Why not a

son of
God?
Islami
laws
“That
/marriag
Prophet”
equalit

The
crucifixion
Answers
to the
truth

How many
p
sons of
c
God?

The final
The Trinity acceptance
Disclaimers

1. The book is for free distribution and as such the author or the publisher does not hold any
copyright on it. The book can be stored in any form of retrieval system and distributed in
any form including email, photocopies by everyone without any infringement on the rights
of the original author or the publisher.

2. The book has used references from a variety of sources and the author wishes to thank all
of them. Adequate references are provided all through the book attributing the materials
used to their original authors/sources. The author does not claim that any of the
material/materials quoted are his, however only some of the deductions are arrived at by
the author based on reason, logic and science. Others are those which are already
available in the existing body of research by various scholars mainly non muslim and
muslim sources.

Request
This book was written with two people in mind, 1 of whom reverted to Islam. After reading this
book, if God Almighty guides you to the truth, the author earnestly requests you to pray the
other person may be guided as well.
Foreword

The context of writing this book was to answer certain questions which were posed by a couple of
friends of mine. The questions were sent to the author in 2 sets, which have been combined to
create this book. Great care has been taken to respect the sentiments of the readers; however
the truth is sometimes bitter and does hurt. The only thing I ask you is, not to stop reading the
book and to complete it.

I request the readers to read the book with an open mind and heart and be open to the truth to
be revealed to them by God Almighty. If you do accept it with His will, please pray for the author.

Peace and blessings be upon you.

Terms used in the book:

Allah - The term “Allah” refers to God Almighty. As the common mis-conception goes, it is not
the name of the Muslim God or the God of Islam. The word Allah means God in Arabic, like
“Baghwan” in Hindi or “Khuda” in Persian.

Sunnah – An action which is attributed as performed by the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH)

Hadith – Literally means story. However in the context of this book its used to denote an
action/saying of the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH). At other times its also used as a synonym for
the word Sunnah.

NOTE: The words “Peace be upon him” are sometimes not explicitly used whenever
there is a reference to any prophet of God. “The peace and blessings of God are called
upon on all His prophets (Peace be upon them all)”.
To begin answering the questions, I would like to do so with a quote of Jesus Christ (PBUH) from
the Gospel of Thomas, Quote Number 2

Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will
be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they
have reigned they will rest." Gospel of St Thomas, Quote number 2

Question Number 1: Why cant God take an incarnation. Isn’t it a choice of God.
How can man question this choice?

Answer:
What is the purpose of incarnation? The purpose of incarnation as taught in various faiths is two
fold..

1. To set right the wrong in this world

2. To show mankind the right path

It is important to note that God means different things to different people. Human beings have
always tried to define God as per our intelligence. We tend to have a view of God as a small God,
as someone who will fit into our scheme of things, because we are limited by our intelligence.

We will deviate from the above answer for just a moment and look at some pictures about the
Universe..

The ground from 1 meter height – We At 10 meters high – We see the edges of
see the grass and the leaves the trees
The ground from a height of 100 The ground from a height of 1Km – Its
metres– We see the edges of the forest possible to jump from a parachute now

10 Kilometers height – Birds eye view of 100 Kms height – The state of Florida
the city however individual houses
cannot be seen
1000 Kilometers– Typical view from a 10000 Kilometers– A view of the
satellite Northern hemisphere

100000 Kilometers– The earth starts 1 million Kilometers– The earth and the
looking really small orbit of the moon around it
10 million Kilometers– The earths orbit 100 million Kilometers– The orbits of the
planet Venus and the Earth

10 billion Kilometers– The orbits of 100 billion Kilometers– The Solar

all the planets and the galaxy in the system now starts looking really
background with the Sun in small
between
1 trillion Kilometers– The Sun is now 1 light year – The Sun is a speck
a small insignificant star in between which is hardly visible
billions of other stars

10 light years – We do not see 100 light years – All we see now are
anything of our solar system here in stars and Nebulae
infinity
 1000 light years – We start 10000 light years – We continue our
traveling through the Milky way, our travel inside the Milky way
galaxy

100000 light years – We start 1 million light years – At this

reaching the periphery of the Milky tremendous distance we see our
way, our galaxy galaxy and other galaxies
Source http://www.scribd.com/doc/6903616/Earth-is-Just-Dot-in-Universe

The status of the earth in our own solar system

Source:http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Did-You-Know-How-Insignificant-the-Earth-Really-Is-
in-the-Universe-2.jpg/

Now that we have analyzed and understood the scale of a “part” of our Universe (there is a
theory of parallel universes in existence one by the side of other.. God knows best about the
truth). The following questions come to mind..

• Can you imagine the infinite power of God who created all this?
• Is it possible for any man to create all of this?
• Keeping this context in mind, ask yourself, Does God the creator, who has this
kind of power over all things, need to come down to this earth as a man to do
anything?
• Cant He in His Divine majesty do anything from anywhere?
• In the larger scheme of things in the universe how insignificant are the earth
and the human race?

With a decent idea of the magnitude of the Kingdom of God examine this
Hadeeth(saying/tradition) of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), God says –
“…… O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the
whole human race of yours and that of Jinns become as pious as the most pious heart
of any one amongst you, it will not add anything to My Power or Kingdom. O My
servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human
race of yours and that of Jinns become as wicked as the most wicked heart of anyone
amongst you, it will not decrease anything from My Power or Kingdom……. ” Sahih
Muslim (Relayed by Abu Dhar al-Ghifari RA)
If God chooses, He has so much power, that He can make all of us the best of his creation who
obey Him to the last dot. He can set right all the wrongs without the least degree of effort and He
can do this without incarnating as a man. By assuming that He has to physically come down, to
set right the wrongs or to guide mankind is to also assume that He is not as powerful to do that
without coming down as a man. The planet that we live on is so insignificant in the larger scheme
of things and compare this with the One Creator who created everything, how High, Mighty,
Majestic and Powerful would He be? He is someone with power which is beyond our

1. Comprehension
2. Imagination

We as the created are not questioning God’s choice to do what he wills. For argument sake if we
agree that God does incarnate as a man, does it logically make sense? Will God the Almighty who
has given man the ability to achieve unbelievable things using his brains/reason/logic say- “you
can do what you want through your logic (For eg. Create nuclear energy or travel in space), but
when it comes to ME, don’t use logic?” Don’t question anything, just accept and say “have faith”?

In the Quran, quite a few verses begin with the words “O people of understanding…”. i.e God
wants us to use logic/reason to understand Him and His message.

God does Godly things, yes He has the power to come down as a man, but will He choose to do
that? What purpose would it serve? Why do we assume that we as human beings are so
important in the universe for God to incarnate on earth? Can we even imagine how many worlds
like ours are created and exist beyond our knowledge?

The Quran says

And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger (Quran 10:47)

Doesn’t it make more logical sense to choose a human being as an example, as a guide, as a
leader or a prophet and show us what God wants through the person chosen? Maybe Ram,
Krishna, Buddha were some of the 124,000(number as per the Hadith) prophets who were sent
on the face of this earth to guide people. Over a period of time, because of their extraordinary
qualities people made them God incarnate. God does not need to be omnipresent to be
omnipotent. He is Omnipotent without being Omnipresent, that’s why He is not a man but God –
The ALL POWERFUL, THE MOST MAJESTIC and THE ONE.
Question Number 2. The bible says that Jesus is the Son of God, isnt it a matter of faith
that u believe that? Similarly also with hinduism isnt it a matter of faith that u believe
in the incarnations of God? Also if we take the case of Jesus its mentioned in the Quran
that he spoke from his cradle, and gave life to dead and made the dumb hear. Consider
the stuff that he went through during his crucifiction. Why cant a person with such
mighty powers be the son of God?

Answer:
I have already put forward the views regarding incarnation in the previous question, here I will
try to answer in specific about Jesus Christ(PBUH)

First thing.. Its spelt as Crucifixion and not crucifiction, do not mistake the two. You
might end up offending someone.

The concept of Jesus being the son of God in the bible is that he is one part of the trinity i.e. God
as the father, God as the son and God as the Holy Spirit and all three are one. Therefore Jesus
Christ being the Son of God is also God.
Secondly, from the Christian point of view Jesus is the begotten son of God. This is his
significance; he was the only begotten son of God. Begotten as per the dictionary is a word used
to indicate the union of man and woman, to have children.

Let us now examine the following..

Was this concept of Trinity taught by Jesus himself?
Or
Does it exist in the Bible?

This is what various Christian sources say about it

"In Scripture(i.e the bible) there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine
Persons are denoted together. The word τρίας [tri´as] (of which the Latin trinitas is a
translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. . . . Shortly
afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian." ~Source The Catholic
Encyclopaedia.

This answers the question that the Trinity as a concept does not exist in the bible. Trinity as a
word only appeared in the year 180AD, A full hundred and eighty years after Jesus(PBUH) and
that too not as part of the bible.

For more information about the Theophilus of Anitoch -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophilus_of_Antioch

THE 'TRINITY' CONCEPT AND THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS

"The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not
fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th
century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the
Trinitarian dogma. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely
approaching such a mentality or perspective." ~ Source New Catholic Encyclopaedia
(1967), Vol. XIV, p. 299
From the above we can safely conclude that the disciples and apostles who were the closest to
Jesus Christ(PBUH) did not have the concept of the trinity. Cant we then deduce that such a
concept did not explicitly exist and was not taught by Jesus Christ(PBUH) or his Apostles?

Coming to next part of the question - “Isnt it a matter of faith”

Faith means 'Reliance or trust in a person or a thing' (Oxford paperback dictionary)

To have faith in something, is to consider it reliable over a period of time. When your brain
analyses the question, it takes previous experience into consideration and feels it can trust the
facts. Faith stems from the experience of a person, from internal questioning.
However, when you are asked to believe something, without questioning, it becomes Dogma
meaning 'a doctrine or doctrines generally religious to be accepted as true without question'*
*both the meanings are from the Oxford paperback dictionary

In his book The Triune God, Jesuit Edmund Fortman admits: “The Old Testament tells us
nothing explicitly or by necessary implication of a Triune God who is Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. . . . There is no evidence that any sacred writer even suspected the
existence of a [Trinity] within the Godhead. . . . Even to see in [the “Old Testament”]
suggestions or foreshadowings or ‘veiled signs’ of the trinity of persons, is to go
beyond the words and intent of the sacred writers.”

Simply put, Mr Fortman says that all the prophets of the Old Testament never knew that God part
of a trinity. If God indeed is part of a trinity, then for 5000 years (as per the bible) of mans
existence in the old testament why did He keep saying I am ONE and change it to THREE later. If
the answer is that once Jesus(PBUH) was born only then God became 3, please refer to John 1:
1- 1:3, where it clearly says that they were existing from the beginning. Does this discrepancy
mean that the Old testament and the New testament are not from the same source?

In the bible the verse which is the most commonly referred to, for showing that Jesus was
begotten by God is - John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son, whoever would believe in him would have eternal life". This word
“begotten” has now been removed from the revised standard version of the Bible(revised by 32
biblical scholars of the greatest eminence, supported by 50 co-operating Christian
denominations) as an interpolation(added without authority).

Even for argument sake if we accept the word begotten, it creates some issues..

 In Christianity as well as Islam, Mother Mary was a virgin who gave birth to a child. Now if
Jesus Christ(PBUH) was the begotten Son of God, then how can she be a virgin?
As per the Islamic view, she was so pious and so holy that God chose her over all the
women of mankind (i.e from the first woman Eve to the last one who will come) to be the
mother of a word from him.

The angels said, "O Mary, GOD has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen
you from all the women. [Quran 3:42]

The Quran says Jesus Christ(PBUH) was a word from Him; Jesus Christ(PBUH) is referred
to as the spirit of God in Islam. Yet the Quran explicitly tells us that he is not the “Son of
God” neither is he “God”.

 When we see Jesus(PBUH) words in the bible he referred to himself as "Son of Man".
When we analyse the words "Son of Man" in the language that Jesus spoke i.e
 Syriac/Hebrew - they are "Adam Kadmon" which is translated as “Son of Man” in English.
When you translate it into English it should be "Son of Adam" because Adam here is a
name, a proper noun (in translation you never translate names). Who/What are the
children of Adam, - they are human.

C.S. Lewis while explaining the difference between the Biblical and the Quranic view says,
"To beget is to become the father of: to create is to make. And the difference is
this. When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. But
when you make, you make something of a different kind from yourself. What God
begets is God; just as what man begets is man. What God creates is not God; just
as what man makes is not man."

As per the above logic, Jesus(PBUH) cannot be “Son of Man” and “Son of God” at the same time.
If he was begotten by God, then he is not “Son of Man” he is only a “Son of God” and therefore
God. The vice versa is true as well.

The Islamic point of view

"When the angel said, "Mary, God gives you a good tidings of a Word from Him
whose name is messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, -high honoured shall he be in this world
and the next, near stationed to God. He shall speak to men in the cradle, and of age,
and righteous he shall be, "Lord" said Mary "How shall I have a son, seeing no
mortal has touched me? "Even so, he said "God creates what He wills". When he
decrees a thing He but say to it, "Be", and it is.

The similarity of Jesus is like that of Adam, God said "be and it is".
A brief explanation of the word “be” or “Kun” in Arabic, is warranted here. God Almighty has
created everything, and has set laws to govern them. These laws are natural laws which run the
course of things, like day and night, the seasons - summer, spring, rain and winter, children born
in course of procreation to men and women. All these are natural things which occur with the will
of God, but without His explicit intervention but with His consent. However, once in a while a
situation arises where God needs to explicitly intervene in the natural course of things. For
example Adam and Eve - there were no man or woman to procreate, before them and God had to
create them explicitly. However there is a difference between a man creating something and God
creating something. As a man, If I have to create something, I build it from a scratch. God does
not need to do that, he just says “Kun i.e. Be” and it is.
This is the greatness of Jesus Christ(PBUH) where God explicitly created him outside the purview
of the natural course of things, as a word from him. Such a event happened with Adam(PBUH)
and then with Jesus Christ(PBUH). This makes more logical sense if we view it in context of the
argument of Mr. Lewis. Jesus is like a son of Adam in his creation(both of them were created the
same way), therefore more like Adam than anyone one of us. The Quran confirms this in the
following verses..

This similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam: He created him from dust then
said to him: "Be" and he was. Quran 3:59

If we take verses from the Quran to prove the greatness of Jesus(PBUH) and his miracles, then
we should also consider the following verses from the Quran..

"They said, "The Most Gracious has begotten a son"! You have uttered a gross
blasphemy. The heavens are about to shatter, the earth is about to tear asunder, and
the mountains are about to crumble. Because they claim that the Most Gracious has
begotten a son. It is not befitting the Most Gracious that He should beget a son. Every
single one in the heavens and the earth is a servant of the Most Gracious. He has
encompassed them, and has counted them one by one. All of them will come before
Him on the Day of Resurrection as individuals.

They do blaspheme who say: "God is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O
Children of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods
with God,- God will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for
the wrong-doers be no one to help. [5:072] Al-Quran.
“Most Gracious” – Refers to God Almighty

The reference here is to what Jesus(PBUH) said in John 20:17

Stop clinging to me; for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren
(disciples), and say to them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and
your God.' (John 20: 17).

The next question that will arise is why do I have to accept what is explicitly stated in
the Quran and reject what is in the Bible?
Now comes the question of Faith. The Quran contains more than 6000 verses out of which around
1000 contain facts about science and history, which were not or could not have been known at
the time of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). Not one i.e. NOT ONE has been proven to be wrong
by modern science. At this juncture, let us examine a few examples of scientific facts laid down in
the Quran more than 1400 years ago.

Quran on Medical Science:

The Quran describes in great detail how the development of the embryo takes place in the human
womb. The Dutch naturalist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) produced lenses powerful
enough to prove that many tiny creatures are not spontaneously generated but are produced
from eggs. The science of Embryology as we know it today did not discover many of the detailed
aspects of human embryonic development until the 1970s, using powerful microscopes, ultra
sound and fiber optics technology. Prof(Dr) Kieth Moore, Professor Emeritus, Department of
Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto a distinguished embryologist and the author of
several medical textbooks, including Clinically Oriented Anatomy (3rd Edition) and The
Developing Human (5th Edition, with T.V.N. Persaud) has the following to say about the scientific
facts about embryology in the Quran…

"For the past three years, I have worked with the Embryology Committee of King Abdulaziz
University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, helping them to interpret the many statements in the Qur'an
and Sunnah(Hadith) referring to human reproduction and prenatal development. At first I was
astonished by the accuracy of the statements that were recorded in the 7th century AD, before
the science of embryology was established. Although I was aware of the glorious history of
Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD, and some of their contributions to Medicine, I knew
nothing about the religious facts and beliefs contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah."[2]

At a conference in Cairo he presented a research paper and stated:

"It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Qur'an about human
development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God,
or Allah, because most of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This
proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God, or Allah."[1]
Professor Moore also stated that:
"...Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change
during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using
the terms mentioned in the Qur'an and Sunnah. The proposed system is simple, comprehensive,
and conforms with present embryological knowledge.
"The intensive studies of the Qur'an and Hadith in the last four years have revealed a system of
classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D...
the descriptions in the Qur'an cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh
century..."[1]

Dr. T.V.N. Persaud, Professor of Anatomy and the co-author of “The Developing Human”, says:
"You have an illiterate person (Prophet Muhammad) making profound statements that are
amazingly accurate, of a scientific nature...I personally can't see how this could be mere chance,
there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that
this is a divine inspiration or revelation which lead him to these statements".

Gender Determination

The concept of "Gender Determination" as being described by geneticists is one of the

outstanding information’s revealed to us in the Quran. This information is now a known fact, that
sperms are the deciding factors in determining the type of gender (male or female) in the new
embryo. This determination through the male sperm is due to the fact that sperms have an X and
Y chromosomes, while the female ovum has only X Chromosomes (X, X). Through the Quran, The
Almighty informs us that it is the male sperms that determine the type of gender for the new
offspring:

"Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled (without purpose)? Was he not a drop
of sperm emitted (in humble form)? Then did (God) make and fashion (him) in due
proportion. And of him He made two sexes, male and female..." (75:36-40)

Quran on Astronomy and the origin of the Universe:

The Big Bang !

Currently, the Big Bang model of the origin of the universe proposed by Prof. Stephen Hawking is
the cosmological paradigm most widely accepted by astronomers. It holds that about 5 billion
years ago the universe began with the explosive expansion of a single, extremely dense matter,
the primordial mass. Only after the development of radio telescopes in 1937 that, the necessary
observational precision was achieved in order for astronomers to arrive at the above conclusion.
What does the Quran say about our universe's origin?

"Do not the unbelievers see that the Heavens and the earth were joined together, until
We rent them asunder." (21:30)

Expanding Universe

In 1925, Edwin Hubble (after whom the Hubble Space telescope is named) provided the
observational evidence for the expansion of the universe. Stephen Hawking (author of 'A Brief
History of Time') states: "The universe is not static, as had previously been thought, it is
expanding". So what did God reveal in the Quran, 1400 years ago?
"And the firmament, We constructed with power and skill and verily We are expanding
it" (51:47) ("We" is the Arabic plural of respect, not to be interpreted as the Christian plural of
'trinity")

The Existence of Sun's Orbit

Ancient people used to believe that the Sun revolves around the earth. Later, Nicholas
Copernicus in 1512, laid his Heliocentric Theory of Planetary motion, which placed the sun
motionless in the center of the solar system with all the planets revolving around it. Modern
science tells us now that the sun too is not still, but is in motion. The sun traveling at roughly 150
miles per second takes about 200 million years to complete one revolution around the center of
our Milky Way Galaxy and 25 days to make one complete rotation around its own axis. God
revealed this phenomenon in the Quran:

"It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, all (the
celestial bodies) swim along, each in its orbit with its own motion." (21:33)

Conquest of Space by Human

Human exploration and the conquest of space began with the launching of the Russian Satellite,
Sputnik I on Oct. 4, 1957. Then followed the launching of humans into space, which eventually
led to a manned space flight to the Moon on July 20th, 1967. Thus the dream of humanity since
the dawn of civilization to go beyond the earth to the heavens was realized.

The Quran, 1400 years ago, clearly predicted human's advancement and the possibility of space
flight.

"O assembly of Jinns and humans, if you can penetrate the regions of the heavens and
the earth, then penetrate them! You will not penetrate them save with a power (of
God)." (55:33)

The Protective Atmosphere

Earth is constantly bombarded by meteoroids that disintegrate upon the atmosphere and by
lethal rays emitted by the sun. This UV radiation is absorbed by the Ozone layer forming the
outer fringe of our atmosphere. Thus our atmosphere along with its Ozone layer is a protective
covering for us. Life possibly could not have existed without it. How meticulously, does our Lord
sustain and protect us against this atmospheric destruction.

"And We have made the atmosphere a protective roof, yet do they turn away from the
Signs which these things point to." (21:32)

These are only a reflective examples of the verses about scientific examples in the Quran. There
are more than 6000 verses in the Quran of which about 1000 deal with scientific facts and
phenomena on topics as diverse as geology, oceans, anatomy, astronomy, history,
anthropology ..etc.
(Source: The Bible, the Quran and Science by Dr. Maurice Bucaille)

Faith is about reliability and about reality, about being able to trust based on experience. What is
the mathematical probability of an illiterate tribal man(Prophet Mohammed PBUH) in the desert
hamlet of Mecca stating 1000 different facts/statement about scientific phenomena in the 6 th
century, and all of them coming out to be true in the 19th – 20th century? Infinity? Is it possible
that any human being can claim to do this unless he is divinely guided by the ONE POWER who
knows it all/knows everything. Is it then wrong to say, if 1000 verses about scientific facts are
absolutely correct, then the remaining verses also are correct because they are from the same
Someone Who Knows everything
OR
Do we say, we agree to the scientific verses and accept probability of all of them being correct is
infinity, yet God is not correct about the other things in the Quran for eg. where God says He
created Jesus and did not beget him.

The answer is left to your conscience and intellect.

The Quran says

Do they not consider the Qur-an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they
would surely have found therein much discrepancy.
(4 : 82)

For 1400 years people have tried to find mistakes and they have found “PERCIEVED MISTAKES”
that too in the translations, which do not stand the test of reason and logic. If not one genuine
mistake has been found you have to agree to it being the absolute word of God, and God
almighty has kept his promise of protecting the Quran.

[15:9] Absolutely, we have revealed the reminder, and, absolutely, we will preserve it.

[56:77-80] This is an honorable Quran. In a protected book. None can grasp it except
the sincere. A revelation from the Lord of the universe.

The choice is of your logic, reason and conscience. Only Allah can guide you in this, if you want to
be guided.
4. What is the comforter who Jesus promised to send before he left the earth?
Answer:

The verses in the gospel where the Comforter is mentioned.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he
may abide with you for ever;

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of
me:

John 16:7-14 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send
him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of
righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but
ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

The background behind the word “Comforter” and Muslim/Christian Opinions about it:

The language spoken by Jesus Christ(PBUH) was Armiac/Syriac. Unfortunately there are no
ancient manuscripts of the Bible available in Armiac today, to know the exact word/words spoken
by Jesus Christ(PBUH). Whatever the original word for Comforter in Armiac was, is translated into
Greek, which in turn has been translated as Comforter, Counsellor, Consolator, Assistant,
Advocate, Consoler, Deprecator or Teacher in different English translations. What was the Greek
word in the earliest Greek translations, is not known, as the oldest available Greek translation of
the gospels, today is from the 4th Century after Christ. The present Greek Canon records it as
Paracletus, which is another way of saying Pericyltos. ‘Periclytos’ may be translated as ‘Ahmad’
which was a name of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), while Paracletus has been translated as
Comforter or Teacher or other more than a dozen words. Another point of view worth considering
is, whether the Paraclete is a word or a proper noun. In case it is a proper noun, then it should
not have been translated at all.

There is another explanation for this which can be derived from the works of an 8th century
historian. The language of Palestine, the homeland of Jesus, remained Syriac upto well after 9th
Century when Hebrew replaced it. The 8th century historian Ibn-e-Ishaq, gives the Syriac word of
the 8th century versions of the New Testament. The word, he writes, “is ‘Muhamanna’ which
means Ahmad/Muhammad in Arabic and may be translated as Periclytos in Greek.” This record
proves that the original word translated in earlier Greek translations would have been ‘Periclytos’
meaning ‘Ahmed’ or ‘Muhammad’ in Arabic.

This debate has received verification from a reliable Christian source as well. The renowned
historian and a Christian scholar, Sir William Muir, though disputing the Muslim Claim, has
surrendered that earlier Arabic versions of the New Testament had also given ‘Ahmad’ as the
translation for paraclete. In his book ‘Life of Mahomet’ (abridged edition, London (P.5), he writes
“The child was called Mahomet. This name was rare among the Arabs, but not
unknown. It is derived from the root ‘Hamd’ and signifies, ‘The Praised.’ Another form
is Ahmad, which, having been employed as a translation of ‘The Paraclete in some
Arabic versions of the New Testament, became a favorite term with Mohametans,
specially in addressing Jews and Christians, for it was, they said, ‘The title under which
the Prophet (PBUH) had been in their books predicted.”

Sir William Muir, though differing with Ahmed being the actual translation of the original greek
word, has however, covertly admitted in his above statement, that the word ‘Ahmad’ has also
been used as translation of the word in some earlier Arabic versions of the New Testament which
was subsequently changed in later versions.

Analysis of the Verses

If we consider John 14:16 Jesus said that he will pray to the father to give them “another”
comforter. From the Christian point of view the comforter is the Holy Spirit. The word “Another”
has great significance. If your Project Manager wants to deploy you on another project, he will
convey to the client I am redeploying Harish, but I will send you “another” SD/EP consultant.
Thus if Jesus was sending another paraclete then he would be similar to Jesus. Is the Holy Spirit
similar to Jesus? No. In what sense do you think that Jesus was to send another one like him??
Can we say here, “another son of man” like him?

During the time of Jesus, the Jews were waiting for three prophets who were prophesied in their
holy books.

First one was John the Baptist(A prophet like Elijah)

Second one the messiah who was Jesus

Third one Was the final messenger who was to come to guide the whole of mankind

References are given to the above in answer to a further question.

If you consider John 15:26 the comforter was to be the “spirit of truth” which was a title of the
Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), the people called him “Al-Ameen” the truthful and the trustworthy
because of his truthfulness. This title was given to him by the people of Mecca even before the
beginning of his divine mission at the age of 40 when he was a normal businessman, owing to his
absolute honesty and transparency in his business dealings.

Further, the spirit of truth is supposed to testify about Jesus. Did Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)
testify of Jesus(PBUH). To testify means to give evidence. He definitely did in more ways than
one. He definitely glorified Jesus as one of the mightiest messenger from God almighty, who was
born of a virgin. Infact Mother Mary in the Quran is said to have been chosen over all the women
of mankind, is an honor which even Christians do not give her.

Finally, if you consider the third group of verses i.e John 16:7-14 Jesus says that if he does not
go away the comforter will not come. That is a condition that Jesus specifies for the spirit of truth
to be sent to this world. The holy spirit did not come after Jesus(PBUH) left, it was there even
when Jesus(PBUH) was there. It came to Jesus(PBUH) in the form of a dove, it was there when
they were casting lots during some earlier prophet’s(PBUH) time. Thus the comforter cannot be
the holy spirit.

Let us now analyze the last few verses,

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to
my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is
judged.

Did the prophet Muhammad call the world to give up sin, to be righteous and did he judge?

Yes he did in thousands of ways.

If ever you take up a study of the life of Prophet Muhammad’s(PBUH), you realize how much this
prophecy fits him. A point here is “believe not on me”. As you later see in the book, today the
Christians do not believe in the true teachings of Christ which are radically different from what
Jesus preached. The Muslims lead lives which are more in sync with the teachings of Jesus today,
we worship like Jesus(PBUH) worshiped in the Garden of Gethsemane by falling on the face, we
fast like he(PBUH) did, We claim that God is one like Jesus(PBUH) did etc We never make fun of
him, neither do we use his name as a swear. Prophet Muhammad brought laws which till date are
used to judge.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things
to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

The comforter was to guide mankind unto all truth, for he does not speak of himself but what he
heard he spoke. This is a documented fact as to how Quran was revealed to the Prophet
Mohammed? The Angel Gabriel used make him memorize the verses which he then used to relate
to the people i.e. “whatsoever he hears that shall he speak”. There is no evidence to show that
the holy spirit does the same.

