Jalal Abualrub has posted an
article where he tries to address a series of questions or remarks made by an unnamed
Arab Christian. Abualrub is presenting his Muslim beliefs in comparison to the Christian faith,
as he perceives it, seeking to elevate the one over the other.
Initially I had planned on refuting his "response"
(here)
to one of the points I raised in my debate with Osama Abdallah
(here)
regarding Muhammad wearing womans clothing. I have decided to defer that
for the time being in order to address his response to this Arab Christian.
Lord Jesus willing, I will be finishing that particular rebuttal to Abualrubs
denial that that Muhammad wore womans clothing in the near future.
He begins:
First: All thanks to Allah, I am well versed
in the Bible, in Arabic and English, and have read and studied it since I was young.
I am also well acquainted with the major Christian sects, including the Catholics,
Protestants, Orthodox, Coptics, Maronites, etc. I lived in Egypt and used to hear
Coptic leaders speak in their religious ceremonies, including the churchs leader
Shunoda, and frequently listened to and witnessed Coptic religious gatherings and
prayers. I also translated two books on Christian dogmas and major Christian sects
detailing their history and the major differences between them.
RESPONSE:
Here we will see that Abualrub has apparently not benefited much from his studying
since he shows that he is far from being acquainted with what the Holy Bible teaches
regarding key, essential doctrines. It may even be that Abualrub does indeed know
what the major Christian sects believe on the basis of the Holy Bible, i.e. the Trinity,
the Hypostatic Union of Christ (that he is fully God and fully man simultaneously,
having two distinct natures), the Divine Personhood of the Holy Spirit, Christs
vicarious sacrifice for sins, the authority of the Holy Scriptures etc., but has chosen
to distort and misrepresent these beliefs.
Second: I read numerous articles
and books discussing the claimed divinity of Jesus (Prophet Esa), peace be upon him.
Yet, I still have a major problem regarding this topic. If you ask me what the core
of my faith is, plain and simple and without interpretation, I will describe each major
aspect of it with just one Ayah. Examples:
1. Who is Allah? {Allh, your Lord! L ilha illa Huwa,
the Creator of all things}; [6:102].
RESPONSE:
Not everything is as simple as Abualrub makes it seem. For instance, what does it
exactly mean that Allah is one? Does this mean that he is a mere monad which precludes him
from having any kind of plurality whatsoever, i.e. that he is a singularity which excludes
his having a plurality of attributes, characteristics etc.? Or does Allah exist as a
composite unity, as a plurality-within-unity Being? Is he one Person, one Spirit, one
community, etc.? To say that that Allah is one says absolutely nothing since he can be
one in a number of different ways.
To illustrate our point note that the passage cited by Abualrub says there is no god
except Allah and that he is the lord and creator. The problem with this assertion is
that the Quran claims that Allah is not the sole creator but is one of many creators:
Then We made the seed a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made (in)
the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow
into another creation, so blessed be Allah, the best of thecreators.
S. 23:14 Shakir
Will ye call upon Baal and forsake the Best of Creators, -
S. 37:125 Y. Ali
In fact, Allah is said to have a spirit who appears as a man and can create life:
And mention in the Book Mary when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place, and
she took a veil apart from them; then We sent unto her Our Spirit that presented
himself to her a man without fault. She said, I take refuge in the
All-merciful from thee! If thou fearest God ... He said, I am but a messenger
come from thy Lord, TO GIVE THEE A BOY MOST PURE. She said, How shall
I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste? He said,
Even so thy Lord has said: "Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a
sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed." S. 19:16-21 Arberry
And she who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her of Our spirit
and appointed her and her son to be a sign unto all beings. S. 21:91 Arberry
And Mary, Imran's daughter, who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her
of Our Spirit, and she confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Books, and became
one of the obedient. S. 66:12 Arberry
Combining these references together it becomes clear that the purpose behind
Allahs spirit coming to Mary was to prepare her for the moment that Allah would
breathe him into her so as to cause her to conceive.
The Quran, at the same time, denies that there is a creator besides Allah:
O men! Remember the grace of Allah unto you! Is there a Creator, other than Allah,
to give you sustenance from heaven or earth? There is no god but He: how then are ye
perverted? S. 35:3
The foregoing leaves us with several options to choose from:
There is a contradiction in the teachings of the Quran since Allah is not the only
creator. The spirit also creates and gives life in the same way that Allah does.
