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CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
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The Christians and the Jews reject that a religious book was revealed after Jesus Christ, and denies the prophethood of Muhammad and the revelation to him of the Qur'an of divine origin. Denial of the Prophet was first begun by the Jews and carried on by the Christians. The Qur'an, on the other hand, enjoins the Muslims to believe both in the Old and the New Testaments. « O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messenger., and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray. »(Surah 4/136). « Those apostles We endowed with gifts, some above others: To one of them Allah spoke; others He raised to degrees (of honour); to Jesus the son of Mary We gave clear (Signs), and strengthened him with the holy spirit »(Surah 2/253)« We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. »(Surah 2/87) The West claims that the Qur'an was written inspired by the books that had been revealed before Muhammad; therefore it is not of divine origin. Instead of using the word 'Islam' with reference to the religion preached by Muhammad, they use the appellation 'Mohammadanism'; thus denying that the religion revealed to Muhammad contained the last revelations of God, transmitted by his Prophet.
Suzerainty of the Clergy
In time, there grew an organization, a body of priests, that assumed the authority to speak and administer in the name of the Deity and intercede with God on behalf of man. This gave them a tremendous power. Their power necessarily extended over state and political affairs. They had the power to enthrone and excommunicate kings. The persons who wielded immense power in a given country were the Church Fathers. « They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah. there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him) »(Surah 9/31) « Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah. that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." »(Surah 3/64) Muhammad was asked about the meaning of the verse “that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah” he had said: “To take the words of the Church Fathers for God's words is tantamount to take them for God Himself; this is what tChristians did. Certain sick souls, who had uttered words on behalf of religion, had stealthily declared themselves deities, attributing their own sayings to the revealed religion. (Prof.Dr.Yaşar Nuri Öztürk, Kur'an'ın Temel Kavramları S. 107)
« They know full well, to whom We have given the Book, that it hath been sent down from thy Lord in truth…»(Surah 6/114)
Those to whom books had been revealed knew on the basis of the information in the Old and New Testaments that the advent of Muhammad was expected.
Yet, some of the scholars had hidden this truth. The reason was that the Qur'an was abolishing the authority of the clergy.
As a matter of fact, some of the clergy exploited the public by promises of intercession; through sacrifices, confessions, etc ., and were averse to change their position. « O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of Allah. »(Surah 9/34)
Suzerainty of Rabbis
Certain rabbis refrained from teaching the public their own religion for fear of undermining their supremacy and material benefits. Although they knew well that the Qur'an was revealed by God to his last Prophet Muhammad, they had blindfolded themselves.
« O people of the Book! There hath come to you our Messenger, revealing to you much that ye used to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now unnecessary). There hath come to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book, (5/15) Ye People of the Book! Why reject ye the Signs of Allah, of which ye are (Yourselves) witnesses? Ye People of the Book! Why do ye clothe Truth with falsehood, and conceal the Truth, while ye have knowledge? »(Surah 3/70-71)
The Qur'an did not want them to recant their faith, but to apply the contents of their own books truthfully. Among the Jews and Christians those who remained faithful to their religion would enter the Paradise and they did not have to fear. But most of the religious leaders had become corrupt out of covetousness and material gains. They had thus strayed from the true path. « O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of Allah» (Surah 9/34)
Muhammad's advent had been foretold
« The people of the Book know this as they know their own sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know.» (Surah 2/146) "« Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil »(Surah 7/157)
The above verses attest to the fact that when the Qur'an was revealed in the beginning of the seventh century, the advent of Muhammad had already been announced in the Old and New Testaments. Scholars had concealed this fact and left out those parts that heralded the coming of Muhammad from their books. « Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.» (Surah 2/75)
« I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.» (Deuteronomy 18/18)
In the Old Testament, it was foretold that a prophet would come, like Moses, from the descendents of Ishmael, son of Abraham. The Israelites had descended from Isaac, son of Abraham. Thus the Quraish clan, from which Muhammad descended, were the brethren of Israelites. A prophet is announced to come like onto Moses, namely Muhammad. The Islamic sources claim that this verse announces the advent of Muhammad while the Christian sources assert that the person in question was Christ. The mystery is with God.
« And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the apostle of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of an Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." »(Surah 61/6)
The mentioning of the name 'Ahmad' which is another name for Muhammad in the Qur'an proves that the name in question did exist in the 'Q Gospel'. It is furthermore claimed that at the time the said 'Q Gospel' were in the hands of certain Christian communities. The 'Q Gospel' was written by the Nazarenes, the real heirs of Jesus Christ, but was destroyed on the grounds that it was fake.
EXAMPLES OF MIRACULOUS VERSES