What is “guide mankind unto all truth”?

In the sayings and the way the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) lived his life, he gave a code for how
everything should be done. There is a way defined for everything, from how to use the
washroom, to how to be good to your neighbors, relationships, to even the way how to drink
water - you name it - there is a way defined for it i.e. the guide to all truth. He was supposed to
show things to come. There are thousands of his prophecies of the Prophet Muhammed(PBUH), of
events to come in the future which support this.

A recent example: A hadith of the Prophet Muhammed is related to say “When shepherds and
goat herds compete with the world to build the tallest structures the day of judgement is near”.
“Burj Khalifa”, the tallest building in the world was inaugurated in Dubai recently which was built
by the Al-Makhtoum family of Dubai. Guess what was the profession of this family?? They were
shepherds earlier.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

What did Prophet Muhammad receive of Jesus and what did he show unto people.

1. The divine mission of Christ(PBUH) was passed on to the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) for
completion. There is a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) which says that

Sahih Muslim Book 030, Number 5836:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said: I am most close to Jesus, son of Mary,
among the whole of mankind in this worldly life and the next life. They said: Allah's Messenger
how is it? Thereupon he said: Prophets are brothers in faith, having different mothers. Their
religion is, however, one and there is no Apostle between us (between I and Jesus Christ).

2. He received the knowledge about Jesus so that he could

• show people what the true teachings of Jesus were

• Remove the mis-conceptions that different groups of people had about Jesus from One
group making him God and another degrading him to the extent of making him an
illegitimate child.

Infact for any person, these biblical verses of the Gospel of John are sufficient to believe in the
truth of the Quran and the Prophethood of Muhammad(pbuh) as the Comforter promised by
Jesus Christ(PBUH). However a clarification has to be made here, since the comforter in the
words of Jesus was to be another one like Jesus(PBUH), there is no mention of the Prophet
Muhammad anywhere claiming to be Son of God Or God, yet there are ample instances where he
called himself a man. Therefore they are both messengers/prophets from the Islamic point of
view.
5. When the bible says that Jesus was the begotten son, do you have to take
that literally? Why can’t it mean something else owing to the fact that the bible
was not written in English.

This is precisely what Muslims say.

The bible was not written in English, so you should not take the words literally, when Jesus called
God as the Father or when he called himself the son of God. Infact Jesus has called him self
“Adam Kadmon” i.e Son of Adam(Son of Man) more times then he called himself son of
God in the bible. Numerically
He refers to himself as Son of Man – 83 times and son of God – 14 times. 69 times more Jesus
referred to himself as a man.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus refers to God as “thy father” “your father” 14 times first, before
referring to him as “My Father”.
What can you gauge from this? Why is importance assigned to son of God and son of
Man is totally ignored.

Jesus as he defined himself in his own words?

We have extremely clear words, some from Jesus himself as to what he is.

Gospel of John 10: 23 - 35

23
And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

24
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make
us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand.

29
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand.

30
I and my Father are one.

31
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for
which of those works do ye stone me?

33
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for
blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, “I said, Ye are gods”?

35
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, the scripture cannot be
broken;

Verse number 30 is taken as evidence to say that Jesus here claims to be God Almighty. However
you can only draw this conclusion if you are taking verse number 30 in seclusion. These are a
group of verses and thus you have to begin from verse 23. Especially lets begin with verse 27,
his sheep “hear his voice”. What was his voice conveying to them? His teachings or his message.
Therefore they chose to follow his teachings. As they were following his teachings, he would lead
them to paradise(eternal life) as no man can misguide them. God Almighty who gave him the
message and the people who follow him is greater than all, No one will be able to lead them away
from God. The path, the message that both God and Jesus are showing is one. There is no
context here of physical unity of God and Jesus, unless you take only verse 30 to prove a point.

The Jews were not used to such straight talk. They wanted to find fault, they wanted to pick up a
fight. So they take stones and start stoning Jesus. Jesus says to them, I have done so many good
works from God, which of those works do you stone me for? The Jews acknowledge his good
works, yet accuse him of Blasphemy, and say you being a man claim to be God. Jesus replies,
Isn’t it written in your scriptures that “you are gods”(Psalm 82:6). Jesus, himself is quoting the
scripture and calling the Jews gods here. So do we take that literally? NO. The answer he gives
them is - To him whom the word of God (i.e. a prophet/messenger through whom God
communicates with this world) has come; if you call him god then the scripture is not broken.
What does this mean?

Before we continue this discussion, let’s branch out to a related topic where a Jewish teacher of
the law comes to Jesus and asks him which the greatest commandment is?

Mark 12:28 - 29
28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus
had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the
most important?"

29
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is one.[e] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[f] 31The second is this: 'Love
your neighbor as yourself.'[g]There is no commandment greater than these."

Jesus’ answer here is very simple, He says “There is only one God” which was the first
commandment revealed to the prophet Moses. Jesus was answering a Jew, and at that a Jew who
was a teacher of the Law of Moses, thus this Jew was an expert on the Mosaic Law. When Jesus
answers him, he would have definitely done so in the same context as that of the Jew, so
that the Jewish teacher would understand him. Now for the above first commandment, how
did/do the Jews understand it?

For the 4000 year history of the Jews and to this day, they have always understood the first
commandment to mean that God Almighty is a single person, never 1 in 3. Here Jesus’ in his
own words says that God is one in the Jewish sense. Do you still believe that Jesus though was
saying one he actually meant 1 in 3?? A man like him would never do that.

Who should we choose to believe then? Jesus or the people who teach that God is 1 in
3?
Well the slaves are not greater than the master, are they?

Keeping the above verses from the gospel of Mark in mind, lets get back to our earlier discussion
of “I am my Father are one”
Psalm Chapter 82:6 - This is what Jesus was referring to when he said “ye are gods”
6
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

The Jews misunderstood that Jesus was claiming divinity, claiming to be God, thus they wanted
to stone him for blasphemy. They were accusing him of violating the first commandment that
“The Lord, your God is one” in the sense of a person. Jesus when he says “The scripture is not
broken” is in effect saying I am not violating the commandment - I am not saying I am
God. Jesus himself clarifies this, how can anyone now claim him to be God?

This brings us to the next logical conclusion of the question, why is Jesus “supposed” to be God?

Jesus is supposed to be God, because he is the begotten son of God.

Well Jesus himself is saying, “there is only 1 God” in the Jewish and the Muslim sense, and he is
not God. Taking this further, if Jesus is saying, that he is not God also puts to rest the very
criteria that qualified him for being God .i.e “The begotten sonship”. As he says he is not God,
then he cannot be begotten by God. He is the son of god in the same sense that the other people
referred to as sons of God in the bible i.e a extremely pious person, one of the greatest of
messengers who was chosen from among the people to show the true way of God to people.

One role of the Comforter specifically pertaining to Jesus

In my previous answers, I have already shown you how the comforter is Prophet Muhammad.
Now lets get to the role of the comforter,
1. His role was to guide mankind unto all truth
2. However, the comforter had a role specifically as pertaining to Jesus personally as per the
following verse from

The Gospel of John 15:26

26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

“To testify” as per the Oxford paperback dictionary means to give evidence. To give evidence
means to give facts and proof in a court of law. Why would Jesus require someone to give
evidence about him? Only when he is falsely accused of something. What was he falsely accused
of?
As per the verses above in the “I and my father are one”, The Christians to this day say he was
claiming to be God, and the Jews “say” they got him crucified for the same reason. Thus Prophet
Muhammad (The comforter) was made to give evidence about Jesus in the Quran and thus
absolve him of all the accusations.

Jesus the son of Man?

Finally now, lets get to the Jesus the son of Man i.e. “Adam Kadmon” . The logic of this is two fold
1. Since he is “Son of Adam”, Adam being a man, Jesus is also a man i.e. Son of man is a
man.
 2. However, Specifically “Adam Kadmon” - Adam was created without a human father and a
human mother, so also Jesus was created without a human father, thus in the eyes of God
he is like Adam. The reason being - The son is like the father; Jesus is more similar to
Adam because of their creation. Both of them were not created in the normal process of
procreation as we know it. The only two men that we know of who can claim that.

The Quran bears witness to this in Surah Al-Imran Chapter number 3:59 -63

Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from
dust; then He said to him, "Be," and he was.

The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.

Then whoever argues with you about it after [this] knowledge has come to you
- say, "Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women,
ourselves and yourselves, then supplicate earnestly [together] and invoke the
curse of Allah upon the liars [among us]."

Indeed, this is the true narration. And there is no deity except Allah . And
indeed, Allah is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

But if they turn away, then indeed - Allah is Knowing of the corrupters.

Where does it say that Jesus is only a messenger in the Quran?

The Book of Acts 2:22 – Jesus is a man

Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by
miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves
know.

Similarly in the Quran Surah Al Maidah Chapter 5:75

The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have
passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used
to eat food. Look how We make clear to them the signs; then look how they are
deluded.

There is a significance of the “They both used to eat food”. Does God need to eat and drink?
NO. Yet Jesus in his own words says that he needs to do that..

Gospel of Matthew 11:19 as well as Luke 7:34

18
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'
19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." '

The above two quotes from both the Quran and the bible are almost the same.
1. Jesus is saying the messenger before him was John the Baptist.
2. The important point is since Jesus compares himself to John the Baptist, the similarity in
between them is both of them were Prophets of God. He is referring to how people find fault with
prophets of God.
In the Quranic quote God is saying there were messengers before him and then referring
specifically to Jesus(pbuh), asking us to consider eating and drinking as a sign that Jesus is not
God, He has made his signs clear to us (eating food which God doesn’t need to do) yet we are
not on the right path and claim Jesus is God.

The Quran further says,

They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the Messiah, the son of
Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord
and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allah - Allah has
forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the
wrongdoers any helpers.

Gospel of John 20:17

Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to
my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God
and your God."

As per the Quran, Jesus, says God almighty is his God too, as per the bible Jesus says the same
thing,, Jesus adds, my father and your father. So are we all the children of God and all of us
start claiming to be God?
Metaphorically YES we are children of God as he created us, LITERALLY NO.

Gospel of John 14:25 – 28 – Jesus says God Almighty is greater than him

25
"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor(Comforter), the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind
you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I
do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.

28
"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me,
you would be glad that I am going to the Father , for the Father is greater than I.
29
I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen
you will believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince
of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31but the world must learn
that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has
commanded me. "Come now; let us leave.

“The prince of this world is coming”, Jesus said that his focus group was the children of Israel “I
have not be sent but to the children of Israel” so who is the prince of this world. Cant it be the
final prophet, the comforter whose teachings were for the whole of mankind? Further he
continues to say, that the prince of the world will make the people learn that Jesus loved God and
did exactly that God commanded him. Exactly the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed(pbuh).
John 13:16

16
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that
is sent greater than he that sent him.

If Jesus was God, then he would not have said that “The Father is greater than I” or the one who
sent is not greater than the He who sent him.

John 11:42 – 43 - Jesus prays and God hears his prayers

41
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus
lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I
said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

If Jesus was God, why would he pray to himself?? If God heard Jesus always, would he not have
heard him when he was praying before the crucifixion asking God to let the cup pass? We will get
to this in greater detail when dealing about the crucifixion in a later question

Matthew 12:28 – Who casts out the devils?

28
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Conclusion:

It’s not the Muslims who call Jesus the begotten son, invented the concept of trinity or called
Jesus the son of God and therefore God. The word “trinity” does not appear anywhere in the
bible, therefore there is no biblical basis for belief in it. In conclusion from the bible itself we can
say, that Jesus Christ himself claimed to be a man, a prophet, a messenger, however one chosen
by God to be a leader, a guide for his fellowmen.

However assuming if there ever is a God among men, then it has to be the person from Hebrews
7:1 – 3

1
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

2
To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of
righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

3
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days,
nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

The Book of Job Chapter 25: 4 – 6

[4] How then can man be righteous before God?
How can he who is born of woman be clean?

[5] Behold, even the moon is not bright

and the stars are not clean in his sight;
[6] how much less man, who is a maggot,
And the son of man, who is a worm!”

Jesus being the son of God, is a very emotional issue. I understand how it would feel for a
Christian to actually re-program to not believe something that you have been taught over the
years. However, the truth has to be sought for Jesus himself said so. I will put forth one last
point of view which you can do as an exercise..

The Father is a person, the son is a person and the holy spirit is a person yet they are not three
persons but one person. Is it possible for any human being to evolve only 1 mental picture for all
three as one. Close your eyes and think of the Father and the son and the holy spirit, you will get
three different mental pictures. How can then they be-1? We have to follow what Jesus taught,
that God almighty is one i.e. He is one person and there are no other Gods but He.

More Verses about Jesus from the Quran can be found at the following link

http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/Jesusq.htm#be
6. Could you give your views about the crucifixion? Doesn’t the Quran also say
that he was crucified? Isn’t it documented historical fact that he was
crucified? Why do muslims then claim he was not crucified?

At the outset I would like to point out that it’s irrelevant what my view about the crucifixion is.
The most important thing is what is the truth? - Let us keep that as our focus. The crucifixion is
a highly emotional issue, thus, I had intentionally not answered the question about the
crucifixion, the previous time.

The theological point of view:

All the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John talk about the crucifixion i.e. Jesus died
during the crucifixion. This death and resurrection is regarded as the redemption for the sins of
mankind. This is the accepted theological view.

The Historic view of the Crucifixion

Historically, there were quite a few historians during the time of Jesus who left detailed accounts
of the happenings of that period. The following are historians and historical references that are
found outside the New Testament, in chronological order..

