What the Bible says about Muhammad

by Ahmed Deedate

CHAPTER TWO

Eight Irrefutable Arguments

Father and Mother

(1) "Moses had a father and a mother. Muhammad also had a father and a mother. But Jesus had only a mother, and no human father[Based on Qur'an(3:59) and the Prophet's explanation, in regard to Jesus, it must be said that just like Adam, he had no father,neither Humanly nor Heavenly.For more information,read the article”Adam and Jesus” in this site. kindfather.com]. Is this true?" He said: "Yes." I said: "DAAROM IS JESUS NIE SOOS MOSES NIE, MAAR MUHUMMED IS SOOS MOSES!" Meaning: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses!" (By now the reader will realize that I was using the Afrikaans language only for practice purposes. I shall discontinue its use in this narration).

Miraculous Birth

(2) "Moses and Muhammad were born in the normal, natural course, i.e. the physical association of man and woman; but Jesus was created by a special miracle. You will recall that we are told in the Gospel of St. Matthew 1:18 ".....BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER, (Joseph the Carpenter and Mary) SHE WAS FOUND WITH CHILD BY THE HOLY GHOST." And St. Luke tells us that when the good news of the birth of a holy son was announced to her, Mary reasoned: "...HOW SHALL THIS BE, SEEING I KNOW NOT A MAN? AND THE ANGEL ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HER, THE HOLY GHOST SHALL COME UPON THEE, AND THE POWER OF THE HIGHEST SHALL OVERSHADOW THEE..." (Luke 1:35). The Holy Qur'an confirms the miraculous birth of Jesus, in nobler and sublimer terms. In answer to her logical question:

"O MY LORD! HOW SHALL I HAVE A SON WHEN NO MAN HATH TOUCHED ME? "
The angel says in reply: "EVEN SO: ALLAH CREATETH WHAT HE WILLETH:
WHEN HE HATH DECREED A PLAN, HE BUT SAITH TO IT "BE",
AND IT IS " ¹(HOLY QUR'AN, 3:47).

It is not necessary for God to plant a seed in man or animal. He merely wills it and it comes into being. This is the Muslim conception of the birth of Jesus. (When I compared the Qur’ân and the Biblical versions of the birth of Jesus to the head of the Bible Society in our largest City, and when I enquired: "Which version would you prefer to give your daughter, the QUR'ANIC version or the BIBLICAL version?" The man bowed his head and answered: "The Qur’ânic.") In short, I said to the dominee: "Is it true that Jesus was born miraculously as against the natural birth of Moses and Muhammad?" He replied proudly: "Yes!" I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses. And God says to Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy 18:18 "LIKE UNTO THEE" (Like You, Like Moses) and Muhammad is like Moses."

1. Please open the Holy Qur’an 3:42 and 19:16 where the birth of Jesus is spoken about; read it with the commentary, note the high position which Jesus and his mother occupy in Islam.

Marriage Ties

(3) "Moses and Muhammad married and begat children, but Jesus remained a bachelor all his life. Is this true?" The dominee said: "Yes." I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses."

Jesus Rejected by his People

(4) "Moses and Muhammad were accepted as prophets by their people in their very lifetime. No doubt the Jews gave endless trouble to Moses and they murmured in the wilderness, but as a nation, they acknowledged that Moses was a Messenger of God sent to them. The Arabs too made Muhammad's life impossible. He suffered very badly at their hands. After 13 years of preaching in Mecca, he had to emigrate from the city of his birth. But before his demise, the Arab nation as a whole accepted him as the Messenger of Allah. But according to the Bible: 'He (Jesus) CAME UNTO HIS OWN, BUT HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT.' (John 1:11). And even today, after two thousand years, his people- the Jews, as a whole, have rejected him. Is this true?" The dominee said: "Yes." I said: "THEREFORE JESUS IS NOT LIKE MOSES, BUT MUHAMMAD IS LIKE MOSES."

"Other-Worldly" Kingdom

(5) "Moses and Muhammad were prophets as well as kings. A prophet means a man who receives Divine Revelation for the Guidance of Man and this Guidance he conveys to God's creatures as received without any addition or deletion. A king is a person who has the power of life and death over his people. It is immaterial whether the person wears a crown or not, or whether he was ever addressed as king or monarch: if the man has the prerogative of inflicting capital punishment - HE IS A KING. Moses possessed such a power. Do you remember the Israelite who was found picking up firewood on Sabbath Day, and Moses had him stoned to death? (Numbers- 15:13). There are other crimes also mentioned in the Bible for which capital punishment was inflicted on the Jews at the behest of Moses. Muhammad too, had the power of life and death over his people.

