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My Search For Truth
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Dear Muslim, Let Me Tell You Why I Believed
Walid
Note: Considering readers with English as their second language,
this book is written using simple and basic English. For Muslim
readers many names have been translated into Arabic.
Introduction
Today over half the population of the world claims to
be either Muslim or Christian, with two separate religious
books and two separate faiths which teach that someday
everyone will stand before God and be judged. Each claim
to believe they alone have the true message from God.
Muslims claim that the Bible we have today is a corrupted
version from the original, while the Christians claim that
God never will allow his word "the Bible" to be corrupted.
Yet God's judgment which will decide our eternal destiny
--heaven or hell, depends on whether we accepted His truth.
Islam claims that the way to heaven is to declare Allah as
the one and only God and Muhammad as His last and final
messenger for mankind. Christianity claims that faith in
Christ's redemption by dying on the cross alone as the
final act from God, and is the only way to heaven. The
bottom line is that one of the choices has to be correct
and the other is wrong. The right choice leads to eternal
heaven, and the other leads to eternal hell. I will share
with you why I believe that the Christian choice is the
only way to heaven.
To understand the differences one must spend ample time
searching through the evidence for each claim. As the
Quran declares; "Produce your evidence if you are really
truthful." (Al-Baqarah[2]:112). The Bible on the other hand
declares; "Produce your cause saith the Lord; bring forth your
strong reasons saith the King of Jacob." (Isaiah 41:21). And
In respect to both requests and as commanded by both, I will ponder
these issues, and weigh each claim on the scientific scale.
I dedicated several years studying this very issue,
comparing both the Bible and the Quran, and share my
experience as I pondered into the Bible attempting to find
the alleged corruptions its charged with. The results of
this comparison are astonishing. Readers will increase
their knowledge with the evidence I gathered in the areas
of Prophecy, History, and Science.
The issues will include a comparison between the Bible
and the Quran on subjects, events and persons like; Peace
and War in Islam, Science in the Bible and the Quran.
Israel and the Muslim nations in prophecy. Prophecy in the
Quran. The Historical, Manuscript, Prophetic and
Archaeological evidence of the Bible.
My aim is to show the problems of how Muslims view the Christian
faith and to provide hundreds of facts and evidences to prove to
Muslims why Christianity is the only way.
With 18 years living in the Holy Land, growing up as a Muslim, I
lived, breathed, and walked in the Islamic path, studying the Quran
and practicing the faith. I hope the reader keeps an open mind
and heart as he reads this. Praying that God will open our hearts
and minds to better understand His truth. May God be with you as
you
ponder into this. To Him we give glory, and to Him we submit.
Take the Bible Challenge
Several years ago, I passed by a stand with a sign that read
"Take the Pepsi Challenge". I thought to myself, why not, I
have been drinking Coke all my life, I wonder if I can find out if
I still prefer it. Since the two cups laying on the table had no
labels, I could not know which is which, I tasted each and made my
decision.
Its a simple choice of course, and it probably would not make a bit
of difference to my life if I choose Pepsi or Coke. On the other
hand, I would have never found out weather I prefer Pepsi or Coke,
without tasting both.
I realize that this comparison is by no means the best, but there
is
no way to know which is better, the Bible or the Quran, unless we
taste the words. We do not have to swallow them, just taste
and decide
whether we want to swallow or reject. One day a great desire in my
heart caused me to open the Bible and compare it with the
Quran, I
set them side by side and started to study. The study lasted many
months, as God overwhelmed me with His truth.
I vowed not to stop until a found out if they are really equal when
weighed side by side on the scientific scale. It was the only
way...
to take the Bible Challenge. I have documented all I learned from
this experience, which I am forwarding to you. I urge you to take
the Bible Challenge.
Note: Try to respond to the questions presented here, they all end
with "?
" in bold. These are questions directed to
you. If you are
able to answer them, then indeed you have faith based on facts.
Please send the answers back to me. I will be waiting patiently for
your response.
What's Faith?
Regardless to what we believe in, all of us have faith in someone
or
in something which dictates the way we live. In our case here,
since
both Muslims and Christians believe in eternal destiny (hell or
heaven), the choice one needs to make becomes the most important
struggle for truth and life. If you are afraid to read this, it is
perhaps you do not have a strong knowledge in your faith.
You should
have no fear if you know what you believe to be true is true
indeed.
On the other hand, one could choose for some reason to ignore this
issue altogether, thinking that it does not matter what one
believes,
since we will find out at the end which is true. That is your
choice,
and no one including God will force you, but if you were wrong, and
end up in eternal torment, do not blame me. I did my job, I
offered
you the challenge.
The "Quran" Challenge to the Judeo-Christian Faith:
In Islam as the
Quran states it clearly; "And they say: `None shall enter
paradise
unless he be a Jew or a Christian.' Those are their desires. Say:
`produce your (Evidence) if you are really truthful'."
(Al-Baqarah[2]:112).
The "Bible" Challenge: "Present your case, says the Lord.
Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Let them
bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show us
the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And
know the latter end of them; Or declare to us the things to
come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, That
we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may
be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, And your
work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination." (Isaiah
41:21-24).
So, for that challenge which was ordered by both books, and since
both encourage us to produce "proof", or evidence to each claim, I
will respond to answer each challenge. As Christians need to be in
obedience to God, they are required to respond, and fulfill the
commission, to defend the faith, to fight the battle, the real war
for souls, not by the Sword but by the Word.
We are ordered by God to produce evidence, and witness to
those lost in darkness, to the world that we seek for Christ. As
the Bible said: "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you have." (1 Peter 3:15).
In the Old Testament, God encourages debate and challenge; "Come
now, let us reason together, says the Lord." (Isaiah
1:18a).
Both challenges assure us, that there is no need to pick up
stones and fight, no need for anger or fits of rage. Just
let us reason together, and prove with evidence each his claim.
The Bible claims that the true Christian faith is the only way to
God, while Islam's Quran says its the other way around. I have seen
many debates concerning this issue, and the problem with these
debates is that no side was able to fully express their opinion.
The time element was always a factor, and the heated arguments
would always upset Muslims as they were too quick to throw shouts
of "Allahu Akbar' (God is greater). We need to see how God
is great and not just shouting it. We need patience by
avoiding quick judgments.
The bottom line is that one of the two (Muslims or Christians) is
deceived, to understand deception one must understand the nature of
Satan. The Bible gives the best explanation about him, and in
general he is the most intelligent, smart, beautiful being God ever
made. He deceived 1/3 of the angels. He deceived Adam and Eve. He
can even deceive the very elect. You stand no chance to his tricks
without God and his spirit being in you. He is the best con artist.
He appears as an "Angel of Light". He created all false
theology, as he claims to be God. The Bible describes him to be the
false God of this world, the one who wants to rule the world.
The Quran on the other hand gives some different descriptions about
Satan. The Quran calls him "Iblees" which is a fiery creature
"jin",
which the English derived the word "genie" from. Muslims deny the
Biblical claim that the Devil is an angel, one cannot ignore the
Quranic verse; "And as we told the Angels to bow down to
Adam,
All
did except Iblees (Satan), refused. He was one of the jinn"
(Al-Kahf[18][18]:50). One could ask, why would God order the Angels only to
bow then expect Satan who as the Quran declares as being from the
jinn (jenie)?
That would logically refer
to jinn (jenie) as fallen
angels and not another creature made from fire as the Quran claims
in
other verses.
In the Quran devils are found doing the work of Solomon by Allah's
command. Allah is also found protecting them as declared in the
Quran: "And sundry satans who should dive for him and
perform other
work beside: and it was We who guarded them." (Alanbya[21]:82).
These
devils are also found in the Quran to be Solomon's messengers:
"He
said (Solomon),: "Ye Chiefs! which of you can bring me her
throne[Queen Sheba's] before they come to me in submission? Said an
`Ifrit, of the Jinn (devils): "I will bring it to thee before thou
rise from thy council: indeed I have full strength for the purpose,
and may be trusted." (Al-Naml[27]:38-39). Such claims are rejected
by Christianity, no where in the Bible devils are used to do any physical work,
especially building God's temple, which God used Solomon and his
people, (God's chosen people). The most interesting
part in the Quran's description of devils is in Surah Saba[34]:14, were
Allah declares: "Then we decreed Solomon's death, nothing showed
them (the devils) that he was dead as the termites gnawed the staff
which supported his corpse. And when it fell, the devils perceived
that if they had known ..." Muslim interpreters say that
Solomon died suddenly while he was leaning on his staff. A full year
had passed while his corpse was still leaning on his staff. Finally
when the termites ate part of his staff, it broke and Solomon fell
to
the ground. It wasn't until then, the devils realized that Solomon
was dead. And we ask: What did Solomon's servants, wives, and army
do
while Solomon was dead leaning on his staff for a year? Muslim
scholars concluded that demons are stupid beings who's main job is
only to whisper in peoples ears to sin, a description unlike the
Bible's which warn us that demons are fallen angels, able to mix a
bunch of truth with a tiny amount of lies just enough to kill.
Jamal Badawi, a well known Muslim apologist debating Christians
always accuses the Christian Trinity with evolving from ancient
pagan
beliefs such as mithraism.[1] What Mr. Badawi ignores to mention
is
that the idea of pagan trinities did not evolve from Persian, Roman
or any ancient empire, but all the way back from the story of the
Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Satan defied God and deceived
Adam
and Eve. He then formed a false trinity -- Satan , The future
coming
Antichrist (Al-Maseeh Al-Dajal), and the False Prophet. The first
prophecy in the Bible was concerning this very issue. In Genesis
3:15, God's judgment was declared: "And I will put enmity
between you
and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He
shall bruise
your head, and you shall bruise His heel." In this prophecy we
find
the promise of the virgin birth of Christ from the seed of the
woman (her seed). The woman representing Eve and her seed
representing
Christ since Christ was not the seed of Adam as He did not have a
human father. This was the first prophecy in the Bible of the
coming
Christ. This prophecy foresaw the crucifixion of Christ when Satan
was able to "bruise His heel" who was pierced in His hands
and
feet (heels). The verse also reveals the Antichrist as the
seed of
Satan. Just as Christ the son of Mary, was uniquely the "seed"
of the
woman", the Antichrist in some mysterious way will be the
"seed" of
Satan. Christ will ultimately bruise Satan's head who will manifest
himself in the body of the Antichrist. The Antichrist will be
Satan's
seed. False trinities and false gods were introduced throughout
the
centuries by Satan as an attempt to cover the truth. He is the
crafty
deceiver who will ultimately introduce his son, the Antichrist to
take on the most deceptive mission -- to make man worship Satan and
declare himself as the God of man.
While all false religions believe that Satan and his devils are
simple beings who promote sin and discord, the Bible reveals them
as
intelligent beings who never ceased to introduce Satan's agenda in
the real battle between Satan and God, a battle that is not
mentioned
in many false religions. Though we are unaware of this battle, God
in
the Bible warns: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
this
age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places"
(Ephesians 6:12). The Bible describes Satan as "The ruler of
darkness", "The father of lies", and "The prince of
this world". He
imitates to be the real God. Eventually he will manifest himself in
the body of the Antichrist to rule earth for a while. He will be
represented by a false prophet. This false trinity (Satan,
Antichrist,
False Prophet), is the false set up by Satan to imitate the True
God
and seduce man to worship him, thinking they are following God.
This imitation started from the beginning when Satan exalted
himself
to be better than God: "I will ascend above the tops of the
clouds,
I will make myself like The Most High." (Isaiah 14:14).
The Bible
clearly shows that Satan is a counterfeit, he claims to be God The
Most High. If he is doing that today, through which religious
system
and to who do you think he is lying to?
The Bible gives the opposing names to the true God, and attributes
them to the Antichrist. Christ is called "The Truth", while
Antichrist is called "The lie". Christ is called the
"Holy One",
while Antichrist is called "The lawless one". Christ is
called
"The Son of God", while Antichrist is called "The Son of
Perdition".
Christ is called "The Mystery of Godliness", while
Antichrist is
called "The Mystery of Iniquity". God allows Satan to
continue
although He could destroy him. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ
will finally destroy Satan's Son of Perdition (The Antichrist)
"by the
brightness of His coming". Satan's main tactic to destroy
God's plan
is to counterfeit the biblical prophecies concerning the coming
Christ. Over the centuries, Satan tried to destroy God's plan by
burning, banning, and attacking the Bible and persecuting
Christians
and Jews. He introduced false doctrines, false books, and false
prophets. Covering God's Truth with lies has been the major mission
for Satan and his demons. Consequently Satan has always failed in
his
missions to destroy and conquer since God's plan is
indestructible.
God gave many warnings in the Bible concerning Satan and his works:
"Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall
exalt and
magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against
the
God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been
accomplished;
for what has been determined shall be done" (Daniel 11:36). The
Antichrist's will is his fathers will (The Father of lies or the
Devil), while Christ's will is His Father's will (The God of
Truth).
The mystery of God's nature is presented in the Bible as One God in
a
Holy Trinity: "Behold O Israel, the Lord your God is One".
The unity
of God is supported in both the Old Testament as well as in the New
Testament.
When Elijah (Elias), encountered the prophets of Baal (false
prophets), Elijah stood before the people and cried out "How long
halt you between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but
if
Baal, then follow him." (I Kings 18:21). Elijah won the battle, as he
was on the side of God, the false prophets standing with Satan lost
their lives and their souls forever. God even sent fire from heaven,
cooked the beef and consumed it. Elijah prayed like I did "O
Lord,
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." God reveals to us the truth,
just
ask him and say "O Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
reveal
to me your truth", he is faithful and just.
The Summary On World Religions
Where's the Beef?
Despite what most people of all the world religions
believe, if one thinks that he fully used his heart and mind,
believing a lie, does not make what he believes in to be the truth
from God, in fact the Bible declares them as satanic, a plan by
Satan
to rule the world through confusion by using his false theologies.
To summarize the supposed miracles of today's world religions, we
shall give a few examples; A Mormon has a strong feeling in his
heart
that Joseph Smith is the prophet of God, the feeling by itself was
the first response I got from every Mormon I encountered. A Hindu
uses meditation, concentration and contemplation, likewise a New
Age
teacher (A modern version of Hinduism), use meditation, and
focuses
on concentrating on the inner self, the New Age religion teaches
which is not new matches it's ancient origin (Hinduism) which
seduces
followers by offering the ability to communicate with the forces
out
in the cosmos, that we can travel beyond what the eye can see.
Using
a technique called Yoga, man can perform incredible powers to
control
his body, and produce mystical experience and spiritual insight.
Similar to Yoga, a Muslim sect called Darweesh or Dervish. A member
of this sect has the ability to control his body to the point that
when the skin is pierced, there is no pain or bleeding.
In the west, Millions of Catholics believe in the apparition of
Mary
as thousands of Catholics go to a mountain place and watch the
virgin
Mary appear in the sky, they are praying to her, waiting on her
instructions.
A Muslim can demonstrate fantastic classical Arabic language in the
Quran, and some scientific evidences that the prophet of Islam
could
not have known, he meditates concentrates and contemplates while he
recites the Quran and during prayer, he is filled with
unexplainable
joy "Khoshu'a", he believes that the Quran is a miracle from God
to
man that was given to change the World.
Today many people believe in prophets like Nostradamus, Jean
Dickson,
Edgar Cayce, and others who predicted several things like the death
of J. F. Kennedy, the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler etc. ...many
today believe these predictions as a definite miracle. We will
cover
some answers to these so called modern prophets later.
The Bible on the other hand warns us not to believe in these man
made
religions, we must follow carefully the plan set by God from the
beginning, the Bible warns us even if one can let fire come down
from
heaven, and claim he is Christ, we should not believe him. We
should
follow God's unchangeable Word which was already set, the Bible
tells
us how we can tell when the true Christ comes back, how we can
tell
true prophets from false ones, how we can tell wolves from lambs.
The Bible is the compass for a lost world, the very map, lamp, and
guide for man to see and know which path to take in this dark
world.
The Bible makes it clear for man. Man has two choices only in the
issue of destiny. Two places man will go; eternal hell with Satan,
or
eternal paradise with God. Two sides to choose from "God" or
"Satan".
Some falsely think they are going to paradise because they have
convinced themselves of that. Some think they are following the
true
God because their prophet or book said so, not knowing that Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. One could stand on top of a
building, come close to the edge, and believe 100% that if he takes
a
leap of faith and jumps, that he will fly, this believe does not
make "suicide" to be safe or the way to "fly". It is eternally
dangerous to think you are going to heaven, just because you
believe
or feel it. Thank God my eternal destiny does not depend on what I
feel, as some days I feel I am going to Hell, and some days I feel
I
am going to heaven. My eternal destiny should depend on what real
"evidence" my theology can provide.
Is Protected Transmission Sufficient
Evidence?
Both Muslims and Christians claim that protected transmission is
sufficient evidence to prove a divine revelation. That alone is a
problem, since we still teach and memorize many of the pagan poetry
in all of the Arabic countries, yet none of these writings are
considered to be divine by either Muslims or Christians. In the East
there still exists most of the pre-Islamic pagan poetry, and in the
West pre-Christian pagan philosophy is still intact. However, we must
also keep in mind that divine revelation must "always" be protected
by God regardless of the time it was inspired. To claim that man can
get away with corrupting God's word is against what God said he
will
do from the beginning; "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven
and
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no
means pass from the
law till all is fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18). In another
verse,
"Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away."
(Matthew 24:35). "For I am the Lord
I change not" (Malachi
3:6). Even the Quran in Surah 6:115 "The words of the Lord are
perfect in truth and justice; there is none who can change His
words". Both religions agree that God never changed and will
never
change, even so his Words, they never were or ever will be lost, it
is just impossible. For any religion or prophet to claim a single
change in his Words would be in contradiction to God's nature, and
must be dismissed as false. It is as simple as that, without
apology
or fear. God knew that man can protect historical writings, for
that
God chose a different method of challenge, and that challenge is
Bible prophecy,
which is still holding, since all fulfilled prophecy
proves that God keeps his promises to the smallest detail, as we
shall cover.
Most world religions claim to have the necessary divine miracles,
yet
when these miracles are studied carefully they will not be able to
stand as we shall clearly see in Islam. When the Pharaoh's
magicians
cast their staves and turned them to snakes, Moses cast his and
destroyed all. They presented there evil tricks, God responded with
his evidence, which was much more powerful.
Having some scientific information in a holy book, or excellent
language is also not enough proof. Satan knows more science than
any
man, and could perform signs and wonders and deceive even the very
elect. Although if areas of scientific matter is included in a
religious book, it needs to be proven as the evidence is weighed in
the scientific scale, which we shall examine in the final chapter.
God in the Bible warns us of false prophets; "Beware of false
prophets,
who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are
ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes
gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?" (Matthew 7:15-16).
Does Believing There Is a God Take You to
Heaven?
Some might think they are worshipping the true God, but one must
know who the true God is. To claim that believing there is a One True God
will take you to heaven is a dangerous fallacy, since even Satan,
"An Angel of Light", his demons, and all the religions of the world believe
that God created everything. The only difference is the means that qualify us
to reach to God. Some religions use fire as a medium between man and God.
Other religions, like Islam, claim that works (like praying five times daily,
fasting, and giving alms) can take them to heaven.
It is what or who you trust in as the means to reach to God for
forgiveness and reconciliation what matters in all the main religions.
In the Bible it calls for man to know, believe and trust God and
His work. To believe His attributes, His nature, and His plan for
salvation, and to accept and trust Him and His plan only. When Noah
started to build a ship, and when he presented God's plan to his
people, to save them from the coming flood that will destroy
everyone, the people responded by laughing. They laughed at God's
salvation (rescue mission), but at the end, when it started
raining, no one was laughing anymore.
To the people the idea of raining was crazy, since it has never
rained before the flood. Christ, in a similar way, was the plan of
man's salvation, his cross is the bridge between the sinful man
and
the Holy God. Many on the other hand still reject this plan as
being
absurd, they consider it ridiculous, since they believe that each
has
to carry his own burdens and sins. What Muslims do not understand
is
that our sins, no matter how small we think they are, are great in
God's eyes, we are so drowned by our sins that the flood of sins
covers every man. The only way to escape that flood is to first
trust in God's plan and jump on the wooden bridge which is the
cross,
and accept what God did for man, and not what man can do for
himself.
No man was able to escape the flood, unless he jumped on the wooden
ship. No sword, might, or science was able to rescue the ones that
are perishing, only the wooden boat, which was God's way, so it is
with Christ's cross.
The Bible presented hundreds of these parallels in the Bible for
His
plan for man's salvation, the exodus, Israel, the temple
sacrifices,
the biblical customs, all have been directed to focus on one issue
--
the salvation for man through Christ.
The Quran's Challenge to Non-Muslims
The well known challenge in the Quran has been and still is to
write
something like it. Muslims till today could not produce anything
like the Bible, which they accuse of being corrupt and man made.
Nevertheless one could argue this point by simply challenging the
world to produce similar poetry like Shakespeare, Ahmad Shawqi,
Gubran Khalil Gubran, Al-Mutanabi and others. The Ability to
produce
beautiful classical Arabic or poetry does not entitle the poets the
gift of prophecy. Even some of the greatest scholars in the Arabic
language did not see any miracle in the eloquence of Quran's Arabic
language; Abul-Ala Al- Ma'arri, Ibrahim Al-Nazzam, Ibin Hazm,
Al-Khayat and many other modern scholars like Taha Hussein, who was
the pressured and his material was banned concerning this issue.
Evidence from Bible Prophecy
Sometime in 1992 I was fascinated when I read a book titled
Armageddon, Appointment With Destiny, by Grant Jeffrey.
Some of the things explained in this book had many detailed
prophecies about Jesus: his birth, life, death and resurrection;
and the re-creation of the state of Israel. Many of these prophecies
came to pass as God put down in the Bible! What also amazed me, is to
find out that the chances for a man to predict hundreds of historic
events written hundreds and thousands of years before their occurrences
are one in zillions... what is more fascinating is that the margin of
error had to be zero, especially when the fulfillment of many of
these prophecies are happening in my generation. This kind of evidence
had to come from a divine origin, that origin had to be God Almighty.
Here's the Beef
I understood Islam, and believed in the teachings of the Quran, yet
after examining these evidences, I knew that the Quran in the
balances was found to be wanting. It does not match the required
evidence demanded by the Bible to be warranted as divine. The Quran
does not compare when it comes to Biblical evidence. Since God is
100% Truth, he sent the Bible with four different elements, that no
other book in the world has. These elements are: Manuscript
evidence,
Archeological evidence, Prophetic evidence, and the evidence of
science in the Bible (MAPS). Muslims claim the Quran has the
last (Science), which I challenge later in this writing.
I would like to address the prophetic evidence for now, and ask the
reader to examine it as Islam encourages.
The Bible is the only religious book in existence that dared to
detail thousands of prophecies. These prophecies varied, some
concerning the rise and fall of world empires. many prophecies of
the Bible have already been fulfilled.
In no other religious literature will you find hundreds of detailed
predictions that have been fulfilled precisely as they were
predicted. No human has ever presented such detailed predictions of
future events. Those who point to the occasional lucky guess of
Nostradamus, Jean Dickson, and other false prophets ignore the
hundreds of totally incorrect predictions they also made. Henry C.
Roberts, the editor of The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus,
(Jericho NY: Nostradamus, Inc. 1976) and one of the strongest
supporters of Nostradamus admitted in his introduction that these
prophetic writings are "unintelligible and garbled to the
uninitiated. The strange, broken, and often incoherent nature of
the
quatrains, both in French and English, is the hallmark of prophetic
media." Edgar Cayce, the so-called American sleeping prophet,
who
made many false claims on locating oil wells or mineral deposits.
Even today forecasting the near future markets is an unpredictable
gamble. All man made prophecy and attempt to predict future has
been
fruitless, the best man have made can be obtained at your local
Chinese restaurant when you get a bill with Chinese fortune
cookies.
God claims that the ability to predict and fulfill prophecy is a
unique attribute of His nature, as He said: "For I am God, and
there
is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the
end
from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not
yet
done, saying, `My council shall stand, and I will do all my
pleasure'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
In this passage, the prophet Isaiah declares that only God foreknew
future events, He also declares them and then brings them to pass.
Also God said: "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law
till all is fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18).
The idea of Bible Prophecy is that God have drawn out his plan
prior
to it's execution (from the beginning), as to prove when they
happen,
that God is in control, and that's real evidence.
In another verse God challenges you from the Bible: "Present
your
case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the
King
of Jacob. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let
them
show us the former things, what they were, That we may consider
them,
And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us the things to
come.
Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that
you
are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see
it
together. Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who
chooses you is an abomination." (Isaiah 41:21-24).
So, the God of the Bible challenges you, will you accept the
challenge? And he continues in chapter 42 verse 9:
"Behold, the
former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before
they spring forth I tell you of them." God sees all of history;
past
present and future. He does not guess what the future holds, he
knows!
God said that the only way to know his true message is
predictive
prophecy, and if that very element is missing then do NOT
believe
that prophet. These prophecies have to be very unique, not just a
general guess as you see all false prophets do. For God to manifest
His love and will for mankind, he must make Himself known
personally
in such a way that a finite man would realize beyond a shadow of
doubt that the infinite God was revealing Himself. This irrefutable
verification is reserved to only the Judeo-Christian Scriptures
alone. No honest person can remain an unbeliever after even a brief
study of prophecy, and prophecy is the missing element in ALL other
sacred scriptures of the world's religions. Although they are
claimed
to be in the Quran, an honest research and comparison with the
Bible
will surely prove this point.
Not even the Hindu Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Book of Mormon,
the
sayings of Buddha, the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, can match
Biblical prophecy. By contrast, prophecy comprises about 25% of the
Bible (8,352 verses). No other religious book can produce the
same,
or in simple terms, where's the beef?
Read the following samples in your Bible to understand some of
these
prophecies:
On the Coming and Death of Christ
It is astonishing when we examine only the following 8 prophecies
concerning Jesus Christ.
The First Prediction: (Birth in Bethlehem)
_Old Testament Prophecy: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though
you
are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come
forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have
been from of old from everlasting." (Micah 5:2).
_New Testament Fulfillment: "Now after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of
Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the east
came to Jerusalem" (Matthew 2:1).
The Second Prediction: (preceded by a messenger)
_Old Testament Prediction: "The voice of one crying in the
wilderness:
`Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway
for our God;'" (Isaiah 40:3).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "In those days
John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, "Repent, for the
kingdom
of heaven is at hand!;" (Matthew 3:1,2).
The Third Prediction: (He would enter Jerusalem on a colt)
_The Old Testament Prediction: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your King is coming to you;
He
is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt,
the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "Then they brought him to Jesus.
And
they threw their own garments on the colt, and they set
Jesus on him.
And as he went, they spread their clothes on the road" (Luke
19:35-36).
The Fourth Prediction: (He would be betrayed by a friend)
_The Old Testament Prediction: "Even my own familiar friend in
whom I
trusted, who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel
against me" (Psalm 41:9).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "And while He was still speaking,
behold Judas, one of the twelve, with great multitude with swords
and
clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now
His
betrayer had given them a sign saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the
One; seize Him; " (Matthew 26:47,48).
The Fifth Prediction: (His hand and feet pierced)
The Old Testament Prediction: "For dogs have surrounded Me; The
assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands
and My
feet." (Psalm 22:16).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "And when they had come to the
place
called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals,
one on
the right hand and the other on the left." (Luke 23:33).
The Sixth Prediction: (Be wounded by His enemies)
_The Old Testament Prediction: "But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah
53:5).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "Then he released Barabbas to
them;
and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered [Him] to be
crucified"
(Matthew 27:26).
The Seventh Prediction: (His betrayal for 30 pieces of
silver)
_The Old Testament Prediction: "Then I said to them, `If it is
agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.' So they
weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver'" (Zechariah
11:12).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "What are you willing to give me
if I
deliver Him to you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of
silver" (Matthew 26:15). Note: This was predicted 500 years
in
advance when silver was not used for money but gold.
The Eighth Prediction: (He will be spat on and beaten)
_The Old Testament Prediction: "I gave My back to those who struck
Me, and
My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My
face
from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6).
_The New Testament Fulfillment: "Then they spat in His face and
beat
Him; and others struck Him with the palm of their hands"
(Matthew
26:67).
_Other prophecies like these we can quote like:
Silent in front of accusers, prophecy in Isaiah 53:7; fulfilled in
Matthew 27:12-14.
Crucified with thieves, prophecy in Isaiah 53:12;
fulfilled in Matthew 27:38.
People gamble with His garments,
prophecy in Psalm 22:18; fulfilled in John 19:23, 24.
His side would be pierced, prophesied in Zechariah 12:10;
fulfilled in John 19:34.
None of His bones would be broken, prophesied in Psalm 34:20;
fulfilled in John 19:33.
His body would not decay, prophecy in
Psalm 16:10; fulfilled in Acts 2:31.
His burial in a rich man's tomb,
prophecy in Isaiah 53:9; fulfilled in Matthew 27:57-60.
The darkness
covering the earth, prophecy Amos 8:9, fulfilled in Matthew 27:45.
For more on this read the Historical Evidence section.
Note: There are 456 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus alone
written in the Bible.
The Law of Probability
After examining only eight
different prophecies even though we could
use 456, professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College and
Peter
Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the
major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were
worked out by twelve different classes of 600 college students. The
students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy
at length, and examined the various circumstances which might
indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular
prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that
there
was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical
students. But when professor Stoner took their estimates and made
them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or
scientist to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions
were
more than fair.
Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a Committee of the
American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified
that
his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the
scientific material presented. For example, concerning Micah 5:2,
where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, Stoner and
his students determined the average population of Bethlehem from
the
time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average
population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that
the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 2.8 x 10
to
the 5th power - or rounded, one in 300,000.
After examining eight different prophecies, they conservatively
estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight
prophecies
was one in 10 to the 17th power. To illustrate how large the number
10 to the 17th power is (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this
illustration. Imagine covering the entire state of Texas with
silver
dollars to a level of two feet deep. The total number of silver
dollars needed to cover the whole state would be 10 to the 17th
power. Now, choose just one of those silver dollars, mark it and
drop it from an airplane. Then thoroughly stir all the silver
dollars
all over the state. When that has been done, blindfold one man,
tell
him he can travel wherever he wishes in the state of Texas. But
something he must do, stop and reach down into the two feet of
silver
dollars and try to pull up that one specific silver dollar that has
been marked. Now, the chance of his finding that one silver dollar
in
the state of Texas would be the chance the prophets had for eight
of
their prophecies coming true in any one man in the future.
In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a
financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10 to
the
17th power? This kind of sure investment we are
offered by God for
belief in Christ His Messiah. Professor Stoner concludes: "The
fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God
inspired
the writing of those prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only
one chance in 10 to the 17th power of being absolute".
Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or
ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs
concerning
the Messiah would be foolish. But, of course, there are many more
than eight prophecies. In another calculation Stoner used 48
prophecies (even though he could have used 456) and arrived at the
extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48
prophecies
being fulfilled in one person is 10 to 157th power. How large is
the
number on in 10 to the 157th power? 10 to the 157th
power contains
157 zeros !
Let us try to illustrate this number using electrons. Electrons are
very small objects. They are smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5
times 10 to the 15 power of them, laid side by side, to make one
inch. Even if we counted four electrons every second and counted
day
and night, it would still take us 19 million years just to count a
line of electrons one-inch long.
But how many electrons would it take if we were dealing with 10 to
the 157th power of electrons?
Imagine building a solid ball of electrons that would extend in all
directions from the earth of 6 billion light years. The distance in
miles of just one light year is 6.4 trillion miles. That would be a
big ball! But not big enough to measure 10 to the 157th power of
electrons. In order to do that, you must take that big ball of
electrons reaching the length of 6 billion light years long in all
directions and multiply it by 6 x 10 to the 28th power! How big is
that? It's the length of the space required to store
trillions and
trillions and trillions of the same gigantic balls and more. In
fact
the space required to store all of these balls combined together
would just start to "scratch the surface" of the number of
electrons
we would need to really accurately speak about 10 to the 157th
power.
But assuming you have some idea of the number of electrons we are
talking about, now imagine marking just one of those electrons in
that huge number. Stir them all up. Then appoint one person to
travel
in a rocket for as long as he wants, anywhere he wants to go. Tell
him to stop and segment a part of space, then take a high-powered
microscope and find that one marked electron in that segment. What
do
you think his chances of being successful would be?
It would be one
in 10 to the 157th power. Remember, this number represents the
chances of only 48 prophecies coming true in one person.
All this illustrates why it is absolutely impossible for anyone to
have fulfilled the Messianic prophecies by chance. In fact, a
leading
authority on the probability theory, Emile Borel, states in his
book
Probabilities and Life,
that once we go past one chance in 10 to the
50th power, the probabilities are so small it's impossible to think
they will ever occur. Here is one last illustration of the
immensity
of the number 10 to the 157th power and why the science of
probability shows we are dealing with the miraculous.
Imagine one ant traveling at the speed of only one inch every 15
billion years. If he could only carry one atom at a time, how many
atoms could he move in 10 to the 157th power of years? He could
even
at that incredibly slow speed, be ale to move all the atoms in
600,000 trillion trillion trillion trillion universes the size for
our universe, a distance of 30 billion light years! Again, all of
this means it is impossible for 48 prophecies to be fulfilled by
chance.
This is the kind of proof that there must be a God who
supernaturally
gave this information. Let's keep in mind that's only 48 out of
over
456 Messianic prophecies out of over 8000 total verses in Bible
prophecy, of which thousands of verses have been fulfilled already.
God challenges us!
On the Restoration of Israel
The Jews and the Arabs
As I grew under the Israeli Government, the school curriculum was
set
by the country of Jordan. History, political science, and social
studies never included the Jews. A major mistake by the Israeli
Government in the school system.
Regardless to the claims made by Palestinians that accuses Israel
to
be unfair to the local Arabs, the freedom to study our religion and
history was something that was protected by law. All the history we
learned concerned only the Islamic, Arabic, and European nations.
The
atrocities of the Moguls and the Crusaders in Jerusalem, never
included the Jews, but the Muslims only. The study of ancient
history
in Arabic schools has no mention of Jews living in the land. The
main
focus was on the Canaanites who Palestinians today claim to
descend
from.
As I lived in Palestine everyone I knew could trace there heritage
back to the original country their great grandparents came from.
Everyone knew his origins was not from the Canaanites, but
ironically, that is the kind of stuff our education included in the
Middle East.
The writers of our history in the Middle East, intentionally
blotted
out the Jews. I never knew the history of the Jews until I started
looking into the Bible. One look at the curriculum they teach in
the
Arabic countries can prove that honesty and integrity was lacking
by
the Arabic writers of the education manuals on history. It is
amazing
to watch the distortion and twisting of history, to serve the
growing
hate of the Jews, a common trend today in many eastern and European
countries.
