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STEPS ON
THE STRAIGHT PATH
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
GOD has revealed the unbroken chain of belief and
guidance through His Prophets to humanity. This book shows how previous Paths
converge into THE STRAIGHT PATH. The writer approaches this subject through (a)
objective writing and (b) group discussions to clear the mist of
misunderstanding held by Muslims and non-Muslims about Islam.
This work attempts to unite the spiritual with the secular
both in private and in public life after their long divorce. Religious belief
is to be translated into moral action supported by all social systems; ethical,
political, economic and in our duty towards God, to oneself and to others. All
of these are sustained by a Divine Moral Decree that links the temporal world
with the spiritual to save the welfare state of humanity and its destiny.
These writings hope to persuade Muslims, in particular
the youth, to adapt a spiritual infusion, to safeguard their beliefs in
relation to moral action. To non-Muslims and researchers in this field of
study, it allows them to distinguish clearly the differences between Muslim
thought, the behaviour of Muslims and Islamic theology and its conduct. It is
also directed to assist students who need a reference book for use in Religious
Studies and also as a source of reference in public libraries. It is an
introduction to study the principles of Divine Decree in the Qur’an.
“And verily this is my Straight Path, so follow it,
and follow not other ways, lest they cause you to deviate from His way. This
has He enjoined upon you, so that you might remain conscious of Him” [Qur’an,
6:153].
H.M.Abbara is
an Educationist specialising in Moral and Religious Development.
2nd Step
on the Straight Path
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CONTENTS of 2nd Step on the
Straight Path Chapter 3. The Qur'an. page: 3.1
The Qur'an is Divine Revelation. 3.2
The classification of the Qur'an. 3.3
The collection of The Qur'an. 3.4
The Characteristics of the Qur'an. 3.5
Makkah and Madinah Revelations. 3.6
The objective of the Qur'an. 3.6.1 The teachings of the Qur'an . 3.6.2 The source of legislation. 3.7
The exegesis of the Qur'an. 3.7.1 Translation of the Qur'an. 3.7.2 Translators' testimony. 3.8.
Evidence of the Quranic Revelation . 3.8.1 The natural evidence. 3.8.2 The scientific evidence. 3.8.3. The historical evidence.
3.9.
Discussion. 3.9.1
The Qur'an. 3.9.2
Occasion of revelation. 3.9.3
Abrogation. 3.9.4
Understanding the Qur'an. 3.9.5
The interpretation of the Qur'an. 3.9.6
Translation of the Qur'an. References. Chapter 4.
Creation and communication. page: 4.1
The story of Adam. 4.1.1 Conclusions from the story. 4.2
The chain of the Prophets. 4.3
Discussion. 4.3.1
The creation. 4.3.2 The origin of Humanity. 4.3.3 Characteristics of human. 4.4
Prophets. 4.4.1 The identity of Jesus in the Qur'an. Chapter 5. The Prophet Muhammad. page: 5.1
Muhammad. 5.1.1
Childhood, 5.1.2
Adulthood., 5.1.3
Marriage, 5.2
The Revelation. 5.2.1 The mission, 5.2.2 The Boycott. 5.2.3 The emigration to 5.2.4 The mission to Ta'if. 5.2.5 The Night Journey. 5.3
The emigration to Madinah. 5.3.1 The Muslim Calendar. 5.3.2 The settlement at Madinah. 5.3.3 Building the Mosque. 5.3.4 The society at Madinah. 5.3.5 The Universality of the Message 5.3.6 The farewell pilgrimage. 5.4
The Tradition, sunnah, of the Prophet. 5.4.1 Selections from Hadith. 5.5
Comment on the life of the Prophet. 5.6
Discussion. 5.6.1
Early life of Muhammad. 5.6.2
The Revelation and Muhammad. 5.6.3
The authority of Muhammad 5.6.4
The Night of Ascension. 5.6.5
The place of Sunnah in Islam. 5.6.6 The authenticity of hadith. 5.7
Islam as a Continuous
Message. page: 5.7.1
Discussion on: 5.7.1
The relationships between revealed religions. 5.7.2
Fatherhood.
5.7.3 Doctrine of salvation. 5.7.4
Doctrine of original sin. 5.7.5
The Divine Scripture. References. 2nd Step on the Straight Path 3. The Qur'an. An Arabic word means ‘recitation’ The Qur'an
defines itself; it is the final Divine Revelation to mankind, combines the
previous revelations and confronts by itself to prove that is the true Word
of God in Arabic. It is a spiritual literature gives explanations to the
spiritual consciousness within us and the spiritual world; it is the standard
of true and false belief, spiritual guidance and moral, the Criterion of
social life principles to maintain equilibrium in all affairs of human life.
We try to examine that from different angles, i.e., its attributes, contents,
its presentation, its spiritual teachings, its exegesis, all copies apart
from Arabic are interpretation not translation, so we refer to translators’
testimonies and to evidence of its Divine Revelation, the natural,
scientific, and historical evidence. It pointed out the Spiritual Moral Law
in relation to law of Guidance and misguidance, law of belief and disbelief;
consistent with law of cause and effect and its laws for human life, morally,
socially, economically and educationally. Finally, we have discussion about
these theme. We concentrate initially at start, on the Knowledge the Qur’an
provides, such as: 4. The Creation
and The Messages. The origin of
man, the story of Adam and the conclusions we can draw from it, followed by
the chain of the Prophets, in the discussion we refer to the creation and
original of mankind, then prophets, their mission is one, their argument with
their people and God’s Decree is a practical lesson for human being. We
discuss the real identity of Jesus (peace be upon him) in the Qur'an, which
leads us to evaluate the relationship between the Qur'an and: 5. The Prophet Muhammad. (Peace be upon him). His life, how receiving the
Revelation, the Mission, his emigration from Makkah to Madinah and other
aspects of his life; the Sunnah; his tradition practical and his saying; Hadith.
Then the relationship between him and the Qur'an; we refer to the stylishness
of the Qur’an and style of the Hadith. In the discussion we contest
about the above topics and at last we dicussed “Islam is a continuous
massage, then, the relation between revealed religion. We then attempt to
demonstrate the relationship of the Prophet to the basic principles and
pillars of Islam, which are: Discussion {Between Abbara and Dina expressing the Islamic view whilst Badr and Charles the opposite side of the argument} 3.9. The Qur'an
·"Behold,
as for those who call God's Messages in question without having any evidence
therefore, in their hearts is nothing but overwhelming self-conceit, which they
will never be able to satisfy." (40:56). Charles: As
mentioned before, the Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the infallible Book
of the Word of God. God gives His Word - as a special ability - to Muhammad,
so that he is the author of the Qur'an with special permission from God, as
many geniuses are empowered by special gifts and ability. Abbara: The Muslim has never questioned the authenticity
of the Qur'an as the Word of God and would not fail to convince the world of
its Divine Origins. Charles: Nevertheless, non-Muslim scholars claim that while
its style, in terms of classical Arabic, is unique, some of its content seem
derived from the Bible and various Arab traditions. There are some scholars
who have come to the conclusion that the Qur'an was the product of the
Prophet's imagination. Abbara: Creative
work challenge by others!. This Book has challenged the world during fourteen
centuries. Today the challenge remains take, for example, the Prophets Moses and
Jesus. Their Revelations are delivered as though they are mediums speaking on
behalf of God, while in the Qur'an the Prophet Muhammad never himself speaks.
He is always referred to in the third person, or addressed directly. Of
course the Qur'an is related to the Bible, in that the Bible is related to God, and the Qur'an
is from God. The relation is there in that respect only. but the later book
is more accurate. Dina: Why is there a different style between verses
revealed in Makkah and those of Madinah? Abbara: The Makki Revelations were concerned with belief.
The style was designed to stimulate the higher emotions, to calm the soul and
its passions, so as to permit access to the spirit. When it links up with it,
then the mind starts to function, cognition
builds up more knowledge, then reason starts looking for clear evidence, as
the content of the Madina’s
Revelation. The Makki were highly experienced in stylised Arabic with
its embellishments; hence, when they were faced with the highest level of eloquence
in the Qur'an, they were puzzled and found it intelligible. Dina: Allow me to
tell you the story of how 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab became a Muslim, through the
first impression received from the Qur'an. One day the non-Muslims decided to
kill Muhammad and appointed 'Umar to do so. On his way, he met a man who
asked him," Where are you going?"
'Umar answered: "I am off to kill this boy who has created such
disunity among us." The man said "Is it not better for you to put
your family right first?" 'Umar
asked, "What do you mean?"
The man said, "Your sister and her husband have become
Muslims." So 'Umar changed
direction and want towards his sister's house. Before entering it, he heard
that they were reading the Qur'an. Then when he entered, he asked: "What
was that voice I heard whilst I was at the door?" They answered: "You have heard nothing but
good." 'Umar said: "I have
heard that you have become Muslims "... and struck his brother-in-law,
as well as his sister. While he was
doing so 'Umar saw the tablet from which he was reciting the Qur'an and
studying it. and he said to his sister, "Give it to me". His sister said, "You are neither
clean nor pure enough, to touch it."…So he agreed to have a wash. Then he started to read it. It read, "Taha.
We have not sent down the Qur'an upon you to cause you distress, but only as
a reminder to him who stands in awe (of God)as a Revelation from Him who has
created the earth and the high heavens; the All-Compassionate set Himself
upon the Throne...." (20:1-5). 'Umar was astonished in its style and
wisdom and he changed from being a bitter opponent to become a close
companion of the prophet. He went to where Muhammad was hidden and declared
his acceptance of Islam. Abbara: may I add; the first cause of 'Umar's conversion
was the eloquence of the Qur'an, which struck him before he appreciated the
reasoning behind it. The most important thing he did was to prepare himself
to understand it by taking a wash and (ablution) to purify himself before
reading it. Of course, the English bears do not do such justice any
similarity to the original. "So the highest eloquence occurs at the
level only in the best of forms, which is the eloquence of the Qur'an, and
the highest level of eloquence belongs to it alone,"29. Dina: What does the word "Taha" at the
beginning of the verse mean? Abbara: These two
letters (t and h) belong to the groups of letters prefixed to 29 of the
Qur'an's Surahs. None yet know
their meaning, but here Taha some commentators
of the Qur'an think it to be the name of the Prophet, while others say it
denotes "O Man." Charles: But these letters, according to Western scholars,
were put at the beginning of some Surahs
of the Qur'an by those who arranged the Qur'an, e.g., Zayd bin Thabit...
as initials for their works. Abbara: This
allegation has weak basis. It ignores the extent to which Muslims are
extremely careful about God's Words and copy them meticulously. Had those
arranging the Qur'an done as you suggest, even supposing the Prophet's
companions agreed, their opponents would never have kept silent. Such an
accusation has never been reported before. Dina: Could you
say more about the Qura’nic style. Abbara: The Qur'an
uses different rhymes, strophes, and tunes according to the Message to be
conveyed; you could read 2:1-5, when it speaks to believers or 2:6-7 to
non-believers or 2:8 onwards, about ignorance while on criminality it is
thrilling... Its tone changes according to be conveyed. Badr: Please
return to the second part of the question about the Madani Revelations. Do
you mean that the style of verses related to faith is different from those
related to legislation? Abbara: The style is still super-human, but the Madani
Revelations are related to legislation, so each word has to have precise
meaning to serve its application. In Makkah revelations, which are related to
faith and, metaphysical matters the style altars accordingly. 3.9.2. Occasions
of Revelation "We come not down, save at the Commandment of
thy Lord. To Him belongs what is before us and what behind us " (19:64) Badr: The Qur'an
was revealed over twenty-three years. Most of it was revealed in relation to
particular circumstances, called "the cause, or reason, of
revelation". Hence the application
or its original intent was related to those events, so why do we have to
involve ourselves in its implications? Abbara: The Qur'an was related to: The disbeliever, who
rejected the belief, to the hypocrites who said one thing and did another, there
were, in Madinah, Jews and Christians who had to argue on behalf of their
belief in addition to that the general events. These events and their
counterparts exist in every place all the time - The occasions of Revelation are often
incidents unimportant in themselves, the important thing being their
application. Though a text relates to particular circumstances, its lessons
are applicable in all times. Thirdly:
most of the Qur’an arguments between the prophets and their people to draw
lessons to us to follow, not a stories to read. Charles: But the
occasion of Revelation of verse 2:144 is the request by Muhammad about the
direction of prayer. When he was in Makkah he prayed in the Ka’abah. When he emigrated to
Madinah, he prayed towards Abbara: You refer
to the verse which states: "We have seen thee turning thy face to the
heavens (for Guidance); now we will surely turn thee to a direction that
shall satisfy thee. Turn thy face towards the Holy Mosque."(2:144) The
question and the answer is recorded in the preceding verse: "The fools
among the people will say: "What has turned them from the direction they
were facing in their prayer aforetime?" Say: "To God belong the
East and the West; He guides whomsoever He will to a Straight Path."(2:142).
Indicate that A scholar
should not repeat an accusation first made fourteen centuries ago. Please
note that the verse does not say "the Ka’abah" but Holy Mosque". In those days, it was not a
mosque - they did not exist- so the injunction here was not for Muhammad but
for Muslims and the Ka’abah is
simply a unifying direction. The
Muslim, when he or she commences prayer, says: "I have turned my face to Him who
originated the Heavens and the earth and I am not of those who ascribe
divinity to ought beside Him, so that "true piety does not consist in
turning one's face toward East or West (2:177) "and wherever you turn, there is the
Face of God". (2:215) The
Revelation which established the Ka’abah
as the qiblah of the Muslims should not be a matter of
contention for people of other faiths, nor a cause of their disbelief in the truth of the Qura’nic Revelation as
such.30. 3.9.3. Abrogation: "My
Word cannot be changed, nor am I unjust to My servants." (50:29) Badr: Can you
tell me about some of the verses in the Qur'an in relation to abrogation? According
to my knowledge, the rule of conduct was cancelled or replaced by other
verses. But the question remains of how to know which verses were abrogated
and which were still in place? Charles: Such
abrogation indicates that Muhammad is the author of the Qur'an and that he
changed his mind after a while Or we have to say that the Qur'an is inconsistent.
In other words, the verse contradicts other verses. Abbara: First of
all, we refer to the verse (2:106), which states "whatever ayah (verse)
we abrogate. "We said before that
ayah also means "sign". Here ayah means "sign", not "verse". If we read
this verse with the previous one, which says, "Those unbelievers of the
People of the Book (Jews and
Christians) and the idolaters wish not that any good should be sent
down upon you from your Lord."(2:105), we can see that this verse
indicates that the Jews and Christians were unhappy with this revelation
because it abrogated "their Signs" i.e., the earlier Divine
Messages. Hence it is related to abrogation of the previous Messages, as
"God sent down the Gospels, Jesus confirming the truth of that which was
before him, and to make lawful to them certain things that before were
forbidden unto them" (3:50) So the Gospels both confirmed and abrogated
what was in the Torah. But Jesus' Message was rejected in the same way, as
God revealed the Qur'an to confirm the basic truths still discernible in the
Bible and abrogate the rest. These Messages are related to God and He has the
Absolute Freedom to reveal what is more suitable to His creatures at any
time. This verse is related to earlier messages, not to the Qur'an itself.
