Islam
Part 1 By General James Green
[Note: Surat or Sura=Chapter, the number=verse, like S. 3:3= “It is He who sent down to thee (step by step), in Truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; And He sent down the Torah (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus)” from the Abdullah Yusuf Ali Translation, which I will be quoting in these articles - Gen. Jim].
S. 3:19= “The religion before Allah is Islam (submission to his will): nor did the People of the Book (Christians/Jews) dissent therefrom except through envy of each other, after knowledge had come to them. But if any deny the signs of Allah, Allah is swift in calling to account.”
S. 3:110= “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind. Enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressions.”
(This is like the pot calling the kettle black! G.J.)
S. 3:84= “Say: ‘we believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma’il; Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from the Lord: we make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam).”’
(This is a BIG LIE! Muslims certainly discriminate against Jesus—they have put millions to death for believing in Jesus Christ as Lord. Their Quran teaches death to apostates, especially if one converts to Christianity; and Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ. Better read the entire Quran for yourselves, plus the Hadiths, G.J.).
S. 21:107= “We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.” (Note: “There is no question now of race or nation, of a “chosen people” or the “seed of Abraham”; or the “seed of David”; or of Hindu Arya-varta; of Jew or Gentile, Arab or ‘Ajam (Persian), Turk or Tajik, European or Asiatic, White or Coloured; Aryan, Semitic, Mongolian, or African; or American, Australian, or Polynesian. To all men and creatures other than men who have any spiritual responsibility, the principles universally apply.” Abdullah Yusuf Ali).
S. 33:40= “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things. (Note: “When a document is sealed, it is complete, and there can be no further addition. The Prophet Muhammad closed the long line of Messengers. Allah’s teaching is and will always be continuous, but there has been and will be no Prophet after Muhammad. The later ages will want thinkers and reformers, not Prophets. This is not an arbitrary matter. It is a decree full of knowledge and wisdom, ‘for Allah has full knowledge of all things.’” AYA). (HA!, this is only a wishful imagination of the Arab mind, certainly not God’s! Only God/Jesus has “full knowledge!” Only they (with the Holy Spirit) are Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent: these are divine attributes of God, not merely sinful like their false prophet, who, by the way, admitted that he was a great sinner. Eternity and Immutability also belong to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit- G.J.).
S. 3:20- “So if they dispute with thee, say: ‘I have submitted My whole self to Allah and so have those who follow me.’ And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned: ‘Do ye (also) submit yourselves?’ If they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, Thy duty is to convey the Message; and in Allah’s sight are (all) His servants” (Note: “The People of the Book may be supposed to know something about the previous religious history of mankind. To them the appeal should be easy and intelligible, as all religion is one, and it is only being renewed in Islam. But the appeal is also made to the pagan Arabs, who are unlearned, and who can well be expected to follow the example of one of their own, who received divine enlightenment, and was able to bring new knowledge to them. A great many of both these classes did so. But the few who resisted Allah’s grace, and actually threatened and persecuted those who believed, are told that Allah will look after His own.”)
AYA further comments: “The mystery of birth faintly suggests that we are coming to the story of Jesus. The exposition of the Book suggests that Islam is the same religion as that of the People of the Book. Next we are told that the People of the Book made their religion one-sided, and through the priesthood of the family of ‘Imran, we are brought to the story of Jesus, who was rejected by a body of the Jews as Muhammad was rejected by a body of both Jews and Christians.”) (note: ‘Imran, in the foot note, pg. 150 of the AYA translation, tells us that “Elizabeth was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5 [Holy Bible]), of a priestly family which went back to Aaron the brother of Moses and son of ‘Imran. Her husband Zakariya was actually a priest, and her cousin Mary was presumably also of a priestly family. By tradition, Mary’s mother was called Hannah (in Latin, Anna, and in English, Anne), and her father was called ‘Imran. Hannah is therefore both a descendant of the priestly house of ‘Imran and the wife of ‘Imran,-“a woman of ‘Imran’ in a double sense”).
B EFORE WE TALK ABOUT MISSION, Apologetics, and Polemics, let it be known that noted Muslim commentator Yusuf Ali contends that: “the Injil (Gospel) spoken of by the Quran is not the NT; it is not the 4 Gospels now received as canonical.” He contends that the single Gospel/Injil which, Islam teaches, was revealed to Jesus/Isa, and which He taught. He claims that fragments of it survive in the received canonical Gospels, and in some others of which traces survive, (see AYA., The Holy Quran, 287).
AYA claims that great changes have been made, forgery of textual divine revelation, and that there have been doctrinal mistakes, e.g., belief in Christ’s incarnation, the Tri-unity or Trinity of the Godhead, and the doctrine of original sin (you might want to see Waardenburg, 261-63). We Christians don’t believe a word of that accusation. MUHAMMAD WAS WRONG; THE SACRED SCRIPTURES WERE RIGHT. Naturally, he had to invent “corruption of Scriptures” in order to sell himself as the last-day prophet.
Anyone who seriously studies the Quran and Hadiths will see right away that the Islamic views about our Holy Bible are critically flawed. As pointed out by honest and non-biased scholars, one evidence is the internal inconsistency within the Muslim view of Holy Scripture itself; another is that it is contrary to the factual evidence.
Dr. N. L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb point out for us the serious tensions in the Islamic rejection of the
authenticity of the current N. T. This tension can be focused by the following teachings from the Quran:1) The original New Testament (N.T.) Gospel is a revelation of God. The following will clarify this:
S. 5:46= “And in their footsteps we sent Jesus the Son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before Him: we sent Him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light...”
