Category Archives: Jesus

Jesus is the most Exalted of all or is it Mohammed

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Muslims, and certain Islamic narrations, claim that Muhammad is the most exalted of all of Allah’s creatures. They believe that Allah has preferred Muhammad to the rest of the prophets and messengers.

However, the Quran does not substantiate this assertion since there is someone else who is presented as being more exalted than Muhammad. In fact, this someone else is presented as superior to all other prophets according to the Quran.

For instance, when the Quran mentions that Allah has preferred some apostles above certain others it specifically mentions Jesus and David:

Those apostles We endowed with gifts, some above others: To one of them God 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. If God had so willed, succeeding generations would not have fought among each other, after clear (Signs) had come to them, but they (chose) to wrangle, some believing and others rejecting. If God had so willed, they would not have fought each other; but God Fulfilleth His plan. S. 2:253 Y. Ali

And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth: We did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts than on others: and We gave to David (the gift of) the Psalms. S. 17:55 Y. Ali

Notice that Muhammad is not mentioned by name in either one of the citations. We shall see that it is not a coincidence that Jesus and David are mentioned instead.

This next text supposedly quotes David and Solomon as saying:

And We gave David and Solomon knowledge and they said, ‘Praise belongs to God who has preferred us over many of His believing servants.’ S. 27:15 Arberry

Thus, Allah has preferred David and Solomon above many of his servants. As anyone reading the NT already knows, Jesus is a descendant of David:

“the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh” Romans 1:3

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel,” 2 Timothy 2:8

By stating that Allah exalted David, the Quran is basically agreeing that God chose Jesus’ ancestors above all the rest, a point confirmed by this next text:

Lo! Allah preferred Adam and Noah and the Family of Abraham and the Family of ‘Imran above (all His) creatures. They were descendants one of another. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (Remember) when the wife of ‘Imran said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female – Allah knew best of what she was delivered – the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast. S. 3:33-36 Pickthall

The family of Imran whom Allah chose above all creatures is supposed to be the family of Jesus, specifically his mother’s parents. The Quran even identifies Mary as Imran’s daughter:

And Mary the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants). S. 66:12 Y. Ali

Moreover, Islamic traditions state that Allah answered the prayer of Jesus’ grandmother by making him and his mother the only ones whom Satan was unable to touch upon their births:

Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:

Abu Huraira said, “I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, ‘There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, EXCEPT MARY AND HER CHILD.” Then Abu Huraira recited: “And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan” (3.36) (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641; see also Volume 4, Book 54, Number 506)

But the Quran doesn’t stop there since it goes on to say that Jesus’ blessed mother is the most exalted of all women:

And when the angels said, ‘Mary, God has chosen thee, and purified thee; He has chosen thee above all women. S. 3:42 Arberry

In the same Sura, Jesus is shown to have qualities and titles that no one else has such as being the only person called God’s Word (Kalimatin) and honoured in the next life:

“Behold! the angels said: “O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to God; He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous.” She said: “O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?” He said: “Even so: God createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, ‘Be,’ and it is! And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel, And (appoint him) an apostle to the Children of Israel, (with this message): ‘I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by God’s leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe; (I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear God, and obey me. It is God Who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is straight.’” 3:45-51 Y. Ali

Here is what we have thus far gathered from the teaching of the Quran:

•Allah has preferred some messengers above others.
•David and Solomon are some of those messengers that Allah has chosen above the rest.
•David is Jesus’ ancestor.
•Allah has chosen Imran’s family above all creatures.
•Imran is said to be Mary’s father, Jesus’ grandfather.
•Allah has chosen Jesus’ mother Mary above all women.
•Jesus is the only person explicitly said to be honored in the next world.
•Jesus is given specific attributes and titles that are not given to any other messenger.

What this all means is that it is not Muhammad that is the most exalted creature of all according to the Quran. Rather, Jesus is the one messenger, the one person, whom Allah has preferred and exalted above all the others. Allah has conferred upon Christ and his family an honor that has not been given to anyone else.

We aren’t the only ones seeing it this way since there is one moderate Muslim writer who candidly admits that, according to the Quran, Jesus is the greatest of all prophets.

Dr. Nader Pourhassan, after citing surah’s 2:253, 3:42–46, and 59, says that:

Muslim religious leaders try to isolate Muhammad from all other prophets by saying, “God kept the best for last.” Again, this directly contradicts the Quran’s teachings. The Quran says that some prophets have been given more than others – that some even talk to God. The example it gives is that of Jesus Christ, not Muhammad…

These passages clearly show that God considered Jesus to be His best prophet, not Muhammad. After all, Jesus revealed himself to be a prophet from childhood, while Muhammad was not inspired until he was forty years old.