Since the spirit can create, which makes him a creator, than this means that either:
There is another God besides Allah, thereby contradicting the claim
that there is only God.
Or that Allah must be a multi-Personal Being, i.e. that there is more than one
Divine entity that exists as Allah.
Fore more on the Quranic teaching on the spirit and creators we recommend the following
articles:
2. Who is Muhammad, peace be upon him, and what is
his nature? {Muhammad is the Messenger of Allh};
[48:29], whom Allah ordered to say, {"I am only a human being
like you"}; [41:6].
RESPONSE:
This, too, is not as simple as Abualrub makes it to be. For instance,
is Muhammad the last prophet and messenger? Or is he the last prophet but
not the final messenger?
Is Muhammad merely mortal or has he been given supernatural qualities such as
omnipresence etc.?
3. Who is Esa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)
and what is his nature? Allah said that Prophet Esa said,
{"Verily, I am a slave of Allh, He has given me
the Scripture and made me a Prophet"It befits not Allh that He should
beget a son. Glorified be He}; [19:30 & 35].
He also says regarding Jesus:
Thus, the fact that the Quran praises
Prophet Esa as he should be praised, peace be upon him, and mentions the unique miracles
he performed, by Allahs permission, do not support the Christian claim that Jesus
was divine. For the Qurans praise of Jesus to justify the Christian faith in
his divinity, the Quran must clearly state that Jesus is divine, that Allah is one in
trinity, that Jesus is Allahs begotten son. The Quran rejects this false dogma
in the clearest of terms and declares it as utter disbelief in Allah.
And again:
Third: Surely, the Quran contains praise
of Prophet Esa, alaihi as-salam. However, the Quran clearly describes Prophet Esa to
be a human prophet, not divine, rejects trinity and refutes the worship of Jesus in the
most-clear terms and denies that Allah has a son or a partner to Him in the lordship or
the worship. The Quran also praises several prophets more than it praises Prophet
Esa and mentions miracles they performed that are as unique and, in some instances,
greater than the miracles that Prophet Esa (Jesus) performed, by Allahs
permission. The Quran praises Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham) and Musa (Moses), peace be
upon them, more than it praises Prophet Esa (Jesus), peace be upon him.
RESPONSE:
To begin with, it is not at all true that the Quran praises prophets like Abraham and
Moses more than Jesus. This is simply a distortion of what the Quran teaches. Here is a
list of just some of the characteristics, titles etc. which the Quran ascribes to Jesus
that are not given to anyone else, thereby exalting Christ above all the rest of the
prophets, especially Muhammad:
Jesus is born of a virgin.
Jesus is called the Word of God which Allah conferred upon Mary and a Spirit proceeding
from him.
Jesus raises the dead and gives life to inanimate objects by breathing into them,
indicating that he is the source of life.
Jesus did other miracles that the others did not do such as cleansing lepers, giving
sight and hearing to the blind and deaf
Jesus mother is preferred above all women and is the only woman mentioned by name
and even has a chapter named in her honor.
Jesus and his mother were protected from Satan, with Jesus being called a faultless boy.
This is unlike Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad whom the Quran says all had committed sin.
Jesus is honored in the next life and is called blessed, something which is never
explicitly said of the others.
God raised Jesus to himself, whereas Abraham, Moses and Muhammad all died.
Second, Abualrub demands of Christians what he doesnt demand of himself. For
instance, he insists that the Holy Bible and the Quran both read a certain way, in the
manner which he proposes, in order for him to accept that they are teaching certain
beliefs such as Christs Divinity etc. Otherwise he will not accept that these
sources teach these doctrines.
In order to expose just how inconsistent Abularub is by failing to apply this same
standard to his own beliefs, the Quran fails to "clearly describe" or
"clearly teach" the following which Abularub accepts:
The belief that Allah is absolutely singular which precludes there being a plurality of
divine persons.
The three classifications of Tauhid, the Islamic term used to denote the unity of Allah,
(a) tauhid al-rububiyyah,
(b) tauhid al-uluhiyya/ibaadah,
(c) tauhid al-asma wa sifat.