The Holocaust for example is being denied, despite tons of evidence
in The Yad Vasheem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. Similar
attempts
are made by certain politicians to blot any Jewish claim to the
land
of Israel. In an interview between Zola Levit and Mr. Husseni, a
right hand man to Yasser Arafat, in a Zola Levit Television
program,
Mr. Husseni bluntly claims that the Palestinians originated from
the
Jebusites before Abraham moved to Israel, he clearly changed the
historic fact to an American audience who lacks in Eastern History
to
the fact that today's Palestinians are immigrants from the
surrounding nations. I grew up well knowing the history and origins
of today's Palestinians as being from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Morocco,
Christian from Greece, Muslim Sherkas from Russia, Muslims from
Bosnia, and the Jordanians next door. The well known civil and
tribal
wars between the Yemmenite (from Yemen) and Kessites (from Banu
Kais
of Saudi Arabia) was ignored by Mr. Husseni which is a well known
amongst the Palestinians.
My grandfather who was a dignitary in Bethlehem, almost lost his
life
by Abdul Qader Al-Husseni, the leader of the Palestinian
revolution
after being accused of selling land to the Jews. He used to tell us
that his village Beit Sahur (The Shepherds Fields) in Bethlehem
county
was empty before his father settled in the area with six other
families. The town now has grown to 30,000 inhabitants.
Muslims and Arabs alike lack the understanding of the Jewish
history.
An unbiased brief study on Jewish History should ease the tension
Muslims and Arabs have against the Jewish people. The Jewish
nation,
as a political entity, started at the great exodus of Israel from
Egypt about 1,500 B.C. Israel was a land promised by God. Even the
Quran admits to this incident; "And after him (Moses), we said
to the
children of Israel, dwell Ye in the promised land, and when the
time
of the promise of the latter days comes, we shall bring you out of
various peoples." (Al-Isra[17]:104).
Under the leadership of David (Daud) and his son Solomon
(Sulaiman),
the Jewish nation progressed to world importance. King Solomon
constructed the magnificent Temple of Jerusalem. The Jews being the
first people worshipping the one and true God, followed after their
father Abraham (Ibrahim). As Israel grew, pagans to the north were
gaining strength and military skills, and the Jews, relaxed in
their
success.
The prophet Jeremiah warned of the coming invasion of the
Babylonians
by Nebuchadnezzar (Nabukhath Nassar) and the Chaldeans
(Al-Caldanieen).
Instead of heeding to God's warning, the Jews jailed the prophet to
shut him up.
Daniel, another prophet of Israel studying Jeremiah's prophecies of
the soon coming invasion and exile to Babylon (Babel), prophesied
the
return of Israel, The first coming of the Messiah (Al-Maseeh)
including the exact date of his coming, the great nations of the
world and their destruction, and the establishment of God's Kingdom
under the rulership of the Messiah (Al-Maseeh).
After the captivity in Babylon (Babel), the Jews were released by
Cyrus (Darius), as prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and once
again
they rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple in 516 B.C. Coexisting with
Persia, Greece, and Rome. The Jews held on while being invaded
several times. Rome in the time of Christ had heavy taxes on the
Jews
in Israel, which always plotted a rebellion, but with no chance
against Rome. Rejecting their Messiah and depending on their own
power, plotted a rebellion in 66 A.D.
This was a devastating war for the Jews, they suffered more than a
million casualties in five months alone. The Messiah (Al-Maseeh)
predicted the destruction of the temple, which was fulfilled to the
letter; "Not one stone shall be left upon another." In 130 A.D. under Emperor Hadrian, who provoked the Jews by building a pagan
temple on the Temple Mount to another rebellion, which ended Israel with the
Jews dispersed throughout the whole world (The Diaspora). This
remained until 1948. Since then the Jews have become an enemy of
almost every country of the world. This will remain until attacked
by armies from every nation in what the Bible calls "The Battles of
Armageddon."
No one could totally vanquish the Jews as promised in the Bible,
yet they were slaughtered like animals during the Spanish Inquisition,
they were starved and murdered endlessly in forced conversions
throughout Europe. Persecution followed them to the ends of the
earth. Much of the Islamic success and its prosperity is to be
credited to the Eastern Jews. It was the oppressed Persian Jews who
helped the Muslims to subdue and conquer the Persians. The
relationship between the Jews and the Muslims was constantly
changing. At the time of Al-Mutawakil, in the beginning of the
eighth century, was very hard upon the Jews and Christians alike.
He was a persecutor of the Jews and Christians. The Muslim Kaliph
Al-Mamun (813-832), He and the rest of the Muslim rulers new how
much from all that they desired could be learned from the Jews in their
midst. Jewish physicians, teachers, and merchants became quite the
fashion. Fleets of trading vessels commanded by Jewish captains
were sailing in the Mediterranean. In the beginning of the Ninth century
the Jews called the Gaonim contributed many scholars and schools,
the Bible was translated for the first time into Arabic by a Jew,
Saadia ben Joseph (892-942).
Rabbi Menachim ben Saruk, compiled and completed the first Bible
dictionary. The Gaonim schools flourished until 997 A.D. Hai was
the
last of the Gaonim when the Kaliph got jealous of the wealth of the
Gaonim, he made up some false charges and imprisoned Hai and his
father, and confiscated their wealth. Hai escaped, and a little
later, the last attempt was made to reconstruct the Gaonim schools
failed by a Hezekiah. The last Gaonim was executed (1036) by the
order
of the Kaliph. All Jewish schools were closed, and the scholars
were
scattered. Palestine and the whole of the Byzantine Empire became
almost deserted by Jews. In Spain, the Kaliphs had great interest
in
their scholarly Jews, in the reign of Kaliph Abderahman III, had a
Jewish minister, Hasdai ben Issac, whom he greatly valued; the
whole
Jewish nation was historically judged by single specimens, which in
this case influenced the Kaliph in his general policy towards the
Jews.
Hanoch ben Moses, another Jew who had great powers and privileges
had the title of Nagid, or prince, of the Jewish community in Spain.
Just like Daniel in Babylon and Joseph in Egypt, God appoints a Jew for
the purpose of preserving His chosen people.
Another Jew, Samuel ha-Levi ibin-Nagrela, or Samuel Ha-Nagid, as he
was called, was a first-rate theologian, a poet and the minister
for the Kaliph. Later the Jews were accused with false charges of
converting their neighbors, 1,500 families were persecuted and had
to leave Granada (1066) to other cities.
In Almohade Dynasty (Al-Mahdeyeen), who were fanatic warriors.
Abdel-Mumen, gave two choices to both Jews and Christians, Islam or
Exile. Many Jews and Christian secretly preferred to Exile than
convert.
Many other notable Jewish men contributed to the Islamic world.
Solomon Ibn Gabirol (1021-1070) in poetry and philosophy,
Maimonaides (1135-1204) and many others.
Many of my Christian friends advised not to mention Israel in this
writing, but I must warn my beloved people, whom I always pray for.
It is beyond me to sit down and watch my people perish for the lack
of knowledge. The Biblical knowledge is God's, and I must share it
as He commanded, trusting God to soften the hearts and minds of men.
The Bible has been the most accurate source for Middle Eastern
History, Archaeology, and the study of the future developments of
the world. It is the compass to know the future, and has been 100%
accurate. It is not included in the educational curriculum in the
east, and is taken out of the schools in the west. I challenge my
reader to test it, and I plead to you for your eternal destiny.
Israel a Prophecy in the Quran
The Quran speaking on the restoration of Israel; "And after him
(Moses), we said to the children of Israel, dwell Ye in the
promised land, and when the time of the promise of the latter days comes, we
shall bring you out of various peoples". Some Muslim scholars
like Mustafa Mahmud in his book, The Quran a Modern
Understanding, explains a Quranic verse concerning Israel; "And We gave
(clear) warning to the children of Israel in the Book, that twice would
they do mischief on the land and be elated with mighty arrogance (And
twice would they be punished)!" (Al-Isra[17]:4).
According to Mr. Mahmud, this verse as a prophecy in the Quran, he
comments; "And here we see today the Jews reaching might and
power and doing iniquity in the land for the second time" What Mr.
Mahmud ignored is a very important historical and Biblic.al fact that
Israel had two well known historical events were they did iniquity, both
events are well recorded in history, and both events God made them
pay for by allowing the destruction of Israel.
The first; The Babylonian destruction (Nebuchadnezzar 586 B.C.),
the Israelites were carried into captivity. This punishment was given
as they rebelled against God and disobeyed his commandments. This was
the first destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The second; The Roman destruction (Titus A.D. 70), they disobeyed
again, and the Temple was destroyed. The Jews were dispersed
throughout the world (The Diaspora). This was the
second destruction to the Temple in Jerusalem. Twice disobeyed,
and twice destroyed.
This is clearly not a prophecy but repeating what the Bible and
history already told us. The Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali
interprets the Quran for these verses correctly agreeing with the
facts documented in history, and in total agreement with the truth,
(see page 674, The Meaning of The Holy Quran).
Is God Through With the Jew?
Islam teaches a form of replacement theology unlike the West has
ever known. Some believe that the Church is the Israel the Bible
was speaking about. The replacement of all the promises that God gave
to Israel is now forwarded to the Church.
To the replacement theology followers, there was no need for Israel
anymore.
This idea however was shattered by the establishment of Israel
exactly as the Bible foretold. Muslim fanatics however teach that
Israel needs to be annihilated. The Jew in the Bible is
indestructible. This unassimilated people have gone through long,
intense and awful suffering. Palestine, the land of God which has
been given to the Jew has been fought over like no other on earth.
Ever since the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, that place has
told many tales of horror and bloodshed. The Jew has been an object
of extermination in one country after the another, and many times
they have been on the verge of annihilation. Several attempts in
history has ended with absolute failure, as God has promised to
preserve them. An unconditional agreement between God and Abraham.
The Egyptians tried to finish them by enslaving them and killing
their male newborn babies, then the Assyrians, then by
Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C.
In 170 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes sought their destruction and also
failed.
Titus destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. and killed over one million
Jew and carried 97,000 into captivity to Rome.
Christ made the startling prophecy; "Verily I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down." (Matthew 24:2). Which to the amazement of His
followers was literally fulfilled.
The Jewish blood flowed down the temple steps like water. Thousands
upon thousands of Jews perished and the studded crosses on the
mountains of Jerusalem were as far as the eye can see. For several
centuries they were labeled as "Christ killers", burned on the
stake and enslaved by the order of dictators and tyrants.
No one can honestly deny the frightening holocaust that took place
under Hitler. The world has always tried, even King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella who became idolized in history by equipping Columbus
for his journey, they also made 500,000 Jews homeless.
The Soviet Union let several pogroms of torment and humiliation to
the Jews. The challenge is to find a single nation or people in
history that has suffered a fraction of what the Jews went through.
The ironic thing is that all was done in the name of God and
justice. No where in the Bible this hate to the Jew was justified. Yet from
the small remnants put forth as the result of all the attempts to
exterminate the Jews, the Jewish population today grew to several
millions, fulfilling God's promise in the Bible; "Hath God cast
away His people? God forbid. God hath not cast away His people whom He
foreknew." (Romans 11:1-2). And this should settle the
question forever. To ensure this God declared in the Bible; "Thus saith
the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of
the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divideth the
sea when its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If those
ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of
Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus
saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the
foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the
seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.".
Many civilizations throughout history rose, prospered and died.
Babylon, Greece, Rome and others. However, the nation of Israel
persisted to live against all odds. While the Arabic nations occupy
land five hundred times larger than Israel, yet they persisted on
destroying her. The tiny Jewish nation survived against all odds.
Why?
Men throughout the ages, have criticized the Bible with it's
multiple prophecies about the restoration of Israel, how could the poor Jew
make a state and be regathered? Yet man can finally
conclude that the Bible can be proven beyond any shadow of a doubt to be true
Gold, not only by hundreds of ancient prophecies that came to pass, but
by one ancient word created by God from the time of Jacob until our
generation, for all who doubt, and that word was and still is
'Israel'.
Israel's existence today, and the re-gathering of the Jews from all
parts of the world, is an irrefutable proof, that the holy Bible is
the true word of God, as God scattered them throughout the whole
world, and re-gathered them again from ALL nations back to
their original land in fulfillment of his promises in the far past,
until our present. Israel is the only nation in the world which ceased
to exist and returned to play such an important roll in world history.
No one in the world today can ignore amazing Israel, although many
promises were made in the Old Testament to her restoration, as God
said:
"I will gather you from all the nations, and from
all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to
the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." (Jeremiah
29:14). If one is asked a Christian in 1943, how could these prophecies be
true when the Jews were dying by the masses in the concentration
camps of Auschwitz and Treblinka? One would only
have to wait a few more years to be stunned by God's shocking surprise when he
made good His promises.
No serious person should question God's eternal and unchangeable
Bible, the very living and speaking God who never ceased to talk to
the whole world. He is the same God who parted the Red Sea,
destroyed the walls of Jericho, and gathered his scattered Jews from all over
the globe.
It is a mockery to God when man by his foolish pride dictate how
God
His maker should operate the world, it is He who chooses the way He
wants to be honored through. The following prophecies are so simple
to understand, that they needed no interpretation for anyone who
witnesses the recent historical events on Israel; "Thus says the
Lord: "Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance
which
I have caused My people to inherit -- behold, I will pluck them out
of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
"Then
it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will have
compassion on them and bring them back everyone to his heritage and
everyone to his land." (Jeremiah 12:14-15). "Therefore
behold, the days are coming says the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The
Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of
Egypt, but The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel
from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven
them. For I will bring them back into their land which I gave
to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-15).
The great exodus from Egypt in the time of Moses is small compared
to
the regathering of the Jewish people from all over the world. The
mighty God of Israel is still bringing them from all the lands and
from the land of the north (former Soviet Union). This reference of
the land of the north is also referred to by the prophet Jeremiah;
"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather
them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame,
the woman with child together: a great company shall return
thither." (Jeremiah 31:8). The great outpouring of Jews from Russia (far
north of Israel) to the promised land is one of the most exciting events
God made for His people. Russia has persecuted the Jews since the
time of the Czars until the recent breakup of the Soviet Empire.
Against all odds the miracles fulfilled by God to restore their
identity, language, and land is still part of what is about to
come. Russia's 40% Muslim population which belongs to the Turkish-Mongol
tribes, who are seeking greater autonomy still are appointed for
their destiny for destruction with other Islamic nations as
prescribed in Ezekiel 38. The accuracy of Bible prophecy is a
warning to the Muslim nations that God will fulfill the rest of His
promises to the enemies of Israel. It is not a joking matter when The
Awesome God speaks, but a message to be delivered for man to heed. Not only
God was specific about the regathering but He named the very name
the land shall be called, as it was called Palestine for over a
thousand years He declared; "Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord God: I
will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where
you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of
Israel.'" (Ezekiel 11:17).
It must be known that God declared the name for that land, anyone
who changes this name or harms His people will end up paying a heavy
price for He said speaking of Israel; "For thus says the Lord of
hosts: He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you;
for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye." (Zechariah
2:8).
It is indeed a warning to anyone who harms the Jews. Notice how
even the Lord (God) speaks to God as He says; "He sent Me", how could
God send God unless God The Father sends God The Son? As He continues in verse 10; "Sing and rejoice, O
daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst, says
the Lord." (Zechariah 2:10). This is a literal coming of the Lord (God in
the flesh) to dwell in Jerusalem. This was prophesied by the prophet Zechariah
long before Christ came.
How could the Jews who today do not believe in Christ be accused of
corrupting His word? Yet they kept these verses
despite their rejection of Christianity. Even the name of the city He promised
to give them was included in the deal; "I will bring them back, and
they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be
My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness."
(Zechariah
8:8).
Even the language Israel spoke thousands of years ago is today the
main language of Israel after it has been dead all these years. No
other nation in history lost it's language then later restored it
except the nation of Israel. That is a big statement to make, yet
the prophet Zephaniah prophesied exactly of this; "For then will
I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the
name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent" (Zephaniah
3:9). They eventually will call on God when Christ comes the second time.
Even the abundance of fruits today in Israel which allowed her to
export to Europe 90% of Europe's citrus fruit. God said through
Isaiah the prophet; "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to
take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the
world with fruit" (Isaiah 27:6). Even the desert in Israel is
blossoming due to the increasing rain in the last days, a 10% increase in rain
fall is measured every decade, millions of trees were planted, and
God transformed the whole environment of the land which God through
Isaiah prophesied of; "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and
rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain
moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the
former rain, and the latter rain in the first month" (Joel
2:23). To study the Law of probability of these and many other prophecies
would again prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that God exists and His
name is Jehovah the redeemer of Israel as He declared. To anger God is
to ask for the wrath of God, as the prophet Joel declares; "For
behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the
captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and
bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment
with them there on account of My people, My heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also
divided up My land." (Joel 3:1-2). The Bible tells us of the
restoration of Israel and after is Judgment day for the world why?
The world pressure against Israel who divided the land to a
Palestinian state and a Jewish state is temporal, it is not without
repercussions as it angers God. This is the judgment that Muslims
ignore to understand when Christ comes back again, and do not
understand the consequences of. This is a warning from God to the
nations of the world, yet the world is sleeping to His warnings.
In few previous verses; "And I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. he sun shall be
turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of
the great and terrible day of the Lord." (Joel 2:31).
This is also similar to the borrowed prophecies of Muhammad (see
Muhammad's greater prophetic signs), which are but an infinitesimal
fraction if compared to Bible prophecy, which we are covering but a
few in this book: Zechariah 8:8, Jeremiah 29:14, Jeremiah 30:3,
Jeremiah 30:16 & 30:24, Jeremiah 31:8-10, Jeremiah 31:31-33,
Jeremiah 32:37-38, Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel 39:25-27.
Isaiah 11:11-12, Isaiah 46:13, Isaiah 49:3, and Zephaniah 3:9-10.
-- On the recent ongoing exodus of the Jews from Russia
to Israel
Read Jeremiah 16:14-15, Jeremiah 31:8, and Zechariah 2:6.
Bible Prophecy on the Defeat of the Arabic Alliances Against
Israel
While I was a young boy in Jericho, I still remember The American
Council came from Jerusalem just as they had information on a war
about to erupt. They started to evacuate all the Americans in the
area, since my mother was an American, they came to the rescue, but
my father refused and had to turn them down because he loved his
country.
The Six Day War began. The Jews captured old Jerusalem and the rest
of Palestine. This was a great disappointment to Arabs and Muslims
worldwide. I still remember many things during the war; the thunder
of the bombs and chatter of machine guns that went on day and night
for six days. Many Arab citizens in Jericho started looting stores
and houses as people ran and crossed the Jordan river from fear of
the Israelis. The Israeli soldiers announced "Every house with a
white flag on it's gate will be spared, and whoever does not have
the white mark will be broken in by force" The war was called
the six day war because it was won in six days, it was interesting that on
the seventh day a Rabbi by the name of Goren blew the ram's horn
on the wailing wall in Jerusalem declaring the victory. Many Jews
claim that this was a parallel to Joshua when he went around the walls of
Jericho six times, then on the seventh day seven times, and on that
day the priests blew the trumpets and everyone shouted with one
voice, then the walls came tumbling down, and the Israelites took
the city. To my father in Jericho it seemed that the walls have tumbled
down on him, during the war he was always listening to the
Jordanian radio station, he used to say that the Arabs are wining the war,
but he was listening to the wrong station, the Israeli station who was
announcing the truth of their soon coming victory, instead my
father chose to believe the Arabs who claimed that the Israelis are
promoting propaganda.
The Arabs have been loosing the wars against Israel exactly as the
Bible prophesied in the examples I have showed. The Quran teaches
"My people inherits the land", which are Muslims, this was also not
true in the case here. I lived in Israel during the Six Day War, the
P.L.O resistance, the Jordanian Black September civil war, the bloody
wars in Lebanon, and the war of Yom Kippur, with more blood spilt among
ourselves and with no hope to destroy Israel, all these losses and
we still hoped for that one victory, since that is all what it takes
to destroy them.
Muslims claim Israel is God's punishment to them for allowing bad
government to rule the Islamic world. That's why we see attempts to
topple governments with majority Muslim population. The Islamic
world is on its way to destroy Israel. The best way to prove this is to
quote the Syrian president Hafez Asad "There are still one
hundred wars to come with Israel. All we need to defeat Israel is
One."
The God of Israel promised in this second restoration declaring ;
"and they shall not be pulled up", yet the Arab and Muslim world will
try again.
God in the Bible promised that they will fail. The Psalms of David
(Al-Zabur), in chapter 83. Notice in verse 4 "They have said,
"Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel
may be remembered no more." Which sounds like a speech by Jamal
Abdel-Naser, and every Arabic leader who declared war on Israel and
lost, exactly what the Bible foretold thousands of years ago.
It is fascinating as it names all the nations that opposed Israel
in the last 50 years. The nations mentioned are: Edom, Moab, Amalek,
Ammon, children of Lot (Jordan), Ishmaelites and Hagarites (The
Arabs), Gebal (Beirut), The inhabitants of Tyre (People of
Lebanon), Philistines (Palestinians and Syrians), Assyria (Iraq).
Notice it said "The inhabitants of Tyre", since God already knew that
the city of Tyre itself will be destroyed and totally removed (Ezekiel 26).
How did David (Daud) know of this if he wrote the Psalms
(Al-Zabur) from his own mind. Why didn't the Quran mention these
truths?
Also notice the most important verse "Cover their faces with
shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord." (Psalms 83:16). This is a declaration to
the enemies of Israel, that the God of the Bible does not hate the
Arabs or the Muslims, but is requesting them to repent and turn to him,
and believe in his salvation, he is like a loving father to his
children, that when they go against his will he would have to inflict some
pain as to re-direct them his way.
The same God did for the Pharaoh of Egypt, he bid him to let His
people go, then started with simple punishments of frogs, hail, and
other stuff, he loved the Egyptians who many of them went along
with Moses.
God is like a father to us, he loves us all, we need not to have a
hang-up when Christians pray "Our Father", Muslims always
understood this to mean a physical father, that accusation is not correct, it
is by adoption which is symbolic of his love towards man. In verse 18 of Psalms 83 it says,
"That men may know that You, whose name is the Lord--that you alone are
the Most High over all the earth."
Here the Lord wants to redirect the Arabs and Muslims to himself
(the true God), and Him Alone is the true God, that is the God of
Israel, and no one else.
God's promises never changes, and he fulfills them to the letter.
Muslims think that the God of the Bible Christians are calling for
is bias towards the Jews, but we cannot avoid the many verses of
punishment declared on Israel in the Bible; After rejecting Christ
the great "Diaspora" started and they were scattered into all the
earth, separated from their homeland, and far from Jerusalem. God
allowed them to be killed and tormented more than any other people
in the world. No other people in history tasted the agony of war and
pain more than the Jews, they have been in known in history to be
the refugees of the world. The world must drop this ridiculous notion
that the Palestinians only are the ones who suffer, when the facts
are that the Palestinians suffered more from their brothers than
their cousins.
- On the destruction of the city of Tyre: read
Ezekiel 26.
- On the destruction and rebuilding of the city of Amman,
Jordan:
read Jeremiah 49:3-6.
- On the desolation of Petra: Jeremiah 49.
(Fulfilled)
- On Babylon: read Jeremiah 50. (Fulfilled)
On the Eastern Gate
In the book of Ezekiel 44:1-3; "Then He brought
me back to the outer gate which faces toward the east, but it was
shut. And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be
shut; it shall not
be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God
of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.
"Now see
Ezekiel 43:1 "Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that
faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of
Israel came from the way of the east". And in chapter 43: verse 4;
"And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by the way of
the gate which faces toward the east." This is referring to the beautiful
Eastern or Golden Gate, located 1,035 feet north of the Southeast corner of
Al-Harm or Temple Mount area. Which Muslim Khaleefeh Abdel-Malek
bin-Marwanl build the Dome of the rock in A.D. 691, the gate had
already been sealed. It has been sealed almost a thousand years
ago.
According to these verses this gate is reserved for the coming
Messiah. Many attempts have been made to open it. In 1917 Muslim
leaders in control of Jerusalem tried and failed to break the
prophecy and open the gate. Each time, on the exact day the workmen
were preparing to demolish the ancient stone, the hand of God
intervened and the city of Jerusalem passed out of Muslim control
into the hands of the British.
In 1967, the same story all over again. Israel took over Jerusalem
on the same day. More important, these verses are referring to
The Lord God of Israel who entered by the Eastern Gate. And again
he will enter by it a second time. This prophecy cannot be speaking about
no other but The Messiah (Al-Maseeh). It plainly calls Him the God of
Israel. He is declared as "The God". The Bible declares that He is
God in the Flesh. Who came to the Temple, left and will come back
again.
The Gate he entered by, shall be reserved for him just before the
second coming. Muslims doubt the Bible by accusing the Jews or the
Pharisees of corrupting the Old Testament. That would be impossible
since the Jews like the Muslims, do not believe God came or will
come in the flesh. The Jews would love to erase anything that speaks of
Jesus or God being in the flesh, since this is the Christian claim.
The Jews always regarded their sacred texts of the Bible to be
Holy. They never changed it, and the existence of these verses just adds
to the evidence.
These verses of the eastern gate prophecy also ties to the Book of
Zechariah chapter 14 verses 3 to 4; "Then the Lord will go forth
And fight against those, nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
And on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which
faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall split
in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain
shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south."
Now, when did "The Lord" God have feet?
The Mount of Olives which faces
directly the Eastern Gate, which will be opened by his coming.
These biblical prophecies are remarkable and astonishing. How did
these prophets predict all of this to match with a "sealed Eastern
Gate?"
On the Rebuilding of the Third Temple
In Jerusalem (Future), read Amos 9:11, Revelation 11:1-2.
Since Christ will enter in the Eastern
Gate to go into the temple The Bible clearly promises that Israel
will build the Third Temple. Yet the Muslim Dome of the Rock is on
the Temple Mount (Al-Haram Al-Shareef).
Despite all the problems that are going on in the area concerning
the
holy sites. A Jewish Temple will be built according to God's
promise.
Many question the possibility of the Jewish Temple being rebuilt
side-by-side with the Muslim Dome of the Rock, since The Tomb of
Abraham (Machpela) in Hebron includes worship sites for both Muslims
and Jews. The prophet John (Yohanna) was given a vision of the rebuilt
Temple during the Tribulation; "Rise and measure the temple of God,
the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which
is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given
to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city under foot for
forty-two months" (Revelation 11:1-2).
Since the Dome of the Rock was built in the area called "The Court of
the Gentiles", it is possible that the Temple will be side by side
with a wall separating the two. When the Messiah will come, (And He
will come). He will descend on the Mount of Olives, cross the Kidron
Valley, enter the Eastern Gate, and go into the Temple.
Gog & Magog (The Judgment of the Coming Russian Islamic
Invasion on
Israel)
The Quran alluded to Gog and Magog in Surah Al-Kahf[18]; "They said:
"O
Dhu al Qarnayn! The Gog and Magog people do great
mischief on earth:
Shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect
a
barrier between them?...Bring me blocks of iron at
length, when he
had filled up the space between the two steep mountainsides,
He said,
`Blow with your bellows', then when he had made it red as fire, he
said: `Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead.' thus were
they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it. he said this:
`this is a mercy from my Lord:
but when the promise of my Lord comes
to pass, he will make it into dust; and the promise of
my Lord is
true. On that day we shall leave them to surge like waves on one
another; the trumpet will be blown, and we shall
collect them
together. And we shall present hell that day
for unbelievers to see,
all spread out.'" (Al-Kahf[18]:94-100).
Heated controversies as to precise dates, peoples, and
personalities
seem to be evident when trying to research the Islamic writings
concerning these passages. Most Muslim scholars and commentators
agree on the difficulty to interpret these verses, as a great deal
of
literature have been piled up among Muslim writers. The most common
interpretation of the person of (Dhu al-Qarnayn) has been
Alexander
the Great, since the name (Dhu al-Qarnayn) in Arabic means "The
two
horned". Evidence from historical and archaeological accounts depict
Alexander the Great with ram's horns on his head. Although the name
Alexander is not mentioned here, Muslim interpreters generally
agree
that these verses are speaking of him. The problem with accepting
Alexander the Great as the personality in these verses is that
Alexander the Great is known in history as a pagan, he considered
himself "The Son of Jupiter".
While the Quran addresses him as "The man of Faith" if Alexander is
the person of this story, verse 88 addresses Alexander saying "but
who believes, and works righteousness, he shall have goodly
reward",
and in verse 98 Alexander is saying; "This is a mercy from my
Lord...and the promise of my Lord is true." The question is, who
could Alexander's Lord be? And which God is he
addressing when he
says "a mercy from my Lord"? If Muslims
choose this
interpretation,
then Alexander the Great becomes the channel of inspiration to
reveal
this prophecy to the people referred to in verse 93. Some
interpreters conclude this as a historic event, and not a prophecy,
concluding that Gog might rise again in the future, a claim not
written in the Quran. While this represents a dilemma to most
Muslim
scholars, the general point of view in the Islamic world
unanimously
accept Alexander the Great as "Dhu al- Qarnayn". A definite "double
horned" problem found in the major commentaries of the Quran. And
to
avoid Alexander as the figure of the story will create a problem of
identifying "Dhu-al Qarnayn", since this name is a historical
identification to Alexander the Great.
Another dilemma that faces the Muslims in accepting Alexander as
"Dhu
al-Qarnayn", is that Omar Ibn-Alkhattab, the second Khalifa of
Islam,
and a close friend of the prophet, in defending the Prophet calls
Dhu
al-Qarnayn as "an angel".
This dilemma directed Muslim scholars to many other mixed, and
different conclusions, all making a saint out of him, neglecting
the
historical fact of Alexander burning a Phoenician city as the
people
rejected him offering sacrifices to his pagan deities. He died an
alcoholic and a pagan. It is practically agreed among Muslim
scholars, that Gog and Magog were wild tribes of Central Asia known
as "Scythians", but the detail of the events of this prophecy is
vaguely known.
Numerous assumptions have been made concerning the blocks of iron
and
the mountain sides, a Muslim can read some of these in any
commentary
on the Quran like Abdullah Yusuf Ali's commentary. Mr. Ali gets
himself in a trap, when he concludes a fulfillment of this took
place
at the time of Alexander the Great, he gets into a debate with the
different interpretations on several iron gates, assuming that the
"blocks of iron" are gates he says; "The Abbasi Khalifa Wathiq
(842-846 A.C.) sent a mission to Central Asia to report on this
Iron
Gate...Nothing could correspond more exactly with the description
in
Surah 18:95-96)".
The trap Mr. Ali sets himself into is that when reviewing verses
98-100 above, one cannot escape the fact that the event will take
place on Judgment day, since a trumpet will sound and Hell is
presented. The conclusion that these verses are prophetic are
beyond
question. The reason Muslim scholars try to conclude this as
fulfilled is obvious since Alexander the Great died long ago.
Either
"Dho al-Qarnayn (Double horned) be Alexander, Good Angel, or the
Devil presents a problem, no serious scholar can deny.
The Bible on the other hand concerning the prophecy of Gog and
Magog, gives the missing elements not mentioned in the Quran. The
additional detail is quite astonishing; "And the word of the Lord came unto
me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog,
the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and
Tubal and prophecy against him, and
say, This saith the lord God: I am against thee, O
Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back and put
hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army,
horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor,
even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them
handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and
Libya with them; all of them with
shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah
of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with
thee...And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of
the north...a mighty army." (Ezekiel 38:1-6).
The majority of the scholars on Bible prophecy identify Russia with these names
before Russia became a super power.
C. I. Scofield in 1909, and before Russia had any significance in
world power during the Czars of Russia commented; "That the primary
reference is to the northern (European) powers, headed up by
Russia, all agree....The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and
Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers
have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel." In Genesis
10 these names are given to sons and descendants of Noah. Josephus,
one of history's great historians notes that Magog is called the
Scythians by the Greeks. Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, a
major authority on the precise meaning of Hebrew and Chaldee words
regard Magog as a real country to the extreme north of the Holy
Land.
Professor G. Rawlinson also identifies them with modern Russia.
Secular history also trace the Scythians, who lived in the northern
regions above the Caucasus Mountains, as forerunners of modern
Russia. The Bible confirms this conclusion by giving the location
three times calling it "the uttermost north" (Ezekiel 38:6, 15,
39:2 KJV).
Drawing a straight line north of Jerusalem on the map almost hits
Moscow.
The Hebrew lexicon of Brown, Driver, and Briggs indicates that Rosh
here is the proper name of a people, and a country "Russia"
"Russians". Arabic writers confirm that the great wall of China is
called the wall of Magog (Hait Al-Ma'ajooj), to protect China from
the invading Russians. Certain Muslims might disagree that Magog
refers to Russia, but China. This disagrees with many Arabic
historians. The following will give the nations ancient names and
the
modern nation that now occupies that territory.
| The Ancient Nations | The Modern Nations |
|
| Gog and Magog | Russia |
|
| Meshech and Tubal | Moscow and Tobolsk |
|
| Persia | Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan |
|
| Ethiopia | Ethiopia and Sudan |
|
| Libya | Libya |
|
| Ashkenaz, Gomer | Soviet block (Eastern
Europe) |
|
| Togarmah | Southern Russia |
|
| Many nations with you | Other nations allied to
Russia |
|
We ask: How come there is a difference in clarity in the Biblical
prophetic verses concerning Gog and Magog, when compared to the
vague and somewhat distorted verses of "Dho al- Qarnayn"?
Why is God telling us this information?
What religion comes to mind, that permits (halal) and encourages
booty (Al-ghana'em) and plunder (ghazuat), which would be
permissible (halal)?
What is the religion of Russia's allies referred to in these
passages, which has the names Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya?
How could the Bible know that these nations will be Russia's best
allies if Russia desired to attack Israel? How did
the Bible
predict
by name "Libya", since Libya at the time of the prophecy was an
insignificant place?
Today Russia maintains a major buildup of Libya's fourteen air
bases
with more than five- hundred and fifty Russian combat aircraft.
Russia also has propositioned a staggering sixteen thousand tanks
and
armored cars in Libya. The tank force Libya has is greater than the
tank forces of France, Britain, and Germany combined, Why? It is
interesting that Ezekiel referenced these nations which are the
most
antagonistic nations to Israel.
