Evidence From the Gospel That
Jesus Is a Servant of Allah
And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
Dr. Muḥammad Taqī ad-Dīn al-Hilālī al-Maghribī
O’ worshippers of the Messiah we have a question. We hope it would be answered by someone who knows it.
If the One true God died because of the actions of people, if they killed Him, then what does that say about that God? Was He pleased by what they did to Him? Were it so then, blessed are those who achieve His pleasure. But if He was angry with the ones who did this to Him, then their strength then overcame His strength.
Has the creation been left without an Ever-Hearing God who answers those who call upon Him? And did the seven heavens disappear once He was placed underground since He had [originally] raised them? And are the worlds free of a God who controls them since certainly His hands became bloodied [due to crucifixion].
How could the angels refrain from aiding him while they could certainly hear His cries? And how could the wood endure holding the One true God whose back was bound in place? How could the iron get so close to Him that it would tear into His flesh and cause Him pain? And how could His enemies secure His hands for such a time that would enable them to strike his back.
Did the Messiah return himself to life or did another Lord give him his life? And how amazing is a grave that confines a God and even more amazing is the womb that carried Him. It held Him there for nine months in darkness where He was sustained by nutrients in blood.
And He emerged from the womb as a small and weak newborn with his mouth wide open for breast milk. And He eats and drinks and then does what comes naturally as a result of that; is this really a god? Allah is exalted beyond the slander of the Christians and each and every one of them will be asked about how they lied.
O worshippers of the cross for what reason do you magnify it [the cross] and vilify anyone who is skeptical? And do sound intellects seek anything but to break it or burn it and surely the one who initially applied it? [That is a truly cursed device, so discard it and do not kiss it when you see it.]
Since the One true God was placed forcefully on a cross and His hands were fastened with nails; the Lord of everything in creation was humiliated upon it and yet you worship it? Certainly, you are from His enemies if you have magnified it because it contained the Lord of the servants and raised Him. And certainly the cross was lost so if we have seen its shape we are reminded of it. So why haven't you prostrated yourselves to the graves since a grave once contained the Lord within it?
So O’ worshipper of the Messiah, wake up, since this is his beginning and his end.
[Ighāthah al-Lahfān fī Maṣāyid ash-Shayṭān 2/1063-1064]
Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah
And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
First Published in Great Britain, Nov 2018CE
This publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in any retrieval system or translated into any human or computer language by any means or in any form, without the prior written permission of DuSunnah Publications.
Published by: DuSunnah Publications – Masjid Daar us Sunnah, Lime Grove, Shepherds Bush, London W12 8DE Email: Admin@DuSunnah.com Tel: 0208 749 6187 Website: www.DuSunnah.com Twitter: @DaarusSunnah
Translated by: Qasim Mutiva
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The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the translator or DuSunnah. Neither DuSunnah nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. Parts of this book have been slightly adapted in benefit of the target language.
1 | Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
Introduction
In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy;
All praise is due to the possessor of might and majesty, the only one with attributes of perfection. He neither begets, nor was He begotten and there is no equal or likeness to Him. Rather, He is the Great and Exalted one who sent His Messengers to guide the people towards the worship of Him exclusively and to warn them from the polytheism that leads them to their own destruction. And may the prayers of peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of the prophets and messengers and specifically Muḥammad the last of the prophets as well as everyone who follows them upon righteousness until the Day of Resurrection.
As to what follows: my student Mr. Mundhir Ismāʿīl ad-Durūbī al-Baghdādī who used to study engineering in one of the Universities in the United States for approximately the past four years wrote me and informed me that the Christians had rallied against him and engaged him in debate regarding matters of religion and overwhelmed him to the extent that he did not know how to respond to them.
So I have authored this treatise and titled it: ‘Evidence from the Gospel that Jesus is a servant of Allah and has no right to be worshipped’ and I have given him the numbers of the verses and chapters from the four Gospels so that he could extract the passages himself in English and defend himself against their attacks with them after having understood what I explained to him in Arabic. So he spent some time with the treatise until he completely understood it and then engaged them in discussion. Then when he discussed issues with them, he left them without recourse or responses and they were utterly defeated according to what he told me afterwards.
I will follow this treatise with another similar story which occurred in Baghdad. And the outcome of the situation in Baghdad was similar to the previously mentioned situation. The Muslim is not in need of evidence regarding the correctness of his religion and the corruption of the religion
Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped | 2
of his enemies. But instead the one who is in need of evidence are those truthful brothers who support Allah and His Messenger. And surely he was truthful, the one who said: “Islam in this time is a religion without men whereas Christianity is men without religion.”
So with their efforts, wealth, courage and patience they make the truth falsehood and falsehood the truth. And most of humanity in this time are worshippers of money and currency and expensive clothing and lavish mansions.1 the Sovereign one who is worshipped, there is nothing that deserves worship except for Him; I have relied upon Him and to Him I turn in repentance.
