his

equal it is considered an offense, but if he insults

the judge his punishment would be greater.

However, if he insults the king his sentence would

be greater still. But if he should sin against God,

who is unsurpassed in greatness and holiness, how

much more would be his punishment! Doubtless

he would be condemned to painful endless

torment.

God is just, so he cannot overlook the slightest

offense. Therefore we have to admit that those

who sin against God, "for all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) will

have to stay forever in the fire as a punishment for

60

them. Therefore when this takes place, where is

the mercy of God? And if Allah has mercy on

those sinners and forgives them, and does not

punish them then where is his rightousness? For

this reason he arranged a means of reconciling his

righteousess and his mercy.

61

Part One

God's Purpose in the Crucifixion:

How This Reconciliation was Accomplished

Adam disobeyed his Lord (that is, he sinned)

and was expelled from Eden (Genesis 3). This is

echoed in The Cow, 34, "Then Satan caused them

to slip therefrom and brought them out of that

they were in." He thus deserved eternal death.

Evil desires grew in him, and the tendency to

commit sin took root in his heart. His descendants

also inherited these tendencies and so they

followed in their father's footsteps. The earth

became full of evil, and men's destruction became

inevitable so as to satisfy God's justice, since they

could not find a way to reform, and return to their

original state: the state of purity and holiness

which befits heaven, where only the pure can

enter. Furthermore, God cannot deviate from his

own laws, because his justice demands that the

sinner pay with his life and that justice run its

course. "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall

not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear

the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the right-

eous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of

62

the wicked shall be upon himself" (Ezekiel 18:20).

If the legislator does not enforce his own laws,

then there is no such thing as justice left!

Linguistically, justice is the opposite of injustice

and means fairness, correction, requital. Mercy,

linguistically, signifies tenderness of heart,

graciousness, benevolence and forgiveness. Others

have said it is to forgo punishing one who deserves

it. Since God is merciful, he wanted to show mercy

to man and save him from the fires of punishment

(albeit, without ignoring justice). Therefore he has

ordained the work of Redemption from eternity.

At first it started with blood sacrifices, which are

pivotal to the Mosaic Law. The sons of Adam

offered sacrifices even before the written Law was

sent down. Those coming after them did the same

until the Law was given to Moses, God's spokes-

man, where the subject is given in detail. In it we

see how God, to impress on men the ugliness of

sin and its painful consequences, proceeded to

teach them as children. He divided the animals

into "clean" and "unclean" and taught them the

principle, "And according to the law almost all

things are purged with blood, and without

shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews

63

9:22). Thus he instructed the sinner to offer as a

sacrifice for his sin a clean animal, in whom was no

blemish. He was to slay it and place it on the fire

to remind him that the sinner deserved to be put to

death. However, by means of the substitute

sacrifice he could obtain forgiveness. All these

sacrifices pointed to Christ's Great Sacrifice, since

they could never in themselves redeem one man

because of their inferior value.

When the time came, God sent his Word,

Christ, who took on him human form and became

man like us. He shared many things with us, but

he never committed sin neither was there any

deceit in his mouth. (See a discussion of Christ's

sinlessness in the fifth discourse of this book). This

"Word," that is, Christ, offered himself up on a

cross as a victim and substitute for the souls of

men. In this way Divine justice was satisfied

because God accepted this offering in exchange

for all souls. He also reconciled God's justice with

his mercy, fulfilling the Prophet David's saying,

"Mercy and truth have met together; Righteous-

ness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm

85:10). All who believe in Christ's death on the

cross obtain this salvation. Also all who will have

this same faith will obtain salvation, on the condi-

64

tion they go on to live according to God's

commands, as recorded in the Torah and Gospel.

Thus, Christ was crucified as a man and not as

God, as some of our Muslim brethren imagine,

raising great objections before they understand the

Christian's real belief in this matter.

I don't think I need to show in detail the place

given in Islam to sacrifices as do other religions.

Namely, that it is a way to obtain forgiveness of

sins and acceptance with God. All Muslims know

that the slaying of sheep in the Al-Adha feast is

not for food, but is regarded as a redemption to

obtain God's bounty and beneficence. Likewise,

the ram which Abraham offered was a substitute

for his son, "And We ransomed him with a mighty

sacrifice" (The Rangers, 107). Thus, every

sacrifice is regarded as a substitute for the offerer

and a means to obtain pardon. Even Muhammad

himself considered the blood of sacrifices a means

to atone for sins and to obtain pardon, as we know

from the following hadith:

He told his daughter Fatima, "Be present, Oh

Fatima at the head of the victim for as soon as the

first drop of his blood falls to the ground your sins

will be forgiven." And on the basis of another

65

hadith attributed to Muhammad, Muslims believe

that on the Day of Reckoning they will mount the

sacrifices which they offered during their lifetime,

and cross the straight and narrow path to paradise.

These sacrifices are not equal to the souls for

whom they were offered; in fact all the animals

offered are not worth one rational being. They are

not adequate to atone for sin, but are only a

symbol of the Greatest Sacrifice of Christ about

whose institution we hear in the Torah, and we

read the account of its fulfillment on the Cross in

the Gospel. This is the Sacrifice which God consi-

dered equal to the souls of all mankind, "For God

so loved the world that he gave his one and only

Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

ß

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66

Part Two

Only Christ Was Fit For This Task.

Yes, only Christ was fit for this enterprise for

the following reasons:

1. The Sacrifice had to be pure and without

blemish.

2. The Sacrifice was to be of such value to equal

the number of souls to be redeemed.

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

4. It had to have the necessary standing before

God to serve as a connecting link' between

God and man.

If one were to search among all mankind one

would not find any who would meet these condi-

tions except Christ. The reason is that all have

sinned, even the prophets, and need someone to

redeem them. No one possesses the necessary

worth in God's sight. No one has the intrinsic

standing, except the Word of God.

67

68

For my soul, O my healer is in misery and decay,

Grant it healing at your hands through the Cross.

O mediator of peace I seek refuge in the Cross,

For me present this plea, to your Father who will heed.

There is

ONE GOD,

and there is

ONB MEDIATOR

between God and men,

THE MAN CHMSTJBSOS.

Part Three

Did Christ Willingly Accept Crucifixion?

If you were to ask the Muslim why he does not

believe that Christ was actually crucified he would

reply: Because he was one of the foremost

prophets and it would have been impossible for

God to deliver his worthy servant to vile Jews to

put him to death on the cross in such a horrible

fashion. The Muslim has forgotten a verse in his

Koran about God permitting something like this to

happen, as we see in Women, 154, "So for their

breaking the compact, and disbelieving in the signs

of God, and slaying the Prophets without right."

In The Cow, 82, "And whensoever there came

to you a Messenger with that your souls had not

desire for, did you become arrogant, and some cry

lies to, and some slay?" Even Muhammad himself

confessed that he died of poisoning by the

treachery of a Jewish woman (as we see in the

history of Almaghazi, and the biographies by

Mohammad Ibn Ishaaq, and the hadiths). In

addition, the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel

have declared that Christ's crucifixion was volun-

tary, as God had ordained from the beginning.

69

Christ himself said plainly that the purpose of his

coming was to complete the work of redemption;

that is, to offer himself up as a sacrifice on the

Cross. When one of his disciples told him, "Never

Lord! This shall never happen to you," Jesus

rebuked him saying, "Get behind me, Satan! You

are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of

the things of God, but the things of men"

(Matthew 16:23). Also when one of his disciples

wanted to defend him from the Jews who came to

arrest him Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back

in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by

the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my

Father, and he will at once put at my disposal

more than twelve legions of angels? But how then

would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must

happen in this way?"

Some of our Muslim brethren say, "How can

God punish Christ by crucifixion for the sins of

others, since it says in 2 Kings 14:6: 'Yet He did

not put the sons of the assassins to death, in accor-

dance with what is written in the Book of the Law

of Moses where the Lord commanded: "Fathers

shall not be put to death for their children, nor

children put to death for their fathers; each is to

70

die for his own sins." I would reply that God did

not condemn Christ to death for the sins of

mankind, but rather Christ, out of love for us,

volunteered, offering himself in our place. This is

the ultimate expression of love and deserves

glorification. However, if I volunteer to pay that

debt, what can he say but commend and praise

such action?

When the Jews seized Christ to crucify him he

said, "Have you come out, as against a robber,

with swords and clubs to take me? I sat daily with

you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize

me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the

prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples

forsook him and fled" (Matthew 26:55,56). Christ

was not crucified because he had committed an

offense. The Jews could find no fault in either his

character or his actions, but he was crucified to be

our sacrifice, taking our place in judgment and

standing in our stead. Therefore, he was made a

curse for us, not because he deserved it but,

because he willingly agreed to lay down his life in

place of the guilty sinner who deserved the curse.

So you see from the foregoing that God permits

the killing of his prophets for noble purposes and

71

that Christ died willingly, out of love for us, to

redeem us from the curse of the law, satisfy divine

justice and grant us salvation and eternal life.

Therefore, apart from Christ Jesus, God does not

forgive the believer, or have mercy on him.

This is the only way which God ordained for the

salvation of believers whereby he demonstrates his

justice and mercy simultaneously. As for Islamic

Law it does not harmonize God's justice and his

mercy and neither in the Koran nor the Traditions

(Hadith) do we find an effective way to deal with

judgment, reckoning and forgiveness. The verses

which our Muslim brethren quote on the subject of

judgment are, "Whether you publish what is in

your hearts or hide it, God shall make reckoning

with you for it. He will forgive whom he will, and

chastise whom he will" (The Cow, 284).

If God settled accounts with men on the basis of

this verse there would be no indication either of

his justice or his mercy. While it is true he can do

as he pleases, yet he would not will what denies his

original attributes and his divine law. Supposing

the judge pardoned your brother's murderer after

his crime was proved, then went on to forgive him.

Would you regard him as being just? Not at all!

72

You would regard him as unjust because he

violated the law. This is unthinkable with God for

it does not reflect his decrees. Furthermore, it

contradicts sound thinking.

"The weighing that day is true; he whose scales

are heavy -they are the prosperous, and he whose

scales are light - they have lost their souls" (The

Battlements, 7,8). This verse shows the reckoning

system to be simple, and it is the one used by the

ancient Egyptians and the Magi, whereby God

places a man's good deeds on one side of the scales

and his sins on the other. If the side of good is the

heavier he will be delivered and prosper, but if the

evil deeds tip the scales he will be among the losers

who will spend eternity in hell. This cannot be true

because heaven or paradise, which men aspire to

enter, is a pure spot where only the purified and

those made righteous can enter. Thus he who

commits one sin has transgressed and become

unclean. In that condition it is impossible for him

to enter paradise. I shall give an example to make

the matter clearer.

Suppose a Muslim is dressed in a white robe and

while on his way to prayer a speck of dirt fell on

his robe or person. Wouldn't he be considered

73

unclean? If that was his state wouldn't he have to

return and purify himself to be able to start

prayer? This is the state of man towards God in

respect to purity and impurity. Therefore it is

impossible for the believer to enter paradise

before complete purification and renewal of heart.

For if he were cleansed from sins and forgiven his

transgressions, yet the germ of evil remained

entrenched in his heart, he would remain wicked

and unfit for heaven. Also, if the Muslim believes

he can atone for his sins in the fire, "Not one of

you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy

Lord is a thing decreed, determined. Then we

shall deliver those that were godfearing; and the

evildoers We shall leave there, hobbling on their

knees" (Mary, 72,73). Without a man's corrupt

heart and inclinations being changed, he too

would not be fit for heaven nor heaven for him.

Likewise, neither punishing the thief by imprison-

ment nor cutting his hand nor flogging the

adulterer changes the inclination of the first to

theft or the second to adultery. Rather, the

punishment might aggravate them and make them

worse as Joseph, 53 says, "Surely the soul of man

incites to evil." The Christian faith or more

accurately the Holy Bible (the Torah and Gospel),

74

has ordained a way which cannot be objected to

because it is God's provision. By it the believer

can attain purity and forgiveness by means of

Christ's sacrifice and obtain renewal or a change

of heart through the Holy Spirit. In that way the

believer becomes fit to enter paradise and happy

to do so.

"Surely God shall not wrong so much as the

weight of an ant; and if it be a good deed He will

double it" (Women, 44). This verse presumes on

God's favour, because it indicates that he will

double a man's good deeds, and you yourself

know that doubling these is not fair.

"And every man - We have fastened to him his

bird of omen upon his neck; and We shall bring

forth for him, on the Day of Resurrection', as book

he shall find spread wide open" (The Night

Journey, 14,15). This verse shows that for every

man there is a book to be opened at the Resurrec-

tion. He will read it and judge himself. However,

it is not clear what the method of writing this book

is, nor how man will judge himself and what rule

he will follow.

"...surely the good deeds will drive away the

evil deeds. That is a remembrance unto the

75

mindful" (Hood, 116). This verse shows that one

good deed cancels an evil deed. If the good ones

exceed the evil, the person will be saved; other-

wise perdition is inevitable. Muslim scholars have

said, "No one can complain that God did not

reward him for his good deeds; because the

wicked whose bad deeds overweigh are rewarded

on earth for their good deeds." It is said if the

account is reckoned and every man's deeds are

weighed justly, all creatures will start exacting

their wrongs, that is, giving their adversary his

deserts. Thus every oppressed person will obtain

redress from his oppressor. This is what Muslims

call "disputing and requiting injustices." Accord-

ingly, angels will take from the merits of the

oppressor a portion equal to his injustice and add

them to the merits of the oppressed. If the merits

of anyone outweighs his demerits even by a grain,

God will double them out of mercy, so he would

enter paradise. If one's merits are cancelled and

he is left with the unrequited sins, God will add to

him an equal amount of the burdens of those he

wronged. He will cast him in hell to be punished

for his sins and theirs. All this is not justice.

Don't you see that all these things do not

achieve the required end, namely to purify the

76

heart from the pollution of sin and uproot the

germ of evil desires from it to make it fit for God's

pure presence in a spotless heaven?

There is no doubt that the way God provided

and appointed in the Torah and Gospel for man's

salvation is the ideal way. We have to follow it in

order to receive pardon and heart cleansing and

enter paradise to live there eternally.

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Part Four

The Crucifixion of Christ in the Koran

The Muslim believes that the crucifixion took

place, but that it was not Christ but another on

whom his likeness fell, as the Koranic saying in

Women, 156 indicates, "Yet they did not slay him,

neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was

shown to them...and they slew him not of a

certainty - no indeed; God raised him up to him."

The statement in the Koran is confused and

ambiguous and no conclusion can be based on it.