Many commentators on the Qur'an refer it to the Qur'an but they have no
evidence, except a few verses like those about prohibition of alcohol. Dina: Would you
please continue and clarify these stages as we always misunderstand such stages
of management in administering the life of the people. Abbara: They are not stages, but events linked with
intoxicants. The first verses revealed
concerning this matter say, "They will ask thee about intoxicants and
games of chance. Say: 'In both there is great evil as well as some benefit
for man; but the evil which they cause is greater than the benefit which they
bring'"(2:219). Here they ask and God gives the answer, but not
legislation. The second
event was the Message: "Do not attempt to pray while you are in a state
of drunkenness" (4:43). This
indicates that legislation has not yet been revealed but a recommendation
"O, you who believe. Intoxicants.... a loathsome evil of Satan's doing;
avoid it ..."(5:90). In the circumstances it is not that one verse
abrogates another, but that it is God's Scheme, as the Law-giver, to give an example to those
in legislative assemblies and education of how to legislate on a matter which
has not only become a habit in man's sub-consciousness but has a biological
connection. You cannot tell a man to stop smoking suddenly, but must plan to
show him how he can do so. Therefore it is a matter of educational stages and
processes, not "God changing His Word" Dina: How do we
know there are not some verses which are invalid, in regard to the rule of
conduct? Abbara: As we
mentioned there are very few verses which do not correspond with others, to
understand the immediate meaning of such verses it is very important that you
should refer to one of the main references of interpretation of the Qur'an. 3.8.4. Understanding
the Qur'an "Will they not, then, try to understand this
Qur'an? Had it issued from any but God, they would surely have found in it
many an inner contradiction" (4:82) Dina: Geoffrey Parrinder says, "The teaching of the
Qur'an is still little known in the Christian and Western world. There are
historical reasons of separation and enmity that led to misunderstanding and
neglect, and these ought no longer to apply if we are to live as neighbors
and friends in one world; but there are literary reasons too. The Qur'an has
rarely been well translated, and in translation it loses its poetic form and
flavor. It is not an easy book to read... It is not possible to understand
Islam without studying all the Qur'an which brings its own reward and gives
at least an impression of the religious favour, originality and depth of this
holy book.35 Abbara: The Qur'an
was not revealed for educated elite but for ordinary believers. Believers whether
they speak Arabic or not, can develop a profound relationship with the
Qur’an. It can easily be assimilated by those who have "pure
spirit". In other words, if they free their hearts from bad intentions
and refrain from evil actions, they can attain access to the Qur'an, whether
they read Arabic or not. When they recite it, they increase their faith and
purity and are guided further along the Straight Path. This increases
harmonious relations generally. The
second step is to access its wisdom through studying it. Special benefits
accrue to such believers, as the Qur'an states: e.g., "It is an Arabic
Qur'an for people having knowledge" (41:3); "...so that you might
encompass it with your reasoning" (12:2) and "a Guidance for all
the God-conscious" (2:2) These verses indicate that it needs reliable
thinking on the one hand and a good knowledge on the other, attentive
reasoning, supported by God consciousness.. Charles: There are
many scholars have not all agreed on the Wisdom you are referring to! Abbara: Their
judgements are clouded by personal viewpoints. Our reason is usually limited to knowledge
related to our experience in this life, whereas other factors beyond our
perception should be taken into account in our judgements and these can only
be revealed God's Inspiration for those desire to. Badr: What do you
mean? Dina: It means that perhaps people judge a subject and
weigh its consequences from within their own circumstances. Abbara: As we mentioned
above, the Qur'an's Spirit and Light, the first correlating with Pure Spirit,
the second with God's Light or Inspiration are given to those have pure mind,
good hearted, who deserve it. Charles: But God's
Inspiration is not only for believers. All people have spirit, which can
communicate with its Origin, and thus obtain Inspiration. Abbara: The Qur'an
is God's Word, Light and Spirit, which can only communicate with the pure
spirit of a believer. It satisfies the spirit of every believer in relation
to his or her level of belief. For believers, it is the source of spiritual
life. For those whose spirit is clouded by wrong actions and disbelief, God's
Light would not pass through their darkness. For them the Qur'an is
meaningless, except perhaps as the supreme classic of Arabic literature. Badr: This implies to me, that God preventing people
from getting throw. Dina: Maybe you
have misunderstood the relationship between man and the Qur'an. It is similar
to the relationship between man and God. Such a relationship requires purity,
belief and virtuous behaviours. True believers are those whom "He (God)
has written Faith in their hearts and strengthened them with Inspiration from
Himself"(58:22). O God makes us one of them! Abbara: The Qur'an
is flexible and its unique aspect is that it deals with every individual
according to his knowledge, reason and faith, including his moral behaviour.
Every one has his or her evidence own spiritual relationship with the Qur'an,
which usually corresponds with his relationship with God according to his or
her own level of belief. Charles: If the
matter is dependent on faith, the scholars' attempt to change attitudes from
faith to academic perception is useless. Abbara: The Qur'an
demands faith or right intention as a first step. This helps to purify the
inner self. The second step demands determined study to gain the wisdom
necessary to combine theory and practice. Dina: I would
like to add that some non-Muslim scholars believed that this life was a
temporary stage in preparation for the next, purified their hearts, and
gained attentive reasoning and a spiritual link with the Qur'an and embraced
Islam; e.g. Marmaduke Pickthall, who wrote The Meaning of the Glorious
Qur'an, and Muhammad Asad, who wrote The Message of the Qur'an, as
well as David Benjamin Keldoni, a Roman Catholic priest of the United
Chaldean sect, Sir A. Hamilton
and Sir J.L. Brunlon, who was both an
English statesmen and Baronet, and hundreds of other educated scholars who do
not blindly believe but, by reasoning and comparative study learn to
discriminate between truth and untruth. Dina: In
contemporary time, there are lots of computer researches about the words in
the Qur’an, and discover some words and their counterparts mentioned in equal
numbers, for example man mentioned 24 time and woman 24 times, Angels = Satan
= 88, are equal numbers 88. Life = death; 145. And so on. What des means that? Abbara: it is
very interesting finding, I have, I have no idea, God knows best 3.8.5. The
Interpretation of the Qur'an "We
have revealed it to thee in slow, well-arranged stages, gradually, that they
(who deny the Truth) might never taunt thee with any deceptive half-truth
without Our conveying to thee the (full) Truth with the best
explanation." (25:33) Abbara: As we emphasised earlier, nothing can equal an
interpretation of the Qur'an made with a profound knowledge of all the
sciences related to it. Best way to understand a verse from the Qur'an; by
its related verses, by the Prophet interpretation and his Companions. Also
the advance of various branches of knowledge has helped in the understanding
of the Qur'an. Some scholars say that the Qur'an contains inexhaustible
springs for scientists as well as scholars. Dina: It is easy
to see, how, for centuries, commentators on the Qur'an (including those
writing at the height of Islamic culture) have made errors of interpretation.
in the case of certain verses whose exact meaning could not possibly have
been grasped. It was not until much
later, at a period not far from our own, that it was possible to translate
and interpret them correctly. This implies that a thorough linguistic
knowledge is not in itself sufficient to understand these verses from the
Qur'an. What is needed along with this is a highly diversified knowledge of
science."36 Charles: This
indicates interpretations differ from one age to another. Doesn’t this have
profound implication? Abbara: You cannot generalise about this. as we said
before, the Qur'an contains clear-cut decisive verses on the fundamental
principles of Islam above which there is no argument. On the other hand, it
contains verses which are allegorical and therefore controversial. The first
are basic and were translated into action by the Prophet. The others are beyond
human perception, and have been left for us to exercise our mental ability
on. In the due course, their explanations prove that the Qur'an is Divine
Writ for coming generations. Understanding of the ambiguous verse is related
to our advance knowledge and discovery as we said before The Qur'an
can be understood by comparing verses dealing with the same subject, thus
providing the key to the meaning of any word. The word sultan, for example, gives the impression of knowledge in the
following verse: "No sultan (knowledge or authority of
knowledge) have you for this. What! Do you say concerning God what you know
not? (10:68) This verse indicates that the original meaning of sultan is knowledge. Dina: Dr. Maurice Bucaille commented on the word amshaj that is mentioned in the Qur'an
in: "Verily, we fashioned man from a small quantity of mingled liquids (amshaj)." (76:2). "This last
word used to be understood to mean the male and female agents, but our more
accurate knowledge shows that the spermatic liquid is composed of secretions
from the following glands: the
testicles the seminal vesicles, the prostate and the glands annexed to the
urinary tract."37 Abbara: All
previous interpretation is simply a reflection of the ideas current at the
time. The Qur'an was communicated to man in a period which had, quite
naturally, no knowledge of female physiology or embryology. The advance of
knowledge indicates the accurate meaning. Charles: If you believe that the Qur'an is consistent with
scientific facts held to be valid now, if in the future they should
discovered not to be valid after all, what will be the position then? Abbara: The Qur'an,
as we have said, is not a book of science but science is referred to
indirectly, in proving that God created everything and that the Qur'an was
revealed from Him. It refers to creation, astronomy, the explanation of
certain matters concerning the earth, animals and vegetables and human
reproduction from earth, as in the evolution of the human embryo. These are
all described in the Qur'an similarly to the results of modern science. So it
corresponds with definite results, not with scientific theory which has not
yet been proven as scientific fact. Science helps to prove what is already
defined in the Qur'an. We mentioned before how, in the interpretation of the
word amshaj, research made for new
understanding. This calls upon the scientific man to build up a relationship
with the Qur'an, in other words, with the Author of the Qur'an, God. So the
Qur'an is a book of Guidance for mankind and neither a book of science nor a
mine of cryptic notes on scientific facts. Badr: But we have
heard a lot about "science in the Qur'an" and "medicine in the
Qur'an", and so on. Abbara: The Qur'an
includes all aspects of life: spiritual, material, physical and even
historical. It is not a book of science but a Divine Decree and Law. What is
referred to correspond with and does not contradict science, thus showing
that the Author is God alone. Dina: I would
like to give another example of how the interpretation of the Qur'an is
related to man's development of his perception and comprehension. In summer
1987, a popular Muslim scholar came to One of
the Imams said, "Brother and sister why do you ask such a question? It
is not an important question", indicates that this person missed God's
Wisdom in this verse. The other said "I know what the one who asked this
question meant, he meant that there is a disagreement between the two
readings and interpretations: 'defers you to a stated term'; and 'God's term
when it comes, cannot be deferred.'" The scholar said loudly, "He
has no right to say, 'God said.'" (He meant that he did not believe what
God said). "It is clear enough
that "when the term comes, it cannot be deferred." Badr: But his
interpretation is right. Everyone's term of life is fixed; his age is
written, God's Decree is definite and final, neither man nor any other
authority can alter or, in any way modify it. Don't you believe so? Dina: All
Muslims believe so in theory but not in practice. Everyone, if he needs treatment, goes to
the best physicians or surgeons. If he is in need of heart surgery, he does
not trust surgeons in his own country but prefers to go to the West. If he believed
his term was fixed he would never pay attention to choosing the best. Badr: This is the
normal procedure, that every one does his best in case of illness. The
treatments do not guarantee to prolong his life. Charles: This
indicates that God appointed special rules for each person rather than a
universal rule for all human beings. However, if the average life span - from
45 to 72 years - differs from one country to another, this is related to
health systems and natural systems which affect man's life Abbara: Well, we try
here to understand God's Wisdom from the verse mentioned above. It is related
to God's Decree in a comprehensive manner, and is a highly difficult topic to
speak about. However, I understand it as follows. The verse commands, "Worship God,
obey Him and be conscious of Him." Anyone who is conscious of God and
worships Him lives rightly and obeys Him, that is, no drink, no smoking, no
drugs, no sex outside marriage and no abnormal sex; he avoids their
respective diseases. As we know, more than 50% of road accidents are caused
by drunken drivers. Smoking causes life to be shortened by from 10% to 25%,
unlawful sex spreads disease at different levels and can cause death. Being
conscious of God; leaves no time for depression or wish to commit suicide or desire
for abortion, or infanticide. All things which stand against life are
forbidden by Islam. Thus God demands Man's relationship with Him for Man's
own safety. So
whoever is conscious of God and obey Him will leave aside all things which
cause death, directly or indirectly and live his normal term as decided by
God's Decree or Law for all human being. No one's term is decided by a
special law or decree. Each man has his own term according to his genetic
potentialities inherited from his
parents, his way of living, the climate, the way he treats his health, and
knowing what things harmful, including medicine, etc. Badr: So you do
not believe that God appointed a fixed term for every man on earth. Abbara: God the Just
appointed the general term for human to live on earth according to genetic
ability, but man destroyed this ability by his misbehaviour. Anyone who has a
relationship with God and lives according to His rules is guaranteed his term
of life in full. Hence, the fixed term is general for all mankind; it is not
random in that every individual has an arbitrary share. We will discuss God's
Decree in its turn, but here we are explaining the above verse and the
Absolute Wisdom referred to. There is no contradiction, as the speaker
thought. Badr: What is the evidence for such an
interpretation? Some Muslim scholars
do not agree that "God gives a respite for a stated term," but
believe in what the Qur'an states: "When their term comes, they shall
not put it back by a single hour, nor put it forward."(7:34) Abbara: Ibn
Kathir's interpretation says "And respite you till an appointed
time" meaning that He extends your life and the evidence for that is the
Prophet's saying: "Benevolence towards the ties of kinship extends the
age (life)."38 As we said before, the Qur'an is explained by the Qur'an
or by a saying of the Prophet, and the closing sentence in the verse always
refers to the meaning. "Would that you understood this" means that
it does not have a straightforward meaning, but needs attentive
understanding. God knows best Charles: So it is
right to agree with Frederick Denny of the Abbara: As we said
before, it is not an easy task to deal with God's Words and their Intention
because we are in ignorance of the interrelationship between His Decrees. The Qur'an is God's Word; He alone
knows what is intended in some verses beyond our perception. Therefore a true
believer has not the courage to betray his responsibility before God by
giving his opinion. So the true interpreter always tries to say what is
authentic in relation to the Truth, and not give random opinions. No doubt
those who made mistakes have given a bad impression of the Qur'an itself to
people who have taken their word as a guarantee. But God has promised to
explain it Himself in time to man, according to the subsequent development of
mankind and to those who are conscious of Him. The Prophet translated most of
its principles into action, while those which are ambiguous relate to things
beyond our knowledge or perception. Scholars trying to interpret them may not
succeed. 3.8.5. Translation
of the Qur'an "...
but they have cried lies to that whereof they comprehended not the knowledge,
and whose -interpretation has not yet come to them." (10:39) Charles: An accurate
translation of the Qur’an is not possible since many verses have different interpretations.
Surely God meant His Revelation just for Arabs or those who know Arabic. Abbara: It is wrong
to use the word "translation", but you could use the word
'interpretation'. Everyone has his own notions, according to his faith,
knowledge and reasoning, of rendering its meaning in to other languages. In
other words, they often contradict one another in their interpretations. I
find it very difficult to depend on any one version in English, since one is
often better in some places than another. So I use a combination of
translations. Sometimes I quote half a verse from one translation and the
remainder from another.
Translation word for word is impossible, because it is not Arabic
literature as such but a Spiritual merge from God; only He knows its ultimate
meaning. Any “translation” is limited by the understanding of the translator.
It is particularly difficult to convey allegorical verses in their deep
meaning. It is relay not acceptable to label such an effort The Koran,
as Dawood did, or The Holy Qur'an as Shakir (1986, edition) did,. As to
your other point, that the Qur'an is directed only at Arabs or those who
understand Arabic, the passages which relate to theology or public affairs
are clear enough and have been translated into action. If a Muslim does not
know Arabic, that does not affect his or her faith. Nevertheless, anyone
wishing to increase their faith should learn Arabic rather than rely on
interpretation of others. But each interpretation has its own usefulness. Dina: You are right. For example, you could take four or
five versions of the English translation and you will find every one has
differences in the words chosen. Sometimes there is no relationship between
them or with the original meaning, because some verses have so many meanings
to choose from that a translation can never take the place of the Arabic
word, nor is it meant to do so. Therefore, according to Islamic
Jurisprudence, prayer salah should
be performed in Arabic, in its actual words in their intended meaning. 3.9.5.1 Translation or
Interpretation
Abbara:. Let us take some word to find out the different
between the translation, the interpretation and the original meaning Translators render the meaning of many
words differently. For example: Ruoh the
meanings of the word ruoh in the Arabic language is 'spirit'. The
following 'translations’ or interpretations are examples of how this word is
used. For
verse 85, chapter 17, Pickthall says:
"They will ask thee concerning the spirit", which indicates
the human being's spirit, as understood generally by Arabs. A.
Yusuf Ali says: "They will ask
thee concerning the spirit (of inspiration)", which indicates the Holy
Spirit, Gabriel, coming with Revealed Inspiration. In the same sense in the Holy
Qur’an in English Translation M. Asad
says: "They will ask thee about
(the nature of) Divine Inspiration," which indicates the Qur'an itself,
the phenomenon of Divine Revelation. Hence, for one word, ruoh,
everyone renders a different aspect of spiritual massage. All them could be
right and makes no difference for right belief. . Let us take
another example Taqwa:.
