Summary of the book "Izharul Haqq" by Shaykh Rahmat-Allaah al-Hindi

This book, internationally recognized as one of the most authoritative and objective studies of the Bible, was originally written in Arabic under the title Izharul-Haq (Truth Revealed) by the distinguished 19th century Indian scholar,Rahmatullah Kairanvi, and appeared in 1864. The book was subsequently translated into Urdu, and then from Urdu into English by Mohammad Wali Raazi.Rahmatullah Kairanvi wrote the book in response to the Christian offensive against Islam during the British rule in India, and specifically to counter sive attack made by the Rev. C. C. P. Fonder. Rev. Fonder had written a book in Urdu entitled Meezanul Haq, the open intention of which was to create doubts into the minds of the Muslims about the authenticity of the Qur’an and Islam. Kairanvi’s intention in his book was first of all to show that the Bible cannot in any way be considered as a directly revealed book. He does this very effectively by means of his voluminous and authoritative knowledge of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. He demonstrates beyond doubt that the Books of the Old and New Testaments have been altered, almost beyond recognition, from their original forms. The work is even more notable in the light of subsequent Jewish and Christian scholarship and the various discoveries that have since been made in this field which all bear out the truth of Kairanvi’s thesis. Shaikh Amed Deedad, the famous South African orator was inspired by this book.

Review of the Books by the Councils

Council of Nicaea (325) examined and defined status of books – Epistle of Jude was genuine and believable.

Council of Laodicea (364): Confirmed authenticity of Epistle of Jude, The book of Esther, The Epistle Of James, The Second Epistle of Peter, The Second and Third Epistles of John, The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. Book of Revelations remained out of list.

Council of Carthage (397): Added the Book of the Songs of Solomon, The Book of Tobit, The Book of Baruch, Ecclesiastics, The First and Second Books of Maccabees to the divine books.

The Books Rejected By the Protestants

The Book of Baruch, The Book of Tobit, The Letter of Jude, The song of Solomon, Ecclesiastics, The First and Second Books of Maccabees.

The Present Pentateuch Is Not the Book of Moses

1. The existence of the Torah, Pentateuch, is not historically known before King Josiah (d 609 BCE). This book along with its copies were again destroyed and burnt by Antiochus (215-164 BCE) at the time of his invasion of Jerusalem.

2. The Pentateuch is very different in style, we do not find even a single place to indicate that the author of this book was Moses. In order to separate the statements which he thought were the statements of God and Moses, he prefixed them with the phrases, “God says” or “Moses said”. The third person has been used for Moses in every place. Had it been the book of Moses, he would have used the first person for himself. At least there would have been one place where we could find Moses speaking in the first person.

3. The present Pentateuch includes within its chapters some statements which are historically impossible to attribute to Moses, e.g. death of Moses.

4. The present Pentateuch contains a large number of errors while the words of the Prophet Moses must have been free of this defect. Eg: “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth generation shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:2). On the basis of this statement the Prophet David and all his ancestors up to Perez would be excluded from the congregation of the Lord because Perez was an illegitimate son of Judah.

Biblical text: Are they revealed?

Luke’s writing is not inspired is evident from the dedication of his Gospel to Theophilus.

Irenaeus said that Luke conveyed to us the things which he learnt from the apostles.

Jerome said that Luke does not depend only on Paul, who was never in the physical company of Christ. Luke also acquired the knowledge of the Evangel from other apostles as well.

According to Beausobre and L'Enfant (a preface to the French Version of the New Testament, published 1718) an expert of the original language will easily recognize the differences of idiom and expression in the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John and the epistles of Paul. If, however, the Holy Ghost had truly inspired the words to them, this would have not happened. The style and expression of all the gospels would have been identical. Besides, there have been many events the description of which does not require inspiration. For example, they write of many events which they saw with their own eyes or heard from reliable observers.

Statements Regarding the Authenticity of the Bible

Adam Clarke said on page 369 of vol. 5 of his commentary: It is customary that the number of the writers on the lives of great men has always been large. The same is true of Jesus and the Apostles; that is to say the number of narrators of their lives is also great but many of the statements they make are erroneous. They used to write fictional events as if they were facts. They also made mistakes, deliberate or accidental, in other descriptions, especially the historians of the land where Luke wrote his Gospel. For this reason the Holy Spirit imparted appropriate knowledge to Luke so that the faithful might know the true accounts.

In his Epistle to the Galatians Paul said: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel; which is not another but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ (Gal.1:5,6). The above statement of Paul brings out three important facts, firstly that there was a gospel called the Gospel of Christ in the time of apostles; secondly that there was another gospel that was different and contrary to the Gospel of Christ; and thirdly that there were some people who wanted to distort and change the Gospel of Christ, even in the time of Paul, not to speak of subsequent periods when there was nothing left of this Gospel but its name. Adam Clarke under his comments on the above verse said in vol. 6 of his commentary: It is established that many minor gospels had become common in the early centuries of Christianity. The abundance of such false and incorrect accounts led Luke to write his Gospel. We read about more than seventy such gospels. Some parts of these gospels are still in existence and available. Many such gospels were collected and published in three volumes by Fabricius. Some describe the obligatory nature of the laws of Moses, the validity of circumcision and imperativeness of the Gospel. The above implies that many spurious gospels were present before the compilation of the Gospel of Luke and Paul’s letter to Galatians. It also proves that Paul referred to a properly compiled Gospel and not to the meanings that he had conceived in his mind, as sometimes is contended by the Protestants.