The Gospel’s Explicit Mention of How Jesus Is a
Servant [of Allah]
Read from the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew until verse six and seven. In these two chapters is the explicit mention that Jesus is a servant and that Allah is the Master and the Lord in accordance with His statement in the seventh verse. And certainly, it has also been written: “Jesus said unto him, 'It is written again: ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’”.” [Matthew 4:7]. And in this same chapter Satan carried the Messiah and travelled around with him from place to place. So how is it possible for the devil to carry the Lord of Mercy? Allah is exalted far beyond that. Then the devil commanded him to prostrate to him and worship him and sought to tempt him with the wealth of the worldly life. So how is it possible for the devil to address Allah with the like of this belligerence? When the devil desired this from him, Jesus responded with his
1 “The worship of wealth is similar to what is described in the ḥadīth: ‘Let the slave of Dīnār, Dirham, and Qaṭīfa and Khamīṣah perish since he is pleased when these things are given to him but ungrateful when they are not...’[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī] The scholars have explained this type of worship to be the lesser form of polytheism and not the major type of polytheism that expels anddd individual from the religion.”(Rabīʿ).
4 | Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
statement: “….For it is written: ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’” [Matthew 4:10]
Consider this tenth verse since the Messiah doesn't refer to himself as the “son of God” as far as I know. Instead, he used to refer to himself as “son of man” except in situations where he heard people refer to him as such in which case he does not reject it –according to what is written in the gospels- but there is no exclusive distinction to this.
The Intended Meaning Behind the Expression “son of God” that is Mentioned in the Gospels
In the language of the Torah and the Gospel everyone who is righteous and dutiful is referred to as “son of God”. In the ninth verse from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew it is written: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” [Matthew 5:9] and in the very same chapter there is the following statement in verse forty-five: “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…” [Matthew 5:45]
And in verse number forty-eight: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48], whilst in the first verse of the sixth chapter [we find]: “…otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”2 [Matthew 6:1].
2 [Rabīʿ]: “It should not be ruled out that referring to Allah as ‘the Father’ and referring to mankind as ‘Sons of God’ may be from the fabrications of the Jews and the Christians and their distortions and alterations to the text of the Torah and the Gospel. And from the proof of this is Allah's rejection of this practice in His statement: ‘The Jews and the Christians say: We are the children of God and His beloved ones.’ [Q 5:18] then Allah said in refutation of this claim: ‘Then say then why does He punish you for your sins? You are merely human beings from those who He created…’ [Q 5:18] And He the Exalted says: ‘The Jews said Ezra is the son of God, and the Christians said that the Messiah is the son of God…’ [Q 9:30] Then Allah said in refutation of them: ‘…that is their statement from their own mouths. They repeat the statement that earlier disbelievers said. May God curse them; how are they so deluded?’ [Q 9:30] In fact the Christians said that Allah is the Messiah [Jesus] the son of Mary. But Allah rejected this concept and declared them disbelievers in His statement: ‘Certainly, those who say God is the Messiah, the son of Mary have disbelieved...’ [Q 5:17]”
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An Example of Christian Distortion of their Book
In the twenty-first verse of the seventh chapter the word “Lord” here is translated in such a way that it implies that the Messiah is Allah. However, the one who contemplates the rest of the verse realises that it confirms his station as a worshipper. So the correct translation would be: “Not every one that saith unto me, lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 7:21]
It has already preceded that the use of the term father to refer to Allah has come in numerous places in the Bible and it isn't specific to the Messiah.
The Explicit Mention of Jesus’s Servitude in the Gospel
In verse number twenty-five from chapter eleven [we find]: “… I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”[Matthew11:25.], we also find in verse number twenty-three from the fourteenth chapter [there is]: “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.” [Matthew14:23.]
I say that if he were in fact Allah or some part of Him, then why would he pray since prayer doesn't occur except from the deficient servant who is in need of the mercy of Allah as Allah says in Sūrah Fāṭir: “O people, it is you who are in need of Allah. Allah is free of need and worthy of all praise.” [Qr 35:15], Allah says “Certainly, there is no one in the heavens or upon the earth except that he approaches the Lord of Mercy as a servant.” [Q 19:93].
In verse twenty-one through twenty-seven from chapter fifteen is the story of the Canaanite woman which contains the following issues:
1. Negation of the characteristic of mercy from Jesus if
this narration can be trusted or considered reliable.
5 | Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
2. Despicable discrimination since he would heal the children
of his own people but no one other than them even though
he had nothing to lose.
3. Nationalistic pride and arrogance and boasting of one's
lineage while criticizing others and likening them to dogs.
4. That the woman was an ignorant polytheist who
debated him and won.3
In verses sixteen and seventeen from the nineteenth chapter a young man came to the Messiah and said to him: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…” [Matthew 19:17]. And also in this verse is his acknowledgement of his place as a servant.
In verses forty-five and forty-six from chapter twenty-one when they sought to capture him but they feared from the masses because according to them, he was a prophet and in this is evidence that the numbers of believers in Jesus during his time did not believe that he was a deity or the son of God or one of three persons in the trinity. Instead, they used to believe that he was only a prophet and this is the strongest of the evidence against those who claim that he is divine if only they would reflect.
In verse number eight from chapter twenty-three [we find]: “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” [Matthew 23:8].
In this is proof that the Messiah is a servant and that the Master is one and He is Allah. And they have translated this verse into Arabic and distorted it intentionally in order to imply that the Messiah is the Master.
