The author of the majority of the books of the New Testament, Saint Paul, says: “For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto His glory; why am I still judged as a sinner?” Romans 3:7 (cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:10)(cid:10)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:13)(cid:13)(cid:13)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:14)(cid:14)(cid:14)(cid:14)(cid:15)(cid:15)(cid:15)(cid:15) (cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:12)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8)(cid:8) i What Did Jesus Really Say? OPEN LICENSE The author of this book hereby grants an open license to all interested parties to reproduce this publication in any quantity desired, and to distribute it to any parties they may desire, so long as said reproduction remains a faithful and complete copy of the original without addition, deletion, modification, or any other changes whatsoever unless explicitly authorized in writing by the author. The author also reserves the right to deny this open license to any parties whom he deems have abused it in any way. Any party or parties believed to have abused this privilege will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The author also forbids any and all parties from making monetary gain from this book with the exception of recouping the costs of printing, shipment, and general administrative costs alone with no profit whatsoever unless explicitly authorized in writing by the author. The author reserves the right to deny this open license to any and all parties he wishes without justification or notification if he deems this necessary. In other words, if you have honorable intentions then you have nothing to fear. Copyright and ISBN number filed and pending (cid:211)Copyright 1995, Misha’al Al-Kadhi The great messenger of God, Jesus, says: “And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 iii What Did Jesus Really Say? The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Do not over-praise me as the Christians over-praised Jesus the son of Mary. I am His slave, so say: ‘Allah's slave and messenger’.” Narrated by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim v What Did Jesus Really Say? Table of Contents Preface...........................................................................................................................................................8 Goal of this book.........................................................................................................................................14 Follow this chart from Christianity to Islam............................................................................................21 Table of Definitions and Abbreviations.........................................................................23 Chapter 1 Christian-Muslim Dialogue...........................................................24 1.1 Christian Perspective.......................................................................................................28 1.2 Muslim Perspective..........................................................................................................33 1.2.1 'Blind faith' or 'Prove all things'?......................................................................................................37 1.2.2 The 'Trinity', or 1+1+1=1.................................................................................................................38 1.2.2.1 From the Bible's standpoint............................................................................................................38 1.2.2.2 From the Qur'an's standpoint..........................................................................................................44 1.2.2.3 From a logical standpoint...............................................................................................................45 1.2.3 The 'Son of God'...............................................................................................................................48 1.2.4 'Worship Me! '..................................................................................................................................61 1.2.5 Historical origin of the 'Trinity' myth...............................................................................................64 1.2.6 The systematic destruction of the law of Jesus.................................................................................73 1.2.7 Christianity’s True Founder, Paul, Admits Fabrication....................................................................76 1.2.8 What is a 'Trinity'?............................................................................................................................89 1.2.9 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................91 Chapter 2 Contradictions in the Bible...........................................................93 2.1 Christian scholars recognize contradictions.................................................................93 2.2 A small sampling of these contradictions....................................................................102 2.3 Did mankind tamper with the Old Testament?.........................................................122 2.4 When is a book an ‘inspired’ book?............................................................................130 Chapter 3 Ancient Pagan parallels to Christianity.................................................135 Chapter 4 Jesus' second coming and the myth of 'Grace'.....................................144 Chapter 5 Various Miscellanea.....................................................................147 5.1 A Biblical Picture of God..............................................................................................147 5.2 My grandfather did it (or: Is King David Going to Hell?)........................................150 5.3 Poison yourself or be damned......................................................................................151 5.4 Who's will is stronger?.................................................................................................151 5.5 Who bears the sin?........................................................................................................152 5.6 Like Jesus prayed..........................................................................................................156 5.7 Like Jesus' greeting.......................................................................................................156 5.8 Black slaves and Christian misinterpretation of the Bible........................................157 5.9 Melchizedek, A god greater than Jesus?.....................................................................158 5.10 The Ultimate Test of Jesus...........................................................................................161 6 What did Jesus really say? 5.11 Who Was ‘Immanuel’?.................................................................................................163 5.12 Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani...........................................................................................165 5.13 Hiding the Miracles.......................................................................................................166 5.14 Was ‘Christ’ a ‘Christian’?..........................................................................................167 Chapter 6 Mohammad in the Bible...............................................................169 Error! Not a valid heading level in TOC entry on page 171 6.2 Grave warnings for all who do not follow him............................................................174 6.3 Three distinct prophesies...............................................................................................174 6.4 Foretells the story of the chapter of 'Al-Alak'.............................................................175 6.5 The emigration................................................................................................................179 6.6 Truthfulness of Mohammad (pbuh).............................................................................179 6.7 Isaiah's vision..................................................................................................................180 6.8 Legitimacy of Hagar and Ishmael................................................................................183 6.9 Reference to Moses, Jesus, & Muhammad in that order...........................................191 6.10 Jesus predicts the coming of Muhammad....................................................................193 6.11 God did not kill Muhammad for speaking in His name.............................................197 6.12 Glorifies Jesus (pbuh)....................................................................................................198 6.13 A Paraclete like Jesus.....................................................................................................198 Chapter 7 Jesus in the Qur'an........................................................................210 Chapter 8 What is Islam...........................................................................................221 Chapter 9 Islamic faith: Some details......................................................................233 Chapter 10 Scientific Statements in the Holy Qur'an................................252 Chapter 11 ‘We’ an Arabic plural of respect.............................................................264 Chapter 12 Women in Christianity and Islam..........................................................266 Chapter 13 1992:The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the Qur’an...................................274 Chapter 14 Additional references..............................................................................288 Self-Test Section........................................................................................................................................290 7 What Did Jesus Really Say? (cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:6)(cid:3)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:12)(cid:3)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:13)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:14)(cid:15)(cid:7)(cid:16)(cid:1)(cid:9)(cid:17)(cid:13)(cid:12)(cid:3)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:13)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:8)(cid:6)(cid:15)(cid:16)(cid:1)(cid:10)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:3) Preface “V erily! the likeness of Jesus with Allah/God is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he was. (This is) the truth from your Lord (O Muhammad), so be not you of those who waver. And whosoever disputes with you concerning him, after the knowledge which has come unto you, say (unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we will pray humbly (to our Lord) and (solemnly) invoke the curse of Allah upon those who lie. Verily! This is the true narrative. There is no god save Allah, and verily! Allah is the Mighty, the Wise. And if they turn away, then Verily! Allah is Aware of the corrupters. Say: O People of the Scripture. Come to a word that is just between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partners unto Him, and that we shall not take each other for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him)(literally: “we are Muslims”).” The Qur’an, A’al-Umran(3)59-64. “I have read in Moslem writings such deep and tender expressions of respect and reverence for Jesus that for the time I almost forgot, I was not reading the words of a Christian writer. How different, it is sad to say, has been the way in which Christians have spoken and written of Muhammad. Let us put it down to it’s true cause, ignorance” Reverend R. Maxwell King In the name of Allah, most beneficent, most merciful. I give all thanks to Allah for His bounties and knowledge and that He has guided me to Islam. I also ask Allah almighty that He bestow his peace and blessings upon Muhammad and grant him the highest rewards and exalted stations in Heaven. Further, I ask Allah almighty that He grant His peace and blessings upon all of His prophets from the beginning of time, including Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, and Jesus, as well as all of the countless others, peace be upon them all, may their names be held in the highest honor for all time. I feel that this book is best described as my own humble attempt at the compilation and collection of the life long works of many famous and knowledgeable scholars and writers. My contribution to this book has probably been restricted to the collection of these works in one publication. So, as they say, I hereby give credit where credit is due. Among these authors are such people as Shaik Ahmed Deedat, Shaik Rahmat-Allah ibn Khaleel al- Rahman al-Hindi, Dr. Jamal Badawi, Mr. Muhammad `Ata ur-Rahim, Mr. Akbarally Meherally, Shaik Shams al-Deen ibn Kayyem Al-Jawziah, Dr. Muhammad Ali alkhuli, Mrs. Ulaft Aziz-us-Samad, Dr. Ahmad Dawood Al-Mizjaji, and Mr. M. A. Yusseff to name a few. To these individuals I dedicate this book. I also dedicate this book to my mother who always taught me to have tolerance and an open mind, and to my father, who taught me to continually seek out knowledge as long as I may live. Muslims are encouraged to study and gain knowledge and to base their worship upon knowledge and not just faith. Abu-Darda said: I heard the messenger of Allah (pbuh) say: “If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah/God will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and 8 What did Jesus really say? the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham (kinds of currency), leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.” (narrated by Abu Dawood). Muslims are also encouraged to study other religions and to compare them to Islam. They are commanded to never be among those who accept Islam on blind faith or in conformance to the current trend in their society. Rather, they are commanded to make up their own minds and to enter into Islam with their eyes wide open, after they have thoroughly tested it’s validity as the command of God. “There is no compulsion in religion. The right path is henceforth distinct from misguidance” The Qur’an, Al- Bakarah(2):256. It was because of the above reasons that, upon my arrival in the United States in 1992, I decided to spend my spare time researching Christianity. I did this in order to verify the affirmations of the Qur’an with regard to mankind’s distortion of the Gospels. If the Qur’an did indeed prove to have fabricated lies against the Bible then I would know that it was not the word of God. I therefore set about purchasing many different “versions” of the Bible such as the Revised Standard Version (RSV), the King James Version (KJV or Authorized version), and so forth. I also purchased many Christian Biblical references as well as some Islamic references. Armed with this cache of information I set about my task and as the Bible puts it “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21. Before, during, and after all of this I was continually being asked by various people about Islam. Many allegations were presented against Muhammad (pbuh) and Islam in general. I began to notice a basic trend of general ignorance of the fundamental teachings of Islam as well a tendency when cornered to invoke “Blind faith,” or to attempt to explain practically every single discrepancy in the Bible through abstraction and applying hidden meanings to every verse which did not set well with them. The general tendency was to reject the words of the Qur’an, even before bothering to read them, because they are the words of “some Bedouin Arab out of the desert” (Having themselves forgotten that Jesus, Moses, and ALL of the other prophets of the Bible, peace be upon them all, came from practically the exact same locale), not to accept the words of Islamic scholars because they are biased, not to accept the words of Christian scholars because they are “Liberals,” and not even to accept obvious discrepancies and contradictions between the verses of the Bible because of “blind faith” and because “If you do not take the verses so literally but give them the following abstract meaning then they will not contradict one another...” and so forth (see chapter 2.2). I felt that a belief that constantly needed people to make excuses for it and that demanded blind faith without understanding was not for me. Thus, I managed to prove to myself the validity of the affirmations of the Qur’an. In the Qur’an, we are told that mankind changed the message of Jesus (pbuh) after his departure. The Qur’an further states that if a book of God has been tampered with by the hands of mankind then this tampering will be recognizable by the inevitable contradictions which will result from this tampering. God says in the Qur’an: “Do they not consider the Qur’an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they would have surely found therein much discrepancy.” Al-Nissa(4):82. The Bible itself also testifies to the fact that a false witness will inevitably result in contradictions and discrepancy: “For many bare false witness against him(Jesus), but their witness agreed not together.” Mark 14:56 I began to search for a comprehensive reference on the fundamental differences between Islam and Christianity such as the “trinity,” the “incarnation,” the “atonement,” and the “original sin.” I was, however, surprised to find none. The information is out 9 What Did Jesus Really Say?
Description: