THE CONCEPT OF ORIGINAL SIN

The concept of original sin simply entails that the first man, Adam, sinned and that resulted in the transference of sin to his progeny.Simply stated, it may be described that man by nature is sinful due to the sin of Adam. In order to correct this situation a sacrifice of a sinless person is required. This sinless person was Jesus who was born fatherless. His death on the cross rectified or paid for this original sin. Although this concept was imported from heathen philosophy, it became a respectable doctrine in the third century. Saint Augustine made this into a Christian dogma of the Roman Catholic Church in the fifth century. Its proponents make us believe that this is based on Biblical teachings and present passages as proof texts of the Bible that teach this concept. Modern scholars have closely looked at those passages and have concluded that the original perception is grossly erroneous. The verses were not read in context and were blatantly interpreted to adopt the literal meaning of a few verses and the metaphoric meaning of others. The concept has no roots in the Biblical Scriptures when they are read while maintaining the entire context in which they are placed. Modern Christian scholars have pointed out that this dogma not only fails the tests of commonsense but also promotes evil and immorality in the society. These scholars have thoroughly studied the Biblical verses that allegedly propose this concept and have shown the follies and gross mistakes of the proponents of this doctrine. In conclusion, they attest that man’s nature is flawless and each one is bestowed with the wisdom to choose right from wrong. It is this choice that is vital to the phenomenon of accountability on the Day of Judgment. When juxtaposed with Islamic belief, there remains no difference between Islamic perspective and the modern Christian perspective. The scholars cited in the text include eminent theologians and individuals with esteemed reputation. The Islamic perspective is presented next and compared with the traditional and contemporary views in a tabular form.

Are men born sinners? For Christianity, the answer is yes. Simply stated, Eve persuaded Adam to commit sin, and because of that sin, they not only died, but mankind at large inherited their sin. Consequently, every child who is born in this world is sinful.Since Jesus was without a father, he was born sinless, and by offering his life on the cross, Jesus redeemed mankind from sin. All denominations of Christianity unanimously accept the doctrine of original and inherited sin. Indeed, the doctrines of atonement and salvation have their roots in the doctrine of original sin.

Historic records indicate that the doctrine of original sin started from heathen philosophy and merged into Christian theology as early as the first century. The early converts to Christianity joined the Christian fold from Paganism and they carried some of their Pagan beliefs into Christianity. Acclaimed historians of theology have studied this concept in detail and have shared their opinions in lectures that are recorded under the title “Systematic Theology.” In general, they do not agree with any of the three main theories presented by traditional scholars and suggest that the concept of original sin cannot be justified from the Bible.

Charles Finney, a renowned Christian Theologian, describes this transfer of heathen philosophy in his book Lectures on Systematic Theology thus:

 "“It is a relic of heathen philosophy, and was foisted in among the doctrines of Christianity by Augustine, as every one may know who will take the trouble to examine for himself.”"

He continues to express his opinion about original sin thus:

“ "This doctrine is a stumbling-block both to the church and the world, infinitely dishonorable to God, and an abomination alike to God and the human intellect, and should be banished from every pulpit, and from every formula of doctrine, and from the world. It is a relic of heathen philosophy, and was foisted in among the doctrines of Christianity by Augustine, as every one may know who will take the trouble to examine for himself. This view of moral depravity that I am opposing has long been the stronghold of Universalism. From it, the Universalists inveigh with resistless force against the idea that sinners should be sent to an eternal hell. Assuming the long-defended doctrine of original or constitutional sinfulness, they proceeded to show, that it would be infinitely unreasonable and unjust in God to send them to hell. What! Create them with a sinful nature, from which proceed, by a law of necessity, actual transgressions, and then send them to an eternal hell for having this nature,and for transgressions that are unavoidable! Impossible! They say; and the human intellect responds, Amen.”

Alfred T. Overstreet, a Christian Clergyman, performed missionary work for several years and preached the dogma of original sin until he came across Charles Finney’s work on systematic theology. He then recanted his beliefs and understood that the concept of original sin could not be attributed to the teachings of Jesus. He revisited the biblical verses that were quoted to support the concept of original sin and learned that these verses were misinterpreted and literalized. In his book Are Men Born Sinners he quotes the following passages from the Bible and explains that, when read in proper context looking at both preceding and subsequent verses, a totally new meaning of original sin emerges. I would include only one detailed example to shed light on his reasoning; the others are listed without a detailed analysis.



Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” … And the above text would teach that men are born sinners if it were meant to be taken literally. But the language of this text is not literal, it is figurative. Both the context and reality demand a figurative interpretation of this text… So if verse 5 can be made to teach that men are born sinners, then verse seven can be made to teach that hyssop cleanses us from sin when it says, ‘Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.’ Also verse 8 can be made to teach the doctrine that God breaks the Christian’s bones when he sins, and that his broken bones rejoice when he is forgiven: ‘Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice’”… The same rules of interpretation that would permit Psalm 51:5 to teach that babies are born sinners, would, if applied to these passages… allow for every kind of perversion and wild interpretation of God’s word.”


Overstreet continues thus:

"The doctrine of original sin is false: it slanders and libels the character of God, it shocks man’s God-given consciousness of justice, and it flies in the face of the plainest teachings of God’s holy word. The doctrine of original sin is not a Bible doctrine. It is a grotesque myth that contradicts the Bible on almost every page.”

Overstreet further lists thirteen reasons why the concept of original sin is false:

It makes sin a misfortune and a calamity rather than a crime.

It makes the sinner deserve pity and compassion rather than blame for his sins.

It excuses the sinner.

It makes God responsible for sin.

It dishonors God. It makes him arbitrary, cruel and unjust.

It causes ministers to wink at and excuse sin.

It begets complacency and a low standard of religion among Christians.

It is a tumbling block for the unsaved.

It makes Jesus a sinner or it must deny his humanity.

It contradicts the Bible.

It “adds to” and “takes from” the Bible. God warns against this in Deut. 4:2 and Rev. 22:18, 19.

It begets the false doctrines and false interpretations of the Scriptures.

It is ridiculous, absurd, and unreasonable. It contradicts the necessary and irresistible affirmations of every man’s consciousness and reason, which is something that no true doctrine of the Word of God could do.”

When we read the Bible, we find the following clear-cut statements that shed light on the pure nature of man:

ECC 7:29: “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, but they have sought out inventions.”

Gen. 1:26, 27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.”

1 Cor. 11:7 “Man is the image and glory of God.

”James 3:9 “Therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.”

A closer look at the Bible reveals that both the Old and New Testaments suggest how the responsibility of sin is upon the person who sins and upon no one else. Consider the following:

Deut.24:16 “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”

The same concept has been cited in Chron.25: 4 and EZ.18: 14, 17

Dr. Charles Hodge of Princeton University, a well-respected theologian of the nineteenth century, dismissed the concept of original sin. His lectures in Systematic Theology were printed in the mid twentieth century. In one of his lectures, he states:

 "It may be difficult to reconcile the doctrine of innate evil dispositions with the justice and goodness of God, but that is a difficulty which does not pertain to this subject. A malignant being is an evil being, if endowed with reason, whether he was so made or so born, and a benevolent rational being is good in the universal judgment of men, whether he was so created or so born. We admit that it is repugnant to our moral judgments that God should create an evil being; or that any being should be born in a state of sin, unless his being so born is the consequence of a just judgment.”