3 [Rabīʿ]: “The author certainly doubts the authenticity of this story. Rather, it would have been more appropriate for him to explicitly state the falsehood of this story. And from the evidence that indicates the severity of this falsehood is the statement of Allah the Exalted regarding His Prophet Jesus in which He mentions the statement of Jibrīl to Mary: “He said: thus it will be. And your Lord says it is easy for Me; and We will make him a sign to all people and a mercy from Us. This is a matter already decreed.” [Q 19:21] So we explicitly state the falsehood of this story because it involves what must be avoided; meaning the believer must avoid it not to mention a Prophet and Messenger that Allah has made a sign for the people and a mercy to them.”
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As for the English translation, then it seems to be free of this corruption. And also in this chapter in verse nine [we read]: “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” [Matthew 23:9].
From that you realise that fatherhood and sonship mean the relationship between the servant and his Lord which is confirmed in the Bible for everyone and it is not specific to the Messiah. And in verse number thirty-six from chapter twenty-four [we read]: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” [Matthew 24:36]. This is a definitive proof that the hour is known by no one except Allah. This also proves that the knowledge of the Messiah is limited like the rest of mankind and that only Allah is the one whose knowledge encompasses everything.
In verse thirty-nine from chapter twenty-six [we read] that the Messiah fell down in prostration to Allah and said: “…O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” [Matthew 26:39] If this narration is correct then certainly the individual who said it was ignorant of the ability of Allah4 and recognized that he was a worshipper of Allah and that Allah is the one who tends to his affairs.
In the seventh and eighth verses from chapter twenty-seven [we read]: “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.” [Matthew 27:7-8]. From this we know that the Bible was not written during the time of the Messiah and that it was written a long time after him from the stories and narrations that were on the people's minds.
In verse number forty-six [we read]: “And about the ninth hour
4 [Rabīʿ]: “Certainly, the author doesn't believe in the authenticity of this passage as you can see. And he has a right to feel that way and because of this he said: ‘certainly the individual who said it was ignorant of the ability of Allah…’ so he views that the one who says this is an individual who is ignorant concerning the ability of Allah so according to him it must have been other than the Prophet of Allah Jesus. Even though the expression ‘O my Father’ is from the distortion of the Christians, perhaps it was changed from the phrase: ‘O Allah’ or ‘O my Lord’ or ‘O my God’.”
7 | Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
This is from the greatest proofs that the one who uttered this speech was not from the believers in Allah, not to mention from the prophets of Allah since Allah doesn't break His promises. And His prophets are not in doubt concerning His promise.
The Foretelling of the Prophethood of Muḥammad in
the Gospel
In verses fifteen and sixteen from the fourteenth chapter in the Gospel of John [we read]: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;” [John 14:15-16]. The scholars of Islam have said that this other “comforter” is Muḥammad the Messenger of Allah and his abiding with you forever means that his legislation will endure as will the book that was sent down to him.
In verses twenty-six and twenty-seven from the fifteenth chapter [we read] the words: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto5 you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” [John 15:26-27]
From the fifth to the eighth verse from the sixteenth chapter [we read]: “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
5 [Rabīʿ]: “What is apparent from the statement: ‘whom I will send unto you’ is that it is distorted from ‘whom Allah will send to you’ And this is supported by the statement of Allah the Exalted: “O children of Israel, certainly I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming the Torah that came before me and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me whose name is Aḥmad.” [Q 61:6]”
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you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” [John 16:8] And from verse twelve until fourteen [we read]: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” [John 16:13]
In verse sixteen [we read]: “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.” [John 16:16], the scholars of Islam have said that these characteristics that have been mentioned by the Messiah regarding the one who will come after him do not completely apply to anyone except for Muḥammad the Messenger of Allah. And certainly the individual who was foretold about in the Bible was referred to as ‘Paraclete’. This name has been removed by later translators and replaced sometimes with the term ‘spirit of truth’ and other times with ‘Comforter’ and at other times with ‘Holy ghost’ even though the term (meaning Paraclete) is a Greek word that means the one who is praised often which is a definition that can be applied directly to the [Arabic] name Muḥammad.
More Evidence from the Gospels that Jesus
is a Servant of Allah
In the third verse from the seventeenth chapter [we read]: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3].
In verse twenty-eight until thirty from the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Mark and what follows it [we read]: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear,
9 | Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength...” [Mark 12:28-30], this was the first commandment. In the thirty-second verse [there is] the following: “And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he ”6 [Mark 12:32] and in verse thirty-four [there is]: “…he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God…” [Mark 12:34]
I say that the Messiah has bore witness that Allah is a single god and there is nothing worthy of worship besides Him and that whoever worships Him exclusively, then this individual is close to the kingdom of God. So the person who commits polytheism or makes Him one of three is thus far from the kingdom of God and thus the enemy of God.
In the thirty-second verse from the thirteenth chapter [we read]: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” [Mark 13:32]. I say the like of this has preceded in the Gospel of Matthew and it is exactly what has been mentioned in the Qurʾān that no one knows when the hour will be established except Allah. And with this the servitude of Jesus is confirmed and it would be impossible for him to be divine and the myth of three persons deteriorates.
In the sixteenth verse from the twentieth chapter of the gospel of John [we read]: “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; and to my God, and
your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.”7 [John 20:16-18].