A.Yusuf Ali translated the word Taqwa as "fear of
Allah" among others to restraint from evil, while the word literally
denotes, "to be cautious, to guard against, to be conscious, take care
of." M. Asad
translated it as "God-consciousness" but there is a difference
between fear of God, God-fearing, guarding (against evil) and
"God-consciousness". The word is repeated more than 250 times in
the Qur'an. Therefore the Western reader understands that "fearing
God" is meant throughout the Qur'an from cover to cover, whereas this is
only the interpretation, rather than However, there is still the highest
common denominator of sincerity between the translators. Badr: Which
version can the reader rely on more than others? Abbara: It is difficult to say. Each interpreter has his
own level of ability, comprehension; awareness which depends on his relation with
God, None of the present translations can be taken for granted. For example: M. Pickthal's use of biblical English
tends to be a stumbling block for an average reader. He made some mistakes
e.g. in verse 2:12, he says: "Are not they indeed the mischief-makers?
But they perceive not." He translates the sentence as a question, but it
is a statement. Arberry correctly translated this verse as: "Truly, they
are the workers of corruption, but they are not aware". A.Yusuf
Ali translated the verse 2:26
"God disdains not to use the similitude of things lowest as well as
highest," while Arberry translates it: "God is not ashamed to
strike a similitude even of a gnat, or aught above it". While, Khan
interpret it: “Allah is not ashamed to forth a parable even of a mosquito or
so mach more when it is beggar…” In
Shakir's Holy Qur'an 40, Shi'a doctrines have been indicated in the Subject Index of
the Qur'an e.g., Husain, (Great Sacrifice-Zibh-e-Azeem), on verse
(37:107) which reads "And We ransomed him with a tremendous
sacrifice". This sacrifice refers only to the ram which Abraham
subsequently found and slaughtered in behave of his son Ismael's refer to as
well in (Genesis XXII,13). This is also referred to elsewhere (37:104) and (37:109).
N.J.Dawood translated the last part of verse 2:187 "Then resume
the fast till nightfall and do not approach them, but stay at your prayers in
the mosques". This indicates that a Muslim should stay in the mosque
during the time of fasting and should not approach the wife. But this
statement is related to those who are making retreat in the mosques, which
usually takes place during the last ten days of Ramadan. Thus, A.Yusuf
Ali's translation is more accurate, which says, "But do not associate with
your wives while you are in retreat". Also
Dawood mistranslated the word fitnah which
means temptation or causing trouble in (2:191) as "Idolatry is worse
than carnage." While Yusuf Ali says "For tumult and oppression are
worse than slaughter;" Asad says "Oppression is even worse than
killing". Arberry says "Persecution is more grievous than
slaying." In the Presidency edition “for persecution is worse than
slaughter”. Khan use the same word “Al-fitnah
is worse than killing”, in the foot note comment; Al-fitnah:
(polytheism, to disbelieve after one has believed ii God, or a trial or
calamity or an affliction, etc.) Each translator gives a different
impression, but none of them is accurate enough to give exactly the right
meaning, it mean also; sedition, mislead, guide into error , tale bearing
etc. A. J.
Arberry translates part of verse 2:61, "And abasement and poverty were
pitched upon them," while Asad presented its meaning in a way more
related to the original: "And so, ignominy and humiliation overshadowed
them" Khan “and they were covered with humiliation and misery,” Hence,
poverty and humiliation; each one gives a different impression. Also he
translated (7:158) "...the Prophet of the common folk", instead
"the unlettered Prophet" Al-Hilali and Khan, their comment on verse [68:42]
irrelevant to theme of the Qur’an and their comment on verse [44:28] “Thus
(it was) And We made other people inherit them”. Their comment (I.e. We made
the Children of Israel to inherit the Other
versions in English such as The Holy Qur'an, Arabic Text, Translation and
Commentary by Maulana Muhammad Ali (1918) and the same title edited by Malik
Ghulam Farid, and The Koran, Arabic text with a new Translation, by Muhammad
Zafrulla Khan. belong to the Qadiani sect, the main group of the Ahmadi sect,
which tries to interpret the Qur'an in such a way as to serve their
interests. Therefore,
every interpretation conveys the meaning according the background of the
interpreter in knowledge and theology and spiritual life. Hence, I use the
interpretation which serves whatever topic we discuss. Sometimes you may find
one verse quoted twice, each time from a different translation. The later one
relay on previous translation. George Sale depended largely on Maracci a
Latin version, and those who came after him depended on his translation or
followed the same line of thinking, like Rodwell, J.M. The Koran(1861) who
invents a new so-called chronological order of surahs. Palmer (1880) and Richard Bell (l937), The
Qur'an translated with a critical rearrangement of Surahs, apart from
describing the Prophet as the author of the Qur'an, he believes that the
Qur'an in its written form was 'actually written by Muhammad himself'(p.vi) The
honest work and true sincerity of Arberry cannot be ignored by scholars and
Muslims, but still the publisher should have used the word
"interpreted" on the cover rather than just The Koran. Charles: But in fact most of the commentaries published in
the West were the work of scholars with a deep understanding of the Qur'an
and without their works the Qur'an would never have reached the Western
reader. If we had waited for a native Arabic speaker to translate the Qur'an
in a thoughtful way, we would have to wait more decades instead of this work
having been done centuries ago. Abbara: Actually, we cannot ignore the fact of previous
interpretations some, creating more confusion than pure academic works. It is
enough to quote the introduction, of R. Bell who says: "I assure you the
Muhammad is the Author of the Qur'an". This is based on an imperfect
understanding of Arabic or the Qur'an. Everyone builds his interpretation on
the older ones, the wrong basis. This, naturally, has given rise to various
misconceptions. The other mistake of Western scholars is to believe that many
words in the Qur'an cannot be explained from Arabic and must be traced back
to the sources in Hebrew or Syriac before they can judge their meaning, although Arabic was
the original language it was revealed in and preceded the Hebrew which
borrowed from it. Hence, because they are most familiar with Hebrew from the
Old Testament, when they deal with the Qur'an they create confusion in it.
Therefore, the disadvantage outweighs the advantage. But we have to admit
again, that the most satisfactory English interpretation was done by Arthur
Arberry, a non-Muslim. Badr: Academic
studies or research, of course, relate words to their origin or facts to
their similarities. So, if they trace some words to Hebrew or some event to
its origin, no harm is done as long as it is related to the truth. Dina: In the name
of research, the truth is twisted to serve the self interest. For example,
take The Koran Translation from the Arabic by The Rev. J. M. Rodwell and its
Forward by the Rev. G. M. Margolouth, who prepares the mind of the reader to
relate the Qur'an to Muhammad, while Rodwell stresses this meaning whenever
he finds an access to it in his comments, in addition to misrepresenting the
actual meaning of the text. Charles: However,
there is no need to refer to such mistakes because the version is so old,
that readers have no interest in using it. Dina: Dr. Maurice
Bucaille says: "Unfortunately, passages from the Qur'an, especially
those relating to scientific data, are badly translated and interpreted, so
that a scientist has every right to make criticisms - with apparent
justification - that the Book does not actually deserve at all. This detail
is worth nothing henceforth. Inaccuracies in translation or erroneous
commentaries (the one is often associated with the other) which would not
have surprised anybody one or two centuries ago offend today's scientists.
When faced with a badly translated phrase containing a scientifically
unacceptable statement, the scientist is prevented from taking the phrase
into serious consideration."41 Charles: Why do
such errors in translation exist? Abbara: "They may be explained by the fact that
modern translators often resume, rather uncritically, the interpretations
given by older commentators. In their day, the latter had an excuse for having
an inappropriate definition of an Arabic word containing several possible
meanings; they could not possibly have understood the real sense of the word
or phrase, which has only become clear in the present day, thanks to
scientific knowledge. In other words, the problem is raised of the necessary
revision of translation and commentaries. It was not possible to do this at a
certain period in the past, but nowadays we have knowledge that enables us to
render their true sense."42 Dina: God
stated in the Qur'an: "And if you
are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a
Surah like unto it and call your helpers other than God if you are
truthful. But, if you do it not, and you can never do it, then be on your
guard against the Fire." (2:23-4). This Divine challenge has never been
met, despite several attempts to do so. If the Qur'an had been from Muhammad
this challenge would have been in vain. The relationship with God is a result
of our trial in this world and to follow the Straight Path leading to Him. The Qur’an sustained by presenting knowledge about
the creation and communication between God and His creations through the
Prophets and in particular the Prophet Muhammad, which comes next. 4. DISCUSSION {Between Abbara and Dina expressing the Islamic view whilst Badr and Charles the opposite side of the argument} "And (know that)
we have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in
mere idle play." [21:16]. 4.3.1. The Creation Charles:
Islam look like it copy out what stated in the Bible about the creation of
the earth and heavens. Abbara:
Genesis. [1:1-3] indicates that God created the earth in six days. The Qur'an
says: "It is God who has created the heavens and the earth and all that
is between them in six aeons Ayam; a universe day, (not an
earthly one)" [32:4]. The word
"yaum" usually means "day”. Sometimes it means aeons or
'periods', e.g. "in a period of time yaum the measure whereof is
(as) fifty thousand years" [70:4] and "on a day "yaum"
the length whereof will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning [32:4].
There are other verses which would indicate that this "day" is
different from our normal days on earth.
So the formation of the Universe can be said to have six stages. God
also says: "Go all over the earth, then behold how He originated
creation" [29:20]. The Qur'an refers to the creation as
"Signs" for the Creator. God created everything, in other words, as
pointers to the Truth. Badr: But the Qur'an says that God created the
Universe in two periods, not six; "Say, would you indeed deny Him who
has created the earth in two aeons?” [41:9] Abbara:
Commentators such as .Ibn Kather
consider these two periods (please see 41:9,11,12) as part of the four
periods mentioned later which, in addition to the two periods for creating
the heavens, bring the total to six. These periods overlap, so we cannot say
that earth was created first or the Heavens. The Qur'an sometimes indicates
that God created the Heavens first: "God is He who created seven
firmaments and of the earth a similar number." [65:12] This would also
indicate the existence of seven earths, or planets like the earth. Charles: Al-Tirmidhi said that the first thing God created was
the Pen, made from Light, its length being the distance between Heaven and
Earth. Then He created the Book, made from the milky pearls, its pages made
from rubies; its length was likewise the distance from Heaven to Earth, and
its width was the distance from the East to the West. Malik Ibn Anas said that "one side of the Book was
made of rubies and the other side of emeralds. While God was seated on His
Throne (according to some), He saw the beauty of the Pen. He split it at the
tip and created ink to flow through it, this ink will be sufficient until The
Day of Judgment. Then God spoke to His Pen:
'Write' and it wrote everything from the beginning of the Universe to
the end..."2 Abbara: In Islam when God says something, He does not allow
anyone to say something else. Such statements, if not related to the Qur'an,
cannot be considered authentic Islamic theology. This shows the difference between man-made
stories of the Creation, which start with legends, and end with legends, no
matter if the story is mentioned by a Muslim or a non-Muslim. The Qur'an, the Divine Writ, gives definite
statements about creation which are backed by scientific discovery. Islam is
only the Qur'an and authentic Hadith or the best interpretations of
learned Muslim theologians. You can find more legends in Western literature
about Islam than good Islamic books. Charles: One more thing, about
rain. A writer says that God has created angels, half of whose bodies is snow
and the other half fire. When they want it to rain they just put them close
together. Ibn-Abbas says that God has
placed angels in charge of the rain and they will drop it where He wants it. Abbara: Our
evidence is taken from the Qur’an not from others. There is a difference
between Muslims thought and Islamic theology. We listen to God, Who tells us
how He causes the Winds to collect the water by evaporation. "It is God
who sends forth the winds, so that they raise a cloud - whereupon He spreads
it over the skies as He wills, and causes it to break up, so that thou seest
rain issue from within it" [30:48]. As mentioned earlier, God sent the
wind to fertilize the cloud as well, something that is proven in science. “
And We send the winds fertilizing (to fill heavily the clouds with water),
then caused the rain to descend from the sky, and We gave it to you to
drink,…” [15:22] If Muhammad had been the author of the Qur'an, how could he
have known such things? Dina: The Qur'an predates Copernican theory by nine
centuries, yet many verses state that the earth is round and revolves on its
own axis. One verse contains an analogy that the earth is like an ostrich's
egg. [79:30] This is what the latest astronomic information confirms. The
fact that the earth is like an egg was believed by Galileo, who was in
conflict with the Church over his support of the Copernican theory that the
planets revolve around the sun. Another analogy goes, "He rolleth the
night around the day and rolleth day around the night," [39:5] and there
can only be one interpretation of this: that the earth must be round to allow
them to roll. One more verse which confirms the revolving of the earth is:
"And thou seest the mountains, and thinkest firmly, fixed, but they
shall pass away as clouds pass away, a Work of God, who has ordered all
things to perfection" [27:88]. Abbara: The Qur'an is not a scientific book but
refers to material creation in an allegorical way. God creates everything
with its own characteristics and purpose. Nothing exists in vain. When we
extol ourselves, rather than praise our Creator, we betray God’s trust. 4.3.2. The
Origin of Humanity “We created man of an
extraction of clay, then We set him, a drop, in a receptacle secure. Then We
created of the drop a clot, then We created of the clot a tissue. Then We
garmented the bones in flesh; Thereafter We produced him as another creature.
So blessed be God, the fairest of creators!” [23:12-14] Charles: What can we learn from the story of Adam? Abbara: First of all, the Oneness of God: that He Alone
makes all decisions. He teaches us that behind this world is the Unseen world
and invisible beings such as angels and jinn, and that we are created
from clay or soil. Badr: That may apply to Adam, but all of us are a
product of male and female, while the Qur'an stresses that we are fashioned
from sticky clay. Abbara: Yes, but we are still created indirectly
from earth. The Qur'an says: "Now, indeed, We fashioned man from the
quintessence of clay" [23:12].
The word sulalah, which means "one thing extracted from
another thing", indicates that this body is composed of various organic
substances existing on or in the earth, and is maintained by the continuous
transmutation of those substances, through the intake of earth grown as food,
into reproductive cells. However, the sperm and the egg started to be
produced about forty days before being fertilised and, during its growth, the
body is affected by the kind of food and its relation to the earth. As the earth produces different qualities
of each fruit, vegetable, grain, so human beings differ from one environment
to another or from one time to another.
Even twins may differ to some extent because the sperm may relate to
different substances and psychological effect at an early stage of existence. Badr: But
this interpretation refers to Abbara: You misunderstood me. We cannot ignore that
our original body was from the earth and that we are going back to it.
Science has concluded that the body of man has the same elements as that of
the earth. In this regard what It is
interesting to note that the second son of Darwin, Sir George, supposedly
originated the theory that the Moon was once part of the earth, until it was
pulled free to form a satellite.3 Doesn’t this agree with the idea that this
universe originated as one entity from
one single element? The second
part of the verse clearly states that every living thing is fashioned of
water; showing that all are connected to one origin. Dina: This
in relation to the material side, what about the Mind? Abbara: When God created Adam, He 'breathed into
him of His Spirit', and the unique faculties which we have are derived from
the spirit, which plays the part of inspiration in creativity as well as in
moral guidance. In traditions the spirit enters the embryo when the fetus is
about 120 days old. Dina: Hence, God creates us from three elements,
the body from earth, the soul from the parents and the spirit from God. Since
none of us can claim a better origin than another, why do we get individual
differences? Abbara: There is no difference in people's status,
but just as the earth produces different products in quantity and quality, so
it is with human beings. Through our parents we inherit qualities going back
many generations. The spirit uses them and the potential depends on the
quality of the inherited characteristics, which also correlate with the
environment. Dina: How does Satan have his effect on us? Abbara: As we said, man's faculties are controlled
by his spirit and the spirit is related to the spiritual world, as Satan
is. So it is easy for Satan to
communicate with our spirit and whisper to us On the other hand, believers
receive inspiration and guidance from God or His angels. Hence the difficult
task for us is living with dual possibilities; to progress forward with God’s
help or going backward by satanic ways. Badr: What
about the tree from which Adam ate? There are different ideas about what it
was. Abbara:
The only tree. This was an earthly tree and was not an evil tree. When they ate from it, they became
conscious of their sexual desires. Similarly we create from earth food and
drink, which nourish our sperm. When Satan told Adam that if they ate from
the tree, it would cause "a kingdom that never decays" [7:19-23],
it was true; it would produce sexual desires, which, in turn, would result in
procreation, thereby bringing them down from heaven to earth. Charles:
What about the sin committed by Adam and Eve? Abbara: The doctrine of forgiveness of sins is
stated by God in the Qur'an. Its opposite is the Christian dogma that the sin
of Adam and Eve was redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ (peace be upon him)
on the cross. According to Islam, everyone receives the seed of his spirit
from God, is born free from sin, and is accountable for his or her deeds -
after maturity during lifetime: "And whatever wrongs any human being
commits rests upon himself alone, and no bearer of burdens shall be made to
bear another's burden." [6:164]. Neither can anyone make atonement for
another's sins. Adam and Eve each had
to seek forgiveness separately; and God granted them forgiveness. Dina: So male and female are equal in doing good
or committing sins and God is always willing and ready to pardon the sinner
when he or she repents, without intercessors or mediator. 4.3.3.