The fact that a gospel called the Gospel of Christ existed in the time of the Apostles is certainly true and was also testified to by Eichhorn and many other German scholars.

The Eloquence of the Qur’an

The Holy Qur’an maintains throughout the highest possible standard of rhetoric in its speech, to the extent that it is literally impossible to find its parallel in human works.

Human eloquence, whether from Arabs or non-Arabs, usually concerns the physical phenomena that are closely associated with those people. For instance, the Arabs are considered to be great orators and eloquent in the description of camels, horses, swords and women. However, the Holy Qur’an does not fit this pattern, owing nothing to precedent and being replete with astonishing and unparalleled examples of eloquence that were unanimously acknowledged by all the Arabs.

It is our usual experience that when poets and writers of literature try to adorn their language with eloquent expressions they do not remain truthful. The Holy Qur’an presents miraculous examples of eloquence in spite of being absolutely true in all it says.

Any writer or poet, when he relates the same event more than once, does not manage in the repeated account to be as elegant and beautiful as he was the first time. The Holy Qur’an repeats versions of the same event, and of descriptions of the creation and the end of the world, and of the injunctions and the attributes of God. Each description is different in style and in size, but everyone is of so high a standard that one cannot be preferred to another.

The Qur’an talks of many things like obligatory rituals, legal prohibitions, instigation to virtue, repudiation of worldly desires, and preparation for the Hereafter and other similar themes. The description of these things does not lend itself to elegance and beauty and any poet trying to compose poetry on practical injunctions of this kind would be hard put to produce a passage of literary merit. The Holy Qur’an deals with all these subjects with a high standard of eloquence.

The eloquence of every poet is confined to a particular subject and when the same poet speaks on other subjects his beauty of expression and his proficiency is distinctly circumscribed. Imru’l-Qais, the famous Arab poet, is known for his description of wine, women and horses. No other poet is as eloquent on this subject. Nabigha is known for his description of fear and awful events, Zuhayr for hope and so on. The Holy Qur’an, on the other hand, talks on all kinds of subjects with great force of eloquence, beauty and elegance, and is found to be miraculously eloquent in each description.

Diversion from one subject to another which in turn has many branches usually makes it impossible for an author to maintain flow and continuity with the same grandeur and majesty and his language usually loses its height of eloquence. The Holy Qur’an is full of such diversions.

Another distinct feature of the Qur’anic diction is that it encloses a vast range of meaning in a surprisingly small number of words without losing its charm and majesty in the least.  Surah Sad’s opening verses are a good example of this.

Majesty and sweetness, elegance and beauty are counteracting qualities that are rarely found together in a single work. These two opposite qualities are seen divinely combined together throughout the Qur’an in a way unknown to human genius.

Divine Quality of the Qur’an

The second quality of the Qur’an that makes it a living miracle is its unique structure and internal arrangement, and, above all, the sublimity of its thought and contents.

Arabs were forced to admit that the language of Qur’an was comparable neither with the poetry of the poets nor the oratory of the orators.

It is unimaginable that the Arabs who were known to be the masters of the Arabic language would not have met the simple challenge of the Qur’an.

Walid ibn Mughirah, the nephew of Abu Jahl, burst into tears when he heard the Qur’an recited. Abu Jahl came to him and admonished him. He replied: I swear by God, none of you is as conversant and acquainted with poetry as I am and I declare that the words of Muhammad have nothing to do with poetry.

Once at the time of Hajj the same Walid gathered together the dignitaries of the tribe of Quraysh of Makka and suggested that they should agree on what to say to the pilgrims if they enquired about Muhammad.

According to a report, the Companion of the Prophct, Abu Dharr, said that he had not seen a poet greater than his brother Anis who had defeated twelve poets in a contest in pre-Islamic days. Once, when he returned from Makka, they asked him the opinion of the Makkans concerning the Holy Prophet. He said that they accused him of being a poet, a soothsayer, and a sorcerer. Then he said that he was fully conversant with the speech of soothsayers and sorcerers and found the words of the Prophet in no way comparable to them. He was neither a poet nor a sorcerer and soothsayer for all of them were liars whereas his words were the truth.

Predictions

Conquest of Macca was foretold two years ago on 6AH, in Qur’an 48:28

In Qur’an 24:55, it is foretold that Allah will grand the Muslims land inheritance of power, The whole of Arabian peninsula was brought under the Holy Prophet’s domination in his own life. Islamic forces conquered Spain in the West, and part of China in the East in just 20 years.

Conquest of Khaybar was promised in Qur’an 48:18-21.

The Holy Qur’an declares: The Roman Empire has been defeated, in a land close by; but they, (even) after this defeat, will gain victory in a few years. Allah’s is the command, in the past and in the future. On that day shall the believers rejoice, with the help of Allah. He helps whom He wills. And He is Mighty and the most merciful. (It is) the promise of Allah. Allah never departs from His promise: but most men understand not. They crave for the outer (things in the) life of this world, but of the Hereafter they are heedless. (Qur’an 30:1-7.). This surah was revealed in Makka when Persia defeated the Romans. The Persians were Magicians by faith while the the Romans were Christians. The idolaters of Makka were pleased with this news and argued with the Muslims that they and the Christians claimed to be the People of the Book while the Magicians and Makkans were without the Book. As the Christians of the Roman Empire were defeated by the Persians, the Muslims would, likewise, be defeated by the Makkans. The Holy Qur’an, itself, refuted’ their assumption in the above verse and predicted the victory of the Romans. Abu Bakr Siddiq, the devoted friend and companion of the Holy Prophet, told the Makkan idolaters that the Romans would gain victory over the Persians in a few years. Ubayy Ibn Khalaf accused him of making a false claim. It was decided that a specific period be fixed for the confirmation of this prediction. Both of them offered ten camels to be given to the winner and a period of three years was fixed. Abu Bakr told the Holy Prophet of this and the Holy Prophet said that the prediction contained the word bid’a (a few) which signifies a period from three years to nine years, and suggested that he should increase the number of years by adding to the number of camels. Abu Bakr went to Ubayy and it was decided that a hundred camels would be given by each of them and the period of nine years was fixed. Ubayy died when he was returning from the battle of Uhud in 3 AH. Exactly seven years after this event the Byzantines gained a great victory over Persia, as was predicted by the Holy Qur’an. Abu Bakr, having won his wager, received hundred camels from Ubayy’s heirs. The Holy Prophet said that the camels received by him should be given away in charity.

Knowledge of Past Events

He had no teachers nor did he ever keep company with scholars. On the contrary, he was brought up among illiterate idol worshippers, devoid of any knowledge of the scriptures. The Holy Prophet remained among these people throughout his life, except for two trading journeys to Syria which were too short to admit any possibility of his having acquired knowledge from anyone there.

Unveiled and disclosed all the ill intentions of the hypocrites of Madina

Qur'an unveiled and disclosed all the ill intentions of the hypocrites of Madina. They used to conspire against Islam and the Muslims in their secret meetings. All their decisions and secret plans were made known to the Holy Prophet through divine revelation. He used to inform the Muslims of the intentions of the hypocrites. All such expositions of the Holy Prophet were found to be true.

The Holy Qur’an, in spite of being a copious and voluminous book, is absolutely free of any contradiction, inconsistency or incompatibility which would not possible for any human work of this size.

The Holy Qur’an rightly claims to be the only divine revelation that is everlasting, preserving its originality and genuineness beyond all reasonable doubts. The texts of other Prophets and their signs all disappeared with them and no trace of them can now be found in the world.

Another distinct divine feature of the Holy Qur’an is its capability of being memorized, even by those who do not know the Arabic language. The Qur’an refers to this feature in this verse: "We have made the Qur’an easy to remember" (Qu’ran 55:22).

Christian Objections

1. If eloquence of Qur'an really surpassed all human genius books written in Latin and Greek, which have the highest standard of eloquence, should also be accepted as revealed!

Miraculous eloquence of the Holy Qur’an is not valid unless a parallel description of equal eloquence is produced by other claimants to meet the Qur’anic challenge.

Muslims do not claim that the eloquence of the Holy Qur’an is the only thing that makes it a miracle.

No book in any language has been proved to have achieved the super-human quality of eloquence that is possessed by the Holy Qur’an.

Theological and political impact of the Council of Nicaea on Christianity

Overview

Council of Nicaea was organised on 325 C.E. by the order of Constantine 1 by the recommendation of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba. In the council the Nicaean creed was developed to battle against Arianism, so the nature of Christ (p.b.u.h.) was determined. The day of celebration of Passover (Ester) was also determined. It is said that 1800 bishops including both from east and west were invited for the council, while only about 270 – 318 bishops attended. “1t is significant that no one from the Church of Donatus was asked to attend – although Cacealian, Donatus's chief opponent, was invited.” (Rahim and Thomson, 1995, p96). Debates in the council continued from 20^th May to 19^th June of 325 C.E.

Theological impacts

1. The nature of Christ

One of the main purpose of the Council of Nicaea was to eradicate the unitarian belief which many Christians had at that time in the name of resolving the disagreement which arose within the Church of Alexandria regarding the relationship between the Son and Father. Trinitarians of Pauline Church wanted to impose manifestation of God in the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, without any evidence from their scriptures. Large controversy arose between Unitarians like Arians and Trinitarians. Finally homoousian of father and the Son was affirmed the Trinitarian belief was accepted as the fundamental doctrine and termed as the official Christianity. The decision was made by majority vote. Jesus Christ (p.b.u.h.) was declared as the only begotten Son of the Father – begotten, not made. “Of those who signed the Nicene Creed, some believed in it, some pretended to believe in it, even though they did not really know what they were putting their names to, and some, the majority of the delegates at the Council, did not agree with the doctrine of Trinity at all, but nevertheless signed the Creed with silent mental reservation, in order to please the Emperor.” (Rahim and Thomson, 1995, p104). Emperor decided that anyone who refused to believe in Nicaean creed would be exiled and excommunicated.