In the same book, he exclaims:

 "The same God whose penetrating glance burns away every artifice with which a man may envelop himself and reaches at once to the naked reality, is represented as swathing. His judgment with a gigantic artifice, in that He holds countless millions guilty of a trespass which He knows was committed before their personal existence, and which they could no more prevent than they could hinder the fiat of creation. If this is justice, then justice is a word of unknown meaning.”

Henry Sheldon, rejecting all the theories that justify the concept of original sin, writes as follows:

 “An evil which is matter of pure inheritance cannot rationally be made the ground of the moral reprobation of the person inheriting. To him it is a calamity, and more properly calls for compassion than for condemnation… If it is irrational cruelty to blame one for a bodily deficit which was thus given, rather than acquired by personal misconduct, it is, in like manner, gross injustice to blame one for a spiritual deficit which was imposed outright and in no part was acquired”.

Ryan Hicks, refuting the concept of original sin, asserts:

 “In conclusion, it is putting it far too kindly to say that the doctrine of original sin is pure and utter foolishness and nonsense. It contradicts the natural God-given reasoning that we use to explain EVERY single BIBLICAL doctrine. It makes God into a monster that has formed His creatures to be damned from birth and disobey Him by nature, thus they have no true free will in the matter. It thoroughly perverts personal responsibility and charges God with folly. It does not lead to holiness, rather to excuse making and denial of personal wrong doings causing one to be damned. (People have excused murder, adultery, lying, cheating, sodomy, rape, incest, coveting, idolatry, and all manner of sin on the basis of this one false doctrine alone. It lends itself to help people excuse sin rather than get free from sin. The fruit of the original sin doctrine is a testimony against it.) Thus, we should stick with the Bible’s plain teachings and always avoid the doctrines and commandments of men.”

  An objective reader would note how the concept of original sin is untenable. The concept would promote evil as no one would consider himself or herself accountable for their sins. The concept of repentance would then have no meaning whatsoever. Why would Jesus have taught us his followers to forgive the digressions of one’s neighbors when man would be redeemed through him? Does it not appear strange for God to bestow certain faculties upon man only to punish him for those very faculties?

John Shelby Spong, focusing on this whole concept of Jesus’ sacrifice writes:

  “Seldom did Christians pause to recognize the ogre into which they had turned God. A human father who would nail his son to a cross for any purpose would be arrested for child abuse. Yet that continued to be said of God as if it made God more holy and more worth of worship."

”On the same page, he then reiterates the traditional concept of salvation and comments as follows:

 "This view of Christianity is increasingly difficult for many of us to accept or believe. I would choose to lathe rather than to worship a deity who required the sacrifice of his son. But on many other levels as well, this entire theological system, with these strange presuppositions, has completely unraveled in our post modern world. It now needs to be removed quite consciously from Christianity.”

Islamic Belief:

Islam teaches us that God created man as the best of His creation. Man is born on the nature of God and no sin is associated with his nature at the time of birth. Sin is a willful disobedience to God’s commandments and a choice is given to all, to do good or evil. A complete code of life is presented in the Holy Qur’an and Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be on him) life is made an example to follow. The purpose of man’s creation is to recognize God and worship Him. The following few verses of the Holy Qur’an explain this perspective:

“"So set thy face to the service of religion as one devoted to God. And follow the nature made by Allah— the nature in which He has created mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah, that is the right religion. But most men know not."” Holy Qur’an, 30:31

"And by the soul and its perfection—And He revealed to it what is wrong for it and what is right for it.”

Holy Qur’an, 91:7-8

"Surely We have created man in the best make, Then if he works iniquity, We reject him as the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do good works; so for them is an unending reward." Holy Qur’an, 95:5-8

The Holy Qur’an categorically explains that Allah does not burden anyone beyond one’s capacity. This is the declaration of fairness and wisdom pertaining to an individual’s ability to perform in this world. We read:

"Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity. It shall have the reward it earns, and it shall get the punishment it incurs". Holy Qur’an, 2:287.

Regarding the common notion that Adam sinned or disobeyed, Holy Qur’an exonerates Adam from any disobedience, we read thus:

"And verily, We had made a covenant with Adam beforehand, but he forgot, and We found in him no determination to disobey." Holy Qur’an 20:116

The philosophy of deeds in Islam is summarized in this statement of Holy Prophet Muhammad: “Deeds are judged by intentions.” As such then, we can see that if no sin was committed by Adam to begin with, then how could it be transferred into man’s progeny ?

Below, the traditional Christian belief, the modern Christian view and the Ahmadiyya Muslim belief are presented for comparison and further study. We encourage all the truth seekers to reflect on these verities.

Traditional Christian Belief:

Adam sinned; hence sin was transferred to mankind. Now all children are born with this original sin.

Modern Christian View:

Sin is not a substance that can be transferred from one man to his child. All children are created in the image of God. Later in life, they by their own choice do good or evil.Adam’s sin did not make mankind sinful.


Ahmadiyya Muslim Belief:

God created man on His nature as the best of creation. Sin is a willful disobedience to God’s commands, not a genetic code. God can forgive sins irrespective of their number. Adam did not willfully disobey God. He simply forgot.

Jesus-God or beloved of God?

A most extraordinary and unparalleled change occurred in the 7th century of the Christian era. Arabia was an arid and isolated peninsula unaffected by events in the rest of the world. Its population consisted of barbarous tribes mostly nomads, who loved the freedom of the deserts, the starlit sky above, the sandy floor below; despised by others, and dead morally and spiritually. But as Thomas Carlisle says:

"To the Arab nation Islam was a birth from darkness into the light.”

“Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world; a Prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe; see the unnoticed becomes world notable, the small has grown world great; within one century afterwards, Arabia is at Granada on this end, at Delhi on that.”(Heroes & Hero-Worship)

Two Empires:

Persian and Rome, the two greatest Empires of the time whom Arabia had to face were bitterly opposed to Islam and tried their utmost to destroy this new religion in its infancy but failed. Persians were mainly Zoroastrians, believers in a God of good and a God of evil, Ormuzd and Ahriman, and worshipped fire. The Roman Empire was Christian believing in the Godhead of Jesus Christ and the Trinity. In Egypt Christianity was a flourishing religion. The great Church of Clement, of Origin and of Athanasius, showed the success, which Christianity had achieved in Egypt. But wherever Christianity and Islam met, victory came to Islam, the inhabitants of the countries in which the struggle took place, became Muslim. This happened in Syria, Palestine, Egypt and parts of Africa. Professor Bosworth Smith writes in his book “Mohammad and Mohammadenism”:

“A great part of the Berbers of the desert were once Christian and they afterwards changed their religion and became Muslim”.

Therefore, it is the duty of Christians to study Islam and mark its teachings, which caused Christians of the early centuries to adopt this religion.

Many attempts have been made to call the attention of the English people to study Islam but they have not yet made any sincere effort to understand this great religion, which has been adopted by millions of their co-religionists in the past.I would like to give you some account of the marvelous teachings of Islam, which attracted the sincere, and the thoughtful among Christians to accept it.When the Holy Prophet of Islam appeared, the Jews were asserting that they had put Jesus Christ to an “accursed” death; and thus, according to their law they thought they had proved that he was a false prophet, an imposter. They accused him of many other things; that he was the offspring of sin, for instance.

Jesus “Cursed”:

On the other hand, Christians believed in the Trinity, and that Jesus was God. According to the Mariamites or worshippers of Mary, the Trinity was God the Father, God the Son and God the Virgin Mary. In spite of their belief in his divinity, they also believed like the Jews, that he died an “accursed” death. St. Paul admits in Galatians III:

“He was made a curse for us, for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree,.”

They did not examine the meaning of the word ‘cursed’. A man cannot be cursed unless his heart be far from God and empty of His love and knowledge. He must be in error like Satan and at enmity with God. It is for this that Satan is named the Accursed one.

Imputations Removed by the Holy Qur'an:

The Jews believed that Jesus was “accursed” and had no relation with God and that God’s wrath descended upon him, and Christians agreed that undoubtedly he was “cursed”, though it was to show his love for the people. But the Holy Quran freed him from this curse. Rejecting the claim of the Jews, it proclaimed:

“They slew him not nor caused him to die on the cross, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ about him are certainly in doubt by reason of this fact, they have no knowledge thereof, but only follow conjecture, and they surely did not kill him and they did not make sure about it.” (4:158)

Thus the Holy Quran clears Jesus of the “curse” imputed to him, and proclaims that Jesus was a beloved of God, one of His chosen prophets. The Holy Quran also mentions that the Jews were deprived of the spiritual blessings they had enjoyed and the help of God they had had, through their rejection of Jesus and for their accusing Mary of fornication. The declaration of the Holy Quran concerning Mary is that she kept her chastity; was an example for the righteous; the angels descended on her; and shewas one of the chosen ones of God.

In the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus, according to St. Matthew, two of his ancestors, Phares and Zara of Tamar, were sons of fornication, and Booz was a son of Racheb the Harlot. Therefore the Holy Quran, acquitting Mary and her son of all blemishes has cleared their ancestry, saying they were the offspring of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, the descendants of Amran chosen of God.

Charges of rudeness:

The commandment was ‘Honor thy father and thy mother’ (Matt. 19:19), but it appears from Matthew 12:48, that Jesus showed a kind of rudeness toward his mother. Therefore the Holy Quran has cleared Jesus even of this false charge saying he was dutiful to his mother, that God did not make him insolent, unblessed (19:33).

The true position:

Now I come to the main point: what is the real position of Jesus Christ? Was he God as most Christians believe or was he man, a prophet or messenger of God? On this point the Holy Quran says thus:

“And when Jesus came with clear argument he said:

‘I have come to you indeed with wisdom, and that I may make clear to you of what you differ in. Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord so fear God and obey me and serve Him; this is the right path” (43:63,64,65). Jesus said: Surely I am a servant of Allah, He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet” (19:31). Surely they disbelieve who say that Allah is the Messiah the son of Mary (5:18).

And the Messiah said:

‘O children of Israel! Serve Allah my Lord and your Lord.’ Surely whoever associates others with Allah then Allah has forbidden him the garden, and his abode is the fire, and there shall be no helper for the unjust. Certainly they are disbelievers who say Allah is a third person of the three, while there is no God but one, and if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement shall befall those among them who disbelieve.

Will they not then turn to Allah and seek from Him remission of sins and forgiveness, and Allah is very forgiving and merciful (5:73,74,75).

The Messiah, son of Mary is but an apostle; apostles before him have indeed passed away and his mother was a righteous woman. They both used to eat food. See how We make the communications clear to them, and then behold how they turn away.

Say, do you serve besides Allah that which has no power at all to do neither harm nor good! And it is Allah who is the most hearing, the very knowing. Say, O People of the Book; do not exceed the limits in your religious beliefs unjustly, nor follow the desires of a people who have already gone astray before and led many astray from the right path. Those who disbelieved from among the Children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary. This was because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limits” (5:77-79).

Seven Points:

In these verses the true position of Jesus has been described after clearing him of the charges imputed falsely to him. It is set forth in seven propositions:

(1) Jesus Christ never claimed he was God.

(2) On the contrary, he said, there was only One God “whom we serve and worship”

(3) Jesus was a prophet and a messenger of God; many prophets had passed away before him. If anybody cast cursory glances on the past, he would know at once that since the creation of the world, God never came in Person to guide people. He always sent a human being to guide fellow human beings. Jesus was a prophet like all of them. It is a gross error to think he was God come to guide human beings.

(4) Jesus was born of a woman, herself a righteous one. The word ‘Mother’ in the above verses points out the changes, which come upon a child in the womb of his mother and after his birth. If Jesus was really God, then his mother must have been of the same kind. But as is generally believed, she was a human being. So was her child.

(5) Mary and Jesus both ate food; which indicated that they were both humans. It is apparent that man needs for his sustenance and his system of digestion; so he calls constantly for food. So the use of food by Mary and Jesus shows that, like other human beings these were not free from the obligations imposed by nature. Therefore the belief that a person subject to all the changes, which come on a man’s body, was God is an irrational belief.

(6) Jesus being human was weak; he could do no harm or good to anybody by himself.

(7) Dogmas like the Trinity and that Jesus was God are inventions of the people who follow the desires of pagans.

Substantiated by the Gospels:

The truth of these propositions is validated by the Gospels.

Regarding the first the Gospels are silent; the claim that Jesus was God is mentioned nowhere in them.

The second proposition is mentioned in Matthew 4:10. That Jesus said:

“Get thee hence Satan: for it is written ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt you serve. Jesus also asked Mary to tell his disciples:

“I ascend unto my father and your father, and unto my God and your God” (John 20:17).

The third proposition that Jesus was a prophet of God is mentioned in many places in the Gospels. For instance, he said, (and included himself in it):

“A prophet is not without honor save in his own country”(Matthew 13:57).

He also said:

“Nevertheless I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33).

He also said:

“I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). “I seek the will of the father which has sent me” (John 5:30).

His disciples also said about him that he was a prophet (Luke 24:19).

When he went to Jerusalem, the multitude said:

“This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth”(Matt. 21:11). See also John 6:14 and 9:17, Luke 7:39 and 7:16.

The fourth proposition does not require any quotations as all the Christians believe that it is so.

The fifth proposition that Jesus used to eat, is mentioned in Matthew 11:19:

“The son of Man came eating and drinking”.

Luke 24:43 says:

“That he took a boiled fish and an honey-combe and did eat before his disciples.”

In Mark 11:12 it is mentioned that when his disciples came from Bethany he was hungry.

The sixth proposition that he was a weak being, can be known from his saying:

“Father all thing are possible unto Thee, take away this cup from me.” (Matt 14:36)

He also said:

“I can of mine own self do nothing, as I hear I judge, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30)

The seventh proposition is that the people believe in the Godhead of Jesus; follow in the footsteps of earlier pagans. John M. Robertson in his book “Pagan Christ” writes:

“A recent criticism has shown that the Christians have only followed previous idolatrous nations in deifying a man.”

Christian Paganism:

The first person who sowed the seed of this paganism in Christianity was St. Paul. Against the teachings of Jesus, he began to preach to the entiles and based his preaching to them on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, saying,

“He was raised from the dead according to my Gospel” (Tim. 2:8).

As he was a Roman (Acts 22:26), and on account of his journey in Syria, etc; he knew the mentality of the Gentiles, so he based his preaching on ideas current among them already, and which they could easily assimilate. For instance, Adonis, the Syrian God, was born of a virgin, was killed, and rose again in the spring every year. The maidens wept for him, and then rejoiced over his resurrection. Concerning Osiris, their God, they believed that he was slain and his image was placed in a box and brought forth with cries of “Osiris is Risen”. Attis, the Phrygian God, was also born of a virgin named Nana. He was bled to death at the foot of a pine tree, that his blood renewed the fertility of the earth and thus brought a new life to humanity, and that he also rose from the dead (Frazer’s Golden Bough IV, p. 29). Bacchus was also born of a virgin named "Demeted" on December 25th. He was slain to redeem humanity and was, therefore, called The Slain One, The Sin Bearer, and The Redeemer. His death followed by resurrection was celebrated. When dead, he descended into Hell, rose again (Blausobre, also Higgins’ “Anacalypsis” vol. I p. 322).

The Greeks claimed that Bromseus was a God who united his divinity with humanity. So he is of dual origin: divinity and humanity, in one body, man and God at the same time.

Luly Hook, a French missionary, writes in his Travels of Hook (vol. I p. 321-327) concerning Buddha:

“The Buddhists consider him to be a God in human shape, that he is a God who appeared incarnate, came to this world to teach men, to guide them, to redeem them, and to build for them the path to peace. The belief of redemption through a God appearing in body is general among the Buddhists.”

Allan, in his India-Ancient and Modern page 297 writes,

“As for Krishna, he is the greatest of all the gods incarnate, there is none of them but a small particle from the Godhead while he is the God Vishnu who appeared in body.”

The learned Done in his book (p. 112) writes that one of the beliefs of the ancient idolaters is connected with incarnation that God, incarnate as man, descends and lives among men. The belief is described in various ways from the imagination and stories of the Orientals.

So the truth of the Quranic propositions, that Christians in taking Jesus as God followed the desires of pagans is as clear as the sun for the students of ancient idolatry. Therefore, God says in the Holy Quran:

“And when Allah will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary: did you say to men accept me and my mother for two gods besides Allah? He will say: Glory be to Thee. It did not befit me to say that which I had no right to say. If I had said it Thou wouldst have known it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, but I don’t know what is in Thy mind. Surely Thou art the great knower of the unseen things. I did not say to them but what Thou didst command me to say, that is, Serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” (5:117-118)

Attributes of God:

Now let us examine the divinity of Jesus from another point of view, the point of view of the distinctive attributes of God. The Holy Quran says:

“There is no God but Allah. He is ever living, self-subsisting and does neither slumber nor sleep. For Him is whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who can intercede with Him but with His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything of His knowledge, except what He pleases. His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of them tires Him not and He is the Most High, the Great.” (2:256)

This verse points especially to the following attributes of God.

1. Ever-Living,

2. Self-Subsisting,

3. Free from sleep, slumber and fatigue,

4. King and possessor of whatever is in the Heavens and on Earth,

5. All-Knowing and 6. Most High and Great.

Biblical attributes:

These attributes of God are also mentioned in the Bible. Isaiah says,

“The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the Earth,fainteth not, neither is weary (40:28).    

Jeremiah, the Prophet says,

“The Lord is a Living God and an Everlasting King (10:10).

“God is the King Eternal, Immortal” (Tim. 1:17)

Jesus' attributes:

But Jesus was born of Mary and used to sleep; as once he fell asleep in the ship (Matt.8:24) and he tasted the cup of death. Neither was he self-subsisting. He said,

“As the Living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father (John 6:57);

“Jesus liveth by the power of God (2Corinthinas 13:4);

“God is the King of all the earth” (Psalms 47:7);

“For Him all that is in the Heavens and on the earth (1Chronicles 29:11).

Jesus Christ said: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have their nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Matt.8:20)

He did not possess even a small portion of the earth.

God is All-knowing.

“He knoweth the secrets of the heart” (Psalms 44:12).

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God” (Deut. 29:29).

But Jesus Christ was not all-knowing. As he said,

“But of that day and that Hour knoweth no man, no, not the Angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father (Mark 13:32).

Jesus not God:

One day, being hungry and seeing a fig tree afar having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon, but he found nothing but leaves. (Mark 11:13) 

He also confessed that he as not the Most High and Greatest. “My Father is greater than I (John 14:28). 

If it is true that God is ever living, everlasting, Almighty (Exodus 6:1) 

and, as Jesus said, 

“With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 20:26); 

if it is true that God is free from all human infirmities as slumber, sleep or weariness, that He is the King and Possessor of the Earth and Heaven, All-knowing and Most High and Great; and if it is also true, as proved by the quotations from the Gospels that Jesus did not possess any of these divine attributes, then rational and reasonable men have no choice but to believe that Jesus was not God.

Jesus, son of man:

In all the verses of the New Testament nowhere is there any mention of the word “Trinity”, or “God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost”. On the contrary, we find that in as many as seventeen (17) verses it says that the Father is the One and only God. Verses in which the Father is given the name God with all glory and dignity are 320 in number. Verses which mention the Father as God with special attributes are 105 in number. Verses in which it is said that prayer and praise should be offered to the Father alone, as the only possessor of dignity and power are 90 in number. In 63 places Jesus is called “son of man”, in 72 places, “man” only, and in 19 places “a prophet” and in many places “servant and master”. In 20 places God is called “The God of Jesus” and Jesus himself cried, “O my God, my God; why hast Thou forsaken me?” In nearly 300 places, it is mentioned that Jesus could not act from his own self that he was not self-subsisting, and that he did according to the commandments of God and according to His Will. But despite these clear passages of the Gospels, Christians rely on some obscure and vague sentences and say that Jesus Christ claimed to be God.

Obscure and vague:

This is a large subject, I am unable to deal with fully. Let me mention, however, one or two passages out of the Gospels. For instance, Jesus Christ said: 

“He that hath seen me hath seen God” (John 14:9).

The Christians say it means that Jesus and God were one. But a little thought will tell everyone that the word “seeing” in this saying is used metaphorically. Because no man has seen God, nor can see (Tim. 6:16).

Philip asked him to show them the Father, but he replied, that the Father cannot be seen with physical eyes, but He shows Himself by His works through His prophets. The Holy Prophet of Islam also said: “Who

hath seen me hath seen God.”

They mean that the attributes of God are manifest in them. Jesus also said: 

“I am in my Father and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20), 

but nobody says that his disciples were also God.

“Before Abraham”:

Message of The Holy Quran - Unity of God, World Peace and Freedom

Muhammad in the Bible

Rational Test:

Rational thinking indicates that the world was in dire need of revelation, of water from the fountain of spiritual guidance, at the time when the Holy Prophet appeared. He led an ideal life, a perfect example to be followed throughout the future. He started his mission against immense difficulties. He and his followers met strong persecution and opposition. But he was protected and helped by God in miraculous ways. Before his death his mission was firmly established all over Arabia and was rapidly spreading to other countries.

He worked miracles. He foretold the future, and his prophecies were fulfilled not only in his lifetime but continue to be fulfilled in our time as well. He brought a teaching  which has attracted countless adherents since he appeared. In short, all rational tests prove that the mission of the Holy Prophet Muhammad was truly from God.

The Historical Test:

There is also another test, the historical one, which our present day world requires of a messenger of God. A notable American Bishop of the Catholic Church wrote in a nationally famous magazine that the test of history available to all men, all civilizations and all ages can be applied only to Jesus, because:

There were no predictions about Buddha, Muhammad, or anyone else -except Christ. Others just came and said: “Here I am, believe me”. Christ alone steps out of the line and answers: My coming was foretold, even to the smallest detail.