6 [Rabīʿ ] In this passage is the explicit mention from the Prophet of Allah Jesus that Allah the Lord is One and a single deity and this invalidates all of the previously mentioned fabrications of the Christians.”
7 [Rabīʿ ] “And I have pointed out on more than one occasion that the term father and son as it relates to Jesus is certainly from the distortion of the Christians and we have presented the textual evidence for this in the beginning of our comments.”
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I say that the Messiah bore witness that Allah was his God and their God and that there was no difference between him and them in terms of servitude and worship. So whoever claims that the Messiah is a god has belied the Messiah himself as well as all of the prophets and messengers.
Concluding With Evidence That the Story of the Crucifixion Was Fabricated
The first proof: The Bible bears witness to the fact that Jesus used to be well known amongst them. He used to offer sermons in the al-Aqṣá Mosque which they used to call the Temple of Solomon so there is no need for the Jews to pay thirty pieces of silver for someone to find him.
The second proof: Certainly, they have narrated that the twelfth disciple Judas (Iscariot) took thirty silver pieces from the Jews in order to show them where he is. Then once he showed them where he was and they arrested him, he returned the silver, regretted his action and freed himself from what they had done before hanging himself. All of this supposedly occurred within a period which was less than twenty-four hours; and certainly there are obvious contradictions here.
The third proof [and it is the most important]: In fact, this proof by itself is sufficient in proving the baseless nature of this story because when the Jews judged that he should be executed and they sought after the approval of the ruler Pontius Pilate and they sent Jesus to him; in verse number eleven from the thirteenth chapter from the Gospel of Matthew the ruler asked Jesus if he was from the kings of the Jews. Jesus responded saying: “Thou sayest.” [Matthew 27:11] Then when the leaders and prominent religious figures from the Jews complained that he disbelieved and said concerning the religion what justified his execution Pontius Pilate asked him: “Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?” [Matthew 27:13]. But Jesus refused to speak or say anything even a single word.
The Christians will interpret this as though he sought to be cruci11
| Evidence From the Gospel That Jesus Is a Servant of Allah And Has No Right to Be Worshipped
fied in order to become a blood sacrifice for the people and forgive them of their sins. But then why would he ask Allah for the cup to be passed from him (meaning his execution)? Why did he shout while he was being crucified: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Matthew 27:46].
How could he remain silent and not clarify the truth even if it didn't involve him seeking to vindicate himself and his followers and justify the truth? And he possessed an eloquent tongue which enabled him to offer long sermons filled with criticism and rebuke for the scholars of the Jews. No intelligent person can believe that. And if the story of the crucifixion and blood sacrifice is debunked, then everything that the Christians have built the foundation of their doctrine upon is destroyed.
The Zealousness of the Christians and their Animosity
Towards the Muslims
What I read in the honourable al-Mīthāq newspaper regarding the partiality of the Christians and their unreasonably biased view of Islam from a crooked eye that opposes what has been seen and flips it head over heels which reminds me of something similar that happened to me.
From this was when I was a professor in India in the College Nadwah al-ʿUlamāʾ due to the invitation of Mr. Sulaymān an-Nadawī and Dr. ʿAbdul-ʿAlī – may Allah have mercy on both of them, and I thought that I must learn a foreign language since no one can truly become cultured without doing so in this time. And the popular language in India is English so I began to learn the English language from my students and other than them. Then it became apparent to me while I was still a beginner that the English language of the people of India was not consistent with the pronunciation of the English and their level of eloquence. So I went to a Christian mission that was run by a Canadian and I convinced him to give me lessons in the English language and that I would pay him to do so. Then he said to me I will not take payment but you should consistently attend the gatherings for admonition that I give in the mission which are
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offered in the English language. So then I said, I am still a beginner so I won't understand your admonition. Then he said to me attend and I will give you three lessons every week for an hour and a half for each lesson.
So then I attended his admonitions and he was a middle aged man who had reached fifty years of age but he was not really active nor was he keen on calling people to his religion. Instead, he was striving to make a living and no one really accepted his call except for very few and no one really attended his admonitions except for three individuals, his wife who was the fourth and I became the fifth. Then once the new Gregorian year arrived and before that the holiday that is called Christmas he made announcements in the newspaper that he would present the story of Jesus () the son of Mary’s life and his biography with a slide projector and many people attended until the mission became full and he invited another pastor to help him with the admonition. So they alternated offering admonition from the podium and explained the pictures until the celebration was over. Then the second pastor attacked me, and he was a younger man from the United States of America whose name was Smith and this occurred in the year 1349AH which corresponds with 1930 of the Christian calendar.
Responding to a Christian Doubt
So Smith said to me: “Are you a Muslim?”
I said: “Yes.”
Then he said to me: “Surely Muḥammad did not know history!”
So I said to him: “And how would you know that?”