2. Celebration of Easter

According to Christians the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (p.b.u.h) was at the same time as the Jews passover. However they believed that the time Jews celebrated passover was miscalculated as the month Nisan was before spring equinox. Some of them wanted to compute to determine Nisan to set Easter separately as in recent times Nisan never preceded equinox, while others thought it would be wise to keep the traditional reliance on the Jews calender, even though the computation of Jews were wrong. Independent computation of Nisan on a Sunday in a lunar month chosen according to Christian criteria was affirmed and the controversy was solved. Those who urged to keep according to Jews calender followed the majority

3. Canons of doctrinal orthodoxy

Original number of Gospels at the time of Council of Nicaea was unknown. According to some reports there are at least 270 versions or perhaps as many as 4000 different Gospels were there. According to Rahim and Thomson these Gospels were placed under a table in the Hall of Council and the door was locked. At that night Bishops prayed to find most reliable Gospels on top of the table and in the morning they found Matthew, Mark, Luke and John there. Twenty new Church laws called canons were also promulgated in the Council of Nicaea.

4. Others

Romans considered their Emperor as the representation of sun-god in the earth. So the Pauline Church declared Roman sun day to be the Sabbath of Christians. Birthday of sun-god – 25^th of December – was considered as the birth day of Jesus. Cross – the emblem of sun-god – was also adopted as the symbol of Christianity.

Political Impacts

Soon after the Council of Nicaea Arius, Theonas, and Secundus who strongly opposed the Nicaean creed were exiled to Illyria and excommunicated. The Council of Nicaea increased the differences between the Christians sects. To restore unitary among Christians over a million Unitarians were prosecuted. Obeying the ruling of the Pauline Church was made mandatory. Even though Nicaean Creed was an agreement on profession of belief, the conflicts and controversies among the sects which were there before the Council continued. Perhaps only the Athanasius was loyal to it.

In 328 C.E. after the death of Bishop Alexander, strong fight for post arose between the Arians and Meletians, but Athanasius was declared as a bishop, who was accused of persecution, political intrigue and even magic.

On other hand the Emperor's sister expressed her great regret against prosecution which the Unitarian Christians were facing. She also opposed the banishing of Eusebius of Nicomedia due to his beliefs. So Eusebius was finally allowed back and it was a great blow to the Athanasian. As a result the Emperor lean towards the side of Arius. When he heard the dispute on the election of Athanasius, new Bishop was summoned to the capital. However Athanasius made excuses and did not go to Constantinople.

The First Synod of Tyre was called by Emperor and a letter was sent to Athanasius that if he refuse to come he would be brought to the Synod forcibly. The disapproval of Athanasius was confirmed by the bishops gathering in Jerusalem. Finally Arius was invited to the Constantinople, taken back into the Church and allowed to receive communion. In desperate Athanasius came to the Constantinople and Emperor granted him audience and Eusebius of Nicomedia was also present in it. He accused Athanasius of hindering the supply of corn to the Constantinople from Egypt. As the charge was proven, Athanasius was exiled to Trier in Gaul while Arius was appointed as the Bishop of Constantinople. He died soon after in 336 C.E. Emperor suspected it to be a murder. Athanasius was found to be guilty, and was condemned for poisoning Arius. The Emperor was heartbroken by the death of Arius. He was baptised by Eusebius of Nicomedia and died a year later, in 337 C.E.

Reference

1. Got Questions, Got Questions Ministries, ....... , What occurred at the Council of Nicea? [Online], available at http://www.gotquestions.org/council-of-Nicea.html, Accessed on 17^th December 2014, 10:15 am
2. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, last editied by Gabby Merger (2014), First Council of Nicaea [Online], Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea, Accessed on 16th December 2014, 13:05
3. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, last edited by Special Contributions 24.187.148.244 (2014), First Synod of Tyre [Online], Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Synod_of_Tyre, Accessed on 17^th December 2014, 19:55
4. 'Ata'ur-Ramm, M and Thomson, A (1995) Jesus Prophet of Islam (Revised Edition), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd [Online], Available at http://wynnechambers.co.uk, Accessed on 17^th December 2014, 10:32 am

Important lessons for every Da'i

Calling non-Muslims and helping Muslims to remain steadfast in Islam

1. A serious dialogue with a Christian 
2. The Merits of Islam 
3. Questions from a confused Christian 
4. Discussion with a Christian about the Crucifixion 
5. Discussion With a Christian: The Oneness of God is the Message of Jesus and all the Prophets, Peace be Upon Them 
6. Doubts about what the Qur’aan says about ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) 
7. How to call a Christian to Islam 
8. A Christian woman whose father died and her co-religionists ignore her; she is thinking about entering Islam 
9. How can I call someone who wants to become Christian?