The most important thing I would like to warn my Muslim friends is
that the allied nations to Russia in this prophecy are Muslim
nations
seeking the Islamic form of Government. Islamic fundamentalism is
the
greatest enemy to the Jews. The evidence on this issue is
overwhelming. What I fear the most is that the Bible concludes the
destruction of these nations, God in the Bible warns; "I am
against
you", and he includes these nations.
An interesting article in the Insight magazine reports;
"Fundamentalist Islam, looking to Iran for
inspiration and support,
is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa...Shimon Peres
recently stated: "Since the collapse of communism in the Soviet
Union, we consider Khomeinism the greatest danger the Middle East
is
facing...It has many of the characters of communism. It is fanatic,
it is ideological, it is religious and claims, like communism, that
the end justifies the means. Most of all, it has the same
inclination
to export its ideas. It does not respect national borders. The
Iranian example already has spread to Sudan
...Algeria...Tunisia...Palestine. The overall aim of these
efforts
apparently is to create an Islamic belt stretching from Iran
through
the Middle East to North Africa. Ironically, many Arabs
attribute
their defeats in wars with Israel to religion: While Israel was
built upon religion." (Insight magazine, 9, 6, 1993).
In addition to the nations the Ezekiel mentions are the coastlands.
Could this be referring to Algeria, Tunisia, Al-Maghrib, and other
cities on the cost of the Mediterranean?
I repeat, many of my friends advised not to mention these prophecies concerning
Israel, but I must warn my people, whom I always pray for. It is beyond me to
sit down and watch my people perish for lack of knowledge. The Biblical
knowledge is God's, and I must share it as he commanded, trusting God
to soften the hearts and minds of men.
The Bible has been the most accurate source for Middle Eastern
History, Archaeology, and the study of the future developments of
Israel and the world. It is the compass to know the future, and has
been 100% accurate. I challenge my reader to test it, and I plead
to you for your eternal destiny. The Islamic understanding to Gog and
Magog has been misinterpreted, I have explained the evidence on
their main arguments. the following evidence should be ample to prove to
Muslims the fact I am saying here. Take for example in verses 12 of
the same chapter; "to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch
out your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against
a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock
andgoods, who dwell in the midst of the land." And we ask: How did a
corrupted Bible know that Israel will be re-gathered from the nations of the
world?
The conclusion of the battle is described clearly in the Bible. The
Bible in the Book of Ezekiel concludes the destruction of the
enemies of Israel; "Surely in that day there will be a great earthquake
in the land of Israel" (Ezekiel 38:19). "Every man's sword will be
against his brother." (Ezekiel 38:21b). "And I will bring him to
judgment with pestilence and bloodshed..." (Ezekiel 39:22a). "You shall
fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops..."
(Ezekiel 39:4a) "And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in
security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord".
(Ezekiel 39:6). "So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people
Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name
anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord the
Holy One in Israel." (Ezekiel 39:7).
In the 1993 peace accord the West Bank (Mountains of Israel) have
been
given to Yasser Arafat, making it possible for such an army to set
bases in the West Bank which is the Mountains of Israel. Also
notice that Israel would not profane God's name anymore. It is no wonder
that the majority of Israel today has no concern to their God. And
we ask: Could it be that Islam is not from God? If
Islam is not from God, who is it from? If Islam is
from God, why their destruction here? In Ezekiel
39:23-24, the God of the Bible sums up the story of
Israel; "The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went
into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me,
therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of
their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their
uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with
them, and hidden My face from them."
Now, can it be more clear? there need to be little
or no interpretation for these verses, they speak for themselves. Israel
was unfaithful to God, for that they have been paying for 2000
years, they got what they deserved. Israel was their land which God made a
covenant with, and a deal is a deal, especially with God. It does
not get annulled no matter how long ago it was made. They came back,
and God is going to redeem and clean their hearts. This has to be the
truth, or why would a people accused of corrupting the Bible leave
verses saying that Israel was unfaithful, transgressors, unclean,
...They kept their Bible uncorrupted and included all the embarrassments.
On the Coming Destruction of Iraq
Read Isaiah 13:19, Isaiah 13:19-22, Jeremiah 50 & 51, and John 19:3.
Books can be written in detail on each of these prophecies.
The chances of some of the fulfilled prophecies to happen by
simple guess is 1 n so many trillions that you can never count, or
explain and even the law of probability could not handle, which thousands
of Galaxies cannot even hold. I do NOT suggest you even entertain the
thought of counting such a number, using your computer, or even
imagining it.
Islamic Prophecy of Jerusalem
As I grew up in Israel, I attended government school where I grew
in the faith of Islam. From the early stages of my life I was fed the
idea that one day a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy by the
Muslim prophet Muhammad will come to pass, this prophecy foretold a battle
in which the Holy Land would be recaptured and the elimination of
the Jews would take place in a massive slaughter. This prophecy in
fact is documented in Mohammed's Traditions (Al-Hadith) which
states the following: "The day of judgment shall not come to pass until
a tribe of Muslims defeat a tribe of Jews." When Mohammed was
asked of the place this will take place he said: "In Jerusalem and the
surrounding nations."
During my youth like my father I was always tuned to Islam and what
our Muslim teachers taught. Believing in Muhammad's prophecy I
offered my life to "Jihad" or "Holy War" as the only means to
obtain either victory or martyrdom; In Islam martyrdom is the only way
you can ensure salvation and entry to heaven especially since Allah
and his prophet Muhammad promised it, as the Quran states it; "Do
not think of whom are killed for the cause of Allah (in a Holy
War), to be dead but living with their lord receiving his blessing".
It was always difficult for me to wait all this time to find out at
the end if this prophecy was true. I started reading the Bible and
began to wonder why Zechariah prophesied, "For I will gather all
the nations to battle against Jerusalem, the city shall be rifled, and
the women ravished." (Zechariah 14:2).
In Islam, I was taught that the second coming of the Messiah was in
Islamic prophecy, he was portrayed as the one to break the cross
and
kill a pig, another setup for Muslims to follow the false messiah,
the Mehdi, the second coming an "Antiochus Epiphanine.".
Contrary to Muhammad's prophecy, The Bible prepares its readers
that
the outcome of the siege in the time of Jacob's trouble will not be
the total annihilation of the Jews, but that Christ himself will
descend on the Mount of Olives for judgment as he fights the
enemies
of Israel. Unfortunately, it will be too late for repentance and
redemption for non-believers. Islam as we mentioned is determined
on
conquering the world.
Similarly, Shintoizm drove the Japanese for the expansion and world
domination, the Japanese had no separation of Church and state,
conquest was the holy mission of Japan. What tragedy was sown when
they were defeated in 1945, under the twin blows of the atomic
annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The God of Japan whom they
believed will never fail them was shattered. Then and only then,
they
realized that they were betrayed.
In Islam, hatred towards Jews is not an old outmoded idea from the
far past, millions of Muslims today have the idea that one day they
will do the same to all Jews in the Holy Land as Muhammad did to
the
Jews in Saudi Arabia. The only difference is that they have not
gained enough strength to over power Israel. According to the
Bible,
they too will suffer like the Japanese, and the saddest part, it
will
be too late! Let's not forget the attempt to annihilate Israel has
been failing has the Arab, nations has already failed in 1948, 1956
and 1967.
God was and still is speaking to the Muslims: "Let them be
ashamed
and dismayed forever; and let them be humiliated and perish, That
they may know that Thou alone,
whose name is the Lord, Art the Most
High over all the earth." (Psalm 83:17-18). The God of the
Bible is a
jealous God, and want's to direct you to Him.
The prophet of Islam made some additional prophecies, here they are:
The Lesser Prophetic Signs
(1) The decay of faith and the rise of sensuality.
(2) Tumults and sedition everywhere.
(3) A great war with the Turks and great distress throughout the world.
(4) The rebellion of Iraq and Syria.
(5) The expansion of the scared city of Medina.
The Greater Prophetic Signs
(1) Heavenly signs; sun rising from the west, moon eclipse, and smoke
filling the earth.
(2) A war with the Greeks, and the capture of Constantinople by
seventy-thousand Jews; during the victory the Antichrist will arise.
(3) The Antichrist (Al-Masih al Dajjal), with one eye, and the letters
(CFR) or infidel on his forehead, he will appear near Iraq and Syria riding a
colt, and followed by 70,000 Jews and will be killed by Jesus.
(4) A war with Jews involving Muslims and barbarians (Yajuj and Majuj), Gog
and Magog.
(5) Jesus descending on Damascus to kill the Antichrist .
(6) The Arabs returning to pagan worship.
(7) Gold discovered under the Euphrates river.
(8) The Kaaba destroyed by the Ethiopian army.
(9) Fire in Yemen.
(10) The Mahdi's coming (descendent from the prophet Muhammad).
(11) The final trumpets and the end.
These unusual prophecies are mixed with borrowed Biblical
prophecies.
Yet one wonders, where are his fulfilled prophecies?
This question
has not been answered, so how do we know that Muhammad is correct? Do
we
wait till the end? For example; take his end time
prophecy "When
the
Muslims defeat the Jews in Jerusalem." Does the Muslim wait till
the
end to find out if the Muslims will win the war against the Jews,
or
will it be as the Bible said, which is the opposite than what
Muhammad said?
God does not leave all the evidence to be discovered, he reveals
the
great portion of it so we can be 100% sure. We did not have Yemen
burning, or Kaaba destroyed, or gold found under the Euphrates, or
Arabs returning to pagan worship, on the contrary, Arabs are
returning to Islam, just look in the newspaper and see. Nor did we
have a major war between Turks and Jews. Other verses in prophecy
The
Quran declared: "Muhammad is a prophet only; there have been
prophets
before him. If he dies or is slain,
will ye turn back?" It is
interesting as we mentioned before, how come Allah could not
predict
the method of death of the prophet, to die naturally,
or is slain?
I understand Islam, as well as Christianity, since my father was a
Muslim and my mother was a Christian, they always had heated
debates,
my father on one side and my mother on the other. They met over
forty
years ago in America, fell in love, and decided to get married and
of
course conceived me without my permission. On the ninth month
sleeping in the comfort of my mothers womb, my parents decided to
move to the Holy Land. On the first few days they arrived in
Bethlehem, I decided to be born, on the upper room of my
grandfather's house, which had chicken, lambs, goats, and a donkey.
The family and relatives gathered around and my father since he was
celebrating one of the holiest days to Islam, the birthday of the
Muslim prophet Muhammad (Al-Mauled Al-Nabawi).
This was an honor to my father, for that he named me (Walid) which
relates to the Arabic word (Mawled) in English (The Birth), as to
always remember the birthday of the Muslim prophet. My father was
a
Palestinian Muslim who taught English and Islamic studies in the
Holy
Land, and my mother was an American who married my father during
his
studies in the United States in the year of 1956.
As my father changed jobs we moved to Saudi Arabia for a few years,
then back to the Holy Land this time to the lowest place on Earth,
Jericho. As I grew up in Jericho I learned my first song in school
just before the six day war titled "Arabs are beloved and Jews
are
Dogs." In Arabic: "Al-Arab Ahbabna, Walyahood Klabna." I used
to
wonder at that time who the Jews were, but repeated with the rest
of
the kids the words without any knowledge of the meaning. It was no
problem for the teachers to help us say the words, to them, it was
the right thing to say.
While I was a young boy in Jericho, I still remember The American
Council who came from Jerusalem just as they had information on a
major war about to erupt. They started to evacuate all the
Americans
in the area, since my mother was an American, they came to the
rescue, but my father refused and had to turn them down because he
loved his country. The Six Day War began The Jews captured old
Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine. This was a great
disappointment
to Arabs and Muslims worldwide. I still remember many things during
the war; the thunder of the bombs and chatter of machine guns that
went on day and night for six days. Many Arab citizens in Jericho
started looting stores and houses as people ran and crossed the
Jordan river from fear of the Israelis. To my father in Jericho it
seemed that the walls have tumbled down on him, during the war he
was
always listening to the Jordanian radio station, he used to say
that
the Arabs are wining the war, but he was listening to the wrong
station, the Israeli station who was announcing the truth of their
soon coming victory, instead my father chose to believe the Arabs
who
claimed that the Israelis are promoting propaganda.
As I grew in my father's faith, and since I was brought up to hate
Jews, I was always fascinated with Islamic history, as I learned
that
the Muslim prophet Mohammed, defeated the Romans and extradited the
Jewish tribes from Saudi Arabia and ordered the be-heading of
thousands of Jewish men. The women were taken as concubines. As the
Jews of Bani Kuraitha, Bani Al-Natheer, and Bani Qaynaqa'a were
accused of collaborating to kill the prophet. Later I learned that
this fulfilled a biblical promise, that the "Jew" will always be
unwelcomed wherever he goes. I used to believe as Islam taught,
only
a Khalifah (Islamic ruler) should rule the world, since Islam is
not
a religion for one's personal and moral life only, but a system of
law and government to the whole world, if not achieved through
peaceful means would have to wage war against all whom do
not submit
to Islam, in fact Islam means "submission to Allah', by the Word or
by the Sword, and with one billion Muslims living today I believed
that it could happen. When I graduated from Hi school I left Israel
to go to the United States seeking a higher education, and of
course I got involved with many anti-Israeli social and political events.
I still remember our favorite sick joke we used to like to tell among
our anti-Israel friends, that we hated Hitler very much because he
never got the job done, that is; he never finished the Jewish
problem "once and for all".
I always hesitated to write these harsh things, and I realize that
they are harsh, but I cannot wipe away the past which already
happened, and the truth, that millions think the same way living in
the Middle East. War is bitter, and the life of hatred, always
blocked the way to love. Revenge and bloodshed were the way of
life, and that's just how it was. Without true knowledge I saw Hitler as
my idol, The Quran in one hand and looking up to Muhammad, I went on
with my life with little regard for Jews, Christians, or anyone who
was not a Muslim. Americans to me were a pathetic people, selfish,
ignorant, naive, and an enemy of Islam. I believed that one day the
whole World will submit to Islam, and that the whole world owes the
Palestinians for their loss in all the battles with Israel, I also
was raised to believe that Jews were prophet-killers and that they
corrupted the Scriptures to serve their evil desires. This is what
we learned, we also learned that Muhammad is our only redeemer and
God's favored prophet.
Islam and War
In the Islamic world, Islam as the prophet Muhammad spells out, the
relationships of Muslims towards non-Muslims; "they are in the
house of Islam, or the house of war", in Arabic (Dar Al-Islam) or (Dar
Al-Harb). Today in the west Muslims are free to spread Islam, with
the exception of Jihad (Holy War), by the sword. Christians on
the other hand are not allowed to send missionaries or build churches
in Islamic countries. It is a well known fact to Muslims as what
happens to Muslim converts in Islamic countries. All the facts on the
violent acts can be obtained from newspapers, libraries, UN publications,
which no logical mind can deny. Almost two million Christians and
Animists have been killed by Muslims in the last five years alone.
Muslims usually reply by a asking; "why do the Serbs (Catholics)
kill and rape Bosnia's Muslims in the name of God and justice?"
Although one could go on with many similar questions; it is evident
that we always had wars and atrocities; Muslim Turks killed 1.5
million Christian Armenians, the Germans killed 6 million Jews, and
the prophet of Islam Muhammad killed 6,000 Jews in Al-Madina. In
many
instances in history we even find Muslims killing Muslims, and even
today, the atrocities of Saddam Hussein killing the Kurds are
evident
that sin has been the nature of Man from the beginning of the fall
of
Adam, when Cain (Kaeen), killed Abel (Habeel). Another good way to
reply to these problems is to search the source, and motives of
each
group, and since the topic is on comparing the Quran with the
Bible,
two important suggestions must be made:
If Christianity promotes killing innocent people then Christianity
must be questioned.
If Islam promotes killing innocent people then Islam must be
questioned.
I cannot find any other option. Are there any?
Again I emphasize on what Islam's Quran teaches, as Muslim governments are to be
at war and carry arms against the world if the world rejects Islam. This
is evident the moment one starts looking into the Quran. and is the
main reason why Palestinian teenagers wrap themselves with
explosives
and blow up a Jewish bus, it is the main reason why Sheikh Omar
Abdull-Rahman orders the bombing of American buildings in New York.
The issue is not political only, but a commandment from Allah. Some
Muslims might object to the bombing of the World Trade Center
building in New York, but no Muslim fundamentalist denies that
Jihad (Holy War) is not a commandment by Allah. It is part of the
Islamic pride that is evident in the world today.
The pen is part of the master plan of converting the world then the
sword. To some westerners a suggestion that such a plan is in the
making would be unlikely, but if you search for the words Muslim
and
Jihad in today's world, you will soon find that it is not a new
word
anymore, it is added daily to our newspapers, journals and English
dictionaries.
Let's take for example the last five years of the country of Sudan.
The Muslim terror has become fiercest since the coming power of
dictator General Hassan El-Bashi. The Muslims attacked Christian
villages. The young between the ages of 13 and 20 were shot without
judgment. UN reports say that others were burned alive in their
huts.
Many churches were closed or destroyed. Sudan is forcibly
Islamized.
Males get circumcised. Leaders of animist tribes were invited by
the
authorities to a "conference", and then they were shot. Crucifixion
and stoning of Christians and torture with red-hot iron bars is a
horrifying reality. And we ask these several questions: What is the
real fear Muslims have from Christian missionaries if Muslims are
confident that Islam and the Quran shall stand on their own?