Human Characteristics
·
"Verily, it
is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers
within him; for We are closer to him than his neck-vein." [50:16] Abbara: We are each unique in our characteristics,
in attitude, behaviour, and thought. The good person sometimes commits bad
acts; the evil one sometimes does good deeds. There is no set formula.
Therefore behaviourists, psychologists and psychiatrists fall into a paradox
about the complexity of man. The distance between the very top and the very
bottom, however is very great: "We indeed created Man in the fairest
stature, then We abased him to the lowest of the low, save those who believe
and do righteous deeds." [95:4-6]. His Moral actions ascend him above
his egocentric, and evils descend lower than outrageous beast. Badr:
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems unfair to be treated like that, to be pushed
from highest to lowest. Abbara:
Some commentators consider “the highest” refers to Adam and Eve in Heaven.
When they committed sin, they were sent down for a while on earth to prove
that they deserved their original place in the heavens and that they had to
undertake great responsibilities for that. Satan was appointed as challenger:
"Satan is man's open foe" [17:53] who tries to misguide us from the
right way. Charles:
But how can man know the Abbara:
God is just and has equipped everyone with an essential part, "it [the
human self] is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of
God" [91:8] "(Have We not) shown him the two highways? But he would
not try to ascend the steep uphill road. And what could make thee conceive
that steep uphill road? (It is) the freeing of one's neck (from the burden of
sin)" [90:10-13]. Furthermore "Verily,
We have shown him the Way (and it rests with him to prove himself) either
grateful or ungrateful" [76:3]. Dina: The Abbara: Please note that: "God does not burden
any human being with more than he is well able to bear." [2:286] Badr. But God says: "We created man to try
him with affliction" [90:4] Abbara: We
have been put to the test not only by affliction but by His blessing wealth
and powers. "But as for man, whenever his Sustainer tries him by His
Generosity, and by letting him enjoy a life of ease, he says 'My Sustainer
has been (justly) generous towards me'; whereas, whenever He tries him by
straitening his means of livelihood, he says: 'My Sustainer has disgraced
me." [89:15-16]. Dina:
Humans are always amazingly arrogant: "Verily, man becomes grossly
overweening, whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient."
[96:6-7] And "towards his Sustainer man is ungrateful" [100:6] So
our character is in a state of imbalance. Badr: How
is passion, sentiment, and intellect divided between soul and spirit? Abbara: Passion is related to the soul, intellect
to the spirit; but sentiment depends on motives. If one loves the Truth, it
is related to spirit, but if one loves evil acts, it is related to evil
desires, i.e., the soul. Anger is related to the soul, but if it is used in
defence of Truth that means an act has disturbed the spirit, which is stirred
up to put things right. So there is no borderline which defines each
category. We function as a whole, and function best when there is balance
between soul, and spirit between passion and intellect. So often, however, we
fail in our duty of intellect: "Most of them are averse to the
Truth. But if the Truth were in accord
with their own likes or dislikes, the heavens and earth would surely have
fallen into ruin." [23:70]. Badr: God has given us the ability to judge
things according to reason. Aren’t we right to follow it? Abbara: Reason can be clouded by likes and
dislikes. We are the most disputatious of beings: "Man is above all else,
always given to contention" [18:54]. "He has created man: He has
imported into him articulate thought and speech" [55:3-4]. If the reason
is not related to Original Reason it will deviate from the Truth, and God
withdraws His support to reach right judgment: "I will turn away from My
Signs the arrogant and the unjust, so that even if they witness each and
every Sign, they shall deny them. If they see the Right Path, they shall not
walk upon it; but if they see the path of error, they shall choose it for their
path" [7:146]. Reason is grounded in this life, while God plans for the
good of not just this life but also the next. Charles:
Even if you submit yourself to God and do your religious duty, still you
cannot guarantee guidance and forgiveness for yourself. Abbara: God knows my inner-self and judges my
sincerity. If my actions are clouded by hypocrisy, ostentation, social
influence, to gain personal benefit, of course such actions cannot guarantee
forgiveness; God's Grace is involved. A very well-authenticated saying of the
Prophet is, "Actions will be (judged) only according to the conscious
intentions (which prompted them); and unto everyone will be accounted only
what he consciously intended."5 Charles:
Man in Islam seems to me rather like a feather blowing about in the wind. Abbara:
This is a misunderstanding. Are we free to choose? God stated clearly,
"Verily, we have shown him the Way; (and it rests with him to prove
himself) either grateful or ungrateful" [76:3]. He guides us not only by
having endowed us with reason but also by means of Revelation. Badr: So
why is mankind arrogant, like you? Dina:
Because they do not believe in the next life as they should. If we believe,
we will purify our present existence. "With all this, man (often) says
'What? Once I am dead, shall I again be brought forth alive?'" [19:66].
If he believes, his motivation will be purer and this will result in good
acts.
God says, "Consider the flight of time. Verily, man is bound to
lose himself unless he be of those who attain to Faith, and do good works,
and enjoin upon one another the keeping to Truth, and enjoin upon one another
patience in adversity." [103:1-3]. Abbara: Our life is only one the present time and
our destiny depends on this moment; we will cultivate what we have planted in
it; if it is good we gain goodness, if it is immoral we reap evilness. The
past is like past dream and the future time is a daydream, so your life is
like a bird flying towards its destiny you cannot hold it, but you can
control this flash of time and you are able to grow the seeds of belief to
associate with you creator. 4.4. The
Prophets "Not an apostle did We send before thee without
this Inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore
worship and serve Me." [21:25] Abbara:
God helps us by all means. He has
endowed us with an inner sense of Himself and gives us faculties which lead
to Him through observation, research and exercise of mental ability. He has
provided us with spirit; our vision may be clouded by evil and may easily be
deceived by any phenomenon appearing in the name of religion. Therefore, God
sent Prophets and Messengers, at times when people were particularly diverted
from His Way, to call us back to the Badr: To me Prophet and Messenger are synonymous.
Is there a distinction between them? Abbara:. A Prophet's Message is for his tribe, kin
or his particular area, while a Messenger's Message is universal, like that
of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Therefore, every Messenger is a
Prophet, but not vice versa. A Messenger is the recipient of a Divine
scripture which he is obliged to transmit, while a Prophet receives
inspiration and commandments. Badr: Why did God choose a human being to convey
His Message? Most prophets come from the Abbara: Using an actual human being as an
intermediary is more effective than using angels or sending a Book. The
Prophets were not delivering a new Message, and it was necessary for them to
perform miracles in order for people to believe. But they were only reminders
to warn us to return to the As to why the Prophets arose in the Regarding your comment about those who
search for Truth being easily mislead, maybe you are right in regard to the
past, but now the information is widely available for those searching for the
Truth. Dina: All Prophets called humanity back to God,
all taught the same Message and all experienced the same kind of rejection by
the people they addressed. Muslims do not believe that there has been any
change in what was revealed then and now. The same was revealed to Moses (in
the Torah), through Jesus (in the Gospel Injil) and to David (in the
Psalms Zabu), but Muslims believe that these books have been
corrupted or not preserved in their original form; they may have been added
to, parts substituted, and alterations made. There’s research evidence extant
on this. But there is no doubt that the last Message has been preserved by
God, exactly as it was originally revealed and has been kept safe from human
additions. Abbara: The Message of God developed in concert
with human social development, as humanity acquired the ability to keep the
Message intact. A recent expression of this notion was by Muhammad Abduh (d.
1905), who spoke of the three ages of mankind: its childhood with Moses and
the Torah (Old Testament); its youth with Jesus and the Gospel, which speaks
to the heart and appeals to the sentiments; and its adulthood with Muhammad
and the Qur'an, the age of Islam,6 a
religion conforming to the reason that is written in every one's heart. Dina: The Prophet's role is to point out the way
to follow by word and example, to warn of perils, illusions and deceptions,
and to bring us closer to God through His Law, walking in the Straight Path
leading to Him. Charles: Most of the Prophets
mentioned in the Qur'an are already mentioned in the Bible, to link the
Message with previous Revelations. The exceptions are those sent to Arab
tribes, e.g., Hud, Shu'aib etc. The Qur'an repeatedly recounts the stories of
the Prophets and the catastrophes that overcame Pharaoh and the Egyptians and
the peoples of Abbara: Whenever the Qur'an mentions previous
Prophets it is confirmation from God that they were true Prophets. The Bible
does not give them the same treatment as in the Qur’an. Repeating the stories
is the explanation the practical God’s decree and how demonstrate God’s ruled
in the life of His creations. In other word; the Ways [Sunnah] of the
Prophets give explanation to the Way [Sunnah] of God. Charles: The Qur'an refers to other Prophets, e.g.,
Dhul-Qarnayn, "the two-horned", which refers to Alexander III
(b.356 BC) King of Macedonia, and to Mary as a Prophetess. Besides that, it
confuses Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Miriam, the sister of Aaron and
Moses. Though, of course, Muslims would not accept the suggestion that there
is error or confusion here. Abbara: Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned only once [in
18:94]. Neither the Qur'an nor any authentic tradition says anything about
him nor refer to him as a Prophet. If any commentator on the Qur'an refers to
him as being Alexander of Macedonia, it is not acceptable to Islamic
theologians; we can safely dismiss speculations that he was a prophet.
The Virgin Mary was never a Prophetess. In regard to the verse that
refers to the "sister of Aaron in belief": the Qur'an exalted her
as a believer and the Qur'an always stated that, "All believers are but
brethren" [49:10].
4.4.A. Jesus as an Ideal in the Qur'an "'Oh Mary! Behold! God sends thee the glad
tidings of a Word from Him (of a son), who shall become known as the Christ, Jesus,
son of Mary, of great honour in this world and in the life to come, and
(shall be) of those who are drawn near unto God. And he shall speak unto men
in his cradle, and as a grown man, and shall be of the righteous.' Said she:
'O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?' The
angel answered: 'Thus it is: God creates what He wills: when He wills a thing
to be, He but says to it "Be", and it is.'" [3:45-47]. Abbara:
The Qur'an gives a greater number of venerable titles to Jesus than to any
other figure. He is a 'sign', a 'mercy' [19:21], a 'witness' [5:17], and an
'example' [43:57]. He is called by his proper name 'Issa (Jesus) [2:87], by
the titles Messiah (Christ) [4:157], 'Messenger' [4:157], 'Prophet',
'servant' [4:172], 'Word', 'Spirit of God' [4:171], and son of Mary [4:171].
The Qur'an gives two accounts of the annunciation and birth of Jesus [19:23],
and refers to his teaching [19:30] and healing, and his death and exaltation
[3:55]. The ideality of Jesus in Islamic theology is pure and clean; he birth
was miraculous. He was the chosen, a human being of a higher status than
others. Dina: The
Qur'an states that Jesus would "speak to men while yet in his
cradle" [3:46], was imbued with wisdom from early childhood and would
become a Prophet when he grew up, since it is not conceivable that anyone,
including Muhammad, could be granted Divine Revelation and made a Prophet
before attaining maturity. Charles:
What does the Qur'an say about Jesus and Mary? Abbara:
God has, in Mary’s honour, entitled one chapter of the Qur'an in her name
"Maryam" (Mary). This Surah was revealed in Makkah,
where no Christians were living. The Qur'an mentions Mary in several places.
She was consecrated to God while still in her mother's womb. The Qur'an gives
details of her origin and her background. She devoted herself to God and was
innocent of all sin. Chastity was her special virtue; therefore she was
honoured by having a 'son of virgin birth'. "And remember she who
guarded her chastity, whereupon We breathed into her of Our Spirit and chose
her, together with her son, to become a symbol (of our Grace) unto all
people" [21:91]. The Qur'an
stresses in many places that Jesus is like Adam, created without a father by
the power of the Creative Word of God alone. "Verily, in the Sight of
God, the nature of Jesus is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of
dust and then said unto him 'Be' and he was.” [3:59]. Dina: According to the Qur'an, Jesus, in his role
of Prophet, was sent to the Sons of Israel to recall them to strict
monotheism. The Message of Jesus was not a new message called
"Trinitarianism" but the same Message that Moses brought, that is,
to believe in One God. If his Message had not complied with Judaism, he would
not have confirmed the Old Testament. His message was in fact the same
message of other prophets to serve One God; the Straight Path to God. Abbara:
Such arguments will never end. However, let’s continue with what the Qur'an
says. Jesus spoke from his cradle: "When she returned to her people,
carrying him, they said to her, 'O Mary, you have done an amazing thing!' She
pointed to him, (but) they said, 'How can we talk to one who is a child in
the cradle?' He said: 'Behold! I am a servant of God; He has vouchsafed unto
me Revelation and made me a Prophet." [19:27-30]
God sustained him and accomplished marvelous miracles with the sons of
Charles:
The mystery of the Person of Christ is a mystery of faith, which only becomes
apparent through the experience of a life of faith and not through
theological discussions. Dina: The Qur'an calls us to reason rather than
to rely on faith alone, but the aim of Christianity and Islam is the same, to
call people back to God and bid they live in peace and unity. There is thus
no essential difference between them, as the meeting point is God, whom you
call Father. To say that Jesus is raised up to equal God, however, defies
reason. Abbara: God appeals to Christians through the
Qur'an as follows: "O followers
of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds (of Truth) in your religious
beliefs, and do not say of God anything but the Truth. The Christ, Jesus, son
of Mary, was but God's Apostle, (the fulfillment of) His Promise which He had
conveyed unto Mary - and a soul created by Him. Believe, then, in God and His
Apostle, and do not say '(God is) a trinity.' Desist (from this assertion)
for your own good; God is but One God. Utterly remote is He, in His Glory,
from having a son. Unto Him belongs
all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of
trust as God." [4:171]. Charles: It is a matter of belief. Everyone has his
or her belief. Theology cannot be applied like scientific data. Dina: Pure reason is free from all pre-conceived
ideas. If the mind is clear from prejudiced opinion, we can reach the Truth
and nothing but the Truth. Badr: You are right, one should clear one's mind,
but it is not possible because faith is based on experience. Dina: Yes, faith is part of experience, but
knowledge results from this. When I obtain new knowledge, I assess it,
compare it with previous knowledge, and adopt a new approach. If you can
postpone belief and look at the matter logically, you will come to know the
Truth, regardless of belief. Abbara: It is true that everyone has his or her own
religion and is satisfied with it. However, as we have seen, the Qur'an gives
accurate statements without prejudice. If Muhammad, as a human being, were
the author of the Qur'an, he could not have stated these facts precisely, as
naturally accepted by those who are blessed with insight. The Qur’an is free
from prejudice towards Mary and Jesus and all the Prophets. Charles: There is a Hadith about Jesus that
Muslims believe in that at some time in the distant future, he will return to
earth and he will judge the world justly at the end of time. Do you believe
this? Abbara: There is no reference in the Qur'an to this
matter. It is a tradition in the Old Testament that said that the Messiah was
coming. When Jesus came the Jews did not believe in him. In the New Testament
it is said that the saviour would come. Periqlytos in Aramaic, the
praiseworthy one referred to Muhammad; when Muhammad came, neither Jews nor
Christians believed in him as the saviour. Hence, the idea of Messiah; the
saviour still exists even though it was abrogated by the coming of Jesus. The
Christian belief was also abrogated when the Prophet Muhammad was sent and
God made him: “The Seal of all Prophets” [33:40]. And God stated again that
His Mercy has been sent to all mankind: “And [thus, O Prophet,] We have sent
thee as [an evidence of Our] grace towards all the worlds.” [21:107]. Asad
commented on this verse: “The universality of the Qura’nic revelation arises
from three factors: firstly, its appeal to all mankind irrespective of
descent, race or cultural environment; secondly, the fact that it appeals
exclusively to man’s reason and hence, does not postulate any dogma
that could be accepted on the basis of blind faith alone; and, finally, that
fact that - contrary to all other sacred scriptures known to history - the
Qur’an has remained entirely unchanged in its wording ever sine its
revelation fourteen centuries ago. It is by virtue of three factors that the
Qur’an represents the final stage of all divine revelation and that the
Prophet through whom it has been conveyed to mankind is stated to have been
the last or “the seal” of all prophets”. If Jesus comes again he should have
with him a revelation from God which abrogates the last Message, and there is
no reference to that. Charles:
What a surprise, everyone, Christians; Jews and Muslims believe in Jesus’
coming, while you disbelieve! Abbara: If
God says a thing it is definite confirmation from Him, while others follow their
own speculations and assumptions. However, Jews do not believe in Jesus but
they still believe in the Christ who’s yet to come. God indicates there is no
return to Jesus after his death to witness the truth against the people of
the Book as they claimed. God says: “There is no one of the people of the
Book who does not, at the moment of his (Jesus) death, grasp the truth about
him (he was truly a mortal prophet); and on the Day of the Resurrection he
will be a witness against them” [4:159]; If Jesus peace be upon him will come
back to bear witness to the truth of their belief in this life, God would not
have mentioned his witnessing only on Resurrection Day. Dina: This is confirmed by God when He says, “What,
shall I seek after any judge but God? For it is He who sent down to you the
Book well-distinguished; and those whom We have given the Book known it is
sent down from they lord with the truth; so be not thou of the doubters.