1. Josephus Flavius – Was one of the earliest of historians who lived from 37 CE to 100 CE. He
wrote close to 20 volumes about the historic events of the period. He has mentioned two short
paragraphs about Jesus. The following passage appears in the book “Antiquities of the Jews”
written by Josephus Flavius -

"At this time there was Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For
he was one who performed surprising works, (and) a teacher of people who with
pleasure received the unusual. He stirred up both many Jews and many of Greeks. He
was the Christ. And when Pilate condemned him to the cross, since he was accused by
the first-rate men among us, those who had been living (him from) the first did not
cease (to cause trouble), for he appeared to them on the third day, having life again, as
the prophets of God had foretold these and countless other marvelous things about
him. And until now the tribe of Christians, so named from him, is not (yet?) extinct."
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk XVIII, Ch III, Sn 3

Regarding the above, the following was published in the Bible review of June 1991
"However because it has an explicit acceptance of Jesus as Messiah [Christ] and of his
resurrection, almost all scholars believe that this passage is a Christian interpolation.
There are some scholars who believe that the core of it is original, and Christians added
only the parts acknowledging Jesus as Messiah and the resurrection. There is virtually
no doubt about the passage referring to James." (Source: John Meier, Bible Review,
June 1991)

Opinion is divided onto the authenticity of the above passage. Some scholars believe the entire
passage was forged by the Bishop Eusebius in the 4 th Century CE, others hold the view a part of
the passage was forged and part of it is original. However, the following biblical scholars have
also termed the above passage as not written by Josephus. It’s beyond the scope to go into
details of their reasons. However I am mentioning their names over here.

- Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), paperback, p.
143
- James Still, "Biblical and Extrabiblical Sources for Jesus"
- Marshall J. Gauvin, "Did Jesus Christ Really Live?"
- Eusebius, Evangelical Demonstration, Book III., p.124
- Earl Doherty (CrossTalk)
- Maria M. Oberg , "The Mystery of the Testimonium Flavianum"

Read the above passage again, without the blue text in italics. The meaning changes quite
radically.

1. Philo of Alexandria – Period approx from 30 CE to 100 CE

There is no known mention of Jesus by the Jewish historian Philo of Alexandria.

"Philo was born before the beginning of the Christian era, and lived until long after the
supposed death of Christ. He wrote an account of the Jews covering the entire time
that Christ is said to have existed on earth. He was living in or near Jerusalem when
Christ's miraculous birth and the Herodian massacre occurred. He was there when
Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He was there when the crucifixion with
its attendant earthquake, supernatural darkness, and resurrection of the dead took
place--when Christ himself rose from the dead, and in the presence of many witnesses
ascended into heaven. These marvelous events which must have filled the world with
amazement, had they really occurred, were unknown to him. It was Philo who
developed the doctrine of the Logos, or Word, and although this Word incarnate dwelt
in that very land and in the presence of multitudes revealed himself and demonstrated
his divine powers, Philo saw it not." - John E. Remsburg, The Christ : A Critical
Review and Analysis of the Evidence of His Existence

2. Thallus – 52 CE – He does mention that a eclipse occurred at approximately almost the

same time as the crucifixion of Jesus

A "passage on Jesus was contained in Thallus' work on the Eastern Mediterranean

world from the Trojan War to 52 A.D. Thallus noted that darkness fell on the land at the
time of the crucifixion. He wrote that such a phenomenon was caused by an
eclipse." - Harry V. Martin. "Proving the Historic Jesus"

Thallus has written among the eclipse during the approximate time of the crucifixion of Jesus;
however the same eclipse is mentioned only by him and not by any other historian of that period.

3. Justus of Tiberius – Period Approx 40 CE – 100 CE

Justus of Tiberias was a contemporary and rival of Josephus. He however has not made any
known reference to Jesus Christ (PBUH) in his writings.

"Other than Philo, the historian Justus of Tiberius (c 80 CE) should have made some
mention of Jesus. Justus was a native of Galilee (where Jesus was born and lived) and
wrote extensively on the history of the region." - James Still, "Biblical and
Extrabiblical Sources for Jesus"

"...although his [Justus'] writings have been lost, Photius [Christian patriarch in
Constantinople] had read them in the ninth century and remarks with surprise: 'This
Jewish historian does not make the smallest mention of the appearance of Christ, and
says nothing whatever of his deeds and miracles'." - George Albert Wells, The Jesus of
the Early Christians: a Study in Christian Origins
4. Tacitus (56 – 117 CE) – Senator and historian of the roman empire

"Therefore to squelch the rumor that 'Nero had started the Great Fire of Rome', Nero
created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the
common people called 'Christians', [a group] hated for their abominable crimes. Their
name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the
procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for the moment, the deadly superstition broke
out again, not only in Judea, the land which originated this evil, but also in the city of
Rome, where all sorts of horrendous and shameful practices from every part of the
world converge and are fervently cultivated." - Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (written in 112
C.E.)

The first unambiguous historical reference to the death of Jesus can only be found in the year
112 CE, a full 85 years after his “supposed” execution. Scholarly opinion about the above can be
summed up in the following

"There are serious problems with Tacitus' account concerning the historicity of Jesus.
Roman imperial documents would never refer to Jesus by his Christian title as 'Christ'
and Pilate was a prefect, not a procurator. This has led many scholars to conclude that
the passage is a later Christian interpolation, inserted to provide validity to their
fledgling movement. Unlike Josephus however, no real evidence exists to suggest
literal textual tampering, so this has become a controversial position to take and others
like Robertson, prefer to say that Tacitus was merely repeating a story told to him by
contemporary Christians. Considering the inaccuracy in the passage, the latter is just
as valid an explanation as the interpolation suggestion. Either way it puts us no closer
to the historicity of Jesus because by the end of the first century the passion narrative,
as told by Paul, was already well known." - James Still, "Biblical and Extrabiblical
Sources for Jesus"

Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who compiled pagan references to Christ in his The
History of the Church in the early 4th C. C.E., never mentions the Tacitus passage. In
fact no reference appears until the 15th century C.E.

5. Seutonis

A reference to Chrestus is in the book written by Seutonius, Lives of the 12 Caesars referring to
the emperor Claudius written in the year 120 CE “Since the Jews were constantly causing
disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome."

This is a recorded historical fact that Emperor Claudius, around the year 49-50CE, expelled the
Jews from Rome because they were fomenting disorder at the instigation of one Chrestos.
However this Chrestos could not have been Jesus as he would have been allegedly dead for 16
years in the year 49CE.

Regarding the above Morton Smith writes in his book.

The report that Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 41 because they were, 'at
the instigation of Chrestus, repeatedly rioting,' probably refers to some local
troublemaker." - Morton Smith, Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God? (1978)
p. 66.
Chrestos is a common greek name meaning ‘Slave’ wheres as Christos means anointed, though
phonetically they sound the same.

6. Origen (185 - 254CE) – An early Christian scholar, as well as theologian and a

distinguished father of the Christian church.

Origen gives is in his book Contra Celsum written in 248 C.E. and addressed to the Hellenes: ..
However, although not far from the truth, he says that these things happened to the
Judeans for killing James the Just, who was the brother of Jesus, called the Christ,
since they killed one who was so righteous.

The killing here referred to is that of James and not of Jesus.

There is a list of more than 20 historians who have not mentioned anything about Jesus. In
conclusion there is no unanimity in Historical sources about Jesus as well as his life. I would like
to suggest a point here; not a single Muslim source has been quoted in the above. All sources are
either Christian or early Roman historians.

The detailed account of Jesus’ life comes from the New Testament. At this juncture it is not wrong
to suggest that the purpose of the New Testament is evangelical, not historical.

The crucifixion of Jesus in the Gospels:

Though all the gospels, talk about the crucifixion and resurrection, the account of how it actually
happened, differs in all of them. The Crucifixion is present in the gospels, however It’s also
important to note, the event of the crucifixion and the resurrection, go against some very
important teachings of Jesus in his own words and also other prophesies regarding Jesus in the
Bible. Let us now examine those teachings..

Number 1 – The Prayer of Jesus

The Book of Hebrews Verse 7

he offered up prayers and petitions with
During the days of Jesus' life on earth,
loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and he
was heard because of his reverent submission.
If God heard his prayers, then It implies here that he would be saved from death. This literally is
a vindication of the muslim position that Jesus was raised up alive by God and was not crucified.

Number 2 – The Prophesy about Jesus

Psalm Chapter 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly
pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find
refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near
you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the
wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my
refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you; no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all
your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your
foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will
protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in
trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

The Gospel of Luke confirms the above is a prophesy about Jesus

Luke 4:10-11
10 For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you (Christ) to guard you
carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone.'"

The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4: 6 also confirms the above prophesy.

This is almost a verbatim prophesy of what was going to happen to Jesus. The angels were
supposed to guard him, and lift him up in his hands and make sure that even his foot did not hit
a stone. If Jesus indeed was crucified then, these prophesies were not fulfilled. If you consider
the verse number 16 above Jesus is supposed to have a long life. As per the Christian view, he
died at the age of 33. As per Islam he is still alive. Which one of the two views is a fulfillment of
the prophecy of a long life?

Number 3: A fundamental Issue

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say that Jesus was crucified on the cross. Yet
in the Acts we are given a radically different picture of the crucifixion..

Acts 5

29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather
than men.

30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 10

38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with
him.
39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in
Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree : 40 Him God raised up the
third day, and shewed him openly;

Acts 13

28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he
should be slain.
29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down
from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.30 But God raised him from the dead:

1 Peter 2

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;
but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare
our sins in his own body on the tree , that we, being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going
astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

In some parts of the bible it says that he was crucified on the cross and in other parts it says on
the tree. How can there be such a fundamental discrepancy in the scriptures about the
crucifixion, if it was indeed so important to the earliest of Christians.

Number 4 – A resurrected spirit

It is an acknowledged fact that of all the writings included in the New Testament, the 14 epistles
of Paul are the first books written in the order of chronology i.e. these books were written even
before the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Paul has no account of the crucifixion.
However he does talk about the resurrection.

Let us consider the following verses.

1 Corinthians Chapter Number 15

Verse 3
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures (Note: The scripture here refers to the orally transmitted
narrative and not written documents as his books were the first to be written and there was no
scripture written at that time other than the Old testament)

Verses 12 – 14
Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among
you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;

14
and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
(Note: There was no certainty of the resurrection as it was still being debated by people)

Verse 35
But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they
come?"

Verse 42 – 45

So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an

imperishable body;

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

In these verses, Paul is repeating the teachings of Jesus wherein Jesus said in Luke 20:35 - 36,
when the Jews came to him asking about the woman who had seven brothers as husbands and
which one of the brothers would have her in the resurrection. Jesus replies them..

Luke 20: 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

Luke 20:36 for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are
sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

It implies, the body after resurrection is an angelic spiritual body an immortal body which does
not requires the things that this body requires.. Food, shelter, rest..Etc, i.e. it’s a spiritualized
body like angels. Paul had not met Jesus, so we might assume he had heard about these
teachings from the other disciples.

As per his teachings, Jesus should have been resurrected with a spiritual body.

Let us now consider Luke 24:36 - 43

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to
them, "Peace to you!" (Shalom O Alaikum – The Jewish greeting)

But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not
have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you
anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate
before them.

Jesus says that a resurrected body is a spiritual body, whereas he is showing the disciples his
physical body. The belief in the resurrection is that Jesus was resurrected with his body. If this
were true, then Jesus would not have taught that the resurrected body is spiritualized. This
belief goes against the teachings of Jesus. The only way to solve this problem is , To accept
the above verses has Jesus telling his disciples and all people who would think that he was
resurrected, that he still has a un-crucified physical body by asking them to touch it. He still has
basic bodily functions like the need to eat.

Why were the disciples of Jesus scared in the first place?

The disciples “HAD HEARD” (Gospel of Mark 14:50 – they all forsook him and fled), that he was
crucified on the cross and that he had given up the ghost. As the disciples were not eye
witnesses, naturally when they saw him they were terrified, for they thought that they were
seeing a spiritualized Jesus i.e the spirit or a ghost. When they saw the physical body of Jesus,
they were joyous.

This brings us to the next question, Why did Paul believe that Jesus was Resurrected?

Acts 9 gives us the answer, about the vision he had about Jesus on the road to Damascus. This
was a spiritual experience. We can call this spiritual, for Jesus “appeared” to Mary, he
“appeared” to Cephas, he “appeared” to the 12, he “appeared” to the 500 and finally he
“appeared” to Paul, thus Paul concluded that Jesus was resurrected. Thus all the 14 books of Paul
are on the resurrected theme. Paul also had other reasons which we shall discuss a little later.

For now however, Jesus contradicts Paul, by asking the disciples to check his hands and bones.
This is confirmed in Acts 1:3

After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs
that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the
kingdom of God.

The word used is “alive” not resurrected. In every version of the bible the word used is “alive”,
there is no mention of resurrected. You might assume that I am playing with words over here as
the bible was not written with English. However, as in English, in the Greek language also there
are different words for “Alive” and a different word for “resurrected”. To reiterate the word used
is “alive”.

Number 5 – The Only miraculous sign

Jesus explicitly told the Jews that he would survive whatever they were going to do to him..

Matthew – 12 : 38 - 39

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to
see a miraculous sign from you."

He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But
none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth.
An important point before we go any further - Jesus by saying “the only sign” has, to use the
proverbial form of language – ‘put all his eggs in one basket’. If this prophesy is proved
wrong, then he is not the “messiah” and it was not required for the Jews to believe in him.

What was the sign of Jonah?

Everyone knows the story of Jonah. Lets recap it very briefly..

Jonah was sent as a messenger to preach to the Minnevites by God, however instead of going to
them, he was going to Jappa by Ship. In mid sea there was a storm and the sailors had this
superstition that they encountered a storm, when a servant was running away from the
command of his master. They questioned all the people and Jonah confessed to his folly, and
asked to been thrown overboard. The sailors did not believe him. They drew lots and finally found
out that it indeed was Jonah. Thus he was thrown overboard. However, he was gobbled up by a
fish. For three days and three nights the fish took him around the sea, and finally threw him on
the shore. So what is the sign here?

The theological view of the sign of Jonah is the time factor, Jesus being dead in the tomb for
three days. However Jesus does not say “three days” he explicitly says three days and three
nights. Since he was apparently crucified on Friday – the Jews were in a hurry to bury him
because the next day being Saturday(Sabbath) they were not allowed to do any kind of work. As
per the bible, they buried him on Friday (around later afternoon or early evening). Let us count
the days now for the time spent in the tomb- Friday (assume whole day), Friday (night),
Saturday (day), Saturday (night). ON Sunday morning when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb,
it was empty. Thus the count comes only to two days and two nights. Its not three days and
three nights, the prophesy remains unfulfilled if you take it as based on time.

An Alternative View:

When Jonah was thrown overboard was he Dead or Alive?

When the fish gobbled Jonah, was he Dead or Alive?

For three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, Was Jonah Dead or Alive?