Before you debate with Christians

I recommend every Muslim to read these books before they debate with any Christian.

1. الجواب الصحيح للإيمان بدل دين المسيح by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (In English)
2. هدايه الحياري في اجوبه اليهود و النصاري by Ibn al-Qayyim
3. إظهار الحق by Shaykh Rahmat-Allaah al-Hindi (available in English)
4. مناظره بين الإسلام والنصرانية by Shaykh Muhammad Jameel Ghaazi
5. محاضرات في النصرانية by Shaykh Abu Zahrah
6. الموسوعة الميسرة للأديان والمذاهب المعاصرة by Dr Muhammad Ahmad al-Haaj
7. النصرانية من التوحيد إلى التثليث by Dr Muhammad Ahmad al-Haaj
8. Muhammad in the Bible by Prof Abd al-Ahad Dawood
9. دراسات في الأديان اليهودية والنصرانية by Dr. Sa’ood al-Khalaf
10. The Choice Part 1 by Shaykh Ahmad Deedat
11. The Choice Part 2 by Shaykh Ahmad Deedat

Labels

al-Jawaab al-Saheeh li man baddala Deen al-Maseeh by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah; Hidaayat al-Hayaara fi Ajwabah al-Yahood wa’l-Nasaara by Ibn al-Qayyim; Izhaar al-Haq by Shaykh Rahmat-Allaah al-Hindi (available in English); Manaazirah bayna al-Islam wa’l-Nasraaniyyah by Shaykh Muhammad Jameel Ghaazi; al-A’qaa’id al-Wathaniyyah fi’l-Diyaanah al-Nasraaniyyah by Muhammad Taahir al-Tanneer; Muhaadiraat fi’l-Nasraaniyyah by Shaykh Abu Zahrah; al-Mawsoo’ah al-Muyassarah fi’l-Adyaan wa’l-Madhaahib al-Mu’aasirah; al-Nasraaniyyah min al-Tawheed ila al-Tathleeth by Dr Muhammad Ahmad al-Haaj; Muhammad fi’l-Kitaab al-Muqaddas by Prof. ‘Abd al-Ahad Dawood [available in English under the title Muhammad in the Bible]; Diraasaat fi’l-Adyaan: al-Yahoodiyyah wa’l-Nasraaniyyah by Dr. Sa’ood al-Khalaf; and Rasaa’il wa Manaaziraat by Shaykh Ahmad Deedat [Shaykh Ahmad Deedat’s booklets and videos are widely available in English]

Crucifixion of Jesus

I have written this small article not to hurt feelings of any of my Christian brothers, but for a better understanding on each other's view point on the concept of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (peace be upon him). This is based on my understanding of the concept based on Quran and Bible. If I have made any mistake feel free to correct me. Please note that we Muslims do not believe Bible to be the word of God Almighty as you don't believe Quran is. We believe God Almighty had revealed scriptures to Mosses, David and Jesus (peace be upon them), but it is not retained in its original form. We believe that there might be words of Almighty in Bible and there might be words of prophets, words of historians and many more; which I'm not going to talk about right now. What ever proof I derived from Quran is sufficient for my Muslim brothers and sisters, and proof I derived from Bible is for my Christian brothers and it need not to be Islamic view point.

Islamic view point

[Surah Nisa (004:157)] And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'خsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allâh," – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them [the resemblance of 'خsâ (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man)], and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely, they killed him not [i.e. 'خsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ['alayhis-salâm]]:

This one verse is enough to convince my Muslim brothers and sisters that Jesus was neither crucified nor resurrected. If any Muslim or Christian is ready to prove me that I'm wrong in this matter according to Quran, you are most welcome.

Biblical View Point

No Crucifixion, No Resurrection, No Christianity

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

= 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 13 & 14 =

What is crucifixion?

Crucify:- Put to death by nailing or binding to transverse bar; causing extreme pain to.

= The oxford dictionary =

What is resurrection?

Resurrection:- Rising from dead.

= The oxford dictionary =

⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

= 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 42 – 44 =

So we know that according to Bible the resurrected bodies are “spiritualized”.

All the disciples forsook Jesus Christ

⁴⁷ And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? ⁴⁹ I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ Then they all forsook Him and fled.

= Mark ch 14 v 47-50 =

Who had seen crucifixion of Jesus?

Crucifixion of Jesus was witnessed by only three of his disciples. Joseph of Arimathie, Nicodemus and Marry Magdalene. – Gospel of John 19:39-42

Jesus on the cross only for two hours

Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, as we know for Muslims and Jews day start from the sunset unlike for westerners at midnight 12. The day after Friday is Saturday (sabbath) so they took Jesus from the cross before sunset as it was forbidden for Jews to crucify some one at Sabbath. So Jesus must be in the cross for two to three hours. Crucifixion is painful death where it takes few days for the person crucified to die. So it is practically impossible for him to die on the cross within three hours.

Sign of Jonah

Matthew records that the learned men among the Jews – the Scribes and Pharisees – came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”. (Matthew 12:38)

With righteous indignation Jesus replies: “But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)

Jesus says, “NO SIGN.” He does not refer the Jews to blind Bartimeus whose sight he had restored. He does not speak about the “woman with issues” who was healed by merely touching him; or about the 2000 pigs he had destroyed to heal “a man possessed;” or the 5000 and the 3000 people he had fed and satiated with a few pieces of fish and a few pieces of bread. ‘No sign,” says Jesus, BUT ONE! –“THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAH!” He is putting all his “eggs” in one basket. His claim to being the Messiah (Christ) stands or falls by the ONLY “sign” he was prepared to give.

What was the sign of Jonah???

What was the “sign” (miracle) of Jonah? We have to go to the “Book of Jonah” in the Old Testament to find out. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the Ninevites to repent from their “evil ways, and from the violence that is in their hands.” (Jonah 3:8) But Jonah was loath to go as a warner unto the Ninevites, so he goes to Joppa instead of Ninevah, and takes a boat to run away from the Lord’s command. While at sea, there was a terrible tempest. According to the superstition of the mariners, a person fleeing from his Master’s command creates such a turmoil at sea. They began to inquire among themselves and said, “COME, AND LET US CAST LOTS, (like the tossing of a coin, “head” or “tail”) THAT WE MAY KNOW FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL IS UPON US. SO THEY CAST LOTS, AND THE LOT FELL UPON JONAH.” (Jonah 1:7) Though there was a temporary lapse on the part of Jonah in fulfilling his mission, he manfully and most courageously volunteers: “AND HE SAID UNTO THEM TAKE ME UP, AND CAST ME FORTH INTO THE SEA; SO SHALL THE SEA BE CALM UNTO YOU: FOR I KNOW THAT FOR MY SAKE THIS GREAT TEMPEST IS UPON YOU.” (Jonah 1:12)

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Since Jonah was selflessly offering himself as a “vicarious” sacrifice there was no need for strangling him before throwing him into the sea, no need to spear him or break his arm or limb. In his own words: “TAKE ME UP AND CAST ME FORTH.” The question now arises, that when the ship master and the crew threw him overboard, was Jonah dead or alive? Any Christian child who has attended Sunday School will give an immediate reply: “ALIVE!” The storm subsides. Was this perhaps a coincidence? A fish swallows Jonah. Was he dead or alive when swallowed? The answer again is “ALIVE” Was he dead or alive when “JONAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD HIS GOD OUT OF THE FISH’S BELLY?” (Jonah 2:1) Surely dead men don’t cry and don’t pray! The answer again is “ALIVE” For three days and three nights the fish takes him around the ocean: dead or alive? “ALIVE!” is the answer. On the third day it vomits him on the seashore: dead or alive? A-L-I-V-E, of course! What had Jesus prophesied about himself? He said: “AS JONAH WAS SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE”

If Jonah was alive for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in the tomb as he himself had foretold! But Christianity hangs on the flimsy thread of the “death” of Jesus for its salvation. So it has to answer that Jesus was DEAD for three days and three nights. The contradiction between his utterance and its fulfillment is obvious. Jonah ALIVE, Jesus DEAD! Very UNLIKE Jonah! Jesus had said “LIKE Jonah” not UNLIKE Jonah. If this is true then according to his own test Jesus is not the TRUE Messiah of the Jews. If the Gospel record is genuine then how can we blame the Jews for rejecting “CHRIST.” Being a Muslim I believe Jesus told truth but those who believed Jesus died had misunderstood.

The Doctor of Divinity and the Professor of Theology replies that in Matthew 12:40 under discussion, the emphasis is on the TIME factor “as Jonas was THREE days and THREE nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the son of man be THREE days and THREE nights in the heart of the earth.” “Please note,” says the learned theologian, “that the word “THREE” is repeated F-O-U-R times in this verse to prove that Jesus was going to fulfill the prophecy as regards the length of time he was going to remain in the tomb, and NOT ‘As Jonas was’ in relation to his being alive or dead. If it is the time factor that Jesus was stressing then let us ask whether he fulfilled that aspect of his promise to the Jews as well. The Christian dogmatist answers: “OF COURSE!”

From the Gospel records we gather that the Jews were in a hurry to eliminate Jesus. Hence the midnight trial, and then dispatching him off to Pilate in the morning; from Pilate to Herod and then back again to Pilate. The vested interests were afraid of the general public. Jesus was their hero. He had been their benefactor. His enemies had to do away with him quickly, and succeeded in doing so. However, as much as they were in a hurry to hang him on the cross, they were in equal hurry to bring him down from the cross before sunset on Friday because of the Sabbath. The Sabbath starts at about 6 p.m. on Friday and the Jews were warned in Deuteronomy 21:23 that the victim of crucifixion was an “accursed of God” and was not to be permitted to remain hanging on the Sabbath day, “that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” To satisfy the religious scruples of the Scribes and Pharisees the “secret disciples” of Jesus took down the body from the cross. They gave the body the Jewish burial-bath, plastered it with “one hundred pounds weight of aloes and myrrh” (John 19:39), then placed the shrouded body into the sepulcher before night-fall.

