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Oldest News of Humankind … Part 2

Oldest News of Humankind …

 Part 2

 

This Covenant of Imamat, Divinely Bestowed Leadership, is mentioned in Qur’an 2:124; when Allah made the Covenant of Imamat with Hadrat Ibrahim (SBUH), Ibrahim (SBUH) asked God if the Covenant of Imamat would also be made with any of his offspring and the grand position of Imamat would also be bestowed upon any of them, and God responded that the Covenant of Imamat would never be made with any of the evil doers among his offspring, rather it would only be made with those who would NEVER EVER have committed any unjust acts, i.e. the innocent and INFALLIBLE ones among them.

 

Here, we wish to present the following profound Hadith in regard to this Verse, which, without any shadow of a doubt, clarifies that any one who was ever, even for a moment, a disbeliever, idolist, polytheist and … (such as AbuBakr, ‘Umar, bani-Umayya and … who, according to sunni documents, were indeed idol-worshippers before their so called acceptance of Islam) could have never been bestowed with the celestial Position of Imamat:

 

Hadrat Mohammad (SAWA) has asserted that Allah told Hadrat Ibrahim (SBUH) that the evildoers and unjust in this verse are any who has ever worshipped and fallen in prostration before other than Allah; then Hadrat (SAWA) said that Ibrahim’s request was ultimately fulfilled in him and ‘Ali (SBUT) who had NEVER worshipped other than Allah and therefore Allah SWT appointed him as Prophet and ‘Ali (SBUT) as Imam and his Successor … (Shi’ah documents: Tafsir Borhaan; Tafsir Jaame’; …; Sunni documents: Manaaqeb of ibn Maghaazeli;…)

 

Therefore …  the bible clearly indicates that Ibrahim (SBUH) requested Allah that Ismael (SBUH) may walk before God meaning he and his INFALLIBLE children may be Allah-Chosen Leaders; then the bible states that this request of Ibrahim (SBUH) was indeed granted and the glad tidings of such Divine Leaders among the INFALLIBLE offspring of Ismael (SBUH) was given:

 

Genesis 17:20 appears as follows in KJV:

 

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

 

This statement in Hebrew (transliterated using English alphabet) is:

 

17:20 VLYShM'y'aL ShM'yThYK HNH BUrKThY 'aThV VHPhUrYThY 'aThV VHUrBYThY 'aThV BM'aD M'aD ShNYM-'yShUr NShY'aM YVLYD VNThThYV LGVY GDVL.

 

And in Massoretic Hebrew (transliterated using English alphabet) is:

 

17:20 l'yish'mäël sh'ma'Tiykhä hiNëh Bërakh'Tiy otô w'hif'rëytiy otô w'hir'Bëytiy otô Bim'od m'od sh'nëym-äsär n'siyim yôliyd ûn'taTiyw l'gôy Gädôl  

 

Let us pay attention that Bim'od m'od is a combination of the prefix or inseparable preposition B and the word m'od m'od {meh-ode' meh-ode'}; in the English Wikipedia “Prefixes in Hebrew – Wikipedia” in regard to the meaning of the Hebrew prefix B is said that it means in, with and by, and examples are also given:

 

“(Bet) in, with, by  

list of 5 items

1. בְּמֶלֶךְ b'melech (in a king)

2. בִּמְלָכִים bim'lochim (in kings)

3. בִּיהוּדָה bihudah (in Judah)

4. בַּאֲרִי ba'ari (in a lion)

5. בֵּאלֹהִים belohim (in God)

list end”

 

Hadi ‘Ali Taghavi states that the word m'od with the preposition b has never been used any where else in the bible; he continues that when m'od is used as adverb it means exceedingly, very …; but in the case of adverb there is no need for the preposition b. he then concludes that therefore translating Bim'od m'od as “exceedingly” is incorrect (for it totally ignores the preposition …). He suggests taking m'od m'od as a proper name. In this case the meaning of Genesis 17:20 clearly is that God has blessed and multiplied and made Ismael fruitful by (in, with) m'od m'od …

 

He then presents many reasons which prove that m'od m'od is indeed the most famous descendant of Ismael, i.e. Mohammad (SAWA).

