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Question:
I read in the newspaper that 15% of the Koran is about Jesus Christ; and I
also read in the English version of Koran that Mohammad believe in Christ,
Abraham, The prophets and their writings which preceded Koran. If so, why
does the Koran accept some doctrines of the bible, like the miracles of
Christ, his sinlessness, being a prophet, etc. and contradict many of its
doctrines like the deity of Christ as written in Isa.9:6 & John 1:1, 3:16,
and the atonement both in the old and new testaments?
If the Koran is without error, why are there sects in Islam? Why does the
Koran allows polygamy, while the Bible is against it as written in Gen.
2:24 & Matt. 19:5 ? My soul needs THE TRUTH.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly: Allaah often mentions the Messiah 'Eesa ibn Maryam (Jesus son of
Mary) in His Book the Qur'aan for a number of reasons, including the
following:
1. He is one of His Prophets, indeed he is one of the Messengers of strong
will whom He sent to His creation and His slaves. It is obligatory to
believe in him as in all the other Prophets, as enjoined by Allaah in the
verse (interpretation of the meaning): "Say (O Muslims): We believe in
Allaah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been
sent down to Ibraaheem (Abraham), Ismaa'eel (Ishmael), Ishaaq (Isaac),
Ya'qoob (Jacob), and to Al-Asbaat [the offspring of the twelve sons of
Ya'qoob (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Moosa (Moses) and 'Eesa
(Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We
make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in
Islam)" [al-Baqarah
2:36]
2. The first people whom we should be concerned about when calling others
to Islam are the People of the Book, i.e., the Jews and the Christians,
because they are the closest of later nations to whom the later Messengers
were sent. Both the Jews and the Christians knew of the coming of Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his attributes were
written in their books, the Tawraat (Torah) and Injeel (Gospel). So they
should not deny what they find in their books and they should hasten to
believe in him, because they already believe in the Messengers who came
before him, unlike other nations who worshipped idols. Because they did
not believe in the Last Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) as they were enjoined to do, they had to be refuted and shown how
they had distorted the message of divine Oneness (Tawheed). This is why
they are frequently mentioned in the verses of the Qur'aan.
3. Tawheed (the Oneness of God) is the basic principle upon which
everything else, both religious and worldly affairs, is to be built;
through Tawheed people will be saved from Hell and admitted to
Paradise. This means
affirming that Allaah is One. We see that the Jews and Christians differed
concerning Jesus Son of Mary 'Eesa ibn Maryam'. The Jews said that he was
a charlatan who told lies about God, so he had to be killed.
The Christians differed from them greatly; some of them said that he was
God, and some of them said that he was the son of God, but was one with
Him in the Trinity, so that outwardly he appeared to be the son of God but
he was in fact God. And some of them said that he was the third person of
the Trinity which is a rejection of Tawheed. Others said that he was a
Messenger from God and was human like the rest of mankind, but that Allaah
singled him out to perform miracles in order to establish proof against
people.
The last group are the ones who were right. So it was essential to explain
the matter and describe 'Eesa in befitting terms. As with all the other
Prophets and Messengers, it is not inappropriate to say that he was a
human being, created from clay, whom Allaah chose from among all of
mankind to be created without a father, as a manifestation of the power of
Allaah to create a man outside the usual means. The likeness of 'Eesa
before Allaah is like Adam, as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): "Verily, the likeness of 'Eesa (Jesus) before Allaah is the
likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then (He) said to him: 'Be!' -
and he was"[Aal 'Imraan 3:59]
This is the correct belief concerning the creation of the Prophet of
Allaah 'Eesa, which was a miracle for all the people to see.
But the miracle of Adam's creation is greater. For 'Eesa (peace be upon
him) was created without a father, but Adam was created without a father
or a mother, and this is more expressive of the power of Allaah to create;
it is more miraculous than the creation of 'Eesa (peace be upon him). For
all these reasons and others, it was essential to explain the issue of
'Eesa (peace be upon him) and put matters straight.
In conclusion, the miracles which Allaah gave to 'Eesa (peace be upon him)
were just like the miracles of all the other Prophets, to prove that he
was speaking the truth and that he was truly a Messenger from Allaah. But
those who distorted the religion confused the matter for the simple-minded
people and used his miracles as a justification to say that he was the son
of God or that he was God! All of that is a distortion of the teachings
and message of the Messiah (peace be upon him).