AYA makes note of this “guidance and light.” Guidance, with reference to conduct, and light, with reference to insight into the higher realms of the faith (see footnotes 757 and 750). Sura 5:46 goes on to say: “And confirmation of the Torah that had come before Him: A guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.” Sura 5:67 says: “O Messenger! proclaim the (Message) which hath been sent to thee from they Lord.” AYA, in footnote 777 relates: “Muhammad had many difficulties to contend with, many enemies and dangers to avoid. This is to assure him that his Message was true and from Allah. His mission must be fulfilled. And he must—as he did—go forward and proclaim that Message and fulfil his mission, trusting Allah for protection, and unconcerned if people who had lost all sense of right rejected it or threatened him.”
AYA makes note (778) of this: “In 5:26, Moses was told not to sorrow over a rebellious people. Here, Muhammad is told not to sorrow over people without faith....”
ONE WILL QUICKLY NOTICE, WHILE READING THE QURAN, THAT MUCH OF IT IS TAKEN FROM OUR HOLY SCRIPTURES, ONLY WITH AN “ARABIC TWIST.” May I ask our Muslim friends, “How can you trust the Holy Bible if it has been corrupted?”
Sura 5:69 reads: “Those who believe (in the Qur´an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians—any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness—on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Abdullah Yusuf Ali (AYA) points out that this is also found in Sura Al-Baqarah 2:62, that true faith is to be judged by a sincere belief in Allah, and man’s accountability to Him backed by a righteous conduct, rather than by mere forms or labels. Note 779 fills ½ a page, so I’ll omit it here.
Sura 5:71: “They thought there would be no trial (or punishment): So, they became blind and deaf; yet Allah (in mercy) turned to them; yet again many of them became blind and deaf. But Allah sees well all that they do.”
2) Jesus was a Prophet and His Words should be believed by Muslims:
Sura 4:171= “O People of the Book! Commit no excesses...” (AYA notes here that: “excesses may lead them to blasphemy or a spirit the very opposite of religion...raising Jesus to an equality with Allah: in some cases venerates Mary almost to idolatry,” [this is certainly true! - Gen. Jim]: attributes a physical Son to Allah [this is Biblically true! - Gen. Jim]: and invents the doctrine of the Trinity [they say “Father, Son, and Mary,” but the Bible plainly points out “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” -Gen. Jim]...unless a man believes, he is doomed to hell for ever [the Quran certainly teaches this!! -Gen. Jim]…” ).
Let me continue with S. 4:171: “In your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth, Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah...” (They would like the whole world to accept this half truth...BUT, JESUS WAS/IS GOD! John 1:1 tells us: “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself” [also see Isa. 9:6, O.T]. You might want to read all the articles I’ve written called: “Is Jesus God?.”)
S. 4:171 continues: “And His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not ‘three’: desist: It will be better for you: For Allah is One God: Glory be to Him: (Far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs.”
Let it be said right here and now that our Holy Scriptures teach the tri-unity of God. The texts Muslim scholars use as “authentic” to support THEIR Islamic teachings are twisted or misinterpreted. Their prophet said in S. 5:119: “O Jesus, son of Mary! didst thou say unto mankind: take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?” Even Christians living centuries before Muhammad condemned this gross misunderstanding of the “Sonship” of Christ.
Also, by dishonesty, they quote John 1:1 (I have already quoted it) without any textual support in the many thousands of Gk. mss., they render the last phrase: “and the Word was God’s” Tell me, just where do we find such a thing in any of the MSS? Muslim scholar Dawud points out, without any warrant whatsoever, “The Gk. form of the genitive case ‘Theos’; that is, ‘God’, in the nominative form of the name!” (see Dawud, 16, 17).
Wow! THIS GROSS MISTRANSLATION IS WITHOUT ANY BASIS IN FACT. Did you know that there are over 5,300 MSS and not one supports the Islamic view??
I might also point out that in John 8:58; 10:30; 12:41 and 20:28 the claims that Christ is God are to be studied.
The emphasis on the ONENESS of God is foundational/fundamental to Islam. To the Muslim, the sin of “shirk” (assigning partners to God) is serious.
Muslim scholars point out the mathematical impossibility of the Trinity 3 in 1; we see it as 1x1x1=1. In other words, we don’t add 1+1+1=3, but we multiply, not add, the ONE God in 3 persons. That is, God is TRIUNE, not TRIPLEX. His ONE essence has multiple personalities, (1 to the 3rd power=13).
In Islam, God has both unity and singularity. It is possible to have unity without singularity; there can be plurality within the unity. This is what the Trinity is all about: a plurality of persons within the unity of ONE essence, Christ can be an expression of the same nature, as God without being the same as the Father.
Geisler and Saleeb say that Muslim monotheism sacrifices plurality in an attempt to avoid duality. In avoiding the one extreme of admitting any partners to God, Islam goes to the other extreme and denies any personal plurality in God. But the belief in the Trinity, which recognizes the plurality in the unity of God, is the only way to the final elimination of dualism as a means of elimination of dualism as a means of expanding plurality alongside unity; only through this belief is the positive validation of plurality given a definite base. God stands above singular and plural. (One might want to get our booklet Answering Islam, free.)
Point #2 Continued....
JESUS WAS a Prophet and His Words should be believed by Muslims. I quoted S. 4:171, now I quote S. 5:78= “Curses were pronounced on those among the children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses.” (see Matt. 23:33 and 12:34).