Then he said: “Because he said in the Qurʾān in Sūrah Maryam: ‘O sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man and your mother was not unchaste!’ [Q 19:27]”
So then I said to him: “You have not really acquired much knowledge of the tricks of the Christians and their enmity towards Islam like that of George Sale who was the first to translate the Noble Qurʾān into English. And he said in his commentary of this verse: ‘Several Christian
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writers think the Koran stands convicted of a manifest falsehood in this particular, but I am afraid the Mohammedans may avoid the charge…’ ” This is because none of the Muslims explain the Aaron mentioned in this verse to be the brother of Moses such that it could be said that between the time of Moses and his brother Aaron and the time of Jesus and his mother were many generations.
He said: “Mr. Aḥmad Khān the founder of Aligarh Islamic University recognized this objection.”
So I said to him: “As for me then I don't recognize Mr. Aḥmad Khān nor do I know him. And I have certainly heard this response from the tongue of one of your predecessors who harboured animosity towards Islam so there is really nothing more for you to say.”
Then he said to me: “There is a contradiction in the Qurʾān since it says in Sūrah al-Māʾidah: ‘And let the followers of the Gospel judge by what Allah has sent down therein.’ [Q 5:47] And in Sūrah Āli ʿImrān [there is]: ‘And whoever desires other than Islām as a religion, then it will never be accepted from him and in the hereafter he will be from amongst the losers.’ [Q 3:85] So how can we reconcile between these two passages?”
I thought for a moment and then responded with inspiration from Allah: “Before we address this objection, we must think about the conflict that existed between the Prophet and the Christians and exactly what was the nature of it?”
He said: “Tell me.”
So I said: “It was concerning Jesus the son of Mary since the Christians from Najrān came to the Prophet and accused him of belittling their esteemed associate. Then he inquired: ‘Who is your esteemed associate?’ They said: ‘Jesus the son of Mary.’ He responded: ‘And how have I belittled him?’ They said: ‘You have denied that he is the son of Allah and you have said that he is human like the rest of mankind.’ So he discussed this with them and established the evidence for them but they stubbornly opposed it and then Allah sent down two verses in Sūrah Āli ʿImrān regarding the matter of Jesus: “Certainly, the example of Jesus is like the examEvidence
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ple of Adam. He created him from dust and then He said to him be, and he was. This is the truth from your Lord, so do not be one of those who doubt.” [Q 3:59-60]. So when they insisted upon remaining obstinate and claimed that he was the son of Allah and that he was one of three, Allah commanded him to invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars. Then once he set out to invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars they feared that he would want to invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars and thus reconciled with him. It is regarding this conflict that Allah said: “And let the followers of the Gospel judge by what Allah has sent down therein.” [Q 5:47] And the story of the delegation from Najrān to the Prophet and their offering of Christian prayer in his Mosque with his permission is mentioned in the books of prophetic narrations (ḥadīth) and history.”
Then Smith said: “However, the Gospels indicate that he is the son of Allah and one of three.”
So I said to him: “I have not read the Gospel but I believe with certainty that the Gospel is true and from Allah and what is from Allah contains no contradiction. And it must be consistent with the Qurʾān regarding the monotheistic worship of Allah and the fact that Jesus the son of Mary was a servant of Allah.”
Then he said to me: “This is your condition. Zealousness prevents you from reading the Torah and Gospel. As for me, then I have the Qurʾān in three languages.”
Then I said to him: “As for the Gospel in Arabic, then its language is archaic and not understandable. And as for English, then I study it in order to read it.”
Then he said to me: “Promise me that you will read it and I will order you a copy from London which will arrive in a month.”
So I promised him and once the copy arrived he wrote me a note with it in English which contained the following: “I ask Allah to give you through this book many blessings.” I began to read it and I extracted the words that I didn’t understand from dictionaries and then I read it a third time. I mentioned those issues in a small treatise I titled ‘Ḥawāmish
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Shattá ʿalá Injīl Mattá’ and I published this treatise in the magazine ash-Shabān al-Muslimīn which is circulated in al-Baṣrah and was published by our friend al-Ḥājj Ṭa Ha al-Fayyād.
When I informed the prince Shakīb Arsalān of these notes he asked me about them and so I said they were lost at the printers and he was sadly disappointed that they were lost and I am now prepared to author a similar set of notes or perhaps an even better set. However, many of our Muslim brothers do not place much emphasis on defending their religion and likewise do not help those who wish to defend the religion; in fact some desert them.
Concerning people like this, the following lines of poetry were written: “If I was from the tribe of Māzin my camel would not be considered lawful by the people of al-Laqīṭah from the tribe of Dhuhl ibn Shaybān. [They are] a people when evil arises, their fangs come out and they rush towards it altogether and individually. They don’t ask their brother when he calls upon them regarding proof for the reasons they were called upon. [Due to extreme weakness my tribe] they reward the oppressors who oppressed them with forgiveness and reward the evildoers with good. If only my tribe were a people who when they mount their horses they strike aggressively as well trained cavalry and horsemen.”
Once the book reached me, I responded to Smith with thanks. Then once I read it and understood its meanings I wrote him another note and said to him in it: “Certainly, Allah answered your supplication and gave me through this book many blessings. However, it opposes what you are upon and invalidates it since you said to me during our discussion such & such. Yet I found in the book in chapter such & such verse such & such that what you said was incorrect and that the Gospel affirms what the Qurʾān affirms regarding the monotheistic worship of Allah exclusively and the humanity of Jesus and his station as a servant of Allah with the utmost clarity in many different places.”