The belief that the Holy Spirit is angel Gabriel.
That Muhammad is the last messenger.
Praying five times a day is obligatory.
The exact amount of zakat money or almsgiving every Muslim is required to give.
We could easily multiply these examples but these sufficiently demonstrate our point.
Third, the Quran teaches contradictory things about Jesus since even though it denies
that he is God and the Son of God, nonetheless it ascribes to him certain titles and
characteristics which clearly show that he is more than simply human. For instance, we
mentioned above that the Quran states that Jesus is Gods Word which he cast upon
Mary and a Spirit proceeding from him:
O ye who have received the scriptures, exceed not the just bounds in your religion,
neither say of God [any other] than the truth. Verily Christ Jesus the son of Mary [is]
the apostle of God, and his word, which he conveyed into Mary, and a spirit
[proceeding] from him. Believe therefore in God, and his apostles, and
say not, [there are] three [Gods]; forbear [this]; it will be better for you.
God is but one God. Far be it from him that he should have a son! Unto him [belongeth]
whatsoever [is] in heaven and on earth; and God is a sufficient protector. S. 4:171 Sale
The above text presupposes the prehuman existence of Jesus, that Christ existed as
Gods Word and his Spirit even before he became a man from the virgin Mary. In fact,
Christians started to use these verses against Muhammad to prove that Jesus is more than a
mere human being. This prompted Muhammad to classify such references as unclear, vague, or
allegorical in nature, and insisted that they shouldnt be the basis to determine the
nature and person of Christ. Hence, when Christians started using Muhammads own
statements about Jesus to refute him he conveniently came up with the explanation that
these sayings are allegorical and shouldnt be used to contradict the other
statements of the Quran which deny that Jesus is Divine! For more details please read the
following:
Is trinity a valid creed? Allah ordered
Prophet Muhammad, salla-llahu alaihi wa-sallam, to say this: {"He is Allh,
One. Allh-us-Samad (Who sustains everything and stands in need of no one). He
begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto
Him"}; [112:1-4]. Or, you may
refer to this Ayah where Allah said this about trinity, {Disbelievers are those who said:
"Allh is the third of the three." But there is no Ilh but One Ilh. And if
they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall on the
disbelievers among them}; [5:73].
RESPONSE:
Abualrub, by citing these Quranic texts, has managed to discredit the Quran as a
revealed book. By quoting these verses, Abualrub has demonstrated that the author of the
Quran was either ignorant of what orthodox Christians believed or deliberately distorted
their beliefs in order to attack straw man. For instance, historic Christianity does not
teach that God is the third of three, but that he is one eternal Being who exists as three
distinct Persons simultaneously. Moreover, the Quran assumes that the only way God can
beget a son is by sexual union with a woman:
And they make the jinn associates with Allah, while He created them, and they falsely
attribute to Him sons and daughters without knowledge; glory be to Him, and highly exalted
is He above what they ascribe (to Him). Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth!
How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself)
created everything, and He is the Knower of all things. S. 6:100-101 Shakir
Again, this is a gross distortion of what conservative Christians have always taught
regarding Jesus relationship to the Father and it is just as blasphemous to a
Christian to say that God acquired a son by having sex with a woman as it is to a Muslim.
Christians believe that Jesus Sonship is purely spiritual in nature, that he is
Gods Son in a spiritual sense.
Thus, Muslims can easily explain their Islamic Faith using clear,
plain, unequivocal and un-interpreted evidence, one Ayah per each aspect. If you ask
Jesus about his faith, the same faith described in the Old Testament, his answer is plain
and clear, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is
one Lord"; [Mark 12:29-30].
RESPONSE:
Let us see what Jesus also said in this very same chapter, both before and after
reciting this creedal confession from Deuteronomy 6:4:
"He had still one other, A BELOVED SON; finally he sent him to them, saying,
They will respect MY SON. But those tenants said to one another, This is
THE HEIR; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. And they took him
and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard." Mark 12:6-8
"And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, How can the scribes say that
the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, declared,
"THE LORD said to MY LORD, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under
thy feet." David himself calls him LORD; so how is he his son? And the
great throng heard him gladly." Mark 12:35-37
Jesus affirms that he is Gods beloved Son and Heir, a position which belongs to
God according to the Quran:
But as for those who are niggardly with the bounty God has given them, let them not
suppose it is better for them; nay, it is worse for them; that they were niggardly with
they shall have hung about their necks on the Resurrection Day; and to God belongs the
inheritance of the heavens and earth; and God is aware of the things you do.