To me, it is as though the Koran, not wishing to

deny the crucifixion categorically, stated "I did not

see!"

It is permissible to expound this Koranic verse

in this way, "they slew him not of a certainty,"

meaning, they could not hurt his real person

because the Jews thought that by crucifying Jesus

they would eradicate his memory and make his

name ridiculed among men. The verse shows the

Jews that they failed to do this. For his death

became a means of spreading his name and

glorifying his cause. Further, that the cross did not

extinguish him, because physical death is not

78

extinction nor perdition. Though Christ died, yet

God raised him up and this death was the prelude

of his raising. To clarify this let me give you an

example. Suppose I insult, curse, and belittle you.

But you are noble-minded and do not recompense

me in kind. Could you not rightly say to me, "You

did not insult or degrade me but raised and

honoured me in people's eyes, because of my

forbearance and degraded yourself by reason of

your vulgarity?" The truth is that the crucifixion

was attributed to the Roman Governor Pilate who

ordered it and not to the Jews!

As for the words, "a likeness...was shown to

them," who does this refer to? It could not be to

Christ since he is the one likened to not the

likeness. If you say it refers to the victim, no

victim has been mentioned. Thus you see that the

verse is vague. If God had intended to rescue

Christ from dying on the cross he would have done

it with a crystal-clear miracle demonstrating to the

Jews their inability to harm his prophet and

messenger. However, the miracle which the

Muslims devise in order to save Christ did not

achieve the desired result, in spite of the deception

involved which ill befits the Lord, as it did not

demonstrate to the Jews God's power and their

79

impotence. Had God regarded crucifixion as

demeaning to his holiness, would it have been

reasonable for him to perform a miracle which

actually shows his disdain? Although he raised up

Christ to himself in order to save himself that

scorn, according to the belief of most Muslims.

We have found verses in the Koran which hint,

if not declare, that Christ actually died. It serves to

clarify the obscure portions of the former verse as

you will see from The House of Imran, 48, "When

God said, 'Jesus I will take thee to Me and will

raise thee to Me, and I will purify thee of those

who believe not.'" Some commentators have said

that the word "mutawaffeeka" (will take thee to

Me) means to put you to sleep. One cannot see at

all the wisdom of putting someone to sleep before

raising them. I wish the learned successors can

enlighten us where the predecessors have failed!

The truth is (will take thee to Me) means death,

and this is according to Ibn Abbas and

Mohammad Ibn Ishaq. They differed regarding

the duration of death. Wahb said that Christ

remained dead for three hours, then was raised.

Mohammad Ibn Ishaq said that he was dead seven

hours, then God raised him. Al-Rabee Ibn Ans

80

said that God caused him to die when he raised

him up to heaven. As for the Imam Al-Baidhawi

he believed that Christ actually died for three

hours. In the language dictionary "it says of the

verb 'tawaffa' "God made him die, that is, he took

his soul, of so and so, that he died, meaning his

soul was taken and he died."

The word 'mutawaffeeka' and the derivatives of

this verb (tawaffa) in this sense occurs 23 times in

the Koran. In all but two cases it means absolute

death. In these two exceptions the context refers

to figurative death during sleep, "It is He who

recalls you by night, and He knows what you work

by day" (Cattle, 60); and in The Companies, 43,

"God takes the souls at the time of their death,

and that which has not died, in its sleep."

Some commentators have said that the 'waw'

(and) in the phrase 'mutawaffeeka' is a play on

words to mystify the reader. In their opinion the

real meaning is that Christ will come again and

die. Oh God! Save us from the evil of deception!

Would it hurt if they considered these words in

their real sense? If the Koran intended what they

desire, it would surely not have couched it in an

ambiguous statement!

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As you see in Mary, 15, "Peace be upon him,

(refers to John) the day he was born, and the day

he dies, and the day he is raised up alive!" And in

Mary, 34, "Peace be upon me (Jesus) the day I

was born, and the day I die, and the day I am

raised up alive!"

There is no disputing that all Muslims believe

that (Yahya) John was born and died according to

the first verse. Then why not believe the same of

I'sa the Christ according to the second verse?

Because the order of the two verses is the same

and the words are practically the same. The

context in the second can only mean one thing.

As we find in Mary, 32, "...and He has enjoined

me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live."

Legally, alms (Zakat) is a certain sum of money

given by the Muslim, in the way of God to the

non-Hashimite Muslim, not being his slave, etc.

According to authorities wherever 'Zakat' is found

in the Koran it means money except its saying,

"and a tenderness from Us, and purity," (Mary,

14) where purity is intended.

Now if Christ went up to heaven without dying

as most of our Muslim brethren believe, it was his

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duty to pay alms according to the commandment.

Are there, I wonder, poor Muslims in heaven to

whom his alms would be given? If, on the other

hand, Christ is still alive on earth, where is he and

who are the recipients of his alms (Zakat)?

When we learn that he is not on earth and that

he is not giving alms, we know of a certainty that

he died and therefore his obligation to pay alms

has been removed!

As we read in The Table, 117, "I was a witness

over them, while I remained among them; but

when you let me die (fall asleep or take me to you)

you were yourself the watcher over them!" Of this

Al-Razi and Al-Jalalayn said: "This verse will be

said by Christ I'sa to God most likely on the day of

reckoning." And while Al-Razi explained the

words "to let me die" by ascension, he had

forgotten that he had previously explained it with

"making him fall asleep" which says in Al-Imran

55 "Oh I'sa, truly I let you fall asleep and will lift

you up to me." Therefore if we go with Razi and

other translators, agreeing that "falling asleep"

means only "lifting up," these words will come

into existence on the last day of judgement and

mean that Christ never will die. This is

83

contradicting the text of the Koran that "All that

dwells upon the earth is perishing, yet still abides

the Face of thy Lord, majestic, splendid" (The

All-Merciful, 26,27) "All things perish, except His

Face" (The Story,

This also contradicts the belief of many Muslim

scholars who believe that Christ in fact died,

contrary to those among them who believe that

Christ has to die in this world before the Day of

Resurrection. What harm would it do if they

believed that 'take me to Thyself (mutawaffeeka)

here does mean death and that this saying

occurred before the Koran as the introduction to

the verse indicates, "when he said" which indicates

past tense and not future. In that case this Koranic

text falls into line with the Torah and the Gospel

and the belief of the Christians about the

Crucifixion and Death of Christ.

Oh God, I beseech you reveal the Truth to

those who seek it and grant Light to those who

need it, you are the best to be invoked, Oh most

Bountiful of Givers.

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Part Five

The Crucifixion in History

The event of the Cross is not of man's invention.

Otherwise Christians would not have been content

to attribute to their leader, prophet and Saviour,

yea their Lord this great ignominy. The Law of

Moses says, "...because anyone who is hung on a

tree is under God's curse" (Deuteronomy 21:23).

The Gospel says, "Christ has redeemed us from

the curse of the law, having become a curse for us,

(for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs

on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13). Not only have Christ-

ians confessed the fact of the Crucifixion but they

have proudly regarded it the source of their

bounties and heavenly blessings and the fountain

of all Salvation; for themselves as well as for all

who believe in the Crucified Christ and the

redemption he accomplished by his memorable

death. It seems to me, in discussions with my

Muslim brothers, that the subject of Christ's

crucifixion is a historical event in some respects.

Therefore I have chosen now to discuss it histori-

cally.