If Muslims believe that any logical mind can find the absolute
truth
the moment one reads the Quran. Then why should Muslims be
"protected" from the Bible? Can the mass murder in
Sudan Africa be
considered peace and justice? Why are Muslims
throughout the whole
world so determined on destroying Christianity? Why
are Muslims
throughout the whole world so determined on destroying the Jewish
people in Israel? Why are Muslims not fighting
countries like
Russia,
China and Japan which the majority are atheist?
While Muslims are
looking forward to destroy Israel, lets look at some of these
recent
wars, take for instance the Russian Afghan war, at one time 80,000
Muslims were killed by the Russians within 48 hours alone, and we
ask: Why is there no condemnation by the Arab and Muslim world for
all the Muslim blood spilt by the hands of the atheist Russians?
Why
is the hatred towards Jews in Israel while Muslims in Afghanistan
have been butchered by the masses from the Russians?
Is it possible
that the USSR is the best friend to most Islamic and Arab nations.
Since the USSR is the main weapon supplier for many of the Muslim
and
Arab governments. Why is it that every army of these nations carry
Russian made AK47 rifles. Is it possible that the Muslims do not
want
to bite the hand that feeds them? Did Israel kill
80,000 Muslims
within 48 hours?
The most ironic thing is that the destruction that went on in
Afghanistan was caused by the Afghans themselves after defeating
the Russians. I watched a video of the Afghan capital Kabul with a
Muslim friend from Afghanistan. Every building in site was demolished, and
the city was completely devastated. My friend was saddened as he
watched the total destruction of his city. Every man's sword was
upon his brother, and every faction claimed to be Muslim.
The Diet Problem
One of the booklets I used to promote to substantiate the Muslim
claim, was a booklet titled Pig, Possible Reasons for its
Prohibition, by Ahmad H. Sakr. In the booklet, the author tries to
prove his point by a well known proverb; "You are what you eat."
And since our behavior is dictated by what we eat, it is dangerous to
eat pork, because we will act like, you know...pigs. The author with this
theory, explains; "Therefore, eating the flesh of the hog may affect the
personality character of the individual by increasing immorality, including
homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery and prostitution. The free mixing of the
sexes that one sees in non-Muslim societies is really a dreadful thing to
observe. There is no concept of ethics or morality among many people but their
concept is sex enjoyment, and free sex interchange. Pre-marital
relationships and the increased rate of illegitimate pregnancies are predominant
features in the western societies. The streakers and the degree of
publicity they received, as well as the nude societies that have
been established, are among the symptoms of the sick societies that have
been polluted by the wrong food that they were eating. The degree
of rape and the general obsession with sex in western societies, are
beyond control. The rate of incidence of looting, killing,
stabbing, shooting, sniping, strangling, robbing, stockpiling of arms, and
the like are among the many other evils of the modern societies that
cannot be tolerated any more."
And we ask: All this is the result of eating pork?
This kind of material is being distributed in the west and believed in by most
Muslims. The poor hog has been taking additional charges that he
does not deserve. While it is easier to these unusual conclusions by
Muslim scholars like Mr. Sakr on the reason for bad blame the hog
for our behavior we suggest a second test is necessary, since in China
one of the main diets is pork, yet for hundreds of years China is
considered to be one of the most moral societies in our world, The
author goes on to say that the reason Muslims are hated in India is
the cause of a non-Muslim diet.
According to Mr. Sakr, violence and hatred towards Muslims in India
is attributed to a non-beef diet. According the 1991 Guinness book
of world records, the lowest murder rate in the world is in the
state of Kashmir, India. There are many outlandish so called scientific
publications on diet coming out daily. The reason for such
publications are always to promote products and ideas. Another main
reason to reject the diet idea for the cause of violence is that
diet in a Muslim country like Afghanistan can hardy be the cause of
stockpiling weapons, shooting and blowing each other to
smithereens. It is also evident that Muslim fundamentalists are aggressive
towards Jews when the Jewish and Muslim diets are the same.
It has been evident through the ages that what you believe dictates
how you act, and not eating pork. In India one is left to die
because
its their "Karma" and not the diet which has no meat at all. In
India, the Hindu's belief in reincarnation forces the people to allow
rats to eat over 1/4 of their crops, since they view that killing a
rat is the same as killing someone's uncle. It is evident that sin
has been the nature of Man from the beginning of the fall. While
certain religions especially Islam, attribute sinful behaviors to
godliness, in which we shall cover later. The world today cannot
avoid the violent nature of growing fundamentalism. In Egypt, the
killing of tourists are the result of growing fundamentalism.
Killing Christians and westerners all of the sudden is a commandment from
Allah.
While many Muslims disagree to some of the fundamentalist behavior,
one cannot avoid the evident commandments by Allah to kill people
for simply rejecting the faith of Islam, how about people who convert
from Islam?
It is what Islamic Fundamentalism teach and believe, is what
dictates to a Muslim fundamentalists how to live and not pork.
The Verse of the Sword
In fact, much of the incitement to violence and war in the whole of
the Quran is directed against the Jews and Christians who rejected
Islam.
In plain terms the Quran says: "Ye true believers, never regard the
Jews and Christians as your friends...and if any of you befriends
them, surely, he is part of them. And Allah will not guide such
wicked people." (Surahs Al-Maa'idah[5]:51 and Al-Baqarah[2]:120).
In Surah Al-Tawbah (repentance), the most famous verse on Jihad is
called The verse of the Sword. This verse has been known to
abrogate (cancel) over one hundred other verses in the Quran. It
made null and void of most of the Quranic verses calling for tolerance,
forgiveness and peace towards none believers. The Law of
Abrogation, (Al-Nasekh Wal-Mansookh), has been given by Allah in
the Quran since some verses came for a specific time and era.
So it was many times, certain verses from the Quran were
abrogated (Mansookh) by newer ones (Nasekh). The verse of the Sword says
the following; "When the sacred months are passed, kill those who join
other gods with Allah wherever Ye shall find them, besiege them,
and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush." (Al-Tawbah[9]:5).
"Make war upon such of those whom the Scriptures have been given as
they believe not in Allah, or the last day, and forbid not that
which Allah and His Apostle have forbidden..." (Al-Tawbah[9]:29).
And we question; since Christians do not prohibit pork, according to this verse,
do you think we could have good reasons to promote violence and
bloodshed?
When Sheikh Omar Abdullrahman, a blind man who was accused to be
the leader of the bombing of The World Trade Center in New York, was
questioned by one of his followers concerning a fatwa (Religious
decree) just before the assassination of president Anwar Saddat in
Egypt. The Muslim follower asked concerning the peace treaty Sadat
had with Israel, he responded to the man; "He (Mr. Sadat) shakes
hands with monkeys (Jews in Surah 2:66 Sabbath breakers) and
pigs (Christians, pork eaters)". The decree was passed to kill the
president of the largest Arabic country in the world for making
peace with Israel.
In his book, How to Perfect the Science of the Quran (Al-Itqan),
writes Mr. Al-Syoti, in volume 2 page 37; "The Verse of the Sword
has
abrogated (annulled) one hundred and twenty four Quranic verses
and
all what came in the Quran on matters of forgiving and ignoring,
unbelievers have been replaced (Mansookha), by the verse of the
sword."
This is also conferred by the highest of the interpreters of the
Quran, for further evidence refer to the following; Kitab Al-Nasekh
Wal-Mansookh, by Al-Neesaburi. Al-Hafeth Ibnu Katheer Ibin Abas.
Al-Tasheel Lulum Al-Tanzeel. Al-Husain Ibn Fadl. Abu Abdullah
Muhammad Ibn Hazm. Al-Muhaqiq Abu Al-Qasim Hibatullah Ibn Salameh.
Al-Sudy Wa-AlDahak.
Muhammad Abdulsalam Faraj.
The evidence on the abrogation of verses which calls for tolerance
and patience cannot be refuted. People in the West today need to be
awakened, they cannot ignore what is really taught in the East,
that
is; to Islamize the West, the banners one sees in all Islamic
rallies
and demonstrations proves the point, "Islam to the World."
Nazism or Nausea?
It is nauseating to watch footage on the Holocaust, in some, we see
the Nazi laws and policies imposed on Jews in Germany. A
comparative study between the laws of Islam and Germany in the time of the
Holocaust should be interesting. According to Islamic law set forth
by the Quran and the Kaliphas (Rulers after Muhammad) for
Ahl-ul-dhimma (the Jews and Christians) are almost identical to the
policies in Germany's holocaust era:
Nazism: Jews need to wear an identifiable mark on their clothing to
identify them as Jews. The star of David for an identification
with the word (Jude) on the chest. A yellow banner is to be fixed
around the shoulder or arm, as to be recognized as a Jew. They must live
in the Jewish Ghettos.
Islam: Dhimmis (Jews & Christians) must wear identifiable clothing
and live in a clearly marked house. A yellow banner is to be fixed
around the shoulder or arm, as to be recognized as a Jew.
Nazism: Jews are not admitted to serve in the army or navy. They
are not allowed to bear arms.
Islam: He must not ride a horse or bear arms. He must yield the
right-of-way to Muslims.
Nazism: Jews cannot hold public offices, whether national state, or
municipal. salaried or honorary, are closed to Jews. Jews cannot be
Judges in criminal and disciplinary cases. Jews cannot serve on
juries.
Islam: Dhimmis (Jews & Christians) cannot be a witness in a legal
court except in matters relating to other "dhimmis" (Jews &
Christians) or be a judge in a Muslim court.
Nazism: A compensation for the protection that Jews enjoy as
aliens,
they must pay double the taxes the Germans pay.
Islam: A compensation for the protection that dhimmis (Jews &
Christians) enjoy, they must pay "Jezzieh", a special tax to be
imposed on dhimmis (Jews & Christians) only.
Nazism: The marriage with Jews is prohibited. Adoption of Jews and
by Jews is prohibited.
Islam: He cannot be the guardian of a Muslim child, the owner of a
Muslim slave.
Many modern interpreters of the Quran today are including the
forbidding of marriage between Muslims and Dhimmis (Jews &
Christians), as they regard them to be (Mushrik), or
associationest with the one true Allah. We must always keep in mind that a
Jewish Holocaust occurred in Saudi Arabia, which was carried by the
prophet of Islam Himself. Muslims have always explained this away as by
claiming that they betrayed the prophet, nevertheless, the end
results was a mass slaughter of 6000 Jews who surrendered.
The killing of the men went on day and night, one by one was
be-headed and thrown into a ditch. The women were split among the
Muslims, Muhammad the prophet of Islam had (Zaynab), the wife of
the tribe's leader, after he killed her husband and her brother, he
took his "God given" trophy on the same night. God in the Bible warns
us: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but
inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.
Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?" (Matthew
7:15-16).
You might say; This sounds harsh, how dare you! But I tell you; Its
one of the tests for true prophets that Jesus himself put as a
rule. Would you think that God does not supply his followers with certain
tests and measures needed to test those who claim to be prophets? You might ask: what does it mean "you will know them by
their fruit?" Its simple; The end result of what these prophets teach is
evil. Lets prove this by a biblical principle; it is your actions that speak
about what you really are, and it is what you believe that produces
your actions.
According to Christ your actions are your fruit. Understand! You
might ask; prove that Islam falls under this principle? I answer: Fine. We already proved before that it is what
you believe that dictates your actions and not what you eat (see previous
response to Mr. Sakr publication on pork).
Let us now look at the fruit of Mr. Tala'at Basha. You ask: Who is
Tala'at Basha? A Muslim from Turkey. He was the
Minister of Interior in the Ottoman Government. In 1915, an order came from him
to the Governor of the city of Halab Nuri Bek. Do you know what he said? Are you ready? This is his
letter; "Despite a previous decision concerning the elimination of the
Armenia Race, as the necessities of time did not allow the fulfillment of this
holy intent, and now, after we eliminated all obstacles, and seeing that the
time has come to redeem our nation from the dangerous race. We have in-trusted
you, and we insist, that you do not surrender yourselves to the feelings
of pity, as you face their miserable situation. For the cause of
putting an end to their existence, you need to work with all your
strength, to completely destroy the Armenian name in Turkey, once
and for all." (refer to the Armenian Atrocities, Na'aeem Bek, page
43). And following this order, one million and a half Armenians were
butchered in 1915. It was done to destroy Christianity in an
Islamic
Ottoman Empire.
You might say; Nonsense. Am I getting you angry.... Its the truth.
Let me prove it. With proof, you will know The Truth, and with The
Truth, you will be set free. And only then, you will be free
indeed. Lets look at Omar Ibn-Alkattab again. Do you remember who he was?The second Khalifah of Islam. The second main man after
Muhammad the Prophet. You are ordered to obey him. That's law he set in what he
called (The Omar covenant); "The necks of dhimmis (Jews &
Christians) are to be sealed when collecting the Jezzieh (Tax imposed on only
Jews & Christians). The method of sealing is to bind the necks of the
person with a collar, in it is a peace of lead, stamped on it the
amount of his payment, the collar is not to be broken until the
payment is completed. This is in accordance to the Quranic verse
"Until they pay the Jezzieh by an upper hand, may they be
subjugated (humiliated)'...And if the person was a Jew, he must
wear on his shoulder a red or yellow banner, so he is recognized as a
Jew. And if the person is a Christian, he needs to wear harsh
clothes, with a large pocket in the chest area like women. As for
Christian women, they must wear shoes with different colors, one
black and the other white. And if a Jew or a Christian goes into a
public bath, he must wear an iron, copper, or lead made collar
around his neck so he can be identified from Muslims. Never a Jew or a
Christian can build their houses higher than a Muslim. They are not
to crowed public roads but need to use narrow alley ways, and small
streets. They are not to be saluted, nor their graves can be
extended beyond the surface of the ground." Refer to: (Faqeeh Al-Muluk,
volume 2, pages 124-136).
I question; How did Hitler know that a yellow banner must be fixed
to the arms of Jews? Is it possible that the
inspiration of such commandments came from the same source? How could that be if the time
span between Hitler and Omar is so long? Why did the
Prophet of Islam kill the Jews, after they have surrendered?
Now, taste what God in the Bible said. I know it does not rhyme like
the Quran, and it is not musical. It is not intended for the ear,
but the heart. Read what the Bible says on false prophets and wicked
tyrants; "Their hands are stained with blood, Their fingers with
guilt. Their lips have spoken lies, And their tongues mutter
wicked things. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; They conceive
trouble and give birth to evil. They hatch the eggs of vipers and
spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one
is broken, an adder is hatched...their deeds are evil deeds, and
acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet rush into sin; they
are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts;
Ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they know
not;
there is no justice in their paths...No one who walks in them will
know peace," says the LORD. (Isaiah 59:3-8).
False prophets produce evil fruit. What they say sounds good, looks
good, some of it is good, but only in the beginning. Like a bad fig
tree. It looks like a tree, it has green leaves, you can sit under
its shades, but you never taste good fruit. Do you understand?
Christianity and War
The Bible tells true believers to prepare for the Muslims for
battle. It encourages them to be ready for the war, Muslims and others are
about to announce; "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who mistreat you. If one strikes you on one cheek, turn to
him the other also." (Luke 6:27-28). In another verse in the Bible he
foretells this persecution: "A time is coming when anyone who kills
you will think he is offering a service to God." (John 16:2b). Does
this verse fit Muslims and Nazis, since the Nazis got the support of
the Catholic to support the Nazis on their persecution to the Jews? You might ask: Are not Catholics Christian? I say: anyone who follows the teaching of Christ is a
Christian, "He who has my commandments, and obeys them, it is he who loves
me" (John 14:21). But Anyone who claims to be Christian who goes around
killing Muslims, Jews, and Protestants can hardly be called Christian. A
Christian follows Christ, that's why they call them Christians. The
principle that you follow should be the title that you hold. To be
a Christian you must follow the Bible. And since the Bible does not
promote the kind of violence that the Crusaders did, we must
conclude that they did not follow good Christian principles. For that, they
are responsible for their action, and not Christianity, which is
the whole point we are trying to make.
In Islam, on the contrary, the Quran as we proved is different, it
promotes killing unbelievers, it promotes subjugating Christians
and Jews. The Bible, on the other hand teaches Christians how to
suffer: "Who is afraid of dying? Who is afraid of a threat from any quarter?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or
persecution...or danger of sword? As it is written: `For your sake
we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us.'" (Romans 8:27-35).
If God inspired both the Quran and the Bible, why are they so
opposite? The persecution towards Christians started
from the Roman time and still goes on now more than the time of emperor Nero,
and any time in the past. It is estimated that 156,000 Christian
martyrs gave their lives for Christ and were killed in 1995 alone, and just
think how many more will be killed in the name of Allah when
Muslims by force establish Islamic states in the World.
Muslims have been trying and are succeeding, the countries that
have or, are on the verge of being Islamized are increasing; South
Africa, Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Ethiopia,
Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon Jordan, Palestine, Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia, and many others. The Bible in Ezekiel 38, describes the
fate of the armies of some of these nations when they swarm over the
mountains of Israel, it does not in agree with the Islamic prophet
concerning the fate of Israel, that the "stones will cry out here
is a Jew kill him, and there is a Jew kill him." The story of stones
crying out is in the Bible (Luke 19:40), they will cry for Christ
if evil men tried to shut up the truth! The Prophet of Islam
declares: "The last hour shall not come until the tribe of Islam
defeat the Jews, in Jerusalem and its surrounding places." The
Bible is very clear on this issue, "I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of
reeling to all the peoples round about; it will be against Judah,
also in the siege against Jerusalem." (Zechariah 12:2).
God will be on the side of the Jews; "On that day I will make the
clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a
flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour to the right and
to the left all the peoples round about, while Jerusalem shall
still be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem." (Zechariah 12:6).
