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Jesus the Son of Mary

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Comments Off
Praise and thanks belong to the Creator

There has been much controversy surrounding the life of Jesus and the nature of his message and mission.  God-willing, in this short pamphlet, we hope to shed some insight into the genuine teachings of Jesus, the Messiah.

Jesus was born to the best of all the women whoever walked the face of the Earth, namely, the Virgin Mary.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem and he grew up in Palestine.  While he was still young, he and his mother traveled to Egypt.  Later, he returned to Palestine.  At the age of thirty, the mission of Jesus began.  The Creator made Jesus a Prophet and recipient of Divine Revelation.

Jesus was an Israelite Prophet–that is, a descendant Prophet Jacob (Israel).  Prior to receiving Divine Revelation, Jesus followed genuine Mosaic Law—the Divine Guidance and Holy Scripture given to the great Prophet, Moses.  Jesus’ Laws were similar to the Laws of Moses.  Both Prophets enjoined prayer and fasting and forbade fornication, the worship of idols and images, and the eating of swine.

Jesus taught the same message about the Creator that all the Prophets before him, such as, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and Adam taught.  The Creator is Perfect and does not change, and the true belief in the Creator does not change.  All the Prophets (including, Jesus) taught: “Worship the Creator and none of the creations.”  All the Prophets taught that the Creator is One without partners—no one other than God makes things exist.  All the Prophets taught that the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting.  The Creator has Knowledge and Power over everything.  The Creator cannot be compared to anything—therefore, God is not a physical or spiritual body, nor is God an image. Whatever you imagine in your mind, the Creator is absolutely different from that.  Jesus taught that the Creator does not need any of the creations, and that the Creator exists without being in a direction or a place.

The true monotheistic (i.e., belief in One Perfect God) message of Jesus was corrupted and replaced by the pagan idea of a Trinity.  Jesus never taught that he was God or a part of God, nor did he teach that he was an offspring of God.  The Trinity was an attempt to compromise the pure monotheistic message of Jesus with the belief of heathens who were using Jesus’ name to spread their own ideas… and their idolatry.  It was not until the year 325 C.E.—three hundred years after God made Jesus leave this world—that the Roman Emperor Constantine (who was a pagan sun worshipper at the time) made the Trinity the official Christian doctrine.

Furthermore, it is a fact of history that Jesus never ever called his religion Christianity!  Similarly, the New Testament is not the original Evangel—that is, the God-given Holy Book sent to Jesus.  Instead, the present day New Testament is simply a book of hearsay and unconfirmed reports about what Jesus allegedly said and did—written by authors whose identity cannot be proven.  This book was not completed until three hundred years after Jesus was here on Earth!  And lastly, the oldest New Testaments are not in the language that Jesus taught his followers (that is, Syriac).  Instead, the oldest available New Testaments (which, incidentally, are simply fragments from pages of very old manuscripts) are in Greek—and no one knows who translated them!  Since Jesus did not instruct his followers in Greek, it is obvious that the New Testament cannot be the Holy Book of Jesus.[1]

The name “Christianity”, its doctrines (such as, the Trinity), and its book (the New Testament) are all man-made corruptions of Jesus’ true message.  They are NOT from the teachings of God Revealed to Jesus—but from men with evil intentions who wished to distort the Message of this honorable Prophet.   With that said, it would lead the truth seeker to ask one basic question: “What exactly did Jesus teach?”

All the Prophets taught the same essential message about the Creator.  Jesus was not a Christian.  Prophet Moses truly did not call his religion Judaism or Christianity.  And obviously, Abraham, Noah, and Adam could not have been Christians or Jews—yet, they all had a religion.  In truth, all the Prophets followed the same religion—the religion of Islam.  Islam means, “surrender to the Will and Orders of God”.

Prophet Muhammad came about 600 years after God made Jesus ascend safely to the Heavens.  Prophet Muhammad renewed the call to believing in the Oneness and Perfection of God.  Prophet Muhammad came with hundreds of astounding miracles to prove that he is a Prophet sent by God, and God has protected the Message of Prophet Muhammad from being lost.

God is One.  God is Incomparable and Free-of-Need.  God is not a body and cannot be crucified.  God cannot be murdered or harmed, and God does not die.  God is Perfect and does not undergo changes.  God did not become a baby; God does not have babies; and babies are not born in sin.  Also, God does not need someone to be killed to forgive the sins of others.  One does not bear the sins of another, but rather, each person is accountable for his (or her) religious belief and his actions and will be judged by God accordingly.  This is what Jesus taught.