I swear that this young pastor was sincere in his call and extremely overzealous. And every time I said to him that this opposes the intellect
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he would respond saying to me that the intellect is deficient and that the speech of Allah is perfect and that Allah knows what we do not know.
And I visited him once in his Mission before the arrival of the book and I found that he would not eat meat whether he was by himself or in front of the people. So he used to order his cook to prepare for him food that was vegetarian and prepare for his wife and son food with meat so I spoke to him about it.
So he said to me: “Certainly the pagans that I invite to enter into Christianity severely hate eating meat so I am compromising for them. And I have left eating meat for the sake of the Messiah.”
So I said to him: “But they don't see you in your home?”
Then he said: “However, I cannot lie to them and claim that I don’t eat meat while I really do.” For this reason his call influenced them and I saw thirty men with their wives and children with him conferring with him regarding the building of a church and they built it with their own hands in spite of their extreme poverty as opposed to that other pastor who used to teach me English in the city of Lucknow since no one believed in him because he himself was not a true believer and sincerity is the secret of success even as it relates to falsehood.
Responding to a Second Christian Doubt
From the things that callers to Christianity often misunderstand in this time is that they say to young impressionable Muslims that the Qurʾān has guaranteed for us victory and might since it says in Sūrah Āli ʿImrān: “When Allah said: ‘O Jesus, I will take you and raise you up unto Myself and purify you from the disbelievers. And I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection.”[Q 3:55].
A Moroccan youth informed me that a priest in Rabat had furnished rooms that the Moroccan youth would reside in for free in order to bring them closer to him and test them in their religion. And this priest
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said to them: “If you see that the Christians are mighty, wealthy, strong, happy and conquerors in every land then do not be surprised by that since the Qurʾān promised them this.” And then he mentioned the previously mentioned verse and they believed him and there wasn't a single one of them amongst them who knew the meaning of the verse.
So I said to him: “He has certainly lied to you and tricked you. If the matter was truly as he described it the Christians of Najrān would have been victorious. They had one hundred and twenty thousand fighters, yet they preferred to reach an accord with the Prophet and pay the jizyah.
If what he said was true the Prophet would not have been victorious in the invasion of Tabūk and Rome would not have feared him and the thought of fighting him. And if what he said were true the Roman Byzantines from the lands of ash-Shām which are now referred to as Syria would never have been defeated and they left it after having ruled over it for a long time.
And if what he said were true the companions of the Messenger of Allah would not have been victorious over the people of Egypt who were Christian. And if what he said were true the people of Morocco (the Moors) would not have been victorious against Spain and Southern France and would not have ruled Spain along with the Arabs for eight hundred years.
If what he said was true, the Christians would not have been defeated in the battles of Constantinople which was conquered by the Muslims and it would have remained in the hands of their descendants until today.
The meaning of the verse: ‘And I will make those who follow you…’ is a reference to the Muslim monotheist believers in Allah who believe in all of the Messengers and the revealed scriptures. And the expression: ‘…superior to those who disbelieved…’ refers to those who do not believe in Allah or worship Him with monotheism or those who disbelieve in some of the revealed scriptures or some of the Prophets . So the verse is a proof for the Muslims of this time and not for their enemies.
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Then the young man was amazed and he was in the midst of achieving clarity. Most of the Muslims in this time can be described with the following line of poetry: ‘The critics claim that I am certainly in trouble and they are truthful however my trouble is that it doesn't reveal itself.’
It is amazing that whenever they read the Qurʾān they never do so with the intention of recognizing the truth. Instead, they read it to look for errors according to them then they say for example: ‘Where did Muḥammad get this story from?’ So they continue to search. And if they find a familiar story in the Torah or Gospel or the Talmud, they rejoice in the strongest way and think that they have become triumphant with the goal that they are continuously pursuing. So they say definitively that it is from those other books and completely disregard the many differences between the two stories or legislations.”
Responding to Another Christian Doubt
An example of this can be found in the story of Noah, since they state definitively that the Qurʾān took the story from the Torah in spite of the fact that at the time when it was sent down, there wasn't a single Jew living in Mecca. And those who knew how to read and write were very few in number. And there was no relationship between them and the Prophet except hatred and animosity. The Prophet himself did not know how to read or write and his enemies used to watch him so if they saw a literate person visit him or saw him visit a literate person, they would criticize him for it. And the story of Noah in the Torah is narrated in a way that is descriptive and in a manner that described the ark, its length and width and height.
And the heretics have taken what is in the Torah from the description of the parts of the earth and its geography as a reason to attack its authenticity and they have not found anything in the Qurʾān that would make it a target for their criticism.
Then you read the story in the Qurʾān and then read the similar story in the Torah and you will find that the difference between the two is
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substantial. The style of the Qurʾānic narrative is nurturing and attractive. It weaves in and out of admonition, warning and glad tidings and it is far removed from the styles of the speech of men while in the Torah they are the opposite of this. If they do not find for the Qurʾānic story any precedent in the Torah or the Gospel or the Talmud like the story of Luqmān, they say it is from the fables of the Arabs and their legends.