 

Among his presented reasons is his proposing that the word m'od is present tense first person masculine singular from the Hebrew yadah (see Strong’s Hebrew H3034: pattern Hiph`il, give thanks, praise); which is exactly equivalent to Ahmad احمد, which is the same as the Arabic Mohammad … and of course both Ahmad and Mohammad are the names of the Last Prophet of Allah …

 

Mr. Taghavi has also mentioned that the word مئدمئد appears in Islamic Hadiths as مودمود. He also states that for instance in Syriac versions of the bible m’od m’od is translated as Taab Taab; and that the meaning of Taab is pleasing, praiseworthy and admirable which matches praised, i.e. the same meaning which Mr. Taghavi has suggested for m’od. In addition he states that in Islamic Hadith collections, there are Hadiths which support his view; for instance in al-Thaaqeb fi al-Manaaqeb, ibn Hamzah, Mohammad ibn ‘Ali, it is narrated from Hadrat ‘Ali (SBUH) who- in response to a jewish person asking about the names of the Prophet and the AhlulBayt (SBUT) in the Torah- revealed that one of the Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) names in Torah is TaabTaab …

 

Mr. Taghavi has also listed names of even sunni scholars, such as ibn Qotaybah Deenewari, who have attributed genesis 17:20 to the Prophet Mohammad and his AhlulBayt (SBUT), and he mentions that the well known sunni ibn Kathir Dameshqi, in his Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, regards this biblical statement about twelve successors, including the Mahdi, after the Prophet of Islam …

 

In addition to introducing jewish and christian scholars mentioned in Islamic documents who had regarded this biblical statement to be about the Prophet of Islam and his Successors, Mr. Taghavi also mentions christian books such as: Apocalypse of Bahira, and Krisztina Szilagyi, Muhammad and the monk: the making of the christian Bahira legend, and Barbara Roggema, The Legend of Sergius Bahira, in which, from old Syriac documents of the 9th century CE, stories regarding a monk called Bahira are mentioned. It is said that Bahira had gone to the Mount Sina where certain things were revealed to him; he later met Mohammad (SAWA), recognizing him from the signs, Bahira told Mohammad (SAWA) regarding the revelation related to Ishmael, and that twelve kings would be caused of him (SAWA) …

 

Mr. Taghavi himself- who is related to descendants of MohammadReza JadidulIslam, a former jewish scholar embracing Islam in the 19th century CE- has also presented other former jewish and christian scholars who have mentioned this biblical statement as one of their reasons for embracing Islam …

 

It is noteworthy to mention that here we have only presented a summary of Mr. Taghavi’s 2013 article; it  is  promised that soon a detailed and complementary article, a scientific analysis, specifically in regard to this very valuable finding of Mr. Hadi ‘Ali Taghavi about the word m’od will be published from the author.

 

We, at kindfather.com, wish to suggest a few additional points related to the subject:

 

First point: let us consider the most common Hebrew prefix which is the “Mem” prefix מ which changes a Piel, Pual, Hiphil, Hophal, Hitpael to a participle (noun); in this case the word m’od can be taken to be noun with the prefix Mem added to the same root which Mr. Taghavi has suggested, therefore the word m’od becomes the participle of the verb to praise, i.e. praised which is exactly the meaning of the Arabic Ahmad and Mohammad.

 

Second point: Let us pay attention that The Ancient Hebrew language was written with 22 letters, each written with a picture, These pictographic letters are more than just sound identifiers, but also have a meaning. The best way to demonstrate the benefit of understanding the meanings of each pictograph is by looking at some Hebrew prefixes. The Hebrew language commonly uses five Hebrew letters for prefixes to provide additional information. The name of one of these letters is Beyt and has a "b" sound. This letter is a picture of a nomadic tent such as would have been used by the ancient Hebrews and represents what is inside the tent, the family. The meaning of this letter can be tent or within. (from: Ancient Hebrew Research Center: Ancient-Hebrew.Org)

 

Let us pay attention that the name of the letter, which provides additional information, is Beyt; the word Beyt exists in Arabic: بیت. And, as mentioned, Beyt in Hebrew represents the family; similarly in Arabic the Ahl of Bayt are the people of the house, or the family.

 

Now we wish to suggest that there may be a reason for repetition of the word M’oD in the aforementioned biblical statement; it may mean that Allah SWT promised Ibrahim that He would bless and multiply and make Ismael (SBUT) fruitful through BiM’od (BeytMohammad) and M’od (Mohammad); i.e. through Mohammad and the AhlulBayt of Mohammad, the 12 princes from Mohammad (SBUT) …

 

Indeed Allah knows best …

 

It is also noteworthy to mention that previously in this site: kindfather.com, In part 4 of the article” Names of Mohammad and ‘Ali (SBUT) in the Bible (also as a part of the E-book “Names and characteristics of Mohammad, ‘Ali, … and Mahdi (SBUT) in Jewish, Christian and Islamic documents”), we presented the opinion of a former christian scholar of two centuries ago named Musheh son of Yohanna (Moses son of Johana), who was given the title “Fakhr-ul-Islam” after embracing Islam, in regard to the Hebrew “BM’aD M’aD, which we refer readers to. 