If a person sincerely loves Jesus and wishes to follow his religion, he cannot do so by following the misguided doctrines of Paul and man-made doctrine of the Trinity.  He must believe the truth about Jesus as reported by the final Prophet, Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago.  For a person to earn the ultimate success, which is, to dwell forever in Paradise, one must believe in the Absolute Oneness and Perfection of God, and one must believe in the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad while testifying with the Declaration of Faith with the intention to become Muslim.  One says:

“I BEAR WITNESS NOTHING IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP EXCEPT ALLAH, AND I BEAR WITNESS MUHAMMAD IS THE PROPHET OF ALLAH.”[2]

By saying this, one becomes Muslim—and one becomes a genuine follower of the Religion of the honorable Prophet Jesus and all the other Prophets.

Praise be to the Creator and the Creator knows best!!!

[1] The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 3, page 694 says: “The contents of the New Testament as we have it today were not fully compiled until the fourth century….  But alas, we do not have the autographs [handwritten originals], or any of the very earliest copies.  Of the New Testament writings, the greatest period of textual change and alteration was in the second century…” [our emphasis]

 

[2] Allah is the name of the Creator (God) in the Arabic language.

 

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The Belief in Prophet Muhammad: an Overview for Fresh Converts

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Comments Off

Muslims believe that Muhammad (son of ^Abdullah, the son of ^Abdul Muttalib, the son of Haashim, the son of ^Abdu Manaaf, of the noblest Arab tribe: Quraysh) was God”s last Prophet and Messenger (may Allah raise his rank). He was sent to both Jinn (invisible beings that God created from fire– the non-Muslims among them are called devils) and all mankind. He was born in Makkah, but immigrated to Madinah where he is buried.

A prophet is someone who receives a revelation to teach Islam, whereas a messenger is a Prophet that brings new rules that his followers must follow. Muslims must believe in all prophets, such as Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah and Adam (the first prophet) and that they all taught the same belief; that there is no god but God, the Creator of everything. Muslims must also believe in the books Allah sent to them, such as the Qur”an for Prophet Muhammad and Injeel for Jesus.

Allah created the Prophets with attractive attributes so that people would believe them when they taught Islam, such as: honesty, trustworthiness, intelligence, courage, beauty and good manners. Muslims must accordingly believe that the prophets never (even as children) lie, cheat, steal anything, betray or do anything indicating meanness or lowly character, such as committing adultery or even intending it. They are all born Muslims and never commit blasphemy, such as believing that Allah has a partner or a son, or worshipping celestial bodies, or believing that Allah resembles His creation or that He has created attributes, or doubting Allah”s existence, or hesitating about any of these blasphemies. They are truthful about everything they say about this life and the next, as well as about what happened in the past. The best human beings are the Prophets (may Allah increase their honor), and the best Prophet is our beloved Prophet Muhammad.

A prophet supports his claim of prophethood by miracles. A miracle is an extraordinary event that happens in support of a Prophet”s claim to Prophethood. His opponents cannot duplicate it.

Believing in Prophet Muhammad entails believing in his teachings. Some of these are about what is to come in the future, such as:

  • the torture in the grave for non-Muslims and sinful Muslims
  • the pleasure in the grave for good Muslims
  • the questioning of two Angels in the grave (except for Prophets, martyrs, and children)
  • the Resurrection of all people, Jinn and animals from their graves
  • the gathering of all people on the Plain on the Day of Judgment
  • the Scale with pans and a fulcrum on which deeds are weighed
  • the Bridge which connects the Plain to Paradise and extends over Hell
  • the suffering of non-Muslims in Hell forever because they did not believe in Islam
  • the suffering of the Muslims that Allah did not forgive in Hell for some time (before entering Paradise)
  • the Day of Judgment that begins with the resurrection and ends when all those who will be in Heaven for eternity are in Heaven, and all those who will be in Hell for eternity are in Hell
  • the Basins from which the followers of each particular Prophet will drink and quench their thirst forever before entering Paradise
  • the intercession of Prophets, Angels and great Muslims (by the Will of Allah) by which some Muslims benefit by being forgiven or suffering less
  • the everlasting pleasure of the Muslim”s body and soul in Paradise (even those who will suffer in Hell first)
  • the greatest pleasure in Paradise, which will be to see Allah without Him being in a place, direction, distance or shape (because Allah is the Creator of time and place and does not exist in them; He is not seen as a creation is seen, and cannot be imagined).

Muslims are further required to believe:

  • that Angels are beings Allah created from light, are completely obedient to Him, and never sin; Angels are neither male nor female, and they do not eat, sleep or drink.
  • that all things both good and bad happen according to God”s will.
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Masters of Humanity

On August 18th, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Leave a comment

In the name of Almighty God

Praise and thanks be to the Creator Who is glorified from all imperfection.  We ask the Creator (Allah) to exalt the honor of our Prophet Muhammad, and protect his Nation from the things he feared for it.  May Allah enlighten our hearts with knowledge and sincerity and enable us to follow the path of the Prophet and the righteous Muslim scholars.