As for when it comes in the Torah and Gospels, then it must be written as if it were written in gold (the Bible) such that they make whoever reads these stories out to be someone confronted with a matter that is definitive and thus cannot be changed. However, all of that does not deter the enemies of the Church since they certainly still severely criticize the books of the Jews and Christians.
From the Partiality of the People of Ignorance and Disbelief Against Islam and their Hostility Towards it
I was in the University of Bonn as both a student and a lecturer and there was a student who was there who used to be called ‘Jacoby’ who was half Jewish and this is the term that Hitler used to refer to the person for whom one of his parents was Jewish while the other was German.
The half-Jews experienced things in a time when the noose was tightened around the Jews in terms of freedoms that the Jews could not experience. So the rulings that were applied to the Jews like the inability to study in German schools did not apply to half-Jews but most of the administrators of these schools used to apply it to them anyways out of hatred and contempt for them but not due to a law. But those who were lenient from amongst them accepted them. The head of the Oriental Department in the University of Bonn was from those who were lenient. I did not initiate any hostilities with this individual. I used to permit him to attend my lessons in Arabic and Islamic studies. However, he initiated hostilities with me for no other reason except my being an Arab. The acting head of the department was a Catholic instructor whose name was ‘Hoffnung’ and he
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hated me for two reasons:
1. The first of them was because we differed over a classroom. The prior supervisor had ruled in favor of me and against him and this remained with him.
2.The second was that he was a Professor of Hebrew yet the stu dent Jacobi was his teacher because he knew Hebrew better than him because he was half-Jewish.
3.And there was a third reason which was that Catholics during
the time of the Nazi regime used to identify with the Jews. So
Jacobi sensed that he was able to harm me and thus began to do so.
From the examples of this was that we were once both looking through the archives when Jacobi took the Qurʾān and placed it on the table and said to those who were present: “Look, this is the speech of Allah!” And he began to laugh so that they would laugh along with him but it did not provoke anyone and none of them laughed along with him.
I stood up and took a stack that included the Torah and the Gospel over which it was written in German ‘The Holy Bible’. As for the Qurʾān, then the Qurʾān of Muḥammad was written over it. So I placed the stack of the Torah and the Gospel near the Qurʾān then I looked at him and said: “O Jew, if this is the speech of Allah (while pointing to the Torah and the Gospel), then this is also the speech of Allah (while pointing to the Qurʾān). We are neither children nor ignorant laymen. We are students in Universities who are learning how to conduct research and verify. So these two books were brought by two individuals from mankind just as this one was as well. So why must we say definitively about these two books that they are both the speech of Allah whereas in the case of this book it must be a lie against Allah while the manner in which they were all conveyed to us was the same? This is the weak logic.”
So then Jacobi said to me: “I know what you're saying. I am a Christian (a Protestant) and definitely not a Jew in any way. Certainly, the law will punish you for such an accusation.” So I said to him: “If you're not a Jew, then I am a Jew.” Then those who were present laughed while he
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was unable to make them laugh at me. Rather, the tables had turned and Allah had reversed the tide on him and Hoffnung in the worst way. And he used to reside in Cologne, where an English bomb fell on his home and destroyed it and killed everyone in it. And if we said a home in the larger cities, it is as if we say a village in our land since surely its inhabitants are in the hundreds.
Another example of his hostilities towards me materialized when he assumed an administrative position in the department and refused the Doctorate proposal that had been suggested for me by his predecessor and for which I had spent over a year working on it under his supervision. So then Hoffnung comes and claims that the topic of the thesis had been written by an English scholar from Cambridge. So I said to him: “I have no knowledge of that Englishman's work and he did not write it in German which is the language in which I have written my thesis.” All of the professors from the Oriental department rejected his assertion, and while this was occurring, I received an invitation to the German Radio station in Berlin by way of the director of Radio Cologne for consultation regarding the establishment of an Arabic German radio station. So I transferred to Berlin as both a student and lecturer and proofreader or linguistics reference as it is called in German for the radio station. I completed my studies at the hands of Professor Hartmann and thus Allah spared me from the evil of Hoffnung and his companion Jacobi.
Issue: Regarding the Christian claim that Jesus was crucified
This was from the partiality and zealousness of the people of the various religions one unto the other. And I still have several anecdotes regarding this and from amongst them is the time when one of the young brothers who attend my lessons and admonitions; he was an engineer for the Directorate of Endowments in Baghdad (I think his name is Taḥsīn) and his father's name was undoubtedly ʿAbdul-Qādir. And I think this occurred in 1955 or 1956. He said to me: “Certainly, my father works in one of the
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governmental positions alongside a Christian co-worker. This Christian would always attack Islam in order to anger ʿAbdul-Qādir.
