Which Way Will You Go?

Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), Sep 28, 2006 at 17:31

Dear Karwan

You say my problem is not accepting that Muhammad was a Prophet sent by God. This is an issue vital to our salvation, and that of all those who call themselves Christians, and all those who call themselves Muslims. Was Muhammad a prophet of the true and living God? did he stand in the line of Biblical prophets? did his message confirm that of the long line of Biblical prophets? this vital issue is deserving of debate between the best debaters that Christianity and Islam can provide, and for nearly 5 years now, since November 2001, Sam Shamoun, a fine defender of the Christian faith, has been challenging Shabir Ally, one of Islam's premier debaters to debate ‘Is Muhammad a Prophet' with an ‘Open Challenge'to debate Muhammad's prophetic credentials, posted at:-

http://www.answering-islam.org.uk/Responses/Shabir-Ally/challenge.htm and despite Sam's many additional requests, in personal communications to Shabir, to debate this all-important topic, very tellingly, Shabir has always found ways to avoid it, and Sam believes his unwillingness to debate this topic, only reinforces his suspicions that Shabir is aware he cannot win such a debate. Do us all a favour Karwan, and contact Shabir at the Islamic Information Center, 1168 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6H 1N1 at:-

http://www.islaminfo.com/new/comments.asp asking him to accept Sam's challenge, so that justice can be publicly done to this all-important topic.

I now turn to your allegation of ‘nonsense' in saying that Muhammad was a sinner. I didn't say Muhammad was a sinner Karwan, if words carry any meaning at all, Muhammad himself says very clearly that he was painfully aware of his sinfulness, and your belief that Muhammad ‘was of high moral character,' is widely held by Muslims throughout the world, despite evidence to the contrary, recorded in Islam's most authoritative documents. The Qur'an, the Sahi Hadith, the Sirat literature and the Tar'ikh of Tabari, with a belief widely held throughout the Muslim world today, that all of the prophets enjoyed an isma, a protection against sin, and that they were accordingly sinless. It is one of the anomalies of Islam that this Doctrine has been established and maintained against the plain teaching of the Qur'an and Sahi Hadith to the contrary. The orthodox belief is that the prophets do not commit sin, and are sinless (ma'sum), but this dogma contradicts various statements of the Qur'an and Sahi Hadith, that all of the prophets except Jesus had sins, of which they needed to repent and seek forgiveness. Early Muslims soon discovered the Bible plainly taught that Jesus was the only sinless man who ever lived, and confronted with this evidence, deemed it necessary to invent the fiction that all the prophets - especially Muhammad - were sinless as well.

This is the Isma doctrine, but it didn't arise from an objective analysis of the teaching of the Qur'an and Sahi Hadith. The doctrine is unsound not only in the light of Qur'anic teaching, and cannot be traced back to the teaching of Muhammad himself, and belongs to a later development. In the Sunan works of Tirmithi, Ibn Maja and ad-Darimi it is recorded that Muhammad said: "Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent constantly" (quoted in Karim's Mishkatul-Masabih, Vol. 3, p.360), and the isma doctrine clearly arose on the one hand from theological presuppositions, and on the other, from a determination to raise Muhammad to the level of Jesus Christ. Reading Islam's most authoritative sources however, shows that apart from having no Qur'anic basis, it is actually contrary to its teaching. BUT the Qur'an does have an isma doctrine, and it is applied to no other prophet except Jesus Christ. According to the Bible AND THE QUR'AN all the prophets were sinners with one very notable exception, the Lord Jesus Christ Hebrews 4.15, 2 Corinthians 5.21, 1 Peter 2.25, 1 John 3.5 Surah 19:19 The word for "holy" in this verse being zakiyya, a word with the root meaning "purity". This form of the word principally means "blamelessness" and it is used in this context in the only other verse in the Qur'an where it appears in Surah 18:74 In the case of Jesus Christ, however, the word is used by the angel to describe his whole character, and it therefore clearly means one altogether blameless, that is, sinless.

It is a remarkable fact that Jesus alone is proclaimed in the Qur'an as the sinless prophet of Islam There is no passage in the Qur'an which attributes sin to Jesus, and no shadow of a suggestion that He, like Muhammad, had to ask forgiveness for Himself.

The Qur'an, whilst mentioning the sins of Adam, Abraham, David, Solomon and other prophets, leaves no doubt as regards the purity of the character of Jesus Christ.