This statement is quite challenging and requires attention. We Muslims believe that Jesus was a true prophet of God. We also accept his advent as having been foretold in the previous scriptures.

But what about Muhammad?

We find that his coming was foretold in clear and precise terms not only by Jesus himself but by Moses and other Biblical prophets as well. In fact it seems from whatever words of Jesus are available to the world, that the bringing of glad tidings of a great coming prophet was one of the chief objects of his mission.

Again and again Jesus said that he was sent to the world only to give as much guidance as the people of his own time could bear. As for complete teaching which would stay forever with mankind, he said:

But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14-26)

Only the prophet of Islam could have fulfilled this prophecy of Jesus. Muhammad was truly sent in his name because he bore testimony to his truth. The Holy Quran says:

The Messiah, son of Mary, was a messenger, "surely messengers like unto him had passed away before him" (The Holy Quran 5:76)

The Holy Quran reports that the angels told Mary:

Surely Allah gives you good news with a word from Him of whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and hereafter. (The Holy Quran 3:46)

The Holy Prophet testified to the truth of Jesus as a divine and honored Teacher and Prophet, and declared them mistaken and misguided who thought him accursed. The Holy Quran described his teachings as "guidance and light ."Further elaborating the same prophecy, Jesus said:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will sent him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. ... I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.. and he will show  you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:7-14)

This prophecy clearly lays down that:

1. The Comforter will come after the departure of Jesus.
2. When the Comforter comes, he will reprove the world of sin, truth and justice.
3. He will guide the world into all truth.
4. The book revealed to him will contain no human word.
5. He will foretell things to come.
6. He will glorify Jesus and clear him of all charges.

Now when we take this prophecy point by point, it is unmistakably proven that it applies to none else but the Holy Prophet Muhammad. He came after Jesus. The Comforter was supposed to reprove the followers of Jesus. Obviously, he could not be a Christian or a Jew .The prophecy must relate to one who would belong to another people but should respect Jesus and promote reverence for him. The Holy Prophet was neither Jew nor a Christian. He was an Ishmaelite. But he defended the honor of Jesus. Thus says the Quran:

[The Jews]  slew him not, nor crucified him, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified, and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it: they have no definite knowledge thereof, but only follow a conjecture; and they did not convert this: conjecture into a certainty; on the contrary, Allah exalted him to Himself (The Holy Quran 4: 158)

Here the Holy Quran specifically says that Jesus was saved from that accursed death designed for him by his enemies. However, they only suspected that they had succeeded in crucifying him. But Allah had not only saved him but admitted him to the circle of His favored ones.

Of the promise, "He will show you things to come", we need only say that no prophet has told the world of things to come as much as has the prophet of Islam.

The prophecy said that "he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak". This description can only apply to the Prophet Muhammad. The New and Old Testaments do not contain a single book in which man's word has not been mixed with God's. The Quran is nothing but the word of God from beginning to end. Not a word even of the Prophet is to be found in it.

When Peter appeared before the people of Jerusalem, his words were: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you". John starts one of his conversations with "I, John, who am your brother". On the same lines we read the utterances of Philip, James and others in the Bible.

About the Holy Prophet, the Quran says:

He does not speak out of his own desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed. (The Holy Quran 53:4-5)

The prophecy had said: "He will guide you unto all truth". Again Muhammad was the only prophet who claimed to have brought a universal and perfect law. The Holy Quran says:

Today We have perfected your religion for you and completed Our favor upon you. (The Holy Quran 5:4)

How clearly has the prophecy been fulfilled in the person of the Prophet Muhammad in all of its details. Sometimes an unsuccessful attempt is made to dim the glory of this marvelous prophecy by claiming that this Comforter was the Holy Ghost who came after Jesus to his disciples. One wonders how this claim can be harmonized with the fact that the person foretold in the verses is described with the pronoun "he," which could not possibly refer to a spirit. Then, was not the Spirit of Truth supposed to come only after the departure of Jesus? Should it be then assumed that the Holy Ghost was not with Jesus ? Obviously no devoted Christian will accept this assumption. One can also inquire where that truth is which is not found in the New Testament but was later brought by the Holy Ghost.

A Prophet From Thy Brethren:

The fact is that before Jesus, Moses had also foretold of a great prophet in clear and precise words. When Moses went to Mount Horeb under the command of God he addressed the Israelites saying:

The Lord thy God will raise unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken. (Deuteronomy 18:15)

And again, God's words to Moses:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth  and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that, whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. (Deuteronomy 18:18-19)

It is evident from these verses that Moses foretold a Law-giving Prophet who was to appear after him, and who was to be from among the brethren of Israel.That he was to be a Law-giver and not an ordinary Prophet is obvious from the words"like unto Moses", since Moses was also a Law-giver. The promulgation of "a new Law" means the initiation of a new movement, a new nation. A prophet with a new Law is obviously no ordinary teacher or reformer. He has to present a comprehensive teaching, incorporating fundamental principles as well as detailed rules.

Was Jesus such a prophet? Was he a Law-giver? Did he bring a new Law into the world to replace an old one? The answer, in his  own words:

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto You, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17-18)

And the followers of Jesus went so far as to declare:

And the Law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. (Galatians 3:12-13)

Jesus laid no claim to a new Law; his disciples regarded the Law as a curse. It was the Holy Quran which announced from the very outset that:

This is the (complete and perfect) Book, there is nothing of doubt in it. It is a guidance for the righteous. (The Holy Quran 2:3)

The prophecy also said that the Promised One was to be raised not from among Israel but from their brethren. Muhammad was from the brethren of the Israelites, the Ishmaelites.

It also told that God would put his words in his mouth. The New Testament gospels do not consist of words which God put in Jesus's  mouth. They only tell us his story and what he himself and his disciples said and did.

The Holy Quran, on the other hand, says:

Say,O Muhammad, I am a man like unto you: Only the word of God come unto me. (The Holy Quran 18: 111)

The prophecy spoke of "words which he shall speak in my name." Strange as it may seem, there is not a single example of words which Jesus may be said to have received from God with the command to pass them on. The Holy Quran, on the other hand, specifically claimed to be the word from God.

The words of the Lord had announced that the Promised One would be a prophet. Jesus, according to the Christian evangelists, did not claim to be a prophet. Matthew reports that he asked his disciples:

"Whom do men say that I the son of man ..?"
Peter replied that he was the Christ. the Son of the living God.
(Matthew 16:13-16)

Thus Jesus denied being either John the Baptist or Elias or one of the prophets. Muhammad was proclaimed as not only a prophet but also as "like unto Moses," when the Quran said:

Verily We have sent to you a Messenger, who is a witness over you, even as we sent a Messenger to Pharaoh. (The Holy Quran 73:16)

In short, one thousand nine hundred years before the advent of the prophet of Islam, Moses declared that his own Law was, in the divine scheme, not the last Law; that the world was to have a fuller Law later on; and that, for this God would send in the latter days another Messenger of His. This Messenger was to teach all truth; it was he who was to mark the last stage in the spiritual advance of man. The world had to wait for another book and another Prophet.

If, therefore, the Quran and the Holy Prophet have come after the Bible and after the Prophets Moses and Jesus, and if they claim to have come from God as guidance to man, their claim must be treated as just and true. It must be taken as the Fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The revelation of the Quran was not a gratuitous revelation, a  redundance in the presence of other revelations. Indeed, if the Quran had not been revealed, promises made by God through His messengers would have gone unfulfilled, and the world would have become afflicted with doubt and disbelief.

