Questions on the Road to Islam: God’s Prophets?
QOn my way to Islam, I am having several doubts, and I would like to clarify them if possible.
1-The Prophet Muhammad was sent to all mankind, and, Jesus, only to the people of Israel. But in the Injil, in Mark, it says: ” And he said to them, Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. ”
2-If Muhammad corrected what was misrepresented in respect to what Jesus taught, then God would only decide to send the Prophet after these mistakes made by the disciples. But if so, how do you explain the prophecies about Muhammad in the Bible? If God knew the word would be misrepresented, would He allow failure? I thank you in advance,hope my questions are going to be answered, and i’ll become a true Muslim.
ANSWER
Professor Shahul Hameed
Short Answer: Muslims accept Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and all other prophets mentioned in the Bible as God’s own prophets; and they consider Muhammad as the Last of the Prophets in this line. All these prophets gave their respective peoples basically the same divine message and taught the same religion of God. Whatever differences that exist among these religions today are owing to bad preservation of the earlier scriptures, errant translations, priestly interpolations, exegetical differences, and deliberate distortions by selfish handlers and custodians of the older scriptures. But God Himself has guaranteed us that the Final and the Complete Scripture will be protected from all kinds of interpolations and errors. For that reason, the Quran is the only pure and perfect Book of God existing in the world.
………….
Peace be with you brother,
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God’s Prophets
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The Beauty of Free Will
The Jewish Bible, the Christian Bible and the Quran share a large number of basic concepts that form the foundation of the Religion of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Muslims (literally “those who submit to the Will of God”) believe that the above-mentioned scriptures were revealed to mankind by the One and Only God of the universe, called Yahweh in the Bible and Allah in the Quran.
To them believing in the One God and in all the scriptures revealed by the same One God – Allah, as well as in all the prophets sent by Him is a fundamental duty.
Thus Muslims accept Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and all other prophets mentioned in the Bible as God’s own prophets; and they consider Muhammad as the Last of the Prophets in this line.
All these prophets gave their respective peoples basically the same divine message and taught the same religion of God.
Whatever differences that exist among these religions today are owing to bad preservation of the earlier scriptures, errant translations, priestly interpolations, exegetical differences, and deliberate distortions by selfish handlers and custodians of the older scriptures.
But God Himself has guaranteed us that the Final and the Complete Scripture will be protected from all kinds of interpolations and errors. For that reason, the Quran is the only pure and perfect Book of God existing in the world.
God has decreed that the Quran will be the final Criterion of Truth, on the basis of which all doubts about religion and spirituality could be cleared and all points of difference settled.
Prophet Muhammad
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Let us come specifically to the questions you have raised:
– “The Prophet Muhammad was sent to all mankind, and, Jesus, only to the people of Israel. But in the Injil, in Mark, it says:” And he said to them, Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.”
Answer: The verse you have quoted from Mark belongs to the last part of his gospel. It is interesting to note that a number of Christian scholars of the Bible have stated that the last part of Mark’s Gospel as it appears in the present-day Bible was added later. Read the following:
“Although the vast majority of later Greek manuscripts contain Mark 16:9-20, the Gospel of Mark ends at verse 8 in two of the oldest and most respected manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.
As the oldest manuscripts are known to be the most accurate because there were fewer generations of copies from the original autographs (i.e., they are much closer in time to the originals), and the oldest manuscripts do not contain vv. 9-20, we can conclude that these verses were added later by scribes.
The King James Version of the Bible, as well as the New King James, contains vv. 9-20 because the King James used medieval manuscripts as the basis of its translation. Since 1611, however, older and more accurate manuscripts have been discovered and they affirm that vv. 9-20 were not in the original Gospel of Mark.
In addition, the fourth-century church fathers Eusebius and Jerome noted that almost all Greek manuscripts available to them lacked vv. 9–20…” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Mark-16-9-20.html)
The foregoing means that we cannot accept the verse you quoted as authentic. And what is more, this verse is contrary to what Jesus had taught the disciples earlier:
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Emphasis added)
(Matthew 15:24).
This verse contradicts the idea that Jesus asked his disciples to “go into all the world, (and) preach the gospel to every creature.” And he had also commanded the disciples in particular not to go to other nations, but only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel:
“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-6)
This clearly shows that the mission of Jesus was just to the House of Israel and not to the whole world.
If God knew the word would be misrepresented, would He allow failure?
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– If Muhammad corrected what was misrepresented in respect to what Jesus taught, then God would only decide to send the Prophet after these mistakes made by the disciples. But if so, how do you explain the prophecies about Muhammad in the Bible? If God knew the word would be misrepresented, would He allow failure?
Answer: God did not create man as a perfectly pure and holy creature. Nor did He mean this world to be a heaven.
Certainly He has created a heaven; and that is beyond this world and it is meant for us humans who, despite their imperfections, strive their utmost to live a life of submission to God on earth.
The stakes have always been really high; but do we choose the rosy path that leads to hell or the steep one that leads to paradise?
The life of this world is a test for us. We make mistakes, we ignorantly slip away from the Straight Path of Truth or consciously choose to succumb to the temptations of this temporal world, brushing aside the reminders about the path of eternal peace in heaven.
The errors of the disciples of prophets, their misinterpretations and misguidance are part of the imperfections of this world. But those who wisely rely on God and His Guidance do not fall into the pitfalls set by the Devil. They do not stray away from the Straight Path of God. We should not forget that God is All-Knowing and Wise. Everything happens according to His Will and Plan. There is no need for Him to wait and see how things turn out. God can forestall or preempt events as nobody else can.
And God has given us the faculties of reason, discretion, imagination, memory and so forth. And He has given us the freedom to use them for our own good if we want. The choice is ours. And if we follow our own gullible whims and fancies rather than the wisdom of Divine Guidance, the fault is ours and we have to pay the penalty for it.
All through the past, God has been sending His prophets with His Guidance; but only a section of the people followed them. Others went astray. God is ever watchful. He knows everything and everything happens according to His plan. But you ask: “If God knew the word would be misrepresented, would He allow failure?”
The answer is that in the course of this test, God does not interfere continuously to prevent mistakes and failures. That is not part of His plan. Because, He has appointed man as His ambassador on earth with the capacity to work for success. If man does not use that capacity properly and opt for a path of his own destruction, it is his failure. Not that God doesn’t know about it. It is that He doesn’t deliberately meddle in the test He has given.
Dear Brother, our request to you is to prayerfully think over the Christian creeds and the Muslim creeds, examine the sources of those creeds and come to a conclusion. Pray to the One and Only God Who created us to guide you to the Truth. And insha Allah (God willing) you will be a good Muslim.
And Allah knows best.
I hope this helps.
Salam and please keep in touch.