God will open the eyes and hearts of Israel and they will "look
upon him whom they have pierced." This was prophesied about in the Book
of Zechariah in chapter 12, verse 10, hundreds of years before Christ.
And we ask: When was he "pierced?" I am sure
Muslims heard of Zechariah in the Quran, but how many ever read his "God
inspired" Book, or any other prophet besides the Quran? Does God ask us to ignore all the other God sent
books? Blind faith does not require
thinking, but real faith depends on evidence. What kind of evidence
based faith does Islam provide that supersedes Biblical
Christianity?
In Islam, faith (iman) is believing in God (Allah), the
Angels (Malaekah), the books (kutub), and the Prophets (Rusul). In
Christianity it is the assurance of things hoped for, the
evidence (conviction) of things not seen. It is by the evidence
that God gave and by using your intellect, you should believe and trust
God and have faith to be with God forever, which is the hope of
eternal paradise. It is the faith is what God did for man, and not
what man can do for God.
Islam and every religion in the world is teaching the opposite,
that is; you need to do for God (prayer, alms, fast, hajj, jihad...) to
gain merit and favor, while in Christianity it is a result from
loving God and having an everlasting relationship with him which
will be evident as we bare fruit (good deeds). It is that simple.
In another way; It is by faith alone in what God did for man
(Grace) or (Rahma) in Arabic. And not by believing that God exists, his
prophets are true, his Angels exist, and his books are true. I
remind you, the Devil knows and (believes) that. What, or Who are
you trusting in to save you from hell (Jahannam)?
In our world today there is no real peace, even if Muslims achieved
what they are hoping for (to convert the world to Islam). Do you
think that a country like Iran which by revolution changed the
government to follow Islamic legislation really works? In my homeland, the land of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. One
might refer to short intervals in history where rulers and governments had
truces, but never in history, our land has ever achieved real peace, and I
can guarantee you that if Arafat is kicked out of office in the
West Bank, and an Islamic government takes over, peace will still be the
number one goal. Also, I will be honest, I would still prefer to
live with Jews in Israel, than to live in Iraq (as a Kurd),
Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, or any other Muslim country. When Russia
attacked Afghanistan, many of its people left to America during the
war. The war is over between the Russians and the Afghans, why are
they not going back. Do you think that the Afghan Americans found a
better way to live among pork eating people? It
doesn't matter if you install a (Hammas) system in Palestine, bloodshed and hate
will still fill the land and the people, just like Iran, Afghanistan,
and every country striving for the Islamic way of life. You might think
that I am being absurd, but the coming future will add more
evidence to my point.
So, to simply say that peace is for Muslims only is contrary to
logic that Muslims like to promote. Just look around and smell the
hummus. My friend, I am not asking you to doubt your faith, and believe
mine blindfolded, but asking you to prove the strength in the foundation
that you stand on. Is it solid rock or is it sinking sand?
Islam and Revenge
In 1969, the statistics showed that in Egypt, 1070 murders have been
committed. It was found that 20% of the crimes were committed for
family honor, while 30% was attributed to a mysterious desire to
kill, and the rest were attributed to revenge for murders committed
against a family member. An old Arabic proverb says the following;
"The Arab took his revenge after 40 years." Revenge is an old
Arabic custom which is also found in the Quran; "And whosoever harms you,
harm him with the same portion as he harms you" (Al-Baqarah:193). In
another verse; "As We have ordained for you; A self for a
self...and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear..." (Al-Maidah:45).
Are You Listening to the Wrong Station?
Truth is so important that it is a matter of eternal life or
eternal death! After we lost the Six Day War over Israel, to my father in
Jericho it seemed that the walls of Jericho have tumbled down on
him, during the war he was always listening to the Jordanian, and
Egyptian radio stations, he used to say that the Arabs are wining the war,
but he was listening to the wrong station. It is important to check the
source and the transmission and know for sure they are announcing
the truth of a soon coming victory, instead my father chose to trust,
have faith, and believe the Arabs who claimed that the Israelis are
promoting propaganda. Tuning to the wrong station could be tragic!
How much more important is it when the news involves eternal
destiny?
The Real War
From the beginning of Christianity, and the spreading of the "Good
News" message, all out
spiritual war broke loose. The satanic attacks of all man made
religions and deceptive messages began, and the transmission of
false
messages and accusations against the Holy Bible never ceased. The
real war is not for land and man's political gains, but for the
souls
of men and women. Until this battle is won, peace will not be
achieved. The Bible on God's side, and all the satanic world
religions on the other, warring to gain the souls of Man.
Satan on one hand, appealing to man's way of thinking provided a
false way of salvation by man's works, which is evident in Satan's
false religions, and God on the other hand presented His way of
salvation by God's work through Christ. Since then, it was Satan's
religions against the Bible, and the Bible against all Satan's
religions. It is by no coincidence, that all the religions after
Christianity, use and miss-quote the Bible.
All these world religions present a new way for salvation by man's
works. Islam, Bahai Faith, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Christian
Science, Freemasonry, Sun Yung Moon, Prosperity Theology, Roman
Catholicism, Satanism, and The New Age Movement, all claim to
believe in Christ in one form or another. Yet all teach a different
salvation message than what Christ gave, which is no salvation at
all. All these religions criticize the Christian claim of Christ's
blood for atonement, while Christianity stands alone against all.
This war of the "all against Christianity, and Christianity against
all" did not start by coincidence. Satan began the war against
God for rulership over the world, he never ceased to introduce false
theology to man. Why should we wonder why we have so many
religions?
And that is the real battle.
Islam & Mormonism (In the Way of
Inspiration)
It is interesting to find some similarities between some of these
religions. Islam and Mormonism for example have similarities:
Islam: Muhammad dissatisfied with the world of different believes
and evil, regularly attended and meditated at "Ghar-Hira'a" a cave near
Mecca seeking God's will. He saw a magnificent bright Angel of
light "Gabriel". The Islamic traditions record that his excitement took
the shape of a trance or vision. The "Wahi" or Angel overtook him and
then instructed him to "Arise and preach". He was taught by the
angel that all Christians and Jews at his time were wrong and Islam was
established.
Mormonism: Joseph Smith as recorded in his testimony was
dissatisfied with the world of different beliefs, regularly attended the same
place alone, and began to offer up his desires to God. Immediately
seized upon some power which got him into a trance like experience,
then saw a bright Angel of light "Moroni." He was taught that all
the current beliefs are wrong and Mormonism was established.
Islam: Muhammad received revelations that originated from originals
engraved on tablets of stone in heaven. A new book was established
The Quran. It supersedes all the previous God inspired books.
Mormonism: Joseph Smith got his revelation from originals engraved
on tablets of different metals and delivered by the "Angel of Light"
to Joseph Smith. A new book was established The Book of Mormon. It
supersedes all the previous God inspired books.
Islam: The Islamic religion that Muhammad promoted re-directed the
"holy city" from Jerusalem to Mecca with the Kaaba as the holiest
place.
Mormonism: Joseph Smith changed the coming of Christ from Jerusalem
to Independence Missouri, and promoted "Salt Lake city" as the
central headquarters for Mormons.
Islam: In the Quran, main biblical stories are changed to make their
prophets country as to be Gods choice for His message. Abraham is
found living in Mecca, and building the Kaaba on it's original
foundation with his son Ishmael. The Arabs who are descendents of
Ishmael have been chosen to reveal the truth to a lost world. Both
the people of the prophet, there language, and their city became
significant. Israel has been replaced from being the chosen people
of God, Israel has no more significance, and Arabic is now God's
chosen heavenly language with the Quran superseding the Bible. Muslims now
are Gods instrument to deliver truth to the world.
Mormonism: Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon has the tribes of Israel
moved to America. Jesus however will come back to Independence
Missouri. The Book of Mormon is an additional testament to be added
to the Bible. It supersedes the Bible which was corrupted, Mormons
are now the chosen people of God to deliver truth to the world.
Islam: The main arguments the Quran has are with the
Judeo-Christian faith. Most of the arguments revolve around Muhammad's
prophethood, and his new revelations. True Christianity was lost, and all
today's Christians are "Kuffar" or unbelievers, and are full of error.
Muhammad accused the Judeo-Christian believers with twisting God's
word which led the Christians and Jews astray.
Mormonism: The main arguments Joseph Smith had are with the
Judeo-Christian faith revolved around Joseph Smith's prophethood,
and his new revelations. All today's Christians are an abomination and
full of error.
Islam: Muhammad received revelations from the Angel of Light
"Gabriel" to take the wife of his adopted son "Zaid." He promoted
polygamy, and married several women: Khadija, Sawda, Aesha, Omm
Salma, Hafsa, Zaynab of Jahsh, Howarya, Omm Habiba, Safia, Maymuna
of Hareth, Fatema, Hind, Asma of Saba, Zaynab of Khozaymia, Habla,
Asma of Muman, Maria Al-Kibtia, Rayhana, Omm Sharik, Maymuna, Zaynab
(The 3rd one), and Khawla. Polygamy was promoted in Islam for the
believers (4 wives for each man). The prophet only had the
privilege of marrying more than 4.
Mormonism: Joseph Smith received revelations from the Angel of
Light "Moroni" when he desired to take a woman from someone. He also
practiced polygamy and married several women; Louisa Beman, Fanny
Alger, Lucinda Harris, Zina D. Huntington, Prescindia L.
Huntington, Eliza Roxey Snow, Sarah Ann Whitney, Desdemona Fullmer, Helen Mar
Kimball, Eliza M. Partridge, Emily D. Partridge, and many others.
Polygamy was promoted in Mormonism and a Mormon can marry several
wives.
Although there are many differences between the two, nevertheless these obvious
similarities are to be questioned. Could the inspiration be from the same
source? Both Books The Quran and The Book
of Mormon claimed to believe in the Bible, yet a close study can reveal that
both books reject the most essential teachings of the Bible.
Another Gospel?
I was always puzzled when Muslims say that in judgment day the
prophet Muhammad will intercede to redeem all the Muslims. In the
end he will be the intercessor for his people. If Mohammed claimed all
what he claimed than who was Jesus who claimed to be "The Only
Redeemer" and savior, that question troubled me a great deal, one
of the two claims had to be a lie. I know this is a harsh word, but I
could not find an easier word and remain honest to my story. If
their was two redeemers this would be association with God since God is
the only redeemer according to the Bible. Christ or Mohammed had to be
the redeemer and intercessor for mankind, the Bible or the Quran
had to be correct, one of them is pure gold and the other had to be a
fake, but which one...? Vowing to make a decision
for The Truth, I stayed up late many nights as I compared many details between
the Quran and the Bible, at some point during my study I prayed saying:
"GOD, you are the creator of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham,
Moses, and Jacob, you are the beginning and the end, you are The
Truth the only Truth, the maker of the true scripture, the one and
only word of God. I suffer to find your truth, I want to do your
will in my life, I long for your love and in the name of The Truth I
ask, Amen (ameen)!"
I really thought with my prayer that God will lead me to the Quran,
and I will get all the answers to all the evidence and problems I
encountered in my research, but that was not the case with me, in
fact it was the other way around, I had to give up my pride and be
open minded to truth.
I wanted real gold and would not settle for an imitation, I had to
scratch very hard to look beyond the surface of the worlds plastic
religions. I simply had to lay aside all my social, family, and
religious pride, open my mind to what is simply the truth. At some
point I read from the Bible; "But even if we or an angel from
heaven preach unto you Another gospel, contrary or different from that we
have preached, let him be accursed, let him be anathema, completely
rejected." (Galatians 1:3, Ampl.). I had a hard time with this verse.
It openly declared that any other book besides the Gospel is from
Satan!
What is "Gospel"?
It means "Good News" message that Jesus came down to pay for the
sin by His death on the cross. He was made to be the sacrifice offered
on our behalf. Sacrifice in Arabic means "Fiddieh." Muslims reject the
idea of someone being a "Feddieh" for someone else.
It is illogical for someone to die on the behalf of someone else.
Everyone has to pay for his own by good deeds. Yet all Muslims
accept the fact that a suicide bomber can die as a "Fida'ee" or sacrifice
for the cause of Palestine. Does not the word "Fida'ee" mean "to
sacrifice with your life for a cause". Why is it then difficult to
accept that Christ died as a "Fida'ee" for us. His Gospel is as
simple as I read in the Bible. In fact I almost read the Bible from
cover to cover, and all of it (Old Testament and New Testament)
talks directly and indirectly about Him, His coming, His death for us,
and His return to rule. It's as simple as that. Now please read slowly
and carefully; The Bible allows for no other message, book, or
revelation. It seals the book with Christ as the final finisher of
the plan that he pre-wrote.
What does "pre-wrote" mean? Let me help you on this
one, read slowly:
(1) God wrote the whole plan from the beginning.
(2) He revealed His Plan to man in the Old Testament Bible before it
happened.
(3) He then fulfilled and unfolded the plan of man's redemption, which
only God by His miraculous works can design and do.
(4)Then he completed the New Testament (Gospel) for a proof (evidence) of the
Old Testament claim. And He declared that The New Testament alone is the last
and final revelation to man. It is that simple. Add any more, and you
are in big trouble! In the last lines of the Bible you can read: "For
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of
this book, If any man shall ADD unto these things, God shall add unto
him the plagues that are written in this book." (Revelation 22:18). Also
read Jude chapter 1,verse 3: "...the faith which was ONCE
for ALL delivered to the saints." Did you get that, "Once and for
all." Its your life, Heaven or Hell, Any questions?
Muhammad's Death
Muslims differ on Muhammad's cause of death. Many claim as one
possibility for his death is the "Bubonic Plague" or "Al-Humma,
Al-Taoon" in Arabic. One of the curses written in the Bible for
whoever adds to it is to get a plague, this is emphasized in the
end of the Book of Revelation 22:18. The word "Quran" means
"Revelations", which is the very name of the last book in the
Bible, which this promise is made. In the English-Arabic Al-Mawrid
Dictionary the word "Plague" is translated to be "A curse from the
God of the Bible" or "Al-Taoon". The very symptoms described in
the history of Muhammad match the symptoms of the Bubonic Plague. Even
if this was not true, one can compare the difference between
Muhammad's death and the sacrificial death of Christ for our sins.
The Quran was not able even to predict Muhammad's death "And if he
dies or is killed", in Arabic "Fa-in mata awo kutila" as stated in
the Quran. It is a choice between a natural death (Mata) or being
killed by someone (Kutila) has not been determined by Allah. The
God in the Bible was able to predict this kind of future, the
prophecies on the death of Christ, in the Bible has been set from the
beginning of the Bible thousands of years before He came.
The Lamb of God
Dear Muslim: Throughout the whole Bible, the Messiah is symbolized
as and called the "Lamb of God." In the old testament the Passover
lamb symbolized Christ's death. In Israel today all Muslims when
building a house kill a Lamb and put it in the foundation and sprinkle lamb
blood on the door post, not knowing the real meaning behind this
practice, which is still common. Also Muslims throughout the whole
world sacrifice a lamb once a year and call it the day of atonement
or sacrifice (Eid Al-Adha).
In the Bible, Exodus 12:7, God asked Moses (Musa) to kill a lamb and
sprinkle it on the door posts and lintels as to prevent the angel
of death to enter, the blood spots if connected will draw a cross on
the door to signify that the blood of the lamb will prevent death,
since the coming Messiah (Al-Maseeh) and his death on the cross will
prevent eternal death. The reason it was put on the door is to
signify the only entrance to God was the blood of the Lamb. When
the Egyptians did not have the blood on their door the first born was
killed by the angel of death, that day was called Passover since
the angel passed over the homes of the Israelites who had the blood on
the entrance. On that very same day Christ was crucified (on
Passover), and he was the Passover lamb. On that same day God asked
the Israelites to prepare unleavened bread and eat it. Leaven was
symbolic in the Bible for sin, and Christ was the Unleavened bread,
because he had no sin. The bread had hole marks on them and burn
marks symbolizing him being pierced for our sins, the marks where
the bruises from the beating and lashing he had to endure. Read Isaiah
53 for more.
Isaiah wrote of this suffering and death hundreds of years before,
and a Jew can read Isaiah 53 from the unleavened bread, since the
holes symbolized him being pierced for our transgressions, and the
bruise marks for the beating he endured. Christ was called in the
Bible as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world",
read the Bible in John 1:29, also read Luke 6:48 about the Messiah
(Christ) being the Foundation Rock.
The Unleavened Bread also was the symbol of the coming Messiah in
the Old Testament. This name "Bread" was given to the town of
Bethlehem which means "House of Meat" or "House of Bread", since the Hebrew
word "Lechem" means both meat and bread, this name was given to
this town hundreds of years before Christ's birth. Why?
Christ claimed that he was the Bread of Life, he also told his
disciples to eat bread in the last supper by saying "this is my
flesh", and with drinking the wine it symbolized his blood to be
shed on the cross. This is the covenant of trust and faith and by it
(accepting his death instead of ours) we have eternal life. He
called the bread flesh and he symbolized his body to be both bread
and flesh (lechem). All this was not by chance, he was the only
Bread of Eternal Life, let him in and you will have eternal life, he
promised that. It is the only guarantee for eternal life. And
please do not get hung up on the wine part, I realize that Islam forbids
alcohol, but please keep in mind that it is not the alcohol that is
the problem, but the abuse of it is. You accept cough syrup for
your cold and it contains a small amount of alcohol that is good for
you. Wine in the Bible is also mentioned for freshly squeezed
unfermented grape juice.