S. 3:180 Arberry
And certainly We! We it is Who give life, and cause death and We are the Inheritors.
S. 15:23 Hilali-Khan
Verily! We will inherit the earth and whatsoever is thereon. And to Us they all
shall be returned, S. 19:40 Hilali-Khan
Christ also states that he is the very Lord whom David wrote about under inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, the Sovereign One who sits at Gods right hand. Jesus reaffirms
these truths elsewhere in the Gospel of Mark:
"But he was silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, Are
you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM; and you will
see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
Mark 14:61-62
Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the One who rides the clouds of heaven and
sits on Gods right side. More on Jesus being the Son of Man shortly.
If one asks any Christian about the core
of the faith that makes one Christian, one will not find a single biblical text quoting
any prophet before Jesus, especially Nu`h (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), or Musa (Moses), or
Prophet Esa (Jesus) himself that, without interpretation, affirms any part of the
Christian dogma, such as: Jesus is divine; Jesus created the world; trinity is a valid
creed;
He also says a little later that:
Prophet Moses never heard of the
Christian faith and has never preached it; Prophet Abraham never heard of the Christian
faith and has never preached it; Prophet Jesus never heard of the Christian faith and has
never preached it; Adam never heard of the Christian faith and has never preached it; the
Torah never heard of the Christian faith and has never preached it. All what I hear
from the Christians whom I debate on this core issue of their faith, is that they refer me
to this article or that book that, they claim, prove Jesus divinity. And when
I read this article and that book I find no clear, unequivocal evidence.
Nothing! Just references to numerous biblical verses that are interpreted in a
certain way to mean this or that, added to other biblical verses that are also interpreted
to mean this or that, where the author concludes by proving Jesus divinity using
this utterly vague evidence
RESPONSE:
Here are just a few OT references regarding the nature and the person of the Messiah:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon
his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and
of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his
kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from
this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do
this." Isaiah 9:6-7
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a
righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice
and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell
securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our
righteousness." Jeremiah 23:5-6
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel His goings forth are from long
ago, From the days of eternity." Micah 5:2
The Messiah is the Mighty God, The LORD is our righteousness, and the eternal King that
comes forth from eternity itself.
god has begotten or will beget a son;
RESPONSE:
The Hebrew prophets and NT Apostles taught by inspiration that God has begotten
children, albeit not in a physical, sexual manner as the Quran erroneously assumes.
The Holy Bible quite clearly teaches that God is a spiritual Father who has spiritual
children:
"You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you, and you forgot the God who
gave you birth." Deuteronomy 32:18
"I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, You are my son,today I have begotten you." Psalm 2:7
"I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended
to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the
waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and
what is his son's name? Surely you know!" Proverbs 30:3-4
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of
God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever
loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." 1 John 5:1-2
This in itself sufficiently demonstrates that the Quran doesnt originate from
the same Divine Source that produced the Holy Bible.
the Holy Ghost is the lord;
RESPONSE:
The following references demonstrate that the Bible writers believed that the Holy
Spirit is God, Lord, Creator, Redeemer etc.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without
form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God
was moving over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:1-2
The Spirit was there with God during the creation of the cosmos.
"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty
gives me life." Job 33:4
The Spirit made man.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your
presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you
are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even
the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is
as light to you." Psalm 139:7-12
The Spirit is omnipresent.
"The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me, his word is upon my tongue. The God
of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly
over men, ruling in the fear of God," 2 Samuel 23:2-3
David expressly states that the Spirit speaking is none other than God speaking!
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are
being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from
the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Paul calls the Holy Spirit Lord, which in this context means Yahweh. Hence, both David
and Paul identify the Spirit as the Lord God!
There are plenty of more citations that we could have cited here, yet these verses
will have to suffice for now.