Perfect are the words of thy Lord in truthfulness and justice; no man can change
His words; He is the all-hearing, the all-knowing.” Charles:
Do you believe in Jesus then? Abbara:
Yes, every Muslim believes he is a Prophet of Islam or Messenger of God whose
Message was abrogated by God through His Final Message in Islam. Charles:
Who, in your view is superior, Jesus or Muhammad? Abbara: Muslims follow God's command: "We make
no distinction between any of His Apostles". [2:285]. In the Qur’an
Jesus is praised and given attention more than Muhammad. He is mentioned by
name twenty-five times while Muhammad is mentioned only four times. Jesus was
supported by the Holy Spirit, so he could prove that he was the Messenger of
God, while Muhammad was only supported by the Qur'an. Jesus' miracles died
with him, while Muhammad died leaving a living miracle - the Qur'an -
forever. Dina: All
the Prophets were working in the same line, calling mankind to walk on the 5.6.Discussion: {Between Abbara and Dina expressing the Islamic view whilst Badr and Charles the opposite side of the argument} The Life
of Muhammad. "But those who believe and do righteous deeds
and believe in what is sent down to Muhammad- and it is the Truth from their Lord-
He will acquit them of their evil deeds and dispose their minds aright."
[47:2] 5.6.1. Early Life Abbara:
Some literature or biographies about Muhammad’s life are admittedly, irrelevant
stories, and paradoxical. I believe such stories were made up to influence
people to follow his teaching. Charles: May I
quote you the following: "He was born pure, circumcised, his umbilical
cord cut by the hand of Divine Power. He was born fragrant and endured with
pomade, his eyes coloured with Kohl of divine care".10 And
his mother miraculously gave birth without pain but she felt that the help of
God was with her. Abbara: In fact he was born a normal child. Badr: There are reports that the Prophet’s mother
dreamed that light came forth from her body and that she was directed to call
the baby Muhammad. Furthermore, the palaces of kings of Abbara:
The stories foretelling his Prophethood indicate that it was well known to
people that he would be a Prophet, and his tribe would be proud of him. But
his normal life as an orphan or his adulthood is not in fact mentioned in
historical accounts or by poets. What we know about his reputation is that he
was trustworthy. When he received the first Revelation he was alarmed, not
pleased that he’d been appointed a Prophet. He thought something bad had
happened to him. Dina: Why was it the custom to send babies to the desert
to be nursed? Abbara: This was said to be for the child, so that he’d be
healthy and gain eloquence. Muhammad was nursed by a lady called Halimah for
about six years. In the desert a child grows pure in heart and clean. The
soul and spirit develop free from the malign influences of society. Charles: I recently listened to a programme on the radio
called "Heart washed by snow". When Muhammad was under the care of
his nurse it was reported that while he was out tending some sheep with his
foster brother at the back of their house, two men (angels) in white came to
him with a golden basin filled with snow. These men opened his chest and
washed his heart with the snow until it became clean and pure. What do you
think of that? Abbara: Such
stories add little to his standing as a Prophet. It is not reported in any
authentic Hadith, nor is it fully accepted or disputed by scholars. My
view is that this story contradicts with one of the earliest revelations
which said, “And thy inner self purify!” [74:3] God asked him and every one
to be true believers, firstly by purifying the heart of all that is
blameworthy not with snow but with true belief and right deeds. If his heart
had been washed before, then there was no necessity for this commandment to
be washed again!. Some Muslims exaggerate about the position of the Prophet
more than what is already in the Qur’an. Dina: When was Muhammad born? What does his name mean in
Arabic? Abbara:
Briefly, he was born in the year 570 C.E., the twelfth day of the Muslim
month of Rabi' al Awwal. His father died before he was born, so he was an
orphan. His mother and grandfather, who took care of him, both died before he
was eight, and he spent six years in the desert with his foster mother. In his early childhood he did not get the
care and affection that is given to the average child. The uncle who later
took care of him had a large and poor family. Once his uncle took him on a
business trip to He was ill
treated and had no education of any kind.
His name means 'the highly praised one'. It was the first time this
name had been used for anyone in Arabic. Muslims believe that his grandfather
and his mother obtained this name from inspiration from God. It was intended
that past Scriptures be linked with the Last Message. But his mother and
grandfather of course did not plan the path of Prophethood for him. Charles: What do you mean? Abbara: I mean
that his name was mentioned in the Old and New Testaments in such texts as
"And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Periqlytos,
that he may stay with you forever." [John XIV, 16 etc.] Charles: But that
does not refer to Muhammad directly. Abbara: True. But
this is not the actual word of Jesus in the Aramaic or Hebrew language.
Muslims believe that what is stated in the Gospel is the same as what God
says in the Qur'an in the verse: "And (this happened too) when Jesus,
the son of Mary said, 'O children of Charles. This a reference to the Qur'an but not to
the Gospel… Abbara. The two are linked because Jesus said that the
Father would send another Apostle, whose name would be Periqlytos
(Periqlytos), which means, "the much praised" and that must refer
to the names Muhammad or Ahmad,
because these two names are derived from the verb hamada, meaning "praised". Dina: He gained a
reputation for honesty and they called him "The trustworthy". He
led a normal life and gave no indication that he was to become a great man.
He was just a mortal like all human beings and his greatness was not in him
but in the Message he conveyed and the greatness of the Message. I am sure that it will soon become clear
that mankind's development can be seen to correlate with this message. If it
had derived from Muhammad himself it would never have survived, or become so
widespread, then and now, but the Message has eternal life within human life. Charles:
So you are not happy with the study that placed him at the top of the list.
In fact, the same man who did the evaluation placed Jesus in third place. Dina: Of course, you cannot compare Prophets with
ordinary people. I believe it is illogical to use such standards. There is a
difference between one who achieve greatness by their own work and those
chosen by God to guide man to the Straight Path. 5.6.2. The Revelation and Muhammad "And who
could be more wicked than he who invents a lie about God, or says, 'this has
been revealed unto me,' while nothing has been revealed to him? - or he who
says 'I will send down the like of what God has sent down'?" [6:93]. Abbara: Muhammad
used to retreat to a cave outside Makkah. He would take with him provisions
and consecrate a certain number of nights to the worship of God. Then he
would return to his family. In his late thirties, he experienced powerful
inward signs in the form of "true vision", which came to him in his
sleep, and he said that they were "like the breaking of the light of
dawn". In his fortieth year, when he was alone in the cave at the end of
the month of Ramadan, there came to him the Angel Gabriel in the form of a
man and said to him, "Recite", and he said, "I cannot
recite". Revelation – Wahy - has become a technical term
in Islamic theology meaning "communication of the Message", or
"Revelation". On the other hand inspiration reaches man by different
means as well. The Wahy takes
different forms, as indicated in the Qur'an. The
highest form of Wahy is "Revelation", in which God
conveys His Word not one to one, but through a medium; "It belongs not
to any mortal that God should speak to him, except by Revelation, or from
behind a veil, or that He should send a Messenger (Angel) and he reveal
whatsoever He will by His leave." [42:51]. The Qur'an was revealed in
this way: the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel, descended with it from God, as He
said, "... nor speaks he out of caprice, this is naught but a Revelation
sent down to him: he was taught by One terrible in Power (Gabriel)"
[53:3-4]. The second
level of Wahy is inspiration, as
in, "We inspired The mother of Moses".[28:7] In this category, the Sunnah, the tradition of Muhammad,
might be considered Inspirations from God directly or through the Angel
Gabriel, not in God's Words but by His Instruction. Muhammad expresses it in
his sayings and by translating the Qur'an into action. There are other forms
of inspiration, such as prophetic dreams, as happened to Abraham in the
matter of sacrificing his son, etc. Dina. Well, we
could define the Islamic concept of Revelation as follows "Revelation, in
the Islamic framework, is primarily and predominantly a Divine,
Self-disclosure of His Person, of the Divine Spirit as such, not mainly the
Revelation of His Purpose in the form of a people whose history and
experience became embodiments of the Divine to an extent that the 'Word of
God' is subsumed in the 'Act of God' as articulated in the history of a
specific, chosen people. Instead, it consists in the revelation of the Divine
Will, so that man knows and learns what is expected of him and tries to realize
it in actuality. This Will is
primarily embodied in the Message communicated by God through His Prophets,
who convey it to mankind and who also try to translate it into practice,
setting a model before them all."11 Charles: One Western writer says, "Three
theological interpretations of Revelation may be identified. a). The
handing down of prepositional truths about God resulting in an objective body
of knowledge expressed in scriptural and doctrinal statements which can be
added to as time passes; b). The
Self-manifestation of absolutely mysterious God as subject and person (not as
the philosophical Absolute) by means of a person or persons, whereby new life
is offered to man and not the mere intensification of present life; and c).
Subjective, interactive relationship of an individual person with God
within the community of God's people, whereby that person's life is enriched,
fulfilled and saved."12 Dina: These
definitions give different conceptions about Revelation: Divine Revelation as
scripture or Revelation as disclosure from God. The former is a special form
from God which reveals to man His Divine Guidance, expressed in His Scripture
through his Prophets, while the latter is general for all human beings
particularly as moral guidance for those who live righteously and try to be
close to Him. Abbara: The
spirit plays an intermediate part between its Origin and the human level.
Human knowledge is obtained gradually according to the development of the
field of knowledge. If you ask a creative man how he came to his discovery,
his answer is "I do not know; it just came to me, and he may say
unconsciously, "from God", no matter whether he believes in God or
not, this type of discovery is called ‘inspiration’ Charles: Well,
Muhammad apparently enjoyed intimate, direct, personal contact with God. He
became a symbol of a certain spiritual Reality, but some claim that he
deliberately used "Revelation" as a device for imposing his will
upon the community or for solving the problems with which he was called upon
to deal in Madinah13. However, could you tell us when Gabriel came
to Muhammad, how the people saw him, and how he came to deliver the Message
to him. Abbara: To your
first point, we could say that he had no choice about receiving Revelation
because it was an act of God and he had no problems before the Dina: One
of the Prophet’s Companions, once asked, "O God's Apostle, how is the
Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" He replied, "Sometimes it is
(revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of inspiration is the
hardest of all to bear, but then this state passes off and he leaves me, but
I remember what he has said. Sometimes the Angel comes in the shape of a man
and talks to me and I remember what he says."14 These were
two of the ways, but other inspirations may take a different shape. Charles: But why did it take two different forms?
The Qur'an is in only one form, but here you indicate two different styles of
Revelation, heavy and light. Abbara: God knows
best. God says in the first
Revelation: "We shall bestow upon thee a mighty Message"
[73:6] It may be that of these two
kinds of Revelations, the soft may be related to a Revelation which has no
Commandment while the hard one contains a Divine Commandment; but it is hard
to apply this principle. Life, according to Islam, is given to us to strive
for good and struggle against all kinds of evil, resist temptations and make
efforts in the Charles: It is said that as time went on, Muhammad began to
feel physical discomfort, such as perspiring on a cold day whenever he
experienced one of these Divine Revelations. This gave rise to the
suggestion, now agreed to be unwarranted, that he suffered from epileptic
fits.15 Dina: The truth of the matter is that Muhammad, like the
biblical Prophets, suffered the physical discomforts that accompany Divine
Messages. Charles: But some
scholars interpret the Hadith quoted above to indicate a sort of epilepsy,
particularly "grand mal", the serious one, which would correspond
with a "hard" Revelation.16 Dina: Such
accusations are the easiest way to create doubt in the minds of non-Muslims
that Muhammad was a Prophet. Nevertheless, it seems that scholars who claim
this have no idea what an epileptic fit is and what Revelation is. In the former, the epileptic falls to the
ground, losing consciousness, of which he later has no memory, followed by a
semi-conscious state and maybe a deep sleep. If he speaks, he produces
unrelated ideas as facts. But the Prophet was in a state of full
consciousness; he comprehended what he was told and the grand truth in the
Qur'an testifies to each aspect of it. Charles: Muhammad
assumed that it was God who had appeared to him, as referred to in verses
53:5-9.17 Abbara: What do you think? We can believe what Watt 20 reported or believe
what God stated. No mortal could see Him in this life. The verse referred to
"Gabriel (an Angel) endowed with surpassing power, who, in time,
manifested himself in his true shape and nature." [53:6]. Charles: Abbara: Verses
73:1-6 advise believers to keep awake in prayer at night, because "the
hours of night impress the mind most strongly and speak with the clearest
voice" [73:6]. The Revelations took place at different hours of the day.