When the fish threw Jonah on the shore, Was he Dead or Alive?

The bible gives the answers to all of the above questions as “Alive”. If he was not “Alive” in all
the four questions, then it was no miracle at all. The miracle is - inspite of being thrown in the
sea, gobbled up by a fish for three days and three nights, and being thrown on the shore, all
through Jonah was alive(not dead and not resurrected).

Let us Examine the words again “AS JONAH WAS for three days and three nights, SO SHALL
THE SON OF MAN BE”

How was Jonah? – He was Alive (Not dead and not resurrected).

If Jesus is saying the same sign as Jonah will be given, what do you think Jesus is referring to??
He is going to be ALIVE, because if he is dead then the sign is not like Jonah.
Jesus says he was Alive, the theologians, gospel writers (keep in mind that all of them do not
agree on the sequence of events) say he was dead. Who is speaking the truth, the theologians or
Jesus?

I WOULD TAKE THE WORDS OF THE MASTER, FOR JESUS SAID “THE SLAVE IS NOT
GREATER THAN THE MASTER”

Lawrence Brown writes in his book, the first and the final commandment writes,

It is of interest to note that when the tomb was visited on Sunday morning each of the
gospels describes Jesus as ‘risen’, which is hardly surprising given the fact that cold
rock slabs, unlike warm, wave suppressed waterbeds, don’t exactly invite a person to
sleep in. What is missing from the Bible, however, is the statement that Jesus was
resurrected. Jesus is reported to have said, “I came forth from the Father and have
come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28). But
where does Jesus say he would die and be resurrected in the process? The word
‘resurrected’ is nowhere to be found. ‘Risen from the dead’ is mentioned a handful of
times, but never from the lips of Jesus himself. (Lawrence Brown, The First and Final
Commandment, p. 211)

The Gospel of Mark was written very late, the crucifixion story did not exist before its
composition.

"The Four Gospels were unknown to the early Christian Fathers. Justin Martyr, the
most eminent of the early Fathers, wrote about the middle of the second century. His
writings in proof of the divinity of Christ demanded the use of these Gospels had they
existed in his time. He makes more than 300 quotations from the books of the Old
Testament, and nearly one hundred from the Apocryphal books of the New Testament;
but none from the four Gospels. (Tim C. Leedom, The Book Your Church Doesn’t Want You to
Read) [1]

In the Greek quarter of the city of Jerusalem is the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. In the library
attached is housed one of the most contested of all Christian documents. “The didicae” or “the
teaching” which was written for the earliest converts to Christianity, when the family of Jesus was
still alive. They see Jesus as a human character who was blessed by God. It contains the
teachings of the earliest church and some instructions about the proper form of worship. The
book does not contain any mention of the virgin birth, no mention of the resurrection and
absolutely no mention of Jesus as God. Infact the book does not contain a reference to Jesus as
God`s son, but it does contain a reference as His servant.

The Book of James is another such book which is supposed to be authored by the brother of
Jesus. For a pretty long time, it was contested, whether the book should be included in the bible
at all. This book does not contain the cross of Christ, there is no mention of Jesus as the savior
our Lord in heaven, there is no mention of the cross of Christ, neither of the blood of Jesus. The
book mentions Jesus as Lord and not Lord God, which suggests that he was viewed as more
Human than Divine.

Therefore we can conclude that the biblical sources though explicitly mention the crucifixion there
are some gross discrepancies in them.
The Islamic point of View

The Quran Says:

"That they(the jews) rejected Faith; That they uttered against Mary A grave
false charge; That they said (in boast): 'We killed Christ Jesus The son of
Mary, The Messenger of Allah.' But they killed him not, Nor crucified him, but
so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of
doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a
surety they killed him not. Nay, Allah raised him up Unto Himself; and Allah Is
Exalted in Power, Wise. And there is none of the people of the book (Jews and
Christians) But must believe in him (Jesus) Before his death; And on the Day of
Judgment He (Jesus) will be a witness Against them." – Quran 4:156-159

They over here refers to the Jews.

Let us emulate the similarities in between the Version in the Quran and the Version from the
bible..

1. The Quran does not deny the event of the crucifixion, yet it categorically says it was not
Jesus who was crucified
Psalm Chapter 91: 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment
of the wicked.
The apocalypse of Peter tells you how the Quranic version was fulfilled as you will see
below
2. Quran says he was not killed, Jesus says he is Alive
3. Quran says God raised him up unto himself, the Bible says in Psalm 9:12 they will lift
you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone

A majority of Islamic scholars have agreed to the view that Jesus was taken up alive by God to
the heavens and is waiting there to come back and rule the world. How did it actually happen?
Well the Quran is silent on it so are the Hadiths. However there are some other sources which
have a different view than the one in the bible.

A brief note on the Apocryphal books:

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not accepted as the official gospels until 325
CE until the council of Nicea. Prior to this, there were a lot of books which were in circulation.
Justin Martyr, one of the earliest of the Church fathers, quotes from these books which are called
as apocryphal, in his works, and not from the official Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
One of these apocryphal books is the “Apocalypse of Peter” written as early as 100 CE, even
before the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were adopted as official. In this, Peter gives
the account of what happened during the crucifixion..

When he had said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by them. And I said
"What do I see, O Lord? That it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are
grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing on the tree? And is it another one
whose feet and hands they are striking?"

The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the
living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly
part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in
his likeness. But look at him and me."

But I, when I had looked, said "Lord, no one is looking at you. Let us flee this place."

But he said to me, "I have told you, 'Leave the blind alone!'. And you, see how they do
not know what they are saying. For the son of their glory instead of my servant, they
have put to shame."

This is almost in the sync with the Quranic view of “an appearance” of the crucifixion taking
place. Which is a greater miracle, that Jesus was standing right in front of their eyes and they did
not see him and was saved from being crucified or that they took him like the other two robbers
and crucified him?
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apopet.html

However many other theories have been propounded by different people as to what could have
happened? Here are a few of them…

1. The Gospel of Barnabas says that it was Judas who had a striking resemblance to Jesus
who was crucified in his place, when Judas enters into the room to point Jesus out to the
soldiers, the roof burst open and 2 angels descended and took Jesus up with them. Judas
who had a striking resemblance to Jesus was mistaken by the Soldiers to be Jesus and
was taken and crucified.
2. The Gospel of Judas says something to the effect that there was a pact between Jesus and
him and Jesus had asked Judas to betray him.
3. The most interesting is the final one. There is another character, who was apparently
released by Pontius Pilate, at the time of crucifixion of Jesus, he was Barabas. His full
name was Jesus Barabas(Jesus was a fairly common name at the time). The Jesus was
omitted by the writers of the bible so as not to cause confusion, with Jesus. Now Jesus
Barabas was released by Pontius Pilate and Jesus “The King of the Jews” was crucified. Did
Jesus Christ Claim to be the King of the Jews?

Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’

Jesus denies being the King of the Jews therefore there was no reason for Pilate to crucify
him. Pilate then asks the people who they want to be released out of the two, Jesus
Barabas or “Jesus the King of the Jews”.
The people say “Give us Barabas”.
The word Barabas is not a name. It’s a Patronymic meaning derived from the name of
one's father. In eastern cultures a person is sometimes referred to with the name of his
father. Like the son of Harish would be ibn Harish in Arabic. Similarly Barabas means “the
son of the father”. So we have two Jesus’, one Jesus who was crucified for claiming to
be the King of the Jews and the other Jesus the son of the father who was released by
Pilate. The early Coptic church canonized Pontius Pilate as a saint, why would they do that
to a person who had allegedly crucified their “savior” unless he had him released.

So which one of them is the correct view of what actually happened?

Well we do not know for sure. All we can say is there is enough evidence to prove that Jesus
Christ was not crucified. If he was not crucified he was not resurrected.
In conclusion, if Jesus was resurrected with a physical body then it goes against his own
teachings, however if he was resurrected with a spiritual body it goes against the account of the
Gospel. It’s a classic cache 22 situation.

Finally be true to yourself and logically answer these questions

Can true salvation from God for mankind, be the punishment of someone who is
innocent from any of these crimes that WE have committed, and he is to be punished
as though he were guilty? Would God then be Just?

Does God need someone to suffer severe punishment for all of us, even though he was
trying, day after day to preach and guide people to be on the right path?
7. In your earlier answers, you have answered about the concept of the trinity
which even many christians do not believe in. If Jesus was not the son of God,
what power was it that made million of Christian / Catholics believe in this?
Could any person do this? Then that person should be one of the highest
influencers of all times as he has misled so many following something he
taught only as an ordinary human being. Who is responsible for this?

Two, neo believers were responsible. Firstly Paul, a Jew who had never met Jesus in his life, but
apparently had a vision of him. However, what Paul started ended with the council of Nicea (325
CE) as the official doctrine with the Pagan (at best a new Christian) emperor Constantine.

Lets Begin with how contemporary scholars view Paul?

“If Christianity needed an Anti-Christ, they need look no further than Paul” -- The
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

“We have already noted that every teaching of Jesus was already in the literature of
the day….. Paul, the founder of Christianity, the writer of half the NT, almost never
quotes Jesus in his letters and writings." (Professor Smith in his “The World Religions”, p
330)

“Paul created a theology of which none but the vaguest warrants can be found in the
words of Christ…..Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ.” --Will Durant
(Philosopher)

"Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul- a vast difference."
--Bishop John S. Spong, Episcopal Bishop of Newark. (Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism,
p. 104, Harper San Francisco, 1991)

"Paul insists that there is only one 'gospel of Christ' (Galatians 1:7), so why did later
Christians accept as 'Scripture' four written gospels?" --Graham N. Stanton, “The Gospels
and Jesus”, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), p.125

"Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." (Thomas
Jefferson, The Great Thoughts by George Sildes, Ballantine Books, New York, 1985, p.208)

"Where possible he (Paul) avoids quoting the teaching of Jesus, in fact even
mentioning it. If we had to rely on Paul, we should not know that Jesus taught in
parables, had delivered the sermon on the mount, and had taught His disciples the 'Our
Father.' Even where they are specially relevant, Paul passes over the words of the
Lord." (Albert Schweitzer, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle, p. 171)

"What kind of authority can there be for an 'apostle' who, unlike the other apostles,
had never been prepared for the apostolic office in Jesus' own school but had only later
dared to claim the apostolic office on the basis on his own authority? The only question
comes to be how the apostle Paul appears in his Epistles to be so indifferent to the
historical facts of the life of Jesus....He bears himself but little like a disciple who has
received the doctrines and the principles which he preaches from the Master whose
name he bears." (Ferdinand Christian Baur, Church History of the First Three Centuries)
"Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity as a new religion which developed away
from both normal Judaism and the Nazarene variety of Judaism." (Hyam Maccoby, Paul: The
Mythmaker and the Invention of Chrisianity, p. 16)

"No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on
its legs again in the name of Jesus." (George Bernard Shaw)

"Paul did not desire to know Christ. Paul shows us with what complete indifference the earthly life
of Jesus was regarded.... What is the significance for our faith and for our religious life, the fact
that the Gospel of Paul is different from the Gospel of Jesus? The attitude which Paul himself
takes up towards the Gospel of Jesus is that he does not repeat it in the words of Jesus, and does
not appeal to its authority.... The fateful thing is that the Greek, the Catholic, and the
Protestant theologies all contain the Gospel of Paul in a form which does not continue
the Gospel of Jesus, but displaces it."(The Quest for the Historical Jesus, Albert Schweitzer,)

“There is not one word of Pauline Christianity in the characteristic utterances of

Jesus.... There has really never been a more monstrous imposition perpetrated than the
imposition of Paul’s soul upon the soul of Jesus.... It is now easy to understand how
the Christianity of Jesus... was suppressed by the police and the Church, while
Paulinism overran the whole western civilized world, which was at that time the Roman
Empire, and was adopted by it as its official faith.” (George Bernard Shaw, Androcles and
the Lion)

“Paul abolished the Law, which was followed and preached by Jesus (pbuh), and
corrupted the whole religion, giving it a new form. The main ambition behind all this
was, in his own words, “to win a larger number” of followers; the followers of a new
religion “the Pauline Christianity”. (Dr. Roshan Enam, Follow Jesus or Follow Paul, p. 69)

“From the time Jesus left earth to the second half of the Second century, there was a
struggle between two factions. One was what one might call Pauline Christianity and
the other Judeo Christianity. It was only very slowly that the first supplanted the
second, and Pauline Christianity triumphed over Judeo Christianity”. (Dr. Maurice
Bucaille, The Bible, The Quran, and Science, p. 67)

The Ebionites were stigmatized by the Church as heretics who failed to understand that Jesus
was a divine person and asserted instead that he was a human being who came to inaugurate a
new earthly age, as prophesied by the Jewish prophets of the Bible. Moreover, the Ebionites
refused to accept the Church doctrine, derived from Paul, that Jesus abolished or abrogated the
Torah, the Jewish law. Instead, the Ebionites observed the Jewish law and regarded themselves
as Jews. The Ebionites were not heretics, as the Church asserted, nor 're-Judaizers', as
modern scholars call them, but the authentic successors of the immediate disciples and
followers of Jesus, whose views and doctrines they faithfully transmitted, believing
correctly that they were derived from Jesus himself. They were the same group that had
earlier been called the Nazarenes, who were led by James and Peter, who had known Jesus
during his lifetime, and were in a far better position to know his aims than Paul, who met Jesus
only in dreams and visions. Thus the opinion held by the Ebionites about Paul is of extraordinary
interest and deserves respectful consideration, instead of dismissal as 'scurrilous' propaganda --
the reaction of Christian scholars from ancient to modern times. (Hyam Maccoby, The Myth
Maker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity)

"Let the reader contrast the true Christian standard with that of Paul and he will see the terrible
betrayal of all that the Master taught.... For the surest way to betray a great
Teacher is to misrepresent his message.... That is what Paul and his
followers did, and because the Church has followed Paul in his error it
has failed lamentably to redeem the world.... The teachings given by the
blessed Master Christ, which the disciples John and Peter and James, the brother of the
Master, tried in vain to defend and preserve intact were as utterly opposed to the
Pauline Gospel as the light is opposed to the darkness."(Rev. V.A. Holmes-Gore: Christ
or Paul?)