The Quran relates a number of miracles from Jesus‘ childhood, but says nothing of this phase of Muhammad’s life. The name “Christ” is also used. Unlike Jesus, Muhammad was not a special messenger of God, but a mere helper, who brought justice to the world, and glorified the name of Jesus by setting the record straight about his deeds on earth. His mission was also to eliminate the corruption of the message of those prophets who had gone before him. On the other hand, of Jesus it is said that he was created in a similar way to Adam…

Quran teaches that Jesus was God’s best prophet, and that Believers of Jesus Christ will be placed above non-believers until the Day of Judgment

Muslim religious leaders claim that Muhammad was the greatest prophet ever sent. If this was true, then God would have stated so in the Quran. Instead, when God talks of a prophet being greater than others, the name He mentions is that of Jesus. 

In a moment of passion the people loved this God, loved Jesus, not for the promise of power, but in response to the great outpouring of his life and ministry, in response to healing and justice, forgiveness and touch, sharing and vision, the outpouring of life even in the midst of death.

 

I couldn’t have put it any better!

See also :

“”You have a good example in the Prophet””
“Take what the Messenger Gives You and Abstain from what he Forbids you”
“”Obey God and obey the Messenger””
“”Mercy to Mankind””

 

Did Jesus abolish the Law or not?

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Matthew 5:17-19 and Ephesians 2:14-15

No. (Matt. 5:17), “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

(Matt. 18) “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

(Matt. 19) “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Yes. (Eph. 2:14-15), “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.”

In Matthew 5:17-19  Jesus is speaking about the Old Testament principles and authority of rule and revelation. When Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law, He came to establish it and demonstrate how it pointed to Him and how He would live it perfectly.

Some mistakenly think that this statement addresses whether believers should still keep the law and spend many hours arguing about what ‘fulfill‘ means, when it should be obvious to all of us what that word means.

So we need to understand that, in verse 17, Jesus is talking about the validity of the Hebrew Scriptures – He is not talking about obedience among the faithful! Failure to understand this point has caused much confusion. Like some believer i know called Jimmy, Reza & Ikram.

In Eph. 2:14-15, Paul is speaking about how the gentiles who were called the uncircumcised :

(v. 11), Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.

were separated from Christ

(v. 12) In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope

Jesus removed the requirement of having to follow the Law in order to please God, established justification by faith, and thereby united both Jew and Gentile into one group in Christ.

(v. 13) But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

This is when Paul says in verse 15 that he abolished in his flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments in ordinances. The Law was that which separated Jew from Gentile and since it has been fulfilled in Christ, it is no longer something that would separate Jew and Gentile.

(v. 15)  He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.

As we can see, some commands are temporary and only for a certain time. This is also true for the Old Testament laws, many of the Old Testament laws are given new meaning in the New Testament.

Jesus initially tells His listeners, and you and I today, that, despite everything, the Old Testament must continue to be considered as ‘Holy Writ‘. Indeed He Himself would fulfil numerous things written therein. Jesus was concerned that we should all continue to learn about, and to be inspired, by people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the Prophets – indeed so many things in the Old Testament continually point to Jesus. So the Old Covenant might be dead, but the Old Testament must not be put aside.

In that instance, Gentiles becomes a reference to pagan cultures of the period.

Standards which we must aim for are above and beyond the ten ‘do’s‘ and ‘don’ts‘ of those commands. The new righteousness which we start to find in our lives is truly not ours but Christ’s as the Holy Spirit (Ruhu Al-qadoos) gradually starts to refashion us – this is sanctification. If God (Allah) were to remove His bounteous grace from us, we would fall again instantly!

Why Did Jesus Say to Pluck Out Our Eye If It Offends

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Us (Matthew 5:27-30)?

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

Christ does not intend for us to take this instruction literally. Jesus does not want sinners to become physically handicapped. Because sin begins in the mind, the eye, the hand, or the foot cannot sin of and by themselves. Even without these body parts, a person can still sin.

Our Savior often employs figures of speech in His preaching. Here, He is simply using parts of the body to elucidate an important principle—that a believer should not tolerate sin in his life. Once a sin becomes apparent, we should take immediate steps to eliminate it from our lives. By using the striking example of amputation, Christ also illustrates that the process of overcoming sin may be as painful as losing an arm, a leg, or an eye. Ultimately, it is far better to give up a sinful pleasure than to lose out on salvation (Hebrews 11:23-26).

The apostle Paul expands Jesus’ instruction in Colossians 3:1-17.

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

QURAN – JESUS is Alive and With God

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(QURAN 3,55;4,158,159)

3:55

“[Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and
purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah
alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return,
and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ“.

Jesus was the Messiah, Allah’s anointed messenger.
 Allah’s people (Muslims) are told to listen to Allah’s messengers
(Quran, 4.171; 5. 111*).

O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion
or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son
of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He
directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him.
So believe in Allah and His messengers. 4:171

And do not say, “Three”; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah
is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs
whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.
And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs. 5:111


ALLAH TOOK JESUS TO HEAVEN WHERE HE AWAITS UNTIL THE
DAY OF JUDGMENT WHEN HE WILL RETURN TO EARTH (3,55).

[Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you
from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior
to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge
between you concerning that in which you used to differ. 3:55

The Quran tells how Allah anointed Jesus, through a virgin
birth to be the Messiah – Savior of the world, nearly five
hundred and fifty years before Muhammad was born.