Chapter Eight : What is Left

Three Topics

It can hardly be expected in a small publication of this nature thatone can deal with all the references about Jesus, peace and blessingsbeupon him, interspersed throughout the fifteen different chapters of theHoly Quran. What we can do is to give a quick glance to the index pagereproduced from the Quran earlier in this letter.

Here we find three significant topics, not dealt with yet in ourdiscussion:

1. Not crucified, (4:157).
2. Message and miracles,(5:113, 19:30-33).
3. Prophesied Ahmed, (61:6).

Regarding the first topic, “not crucified”, I had writtena booklet under the heading “Was Christ Crucified?” some twentyyears ago. The book is presently out of print, and further, it needsupdating,for much water has passed under the bridge since it first saw the lightof day.

As regards the third topic mentioned above, “Prophesied Ahmed”,I propose to write a booklet under the title “Muhammed, salla Allahu alihi wa sallam, the Natural Successor to Christ” after I havecompleted “Was Christ Crucified?”, I hope to complete both theseprojects soon, Insha Allah! (Arabic: “By the will of Allah”).

The Way to Salvation

We are now left with Topic No. 2, “Message and miracles”.The message of Jesus was as simple and straight forward as that of allhis predecessors as well as that of his successor Muhammed, sallaAllahu alihi wa sallam, namely “Believe in God and keep HisCommandments”.For the God who inspired His Messengers, is an unvarying GodandHe is consistent: He is not the “author of confusion” (1Corinthian14:33).

A law abiding Jew comes to Jesus seeking eternal life or salvation.In the words of Matthew:

“And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what goodthing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none goodbutone, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep thecommandments.”(Matthew 19:16-17)

You will agree, that if you or I were that Jew, we would infer fromthese words that, according to Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him,salvation was guaranteed, provided we kept the commandments without theshedding of any innocent blood. Unless, of course Jesus was speakingwithtongue in cheek; knowing full well that his own “forthcoming redemptivesacrifice”, his “vicarious atonement” (?) for the sins ofmankind, was not many days hence.

Why would Jesus give him the impossible solution of keepingtheLaw (as the Christian alleges) when an easier way was in the offing? Ordid he not know what was going to happen, that he was to be crucified ?Was there not a contract between Father and Son, before the worldsbegan,for his redeeming blood to be shed? Had he lost his memory? No! Therewasno such fairy tale agreement as far as Jesus was concerned. He knewthatthere is only one way to God, and that is, as Jesus said, “keepthe Commandments”!

Miracles, What They Prove

Regarding his miracles: the Holy Quran does not go into any detailaboutblind Bartimus or about Lazarus or any other miracle, except that he(Jesus)defended his mother as an infant in his mother’s arms. The Muslim hasnohesitation about accepting the most wondrous of his miracles – eventhatof reviving the dead. But that does not make Jesus a “God” orthe begotten “Son of God” as understood by the Christian.

Miracles do not prove even prophethood, or whether a man is true orfalse. Jesus himself said:

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shallshow great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, theyshall deceive the very elect.”(Matthew 24:24)

If false prophets and false Christs can perform miraculous feats,thenthese wonders or miracles do not prove even the geniuses or otherwise,of a prophet.

John the Baptist, according to Jesus, was the greatest of theIsraeliteprophets. Greater than Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah and all, notexcludinghimself: in his own words:

“Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women therehath not risen a greater than John the Baptist…” (Matthew 11:11)

1. Not excluding Jesus: because, was he not born of a woman – Mary?
2. The Baptist, greater than “all”, yet he performed not a singlemiracle! Miracles are no standards of judging truth and falsehood.

But in his childishness, the might Christian insists that Jesus isGodbecause he gave life back to the dead. Will reviving the dead makeothersGod too? This perplexes him, because he has mentally blocked himselffromthe miracles of others who outshine Jesus in his own Bible. Forexample,according to his false standard:

• Moses is greater than Jesus because he put life back into a deadstickand transmuted it from the plant kingdom to the animal kingdom bymakingit into a serpent (Exodus 7:10).
• Elisha is greater than Jesus because the bones of Elisha broughtaman back to life merely by coming into contact with the corpse (2 Kings13:21).

Need I illustrate to you a catalogue of miracles? But the sicknesspersists- “it was God working miracles through His prophets but Jesus performedthem of his own power.” Where did Jesus get all his power from? AskJesus, and he will tell us:

Power not His Own

“…All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”(Matthew 28:18)

“…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the kingdomof God is come unto you.” (Matthew 12:28)

“I can of mine own self do nothing ” (John 5:30)

“I with the finger of God cast out devils” (Luke 11:20)

Borrowed Power

The “power” as he says is not his, “it is given untome”. Given by whom? By God, of course! Every action, every word heattributes to God.