John H. Randall, emeritus professor of philosophy at Columbia University, has asserted:

"Christianity, at the hands of Paul, became a mystical system of redemption, much like
the cult of Isis, and the other sacramental or mystery religions of the day"

What was it, that Paul invented?

The epistles of Paul were the first books of the New Testament which were written, as Paul was
literate. As he was not a disciple (he had never met the Christ in his life, he “apparently” had a
vision where Jesus asked him to be his apostle) he started preaching. However in his preaching
he borrowed heavily from Pagan religions like the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks etc. This is as
mentioned in the book of Acts

Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile
worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then
certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does
this babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to

them Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:17-18)

The theme that Paul adopted was the resurrection of Jesus. Why did the (Jews and Epicureans
who were gentiles) feel that this theme was proclamation of foreign gods? We will get to this
discussion in sometime.

Paul Admits to Trickery and Craftiness:

2 Corinthians 12:16

16
Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I
caught you by trickery!

Romans 3:7

7
For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am
I also judged as a sinner?

Is Paul admitting to trickery and lies here, and yet half of the books of the New Testament
written by him are accepted?
Jesus was only for the Jews:

Matthew Chapter 10:5-6

5
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of
the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus explicitly said that his mission was only for the children of Israel, and he did not
want to heal a gentile, but eventually he relents and heals her.

Matthew Chapter 15:22-29

22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed
with a devil.
23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying,
Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.
25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it
to dogs.
27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their
masters' table.
28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
29And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went
up into a mountain, and sat down there.

The woman worships Jesus here is not to be taken literally for the following reasons..

1. To worship means to fall on the face, and this is quite common in rural cultures where
people fall on the feet of people to make them agree to something
2. She was a pagan and as such was used to such form of worship. Even if she worshipped
Jesus, it does not make a difference as she was not a Jew
3. Jesus does not go explicitly to heal her as he went for Lazarus, Jesus’ heart melts and he
heals her from afar still maintaining the criteria that he was not sent to the gentiles.

The point here is Jesus was very clear, that he was not sent to the gentiles and as such his
disciples should also not preach to the Gentiles. Paul changed this fundamental teaching of Jesus
on its head in his own words..

1 Corinthians 9

19
For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I
might gain the more.
20
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are
under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21
To them that are without law, as without law, that I might gain them
that are without law.
22
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to
all men, that I might by all means save some.

It’s still fine if he was preaching to the Gentiles, but when he was with them, he became as them.
This is where the corruption of the words of Jesus started. He adopted Pagan myths and tried to
make them a part of the teachings of Jesus. Paul was a very practical person and in that all he
wanted was converts and he didn’t care how he got them.

Today its very difficult to convince Christians there is no trinity. How much more so would it be to
teach the gentiles about “One God”, who had a whole plethora of gods. They had elaborate
mythological stories about them, Paul in order to gain converts adopted those stories into the
person of Jesus into his preaching. As a result, there are uncanny similarities, in between the
pagan gods, Osiris, Horus, Dionsys, Mithras and Paul’s version of Jesus.

A simple example to start. When was Jesus born? December 25th.

Palestine is very cold in December. It was much too cold to ask everyone to travel to the city of
their fathers to register for taxes. As per the Gospel of Luke, at the time of the birth of Jesus,

8
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night.

The climate of Bethlehem for the greater part of the year is pleasant. Winter lasts for
three months, from mid-December to mid-March, and can be severe. – A quote
from the official website of the city of Bethlehem

-http://www.bethlehem-city.org/English/TempVewMenuSub.php?SubID=14

Shepherds were not in the fields in the winter time as its very cold i.e. December and it’s much
too cold to ask people to go their cities for collection of taxes as well. Shepherds are in the fields
from late March until early October. This would place Jesus' birth in the spring or early fall and
not December. In the gospels, do you find the apostles or the disciples celebrating the birthday of
Christ on December 25th? Then whose birthday is December 25th, which falls just after the winter
solstice. It’s of the Pagan god, Mithras. The international encyclopedia states the following about
the worship of Mithras

…The rituals, highly secret and restricted to men only, included many of the
sacramental forms common to the mystery religions (e.g., baptism and the sacred
banquet). Mithraism, which bore many similarities to Christianity, declined rapidly in
the late 3d cent. AD. Why did it decline around this time? We will discuss this later.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Mithra.aspx.

As per a documentary film, in which Lindsay Allison Jones, the director of the museum of
antiquities/archaeological museums, at the University of New castle – “The worship of Mithras
was fairly common during the early roman empire and archeological ruins of temples for Mithras
are to be found from London upto the Hadrian’s wall in England.” The remains of an intact
Mithraic temple were unearthed in England. I have added screen shots from the video.
The Temple of Mithras
The Altars in the temple of Mithras

As per Lindsay Allison Jones

1. Mithras was seen as a saviour god. He was commanded by a major god the Sun to kill the
primeval bull and release life, thus he was also known as the giver of Life.
2. Mithras offered his followers Life after death by redeeming their souls.
3. The followers of Mithras used to have true meals, which were consisting of bread and
wine.

The early Christian fathers were infuriated by this religion, because they thought that Mithraism
was trying to copy from Christianity. However, Mithraism pre-dated Christianity by at least 500
years.

"The disciples of Mithra formed an organized church, with a developed hierarchy. They
possessed the ideas of Mediation, Atonement, and a Savior, who is human and yet
divine, and not only the idea, but a doctrine of the future life. They had a Eucharist, and
a Baptism, and other curious analogies might be pointed out between their system and
the church of Christ - Reverend Charles Biggs - The Christian Platonists, p. 240.
An inscription to Mithras reads: "He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that
he will be made on with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation."

In John 6:53-54, Jesus is said to have repeated this theme: "...Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." J. Goodwin, "Mystery Religions of
the Ancient World," Thames & Hudson, (1981), Page 28. Quoted in Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy,
"The Jesus Mysteries: Was the 'Original Jesus' a Pagan God?" Acacia Press, (1999), Page 49.

Osiris : Osiris was an Egyptian God. The following are 2 quotes about Osiris from the Egyptian
book of the dead. The Egyptian book of the dead was written over a period of 4500 years and
was completed more than 600 years before Jesus.

When the Osiris of a man has entered into heaven as a living soul, he is regarded as
one of those who have eaten the eye of Horus he walks among living ones, he becomes
"God, the son of God,"

Osiris takes upon himself "all that is hateful" in the dead : that is, he adopts the burden
of his sins; and the dead is purified by the typical sprinkling of water.

Horus the son of Osiris also has a number of similarities with Jesus.

There are more quotes, in the Egyptian book of the dead, however I am not going into any more
of the details as its disrespectful to Jesus to be compared to mythical gods.

The point is that in the ancient world there were more than half a dozen saviors who were born
were crucified and resurrected, which teaching Paul adapted to make his message more
acceptable to the gentiles. Infact a book was written with the Name “The worlds 16
resurrected saviours”.

Why didn’t disciples/apostles refute Paul?

A majority of the books of the New Testament are written by Paul. The following is a
chronological list of the books of the New Testament and the authors.

NT Book Date Authored Author

James, Jesus' half-
James Mid-40s brother
1 Thessalonians 50-51 Paul
2 Thessalonians 50-51 Paul
Galatians 55 Paul
1 Corinthians 55 Paul
2 Corinthians 56 Paul
Romans 57 Paul
Late 50's - Early
Mark 60's John Mark
Late 50s-early
Matthew 60s Matthew
Philemon 61-62 Paul
Colossians 61-62 Paul
Ephesians 61-62 Paul
Luke 62 Luke
Acts 62 Luke
Philippians 62 Paul
1 Timothy 63-64 Paul
Titus 63-64 Paul
1 Peter 63-64 Peter
2 Peter 65 Peter
2 Timothy 65 Paul
Hebrews 68 Unknown
Late 60's - early Jude, Jesus' half-
Jude 70's brother
Late 80s-early
John 90s John
Late 80s-early
1 John 90s John
Late 80s-early
2 John 90s John
Late 80s-early
3 John 90s John
Late 80s-early
Revelation 90s John

For the first 30 years after Jesus the major writer of the New Testament is Paul. However the
epistle of James was written before Paul started his writings, If you open the book of James,
What does it mention about Jesus? Except for mentioning Jesus, the whole epistle talks about
God Almighty. There is no crucifixion, no resurrection which is the dominant theme in all of Paul’s
writings. Here begins the corruption of Paul and for almost 10 years his are the only books which
are included in the current New Testament, thus he had enough time. This however does not
mean that other apostles did not write anything, however their books were not included in the
New Testament, because they were thought to be apocrypha - “doubtful authenticity”.

How then do you say that the books of a man who never met Jesus are authentic, whereas of
those who Jesus himself chose as his disciples are apocrypha?

Jude was the brother of Jesus, he wrote an epistle in which he cautioned about certain people
without authority who were corrupting the teachings of Jesus..

The epistle of Jude

1:3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common
salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

1:4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and
deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (A clear distinction between God
Almighty and Jesus is made here)

1:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved
the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
1:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know
naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error
of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

1:15 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying,
"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all,
to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have
committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have
spoken against Him."

This can be a prophesy regarding Prophet Muhammad – When he entered the Holy city of Mecca,
he was at the head of an army of 10,000 Muslims. This was 2 years before his death, and almost
a major portion of the Quran had been revealed by then i.e. the major principles of the faith had
been laid down. Thus, using these men i.e., the Muslims, God almighty was going to show his
true teachings about Himself as well as Jesus. However, this is my personal opinion.

1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they
mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

1:17 But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the
apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; that they said to you, In the last time there shall be
mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.

1:19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

1:24, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Saviour, Who alone is
wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power; Both now and forever. Amen.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/307432/Letter-of-Jude - Encyclopedia Brittanica

Jude is not talking about outsiders, he is talking about people among them.

The logic when the New Testament was formulated was the assumption that the teachings of Paul
were correct and all other teachings(James/Jude) which went against Paul’s teachings were
heretic. Thus Jesus became the Son of God and God himself.

The following were the disciples or apostles of Christ,

2
These are the names of the twelve apostles:

first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew;

James son of Zebedee,
and his brother John;
3
Philip
and Bartholomew;
Thomas
and Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus;
4
Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

There are no apostles named Mark and Luke? Why are the gospels of Mark and Luke considered
authentic whereas the books of the apostles like Gospel of Thomas and the apocalypse of Peter
considered apocrypha(of doubtful authenticity). Further the Gospel of Matthew refers to
Matthew in third person (Jesus came and saw Matthew, if the apostle Matthew was actually
writing it, he would have said Jesus came and saw me) which raises doubts about whether the
Gospel of Matthew can actually be attributed to the disciple Matthew.

When there are books written by very minor prophets in the bible, why is there no book
which is written by Jesus himself?

Why did the Gentiles and not the Jews accept what Paul taught?

The Gentiles already knew the stories of dying and rising gods before Paul came to them, When
Paul came to them he was only recycling the legends of their Mystery Religions. The Jews totally
rejected this philosophy as that was the highest kind of blasphemy for them. As a result, today
we find that the Jews still claim Jesus was a false prophet, which is mainly due to these teachings
of Paul.

The Council of Nicea:

The teachings of Paul were officially adopted by the Council of Nicea. The council of Nicea was
called by Emperor Constantine supposedly the “the Great”, a relatively new convert to
Christianity. The aim of the council of Nicea was to decide in between two different doctrines
which were circulating during that time.

One School of thought held the view that Jesus was the son of God, therefore he was
God himself, the same substance as the father – Paul’s school of thought
The second school of thought lead by Arius held that, since had a definite beginning
and an apparent end, he was not God, this was referred to as Arianism.

Finally Pauls school of thought, with the blessings of a Pagan emperor, won the day. A doctrine
was proposed which was called as the Nicene Creed which is followed by the churches to this day.
In which the explanation of how Jesus was divine yet human was adopted.

It is given high importance in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental
Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Old
Catholic Church and its offshoots, the Lutheran Church, the Anglican Communion, and almost all
branches of Protestantism, including the Reformed churches, the Presbyterian Church, and the
Methodist Church.

The Nicene Creed of 325 CE described Jesus as follows.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-
begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of
very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father
Jesus as defined by the First Council of Constantinople

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father
before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;

This is the official creed of the Christian Church to this day.

The Egyptian book of the Dead describes Osiris as follows

Osiris called "the king of eternity, the lord of everlastingness, who traverseth millions
of years in the duration of his life, the firstborn son of the womb of Nut, begotten of
Seb, the prince of gods and men, the god of gods, the king of kings, the lord of lords,
the prince of princes, the king of the world, from the womb of Nut, whose existence is
foreverlasting,[1] Unnefer of many forms and of many attributes, Tmu in Annu, the lord
of Akert, theonly one, the lord of the land on each side of the celestial Nile."

It can be alleged that the Egyptian book of the dead copied the description of Jesus, but the book
of the dead was completed in 664 BC and the above words were written during the time of the
18th or 19th dynasty of Egypt which ruled from 1293 – 1188 BC a thousand years before Jesus. If
you need the copy of the Egyptian Book of the dead, to verify the above, please do email me.

Osiris was supposed to been killed by his brother Seth and had been resurrected from the dead.

The trinity comes into being:

Historically, the concept of the trinity was only adopted after the Council of Nicea in 325 CE and it
was called as Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed adopted a concept of 3 Gods in one as the official
God head.

Role of Constantine:

Constantine on the other hand had a problem on his hands. Another faith was extremely popular
in the Roman Empire at that time and that was Mithraism, which was the worship of a
mythological god Mithras (who was the son of the Sun god) and the Cult of “Sol Invictus” or the
“Unconquered Sun”. This religion was followed mainly by the Roman Army and as such had
extremely powerful adherents. Thus, Constantine made the official religion of the Roman Empire
as the Nicene Creed or Pauline Christianity, and changed the day of worship from
Saturday(The Jewish Sabbath Day which Jesus followed to Sunday) which was the day of Sun
worship for the followers of Mithras and those of the Sol Invictus.

Jesus as a Jew had said “if you want to achieve eternal life, keep the commandments”. One of
the Commandments is the observance of the Sabbath day. Thus Jesus, would have observed the
Sabbath himself. However Constantine reasoned since Jesus apparently was resurrected on
Sunday that should be the holy day. This was in completely against the teachings of Jesus.

Following are the verses from the Bible which explicitly go against the Trinitarian
concept and Jesus as God.