Qur'anic testimony to sin of the prophets

Adam Surah's 7:20-23;20-121 Abraham Surah's 6:76-78;26:82 David Surah's 38:22-25 Jonah Surah 21:87 Moses Surah 28:15-16 Muhammad Surah's 33:37;40:55;47:19;48:1-2

Muhammad not only sinned, he usually did not repent. In fact, he conveniently, claimed to have received a "revelation" to get him out of any problem in which he found himself! Surah 33:37 with even Aisha very perceptively commenting on the alleged "revelation" recorded at Surah 33:51 by saying:- "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 311)

Why would Allah allow one of his Prophets to have lower moral standards than the masses that he is supposed to inspire and teach?

Noah 11:47

It is most significant to find the Qur'an giving much clear teaching about the sins of the prophets excepting Jesus Christ, for while it records the prayers of other prophets asking for forgiveness, and even commands Muhammad himself to pray for forgiveness of his sins, it expressly declares that Jesus Christ was sinless. We read that when the angel appeared to Mary at the time of the Annunciation, he said:

"I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son".

Surah 19:19 (Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

"Qala innama ana rasoolu rabbiki li-ahaba laki ghulaman zakiyyan" (Transliterated Arabic)

"Faultless" (Pickthall) "righteous" (Hilali-Khan, Sher Ali) "pure" (Shakir, Khalifa, Palmer) "most pure" (Arberry) "holy" (Rodwell, Yusuf Ali)

The word in this verse variously rendered in English "faultless" "holy" "pure" "most pure" and "righteous" is zakiyya in the Arabic, a word with the root meaning "purity". This form of the word principally means "blamelessness" and it is used in this context in the only other verse in the Qur'an where it appears, in Surah 18:74 In the case of Jesus, however, the word is used by the angel to describe his whole character, and it therefore clearly means one altogether blameless, that is, sinless.

It is a remarkable fact that Jesus alone is proclaimed in the Qur'an as the sinless prophet of Islam, there is no passage in the Qur'an which attributes sin to Jesus, and no shadow of a suggestion that He had, like Muhammad, to ask forgiveness for himself.

The Qur'an, whilst mentioning the sins of Adam, Abraham, David, Solomon and other prophets, leaves no doubt as regards the purity of the character of Jesus Christ.

WHERE IS SALVATION TO BE FOUND?

The Bible says "There is salvation in no other Name under heaven, save the Name of Jesus" Acts 4:12 with Jesus clearly teaching He would die and be raised from the dead, and true prophet that He was, He prophecies His upcoming death on 18 different occasions, and on 8 of those occasions, He prophesied His glorious resurrection from the dead. He's a true prophet, He really is, let's believe what He says.

e was, He He

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Matthew 16:21 Jesus also said that his death and resurrection was what the prophets before him had foretold: saying, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:45-47

Jesus also explained the meaning of his death:"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- just as the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:26-28

This is why He came, and His rescue package is available to all who will accept it. Do you want it Karwan? thus facing Him on judgment day as a forgiven sinner, or do you want instead, to stand before Him as an unforgiven sinner, and receive the inevitable and absolutely just punishment that unforgiven sinners deserve? because on a personal basis, it greatly saddens me that with the exception of killing and being killed for Allah, Muslims can have no assurance of salvation, with even Muhammad not knowing what would happen to him, as recorded in Surah 46:9

"Say: ‘I am no bringer of new-fangled doctrine among the apostles, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I follow but that which is revealed to me by inspiration; I am but a Warner open and clear.'"

Surah 46:9 Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Say (O Muhammad SAW):‘I am not a new thing among the Messengers (of Allah) (i.e. I am not the first Messenger) nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am but a plain warner.'"

Surah 46:9Hilali-Khan

"Say, ‘I am not different from other messengers. I have no idea what will happen to me or to you. I only follow what is revealed to me. I am no more than a profound warner.'"

Surah 46:9Khalifa

Qul ma kuntu bidAAan mina alrrusuli wama adree ma yufAAalu bee wala bikum in attabiAAu illa ma yooha ilayya wama ana illa natheerun mubeenun

Surah 46:9 transliterated Arabic

Who are you going to trust to save you Karwan, Jesus Christ the spotless Son of God, the sinners Saviour, who is alive for all eternity, and Who is coming back to take all those who belong to Him to be with Him for ever and ever and ever and ever………… or Muhammad the spotted sinner, who is dead, and who didn't know what Allah would do with him?

Hear the words of Jesus, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 and "The gate leading to life is narrow, whilst the way leading to destruction is wide enough for everyone going that way. Therefore, go in at the narrow gate, and few there are who find it." Matthew 7:13-14

Which way will you go Karwan?

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