This verse indicates the wisdom of praying at night as well as for reciting
the Qur'an, not composing the Qur’an. Charles: Actually,
from the way he is portrayed by researchers we might conclude that he was an
epileptic, hysterical madman or soothsayer. But he was in reality a creative
personality, a spell-binding poet and he portrayed himself in the line of
Israelite Prophets, which is why he was accused of repeating the fables of
ancient times and recounting confusing dreams. It is claimed that he was the
author of the Qur'an and had never received any revelation. "He is a
false prophet, who pretended to receive Messages from God. This and other
falsifications of medieval war-propaganda are only slowly being expunged from
the minds of Abbara: All these
allegations are not new but were made by infidels in his life-time according
to the testimony of the Qur'an [52:29, 25:6, 5:21]. But many of those who
made these accusations afterwards saw the Truth and became true believers,
whereas the researchers of the twentieth century are repeating the same
things without realizing the gap between falsehood and Truth. According to
the principles of research the researchers must search for the truth, not
accept fabrications and produce imaginary concepts. However, this same story
repeated itself with every Prophet; the battle between falsity and the Truth will continue
"And thus it is that against every Prophet, We have set up as enemies the
evil forces from among humans as well as from among invisible beings that
whisper unto one another glittering varnished falsehoods, half-truths meant
to delude the mind" [6:112]. And so we shall leave them in their
overwhelming arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro" [6:110]. So the
allegations are not opposed to Muhammad but to their Creator. If Muhammad had
been the author, he would simply have omitted such accusations from the
Qur'an, but God placed them there to distinguish between what is false and
what is trustworthy. Dina: Some
researchers have come to accept some of the truth. As Watt said: "Recent
writers have, on the whole, been more favourable and have taken the view that
Muhammad was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith.”20 Another says, "Muhammad was the victim
of a very bad press. Western writers of all kinds have engaged in every form
of slander against him. Happily, scholars have recognised the futility of
such efforts, and just as the historicity of Jesus has again been firmly
established, so we now possess firm documentation for virtually every phase
of Muhammad's life...As Frithjof Schuon has put it 'his spiritual reality is
wrapped in certain human and earthly veils.'"21 Abbara: But we cannot ignore those who tell the truth,
e.g., Thomas Carlyle says: "It is shameful that a civilised member of
the present age should listen to the allegation that Islam is false and that
Muhammad was a cheat. Have you ever seen a liar able to invent a religion and
make people believe in it?" 22 5.6.3. The
Authority of Muhammad "We know that what such people say grieves thee
indeed. Yet, behold, it is not thee to whom they give the lie, but God's
Messages do these evildoers deny" [6:33]. Abbara: When the career
of Muhammad is carefully and accurately looked into by unprejudiced eyes, the
truth will emerge that he was a normal man but a Prophet. Neither he nor the
Muslims claim that he is a Divinity, but his career was part of a Divine
Plan. God inspired him: "Say (O
Muhammad): 'I am but a mortal man like
all of you....'" [18:110]. But he was different from all other human
beings in that God chose him to convey his Message: "... it has been
revealed unto me that your God is the One and Only God." [18:110].
Muhammad always sought refuge in God and asked forgiveness for his lack of
devotion in delivering the Message. He was a conveyor, chosen by God to
receive and pass on the Final Revelation destined from the Creator to His
creation. Dina: Hence the
incomparable greatness of Muhammad is not related to himself, as a man, but
to the greatest miracle of all, which is the Revelation, that is the Qur'an,
which stated, "We have revealed to thee this Qur'an though before it
thou wast one of the heedless." [12:3] Charles: Many western scholars admit that his religious
system is suitable for all men.
Moreover, no founder of a religion has been left in such eminence as
the Muslim Apostle. "Not all of
the ideas he proclaimed are true and sound but, by God's Grace, he has been
enabled to provide millions of men with a better religion than they had
before they testified that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the
Messenger of God.'23 Gibb
however said, "The hold which Muhammad gained over the wills and affections
of his Companions was due to the influence of his personality, it was because
of his moral qualities, not because of his religious teaching.24 Abbara:
Muhammad’s personality died with him, but people continued to become Muslims
even after his death. So their link is with the Lord of Muhammad. In God's
Religion all are equal and there’s justice for all before God, the
Ever-living. There is no deity save Him. All praise is due to God. On this
basis the Muslim surrenders himself to the Sustainer of all the Worlds. If you study the Qur'an, it will tell you
about the Prophet's personality. As we saw earlier, he could not win converts
at the beginning of the mission merely by his own personality. The deciding
factor came from God in His words in the Qur'an. Dina: Actually, some Western writers called Islam "Muhammedanism",
Gibb used this name as a title for his book when it was published the first
time, but later changed it to Islam. God chose the word 'Islam', not
Muhammad. Frithjof Schoun wrote, "Muhammad had a complete absence of any
kind of ambition and a striking purity of intention" 25 He lived a life of exemplary piety, accepted
poverty and eschewed wealth. Badr: But
some Muslims say “Ummah Muhammadiya”; means “Muhammad’s nations” So
the word Muhammedanism comes from Muslims. Dina: The
first refers to Islam and the second refers to Muslims; the difference clear.
Charles: In this regard, Fry and King say, "Muhammad
was far too complex a person to make any simple final estimate possible. It
should be apparent, too, that the danger of overestimating his achievement is
just as great as the danger of underestimating it."26 Abbara: Muhammad was a Messenger, his responsibility being
only to deliver the Message [13:40] and not to guide people by force. God
guides those who are virtuous and who want to be guided, not Muhammad:
“Verily! (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but guides whom He wills.”
[28:56]. God, the Lord of mankind and Who loves righteous people who are guided by His Divine Law. Charles: Could you give us
an example to show that Muhammad was only instrumental in delivering the
Message? Abbara: It is well known from traditions, that one
day Muhammad went to a filed of palm-trees and saw farmers tending to them.
He asked what they were doing. They replied, "We are fertilising the
female palm-tree by putting the pollen of the male tree onto the ovaries of
the female tree. The wind, rain and insects perform this work for many
flowers. He said, "If you leave it, it will fertilise itself." Time
passed and the trees produced nothing; they were fruitless. The men concerned
came to tell him about what had happened. He said in reply: "You know
best about your worldly affairs." This indicates that he had no
knowledge whatsoever about fertilising trees. Charles: What do we learn from that? Abbara: If Muhammad
was the author of the Qur'an, he would not have shown his lack of knowledge
by making such an incorrect statement. The Qur'an not only talks about plants
and trees, but also about clouds. For example, "And we send the
fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky." [15:22]. From that incident we know that Muhammad had no
knowledge at all of plant fertilisation. But even then suppose he had had
some experience of palm trees, flowers and plants, etc., how could he have
known about the wind fecundating the clouds, since it is only recently that
we know about clouds having a positive and negative charge in their upper and
central regions respectively, and that when the wind moves the clouds, these
positive and negative parts come together and the fecundation of vegetation
takes place. The massive surge of current in a flash of lightning
causes tremendous heat and the sudden expansion of air results in rain
descending from the sky, which causes plants to fertilise as well. That is
what the Qur'an clearly stresses and this knowledge came only from
Revelation. Muhammad could not have stated that on his own, from his own
background or any scientific knowledge that he could have had. Dina: The Qur'an is God's miracle par excellence, and it validates
Muhammad’s status as a Prophet sent by God. Abbara: The Qur'an
is "A Book whose verses are set clear, and then distinguished, from One
All-wise, All-aware: ‘Serve you none
but God." [11:1-2] But most people are spiritually blind, so they
cannot see God's Signs on the earth and within themselves [51:20-1]. God
questions them. "What! Have they not journeyed in the earth, so that
they have hearts to understand with and ears to hear with? It is not the eyes that are blind, but
blind are the hearts within the breasts." [22:46]. If the spirit is
clouded with misconception and veiled by evil action it becomes blind and
cannot see its way in this life or receive Guidance according to the Divine
Decree. "I shall turn from My signs those who wax proud in the earth
unjustly; though they see every Sign, they will not believe in it, and though
they see the way of rectitude they will not take it for a way, and though
they see the way of error, they will take it for a way. That, because they
have rejected Our Signs and heeded them not." [7:146]. God’s Guidance is
given to those of pure spirit who shuns evil and search for the truth. 5.6.4.
The Night of Ascension "Then he drew near and came closer, two
bows-length away, or nearer, so did (God) reveal to His servant what he
(meant to) reveal; his heart lied not of what he saw; what, will you dispute
with him what he saw? [53:8-12]. Abbara: All Muslims
believe that God honoured His Messenger Muhammad in a "Night
Journey" al-isra from Makkah
to Charles: What was the purpose of the journey from Makkah to
Abbara: It is
difficult to give a precise answer. The first thing we may conclude is that
it signifies that the three monotheistic religions are one; their places of worship are linked together and
these two places should be preserved for freedom of worship above all places
in the world and not be controlled by
man but by God, for to Him ascend all good deeds. Charles: Some scholars do not believe that the night
journey took place and confusion has arisen about the authenticity of the
verse [17:1] in which reference is made to the night journey to Abbara: Muhammad had no
choice about this journey or about its reference in the Qur'an. As it is
mentioned in the Qur'an, it is authentic. We believe everything is from our
Lord, planned by Him. Charles: But if it was both
physical and spiritual, how did he lead the congregational prayer with the
earlier Prophets? Were they descended from heaven physically as well? If not,
how could the physical communicate with the spiritual? Abbara: This is to
do with knowledge of the Unseen. Neither of us have any experience of it, but
when we die we will get the answer. However, you raise a good point, so, in
the circumstances, I have to admit that it was by the soul and the spirit, as
we pointed out above, man in his spirit, soul, and not in his bodily form.
The verse quoted at the beginning of this section [53:11] said that the
Prophet's heart (spirit, mind, vision) did not lie as to what it saw."
This indicates a spiritual journey not a dream. Badr: But all Muslims
believe that the journey took place in the spirit and the body. Dina: Yes, perhaps they are right, but in my opinion the body is nothing
but the tool of the soul and the spirit, it is their container for earthly
use. We do not see by the physical eyes; they are the instruments of vision
and we interpret by them. We do not hear by our ears but they are instruments
of hearing. The brain too is an instrument of the mind and the mind is an
instrument of the spirit, but people who are involved in this physical world
cannot comprehend that what is behind their eyes is not their vision. So it
is not surprising to find underestimation, and misinterpretation. Charles: The story,
according to some Western scholars, was modelled on Luke's account of
Christ's ascension, or on Abbara: If they believe that it happened to a Saint
why do they find it strange that it should happen to the last Messenger? Is it because they do not believe that this
is God's Message revealed? The purpose of the ascension was not to show a
miracle, because it happened at night. God honoured His Messenger by showing
him that which is beyond the reach of perception and, in particular, what the
next life will be like. So he gained certainty of belief in next life in
advance, so that he could intelligently explain to mankind our destiny. .5.6.5. The place of Sunnah in Islam "We have sent down to thee the Remembrance that
thou mayest make clear to mankind what was sent down to them; and so happily
they will reflect." [16:44] Abbara: The Sunnah is
the second source of Islamic teaching after the Qur'an. The word Sunnah literally means "a way of
action" or "a mode of life" or 'tradition'. A collection of Hadiths tells us what the Prophet had
said, done or refrained from doing in different circumstances on the
purported authority of his immediate companions.. The Qur'an is the Word of
God revealed to His Messenger, but the Hadith, reporting the Prophet’s
own speech and style is different from the Qur'an. If Muhammad was the author
of the Qur'an, the style or method of expression would be the same, as
everyone has his or her own individual style, but anyone who reads the Hadith
can recognise that those expressions are human, while the Qur'an is
completely different. All Hadiths considered to be authentic are
accompanied by the names of a chain of authorities who transmitted them,
people whose trustworthiness has been thoroughly investigated by jurists over
the years. Dina: Indeed, the Sunnah can be regarded as equivalent
to the Gospels, which are a collection of short anecdotes. The latter are
nothing more than the Traditions of Jesus and his way of life, his sayings
and what he reported from his Lord. They are what Jesus is purported to have
said in indirect speech, while the Qur'an is the Direct Speech of God.
Therefore the Gospels differ from the Injil, which is in the Aramaic
language, the Word of God which corresponds to the Qur'an. Charles: But the Gospels are similar to the Qur'an,
which contains stories and teachings. Dina: The stories in the Qur'an
are similar, but not identical, to the Bible stories. In the Qur’an stories
are used as a means to strengthen the faith of believer, as illustrations of
an ethical principle or principles, or as moral lessons and warnings of the
dangers of following in the steps of disbelievers, evil people and Satan. The
Qur'an does not present complete stories (for instance, the story of Adam appears
in part in five different chapters), but only certain aspects of them, with a
slight variation of stress in each one of the fundamental Truth underlying
the Qur’anic Revelation as a whole. Abbara: Indeed, when
we read a story in any book many times, it is boring, but we never feel bored
reading a Qur’anic story, because each time we read it, something new occurs
to us and is related to a new moral lesson. Charles: To come back
to the hadith, are they
similar to the Qur'an in that they
render many meanings? Abbara: As we said,
the style and language of hadith,
no matter how superior they are to other literature, are still statements of
human origin. They are clear and point directly to the meaning they are
aiming for. But the meaning depends on the occasion. Some hadith may correspond to others or
seem to abrogate each other. However, final authority rests with the Qur'an. Charles: Could you
give an example? Abbara: There is a hadith where the Prophet said "I
have been commanded to fight against the people until they testify that there
is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God."30 This is an authentic hadith. But as to when he said it, or in what situation, we do
not know. However, the term "the people" (in Arabic al-nnas) indicates the people of This hadith, I believe, is related
to the verse "Say unto those Bedouin who stayed behind, "you shall
be called against a people possessed of great might to fight them, unless
they become Muslim." [48:16] or "Permission (to fight) is given to
those against whom war is being wrongfully waged" [22:39]. So it is not
a general statement, as suggested some Muslims, to kill in the name of Islam;
or, as alleged by non-Muslims, that Islam spread by the sword. This shows that to extract the meaning of a hadith is more difficult than
understanding a verse in the Qur'an, because it is difficult to know which hadith abrogates which; which ones are
general and which ones specific; which are absolute, and which ones are
derived from limited judgement. However, most Muslims use them
indiscriminately. Dina: The Prophet pointed out that when a hadith appears to disagree with the
Qur'an, one should ignore the hadith and
accept the Qur'an. In this regard, he is reported as saying: "Don't write down what I say; whoever
writes down what I say other than the Qur'an should destroy it. [Bukhari V8:
p.229] There is no harm in relating what I say." This shows that he was
strictly conveying God's Message. If he were the founder of a religion, there
would have been no harm in writing down everything he said. Charles: But as long as the Sunnah is taken as the source of guidance for all Islamic thought
and life, the Prophet is seen as infallible. Allegiance to his Sunnah is submission to God, as the Qur'an
stated repeatedly, "Obey God and obey the Messenger." [4:59] So
Muslims follow Muhammad's thoughts. Abbara: Islamic
theology and jurisprudence is the Qur'an translated into action by the
Prophet under God's Authority. Yes, he is infallible in matters of religion
because his religion is from God. The Qur’anic words were interpreted into
human life by his action, so to obey him is to obey what God commanded him to
do. Charles: But Muhammad
adopted some social practices and customs of Dina: This is because those
practices were related to the standards of universal morality. In every
society, not all customs are evil; some are moral. For instance, there is no
harm in being generous to your guest. Abbara: Islamic ideology sprang from the Qur'an, so
the Prophet trained, educated and disciplined the Muslims and commanded them
morally, socially, spiritually and religiously according to the Qur'an, and
its teachings and interpretations as inspired by Gabriel. He became an
example of virtuous character, developing the dual aspects of life, religious
and social, for this life and the Hereafter under God's Guidance - the Qur'an
- interpreted by Divine inspiration as God stated "Verily, in the
Apostle of God you have a good example" [33:21]. It is true that the
Qur'an speaks of the Sunnah of God
as denoting "God's Principles of Action", these being linked with
the practice -`Sunnah- of the
Prophet. Charles: What does that
mean, Sunnah of God? Abbara: It is God's Divine Law i.e., Divine Natural
Law and Divine Spiritual Moral Decree and its Measurement. Thus: "God's
original nature fitrah upon which
He originated mankind. You will find no change in God's Way" [30:30]
i.e. in His Divine laws and Decrees. Charles. Muhammad was both a political as well as a
spiritual leader. He used his spiritual knowledge to guide his political
polices. Abbara: As regards
his poverty, his wife, 'A'ishah, said, "The Messenger of God bought some
food from a Jewish merchant on credit and gave him his armour as
security." As to the political
aspect, he was the Messenger of God to humanity, not the founder of the Arab
states. If he had had any intentions of that nature, he could have appointed
his son-in-law as a religious and political leader after him and the ruling
house would have remained inn the hands of his descendants. 5.6.6 The Authenticity of the Hadith "We have sent you as an apostle, and God is sufficient as a
witness. Whoever obeys the Apostle, he indeed obeys God;” [4:79-80] Charles: You mentioned
earlier that Muslims accept the set of six canonical collections of hadith, which comprise more than
twenty-four volumes. But as many unreliable and absurd traditions could not
possibly stand up to logic and reason, how can anyone judge whether a hadith is authentic or not, and if it
is proved so, how do we know that its commandment is not abrogated by the
Qur’an or by another hadith later on? Also, if a hadith is mentioned by Muslim and al-Bukhari, why do you find
that they do not correspond in exact words as well as meaning? Abbara: Such
questions really need a specialist scholar to answer, but I’ll try. The
science of hadith consists of two
essential parts.(1) Isnad, the knowledge of the character
of the narrators of the Hadith. This provides the names of those who
transmitted the report from Companions of the Prophet to the followers and to
the next generation down to the compilation of the Hadith book.