There are instances in the Bible of persons who were given gift of prophecy only, but they were not in a position to implement their directives. Some of these holy men of God who were helpless in the face of stubborn rejection of their message, were the prophets lot, Jonah, Daniel, Ezra, and John the Baptist. They could only deliver the message, but could not enforce the Law. The Holy Prophet Jesus (Peace p.b.u.h) also belonged to this category. The Christian Gospel clearly confirms this: when Jesus was dragged before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, Charged for sedition, Jesus made a convincing point in his defence to refute the false charge: JESUS ANSWERED, "MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD': IF MY KINGDOM WERE OF THIS WORLD, THEN WOULD MY SERVANTS FIGHT, THAT I SHOULD NOT BE DELIVERED TO THE JEWS; BUT NOW IS MY KINGDOM NOT FROM HENCE" (John 18:36) This convinced Pilate (A Pagan) that though Jesus might not be in full possession of his mental faculty, he did not strike him as being a danger to his rule. Jesus claimed a spiritual Kingdom only [1]; in other words he only claimed to be a Prophet. Is this true?" The dominee answered: "Yes." I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."

[The comments in brackets are by kindfather.com] [1] [Remember the "Dead Sea Scrolls" -as mentioned in the previous comments by kindfather.com, in the first part of this writing- in which two "Messiahs" have been mentioned, one "priestly" and the other, "kingly"; Jesus (PBUH) did not establish worldly Rulership, while Mohammad (PBUH&HP) did so, but not in the entire world, as Promised; and at the Last Days, the Last Divinely Chosen Successor of the Last Prophet, Imam Mahdi (PBUH) will conquer, and establish the Ever-Promised worldwide Rulership based on Divine laws. Christians believe that the man on the white horse mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, book of Revelation 19 -which are supposed to be predictions about the Last Days-, will not be Jesus, because they say that Jesus, based on statements of the same book of Revelation, will be sitting with the ancient ones and elders, and the man on the white horse will come before the ancient ones; the man on the white horse in Rev. 19 is said to have the names "king of kings" and "lord of lords" written on him, and it is said that the kings and beasts of the world will fight him; as we see, the New Testament is introducing another person besides Jesus (PBUT), who in the Last Days will conquer and will be the king of kings; the Shi'ah believe in the second comings of both Mahdi and Jesus (PBUT). Islamic Hadithes as narrated by the infallible ones (PBUT), verify that the Imam will dispatch his armies to different parts of the world; one peculiarity of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) is that none of his armies will face the ignominy of defeat; most people when facing the pure and Divine reasoning and spirituality, will submit, but of course there will be some resistance and opposition from the staunch oppressors; within a short duration of eight months, the East and the West will be under the Rule of the Imam; in these wars and victories, as the companions and helpers will be on the rise, Angels too shall descend from the Heavens to offer their assistance and help; moreover, natural forces too, will -by Allah's Command- support the Imam … . (Behaar-Ol-Anwaar, vol. 52; …)

Also, we invite you to read the article: "Second Coming of Jesus" in this site, in regard to "the man on the white horse who will go forth conquering and to conquer" Rev. 6:2; in addition note that in Revelation 2:26 & 27, Jesus said, "to him who conquers [i.e. the man on the white horse] will sit with me and shall rule them with rod of iron... .".

Additionally, the "Light" mentioned by Jesus (PBUH) could in many statements, be a referring to Mohammad and his progeny (PBUT) -as their "Light" was the first thing created in the "World of Dhar" before this world; the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) told Jaaber son of Abdullah Ansaari that the first, created by Allah was the Light of the Prophet …; AND THE Lights of other Prophets such as Jesus (PBUT), and the Angels, were created from their Light- (Behaar-Ol-Anwaar, Al-Kaafi, …).

Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and his Ever-Anticipated Divine Rulership and Guidance in the Last Days -which shall last until the End- is Promised in Qur'an which clearly indicates that: "He (Allah) is who has sent His Rasool (Apostle/Messenger Mohammad) with Guidance and the True Religion, so that He (Allah) shall cause it (the True Religion) to prevail over all religions,… ." (Qur'an 9:33, 48:28, 61:9); also in Qur'an, Surah Noor (Light), verse 35 -known as the verse of Light- it is said that Allah shall Guide with His Light, and Hadithes confirm that the Last Light shall be Mahdi (PBUH).

We also invite you to read the article: "Mohammad, the Promise of Torah - III" in this site, for the Old Testament Prophecies in regard to the Ways of Mohammad being Everlasting; i.e. Mohammad's Ways and Shari'ah -rules of the Religion, and Sunnah- will be permanently established at the hand of Mahdi -the last beloved and infallible descendant of the Prophet Mohammad- (PBUT). There are many more indications of the Divine Rulership of the righteous in the Last Days, in the Bible; as a sample, we direct your attention to the article: "David's Book of Psalms" in this site.