Lazarus

But since so much is made of Jesus’ mightiest miracle of revivingLazarusfrom the dead, we will analyze the episode as recorded in John’sGospel.It is astonishing that none of the other Gospel writers mention Lazarusin any context. However, the story is that Lazarus was very sick, hissistersMary and Martha had made frantic calls for Jesus to come and cure hissicknessbut he arrived too late, actually four days after his demise.

He Groaned

Mary wails to Jesus that had he arrived in time, perhaps her brotherwould not have died; meaning that if he could heal other peoples’sicknesses,why would he not have healed her brother, a dear friend of his. Jesussaysthat “even now if ye have faith, ye shall see the glory of god.”The condition was that they should have faith. Didn’t he say that faithcould move mountains?

He asks to be taken to the tomb. On the way, “he groaned in thespirit”. He was not mumbling; he was pouring out his heart and prayingto God. But while he sobbed so bitterly his words were not audibleenoughfor people around him to understand. Hence the words “he groaned”.On reaching the grave, Jesus “groaned” again; perhaps, even moreearnestly and God heard his groaning (his prayer), and Jesus receivedtheassurance that God will fulfill his request. Now, Jesus could restassuredand command that the stone which was barring the tomb, be removed sothatLazarus could come back from the dead. Without that assurance from God,Jesus would have made a fool of himself.

Avoiding Misunderstanding

Mary thinks of the stink because her brother had been dead for fourdays! But Jesus was confident and the stone was removed. Then he lookedup towards heaven and said:

“Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew thatthou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I saidit, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 11:41-42)

What is all this, play – acting? Why all the drama? Because he knowthat these superstitious and credulous people will misunderstand thesourceof the miracle. They might take him for “God”. Giving life tothe dead is the prerogative of God alone. To make doubly sure, that hispeople do not misunderstand, he speaks out loudly that the “groaning”was actually his crying to God Almighty for help. The prayer wasincoherentas far as the bystanders could discern, but the Father in heaven hadacceptedhis prayer, viz. “thou hast heard me”.

Furthermore, he says, “thou hearest me always”; in other words,every miracle wrought by him was an answer by God Almighty to hisprayer.The Jews of his day understood the position well, and they “glorifiedGod”, as Matthew tells us of another occasion when the Jews exclaimed”for giving such power unto men” (Matt. 9:8).

In fact, Jesus gives his reason for speaking loudly. He says, “thatthey may believe that thou has sent me.” One who is sent is amessenger,and if he be sent by God, then he is a Messenger of God i.e. Rasulullah.Jesus is referred to in the Quran asRasulullah (“Messengerof Allah”).

Alas, this attempt by Jesus to prevent any misunderstanding, as towhoreally performed the miracle, and that he was in fact only a messengerof God, failed. Christians will not even accept the unambiguousdisavowalof Jesus, nor the testimony of Peter, the “Rock” upon which Jesuswas supposed to build his Church. Peter truly testified:

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, A manapproved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which Goddid by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. “(Acts 2:22)

Case Not Hopeless

This very same message is repeated by God Almighty in the HolyQuran,following the annunciation. In verse 49 of chapter 3, Allah makes itclearthat every sign or wonder that Jesus performed was “By Allah’s leave,”by God’s permission. Jesus says so, Peter says so and God says so; butthe stubborn controversialist will not listen: prejudice, superstitionand credulity die hard. Our duty is simply to deliver the Message, loudand clear, the rest we leave to God. The case is not altogetherhopelessfor Allah tells us in His Holy Book:

“And among them are some who have faith, but most of them arepervertedtransgressors.” (3:110)

“Among them”, meaning among the Jews and the Christians, thereare two types of people; the one group described as people of faith towhom this book is addressed, and the other as rebellious transgressors.We must also find ways and means of getting at them. Our literature iseminently suited to cater for all. Pass them on to your non – Muslimfriendsafter reading.

Open the Holy Quran and make your Christian friends andacquaintancesto read the verses discussed in this book. Then we can truly conclude:

“Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.

“It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah (God) that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be’, and it is.

“Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight.”(19:34-36)

This is an authorized modification of the original English text. For more free publications, please contact:Islamic Propagation Centre International 124 Queen Street , Durban, 4001 Republic of South Africa Telephone (027-31) 306-0026. Telex (095) 6-21815 IPCI SA Telefax (027-31) 304-0326