Divine Light From Paran:

The prophecies of the Bible had even led its followers to that part of the world where the great Prophet was to appear. Thus it was said:

And he said, the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; and shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:2)

In this verse Moses is promised three manifestations of the glory of God. The first of these appeared on Sinai in the time of Moses. Time passed. The second manifestation promised in the prophecy was to take place at Seir, a part of the world near where the miracles of Jesus took place. "Rising up from Seir," therefore, meant the advent of Jesus.

The third manifestation of divine glory was to take its rise from Paran, and Paran (Arabic Faran) is the name of the hills which lie between Mecca, the birth place of Muhammad, and Medina, the town where he died. According to the Old Testament, Ishmael, the ancestor of Muhammad, lived in this part. Thus we have in the Bible:

And God was with the lad (Ishmael): and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. (Genesis 21:20-21)

Historical and geographical evidence shows that the descendents of Abraham lived in Arabia. All of them held Mecca and Kaaba, the house of worship built by Abraham, in great reverence. His son Ishmael first settled in Mecca. Genesis gives the names of twelve sons of Ishmael including two named Tema and Kedar. (Genesis 25:13-16) This is further supported by the testimony of Isaiah where we read:

The burden of Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye traveling companies of Dedanim.The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they provided with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. (Isaiah 21:13-16)

This prophetic passage is a picture of the Battle of Badr  which took place about a year after the Holy Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina. In this battle the sons of Kedar , the people of Mecca and the territories around, unable to withstand the fierceness of Muslim swordsmen and archers, sustained disastrous defeat. God made a handful of men, poorly armed and without provisions, the means of inflicting this humiliation on an army led by experienced generals.

The battles with the Meccans continued against heavy odds until such time that the Prophet Muhammad entered Mecca after a struggle of several years. This was the time when ten thousands of saints accompanied him. The Holy Prophet declared that the message of God had been completed in the form of the Holy Quran. Thus the prophecy of Moses was fulfilled that the Lord would shine forth from Paran with ten thousands of saints, with a fiery Law in his right hand. Thus also the prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled that the spirit of Truth "will guide you into all truth." His fiery Law, the Holy Quran, consumed all impurities of flesh and turned the grossest hearts into pure gold.

Could Jesus have fulfilled this wonderful prophecy? He did not rise from Paran. He had only twelve disciples and not ten thousand saints. Isaiah had spoken of one that fled; the flight of Muhammad is such an important part of Muslim history that the Islamic calendar starts from the very year of migration.

"The Earth Was Full Of His Praise":

This advent was also prophesied by Habakkuk several centuries before Jesus. Thus we have:

God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the ea11h was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand5: and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and the burning coals went fo11h at his feet. He stood and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, and the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; and the cu11ain of the land of Midian did tremble. (Habakkuk 3:3-7)

This again shows that the third manifestation mentioned earlier was going to be by one who would appear from the land of Tema and Mount Paran. The earth was going to be full of his praise. It is not a mere accident, then, that the Holy Prophet of Islam was named Muhammad, which literally means, the Praised One. Only a man with a name as beautiful as his personality and character could answer to the description of Habakkuk.The enemies of Muhammad suffered destruction, pestilence and humiliation of "burning coals" in encountering him in spite of overwhelmingly stronger and larger forces.

Moses died while he was still fighting his enemies. Jesus was put on the Cross. The prophet who beheld and drove the nations asunder, as mentioned by Habakkuk,could be, there- fore, none else but Muhammad. His enemies who looked like "everlasting mountains and perpetual hills" with their immense power were completely routed. Later "the tents of Cushan" and the "curtains of the land of Midian," that is, the land of Canaan then under the Roman Caesar, also found their salvation in surrendering to the servants of the Holy Prophet in the time of that Caesar's successors.

The Prince Of Peace:

Lets us go on now to Isaiah. Here we find many passages about a coming prophet which can be true only of Muhammad. We are told of a time when a man will call the nations of the world who would swiftly answer his call and gather around him (Isaiah5:26-30). We are told that the followers of the Promised One will be obliged to take part in wars. We are told that the advent of this prophet will be at a time when even the light will be darkened by the sin and corruption of land and sea.Isaiahalso tells us that at the time God will turn away His face from the house of Jacob (Isaiah 8:13-17).

And then: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6- 7)

The prophecy gives promise of a king who will have five titles:

1. Wonderful
2. Counsellor
3. The Mighty God
4. The Everlasting Father and
5. The Prince of Peace

Was Jesus ever a King? Were the names enumerated in this prophecy ever applied to him? Wonderful he might have been called, because of peculiar birth, but while his deniers regarded his birth as illegitimate, his supporters were in doubt about his ancestry. He gave no exhibition of the might that is mentioned in the above verse. Nor could he be called Everlasting Father, because he himself had mentioned another one coming after him. He neither became king nor could he ever bring peace to the world. He remained oppressed by his opponents until he was put on the Cross. He could not, therefore, be rightly called the Prince of Peace. He never attained to any government and, therefore, the words, "of his government there shall be no end," have no meaning in terms of his life. These signs mentioned in Isaiah apply only to the Prophet of Islam.

It was he who had to shoulder the responsibilities of a state, and thus, quite against his will, had to be called king.

Muhammad was Wonderful both in his name and achievements. Jesus, in his parable of the vineyard, speaks of the householder who let his vineyards to husbandmen. These wicked men not only beat, killed and stoned his other servants but also his son. The lord, says Jesus, will come himself, destroy these wicked husbandmen and render the vineyard to those who "shall render the fruits in their seasons." This will be so because:

The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the comer; and this is the Lord's doing, and it marvelous in our eyes. (Matthew 21:33-44)

This is the way in which the "Wonderful" one had to appear. When the son would be slain, then the other one would be sent who would prove to be the head of the corner. And he would seem "marvelous" in the eyes of Jesus and the whole world.

And about his wonderful achievements we may quote Thomas Carlyle. He writes:

To the Arab nation it was a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first become alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people ,roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world, a hero-prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe: see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has grown world-great,' within one century afterward, Arabia is at Grenada on this hand, Delhi on that, glancing in valor and splendor and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a section of the world. Belief is great, long-living, The history of a nation becomes fruitful, soul-elevating, great, so soon as it believes. These Arabs, the man Mahomet and that one century-is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what seemed black, unnoticeable sand, but 10, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Grenada. I said ,the great man was always a lightning out of heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel and then they too would flame.
(Thomas Carlyle in Heroes And Hero-worship)

The second name of the Promised One is Counsellor. This again applied to the Holy Prophet. A nation turned to him for advice. He, in turn, held regular consultation with his people, and made it obligatory on the State to consult the people in all  important matters. The Holy Quran tells us that his companions sought his consultation regularly.

The prophecy had also described him as mighty God. The Bible has often mentioned the prophets as God himself. (Exodus 7:1 and 4:16)

Whenever a human being is spoken of as a "like of God" it can only mean that he is a manifestation of the Almighty .The Holy Prophet, again, answers the description of the prophecy. There are several references relevant to this in the Holy Quran. At the Battle of Badr, the prophet took a handful of gravel and threw it at the enemy. This proved a signal for a dust storm which discomfited the enemy and contributed to his defeat. Of this, God says to the Holy Prophet:

And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was God who threw. (The Holy Quran 8:18)

Again it says:

Verily those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to God. (The Holy Quran 48:11)

Thus came the manifestation of mighty God, The Holy Prophet, who was able to subjugate all his enemies in his lifetime and to smash all opposition.