Jesus demanded his worship;
RESPONSE:
Both the Old and New Testaments affirm that the Messiah, because he is a Divine Being,
is to be worshiped:
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented
before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples,
nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
Daniel 7:13-14
Daniel explicitly sees the figure of a man who rides on the clouds of heaven,
indicating that this is actually a theophany, a visible appearance of God, since it is
Yahweh who rides the clouds:
"Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed
with honor and majesty, who coverest thyself with light as with a garment, who hast
stretched out the heavens like a tent, who hast laid the beams of thy chambers on the
waters, who makest the clouds thy chariot, who ridest on the wings of
the wind," Psalm 104:1-3
"An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of
the Egyptians will melt within them." Isaiah 19:1
Furthermore, the very verb used here in reference to the Son of Man being served or
worshiped is also used in Daniel for the service which is to be given to God alone!
"Nebuchadnez'zar said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed'nego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set
at nought the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve
and worship any god except their own God." Daniel 3:28
Therefore, we have a specific Son of Man who is a Divine figure that reigns over all
creation forever. According to the NT, Jesus is that Son of Man:
"And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and
glory. And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven." Mark 13:26-27
"But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said,
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
at the right hand of God." Acts 7:55-56
Moreover, notice what Jesus himself says about being worshiped in this next section
of Holy Scripture:
"For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son
gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment
to the Son, that all may honor the Son, EVEN AS they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come
into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead will hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD, and those
who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted
the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is
coming when all who are in the tombs will hear HIS VOICE and come forth, those
who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to
the resurrection of judgment." John 5:22-29
Here, the immortal Lord states that he is the Son who has life within himself, grants
life to whomever he chooses, will resurrect individuals both spiritually and physically by
his sovereign voice, and executes judgment. He also says that all must honor him EVEN AS
they honor the Father. Christ didnt say to honor him as a prophet, angel, parent,
friend etc. Rather, he expressly demands the same honor that the Father receives, which
means that all must worship Christ as they worship God. After all, individuals honor the
Father by worshiping him, praying to him, praising him, living and dying for him etc.
Hence, for Jesus to be honored in this same way means that he too must be worshiped,
prayed to, praised, lived and died for etc.
Jesus was sent to atone for the sins of
mankind by his dying on the cross;
RESPONSE:
Again, here is what the Holy Bible teaches regarding this subject:
"See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly
exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him his
appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human
likeness so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths
because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard,
they will understand. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD
been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry
ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and
familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet
we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced
for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so
he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak
of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any
deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and
though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his
days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering
of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous
servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will
give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because
he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he
bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:1-12
The prophet Isaiah, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, foretold the sufferings of
Gods Servant for the sins of the people and the Servants subsequent exaltation.
Jesus in the NT identifies himself as that Servant who comes to atone for the transgressions
of his people:
"But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call
his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:20-21
"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it
to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he
took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it,
all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:26-28
"And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be
rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again. AND HE SAID THIS PLAINLY. And Peter took him, and
began to rebuke him." Mark 8:31
"They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one
know for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, The Son of man will be
delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed,
after three days he will rise." Mark 9:30-31
"For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the
bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the
bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living
bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever;
and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is MY FLESH.
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh
to eat? So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my
flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my
blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the
Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which
came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will
live for ever." John 6:47-58
Adams sin is inherited by every
one among his offspring.
RESPONSE:
The Holy Bible expressly teaches that Adams sin, as well as Eves, affected
all future generations. For instance, God told Adam that he would die if he chose to
disobey God by eating of the forbidden fruit:
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every
tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Genesis 2:16-17
Death in this context refers to spiritual banishment, being banished from Gods
presence in the Garden, and to physical death:
"Then to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice
of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, "You
shall not eat from it"; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of
it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will
eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you
return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you
shall return. Now the man called his wifes name Eve, because she was
the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife,
and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us,
knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree
of life, and eat, and live forever-- therefore the LORD God sent him out from
the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man
out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the
flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life."
Genesis 3:17-24
Thus, all human beings are born in a state of banishment since they are born outside of
the perfect conditions of the Garden of Eden. This also accounts for why all human beings
experience physical death since this was part of the judgment which fell upon Adam and Eve:
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through
sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- for until the Law
sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of
the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." Romans 5:12-14
Moreover, since humans bear the image of their father Adam:
"When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a
son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth." Genesis 5:3
They inherit from him a fallen, corruptible sinful nature at the moment of their
conception just as the Holy Bible teaches:
"And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, I
will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature
as I have done." Genesis 8:21
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Psalm 51:5
"The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies."