Exodus 33:20, John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16 - No one saw God.

Isaiah 42:8 - Do not praise and worship images.
Isaiah 45:1 - "Anointed" does not mean "God".
Matthew 14:23, 19:13, 26:39, 27:46, 26:42-44 - Jesus prayed.
Matthew 24:36 - Jesus was not all-knowing.
Matthew 26:39 - Jesus and God had different wills.
Matthew 28:18 - All power was given to Jesus.
Mark 1:35, 6:46, 14:35-36 - Jesus prayed.
Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18-19 - Jesus denied divinity.
Mark 12:28-29 - God is one.
Mark 13:32 - Jesus was not all-knowing.
Mark 16:19 and Luke 22:69 - Jesus at the right hand of God.
Luke 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 9:28, 11:1-4, 22:41 - Jesus prayed.
Luke 4:18, 9:48, 10:16 - Jesus was from God.
Luke 7:16, 13:33, 24:18-19 - Jesus was a prophet.
Luke 10:21 - Jesus gave thanks.
Luke 23:46 - The spirit of Jesus was commended to God.
John 4:19 - Jesus was a prophet.
John 4:23-24 - Worship in spirit and truth.
John 14:28 - One was greater than the other.
John 5:19, 5:30, 7:28, 8:28 - Jesus was helpless.
John 5:20 - The Father showed the son.
John 5:30 and 6:38 - Jesus and God had different wills.
John 5:31-32 - Jesus' witness was not true.
John 6:11 and 11:41-42 - Jesus gave thanks.
John 6:32 - The Father was the provider, not the son.
John 7:29, 16:5, 16:28 - Jesus was from God.
John 7:16, 12:49, 14:24, 17:14 - Jesus' words were not his.
John 8:42 - Jesus did not come of himself.
John 10:29 - "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all."
John 14:1 - Jesus said, "...believe also in me."
John 14:16, 17:1, 17:9, 17:11, 17:15 - Jesus prayed.
John 14:31 and 15:10 - Jesus followed commands.
John 17:6-8 - "I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me."
John 20:17 - Jesus had a god.
Acts 2:22 - Jesus was "a man approved of God."
Romans 8:34 - Jesus was an intercessor.
1 Timothy 2:5 - Jesus was the mediator between God and humans.

Finally let us see the reaction of Jesus to the people who call him God and go to him on the day
of judgement,

Gospel of Matthew, 7:22 - 28,

21"Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works(miracles) in your name?'
23And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
24"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise
man who built his house upon the rock;
25and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house,
but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a
foolish man who built his house upon the sand;
27and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
28And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

A friend always used to tell me, if Jesus is not God how do miracles happen in his name. Well
Jesus is answering it himself here. When people go to Jesus on the Day of Judgment claiming him
to be God, he will tell them I don’t even know you. GET LOST. A Question arises here which you
can ask me, if Muslims think that the Bible is so wrong, why are you quoting from it? God,
wanted someone at least to speak the truth for Jesus, that’s why how much ever the Pauls of this
world tried to corrupt it, God saved some parts of Jesus’ actual words in the bible. Even today
people are trying to change the Bible. A simple example I will put down..

King James Version New International Version

37 37
If I do not the works of my Father, Do not believe me unless I do what my
believe me not. Father does.

The King James Version has Jesus telling us that if he is not doing Gods work, then people should
not believe him, however the meaning that you get from the International Version is, he can do
whatever God does. A radical difference in idea.

Secondly, I cannot talk to Christians unless I can show them something from the bible, they
would not believe the Quran.

A similar sentiment to where Jesus is going to tell people to “GET LOST” is conveyed in the Quran
Surah Al Maidah Chapter 5 Verse 116, on the day of judgment God will ask Jesus,

And when God said, 'O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say unto men, "Take me and
my mother as gods, apart from God"? He said, 'To you be glory! It is not mine
to say what I have no right to. If I indeed said it, you would have known it,
knowing what is within my heart, though I do not know your knowledge; you
know the things unseen. I only said to them what you did command me: "Serve
God, my God and your God."

There is a verse in the Quran (Surah Al-Imran 3:110 -111) which always used to make me
wonder, Why it was so strict against the Jews and the Christians

To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: To Him do all matters
go back (for decision).
Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right,
forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the
Book(Jews and Christians) had faith, it were best for them: among them are
some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.

It is so strict because the Jews rejected Jesus as the messiah and the Christians adopted
“Paulism” and not what Jesus taught.
However, God is All forgiving, most merciful He also says in Surah Az-Zumar (39:53)
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning],
do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it
is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

The only mortal sin according to Islam is to assign partners to God, this is the reason we say that
when someone comes to Islam, He becomes sinless.

Surah An-Nisa (4:110)

If any one does evil or wrongs his own soul but afterwards seeks Allah's
forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah Al Maidah (5:3)

…. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion;
so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion
and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.

Surah Al Imran (3:85)

And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted
from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.
8.You mentioned that during the time of Jesus the Jews were waiting for 3
prophets. One John the Baptist, Second Jesus, Third the prophet for whole of
mankind. Where has this been mentioned?

Gospel of John Chapter 1:20

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him,

‘Who are you?’

He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ Messiah is
prophet number 1

And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ (Prophet like Elijah from the old
testament is number 2)

He said, ‘I am not.’

‘Are you the prophet? [in some translations – “Are you that prophet?”] (“The prophet” is
prophet number 3)

’ He answered, ‘No.’

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you
baptizing if you are neither the Messiaha1, nor Elijaha2, nor the propheta3?’

Why were these questions asked?

According to the jewish scholars of that time, there were three prophets who the jews were
waiting for..
1. a prophet like Elijah – John the Baptist
2. a messiah for the Jews who would establish a kingdom for them – Jesus Christ
3. “the prophet” or “that prophet” who was to bring a message for the whole of mankind –
Prophet Muhammad as prophesized in The Book of Deuteronomy 18:18.

This was a practice followed by all the prophets. They gave the information of the prophet who
was to come immediately after them. Thus, you have John the Baptist prophesizing about Jesus.
Similarly, Jesus prophesized about the “Another Comforter” who was to come after him. This
comforter was Prophet Muhammad.

However Christian Scholars do not agree to this. They hold the view that only 2 questions are
asked over here.

I would like to give an example here. I ask you..

Are you an SAP SD consultant?

You reply – No
Are you an SAP FI consultant?
You reply – No
Now I only want to know if you are an SAP Consultant.. So what will I ask you..
Are you an SAP consultant? I will not ask you “Are you ‘the’ SAP consultant?” Similarly the
question should have been “Are you a prophet”, not “Are you the prophet”? Some scholars have
translated it to be “Are you that prophet?”

The prophet or That prophet means specific knowledge about a prophet which they knew and
waiting for.
9. ON what basis do Muslims refer to Jesus as a muslim when, Jesus himself
never referred to himself as that?

Islam is derived from the root word “Salaam” in Arabic “Shalom” in Hebrew which means peace.
However the meaning of Islam is peace obtained by Submitting of your will to the will of the
Creator. Anyone who does this is a Muslim i.e he has submitted his will to the Creator.
Now let us search in the bible if Jesus Christ(PBUH) said that I have submitted my will to the will
God..

The Gospel of John 5: 30

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just ;
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the One which hath
sent me.

Jesus is saying in as many words that he is a Muslim. Need we say more or give an explanation
of the above verse?

10. When Jesus comes back why do muslims say he will join the muslims and
not the christians, as there are more christians in this world, wont he go with
the christians?

Jesus will go with the people who seek to implement the will of God in their lives. If after all the
answers I have given, if you still need a detailed answer, do tell me.
11. Why is it if i revert to Islam i can never marry a Hindu, Christian or anyone
else. Why should I only marry a muslim?
Answer
As per Islam, if God wills he will forgive any sins of a person except one, which will not be
forgiven under any circumstances and that is “Shirk” i.e. the sin of assigning partners to him i.e
to worship anyone other than or Along with him.

2 of the ten commandments also echo a similar sentiment

Hear O Israel, your God is ONE God

Thou shall not take for yourself any other Gods besides Me of anything of the likeness
in the heaven above, the earth below or the water below the earth. Thou shall not
serve them nor honour them.

The Vedas also have a similar theme

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"
"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."

All religions came from the same source until Man for his ulterior motives changed
them to suit himself.

A Muslim man can marry a Christian or a Jew. However, he cannot marry women of any other
faith. Also permission to marry a Christian or a Jew is not blanket permission. He has to ensure
that the woman he marries from among the Christians or the Jews is chaste and God fearing and
he does not indulge in any act during his wedding which will make him assign partners to Allah,
either explicitly or implicitly.

Islam does not differentiate in between mankind on the basis of caste, creed or colour. It may
seem that the above it is indeed a differentiation based on religion, however, in his final sermon
the prophet Muhammad(PBUH) made it clear “A white man does not have superiority over a
black man neither does a black man have superiority over a white man, an Arab does not have
superiority over an non arab, neither does a non arab have superiority over an Arab except
through piety”.
Piety comes by following the commandments of God Almighty as He wants you to follow them,
not as you choose to follow them. Therefore as per Islam, Muslims are expected to follow the
commandments of God to the full degree and Jews do not assign partners to God as well as
Christians though have a concept of trinity yet they do believe in God as God the father. These
faiths have some essence of the original message revealed to them by God. Thus marriage is
allowed for a muslim man with a Christian or Jewish woman. However since other faiths have
moved so far away from the original message you will end up only in disagreements when you
marry people in those faiths.
In order of piety, God puts people who follow pure monotheism on top, for they are the people
who do not assign partners to God. Thus people who worship other Gods than God Almighty are
lower down in the order which disqualifies them for marriage with a Muslim.

Next Question will be why only men are allowed to marry?

When a man marries a non Muslim(Christian and Jew), the girl will come to live with him in an
Islamic environment. If the man is indeed pious, lives by the Islamic principles, it is likely that his
wife will see the truth and revert to Islam. However if a girl marries a non Muslim, she will go to
live in a non-Muslim environment, where she might be forced to change from Islam to her
husbands religion, which is detrimental to her.
Under no circumstances does Islam allow forced reversion, i.e Man forcing the woman he marries
to accept Islam. When anyone reverts, the only reason accepted is to please God Almighty.
Accepting Islam has to come from the person, from the heart. It has to come with the guidance
of God.
12. What about Hinduism, are there some reference from the holy books of
Hinduism which reflect Quranic sentiments of monoethism?
Answer:

Oh yes, there are a lot of similarities between Hinduism and Islam. I have provided them below..

The Gayatri Mantra

Aum Bhur Bhuvah Swah, Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi, Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat

Oh God, the Protector, the basis of all life, Who is self-existent, Who is free from all pains and
Whose contact frees the soul from all troubles, Who pervades the Universe and sustains all, the
Creator and Energizer of the whole Universe, the Giver of happiness, Who is worthy of
acceptance, the most excellent, Who is Pure and the Purifier of all, let us embrace that very God,
so that He may direct our mental faculties in the right direction.

There is no difference in between the Islamic concept of God and that as mentioned in the
Gayatri Mantra. All the attributes which are assigned to God in the gayatri mantra are also
present in the Quran.

The Worship:

One of the types of Prayers in Hinduism is 'Shashtang'

There are various different types of prayers and modes of worship in Hinduism. One of the types
is ‘shashtang’. The word ‘shashtang’ is made up of ‘Sa’ and ‘Asht’ which means eight and ‘Ang’
which means ‘parts of the body’. Thus, shastang is a mode of worship touching eight parts of the
body. The best way a person can do this is like Muslims who prostrate in their worship touching
their forehead, nose, two hands, two knees, and two feet.

Worship of other gods:

It is mentioned in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 verse 20:

“Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires they worship demigods.
(Bhagavad Gita 7:20)

It is mentioned in Svetashvatara Upanishad chapter 4 verse 19

“There is no image of Him”

Similar to the last verse of Surah Ikhlas – There is nothing unto like him

It is mentioned in Yajurved Chapter 32 Verse 3

“There is no image of Him”

(Yajurved 32:3)
Yajurveda Chapter 40 verse 9

“They enter darkness those who worship natural things (for e.g. air, water, fire, etc.).
They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti i.e. created things (for e.g.
table, chair, car, idol etc.)
(Yajurved 40:9)

Fasting in Hinduism

In Islam fasting is mandatory for a month. There are different types and methods of fasting in
Hinduism. According to Manusmriti Chapter 6 verse 24. Fasting has been prescribed for a month
for purification. (Manusmriti edited by Dr. R. N. Sharma).

Fasting has also been prescribed in

Manusmriti chapter 4 verse 222
Manusmriti chapter 11 verse 204

Pilgrimage in Hinduism

In Islam, the holiest of Pilgrimage is the one which is to the city of Mecca. There are various
places of pilgrimage in Hinduism. One of the sacred places mentioned in

Rigved, Bk. 3 hymn 29 verse 4 says “Ilayspad, which is situated at Nabha prithvi.”

‘Ila’ means God or Allah, and ‘spad’ means place, therefore Ilaspad means place of God. Nabha
means center and prathvi mean earth. Thus this verse of the Veda prescribes pilgrimage to a
place of God situated at the center of the earth. Sanskrit-English dictionary by M. Monier Williams
(Edition 2002) states that Ilaspad is “Name of a Tirtha” i.e. place of Pilgrimage – however its
location is not known. Take a map, and check the location of the city of Mecca, you will see its
almost at the centre of the landmass in the map.
13. When the Quran talks about Obama becoming president of US or UAE
building the tallest buildings on the earth why dont muslims tell the whole
world this?

The Quran does not talk about either of them; these prophecies are in the Hadith. I can spend a
whole lifetime, trying to convince you, however if you decide that you don’t want to be
convinced, come what may, whatever is shown to you, you will still be in doubt.

“A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still”. Muslims try to tell people all this,
however its God who has to open their hearts and minds to accept the truth.

The truth is always apparent and obvious, its eloquent and visible to the true seeker of truth. But
when a person keeps on rejecting, The Quran says God will put a seal on their hearts and then
even though they have sight they don’t see, even though they have hearing they don’t hear and
even though they have speech they cannot speak. This happens when people are so biased with
their own perspective that they just don’t want to see. This is true for a majority of the world.

Islam teaches its followers to question and when you question you get answers and this should
be true for everyone.