The fourth name in the prophecy is Everlasting Father. Jesus was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and, therefore, could not possibly have an everlasting character. On the other hand, the Holy Prophet was referred to in the Quran as "bringer together of all mankind". (The Holy Quran 34 :29). He was promised that his teaching would abide forever with the people because at the end of days, the Promised Messiah would appear from among his followers and would revive the teachings of Islam and prove conclusively that the spiritual dominion of the Prophet of Islam was everlasting and there would be no heavenly teachers then except from his followers.

The fifth name in the prophecy is Prince of Peace. Can Jesus be truly called such? He did not become a sovereign in his life. He did not ever gain power to administer forgiveness to his enemies, and therefore, there was not much occasion for him to perform what he preached. On the other hand, the very religion of Muhammad is called Islam, meaning peace. As for the performance of peace and forgiveness in Muhammad's life we have ample evidence.

Through thirteen long and weary years the prophet of Islam and his little band of devoted followers bore with calm dignity and patience the bitterest persecution at the hands of the Meccans. Starvation, flogging, scoffings, humiliations, degradations and outrages of every description were the order of the day. When the Prophet took refuge in Medina, even there he was not left in peace. Over a period of seven years of sustained and brutal persecution the Prophet of Islam appeared suddenly on the heights of Paran, at the head of ten thousand saints, with no battle fought and not a drop of blood shed, when any penalty inflicted upon these Meccans would have been light in comparison to their long record of misdeeds, the Prophet announced, gently and mercifully:

There shall be no retribution exacted from you, you shall all go free. (The Holy Quran 12:93)

Is it the same way that the Christians treated their enemies when they came to power? Who should then be called a true Prince of Peace, Jesus or Muhammad? Jesus could not afford peace to others. His followers were able to afford it, but they did not give it. The prophet of Islam had the power to punish his enemies but he chose to forgive. Muhammad, therefore, was the Prince of Peace of Isaiah's prophecy. It was he again who also attained government and thus could fulfill the last part of this prophecy saying, "Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end."

Conclusion:

These are just a few of the many prophecies found in the Bible about the advent of that great prophet who was going to lead the world into all truth.

Muhammad was going to be, in the words of Solomon, "altogether lovely" which in Hebrew is expressed as Mahmaddim.(Song of Solomon 5: 10-16) He was the fulfillment of the "stone" of Daniel's dream. (Daniel 2:34-35) He was the coming of the lord of the vineyard himself as foretold by Jesus.

True, there are some prophecies about Jesus as well in the Old Testament but it is also a fact that there are many which cannot rightly be applied to him. These could be fulfilled in the person of the one who was coming with a Law and whose mission was to be not just to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" but to the whole world, one who was spoken of by Jesus as the Comforter and Spirit of Truth. The predictions about Muhammad in the Bible are clear and precise.

The door to the Kingdom of Heaven has been opened by the fulfillment of these prophecies. Blessed are those who accept the call of the Lord of Heaven and Earth to enter His Kingdom and receive His communion.

And our last observation is that all praise is due to God, the Sustainer of the Universe.

THE QUR’AN AND THE BIBLE

A Christian evangelist has claimed that the Torah and Gospels (Injeel) which were available in Mecca during the life time of Muhammadsaw were identical to the Torah and the Gospel that the Christians read today. As the Qur'an attests to the truth of these Books, the Muslims should believe in them in the same way as the Jews and Christians do. Given that four verses in the Qur'an speak of "Tahreef' (alterations) having been done by the "People of the Book;" nevertheless, the alteration spoken of could only have been in the meaning and interpretation of their Books and not in the texts thereof. All the above-noted questions have arisen because of the lack of knowledge of what Muslims believe about the previous Scriptures, Prophets of God and other holy personages, some of which are stated in the ensuing paragraphs.


God sent His Messengers to all the nations of the world: 

Allah created mankind and took it upon Himself to guide them, as He says in theQur'an, 

"Surely, it is for Us to provide guidance." (92:12)

 Guidance and Law were given to every nation of the world through His Messengers, 

 "And for every people there was a Messenger" (10:47). 

"And there is a Guide for every people." (13:7)

"And We did raise among every people a Messenger." (16:36) 

Thus the Qur'an affirms the truth of all the previous Revelations, which include those given to Mosesas and Jesusas.


The Scriptures revealed before the Holy Qur'an were not granted protection against interpolations:
However, the Qur'an also points out that all the previous Books were sent for specific nations and times. As those Books were not final and universal, they were not provided the special protection against interpolations, as was granted to the Holy Qur'an, which was revealed as the final Guidance for all peoples and times. The Qur'an points out that the previous Scriptures have suffered interpolations and perversions at the hands of their scribes.
"Woe, therefore, to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, 'This is from Allah.'"(2:79)

"There are some among the Jews who pervert words from their proper places."(4:46)

The Qur'an contains the excellences and commandments of lasting nature of all the previous Scriptures:

The Qur'an claims to be the culmination of all the previous Revelations, and contains the fundamental teachings of all the previous Prophets and Scriptures. Referring to the previous Prophets and their Books, God says to the Muslims:

"These are they whom Allah guided, so follow their guidance." (6:91) 

"A Messenger from Allah, who recites unto them the pure Scriptures, wherein are the lasting commandments." (98:2-3) 

Thus the Qur'an is a compendium of all that is good, lasting and imperishable in the teaching of all the previous Scriptures with a lot more, which was needed for perfection of the guidance. Thus the Qur'an stands as a Guardian over all the previous Books, affirming the truth contained in them and correcting the errors caused by interpolations. As guidance was provided by God to every people, Islam does not claim a monopoly

on Truth.


The 'Tauraat' and 'lnjeel' mentioned in the Qur'an do not refer to the current Old and New Testaments, but to the original Revelations sent to Moses and Jesus: 
It should also be noted that when the Qur'an refers to Taurat (Torah) or Injeel (Gospel), it does not mean the present Old Testament and the New Testament. According to the Qur'an, the 'Tauraat' is the name given to the Revelations sent to Moses and the 'Injeel' the Revelations sent to Jesus. What the Qur'an says is that the Torah and the Gospel in their original form were revealed by God to Moses and Jesus respectively. (3:3-4) It may be noted that the current 'Old Testament' is a collection of the books of various Israeli Prophets, including the Pentateuch of Moses. (i.e. the Revelation originally contained in the Pentateuch (the five Books of Moses i.e., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).