There are numerous differences between the various sects and denominations of Christianity, but on the above they are unanimous. Jesus is SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night of Friday. He is still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the day of Saturday. He is still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night of Saturday.

Note that the GRAND TOTAL is ONE day and TWO nights, and NOT three days and three nights. According to the Christian Scriptures Jesus had failed a SECOND time. FIRST he was unlike Jonah, who was ALIVE in the belly of the fish, which is the exact opposite of what the Christians claim had happened to their master Jesus, who was DEAD for the same period of time as Jonah was – ALIVE. SECONDLY, we discover that he also failed to fulfill the TIME FACTOR as well. The greatest mathematician in Christendom will fail to obtain the desired result – THREE days and THREE nights. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in telling us that it was “before sunrise” on Sunday morning (the FIRST day of the week), that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.

Tomb Of Jesus

It was a private property of scared disciple Joseph of Arimathea, a rich and influential Jew. According to Jim Bishop it was very roomy, 5 feet wide, 7 feet in height and 15 feet in depth. I wonder if Christ really died why would they place him (just one body) in 525 cubic feet tomb (large room).

Jesus and Mary Magdalene

¹ Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
³ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ⁴ So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

¹⁴ Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

= John Ch 20: V 1-18 =

¹ Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. ² Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”

= Mark Ch 16: V 1-3 =

¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. ¹¹ And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

= Mark Ch 16: V 10-11 =

Why did Marry Magdalen when to anoint Jesus Christ? If he was dead it was second day after his dead. If I ask do Jews anoint and massage dead bodies after two days you will say NO. What about Christians, do they? NO. We Muslims? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Marry Magdalen went to anoint and massage Jesus because according to Gospel of John 19:39-42 she was among the only three disciples who had seen the crucifixion of Christ and she know that he is ALIVE.

Why was the stone removed?? According to 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 44 resurrected bodies are spiritualized, so it is obvious that that the stone was moved because Jesus was not resurrected. If not he could have easily passed through like a ghost. Further if we see the linen cloths were unwound and kept inside. It concludes Jesus was a physical body like you and I (ALIVE).

Marry Magdalen supposed Jesus to be the gardener. Do resurrected bodies looks like gardeners? The answer is NO. Marry supposed Jesus to be the gardener because he was ALIVE.

“Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Do you think Marry alone can carry body of Jesus Christ if he is dead as she says “I will take Him away” ? Absolutely not. (Note that all the disciples when their home by then according to John 20:10)

She asked for it because she knew that the Jesus was ALIVE.

“Do not cling to Me” because Jesus was ALIVE and imaging if someone clings on a person undergoing such severe pain due no nailing a cross. And here Jesus clearly says he has not resurrected “I have not yet ascended to My Father”

The Upper Room

³⁶ Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
⁴⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” ⁴² So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.⁴³ And He took it and ate in their presence.

= Luke Ch 24: V 36-43 =

Why were they terrified to see their lost master? Because they have heard their master was killed but they were not eyewitnesses as they flew away according to Mark 14:50. Disciples thought it was ghost of Jesus. Jesus went on proving them that he is not a ghost, but ALIVE. Handle my hand and feet, spirit has got no flesh and bones as you see I have. When they did they came to understand that he is ALIVE so overjoyed and excited. Yet they couldn't believe completely, so Jesus asked them if they have any food so that Jesus can eat it and get them ridge of all the doubts they were having in their minds. So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb and he ate it.

One last question is do Ghosts eat? Answer is no he was not a ghost, he was ALIVE.

Soul sinned shall die

²⁰ The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

= Ezekiel Ch 18 : V 20 =

So according to above statement in Bible you are responsible for your sin, not Jesus.

So I conclude here with a verse from holy Quran

[017:081] And say: "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Surely, falsehood is ever bound to vanish."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/50180406/Crucifixion-of-Jesus

Muslims celebrating at the time of Christmas

Prohibition on celebrating the festivals of the kuffaar

Is it permissible for Muslims to take part in their festivals, such as Christmas?

Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible for the Muslim to join the kuffaar in their festivals and to express joy and happiness on these occasions, or to take the day off work, whether the occasion is religious or secular, because this is a kind of imitating the enemies of Allaah, which is forbidden, and a kind of co-operating with them in falsehood. It was proven that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allaah. Verily, Allaah is Severe in punishment”[al-Maa'idah 5:2]
We advise you to refer to the book Iqtidaa’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), for it is very useful on this topic. [Translator’s note: This book is available in English under the title “The Right Way,” published by Darussalam, Riyadh].
And Allaah is the source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.
Standing Committee on Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas, Fatwa no. 2540.
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Attending the festivals of the mushrikeen and congratulating them

Is it permissible to attend the celebrations of Christian festivals and congratulate them?