Praise and thanks be to Allah for the numerous Prophets whom Allah has sent to humanity throughout the ages. All the Prophets were Muslim (i.e., followers of the Religion of Islam).   A Prophet is a recipient and conveyor of God’s Divine Revelation. Usually the Prophets received Divine Revelation through the agency of the Angel Gabriel (Jibril).  There are special Prophets called, Messengers.  A Messenger is a Prophet who receives a new set of Sacred Laws.  Prophets (who are not Messengers) receive Divine Revelation, but not a new set of Laws–they follow the Laws of the previous Messenger.  Hence, every Messenger is a Prophet, but not every Prophet is a Messenger.

The Prophets have the greatest mission, which is, to convey the Creator’s Holy Revelation to the people. They inform the people about the correct belief in the Creator.  The Creator is perfect and does not change; hence, the correct belief about the Creator does not change.  All the Prophets taught that there is only One Creator, and that there is absolutely nothing similar to the Creator. The Creator is Incomparable and cannot be imagined.  The Prophets taught that the Creator does not need any of the creations, and that the Creator exists without being in a direction, or a place, or being subject to time.  All the Prophets taught about Destiny, i.e., whatever God has willed to be shall be–whether it is good or evil.

The Prophets inform people about how to worship the Creator, as well as, the events of the Hereafter, among other things.  Allah supported the Prophets with miracles to demonstrate to the people that they were indeed Prophets.  A miracle is an extraordinary event performed by a person claiming Prophethood.  The miracle cannot be outdone or matched by someone attempting to discredit a Prophet, and the extraordinary action complies with his claim.

The Prophets are the masters of humanity, and they are examples of human perfection.  All the Prophets were truthful, trustworthy, honest, intelligent, God-fearing and God-reliant, patient, handsome, courageous, and had all the praiseworthy traits that a human being can possess.  The Creator protected the Prophets from blasphemy, major sins and minor demeaning sins (before and after receiving Revelation).  All the Prophets believed without doubt that their Lord is One, Knowledgeable, Powerful, Eternal, and Everlasting.  None of the Prophets committed, robbery, adultery, unjust killing, insincerity in worship, or other major sins.  Also, none of the Prophets committed lesser sins that are belittling in nature, such as, stealing something of trifling value, or looking at a woman with a desirous look (that is forbidden to him).  It is true that some of the Prophets did commitminor sins, however, those sins were not belittling in nature.*

Among the long line of honorable Prophets is the first human being, Prophet Adam.  Prophet Adam was a tall, handsome, articulate, and intelligent Prophet of Allah.  Adam was not a stooped over grunting monkey-man.  Other Prophets include, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Job, Solomon, Zachariah, John, and Jesus the son of Mary.

The last Prophet sent to the people is Prophet Muhammad.  He is the last and the greatest of all the Prophets.  Prophet Muhammad was born around the year 570 C.E. in the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula.  At the age of forty he began to receive Sacred Revelation.  For the next twenty-three years, Prophet Muhammad invited people to the religion of Islam.  Tens of thousands of people believed in Prophet Muhammad and followed him.  After his death in the year 632 C.E., Islam continued to spread far beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

Prophet Muhammad, like all the Prophets, performed miracles. Among the miracles of Prophet Muhammad was the springing of water from between his fingers; feeding many people from small amounts of food; healing the sick and injured in extraordinary fashion; prophecy regarding liberation of Constantinople (Istanbul), and the circumstances of death for some of the honorable Companions.  Prophet Muhammad’s greatest miracle is the inimitable Qur’an.  It is the final Sacred Scripture Revealed to humanity and will remain in its original form until the end of this world.

The miracles of Prophet Muhammad are numerous and were seen by many witnesses who reported them to large numbers of people.  Those reports were compiled and verified by the meticulous work of many reliable Muslim scholars, such as, al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, and Imam Muslim.  Hence, we know that Prophet Muhammad is indeed a Prophet.  He is the greatest of the Prophets and the most influential human being God has ever created, as his historical legacy well testifies.

It is obligatory upon us to believe in Prophet Muhammad and follow his Religion–the Religion that was taught by all the Prophets–i.e., the Religion of Islam.  One becomes a follower of Islam by saying and believing in the Declaration of Faith which is:

I bear witness that no one is God except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

This is all that is necessary for one to become Muslim.  One does not need witnesses to become Muslims.  Islam is the only acceptable Religion to God and the only Religion that will grant us true safety and security in this life and the Hereafter.

Praise be to Allah, and Allah knows best.

[1]* The stories ascribing major sins and humiliating actions to the Prophets in the Bible and some corrupted English translations of the Qur’an are categorically false.  For example, no Prophet drank alcohol, committed incest, ordered people to commit blasphemy or was guilty of worshipping the planets or the sun.

 

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