Similarly, when the Qur'an mentions the ‘Injeel,’ it refers only to the Revelation or the Book that was originally granted to Jesus. These revelations were not preserved in the form of one book. If they were collected, in one collection that is not available today. However, some of those revelations have been preserved in the New Testament (the first four and other books), and many of Jesus’ revelations may have been lost. The 'New Testament' comprises of three parts,

(I) Four Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, between 60 and 95 AD.
(2) Acts, which is the history of the Church, written by Luke in 65 AD.
(3) Epistles, which comprise letters, which were mostly written by Paul; and
(4) Revelation which was written by John in 95 AD. As there was no Prophet of God between Jesus and Muhammadsaw, the Qur'an does not recognize the Acts, the Epistles and the Book of 'Revelation,' as part of 'Injeel.' According to the Qur’an, interpolations were made in the 'Tauraat' (five Books of Moses) and the 'Injeel' (four Gospels). (2:75 & 2:79) However, these Books still contained some fragments of the original Revelations and teachings, which were affirmed by the Qur'an, and referred to them as 'Hudan wa Noor’ that means, guidance and light.(5:44-46)

The word 'Kitab' (Book) signifies teachings revealed to Prophets and not necessarily a new 'Shariah' (Law):
In verses 83 to 87 of Chapter 6, Qur'an mentions many Prophets, their fathers, their children and their brethren and says about them:
"It is these to whom We gave the Book and dominion and Prophethood." (6:89)
The Prophets mentioned are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Zachariah, John, Jesus, Elias, Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah and Lot. Obviously, all of them were not given a new 'Shariah' (Law), but each of them is mentioned here as being given the Book. When a Prophet of God is mentioned as having been given a Book, it would signify the Revelations granted to him, which contain, among other details, the sure news of the future and the unseen, as mentioned in the following verse:
"He is the Knower of the unseen; and He reveals not His secrets to anyone, except to a Messenger of Him whom He chooses. And then He causes an escort of (guarding angels) to go before him and behind him, so that He may know that (His Messengers) have delivered the Messages of their Lord." (72: 26-29)

The Prophet Abrahamas and Mosesas were both given the Books, though Abraham did not bring any Law. "This, indeed, is in the former Scriptures (or Books) -- the Scriptures of Abraham and Moses." (87:18-19)

About Jesusas God says,
"And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel." (3:48)
The word 'Kitaab' used here cannot be the 'Gospel' as it is separately mentioned. It means that Jesus was given the deep insight, understanding and knowledge of the Book (Torah). It may also mean that Jesus inherited the Book or 'Shariah' that was given to Moses. His own Revelations which fulfilled or affirmed the teachings of the Torah, as stated in 3:50, may also be called the 'Kitaab' that was given to Jesus.

Significance of 'Tasdeeq' (attestation or verification) of 'Torah' or 'Injeel' by the Quran: 
The attestation of revealed Scriptures by the Qur'an could be in the following three ways:
(1) Verification of all the contents of the Books in the present form. It was not done; otherwise the Qur'an would have not strongly condemned the fundamental dogmas of Christianity such as Jesus being taken as son of God.

(2) Verification of certain parts of the Books and
(3) Verification of the truth of the original revelations and of the Prophets to whom they were vouchsafed.
The Qur'an verified only certain parts of the 'Torah' and 'Injeel,' and attested them being the Books of Divine origin. (Tafseer-e-Kabir Vol I, P 385)

Moreover the verification, referred to in 2:41, is the fulfillment of the promise contained in Deuteronomy 18:15-18:
"...1 will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

This prophecy was fulfilled in the person of Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw, who was from Ishmaelites, the brethren of Israelites.

According to the Qur'an, the Holy Prophetsaw was the like of the prophet sent to Pharaoh (i.e., Moses (73:15) No other Israeli Prophet - not even Jesus - said that he came in fulfillment of this prophecy.

Interpolations and doubts in the Old and New Testaments are admitted by Jews and Christian scholars:.

For example, Rev. Dummelow writes in his Bible Commentary on page xxiv:
"On close examination, however, it must be admitted that Pentateuch reveals many features inconsistent with the traditional view that in its present form it is the work of Moses. For instance, it may be safely granted that Moses did not write the account of his own death in Deut.:34... Other passages which can only with difficulty be ascribed to him are: Exodus 6:26,27; 11:3; 16:35, 36; Lev. 18:24-28; Numbers 12:3; Deut. 2:12." (Bible Commentary by Rev. Dummellow, p xxiv)

God did speak to the Prophets of Old Testament, but the external and internal evidence no longer supports the view, that the record of the Old Testament as we possess it today constitutes the word of God as was first revealed. Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmadra (1889-1965), the second successor of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community writes:

"From the history of Israel we learn that in the time of Nebuchadnezzar the books of Israel were burnt and destroyed. They were re-written by the Prophet Ezra, and of Ezra we read in the Jewish literature: ‘It was forgotten but Ezra restored it.’" (Jewish Encyclopedia Vol 5, P 322)

And again:

"Ezra re-established the text of the Pentateuch, introducing therein the Assyrian or square characters." (Jew. Enc. Vol 5, p 322)

He showed his doubts concerning the correctness of some words of the text by placing points over them. Should Elijah, said he, approve the text, the points will be disregarded; should he disapprove, the doubtful words will be removed from the text. (Jew. Enc. Vol 5, P 322)
There are numerous contradictions in the Old Testament, it contains savage and irrational teachings and Prophets are defamed by it, which cannot be attributed to God, and so must have been incorporated by the writers. For detail, please see 'Introduction to the Study of Holy Quran' by Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, P xvii to xxx.

Interpolations in the New Testament: 
The New Testament has also suffered interpolations and changes in form as well as matter. The following points deserve to be reflected upon:

The books other than the four Gospels of New Testament were mostly written by Paul who was neither a disciple of Jesus, nor had ever met him physically. Even the four Gospels were neither written by Jesus himself, nor written by his principal disciples. The Gospels were written many decades after the event of Crucifixion and so were not authorized or approved by Jesus. The writers of the Gospels are obscure persons and their narrations pertained to only about three years of Jesus' life. Some Gospels written by Barnabas, Thomas and Hermas, who were disciples of Jesus, have been discovered. They contradict some of the basic teachings of the current Gospels. No original manuscript of the current New Testament exists and hence its absolute authenticity cannot be established. Jesusas spoke the Aramaic language, but no Gospels are available in that language. What we possess today is only the translations of the translations; and the translations cannot be believed as word of God. The Christian scholars themselves regard the Gospels as accounts of the life of Jesus narrated by others and not the words of God. The Pocket Bible Handbook while introducing the Gospels (Injeel) writes: "The Gospels: The first section of the New Testament, called the Gospels, consists of four accounts of the life of Jesus. (The word 'gospel' means ‘good news’) The first three gospels have been given the title ‘Synoptic’ because they look at Jesus' life from a similar point of view." (Pocket Bible Handbook, Meridian Publications, P 103)

Contradictions in the New Testament:

There are many contradictions in the New Testament, which are not possible in the words of God. A few examples are stated below:

(1) How man is justified, by works or faith? James 2: 14 & 2:26 says, "By works man is justified and not by faith alone." But according to Galatians, "A man is not justified by the works of law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 2:16)

(2) Can the Law of the Old Testament (Shariah) be changed or not? Luke says the Law cannot change, but Hebrew says that since now the priesthood has been changed, the change in Mosaic Law has also become necessary. “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to change (Luke 16:17) "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Hebrew 7:12)

(3) Should the law be followed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven or the law is a curse? Matthew says the law must be followed, but Galatian says the law is a curse. "Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of the least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-19)
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree."(Galatians 3:13)

(4) There is contradiction in the name of Joseph's father (husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus). Matthew (1:16) states his name as Jacob and Luke (3:23) as Heli.

(5) Matthew 1:16 states that Jesus was the 40th descendant of Abraham, but Luke (3:23-31) says that he was the 55th descendant.

(6) Matthew (1:7-16) states that Joseph was the 26th descendant of David, but Luke (3:23-31) says that he was the 41st descendant of David.

As God is free from such weaknesses, the above quotations cannot be attributed to Him. These are human errors which were introduced in the Books by their writers. Obviously the Qur'an cannot attest to the contradictory statements.