The prophets of old, David, Isaiah, Daniel and

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others prophesied on every aspect of the life of

Christ, especially his death and resurrection,

starting more than 1050 years before it happened.

In fact some had fixed the place of the crucifixion

and the time, citing signs, some of which were

natural such as the eclipse of the sun and earth-

quake. Others were historical such as the final

cessation of the Sacrifice, because it had pointed

to Christ's great sacrifice; also of the end of the

monarchy among the Jews.

When Jesus came, he announced to the Jews

plainly that what was written in their Law

concerning his death had to come to pass and that

he had to be crucified to atone for the sins of

mankind. The apostles after him gloried in this

Crucifixion, leading one of them to say, "For I

determined not to know anything among you

except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corin-

thians 2:2). A few days after the crucifixion one of

them stood up before a great crowd of Jews and

declared, "You have taken by lawless hands and

crucified him" (Acts 2:23). The result of his

speech was that 3000 of those present believed in

the Crucified One.

The crucifixion became the theme of the disci-

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pies and of apostolic preaching, the pivot of all

their sermons, and the only way to obtain forgive-

ness of sins. They used to say, "God forbid that I

should boast, except in the Cross of our Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ," in spite of being followers

of the Crucified. The Christian Church, in every

century since has regarded the crucifixion of Christ

as the original disciples did. The reason is that

nothing in the Torah and Gospel is clearer than

this fact.

The famous Jewish historian Josephus

mentioned the crucifixion of Christ, saying,

"Pilate sentenced Christ to be crucified to satisfy

the clamour of the chief priests among us, and

those who loved Christ at first did not leave him

but continue with us to this day. They are called

Christians after him." Even Jews today admit that

Christ was crucified and the Koran itself witnesses

that the Jews admit that they killed Christ, as you

can see in Women, 156, "...and for their saying,

We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, the

Messenger of God." The Rabbi Yohanan Bin

Zakka, disciple of the famous Hillel wrote a book

in Hebrew a long time ago, mentioning the Jews

sentencing Christ to be crucified, because he

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claimed to be God's Son and that they hanged him

on a tree outside Jerusalem, in accordance with

the order of the king and the Jewish rulers.

The Talmud incidentally mentions the

crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the pagan historian

Tacitus mentioned in chapter 15 of his work,

written nearly 40 years after Christ, that he was

killed by order of Pontius Pilate, the local

governor during the reign of Tiberius.

This historian wrote to people who lived at the

time of Christ and in all likelihood some had been

eye witnesses at his death. He had access to

Roman records, where the official chronicles of

the various governors were kept. Among them

were the chronicles of the governors of Palestine,

where Christ was crucified. Consequently this

author's writings were held in high esteem since

they related to official events and public informa-

tion.

The important fact is that Pilate sent a report to

Rome about the crucifixion and death of Christ

which has been preserved among the records of

Rome as was customary with civilized empires of

the day. From this legal inscription Tacitus was

able to obtain his information in addition to other

public sources. Reference to this inscription was

made by the philosopher Flavius Justinus in

writing to the Emperor Antonius Pius in the year

139 A.D. Also by the scholar Tertullian, writing

from Carthage in the year 199 A.D.

Thus you see that the incident of the crucifixion

of Christ was a thing predetermined and a notable

event known among pagans, Jews and Christians;

not only among the common people but also

among the elite for 600 years. Until the Koran

came and denied it, not openly, but by means of

ambiguous statements and various texts which

have caused much uncertainty for Muslims,

causing some to deny it emphatically and others to

believe it, as you noted from the previous section.

Now thoughtful reader, assume that 50 honest

men witnessed clearly that Zaid killed Amr, and

that the eyewitnesses knew perfectly both the

killer and victim. Then assume that the killer

confessed publicly to his ugly deed. For about 600

years it is the general belief and an undisputed fact

that Zaid killed Amr. But then, after this long

period a contradictory witness presented himself

before the judge, obviously not an eye witness.

89

Let us assume that he was an impartial witness and

said, "I testify that the killing did occur but that

the one killed was not Amr but Bakr." How do

you think the judge would decide the case? Would

he confirm that Amr had been killed or would he

judge that the one killed was Bakr, basing his

decision on this latest isolated testimony? There is

no doubt that a fair-minded judge would confirm

the decision that it was Amr who was killed on the

basis of numerous witnesses and the confession of

the killer. Anyone who judges otherwise would

demonstrate his ignorance of civil and canonical

laws and only confirms to others that he is totally

devoid of justice!

I do not have to warn you that this example

concerns the case of Christ's crucifixion and

applies to it in every way.

What will you say after this, oh Muslim brother,

you who are looking for the truth? I counsel you to

leave your credal bias and judge in this matter as a

free man, according to justice and your intellectual

honesty. You will find that the case is simple, and

does not require all this troublesome pursuit. You

will then know that Christ (I'sa) was killed and

crucified to redeem the world. But he arose from

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the grave and ascended up to heaven victorious.

Henceforth, death will not have dominion over

him.

CHRIST CAN SAVE

COMPLETELY

those who come

to God through him,

because he always lives

to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:25

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FIFTH DISCOURSE

Christ's Sinlessness, Divinity and Sonship

According to what God has revealed in his

Precious Book, we Christians believe that Jesus

Christ is infallible since he is not in the genetic line

of corrupt human nature, as the inspired books

have confirmed. We have in the Koran and the

Hadith a basis for the inspiration of the Holy

Bible.

We also believe Christ to be God and man at the

same time in the light of the divine inspiration in

the Gospel. As an expression of this truth and by

way of illustration we say: The one God appeared

in the man Jesus Christ and indwelt him with the

fullness of his deity, a limitless indwelling, "For in

him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"

(Colossians 2:9). "God, who at various times and

in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers

by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us

by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all

things, through whom also he made the worlds;

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who being the brightness of his glory and the

express image of his person, and upholding all

things by the word of his power, when he had by

himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand

of the Majesty on high," (Hebrews 1:1-3). There-

fore it is correct to say that Christ is God and man

at the same time. For the man is not a God but

God is God, and man is man. He is not two gods

as the Muslims imagine Christ to be. Christ, by his

divine power performed miracles and superhuman

acts, unlike the prophets - for they performed the

miracles by the power of God and not by their own

strength. As man he ate and drank and slept like

any other human. He would at times speak of

himself as God and sometimes as man. As we have

said, this was only because he was both God and

man. Our Muslim brethren and some Christians

have had doubts regarding the divinity of Christ,

since they have seen many passages in the Book

which show him to be man. However, if they

review the numerous texts which point to his

divinity and do it meticulously and with care, the

clouds of doubt which obscure their vision would

disappear. Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.

Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see

the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the

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Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven"

(Matthew 26:64). Jesus said to him, "Have I been

with you so long, and yet you have not known me,

Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father;

so how can you say, 'Show us the Father?'" (John

14:9).

Moreover, Christ as man lived for a while on

earth, was crucified, died and rose again, but the

crucifixion and death fell on his physical nature.

As for Christ's divinity, it is very clear in the

Torah and Gospel; from the prophecies, the words

of Christ himself and in the teachings of the

apostles. Also from the following verse from the

House of Imran, 40, "Mary, God gives thee good

tidings of a Word from Him whose name is

Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; high honoured shall

he be in this world and the next, near stationed to

God." If the expositors claim that what is meant

by 'Word' is the verb 'be' (kun) or speech in other

texts there is no way they can claim this meaning

in this instance. The words, "a Word from him

whose name is Messiah" shows that the Word here

is a person and not an utterance or command as

will be clear upon the slightest reflection. It is

almost like saying, "A being from him." Notice

94

that the pronoun in the Arabic 'Ismihi' (whose

name) is masculine referring to 'Kalima' (Word)

which in Arabic is feminine phonetically but

masculine in meaning; otherwise, linguistically it

would not be permissible.