Praise be to Allaah.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: it is not permissible for the Muslims to attend the festivals of the mushrikeen, according to the consensus of the scholars whose words carry weight. The fuqaha’ who follow the four schools of thought have stated this clearly in their books… Al-Bayhaqi narrated with a saheeh isnaad from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab that he said: “Do not enter upon the mushrikeen in their churches on the day of their festival, for divine wrath is descending upon them.” And ‘Umar also said: “Avoid the enemies of Allaah on their festivals.” Al-Bayhaqi narrated with a jayyid isnaad from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that he said: “Whoever settles in the land of the non-Arabs and celebrates their new year and festival and imitates them until he dies in that state, will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.” (Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah, 1/723-724).
With regard to congratulating them on their festivals, this has already been answered in Question no. 947, which we advise you to refer to.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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His company gives its employees a Christmas bonus

I live in the u.s. and am employed with a retail clothing company that has two end-of-year traditions effecting its employees.
1. Issuance of a "christmas" bonus in an amount determined by salary and company sales performance.
2. An allotment of $50 to be used for, or towards a "holiday" meal of their choosing.
Are these actions considered unacceptable gifts?.

Praise be to Allaah. There is nothing wrong with a company giving its employees bonuses or gifts, whether in the form of cash, coupons or specific gifts. But if the gift is connected to Christmas and is a kind of celebration or congratulations on the occasion of that festival, it is not permissible to accept it, because it is a kind of honouring their festivals and approving of them, and helping them in their falsehood.
There is nothing wrong with the employee eating at the restaurant chosen by the company so long as there are no evils involved that the employee cannot denounce or remove, such as drinking alcohol, music, dancing and so on, in which case it is not permissible for him to go there unless he is compelled to do so.
And Allah knows best.
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Ruling on the Muslims celebrating at the time of Christmas and decorating their homes with balloons

What do you say to Muslims in the United Kingdom who celebrate at Christmas time by holding dinner parties in their houses on Christmas or afterwards, for their Muslim families, such as preparing roast turkey and the other dishes of the traditional Christmas dinner, and they adorn their houses with balloons and paper chains, and they do the “secret Santa” tradition, whereby each relative brings a gift for one of the people present and these gifts are brought to the party to be given to the one for whom he bought it, without the recipient knowing who he is. [“Secret Santa” is a new, growing custom among non-Muslims who celebrate Christmas, and is in accordance with their belief in the myth of Santa Claus].
Is this action regarded as halaal or haraam, if no one is attending this party except Muslims (relatives and family members)?.

Praise be to Allaah.
There is no doubt that what is mentioned of celebrations is haraam, because it is an imitation of the kuffaar. It is well known that the Muslims do not have any festival apart from Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and the weekly “Eid” which is Friday (Yawm al-Jumu‘ah). Celebrating any other festival is not allowed and is either of two things: either it is an innovation (bid‘ah), if it is celebrated as a means of drawing close to Allah, such as celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday (Mawlid); or it is an imitation of the kuffaar, if it is celebrated as a tradition and not as an act of worship, because introducing innovated festivals is the action of the people of the Book who we are commanded to differ from. So how about if it is a celebration of one of their actual festivals?
Decorating the house with balloons at this time is obviously joining in with the kuffaar and celebrating their festival.
What the Muslim is required to do is not to single out these days for any kind of celebration, decorating or adornment, or special foods, otherwise he will be joining the kuffaar in their festivals, which is something that is undoubtedly haraam.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Similarly it is forbidden for the Muslims to imitate the kuffaar by holding parties on these occasions, or exchanging gifts, or distributing sweets or other foods, or taking time off work and so on, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem Mukhaalifat Ashaab al-Jaheem: Imitating them on some of their festivals implies that one is happy with the falsehood they are following, and that could make them (the non-Muslims) take this opportunity to mislead those who are weak in faith.
Those who do any of these things are sinning, whether they do it to go along with them, or to be friendly towards them, or because they feel too shy (to refuse to join in) or any other reason, because it is a kind of compromising the religion of Allah to please others, and it is a means of lifting the spirits of the kuffaar and making them proud of their religion,
End quote from Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 3/44
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a Muslim who makes the food of the Christians on Nawrooz (Persian New Year) and on all their occasions such as Epiphany and other feast days, and who sells them things to help them celebrate their festivals. Is it permissible for the Muslims to do any of these things or not?
He replied: Praise be to Allah. It is not permissible for the Muslims to imitate them in any way that is unique to their festivals, whether it be food, clothes, bathing, lighting fires or refraining from usual work or worship, and so on. And it is not permissible to give a feast or to exchange gifts or to sell things that help them to celebrate their festivals, or to let children and others play the games that are played on their festivals, or to adorn oneself or put up decorations. In general, (Muslims) are not allowed to single out the festivals of the kuffaar for any of these rituals or customs. Rather the day of their festivals is just an ordinary day for the Muslims, and they should not single it out for any activity that is part of what the kuffaar do on these days.
From al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 2/487; Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 25/329
And Allaah knows best.