Psalm 58:3
What makes this rather intriguing is that Abualrubs own religious texts teach
that the sin of Adam and Eve affected their descendants after them:
But the Satan made them both fall from it, and caused them to depart from that (state)
in which they were; and We said: Get forth, some of YOU being the enemies of others,
and there is for you in the earth an abode and a provision for a time. Then Adam received
from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting,
the Merciful. We said: Go down, ALL OF YOU, from hence; but verily there cometh
unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come
upon them neither shall they grieve. S. 2:36-38
The above citation affirms that Adams sin clearly impacted all future generations
of mankind since in Arabic the YOU in 2:36 and 38 is plural and means that the author is
addressing more than two parties. If the author were addressing only two individuals he
would have used the dual form. And even though the text does mention three persons, namely
Adam, Eve and Satan, we know that at least in the case of verse 38 the plural cannot be
referring to Satan since he stands condemned to hell and will not follow the guidance
which will come from Allah. It is therefore quite obvious that the plural is addressed to
all of mankind, that humanity suffered expulsion due to their federal head, Adam, a point
reiterated elsewhere in the Quran:
God said, Go forth, SOME OF YOU will be enemies of OTHERS.
And for you there is an abode on the earth and a provision for a time. S. 7:24
Ibn Kathir stated regarding 2:38-39:
Allah informs of His warning to Adam, his wife and Satan, THEIR OFFSPRING, when he
ordered THEM to descend from Paradise. He says he will send messengers with Scriptures,
signs and proofs
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Part 1, Surah Al-Fatiah Surah Al-Baqarah,
ayat 1 to 141, Abridged by Sheikh Nasib Ar-Rafai [Al-Firdous Ltd., London:
Second Edition 1998], pp. 109-110; emphasis ours)
Here also are the late Abdullah Yusuf Alis comments on Sura 2:36, taken from
his English translation of the Quran with commentary:
Note the transition in Arabic from the singular number in ii. 33, to
the dual in ii. 35, and the plural here [2:36], which I have indicated in English by
"All ye people." Evidently Adam is the type of all mankind, and the sexes
go together in all spiritual matters. Moreover, the expulsion applied to Adam,
Eve, and Satan, and the Arabic plural is appropriate for any number greater than two.
(Bold and underline emphasis ours)
The Quran is essentially agreeing with the Holy Bible that Adam caused all his
offspring to be expelled from the Garden, a point that is further confirmed by the
following so-called sound narrations:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "Adam and Moses argued with each other. Moses said to Adam. O
Adam! You are our father WHO DISAPPOINTED US AND TURNED US OUT OF PARADISE.
Then Adam said to him, O Moses! Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you
directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for
action which Allah had written in my fate forty years before my creation? So
Adam confuted Moses, Adam confuted Moses," the Prophet added, repeating the Statement
three times. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77,
Number 611)
Abu Huraira reported that Gods messenger told of Adam and Moses holding a
disputation in their Lords presence and of Adam getting the better of Moses in
argument. Moses said, "You are Adam whom God created with His hand, into whom He
breathed of His spirit, to whom He made the angels do obeisance, and whom He caused to
dwell in his garden; then BECAUSE OF YOUR SIN caused MANKIND to come down to the earth."
Adam replied, "And you are Moses whom God chose to deliver His messages and to
address, to whom He gave the tablets on which everything was explained, and whom He
brought near as a confidant. How long before I was created did you find that God has
written the Torah? Moses said, "Forty years." Adam asked, "Did you find in
it, And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred?" On being told that he did, he
said, "Do you then blame me for doing a deed which God had decreed that I should
do forty years before He created me?" Gods messenger said, "So Adam
got the better of Moses n the argument." Muslim transmitted it.