Muslim scholars have stated that all God's

creatures can be termed God's words since they

were created by a word. I would say, this is false

for otherwise one can call a cause effect, and a

book a pen because the pen is the means or the

tool which wrote the book but not the book itself.

If God created I'sa, the Christ, by a word of

command (kun, in Arabic) as they allege, he could

not be called (kalima) word, because he is not the

word but the effect of the word (the command). If

I write a book with my mind, that book is not

called a mind (or my mind) but the object of the

mind. Otherwise, truth will be mixed with error,

and essentials will be confused with accidentals.

What is clear from other verses is that Christ is

Spirit of God. You know that whatever is of God

is God. Therefore the Word of God is God

eternal, and Spirit of God is God, eternal,

everlasting. This exactly corresponds with what we

have at the beginning of John's Gospel:

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"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word

was with God, and the Word was God. He was in

the beginning with God. All things were made

through him, and without him nothing was made

that was made. In him was life and the life was the

light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John

1:1-5).

As to Christ being the Son of God, that is

possible and not an infidelity. The Hadith,

speaking on God's behalf says, "The poor are my

family." This is not impossible, as shown in the

saying in The Companies, 6, "Had God desired to

take to Him a son, He would have chosen

whatever He willed of that He has created." No

wonder then that the Book has announced that

Christ is the Son of God, not by way of reproduc-

tion as some Muslims think because 'Son' is an

expression not exclusive to the male child by

procreation but is also used figuratively, as in,

"sons of the word," or "son of the sea," or "son of

the desert" and so on. We also use the expression

"so and so is the son (or child) of so and so" by

way of adoption, metaphorically or analogically.

God has called the believers his children. However

he declared that Christ is "his only begotten Son."

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In other words the latter is a different sonship

from the former.

We do not comprehend this .* sönship fully

because it is beyond human comprehension. And

as Christ was called Son of God so as to elevate

him above men for his deity, he was called 'Son of

Man' to indicate his humanity. This is what is

intended in Daniel's prophecy chapter 7:13,14,

which points to Christ being God and man in one.

And without controversy great is

the mystery of godliness: God was

manifested in the flesh, justified in

the Spirit, seen by angels, preached

among the Gentiles, believed on in

the world, received up in glory.

(1 Timothy 3:16)

That which was from the begin-

ning, which we have heard, which we

have seen with our eyes, which we

have looked upon, and our hands

have handled - concerning the Word

of Life. (1 John 1:1)

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The sins of the prophets are mentioned in the

Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel one by one (and

the Koran supports their evidence). The corrup-

tion of the whole human race is also mentioned as

you have seen. However, none of these books

mentions any sin of Jesus Christ. On the contrary,

they all testify to his holiness and purity beyond

any other human, and his infallibility with respect

to sin. He stands out unique among men in this

regard, as you will see from the coming discussion

of the excellence of Christ.

No prophet or apostle, however great, has

dared to claim infallibility for himself, because

sinlessness in human creatures is impossible. Only

God possesses infallibility and perfection. As to

Christ who excelled all others by virtue of his joint

divinity and humanity; he had such utter confi-

dence in his perfection and purity that he could

boldly ask, "Which of you convicts me of sin? And

if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?"

(John 8:46). "I will no longer talk much with you,

for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has

nothing in me" (John 14:30). Numerous other

testimonials in the Book testify to Christ's infalli-

bility. Even his foes could not find any fault in his

behaviour.

98

When the governor Pilate examined the charges

of the Jews, he declared that he could not find any

fault in Christ which deserved death (John 18:38

and 19:4,6). Pilate's wife also sent a message

during the trial advising her husband, "Have

nothing to do with that just man, for I have

suffered many things today in a dream because of

him" (Matthew 27:19). After that Pilate washed

his hands, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of

this just person. You see to it!" (Matthew 27:24).

So the Jews said, "Let his blood be on us and on

our children!" It was then that Christ was

delivered to be crucified. Christ's whole life and

walk speaks eloquently of his absolute purity,

integrity and infallibility, in contrast with the

conduct of the rest of humanity, including the

prophets and apostles, lives which are full of

faults, inconsistencies, injustice and corruption of

heart.

This purity of Christ and his sinlessness were

essential and well-deserved so that he would be fit

to offer himself an atonement and a pure and

unblemished sacrifice for the souls of sinful

humanity.

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SIXTH DISCOURSE

The Superiority of Christ

in the Koran Over Others

Prophets and Apostles have been given

different titles and participated in many deeds, but

Christ excelled them all. Let us now mention what

the Koran has to say on this subject.

1. That he was the Word of God and his Spirit

as we find in Women, 169, "The Messiah, Jesus

son of Mary was only the Messenger of God, and

His Word that he committed to Mary, and a Spirit

from Him." In House of Imran, 40, "Mary, God

gives thee good tidings of a Word from Him whose

name is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; high

honoured shall he be in this world and the next,

near stationed to God."

Tell me my friend, of whom, whether prophets

or men, did the Koran state they were: God's

Word or Spirit?

God has called some people Apostles, some

prophets, some "warners," some Preachers. But

all these names are less than "Word of God" and

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"Spirit of God" which Jesus Christ was called. He

is thus undoubtedly greater than all, particularly as

the spirit is greater than the apostle because

"Spirit of God" means God himself whereas "His

apostle" is another individual.

Commentators such as Al-Razi, Al-Jalalayn and

others have said that Christ was called the "Word

of God" because he was called into being by a

word without a father; therefore he is referred to

as the Word. However, we would ask them, "If

that is so, why was not Adam, who was created by

a word of command, also called Word of God and

of his Spirit?"

Does not this designation require the learned

Muslim to look into the words "word" and "spirit"

in the foregoing texts, which suggest, if not

declare, Christ's pre-eminence and divinity?

2. He creates, as we find in The House of

Imran, 43: "I will create for you out of clay as the

likeness of a bird; then I will breathe into it, and it

will be a bird, by the leave of God."

God has permitted his creatures to share with

him in several attributes such as generosity,

justice, mercy, and charity. He also bestowed on

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his prophets the power to perform supernatural

miracles and to foretell future events before they

happened. This was for man's benefit and to

authenticate their heavenly message. But he has

left for himself some things which he will not share

with anyone.

First, omnipresence, being present in every

place (an imperceptible presence without limit), in

order to be in total control and hear the call of

every living soul worldwide, even simultaneously.

But the creature cannot be present in every place

at the same time. In summary, no person or king

can be omnipresent at the same time, otherwise he

would become God.

Second, omnipotence is an original not derived

power. The prophets have performed amazing

deeds and compelling miracles which no human

can equal, but these were by God's enabling

power and not intrinsic. For God alone is the

cause of all causes and the fountain of all power. If

anyone should acquire intrinsic power he would

become like God and that is obviously absurd.

Third, creating and bringing a soul into being.

This word signifies making or bringing into being

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something out of nothing and the dictionary

definition is "to bring into being or fashioning

something like nothing before."