 

It is important to keep in mind that English vowels are equivalent to phonetic signs in Hebrew; therefore “a” in M’aD stands for a Hebrew phonetic sign; phonetic signs which did not exist in ancient Hebrew. Thus M’aD and M’oD are only different in their phonetic signs.

 

… Then Mr. Taghavi looks at the Hebrew word n'siyim (NShY'aM) in 17:20 which has been translated as princes, chiefs, leaders, lords and …; he also analyzes its Syriac and Aramaic equivalents which are basically from the same root as the word “Rabbi” (my master, my lord, …); he states that the root Rab in Arabic, Syriac and Aramaic has the same meaning and it means lord, master and authority. He points out that this word in the new testament, without being added to the next word, is only used for Jesus (SBUH), i.e. a Divinely chosen authority …

 

So, according to Mr. Taghavi, the meaning of Genesis 17:20 is that God has blessed and multiplied and made Ismael fruitful by m'od m'od and the twelve Divine princes (lords, chiefs, authorities, masters,…) who shall be caused of him, and will make him a great Nation.

 

Hadi ‘Ali Taghavi also presents Qur’anic verses (5:44,…) and Islamic Hadiths (Majlesi, Bihar al-Anwar, 37/331; ibn SharAashoob, al-Manaaqeb, 2/45; ibn Hayyoon, Da’aa’em al-Islam, 1/37; …) in which Hadrat ‘Ali and the Imams (SBUT) are introduced as Rabbaani (from the same root Rab) of this Ummah (Nation).

 

He also mentions this point that among the bible-introduced sons of Ishmael, whom the adherents to the bible- while acknowledging that they were not all immediate sons of Ishmael- say that the 12 lords of 17:20 refer to, none ever achieved Divine Leadership. Therefore, he, after a detailed analysis, concludes, without any shadow of a doubt, that indeed the 12 Divine Leaders of Genesis 17:20 are none but the twelve Infallible Imams (SBUT) …

 

Let us move on … again according to the bible itself, Hadrat Moosa (SBUH) had also said that the Promised Prophet (which was to be obeyed by all) was going to be NOT OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL RATHER OF THE BRETHREN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, I.E. OF THE CHILDREN OF ISMAEL. (Deut. 18:18-19, …):

 

18:18 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.

18:19 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.

 

And … according to the bible, God had asked Ibrahim to offer his “only son” (Genesis 22); and as confirmed by their own bible, Isaac (SBUH) was never the “only” son of Ibrahim, for Ishaaq was younger than Ismael (SBUT) …

 

And … according to the bible, after Ibrahim submitted and offered his “only son”, then, AS A REWARD …, God Promised to make Ibrahim’s (SBUH) descendants AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY AND AS THE SAND ON THE SEASHORE (Genesis 22:16-17)

 

The Prophet Ibrahim’s descendants through the Prophet Ishaaq (Isaac) (SBUT) on the one hand STOPPED with Jesus (SBUH), for JESUS HAD NO CHILD, and on the other hand the descendants through the Prophet Ya’qoob (Jacob) (SBUH) i.e. the true children of Israel have been quite limited; even those who are claiming to be the bani (the children of) Israel, are very limited in number, FOR THE JEWS USUALLY DO NOT MARRY WITH OTHER THAN THEMSELVES …, and …

 

BUT … the descendants of Prophet Ibrahim through Prophet Ismael (SBUT),i.e. THROUGH Ibrahim’s FIRST BORN AND HIS ONLY SON AT TIME OF THE COMMANDED OFFERING,  HAVE BEEN QUITE NUMEROUS AS GOD PROMISED …, and …

 

It is also noteworthy to mention that the descendants of the Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), through Hadrat ‘Ali and his beloved Fatimah (SBUT), i.e. the Saadaat, have been quite numerous …

 

Please in addition to the previously mentioned E-books, also refer to articles such as “What the Bible says about Muhammad” with Shi’ah commentaries, in this site: kindfather.com

 

To be continued …