If everyone who follows a Prophet were to take the miracles which Allaah
bestowed upon him as a sign that he was a god, then all the Prophets would
be gods and each Prophet would be different from the others. For the
mountains glorified Allaah along with Dawood (David - peace be upon him),
but they did not do so with 'Eesa. The sea was parted for Moosa (Moses -
peace be upon him) and he spoke with his Lord and his Lord spoke with him,
so he was known as Kaleem-Allaah (the one who spoke with Allaah), but this
did not happen to 'Eesa (peace be upon him). Allaah flooded the earth in
response to the supplication of Nooh (Noah - peace be upon him) and that
did not happen to 'Eesa (peace be upon him). Allaah singled out Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to speak to him and to protect
his miracle from being lost or distorted; he alone was sent to all of
mankind, and he was given miracles that were not given to 'Eesa. So how
could that be taken to mean that they were all gods?
Secondly:
With regard to the view that if the Qur'aan were not distorted there would
not be all these many sects and groups.
The answer to that is that the Qur'aan cannot force people to choose the
right path, because the Qur'aan is simply guidance (and it is up to people
to choose). Allaah has warned us about these sects and groups, and He has
forbidden us to imitate the nations who became divided in religious
matters. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "and be not of
Al?Mushrikoon (the polytheists, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of
Allaah), of those who split up their religion (i.e. who left the true
Islamic Monotheism), and became sects, [i.e. they invented new things in
the religion (Bid'ah), and followed their vain desires], each sect
rejoicing in that which is with it" [al-Room 30:31-32]. "And be not as
those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had
come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment" [Aal 'Imraan
3:105]
Allaah has commanded them to adhere to His Book and to follow the Sunnah
(way, path) of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as
He says (interpretation of the meanings): "And hold fast, all of you
together, to the Rope of Allaah (i.e. this Qur'aan), and be not divided
among yourselves, and remember Allaah's Favour on you, for you were
enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His
Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink
of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allaah makes His Ayaat
(proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to
you, that you may be guided" [Aal 'Imraan 3:103]. "O you who believe! Make
not (a decision) in advance before Allaah and His Messenger, and fear
Allaah. Verily, Allaah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing" [al-Hujuraat 49:1]
i.e., do not say or do anything that goes against the Book of Allaah and
the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
What is meant here is that Allaah forbade the people to split into various
groups, and He commanded them to be united, but they followed their own
whims and desires, and they cast the Book of Allaah behind their backs,
and if they were confused about a verse from the Book of Allaah, they did
not refer to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) in order to understand it, rather they let their own
opinion and corrupt reasoning be the judge. All of that is not from the
Qur'aan and not from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Thirdly:
With regard to the question about plural marriage in Islam and its being
forbidden in the New Testament, it should be noted that Allaah gave each
Messenger his own laws and path. Allaah enjoined Tawheed (belief in the
Oneness of Allaah) upon every single Prophet whom He sent, but the laws
varied and some of them abrogated others. Some things that were
permissible at the time of Adam (peace be upon him) were abrogated at the
time of Nooh (peace be upon him).
The laws that existed at the time of Moosa (Moses - peace be upon him)
were partially abrogated at the time of 'Eesa (Jesus - peace be upon him),
as Allaah tells us (interpretation of the meaning): "To each among you, We
have prescribed a law and a clear way"[al-Maa'idah 5:48]
So once this is understood, we will realize that plural marriage did not
exist only in the law of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), rather it existed in the laws of all the previous Prophets. For
example, Ya'qoob (Jabob - peace be upon him) had two wives and was married
to two sisters at the same time, according to the Old Testament, as it
says in the Book of Genesis 29:15-35.
The father of the Prophets, Ibraaheem (Abraham - peace be upon him) was
also married to two women, Haajar (Hagar) and Saara (Sarah). The Old
Testament mentions that the Prophet of Allaah Dawood (David) had seventy
or ninety-nine wives, and Sulaymaan (Solomon) had one hundred wives. These
and other examples demonstrate that each of the Prophets implemented the
laws that Allaah had prescribed.
Plural marriage is not only for this ummah (nation - i.e., the Muslims).
The fact that the Christians do not allow it may be for two reasons:
1 - This is one of the laws of Allaah which was binding before the time of
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
2 - They introduced their own innovation and went to extremes in this
matter, as in the case of monasticism which they invented and which was
not prescribed for them, but they sought to earn the pleasure of Allaah
thereby.
We ask Allaah to guide you and to help you find the true religion, which
is Islam, and the path of the Prophet of Mercy (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) according to the understanding of his noble
Companions. And Allaah is the Guide to the Straight Path. |