God Almighty has endowed prophets and

apostles with power to raise the dead, heal the

dumb, cure a variety of diseases and foretell

events (before they happen). But he did not

permit anyone to create or give the spirit except

Jesus Christ. Why? Only because Christ is greater

than the prophets and apostles and occupies a

different position. Of whom was it said in the

Koran that he created, even by his Lord's permis-

sion? This was not said of anyone, as anybody who

is familiar with the Koran will confirm.

From the preceeding verse you will see that the

Koran asserts that Christ used to create birds in

the same way that God created Adam, since he

fashioned man from the soil of the ground and

breathed on him the breath of life, and he became

a living soul.

3. His miraculous birth as we read in Women,

169, "The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only

the Messenger of God, and His Word that He

committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him."

103

Meaning that Christ was born without a father by

the Holy Spirit in a supernatural manner. It is

true, Adam had no father, but that was of neces-

sity, since there were no human beings before

him. As for Christ's birth it was not of necessity

but purposed of God, a miracle to the world:

"...and appointed her and her son to be a sign

unto all beings" (The Prophets, 91). "...and that

We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy

from Us" (Mary, 21).

Does not Christ's unusual birth capture the

attention of the honest Muslim and bring him to a

belief that Christ (I'sa) had no equal among men,

and that he occupies the highest station?

4. Eminence in this world and the next as we

find in House of Imran, 40, "Mary, God gives thee

good tidings of a Word from him whose name is

Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; high honoured shall

he be in this world and the next, near stationed to

God."

Al-Kashaf has said, "Eminence in this world

means prophecy and precedence over men and in

the next intercession and exaltation of position in

paradise." Al-Razi and Jalal Ed Din Al-Sayouti

has expounded this verse in exactly the same way.

104

Regarding the eminence of Moses in The

Confederates, 69, "...and he was high honoured

with God." Al-Razi has expounded it as being

knowledge. He has also said, in explaining the

phrase 'high honoured with God' as follows: "Not

every eminent one is high-honoured because the

people of Paradise are in ranks and degrees, there-

fore did God say, 'and you shall be three bands,'

going on to, '...the outstrippers those are brought

nigh the Throne'" (The Terror, 7,10,11).

From a study of the Koran one learns that no

one has been described as being eminent in this

world and the next other than Christ (I'sa), and

none of the prophets and apostles enjoyed this

distinction except him. Search and see and after-

wards please tell me why. Enquire after the

reason, you will be amazed!

5. The absence of any mention of sin laid to his

account (review the Fifth Discourse).

6. He raised him to heaven as we find in House

of Imran, 48: "When God said, 'Jesus, I will take

thee to Me and will raise thee to Me, and I will

purify thee of those who believe not.'"

Earlier we discussed the question of what

105

"taking thee to me" (mutawaffeeks) means, so

there is no need to repeat it, but we desire to

clarify the meaning of "raise." Al-Razi has said,

"what is intended by raise, is to raise to the level

of God's honour; he has used the form "to Me" for

purposes of exaltation and magnification. By using

purify thee, he means, removing you from among

the infidels. As he has exalted him by the term

"raise" he has indicated the sense of deliverance

by the word "purify." All this points to a desire to

exaggerate in honouring him and magnifying his

position with God Almighty.

In explaining the phrase "taking thee to Me,"

Al-Kashaf said, "taking thee to my heaven and the

place of my angels." Raising Christ in the Koran

signifies exaltation (of the high honoured). The

Gospel informs us of the reason for the exaltation

of Christ, saying:

Who being in the form of God, did

not consider it robbery to be equal

with God, but made himself of no

reputation, taking the form of a

servant, and coming in the likeness

of men. And being found in appear-

ance as a man, he humbled himself

106

and became obedient to the point of

death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has highly

exalted him and given him the name

which is above every name, that at

the name of Jesus every knee should

bow, of those in heaven, and of those

on earth, and of those under the

earth, and that every tongue should

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to

the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:6-11)

Does not this subject call upon us to enquire

into the reason? If you, the esteemed reader, want

the reason from me I shall answer you with a verse

from the Gospel which has expressed this in the

clearest terms:

"For the word of God is living and

powerful, and sharper than any two-

edged sword, piercing even to the

division of soul and spirit, and of

joints and marrow, and is a discerner

of the thoughts and intents of the

heart". (Hebrews 4:12)

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SEVENTH DISCOURSE

Trinity in Unity

For the reader to be well-informed about the

Christian doctrine of the Unity of God and the

Trinity, I shall now present in detail the first

doctrine of the Christian Faith.

"There is no god but God the One; Living,

True, Eternal, Everlasting, without body, parts or

emotions. Whose might and wisdom and goodness

know no limits, Creator of all things visible and

invisible. In this One God are three Persons of the

same substance, the same might and the same

eternal existence, they are The Father, The Son

and the Holy Spirit."

This creed is well supported by verses in the

Torah and Gospel. Therefore it is not an invention

of the Christians. However, whether it was first

realized, or arrived at by logical discussion first,

will be answered from what follows.

It is not fully understood because it is beyond

the perception of the sons of Adam. However, it is

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a reality and an accepted fact even though the

majority of Muslim enquirers have failed to

comprehend it, in accordance with the Islamic

doctrine which says, "Investigation regarding the

essence of God is infidelity" (Hadith).

I shall not, at present, attempt to explain a

doctrine which the ancients failed to explain, and

whose essence the moderns cannot grasp, because

it is an enquiry into the nature of God, the Creator

of all beings. Since scholars cannot comprehend

the secret of any of these beings, how then can

they comprehend the nature of the First Cause,

the Creator? I want to demonstrate firstly that we

have to accept this concept by faith, with our

heart, even though our minds do not comprehend

it. The reason is that we have it given in detail in

God's inspired Book which is for mankind's

guidance; I mean by it the Torah and Gospel.

Secondly, I would like to point out to my Muslim

brethren that they themselves have many basic

fundamental beliefs which are not logical. Of these

and foremost among them is the belief in God.

Why then do they require us to prove what they

themselves cannot prove?

First of all, all believers in God whether Jews,

109

Christians or Muslims know nothing about God

except what he has revealed about himself.

Anything beyond that is the imagination or specu-

lation of scholars. It cannot be relied on by the

God-fearing nor used to convince the skeptics.

Our own perceptions are incapable of

comprehending their creator. If we could, he

would cease to be God. Only God can understand

God. Although God is the ultimate being yet,

unlike other beings he fills the heavens and the

worlds, without having length, breadth, height,

depth, or origin. Because he is boundless and

incomprehensible, he has soared way above

analogy and representation. Whatever your mind

can conceive, God is something other. Therefore

we should not overreach ourselves in trying to

fathom what our minds are incapable of fathom-

ing. Let us instead accept what God has revealed

to us of himself without probing or debate. That is

closer to godliness.

The important thing is to find out: Does the

Book (the Torah and Gospel) come from God or

not? If we answer in the affirmative (and thank

God it is so), we have to believe all that we read in

it whether it agrees or disagrees with our own

110

opinion. For we are not permitted to believe some

of the Book which we understand and disbelieve

other parts due to lack of understanding. In the

Koran such folk are blamed as we see from The

Cow, 79, "What, do you believe in part of the

Book, and disbelieve in part? What shall be the

recompense of those of you who do that, but

degradation in the present life, and on the Day of

Resurrection to be returned unto the most terrible

of chastisement?"