Yet another point, the tens of places in the Bible where the "son of man" is mentioned (while the "son of God" is usually used for Jesus), many of them obviously refer to some one other than Jesus (PBUH); for instance in King James Version of the Bible, John 3:13, Jesus says: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."; i.e. Jesus who was at that time on earth, was talking about the son of man who was in heaven. Please also read the article "Global hope" in this site for a sample of many statements in Bible in regard to the return of "son of man".

There are much more to be said… . Praise be to the Almighty and Merciful Allah who has miraculously kept the Truth alive, in the midst of all distortions … .

Unfortunately the gospels of the current Bible have been very much distorted; let us quote a statement from Dan Barker, who in regard to the current gospels in the New Testament says:

"Modern biblical scholars agree that the New Testament scriptures were written 35 to 90 years after the alleged events, and the names Mark, Matthew, Luke and John were attached afterward by the Church. The clergy do not mention this fact, and would have their flocks go right on believing that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written by the men whose names they bear. But this is not the truth."

In addition to the "Dead Sea Scrolls" -Jewish texts not included in the current Old Testament- which we previously discussed briefly, there are many more such texts, both before Jesus (PBUH) and after. For instance the "Nag Hammadi" texts -Christian texts not included in the current New Testament- discovered hidden in a clay jar in a cave near the town of Naj' Hammádì at the Jabal Al-Tárif in Egypt, in Dec. 1945, which are gospels and … different from those in the current New Testament.

About the dating of the "Nag Hammadi" manuscripts themselves there is debate, examination of the datable papyrus used to thicken the leather bindings, and of the Coptic script, place them c. A.D. 350-400. But scholars sharply disagree about the dating of the original texts. Some of them can hardly be later than c. A.D. 120-150, since Irenaeus, the Orthodox Bishop of Lyons, writing C. 180, declares that heretics "boast that they possess more gospels than there really are" and complains that "in his time such writings already have won wide circulation--from Gaul through Rome, Greece, and Asia Minor”... (From "the Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels).

Let us look at only a few statements existing in these so-called found gospels, these are yet more evidence supporting our argument regarding the fact that the words of the Prophet Jesus (PBUH) have been widely distorted:

". . . the companion of the (Savior is) Mary Magdalene. (But Christ loved) her more than (all) the disciples, and used to kiss her (often) on her (mouth(.

The rest of (the disciples were offended) . . . They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them, "Why

Do I not love you as (I love) her?"

(gospel of Philip)

Such Jewish and Christian texts are generally known as Apocrypha; the term 'Apocrypha' means 'things hidden away'.

Let us not forget this verse of Qur'an which says: "And who is more unjust and cruel than he who forges a lie against Allah or gives the lie to His Aayaat (communications, …); surely He (Allah) does not Deliver the Unjust." (Qur'an, 6:21)

These distortions mostly stem from the fact that many neither obeyed the Prophets, nor their God-Chosen Successors (PBUT), and as the result regular fallible and even malevolent people wrote as they wished; for more information in this regard, and about the heart-breaking repeat of history, we invite you to read the article: "Ghadir, from Creation to Eternity" in this site.

Let the entire humankind cherish Qur'an -which is only one, and has been so from the day it was written at time of the final Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP), and it has preserved the Truth-, and Anticipate the Last Chosen One, Mahdi (PBUH) -by whom the Truth shall be manifested-.]

No New Laws

(6) "Moses and Muhammad brought new laws and new regulations for their people. Moses not only gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, but a very comprehensive ceremonial law for the guidance of his people. Muhammad comes to a people steeped in barbarism and ignorance. They married their step-mothers; they buried their daughters alive; drunkenness, adultery, idolatry, and gambling were the order of the day. Gibbon describe the Arabs before Islam in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", THE HUMAN BRUTE, ALMOST WITHOUT SENSE, IS POORLY DISTINGUISHED FROM THE REST OF THE ANIMAL CREATION.' There was hardly anything to distinguish between the "man" and the "animal" of the time; they were animals in human form.