One day, he said to him: ‘I have never seen a people with less intelligence than you Muslims.’ So he [ʿAbdul-Qādir] said to him: ‘And how is that?’ Then he said: ‘You people claim that the Jews did not kill the Messiah while the Jews have all agreed that they did kill him. And we the Christians with all of our various denominations have agreed upon this. And all of the sects in the world accept this and believe it because it is a narration that is so prevalent it could not be a lie yet you reject it. So you people are like the one who pounds his head against the wall.’” So the father of Taḥsīn did not know how to respond to him and returned to his home upset and downtrodden. When dinner was presented to him, he refused to eat and told his family the story. So Taḥsīn sought me out in order to offer him proof of the lies of the Christians and the Jews and truthfulness of the Muslims from the Gospel that they claim to believe in. So I answered him with the following issues:
In the Gospel of Matthew in chapters twenty-six and twenty-seven, the Jewish Rabbis reached the judgment regarding Jesus the son of Mary that he disbelieved and deserved to be executed according to the legislation of the Torah. Their narration of the story of his execution supports their claim that this is falsehood and this can be summarised in several points that the Christians who attack Islam must be able to answer:
1. Did those who arrested Jesus (according to their claim) know his identity or not? The Gospel of Matthew bears witness that they did not know who he was. [See: Matthew 27:11,
Matthew 27:19, and Matthew 27:22-24].
2. Did this occur during the day or at night? The Gospel of Matthew says this occurred at night. [See: Matthew 26:34 and see also John 18:1-12].
3. Who was the one who brought them to him? The Gospel of Matthew says that it was his twelfth disciple Judas Iscariot. [See: Matthew26:14-15].
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4. Did he do this for free or was there some financial motivation? The Gospel of Matthew says that he showed them where he was for a bounty the value of which was thirty pieces of silver. [See: Matthew 26:14-15 and Matthew 27:3.]
5. What was the state of the Messiah on that night? The Gospel of Mat thew says that he was worried and feared for himself and that he supplicated to Allah saying: “…O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me...” It is impossible for a
believer to say this not to mention a Prophet of Allah. This is be cause the believers have faith that Allah is able to do all things. [Matthew 26:39].
6. What was the state of the twelve disciples? The Gospel of
Matthew says that they were overcome by sleep on that night even though their teacher (according to you) was distressed. [See: Matthew 26:40-44].
7. Was Jesus pleased with their situation? The Gospel of Matthew says that he was not pleased and that he would go to them and wake them up and say get up and supplicate to Allah and ask him for wellbeing in the face of trials and tribulations. Then he would come to them again and find them sleeping and then wake them saying to them something similar. This condition is not
consistent with students that are dutiful. And if this were the case and they were students of a righteous scholar then how much more so in the case of students of the Messiah.
8. Did they come to his aid when the crowds converged upon him? The Gospel of Matthew says that they abandoned him and ran.
9. Did Jesus maintain a good opinion of his students on that night?
The Gospel of Matthew says that he informed them that the would
abandon him . And when one of them said to him; and it was
Peter: “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” The Messiah said to him: “That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” The Gospel of Matthew said it and so
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it was.
10. How did the crowds converge upon him? The Gospel of Matthew says that they approached him with swords and staffs and that
after Judas Iscariot showed them where he was, they seized him and took him to the leader of the Rabbis who judged that he should be executed. And the other Jewish Rabbis agreed with this
ruling and the crowd took him while spitting in his face and
beating him. After that they stripped him of his clothing and
made him put on a red garment and placed a crown of thorns
on his head and ridiculed him saying you are the king of Israel
as you claim and mocked him in the worst way.
11. Who determined that he should be killed? The Gospel of Matthew says that the Roman Pontius Pilate who was the Governor of Pal estine at that time did .
12. When the crowds approached the Governor with that man and they informed him that the Jewish Rabbis had applied the judgment of the Torah to him and that he should be crucified, did he believe them automatically without verification? The Gospel of Matthew says that he did not believe them. In fact, he even asked the accused if what
they were saying was correct. But he remained silent and did
not say anything. And he repeated his question but the man
remained silent and stayed silent rather than professing the truth
even though it was an obligation upon him –even if he wasn't
a Prophet or Messenger-to profess the truth and reject the
claims of the Jews. Then his wife was sent to him and she said: “Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have
suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.”
And the Gospel said that he used to offer long admonitions amongst the Jews wherein he would berate them and rebuke
them in a way that reached the limits of insulting and defaming. So why then would he remain silent on this day when the Gover nor asked him if he is a person who desires to support the truth?
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13. How did his crucifixion occur? The Gospel of Matthew says that he was crucified between two thieves and that they both in sulted him and said to him if you are truthful then save yourself.
14. And then the major point of contention, what did he say when he was crucified according to your claim? The Gospel of Matthew says that they heard him say in a loud voice: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This is an Aramaic term that means: “God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This is disbelief according to all of the
people of the religions. And whoever ascribes this to a Prophet is
a disbeliever in all of the revealed religions.
So Taḥsīn went to his father and gave him the questions and said to him: “Dr. al-Hilālī our teacher says that you should say to him: ‘If you were really truthful regarding what you claim, then answer these questions in a way that is intellectually acceptable and would be pleasing to those who are fair and just. And if you desire a discussion that is longer than this then I welcome it.’”
Then the father of Taḥsīn took the questions and after reading them over and over with his son he became happy and joyful. He then went to the Christian and gave the questions to him. Then when he read them, he dropped the paper from his hand and his remorse was apparent and he promised ʿAbdul-Qādir that he would not continue to attack Islam.
This is what comes to mind from the things I have read in the Gospel of Matthew so long ago. And all praise is due to Allah and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger of Alla, his family and everyone who follows him upon goodness until the Day of Judgment.