Quite often our Muslim brethren attack the

Torah and Gospel for mentioning that God spoke,

heard, wrote with his finger, was sad, sorry and

other human-like expressions.

In order to remove any doubts in their hearts we

would remind them that the Koran too uses

similar statements. Here are some of them:

"Hast thou received the story of Moses? When

he saw a fire, and said to his family, 'Tarry you

here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you a

brand from it, or I shall find at the fire guidance.'

When he came to it, a voice cried,' Moses, I am

thy Lord; put off thy shoes'" (Taha, 8-12).

"God is the Light of the heavens and the earth;

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the likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a

lamp (the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a

glittering star)..." (Light, 35).

"God's hand is over their hands" (Victory, 10).

"He said, (Abraham) I am going to my Lord"

(Rangers, 97).

"Whoso emigrates in the way of God..."

(Women, 101).

"...and for their saying, 'We slew the Messiah,

Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God...'"

(Women 156).

"...and unto God all matters are returned"

(The Cow, 206).

"...then sat Himself upon the Throne"

(The Battlements, 52).

"...then He lifted Himself to heaven..."

(The Cow, 27).

"When God said, Jesus I will take thee to Me

and will raise thee to Me, and I will purify thee of

those who believe not" (The House of Imran, 48).

"All that dwells upon the earth is perishing, yet

112

still abides the Face of thy Lord, majestic, splen-

did" (The All-Merciful, 27).

"All things perish, except His Face"

(The Story, 88).

In the Koran we have sayings which attribute to

God love, anger and pleasure which are emotional

reactions; also regret and forgetfulness: "There-

fore today We forget them..."

(The Battlements, 49).

If you accept the foregoing verses at face value

you would have to admit that God was

represented by fire or was inside it. But if you say

he wasn't fire nor was he in it but it was in order

to direct Moses to something, I would reply that

the end of the verse, "put off thy shoes; thou art in

the Holy Valley, Towa," contradicts you and

proves me right. If you admit God is light and that

this light is, "as a niche, wherein is a lamp," etc.,

this is what is known as 'yes and no' (hulul and

hasr) - a dilemma. Then you are bound to admit

that God has a place and a face, and so on. And

this, no Muslim would accept.

Secondly, you say, my Muslim brother, that you

do not believe the doctrine of the Trinity (i.e. that

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God is one in three Persons), because you are

unable to understand it and no one can prove it to

you. What you forget is that you as a Muslim

believe many things in common with the Jew and

the Christian. However, if disbelievers in inspira-

tion ask you to prove one of these beliefs you and

the ablest scholars could not do so nor respond

with an answer supported by proof.

Every believer in God believes that he has

created the heavens and all that is in them of suns

and moons and planets and stars. He fashioned

the world and all that is therein of plant and

animal life in six days and created living rational

man with a word from his mouth. Now every

believer believes that the noble prophets and the

good apostles performed miracles such as raising

the dead, healing the dumb and paralytic, and so

on. Every believer believes in the Resurrection,

namely that every being from Adam to the last

person on earth will be resurrected, those who

have died natural deaths as well as those whom the

fish have eaten. Also those eaten by beasts of the

field shall have their spirits return to their bodies

which have decomposed into various forms of

earth, plant, animal and matter; and this for the

purpose of reckoning and judgment.

114

Supposing an infidel challenged you regarding

these truths and denied them. Would you be able

to defend your beliefs by logical reasoning, sound

proof and intellectual arguments without the

inspired books? You know better than I do that

you would not be able to furnish proofs estab-

lishing the foregoing beliefs.

You believe in God and trust him. But if I ask

you: what is God, and where is he? You would fail

to give a convincing answer. You also know you

have a spirit and believe in that. However, you are

ignorant of what the spirit is or of where it exists.

Furthermore, you know and believe you have a

mind and intellectual capacities but you do not

understand their nature. You do not even under-

stand much of intangible things. Learned men

have stated that we do not understand the essence

of material things, but only know their properties

and characteristics. How much more can this be

said of intangible things!

I know and you know and the Jews and Christ-

ians and Muslims, all know that we and they

believe statements about creation, miracles, the

resurrection, the judgment and immortality of the

soul. We also believe in God, not because we are

115

capable of proving these doctrines but because

they are mentioned in books we regard as sent

down from God and infallible. Thus the Jew

believes in obedience to his Book, the Torah, the

Christian on the authority of the Torah and

Gospel, and the Muslim in submission to the

Koran.

If it is valid to deny the Trinity because we have

no way to prove it, we must deny all other

doctrines, in fact denying all revelations which we

cannot prove; such as God's self-existence and

eternal nature, his being the first cause of every-

thing, omnipresent and omniscient, knowing all

that has happened from eternity to eternity at

every moment in time, and that his knowledge

does not allow any additions or omissions.

God is one in essence, three in person. Since he

is unique in the universe in his nature and attri-

butes it is no wonder that he is superior to all else

in the mode of his being, even as he excels in his

supreme attributes. It is said that one essence

having three hypostases is impossible. We would

say this is an unsupported claim and that our finite

minds have not created a measure of what is

possible and what is not beyond its limits of

116

comprehension. The persons of the Trinity are in

essence one, not in generic or qualitative essence.

Therefore plurality in trinity does not affect the

essence, and does not involve essential dichotomy

since God's essence is not material but spiritual.

Spirit does not, under any circumstances, permit

division. Thus the Father, the Son and the Holy

Spirit are in respect to their hypostasis of the same

essence. Each of them enjoys the essence of one

deity without division or separation. In our

language there is no equivalent to the meaning of

hypostasis in order to be able to describe the Holy

Trinity more easily.

After what I have said, do you still insist that the

Christian's belief in the Trinity belies ignorance?

Do you insist, after all these examples that you do

not accept the Trinity, because you do not find an

intellectual proof for it? Don't you know that to

every matter there is proof of a certain kind? For

instance, in the historic realm, you cannot prove

Alexander of Macedon and all his campaigns in

Egypt, Syria, Persia, India and others by means of

a chemical, geometrical or a logical proof? No,

because these events pertain to history and

nothing else! Or can you demonstrate to me that

117

the whole is greater than its part by chemical

means? If this principle is true, we conclude that

everything has a demonstration of its own kind;

thus religious things are demonstrated from

revealed (or inspired) books, mathematical

problems by mathematical proofs such as in arith-

metic, algebra and geometry. Astronomical

matters from the science of astronomy, and so on

and so forth. Therefore, my Muslim brother, do

not try to prove religious doctrines by means of

scientific proofs, lest you go far astray. And why

do you disagree with me on the question of

Trinity? It may be that we are basically in agree-

ment. For you say: God and his Word and his

Spirit, that makes three. And I say: The Father,

the Son and the Holy Spirit. "So believe in God

and His Messengers, and say not, 'Three,'

Refrain; better is it for you. God is only One God.

Glory be to Him" (Women, 169). We believe that

God has a Word and Spirit and he is one with his

Word and Spirit. Everything which is in God is

God according to you. Therefore God's Word is

God having all his attributes such as being and

infinity and much else. Also God's Spirit is God,

and is partner with him in being from eternity to

eternity.

118

In closing I would beseech God, who is one in

substance and triune in number to grant you his

Holy Spirit and convince you in your heart of the

truth of this doctrine. In this way, you will believe

in it even as you have believed that he is able to do

all things and is worthy of your response.