Muslims have developed this science of examining the biography of every
narrator, his private and public life, his moral reliability, etc., i.e., the
science of impingement and justification. (2)
The Matn classifies each Hadith
into its proper section. The main three categories, according to their
quality, are: A).
The Sahih or "authentic" Hadith. These are genuine
traditions so declared after applying all the tests. B).
The Hasan or "good" Hadith. These are the
"fair" fully accepted traditions, although inferior in the matter
of authenticity to the Sahih. C).
The Dhaif or "weak" Hadith.
These are those traditions which are not very reliable, but considered as
genuine, when dealing with morals. In regard to one Hadith being
abrogated by another, according to the instruction of the Qur'an, it needs a
great deal of research to find out, but the difference in the text may be
related to the different persons who narrated the Hadith, on the one
hand, and on the other, each may have been said by the Prophet on different
occasions. Dina: Hence the sciences of Hadith are accurately designed to
distinguish authentic Hadith from weak ones and some books have been
written on this subject. These Hadith we are referring to are related
to Islamic thought. But as regards Islamic practice, there is no doubt about
any Hadith in this regard because their authenticity was proved by the
practises of all Muslims over time, where no changes took place. In regard to
metaphysical Hadith which do not correspond with the Qur'an, they can
be ignored, as some Muslim scholars used to. In previous centuries Muslims
used them to create wonder and awe in people but now educated persons prefer
reason and the Qur'an as the source of all reason. Charles: What is the
difference between a Hadith and a Hadith Qudsi? Abbara: A Hadith
is a saying of the Prophet based on his knowledge from the Qur'an,
inspiration and teachings of Gabriel. Hadith Qudsi means a
"Sacred Hadith," a saying of the Prophet divinely
communicated, though the actual wording is not necessarily from God. Charles: If the Hadith
Qudsi is divinely revealed, then it is like the Qur'an surely? Abbara: No, the
Qur'an is God's Words, while the Hadith Qudsi may be in
Muhammad's words. But the meaning is from God; it may be by direct
inspiration or by Gabriel conveying its meaning. It is similar to when a
verbal message is sent from one president to another, the actual meaning is
there, but the conveyor can use either his own words or the words of the one
who sent it through him, so it is different from the written message, which
always contains the words of the
sender. Dina: If Muhammad was the author
of the Qur'an, why was he so careful about differentiating between his
sayings and God's Words particularly the Hadith Qudsi? Man is most sophisticated in arguing about
the Truth as revealed to him from his Lord to guide him to the 5.7.
Islam Is A
Continuous Message "We
have revealed to thee as We revealed to Noah and the Prophets after
him." [4:163] In order to put the themes of the
previous two chapters into context, let us analyse the similarities and
differences between the three monotheistic religions: Islam, Christianity and
Judaism. Muslims admit that there are certain similarities
between them, since they believe that all Divine Revelations came from the
same Source, the One Universal God. They also believe that there was
relationships between the authentic original Scriptures, but those Scriptures
in their present form have been adapted according to changing beliefs and
conceptions. The Bible, for instance, is found in several versions. Some parallels are bound to exist in the various
moral systems but there are nevertheless certain basic points of
discord. As Dr. G. Badawi has pointed
out, some of these many essential differences refute the thesis of the
Judaeo-Christian origin of Islam. Such differences cover a wide spectrum of topics,
including the concept of "original sin", the necessity of blood
sacrifice, forgiveness of one's sins through someone else, the question of
intermediaries between man and God, the necessity for the authority of a
religious hierarchy, the concept of the Sabbath, the concept of Prophethood,
essential information about previous Prophets, the presence or absence of an
inherent conflict between matter and spirit, and between body and soul, the
concept of man's role on earth and the meaning of "religion", and
whether religion covers just the spiritual aspect of man's life or the
totality of it. A discussion on such differences could extend to
almost any lengths.31 Islam reaffirms all the previous
Messengers, including both Moses and Jesus, as proponents of Islam, since they
preached the worship of One God. Muslims, therefore, are urged by their faith
to respect all Prophets and revere all of them in equal measure, giving them
as much reverence as they give Prophet Muhammad. "And verily We gave
unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of Messengers to follow him
and We gave unto Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proof of (God's) Sovereignty
and We supported him with the Holy Spirit.
Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a Messenger (from God)
with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant? Some ye
disbelieve and some ye slay." [2:87]. Christians
believe that Christianity is the only true religion, with Judaism as its
precursor. "Both Jews and Christians say, 'We are God's children and His
beloved ones.' Say: 'Why then does He cause you to suffer for
your sins? Nay, you are but human
beings of His Creation.'" [5:18]. The Jews believe that God chose the Children of
Israel of all races and people for the purpose of revealing His religion. It
is confirmed by the Qur'an that God blessed them and favoured them above all
other people, and sent Prophets to them, but when they rejected the message
of Jesus because it was not in accordance with their desires, they denied the
Truth. All who deny the Truth are rejected by God. "Shame and misery
were stamped upon them and they incurred the Wrath of God. This is because they went on rejecting the
Signs of God." [2:61]. The Jews did
not accept Muhammad, the Last Prophet of God, any more than the Christians do.
The Muslim believes in the Divine Origin of the other two monotheistic
religions, viz. Judaism and Christianity, and in their Prophets, and
has a profound love and respect for both Jesus and Moses, believing that God
is the loving Creator of all the peoples of the world without discrimination.
"Verily, the noblest of you in the Sight of God
is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him." [49:13]. This verse
refers to people of all religions and places, not just the Arabs or those who
call themselves Muslims but are without true belief and piety. There are many uncertainties in the New Testament.
The Gospels tell the life of Jesus in different ways. "He has left no
written law. His Gospel was written on the tablet of his heart and he
delivered his Message of 'Good News', not in script, but orally."32 The Children's Encyclopaedia Britannica
teaches us that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, were written for
Christians who did not know the full story of the life of Christ. John, who
wrote his Gospel last, took it for granted that the story was well-known. The
Books of the New Testament began to be collected together in the second
century and were finally declared to be the Word of God in 397 C.E. (after the The Old Testament was written in the
10th Century B.C.E. and additions were made to it over the next few
centuries.33 The Qur'an, on the other hand, was
immediately memorised and written down by Muhammad's companions and remains
the same to this day. In any case, the very words of the Qur'an are, in terms
of form and content, beyond the ability of the highest scholar, in so far as
its content observes the genuine previous content of the Old and New
Testaments. As God is the Author of the Qur’an, its words are
superior to those of the previous Books.
It has been preserved intact, rather than collected by different
scholars in different languages, and this is especially important since
spiritual literature cannot meaningfully be translated into another language.
For example, if any translator could translate the Qur'an from Arabic to
English, his work would fall short by several degrees of the original. The Old Testament and the Qur'an
condemn the doctrine of Three Persons in God:
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. The New Testament does not expressly hold
or defend it, but, even if it contains hints or traces concerning the
Trinity, this is no authority at all, because it was neither seen nor written
by Christ himself, nor was it in the language he spoke. For at least the
first two centuries after him it did not exist in its present form and
content.34 The idea of the Trinity conflicts with Jesus'
teaching, for Mark 12, 29-30 says, "Hear O Israel! The Lord thy God is
One God." In the Old Testament,
God is called the Father because of His being a loving Creator and Protector,
but, as the Churches have abused the Name, the Qur'an has justly refrained
from using it. The Qur’an reaches the plain, simple Unity of God.
"Say: 'He is the One God, the Eternal, the Uncaused, Cause of all being.
He begets not neither is He begotten; and there is nothing that can be
compared with Him.'" [112:1-4].
The Qur'an addresses in different places an appeal not merely to the
Christians, who attribute divinity to Jesus and certain aspects of divinity
too to their saints, but also to the Jews of Arabia, who assign quasi-divine
authority to Ezra and even to some of their great Talmudic scholars. It says: "Say: 'O followers of earlier
Revelations! Come unto that tenet which we and you hold in common: that we
shall worship none but God, and that we shall not ascribe divinity to aught
beside Him, and that we shall not take human beings for our Lords beside
God.'" [3:64]. The ascribing of divinity to others besides God is
levelled against both Jews and Christians to add to the statement that they
"do not follow the religion of Truth which God has enjoined upon them.
The Qur'an elucidates their intention when it says, "And the Jews say,
'Ezra is God's Son,' while the Christians say, 'The Christ is God's Son.'"
That is what they say with their mouths, following in spirit assertions made
in earlier times by people who denied the Truth. They have taken their Rabbis
and their priests - as well as the Christ, son of Mary - for their lords
besides God, although they have been bidden to worship none but the One God,
save Whom there is no deity: the One Who is utterly remote, in His Limitless
Glory, from anything to which they may ascribe a share in His Divinity."
[9:30-1]. The third Christian dogma is that Jesus
was the Son of God in a special, exclusive sense. Many earlier Prophets were referred to as
Sons of God, such as Moses. In Exodus
4,22, When people assert, "God has taken a Son. He
sent a Messenger to the Virgin Mary to have a son," the Qur'an answers,
"It is not conceivable that God should have taken unto Himself a Son:
limitless is He in His Glory. When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto
it, 'Be!' and it is. And (thus it was
that Jesus always said), 'Verily, God is My Sustainer as well as your
Sustainer, so worship (none but) Him: this alone is a Straight Path."
[19:34-6]. The Fourth Christian dogma is that of
Atonement. Christianity declares that by disobeying God's Order not to eat of
the forbidden fruit of knowledge, Adam sinned. They believe that the sin of Adam is
inherited by all the children of Adam, in other words that all human beings
are born sinful and that the only way of wiping out sin is by the shedding of
blood. As Muslims consider the doctrine of the Crucifixion to
be contrary to Divine Mercy. In contrast to the above belief, Islam regards
children as pure and sinless at birth. Besides that, every child's inborn,
intuitive ability to discriminate between right and wrong derives from man's
instinctive cognition of the True God. But, as the Prophet said: social
influences and parents dispose these intuitions in different ways.
"Every child is born in the natural disposition (Muslim); it is only his
parents that later turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Pagan." God revealed the verse: "In accordance with the natural
disposition which God has instilled into mankind: no change (let there be) to
corrupt what God has thus created. This is the (purpose of the one) ever true
Faith; but most people know it not." [30:30]. Inasmuch as God endows man with
immediate mental (or spiritual)
apprehension, insight and a weakness to fall into sin, accordingly, God the
Just promises forgiveness for anyone who seeks it, as He stated: "Yet he who does evil or (otherwise)
sins against himself, and thereafter asks God to forgive him, will find God
much-forgiving, a Dispenser of Grace.
For he who commits a sin commits it only to his own hurt."
[4:110-111]. This
is repeated in the Qur'an in various places and constitutes a categorical
rejection of the Christian doctrine of original sin and vicarious atonement
and the idea that a human being can mediate between the sinner and God. It
occurs for the first time in the chronological order of Revelations in
53:38-7: "No bearer of burdens cans bears the burden of another... man
can have nothing but what he strives for." The Jews assert that Jesus was an
illegitimate child and disbelieve his Message. But they also believe that
they put Jesus to a shameful death on the Cross. Also, the Christians believe that Jesus
died on the Cross in order to atone for the original sin with which mankind
is allegedly burdened. Islam respects the chastity of Mary and
dismisses the dogma of the Crucifixion of Jesus and refers to it thus: "God hath set a seal on their hearts
for their blasphemy... that they rejected Faith; that they uttered against
Mary a grave false charge; that they said (in boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus
the son of Mary, the Apostle of God'; but they killed him not, nor crucified
him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are
full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow,
for of a surety they killed him not: nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power,
Wise." [4:155-158]. This denotes the elevation of Jesus to
the Realm of God's Special Grace. Therefore, it might be argued from this the
Muslims have more respect for Jesus than the Jews or the Christians. Contrary to the beliefs of both the Christians
and the Muslims, the Jews continue to repudiate the concept of Jesus being a
Messenger of God (as believed by the Muslims) or a Son of God (as believed by
the Christians) and they are still awaiting the arrival of their Messiah.
Therefore Jews do not see the fulfilment of the so-called Messiah prophecy
either in the person of Christ or in that of Muhammad. They have stubbornly
rejected both of them and have disregarded both the Revelations to Jesus and
Muhammad. Jesus, on the other hand, did not abrogate the laws
of Moses, but distinctly declared that he had come to fulfil it. Nor was he the last Prophet. The Qur'an says: "Furthermore, the
Jews assert, 'The Christians have no valid ground for their beliefs', while
the Christians assert, 'The Jews have no valid ground for their belief.', and
both quote the Divine Writ. Even thus,
like unto what they say, have (always) spoken those who were devoid of
knowledge." [2:113]. Muhammad Abduh comments that the Qur'an maintains
throughout that there is a substantial element of truth in all faiths based
on Divine Revelation and that their subsequent divergences are the result of
"wishful beliefs" and of a gradual corruption of the original
teaching.35 Accordingly, the Qur'an indicates that
God ordained for every nation a ritual which they should observe. "Among
those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each
group delights in but what they themselves hold (by way of tenets)."
[30:32]. So, "Unto every
community have We appointed (different) ways of worship, which they ought to
observe. Hence (O Believer), do not let them draw thee into dispute on this
score, but summon (them all) unto thy Sustainer. For, behold, thou art indeed
on the The Qur'an represents the culminating, point of all
Revelations and offers the final, perfect Way to spiritual fulfilment. A Muslim,
whilst believing in all the Prophets of the three monotheistic religions,
believes that Islam, the continuous Message received by the Last Prophet,
Muhammad, is the most comprehensive and final form of God's Message to all
mankind. As God stated, "Today have I perfected your religion for you,
and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My Blessing, and willed that
self-surrender (Islam) unto Me shall be your religion."
[5:4] This
verse is like a seal on the Message of the Qur'an. Discussion
{Between Abbara and Dina expressing the Islamic view whilst Badr and Charles the opposite side of the argument} 5.7.1 The Relationship between Revealed Religions
"The
true religion by God is Islam. Those
who were given the Book did not dissent there-from only after knowledge had
come to them." [3:19] Abbara: Frederick
Denny says "God's relations with His Creatures is a continuing theme
from Adam down through the generations; that is, God brings the same Truth
and Guidance always, but humans pervert it and refuse it and go astray 'but if they turn away, it is they who are
in schism.' [2:137]. God mourned and heard and observed in the past, and He
does the same now."36 There is no special
race or community which can claim superiority over others. All are His
Creatures, but there are some who have relations with Him and some who turn
away. His Message always contains the same Truth and the teaching that people
have to live in equity and justice and preserve the previous Teaching. Charles: But there
is quite a battle between those who think that Judaism was the main source of
Islam and those who think that it was Christianity, while others try to
relate it to Abraham's religion. Each group has a part of the Truth. Dina: Prince
Charles, heir to the English throne,
has said this about Islam: “ More than this, Islam can teach us today
a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity itself is
poorer for having lost. At the heart of Islam it is preservation of an
integral view of the universe. Islam refuses to separate man and nature,
religion and science, mind and matter, and has preserved a Metaphysical and
unified view of ourselves and the world around us… This crucial sense of
Oneness and trusteeship of the vital sacramental and spiritual character of
the world about us is surely something important we can relearn from Islam”
37 Abbara: Islam,
Judaism and Christianity, the three monotheistic religions, originate from
One God. Differences mainly arise from their interpretation. Denny says:
"The Qur'an views itself as the final record of God's Ways with
humankind, authenticating the scriptural warnings and promises to former
peoples and correcting their errors and distortions so as to keep the
original and enduring message intact. The Muslims are commanded to follow the
example of the primordial Ummah of
Abraham, which was prior to, and independent of, the Jews and the
Christians... But the new community would neither benefit from the good or
the bad; each was to be judged according to its own acts.38 Dina: Abraham,
the spiritual father of all Jews and Christians, was also, according to both
the Old Testament and the Qur'an, their physical father through Jacob. He was
also the physical father of the Arabs through Hagar and Ishmael. So the
difference between the three monotheistic religions is like differences
between brothers regarding their inheritance. But here there is no heritage
from Abraham; it is from God Who gave His religion to true believers. “God
knows best with whom to place His message. [6:124] Abbara: The
Qur'an revealed to the last Prophet was but a restatement of the faith
delivered to the Prophets before him.