(Mishkat
Al-Masabih English Translation With Explanatory Notes by Dr. James Robson, Volume I
[Sh. Muhammad Ahsraf Publishers, Booksellers & Exporters, Lahore-Pakistan, Reprint
1990], p. 23; bold and capital emphasis ours)
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Adam and Musa
argued and Adam got the better of Musa. Musa rebuked Adam, You are Adam WHO LED
PEOPLE ASTRAY and brought them out of the Garden. Adam said to him, You
are Musa to whom Allah gave knowledge of everything and whom he chose above people with
His message. He said, Yes. He said, Do you then censure me for a
matter which was decreed for me before I was created?" (Malik's Muwatta, Book 46,
Number 46.1.1)
This Ayah mentions the great honor that Allah granted Adam, and Allah reminded Adam's
offspring of this fact. Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, as this Ayah
and many Hadiths testify, such as the Hadith about the intercession that we discussed.
There is a Hadith about the supplication of Musa, "O my Lord! Show me Adam who
caused us and himself to be thrown out of Paradise." When Musa met Adam, he
said to him, "Are you Adam whom Allah created with His Own Hands, blew life into and
commanded the angels to prostrate before?" Iblis was among those ordered to prostrate
before Adam, although He was not an Angel.
(Ibn Kathir on surah 2:34;
online edition;
bold and italic emphasis ours)
These narrations further complicate matters. They expressly blame Adams sin
and subsequent expulsion on Allahs predetermined decree, that Allah had already
predestined Adams expulsion. Here is Ibn Kathirs commentary regarding 2:37:
Narrated Sufyan At-Thawri quoting Abd al-Aziz Ibn Rafi that
someone heard Mujahid quoting Ubayd Ibn Umayr as saying that Adam said:
"My Lord, is the sin I committed one that was destined for me before You created me
or is it something I brought upon myself?" Allah replied: "I preordained it
upon you before I created you." Adam said: "Lord forgive me it as You
have preordained it upon me." The narrator said, hence the verse <Then Adam
received words from his Lord, and his Lord relented towards him.>. Narrated
al-Awfi, Said Ibn Jubayr, Said Ibn Mabad and al-Hakim quoting Ibn
Abbas: Adam said to Allah: "Have You not created me with Your own hands?"
The answer was yes. Then he asked: "And You have breathed into me of Your
spirit?" The answer again was yes. He added: "And You decreed for me to do
this?" Yes was the answer he received. He said: "If I repent, will You send
me back to Paradise?" Allah said: "Yes."
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Abridged by Sheikh Muhammad Nasib Ar-Rafai, p. 106; underline emphasis ours)
Moreover, the narrations also implicate Eve:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "But for the Israelis, meat would not decay and but FOR EVE,
wives would never betray their husbands." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55,
Number 547)
Hammam b. Munabbih said: These are some of the ahadith which Abu Huraira (Allah be
pleased with him) narrated to us from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), and one
of these (this one): Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Had it not been for
Bani Isra'il, food would not have become stale, and meal would not have gone bad; and
had it not been FOR Eve, a woman would never have acted unfaithfully toward her husband.
(Sahih Muslim, Book 008,
Number 3472)
Thus, if Abualrub has a problem with the Holy Bibles teaching on Original Sin
then he must surely have problems with the Quran and the hadiths of his false prophet
since they teach something similar!
Abualrub also made the following statements regarding Original Sin:
The Quran also rejects the Christian
idea of the Original Sin, {
No burdened person (with sins) shall bear the burden (sins)
of another}; [53:38].
Instead of proving his position, Abualrubs quote only compounds the matter since
it shows that the Quran is contradicting itself. Not only did we just prove that both the
Quran and Islamic narrations affirm Original Sin, that the sins of Adam and Eve did impact
their descendants, the Quran also says that a person will share the burden of
anothers sins:
That they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also
of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil
is what they bear. S. 16:25 Shakir
And those who disbelieve say to those who believe: Follow our path and we will bear
your wrongs. And never shall they be the bearers of any of their wrongs; most
surely they are liars. And most certainly they shall carry their own burdens, AND OTHER
BURDENS WITH THEIR OWN BURDENS, and most certainly they shall be questioned on the
resurrection day as to what they forged. S. 29:12-13 Shakir
For more on this issue please consult the following articles:
Abualrub knows quite well that this is what his own sources teach since we had already
brought this to his attention in an earlier rebuttal.
Abualrub is therefore deliberately trying to deceive this Arab Christian by failing to
inform him that even his very Islamic sources confirm the doctrine of Original Sin,
at least to some extent.
No Christian can prove that Jesus ever said
these words, "People! I created you; worship me; I am divine; god is
one-in-three and three-in-one; you all inherited Adams sin; I came to die
on the cross to atone for your sins; I am your lord and savior."
RESPONSE:
No Christian needs to produce verses where Jesus said these things in order to prove
that these beliefs originate from Christ. After all, Jesus could affirm these same truths
by stating them in other ways and in a different manner from the one proposed by Abualrub.
Abularub will later say:
If the Christian creed is the creed to follow,
why did not Jesus say so in the clearest of terms and then safeguarded his
statement from corruption- so that all of mankind be able to read and understand it
without needing any interpretation? If Christians have even one statement from
al-Maseeh (the Messiah) wherein he calls to his worship or affirms trinity,
they would have made this statement apparent for all of mankind to read and see.
This is the core of the Christian faith. Christians should not need articles or
books to prove it; only one verse is enough to prove each edict, just one clear verse.
RESPONSE:
The only problem with Abualrubs arguments is that even if Christians were to
produce such evidence he would still refuse to accept it on the grounds that Jesus never
really made such claims. Abualrub would argue that these words were made up by the NT
writers and placed on the lips of Jesus. To illustrate what we mean note the following
statements from Jesus where he affirms that he is God:
"And I heard a loud voice saying, Now the dwelling of God (tou theou -
the God) is with men, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people
and God (ho theos - the God) himself will dwell with them and be their God.
He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Then he
said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him
who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be HIS GOD and he will be my son."
Revelation 21:3-7
The evidence strongly supports the view that Jesus is speaking in these references.
For instance, Christ is said to be the God who comes to dwell with us:
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel- which means, God (ho theos - the God) with us."
Matthew 1:22-23
Furthermore, Jesus in Revelation identifies himself as the Alpha and Omega,
the Beginning and the End:
"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand
on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the
Living One; I WAS DEAD, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold
the keys of death and Hades." Revelation 1:17-18
"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is
the First and the Last, who died and came to life again." Revelation 2:8
The First and the Last is just another way of saying that Christ is the Alpha and the
Omega, the Beginning and the End. Interestingly, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Quran
agree that the First and the Last is a title of God:
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."
Isaiah 44:6
"Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He,
I am the first, and I am the last." Isaiah 48:12
He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward; He has knowledge of
everything. S. 57:3 Arberry
This in itself sufficiently proves that Jesus claimed to be God since only God can
call himself by this title.
Moving on:
"And he said to me, These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord,
the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent HIS ANGEL to show his servants what
must soon take place. And behold, I AM COMING SOON. Blessed is he who keeps
the words of the prophecy of this book Behold,I AM COMING SOON! My
reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the EndI, Jesus, have sent MY ANGEL to give you this testimony for the churches.
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star
He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. Amen.
COME, LORD JESUS." Revelation 22:6-7, 12-13, 16, 20
It is Jesus who is the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets that sent his angel
and is coming soon, who expressly identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End!
And here is the final line of evidence connecting Jesus with the Divine Speaker
of Revelation 21:6-7:
"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he
will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes." Revelation 7:17
Jesus the Lamb does what God in 21:7 says he will do, give believers to drink from the
spring of living water. This isnt the only place where Jesus is said to do this:
"Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you
for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living waters
Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 4:10, 13-14
"On the last day, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to ME and drink. Whoever believes in ME,
as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
John 7:37-38
Thus, the foregoing presents a very strong case that Jesus is the One who identifies
himself as the God of all believers in Revelation 21:6-7. At the very least, the above
texts show that Jesus claims and ascribes to himself the very functions and titles of
God Almighty.
Now watch Abualrub try to discount the testimony of Revelation in order to avoid
dealing with what Jesus said in reference to his own Divine identity.
This concludes the first section of our rebuttal. We now move to
the second part of our critique.
The Holy Bible sternly warned Israel not to intermarry with the pagan nations lest they end up worshiping their gods/goddesses:
“Be sure to keep what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite,
In this post I will show that the true God loves all nations equally, not just Israel. I will demonstrate that God commanded the Israelites to love the foreigner or non-Israelite as a fellow, native-born Israelite, and ordered that the same Law and commands equally apply to both Israelite and