My own example, though being born in a decently practicing Muslim family, I did not believe in
God at all. The first step of questioning was accomplished here for I was questioning the very
existence of the Creator. Then God guided me to the scientific verses from the Quran, I actually
came to believe that this was indeed a message from some supreme being. I am far from being
an ideal muslim, but I do believe that God appreciates the effort that I put in to follow his
commandments.
14. What would you answer people who say the following against Islam..

a. Islamic laws are barbaric

“The Utility of a law can be gauged by its effectiveness”

Islamic laws are formed on two basis

a. The supreme purpose of the law is to free the human from the grip of his own whims and
fancies so that he may be a servant of God by choice just as he is His servant without choice
b. Unlike other laws which seek to punish, the Islamic Shariat is proactive in nature where it
seeks to promote abstinence, that is what makes the laws so strict and in your worlds “Barbaric”.

Now lets examine, the effectiveness –

Facts for the effectiveness
Murder:
Saudi Arabia has the second lowest per capita murder rate in the world of 0.0037 per 1000
people. The lowest per capita murder rate is Qatar 0.0011 per 1000 people. If it was not for the
Sharia punishment of blood for blood, would you think this would be possible?
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
Rapes:
Saudi Arabia has the lowest 0.003 per 1000, followed by Azerbaijan, Yemen and Indonesia - All
Muslim countries.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
Drug offenses:
Indonesia has the lowest drug offense rate in the world and in Saudi Arabia has a rate of 0 as
consumption and carrying of drugs are punishable by death. In contrast, countries like Germany
with so called “progressive” laws have 25% drug offense rate i.e 25%(1 in every 4 people) of the
population has been convicted for a drug offense.

It is proven that people who take to a life of crime will return to that life in spite of being
punished multiple times.

Islamic law chooses to subvert this and thus differs in its approach..
1. The laws are so strict that they are envisaged to act as a deterrent to a person committing
a crime
2. Inspite of that if the person commits the crime, then he will be punished so severely that
he will not be in a position to repeat it.
b. Islam does not allow women equal rights For eg Women have to cover themselves
up completely, Men don’t. Men marry more than one, Women cant.

In the days before Islam, women were treated like slaves or property. Their personal consent
concerning anything related to their well-being was considered unimportant, to such a degree
that they were never even treated as a party to a marriage contract.
Women were used for “one purpose”, and then discarded. They had no independence, could own
no property and were not allowed to inherit. Simply put, their condition was unspeakable.

In addition, the birth of a daughter in a family was not an occasion for rejoicing, but was
regarded with humiliation. The practice of female infanticide was uncontrolled and to this day it
still exists in parts of rural India.

With the advent of Islam came the verse from the Quran condemning those who practiced female
infanticide:
"And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of
them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief! He hides
himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he has been
informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth? Certainly,
evil is their decision."

(An-Nahl 16:58-59)
And as part of a description of various events on the Day of Judgment, the Quran mentions:
"And when the female (infant) buried alive (as the pagan Arabs used to do)
shall be questioned. For what sin she was killed? (At-Takwir 81:8-9)

Outside Arabia conditions for women were no better. In India, Egypt, and all European countries
in the Dark Ages, women were treated worse than slaves. They were not regarded as human
beings but as sort of a sub-species between humans and animals.

Allah Gave the Women Their Rights

Islam is based on the premise that a Man and Woman are equal in the sight of God but they are
different from each other. A man cannot carry out certain functions that a woman can, neither
can a woman carry out certain functions that a man can. Thus there are bound to be certain
differences in their treatment in the law.

Islam gave the woman a right to inherit property 1400 years back, which women didn’t have in
many non Islamic countries till about 100 years back. In Islamic law a woman is an independent,
unique individual in her own right. She has the same responsibilities towards herself, towards
Allah and towards other human beings as the male, and will be punished or rewarded in the
Hereafter without discrimination towards her female gender. Basically, women have

• The right and duty to obtain education.

• The right to have their own independent property.
• The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.
• Equality of reward for equal deeds with God
• The right to express their opinion and be heard.
• The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.
 • The right to keep all her own money.
• The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.
• To refuse any marriage that does not please them
• The right to remarry after her husbands death which was not allowed in many societies
and women were subject to terrible misfortunes on her husbands death ie. The practice of
Sati

Considering the specific case of the Hijaab(Covering up):

Quran (7:26) Surah Al A’ raaf

O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your

private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best.
That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.
Quran (24: 30 – 31) Surah An Nur
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well
acquainted with all that they do.

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard
their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except
what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over
their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their
fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers
or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves
whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or
small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not
strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye
Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.

Quran 33:59 Surah Al Ahzab

O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers
to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more
suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving
and Merciful.

The Quran first talks about general covering up of the private parts. Specifically when it talks
about Hijaab, it first talks about Hijaab for the man, that he is not supposed to look upon
unrelated women and should lower his gaze and guard his modesty. Next it talks about Hijaab for
the woman that she too should lower her gaze and guard her modesty in front of unrelated men.
However, it specifies, what exactly a woman should cover up and people in front of whom she
can be uncovered. Why this distinction in between a man and a woman?

A woman’s body is an object of beauty. Men are attracted to everything in a woman from her hair
to her face to all the other parts which are more obvious in women than in men. Thus the woman
is asked to cover up her body. The Hijaab for the man and the woman is the same, however only
things that are different are the extent to which they should cover up. There are 6 criteria for the
Hijaab. Only criteria 1 is different for men and women. The others apply both to men and
women…

1. The Extent - which is the only difference between a man and a woman. For the man, he
has to be covered from the naval to the knee. For the woman, her complete body should
be covered - the only part that can be seen is the face and the hands up to the wrist.
2. The clothes they wear should not be so tight, that it reveals the figure.
3. They should not be so transparent, so that you can see through.
4. They should not wear glamorous clothes which unduly attracts the opposite sex
5. They should not wear clothes, which resembles that of the opposite sex - like men
wearing ear-rings.
6. They should not wear clothes which resemble those of an unbeliever, or which has a
specific identity attached to it.

Let us consider an example here of why women need to cover up

Two twin sisters who are equally beautiful, are walking down the street, and if round the corner
there is a hooligan, waiting to tease/molest a girl. Both twin sisters are equally beautiful - one is
in the Hijab and one is wearing a mini skirt or shorts. Which girl will that hooligan tease/molest?

Finally, I have a question here. When you see movies, fashion shows etc, why is it that only
women are showed wearing skimpy clothes. Is it giving rights to women? This is what is giving
theoretical rights, giving rights means to uplift someone; however in case of women by
disrobing them publicly and in a way where they think that its “empowerment”, practically they
have been reduced from being wives to mistresses, and from being a mother, a sister, a wife to
objects of perversion.

Men can marry more than one Women Cant:

Theoretically, if Islam had allowed women to marry more than one man at one time, How would
you determine the paternity of the children of that woman? DNA tests for every woman who has
a child?? Its not practical.

These are the allegations against Islam when people don’t find anything to malign the faith. The
Quran is the only religious book in the world, which has the Verse “Marry only One” as a
specific injunction from God. Islam allows Men to marry more than 1 woman, yet it almost
explicitly forbids them from doing it, by laying down a condition that all of them have to be
treated equally. This equal treatment has to be in all things, so much so that if a needle is bought
for one wife, a needle has to bought for another as well. Personally, I will never take up more
than 1 wife, for I am sure I will never be able to do justice to them.

The male of all major species of animals is polygamous i.e the male will have more than one
female partner. It’s the inherent nature of the male. The problem arises when you make this an
issue of women rights. Its got nothing to of women rights. Its all about natural instincts.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica: "In general, the risk of death at any given age is less
for females than for males." It is widely established that the number of women outnumber the
number of men due to certain reasons:

(1) Wars: It is reported that In the First World War (1914-18) about 8 million soldiers were
killed. Most of the civilians killed were also men. In the Second World War (1939-45) about 60
million people were either killed or maimed for life, most of them men. In the Iraq-Iran war alone
(1979-1988), 82,000 Iranian women and about 100,000 Iraqi women were widowed. All in the
space of ten years.

2- Imprisonment: In the U.S, no less than 1,300,000 people are convicted yearly for one crime or
another. A number of them - 97% of whom are men - are required to serve lengthy prison
sentences. Work accidents and street accidents are also among these reasons.

According to data collected in 1967, in that year a total of 175,000 people died as the result of
accidents in fifty different countries. Most of these were men. During the Second World War, in
which several western countries such as Germany, France, Britain, etc. took part, a large number
of men were killed. As a result, women far outnumbered men at the end of the hostilities.
Permissiveness then became the order of the day. The allowance of marrying more than one
woman in Islam, came after a war during the time of the Prophet Muhammed(pbuh), where the
men were killed and God allowed the surviving men to take up the wives of those killed in
marriage so that they could be supported.

Billy Graham, the eminent Christian evangelist has recognized this fact: "Christianity cannot
compromise on the question of polygamy. If present-day Christianity cannot do so, it is
to its own detriment. Islam has permitted polygamy as a solution to social ills and has
allowed a certain degree of latitude to human nature but only within the strictly
defined framework of the law. Christian countries make a great show of monogamy,
but actually they practice polygamy. No one is unaware of the part mistresses play in
Western society. In this respect Islam is a fundamentally honest religion, and permits a
Muslim to marry a second wife if he must, but strictly forbids all clandestine amatory
associations in order to safeguard the moral probity of the community."

Finally let me relate an anecdote over here which actually happened..

In a debate between Ahmed Deedat and a Christian Scholar (CS), the Christian scholar very
sarcastically said “Mr. Deedat can marry 4 women at a time, which I cannot do; therefore I had
to get the best one the first time”. How unfortunate when people make fun of something they do
not understand. Well the CS, one of the most charismatic tele-evangelists of the 1970’s was
caught on camera leaving a motel after having engaged the services of a call-girl. “Looks like the
best was not good enough”.
15. When you say, there is so much of truth in Islam, why dont people who
understand it accept it?

Mostly because of an unwillingness to “change” and suspecting the people who are calling you to
the truth. When you grow up with something, you are not open to let go of it very easily.
However, let me point out, that understanding the truth is only part of it, to accept it is the
problem. People come up with all kinds of excuses for the same. Well no excuses are accepted by
God. Once you are convinced, you have to accept it and you are not supposed to delay for any
reason. The Quran says something to the effect of only few people will God allow to even be
guided to the truth. The very fact that you are looking at guidance, means God has chosen you.

Satan also plays his part in it, and a great part in it at that. You can try your best to convince
someone about the truth, provided they are open to it. If someone is totally closed to the truth,
then they will find any small reason to keep them following what they want to follow. Finally it
has to be the will of God himself that you should accept the truth.

I don’t know your friends who are reading this document; I have taken utmost care to make sure
that all the material in this document is of utmost reliability. Infact, I have rejected more material
than I have put in. However, if you need any references, clarifications, you can email me.
16. One of my friends went to the church (Assemblies of God) and asked the
pastor some questions, which angered him. He replied " Either you believe that
Jesus is the son of God or you believe he is a liar. There is no other go. Also he
said that Islam is a false religion. What would you answer him?

God asks us in the Quran to do the following..

And they say, "None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a
Christian." That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say, "Produce your proof, if
you should be truthful."

Since he has made a claim that Islam is a false religion, it’s his ignorance. Ask him to prove it
that it is a false religion, and to produce the proof that his faith is indeed the true faith. DON’T
DEBATE WITH HIM. When you debate, you will make him egoistic, and he will never want to be
guided to the truth. Be gentle with him; don’t lose your patience neither be very stern for in his
ignorance he should not abuse Almighty Allah (Many people think that Allah is the name of the
Muslim God. Its not the name of God, it just means God in Arabic, like Bhagwan in Hindi or
Devaru in Kannada).

The premise that everyone follows that the bible is the irrefutable work of God and if anything
challenges it, then you will start with the premise that the bible is correct and the other book is
wrong. This is not how you take up an objective study. An objective study will be based on
finding the truth in both the books and then see which has more truth in it. Whichever has more
truth in it, is the true path. However, I have found a variety of logics that people give. In course
of doing some research, I found one person give the following logic about the comparison of the
bible and the Quran..

The bible was inspired by God but written by human beings, therefore those human beings made
mistakes, however the Quran was inspired by the Devil and the devil made sure that there are no
mistakes in it.
God!!!!! I mean what kind of concocted logic is this? You are actually saying that “God inspires
something to his chosen prophets, and these prophets make mistakes whereas the devil can
inspire someone and create something without mistakes, which God could not” ?????
The fool thinks that the Lord is as foolish as he is.

We have already looked at the Quran and science. Similarly if you take a study of the bible and
science you don’t have to go beyond the first 10 verses to find gross scientific and logical
inconsistencies. For eg: Light is created before, the sun, the source of light is created.
16. The most important question to me personally. If I accept Islam, I cannot
tell it to my parents. They are old and I am their only son. They will come to
know when I change my name.. etc What do I do?

Well, Islam unlike any religion need not be practiced in public. It can be practiced within close
doors without anyone’s knowledge. No external manifestation of any sort is required like a
religious sign on ones body. Also, considering your parents come from a strong religious
background, I would personally recommend you do not disclose to them that you are a Muslim
(once you accept Islam). However, you are required to speak to them of what you know as truth
and let Allah guide them. Regarding change of name - it is not mandatory for you to change
your name. There is another way to change the name, you change it without making it official.
Don’t change it on any official documents, let the name on you passport for the time being etc be
Harish Hegde, however call yourself whatever you wish to be called.

Practicing the faith, the only two things that can give you away will be the worship (Salah) and
the fasts in Ramadan. Since you are not staying with your parents they will not know about your
reversion unless you visit them. Avoid visiting them in the month of Ramadan. The worship
hardly takes 5 minutes at maximum, so you can always close the door of your room and do it.
However, worst case somehow they come to know, your parents, family and the whole comes
second to God.
As for Friday worship, visit some masjid which is far away and ask God for help to keep your
identity a secret. However you will have to take care that you do not engage in any
activity/prayer which takes you into the act of assigning partners to God.

Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will
be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they
have reigned they will rest.]"

God Knows Best. In conclusion I pray that the Almighty guides me first to what is
pleasing in His sight and then all of us.

Peace and Blessings of Allah be on you.

You can contact me on havemorequestions@gmail.com