Yet the originality of Islam is nonetheless real. Hence the Qur'an
appealed to the People of the Book to return to the original revelation "that
we worship none but God, and that we shall not ascribe divinity to aught
beside Him, and that we shall not take others as lords, apart from God"
[3:64]. This
is a reference to those who follow others and apply their systems rather than
God's System, which is just. Other systems are designed to serve their
designers. Therefore the differences are not just about true belief itself
but also about how much this or that religion serves the interests of the
community, besides true belief in God Himself. Charles: But Islam absolutely denies the Fatherhood
of God, the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Redemption, the Incarnation, the
Crucifixion, the Trinity, Original Sin and the Resurrection… Abbara: It is God
Who denies it, not Islam in the way that you’re saying. God teaches many
things about Jesus – a Prophet of Islam - in the Qur’an that are consistent
with the teachings of Christianity. As M. Abduo: pointed out: "Many
scholars in the West know its validity and confess that Islam has been the
greatest of their mentors in attaining their present position."39 By inspiring
them with their civilisation. 5.7.2. Fatherhood "Whenever the One God was invoked, you denied
this Truth, whereas, when divinity was ascribed to ought beside Him, you
believed (in it). But all judgement rests with God, the Exalted, the
Great." [40:12] Abbara: Muslims
do not accept the Fatherhood of God, because they accept what God said in the
Qur'an, that He is free from all physical relationships: "He does not
beget, and is not begotten." That the word "father" is not mentioned
in the Qur'an in relation to God, as in the Old Testament, denotes that, He
is the Creator of all mankind. As we
mentioned before, most religions direct their faith to the same God, Who
created us and the universe, but they take different mystical approaches
towards Him or use mediators. Dina: That happens in most religions. Islam
builds up a direct link with the One and Only God. The Bible says, "YHWH
is God indeed, and there is no other."
[Deut. 4,35]. "There is no
God but the One." [1 Cor. 8,4]. This is the Original Message revealed to
Adam, Abraham, Moses Jesus and other Prophets. Charles: Christians also believe in the One God, that is,
the Father, Who is Three-in-One, the Trinity. The Incarnation and Redemption
are far from obscuring the Reality of the One and Only God. I know it is very
difficult for Muslims to believe in that, but this is the only way of
salvation. Abbara: But this
contradicts the previous Messages of God. Why did the Incarnation not happen
to Adam or the other Prophets? Does this mean that all people before Jesus
were sinful? Do Christians believe that Jesus was sent with his Message to
fulfil the Message of Moses, who confirmed that God is the Only God? If you
believe in the Trinity, it contradicts that part of your belief which derives
from the Old Testament. Charles: Belief in
the Trinity does not mean belief in several gods, but in Three in One. When
you have a cup of coffee, it contains water - this is the original element -
coffee and sugar, so there are three things in one. You cannot say "I
drink water and coffee and sugar", but you can say "I drink
coffee", one thing. Abbara: That’s an
interesting comparison, but, as you know, many people do not like coffee - or
coffee with sugar in this metaphor. In other words they divorce themselves
from religion. But nobody can live without pure water physically, and pure
spiritual nourishment for the spirit development; that is, the pure
nourishment, the Purity of God, rather than made up. Dina: If we look to the origin of the Trinity;
this doctrine was adopted at the Conference in Nicaea and was strongly
resisted by the Eastern church, whose bishop was thumped by a man from the
Western Church called Nicholas, who later went on to become St Nicholas,
Santa Claus. Charles: It seems
to me that it is beyond your comprehension to understand the union between
the spiritual and the temporal. You admit that Jesus was born without an
earthly father, from the Spirit of God, as the Qur'an states: "Jesus
was...His Word which He conveyed unto Mary and a Spirit proceeding from
Him." [4:171]. But this implies the Incarnation, which you do not
believe. Dina: Your interpretation is incorrect because you quote
only part of the verse in question. The verse concludes: "Believe then,
in God and His apostles. Do not say,'(God is) a Trinity. Desist (from this assertion) for your own
good. God is but One God. Glory be to Him (Far exalted is He) above
having a son." [4:171]. Charles: Nevertheless,
the Qur'an concedes that Jesus is the "Word" of God delivered to
Mary. So, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are related to the Original, and the
belief is in the One, not in Three, as you imagine. Dina: The Qur'an
says further: "He Alone is Infinite as well as Absolute and no one
whatsoever is associated with His Government." [18:26]. This verse I'm
going to quote now sums up our argument:
"...they are unbelievers who say 'God is the Christ, Mary's Son.
For Christ said, 'children of Badr: So Jesus is
one of the Apostles. Like normal human beings he ate food, and his physical
body was the same as ours. God supported him by means of the Holy Spirit, to
enable him to perform miracles to teach the Children of Israel that he was
the Messenger to guide them to the Charles: As we
said, the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ, in particular the dogmas of
sonship, intercession, crucifixion and Resurrection are beyond the conception
of Muslims. However, anyone who believes in Jesus will gain salvation. Dina: We Muslims believe he is the messenger of God, and
we are following his true teachings. 5.7.3. The
Doctrine of Salvation "Now
there has come unto you from God a Light, and a clear Book, through which God
shows unto all that seek His Goodly Acceptance the paths leading to
salvation" [5:16] Abbara: Salvation hinges on actions. If a one does good,
one earns good; if one does wrong, one meets a bad end. Charles: Some
Muslims however believe in Muhammad to the extent of venerating him as the
mediator between God and Muslim, whose intercession is decisive. Dina: Yes, in a Tradition, it is reported that in the
Hereafter, he will seek forgiveness from God. "Who is there that can
intercede with Him, unless it be by His Leave?" [2:255]. The Prophet
Muhammad categorically admonished his daughter to do good deeds, pointing out
that the doctrine of personal responsibility means that one has a paramount
duty to work for one's salvation in this world and the Hereafter. So he
cannot intercede on his daughter’s behalf. It gives the impression that God
alone has the Authority, so how can Jesus guarantee salvation? Abbara: The idea of
intercession is an interpretation by some Muslims so they can do what they
like. They conclude that Muhammad, like Jesus, will intercede with God. But
God says: “A Day comes when there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor
intercession. And it is the disbelievers who are the evildoers.” [2:254] Charles: It seems
that in Islam there is no guarantee of salvation, since God said that on the
Day of Judgement, "some men will go to Heaven and others to Hell."
[42:7] Abbara: Yes, but
the closing sentence in His verse cannot be taken on its own. The beginning
of this verse says: "So we have revealed unto thee a discourse in the
Arabic tongue in order that thou mayest warn the foremost of all cities and
all who dwell around it –to wit- warn (then) of the Day of the Gathering, ...
a one shall find themselves in paradise, and some in the blazing flame"
[42:6] this is the problem, those in their heart a disease, taking part of a
verse, or a verse, its meaning explains by other verse. It
is known not only to God but also to us that some believe and some do
not. Those who believe and do good
will find themselves in Charles: This
indicates that salvation is the monopoly of Muslims. Abbara: Not at all.
God stated in the Qur'an: "For thus it always happens: We seal the doom of
all who deny the Truth and give the lie to our Messages; and thereupon We
save our Apostles and those who have attained to Faith. Thus have we willed
it upon Ourselves; We save all who believe (in Us)." [10:103]. This
indicates salvation for those believers who embraced the Message before it is
abrogated by last one. Dina: Life is a
mixture of good and bad; no one does solely pure acts or is free from evil
things, but those who live in God-consciousness will find their reward
waiting for them, and those who do bad find their punishment waiting for
them. It is our own decision and no one else's. Those who believe otherwise
defy the principle of Divine justice. Badr: Solomon
Nigsian says "The notion of justification by faith in Christ is,
according to Islamic thinkers, preposterous and utterly disastrous to human
morals. All such teachings, Muslims insist, were once borrowed from foreign,
mainly pagan, sources and interpolated with the teaching of Jesus. In fact, Muslims see the idea of vicarious
suffering and atonement in Christianity as a survival of the concept of the
appeasement of an angry god through the offering of a sacrifice - a concept
which prevailed among the nations of antiquity. Accordingly, Muslims believe that
"Islam represents true Christianity" 40 5.7.4. The
Doctrine of Original Sin "Your
Lord has prescribed for Himself Mercy, if any of you does evil in ignorance,
and thereafter repents and makes amends, Lo! He is All forgiving,
All-compassionate [6:54]. Dina: It is
almost certain that people follow religions from self interest, to gain
something in this world and in the Hereafter. The greatest advantage of
Christianity is redemption from the damnation caused by Adam's behaviour.
Every Christian believes in the Incarnation of Jesus, his atonement on the
Cross, and the salvation of those who believe in Him. He prepares Heaven and Charles: You do not
automatically gain salvation. Salvation comes only through your belief in the
effect of the crucifixion. Christ shed his holy, sinless blood and died to
pay the penalty for the sins of man. Therefore no one can be saved unless he
accepts Jesus as his Redeemer. Dina: But
logically, one cannot be responsible for the sin of another. A judge only
sentences those who have committed an evil act. Belief in the Redemption is
like loose end in the ethical and moral law. It encourages people to do more
and more evil, relying on Christ, the Redeemer, to save them; this is
injustice. Yet God is the Just, who judges people justly. This doctrine
enfeebles and weakens the Power of Almighty God, Who created the whole
universe, but is thought incapable of forgiving one person, i.e., Adam, for
one simple sin. How could He forgive us from limitless sins only through
sacrificing His son? He would need limitless sons to forgive us! Abbara: In
contrast to the above belief, God, according to the Qur'an, regards children
as pure and sinless at birth and grants forgiveness until they reach the age
of maturity, so there is no reference to sinful nature or inheritance of sin,
and this is stated repeatedly. For example, "And whatever (wrong) any
human being commits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall
be made to bear another's burdens." [6:164]. This constitutes a
categorical rejection of the Christian doctrine of "original sin"
and "vicarious atonement," in favour of the wider ethical implications
of this statement, which, moreover corresponds with the view of the Old
Testament. Dina: M. Asad
comments, on a similar verse in the Qur'an [53:38], that its implication is
threefold: Firstly, it expresses a categorical rejection of the Christian
doctrine of "original sin", with which every human being is
allegedly burdened from birth;
secondly, it refutes the idea that a person's sins can be atoned for
by a saint or a Prophet's redemptive sacrifice (as evidenced, for instance,
in the Christian doctrine of Jesus' vicarious atonement for mankind's
sinfulness, or in the earlier Persian doctrine of man's vicarious redemption
by Mithras); and, thirdly, it denies, by implication, the possibility of any
"mediation" between the sinner and God. Charles: The
crucifixion of Christ was not for the sake of Christianity, but for the sake
of all mankind. If there had been no crucifixion, would all human beings be
burdened with sin, with no means of purification? Could anyone gain salvation
when every soul was laden with sin? Dina: The dogma
of the crucifixion was created after the disappearance of Christ and not
during his lifetime, and if he had known that his Abbara: God is
the only witness to the Truth. In the Qur'an, He categorically denies the
story of the crucifixion of Jesus and so the Jews are discharged of any guilt
for his blood, not only after twenty centuries but right from the beginning. On the other hand, the Jews continue to
repudiate the concept of Jesus being a Messenger of God and born of
Immaculate Conception. Truly, God is the Most Just of all judges. He stated
that the facts were not in accordance with the Jewish assertion that Jesus
was an illegitimate child, or that of the Christians, who believed in the
crucifixion. He said in the Qur'an: "...
that they refused to acknowledge the Truth, that they uttered awesome
calumnies against Mary, that they said (in boast) 'We killed Jesus Christ,
the son of Mary the Apostle of God.' However, they did not slay him and
neither did they crucify him, but it only seemed to them (as if they had),
and those who hold conflicting views thereon are indeed confused, having no
(real) knowledge thereof, and follow mere conjecture; For certainly they did
not slay him. Nay, God exalted him unto Himself; and God is indeed Almighty,
Wise." [4:156-8]. These
verses preserve the honour of Jesus not only from the accusations of the Jews
but also of the Christians who did him wrong by raising him to divine status. Charles: Nevertheless,
in this sense, the Qur'an attacks the Christian doctrine: If there is no
crucifixion, there is no Redemption. Hence, there is no salvation in this
world from suffering and evil or the raising up of the natural world to a
higher realm or state. Abbara: As we
said before, God created man with the ability to distinguish between good and
bad and gave him freedom and responsibility to choose between right and
wrong. He can choose to be virtuous, or take the path of evil which diverts him
from the right one. That is God's Divine Decree: everyone is personally
responsible for the development of his spirit by accepting the true spiritual
teaching. 5.7.5. The
Divine Scripture "O
followers of the Bible! Now there has come unto you Our Apostle, to make
clear unto you much of what you have been concealing (from yourselves) of the
Bible... Now there has come unto you from God a (New) light, and a clear
Book." [5:15]. Abbara: Muslims
believe in the earlier Revealed Books from God, but the Qur'an teaches that
previous scriptures have been changed. These changes happened either through
human intervention over the years, or God Himself has abrogated them
according to His Divine Decree. So
Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the true Word of God revealed to His
Prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, God stated in the Qur'an that both Jews and
Christians had broken their solemn pledge. The former distorted the meaning
of the Revealed Words, taking them out of context, while the latter had
forgotten much of what they had been told to bear in mind [5:12-13]. Dina: There is no
better argument for not believing in the authenticity of the Gospels than the
words of the scholar Sayyid Amir Ali: "It is an article of faith among Muslims
of all shades of opinion that the Christian Gospels in their present shape
give an imperfect and erroneous view of the life and preaching of Jesus and
that his sayings have been garbled and tampered with according to the
idiosyncrasies of individual compilers, the environment of the times and the
requirements of sections and sects. 41 Charles: We admit that there are statements in the
Qur'an which are truthful. But do you not believe completely in the Bible as
Divine Writ? Dina: However,
but you yourself do not believe in the Bible as one Scripture; you believe in
part of it and others believe in other parts. If you try to believe in it as
a whole, as a Holy Book, then how will you will solve the problems of the
disagreements and divergences contained in different statements. But in the
Qur'an, all its statements point in one direction, bringing mankind close to
God. Abbara: Muslims
believe that parts of the Bible derive from Revelation. Many theologians on
the other hand, question the authenticity of the Bible. Another fundamental
difference between the Scriptures of Christianity and those of Islam is the
fact that Christianity does not have a text that was both revealed and
written down in the time of the Prophets. Every Bible claims to be the original
teaching, but no two 'originals' are identical. However, in Islam, the Qur'an
is original because it has not been altered. It fits this description, that
is, it was both revealed and written down in the time of the Prophet. Charles: Some
scholars may question it but the majority of Christians believe in its
genuineness. Abbara: Muslims
follow what the Prophet Muhammad said:
"Do not believe the People of the Book; do not disbelieve them;
but say, 'We believe in God and whatever is revealed to us and whatever is
revealed to you.'"42 This indicates that
there is no need for argument on this matter. Dina: You are
right, because all they believe that to criticise the Bible is a great sin. Charles: Yes. We
cannot ignore the fact that there are some changes, in every religion over
several thousand years. We can only conclude that there are
misunderstandings, and that everyone is prejudiced in favour of his religion. Dina: Indeed,
everyone in this world is prejudiced by his or her own ideas. The prejudice
for a particular religion can arise from many things, but Muslims generally
incline towards seeking a true relationship with God, the Absolute. Abbara: I agree with Asad says: Thus, while Muslims are
expected to argue against the false beliefs of others, they are not allowed
to abuse the objects (or their sacred book) of those beliefs and to hurt
thereby the feelings of their erring fellow-men (not 92 on verse 6:106). The authenticity of religion depends on the validity
of its principles of belief and practice. Surely the test of a religion’s
validity can only be its Divine Provenance. That is what we are going to
next, that the Message revealed to the Prophet Muhammad is sustained by these
principles: |
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