"From this abject barbarism, Muhammad elevated them, in the words of Thomas Carlisle, "into torch-bearers of light and learning.' 'TO THE ARAB NATION IT WAS AS A BIRTH FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT. ARABIA FIRST BECAME ALIVE BY MEANS OF IT. A POOR SHEPHERD PEOPLE, ROAMING UNNOTICED IN ITS DESERTS SINCE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. SEE, THE UNNOTICED BECOMES WORLD NOTABLE, THE SMALL HAS GROWN WORLD-GREAT. WITHIN ONE CENTURY AFTERWARDS ARABIA WAS AT GRANADA ON ONE HAND AND AT DELHI ON THE OTHER. GLANCING IN VALOUR AND SPLENDOUR, AND THE LIGHT OF GENIUS, ARABIA SHINES OVER A GREAT SECTION OF THE WORLD. ..." The fact is that Muhammad gave his people a Law and Order they never had before.

As regards Jesus, when the Jews felt suspicious of him that he might be an impostor with designs to pervert their teachings, Jesus took pains to assure them that he had not come with a new religion - no new laws and no new regulations. I quote his own words: 'THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW, OR THE PROPHETS: I AM NOT COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFIL. FOR VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, TILL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS, ONE JOT OR ONE TITLE SHALL IN NO WISE PASS FROM THE LAW, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED.'(Mathew 5:17-18). In other words he had not come with any new laws or regulation he came only to fulfill the old law. This what he gave the Jews to understand- unless he was speaking with the tongue in his cheek trying to bluff the Jews into accepting him as a man of God and by subterfuge trying to ram a new religion down their throats. No! This Messenger of God would never resort to such foul means to subvert the Religion of God. He himself fulfilled the laws. He observed the commandments of Moses, and he respected the Sabbath. At no time did a single Jew point a finger at him to say, 'why don't you fast' or 'why don't you wash your hands before you break bread', which charges they always levied against his disciples, but never against Jesus. This is because as a good Jew he honored the laws of the prophets who preceded him. In short, he had created no new religion and had brought no new law like Moses and Muhammad. Is this true?" I asked the dominee, and he answered: "Yes." I said: "Therefore, Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."

How they Departed

(7) "Both Moses and Muhammad died natural deaths, but according to Christianity, Jesus was violently killed on the cross.¹ Is this true?" The dominee said: "Yes." I averred: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses." [1]

[The comments in brackets are by kindfather.com] [1] [Of course as the Surah Nesa in Qur'an confirms, Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, rather he was lifted up (for more information in this regard, we invite you to read the article: "Ascension of Jesus" in this site.); still, Mohammad and Moosa (PBUT) both have passed away while Jesus is alive in heaven awaiting the Appearance of Mahdi, to descend by Allah's Permission, and assist Mahdi (PBUT).]

Heavenly Abode

(8) "Moses and Muhammad both lay buried in earth, but according to you, Jesus is in heaven. Is this true?" The dominee agreed. I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."

1. For a full exposition of this topic, see "CRUCIFIXION OR CRUCI-FICTION?".

[The Comments in brackets are by kindfather.com] [In addition to the similarities mentioned above, the Prophets Moosa and Mohammad (PBUT) share other similarities, such as in regard to their Divinely Chosen Ministers and Successors (PBUT).

In different occasions such as the Battle of Tabook, when the Prophet left Medina, and asked Ali (PBUT) to remain in Medina as his Vicegerent and Caliph, the Prophet told Ali that he (Ali) was to the Prophet, as Haaroon was to Moosa (PBUT); Haaroon was Moosa's brother, and his minister (Qur'an, Surah Taa-Haa, verses 29 & 30); and when Ali's first son, Hassan (PBUT) was born, Allah commanded that his name would be as Haaroon's first son but in Arabic (for more information, please read the article: "Who is Ali, the Amir-Ol-Mo'menin" in this site.). Then Haaroon passed away while Moosa was still alive, so Allah appointed Yoosha' son of Nuon (Joshua) as Moosa's (PBUT) Successor.

The scene described in Torah for the announcement of the Prophet Moosa's Successor is in many ways similar to the Event of Ghadir in which the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) formally announced the Imamat of Hazrat Ali (PBUH), and additionally established a Covenant in this regard; for more information we cordially invite you to read the article: "Ghadir, from Creation to Eternity" in this site.

Also both the Successors of Prophets Mohammad and Moosa -Ali and Yoosha- (PBUT) faced many enmities, even from one of the wives of both Prophets (PBUT); and both Successors lived thirty years after the Prophets (PBUT); for more information in these regards, we direct your attention to the article: "Wives of Prophets" in this site.

Even the miracles performed at the hands of the two Successors were similar; in the Bible, the Old Testament, book of Joshua 10:12, it is stated that the position of the sun in respect to the earth was altered for Joshua, and the "Mashlool" supplication, and other Islamic documents and Hadithes verify this. Similarly, for Hazrat Ali (PBUH) this phenomenon (Radd-O-Shshams) occurred more than once (Hadeeqat-O-Shshi'ah, …).

And… .]

To be continued…