119

EIGHTH DISCOURSE

The Paraclete and Muhammad

Our Muslim brethren claim that the name of

their prophet Muhammad is mentioned in the

Gospel, based on the words in the Koran in The

Ranks, 6, "And when Jesus Son of Mary said,

'Children of Israel, I am indeed the Messenger of

God to you, confirming the Torah that is before

me, and giving good tidings of a Messenger who

shall come after me, whose name shall be

Ahmad.'"

It was said that the meaning of the Greek Parac-

lete in the Gospel is the same as Ahmad, the

praised one, and that Ahmad and Muhammad are

the same. Some allege that the Gospel has been

altered because this announcement is no longer in

it, even though it is still recorded there as it was in

Muhammad's day in the Greek.

However, what the Koran understood by the

intended word was misconstrued because the word

in the Greek is this: HAPAKAHTOE not

HEIPIKAHOTE.

120

In the Latin spelling thus, PARACLETOS and

not PERICLUTOS is its correct form. The first

means the comforter while the second is the

famous or praised one.

This verse is still in the Gospel, proving that it

has not undergone change. Let us now return to

study the verses containing the word Paraclete in

order to understand its meaning in the Koran, and

see if it is right to attribute it to Muhammad as our

Muslim brethren claim.

1. And I will pray the Father, and

he will give you another Helper, that

he may abide with you forever, even

the Spirit of truth, whom the world

cannot receive, because it neither

sees him nor knows him; but you

know him, for he dwells with you

and will be in you. (John 14:16,17)

2. But when the Helper comes,

whom I shall send to you from the

Father, the Spirit of truth who

proceeds from the Father, he will

testify of me... (John 15:26)

121

122

3. Nevertheless I tell you the

truth. It is to your advantage that I

go away; for if I do not go away, the

Helper will not come to you; but if I

depart, I will send him to you. And

when he has come, he will convict

the world of sin, and of righteous-

ness, and of judgment...

(John 16:7,8)

4. And being assembled together

with them, he commanded them not

to depart from Jerusalem, but to

wait for the promise of the Father,

"which," he said, "you have heard

from me; for John truly baptized

with water, but you shall be baptized

with the Holy Spirit not many days

from now." (Acts 1:4,5)

5. Now when the Day of Pente-

cost had fully come, they were all

with one accord in one place. And

suddenly there came a sound from

heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,

and it filled the whole house where

they were sitting. Then there

appeared to them divided tongues,

as of fire, and one sat upon each of

them. And they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and began to speak

with other tongues, as the Spirit gave

them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

It is clear that Christ was the Disciples' teacher

while he was among them. He was a guide and a

comforter to them, defending them, so that they

became attached to him. With his foreknowledge

he knew that his departure from them through

death would break their hearts. He was convinced

that they were in need of heavenly help to

strengthen, guide and comfort them after his

departure. For this reason he promised- to send

them the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter, as you

have seen from the previous verses.

After close examination of these texts it

becomes clear to us that the Person who was

promised could not possibly be Muhammad the

Prophet of Islam for reasons which we see in the

same verses.

First, the one promised was not corporeal

(Spirit of Truth), therefore the world could not

123

receive him because they could not see him. This

description does not fit Muhammad because he

had a body and the world saw him, both believers

and infidels.

Second, the Promised One came to stay with the

disciples forever. This too cannot be said of

Muhammad because he did not come at the time

of the disciples and did not remain in the world

forever.

Third, the Promised One was at that time with

the disciples, "because he is with you." This also

cannot apply to Muhammad because he was not

with the disciples.

Fourth, Christ instructed the disciples "not to

leave Jerusalem but wait..." for that Comforter,

the Holy Spirit. In obedience to their Master (and

Muslims believe that disciples are obedient) they

waited ten days in Jerusalem until that Comforter

came and "everyone was filled with the Holy

Spirit." This too cannot apply to Muhammad.

Otherwise it would have been necessary for the

disciples to wait in Jerusalem 600 years until

Muhammad's arrival. How long could they live,

especially as Christ promised them to send the

124

Spirit Comforter quickly?! Otherwise it was no use

comforting them after death. Therefore to

encourage them he said, "For John truly baptized

with water, but you shall be baptized with the

Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5).

125

I do not think that the Muslim brother wants to

believe that Christ is the one who sent Muham-

mad, because the verses above show that Christ

was the one who sent the Comforter Spirit. If that

was so, it would be another matter, for he would

have to agree to the divinity of the one who sent

(Christ), because Muhammad claimed to be God's

Apostle. Imagine! I ask God to give my Muslim

brother this Holy Spirit, as he gave to those disci-

ples, so that he would guide him to the truth and

guide him to the right path and enlighten his mind

so that he may distinguish between the worthless

and the worthwhile!

CONCLUSION

You have seen from the above that there is no

way to obtain pardon for sins and cleansing of

heart except in Christ, and no book which shows

the way to this salvation except the Bible, the

Torah and Gospel. There is no religion which

reconciles the justice of God and his mercy,

showing us God's love to man save the Christian

religion. Seize the opportunity, my brother,

because the time is a time of salvation and today is

a day of grace and acceptance.

126

The purpose of these discourses and the study of

them is to reach the truth and obtain happiness by

following this truth. In closing I ask God to grant

you, my Muslim brother, his Holy Spirit and to

enlighten your mind in your search after truth.

May God guide you in the straight path when you

pray daily to obtain salvation in Christ and

everlasting life in heaven forever.

I QUIZ J

1. What position does the Bible occupy in the

Christian religion?

2. How does the Koran regard those Muslims

who do not believe in the Bible?

3. Mention one Koranic verse which testifies to

the truth of the Torah and Gospel in Muham-

mad's day and.after?

4. How is the veracity of the Torah and Gospel

proved intellectually?

5. Are those who speak of the Book as being

altered or corrupted able to point to the

altered texts and give the purpose for doing

so?

6. Concerning what did Nahum the prophet

prophecy? Were his prophecies and others of

the prophets fulfilled?

7. Give one archaeological proof which testifies

to the accuracy of the Torah and Gospel?

8. What did the scholar Smith find in the ruins of

Nineveh?

127

9. Give the names of the ancient manuscripts of

the Bible.

10. Give one Koranic verse which refutes the

theory of "abrogation."

11. In what state did God create Adam and Eve?

Did they stay in that condition?

12. Mention a text from the Bible supported by a

reference in the Koran which speaks of the

corruption and straying of all mankind?

13. Is there evidence that the prophets fell into

sin?

14. According to divine justice what do all sinners

deserve?

15. To whom did the sacrifices point?

16. How do you confirm the death of Christ from

the Koran?

17. Is there a historical proof of Christ's crucifix-

ion?

18. How is Christ superior to the rest of the

prophets and the rest of mankind?

128

19. What does the Book of Acts 4:13 say about

Jesus Christ?

20. How can you explain the doctrine of Trinity if

you are asked?

21. Summarize your understanding of this book in

two lines.

If you have answered 15 questions correctly we

will send you another useful book from our

publishing house.

Please send us your name and address, written

clearly and completely, with the answers to the

above questions.

THE GOOD WAY P.O. BOX 66 CH-M86 RIKON / SWITZERLAND

I AM THE LIGHT IF THE WORLD, WHOEVER

FOLLOWS ME

WILL NEVER WALK

IN DARKNESS*

BUT WILL HAVE

THE LIGHT OF LIFE««

(JOHN 8:12)

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