One may refuse to accept that the death of Christ (Lamb of God),
or (Kurban), can give Eternal Life and wipe sin, but EVERYONE in the
world accepts the killing of innocent animals and plants to sustain
their life, and if you go to McDonald's and eat a Big Mac you
accept that an innocent animal had to die to sustain your life knowing
that it was not fair for the animal to die, but it was the will of God
to do it that way, and anyone who rejects that as unfair can stop
eating and is assured 100% death.
Everything I see in nature speaks the Bible message, it is logical
only when we see God's logic. His way not our way, that is why
Christians pray "Your will be done", Not mine or yours but God's.
The big question is how does one know the will of God, and how does
one know for sure his true plan for eternal life in paradise? It is logical as you know from life in the Holy Land that
one must dig deep until he hits solid ground before building a house. The wise
man always builds his house on a solid rock foundation to insure 100%
that the house will stand, the Bible symbolizes Christ as Rock
Foundation as well as the Lamb of God.
The sin offering that God asked the Israelites to sacrifice as
burnt offering, was to remind them day and night of His "great offering"
and a "Magnificent offering". In the Psalms of David (Al-Zabur),
Psalm 40:6-8 we read; "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears
You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering you did not
require." Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the Book it is
written of me." This was fulfilled in Christ and is confirmed in The Book
of Hebrews, chapter 10:5-7; "Therefore when He came to the world,
He said: `Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You
have prepared for Me. In burnt offering and sacrifices for sin You had
no pleasure.' Then I said, `Behold, I have come -- In the volume of the
book it is written of Me -- to do your will O God.'" It was the
custom for the servant to have his ears pierced "my ears you have opened"
if he desires to serve his master for life, which symbolized Christ
pierced for our sins "once for all" (verse 10).
No pilgrimage to Mecca can wipe out your sins. Going around a
black stone seven times is fruitless, and does not compare to what God
did for man, nor throwing pebbles at the Devil during the pilgrimage to
Mecca (Al-Hajj), will wipe your sins away. Nor wrapping yourself
with white linen during the pilgrimage will cloth you with purity and
righteousness. It is only the "once for all" sacrificial death
done by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The Sin Question
Now let me respond more to your letter and I will stick with my
testimony's several issues that you criticized as "riddled with
errors' which you said you will be glad to prove and show. Well,
you have not pointed them out yet, and I shall stand to be
corrected and proven wrong, and gladly will apologize for each error you
find, but please point them out and do not make general statements without
pointing out my mistakes, and also you need to be open minded if I
point some errors to you, please let me know. And again My Muslim
friend I wish Peace to all of us not just to Muslims, but as you
should know peace was never and will never be achieved until the
Prince of Peace will come (Al-Maseeh), that's what the Bible
teaches, the prophet of Islam also confirms the Bible when he said "The hour
shall not come until the Messiah descends to you to judge fairly,
the very Christ whom your prophet confirms his purity, with no
sin, no not a single sin, so tell me, did not the prophet of Islam say;
Every son of Adam is a sinner and the best sinners are the ones
who repent", in Arabic "kul ibni
Adama khatta'aun wa khayrul-khattayeena al-tawaboon", and the word that was used
here is "kul" which means ALL, that word is very important and is not
used here to say many but all and every human born on the
face of the Earth and is to be born from Adam.
Then how could the Messiah be the son of Adam when he had no sin? And if he cannot be the son of Adam, than who is his
father? We both know that he is the physical son of
Mary but with no physical father. Spiritually who is his father, and why was he
virgin born as foretold by Isaiah, born in Bethlehem as foretold by Micah, will
be pierced in his hands and feet as foretold by David (the prophet Daud in
Islam), will be stabbed as foretold by Zechariah?
I suggest you read what the prophets said. The Quran only mentions 25
prophets with very brief information on what they said. Why do not
you read for yourself what these prophets said and judge for yourself?
From the beginning of the fall of Adam God provided predictive
prophecy for the coming redeemer of man (The Messiah), this
predictive prophecy was at once a part and an evidence of
revelation; at the time that it is delivered, and until it's fulfillment.
Fulfilled prophecy is as satisfactory as anything can be; for who
can know the future except the Ruler who disposes future?. The development of Messianic prophecy began in the book of
Genesis. Immediately upon the Fall of Adam at the Garden of Eden, hopes
of recovery and salvation began in Genesis.
All that at first declared is that it shall come through a child of
woman since sin got carried through the blood from Adam, Genesis
3:15. By degrees the area is limited: the Messiah will come through
the family of Shem (Sam), Genesis 9:26; through the family of
Abraham, Genesis 12:3; of Isaac, Genesis 22:18; of Jacob, Genesis 28:14; of
Judah, Genesis 49:10; Moses, by a prophet like himself, Duet. 18:15 and Nathan's
announcement in II Samuel 7:16, determines further that the salvation is
to come through the house of David. This is developed by the
prophet David himself in the Messianic Psalms, then John the Baptist came
to announce his coming, should one wonder why?, and
why did God have to do all of this? Well, the answer
is simple, to do away with the sin that Adam started, from the beginning of the
Fall of Adam and Eve, till he comes again to Judge the world, and that's the
whole story of the Bible, Israel, and all of the prophets. The Messiah was the
final messenger to mankind, none after him was necessary since no extra
work needed to be done, since God completed his redemptive plan. All
what we are waiting for is his second and final coming to finish the
rest of the story, since History is His-Story.
It might not sound fair to the carnal man for God to punish Adam's
children for what Adam did, and it might not sound fair for us to
inherit the sin from Adam, but you accept the fact that if a man
contracted a sexual disease, can transform it to his wife and carry
it through his children to come, even though it was not the fault
of his wife or children, you also accept the fact that you cannot
survive unless an animal, or a plant has to die for you to survive,
since you eat on an average 3 times a day. Why does man resist
Christ, who died for us to survive eternally if we choose to accept
him? Curse is the choice man made when he disobeyed
God, and that is the way it is.
In summary, and in one statement, the reason for all the prophets
and all the revelations is to tell us about the most important visit of
our history; the Messiah to come down and handle the sin problem
(salvation) once and for all, and this Messiah is called Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6). The fall of
Adam is the problem of humanity and the solution is salvation (to get
rid of sin), how can one get rid of sin? You can
tell me by prayer and fasting and the Bible declares; "NO". How can a woman
loosing her virginity by sin regain her virginity?
It is impossible, it can only happen through a miracle, and miracles do not
happen unless God acts to do it.
God himself has to act to solve the problem of sin not man, and good
deeds of man need to be as a result of our love to God, not just a
sense of duty and gaining good deeds with God.
Skeptics today cannot say that the New Testament books came down
hundreds of years later. as we have just proven that this theme is
out of date and out of style. Skeptics today say: "Jesus never
said he was God. He never said I am God worship me." All non-Christian
religions agree with the phrase, I shall repeat my statement again
"All Religions Against Christianity and Christianity Against All"
Why?
Before Jesus was about to be stoned said to the crippled man "your
sins are forgiven in order that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say unto you, `Take up your
bed and walk, and the man got up and walked out in front of all of them
and they were all amazed'." Anyone can say that, but to heal and to
forgive sins, is only God's. There is no other explanation possible
except that Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh. Jesus Christ. He
is the Savior. He is the one who can forgive sins. If your sins are
going to be forgiven, he is the only one who can do it. It does not
happen any other way. He went to the cross, He died on the cross;
He paid for the sins of the world. He was put into the grave. He arose
the third day. He is in heaven now. He is living. He sent out his
eyewitnesses of those events to say it happened and to go and tell
all people that if they want to have a relationship with God, if
they want to be forgiven, they can have it immediately. It is free. It is
grace.
Jesus has done all the work. Jesus can change your life. Jesus will
put the Holy Spirit of God in your life. That is how the Church
started and spread across the world and has come down to this day
and we are preaching that same message. I wonder if you know that Jesus
is alive right now, and I wonder if you have ever asked Him to forgive
you of your sins? If not, why not ask him to do that
for you right now? Ask him to come into your life
and make you a Christian. The moment you ask Him to, He promises to save you. If
you decide to reject this offer, and die, the Bible promised that you will enter
an everlasting torment. The Bible alone explains the narrow way of God's
salvation: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is
easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For
the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those
who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14). Which gate will you
enter?
The Reliability of Scripture
It was reading the Bible that planted the good seed of doubt. I
used to think that doubt in the faith is bad. When I started understood
the Bible I learned that doubt in falsehood is the way to truth. I
began to understand God in a much different way than I have learned
of him. He wanted to assure us by supplying us with so much
knowledge that doubt became impossible, since he promised to reside in us by
his holy spirit. It is when I studied the Bible the struggle began,
I was puzzled, how could I doubt the Bible as to be a fake and
corrupted by the Jews if the land I grew in spoke and cried out, as
thousands of pieces of archaeological evidence surfaced from the
Holy Land, confirming the Bible. The book of Isaiah was discovered in
the Qumran caves was by a Muslim next town from were I
lived (Al-Ta'amreh). The name of the shepherd who found it was
Muhammad Deib. A Muslim who was looking for one of his lost sheep
in a high cave in the Qumran valley by the Dead Sea. From that
discovery they found the rest of the Old Testament (except the book of
Ester) Yet confirming the Old Testament Bible in our hands today with
hundreds of verses predicting the coming of Jesus Christ. Many
times I would take trips to several museums in Israel, and I fell in love
with archaeology, and was fascinated with it, in many arguments with
her I would bluntly tell her that the Jews (prophet killers) and
Christians (pigs) corrupted the Bible, without realizing the
magnitude and slanderous character I've become she responded by taking me to
the scroll museum in Jerusalem and showed me the scroll of Isaiah,
still intact, except there was no one taking pictures of any Bible
errors to prove of any corruption and I could not respond to my
mother. The local Muslim and Arabic population are seldom
interested with such materials, I had to practically beg some friends to be
interested in this material, and as usual the scales seem to have
blocked their eyes from seeing. I rejected despite all the
evidence. Why? The pride of being a Muslim, and the
dependence on flimsy proofs I thought were irrefutable. But the Lord had mercy
on my soul. I studied, read and I found out that it was not the lack of evidence
that was the problem, but the pride of being a Muslim, and the
blindness that overtook my life. It is only when a miracle happens
and the scales that covers the eyes and heart of a Muslim are
peeled off. This scale is the flimsy evidence each Muslim holds on, once
removed, a new transformation takes place. This transformation is
nothing of this world. But this can never happen until the runway
that is blocked by rocks and debris is all cleared. Then planting
the good seed on soft ground can take place. Fortunately, the evidence
is still here. We do not lack evidence to prove our claim.
It was reading the Bible that planted the good seed of doubt. I
used to think that doubting my faith is wrong. When I started to study
the Bible I started to understand and only then I understood that
doubting error is the way to finding truth. I understood God in a
much different way than I have learned of him. He wanted to assure
us by supplying us with so much knowledge that doubt became
impossible. It is when I studied the Bible the struggle began, I was puzzled,
how could I doubt the Bible when thousands of pieces of archaeological
evidence surfaced from the Holy Land, confirming the Bible. The
Book of Isaiah was discovered in the Qumran caves, near the Dead Sea, by
a man who was looking for one of his lost sheep. From that discovery
they found the rest of the Old Testament. Carbon 14 dating of these
manuscripts dates them to about 200 years before Christ. Yet
confirming the Old Testament Bible in our hands today with hundreds
of verses predicting the coming of Jesus Christ and these
discoveries were identical to what we have today. I grew in Israel
and many times I would take trips to several museums, and I fell in
love with archaeology, and was fascinated with it, The scroll of
Isaiah, is still intact today and can be seen by anyone who doubts,
no one on earth has produced any proof of any corruption in them,
yet the scales seem to have blocked the eyes and hearts of many from
seeing. Man rejects despite all the evidence. Why?
Could pride be the reason? The world today relies on
flimsy proofs to believe evolution and false religions. But God supplied us with
ample evidence. It was not the lack of evidence that is the problem, but the
pride of man. It is only when a miracle happens and the scales that covers the
eyes and hearts of people are removed. By knowing The Truth, a new
transformation takes place. This transformation is not of this
world, and can never happen until the runway that is blocked by rocks and
debris is cleared. Then planting the good seed on soft ground can
take place. Fortunately, the evidence is still here. We do not lack
evidence to prove the Christian claim.
The Bible is comprised of 66 books, and written by 40 different
prophets, in three different languages, in three different
continents and within the period of 1,500 years. Can anyone choose any 66
books written by 40 different authors in three different languages, in
three different continents and within a period of 1,500 years, and
find any kind of theme, purpose, harmony, and unity between any of
them? II Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16:
"All Scripture is inspired by God." All is a
big word. In II Peter chapter 1, verse 20 and 21: "But know this first of
all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for
no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but man moved by the Holy
Spirit spoke from God." Christ promised that the end of the world will
not happen until the Bible is transmitted to the whole world. Today the Bible
has been published in over 1,800 languages, and read by more people than
any other book in history. No other book has been translated to so many
languages than the Bible. In it God has the plan of His creation,
and it is His revelation of His purpose for our lives. God fulfilled
His promises to the letter in every prophecy, and today cities can be
excavated to unearth the evidences the Bible made, every city was
found and every geographic, historic, and scientific studies proved
to be true to the letter. Take any other sacred book, and compare,
all of them will be found wanting, that is exactly what I did
before I surrendered to God. Take for an example the book of Mormon which
claims that the American Indians are originally Jews who came from
Israel on rafts, it has names of cities and tribes that was never
heard of. The challenge is to produce a map of anything found in the
Book of Mormon. In fact The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.,
The Museum of Natural History, has published a seven page
statement documenting the fraudulent claim to the book of Mormon. The article
refutes any historical, archaeological, or scientific claims to the
Book of Mormon. On the other hand the Bible has been the most
accurate Book in history, a claim which the best archeologists,
historians, and scientist can testify to, as we shall examine some.
Every single Biblical site was found. The Hittites for example, was
denied as a fairy tale. Abraham in Genesis 49 mentions the
Hittites. In 1960 in North East Turkey, the largest archaeological find in the
century. 35,000 clay tablets were found, and all the books that
accused the Bible with this fairy tale had to be cleared from the
shelves of book stores and libraries. The Empire of the Hittites
was one of the largest in history, yet man today did not know of it. It
would have saved allot of embarrassment if they simply trusted the
Bible, and believed it. We didn't have to wait till 1960. We can
write volumes and document thousands of recent archaeological
discoveries concerning biblical accounts to find that the Bible was
100% accurate. We will mention but a few due to lack of space to
cover this subject in this book.
For hundreds of years, many stories and personalities written in
the Bible were denied until fascinating archaeological finds confirmed
the accuracy of the Bible. Today biblical personalities that were
denied for hundreds of years like Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and
King David can be confirmed by the study of the science of archaeology
as 100% true and accurate. King David for example was considered to
be a myth by many universities. Yet in 1993, archeologists dug out a
stone tablet at Tel Dan in Israel clearly referring to the "house
of David" (Bait Daveed), identifying him as king of Israel. This was
the first inscription outside the Bible dated to about the ninth
century B.C. Also king Omri, another king of Israel was found recorded in
the well known Stela of King Mesha of Moab, which also included are
three kings of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III, Saragon II, and king
Shalmanesser III. Other Assyrian inscriptions found in Nineveh
(Neenawa) in Iraq confirmed kings Ahab, Jehu, Joash, Menehem,
Pekah, Ahaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Jehoiachin and Hoshea.
And with such strong evidence, no honest scholar can refute the history
of the Bible. The well known Black Obelisk in the ruins of Nimrod
was also found confirms the biblical accounts of the conquest of
the Assyrian King Shalmaneser II over King Jehu of Israel (841-814
B.C.) confirming the accounts of the Book of Kings. Another stone
inscription discovered in the temple of Pharaoh at Thebes in Egypt
which mentioned an invasion by the Egyptians against Israel
confirming the presence of Israel at the time of Joshua which was
accused by many critics of the Bible as fiction. The countless
books written criticizing the Bible were rendered as obsolete and
worthless, and had to be removed from the scholarly accounts of
history. Also the well known clay cylinder found in Iraq which
mentioned King Cyrus and his decree allowing the various captured
natives to be freed back to their homelands confirming the Book of
Ezra 1:1-3. Other examples can be quoted such as Genesis 14, God in
the Bible tells of the story of Abraham (Ibrahim) of the defeat of
the confederation of five kings from the East by the small army of
Abraham. While the critics denied the historicity of the biblical
account Dr. Nelson Glueck, the leading archaeologist of this century
reports: "Centuries earlier, another civilization of higher
achievement had flourished between the 21st and 19th century B.C.,
till it was savagely liquidated by the kings of the East. According
to the biblical statements, which have been borne out by the
archaeological evidence, they gutted every city and village at the
end of that period from Ashtaroth Karnaim, in southern Syria through
all of Trans-Jordan and the Negev to Kadesh-Barnea in Sinai (Genesis
14:1-7)." And confirming the accuracy of the Bible when it comes to
archaeology he stated: "As a matter of fact, however, it may be
stated categorically that no archaeological discovery have ever
contradicted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been
made which confirms in clear outline or in exact detail historical
statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation
of biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries. They
form tesserae in the vast mosaic of the Bible's almost incredible
correct historical memory" (Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, [New
York: Farar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959], p. 31).
The tower of Babel and the dispersion of the people after changing
their speech which can be confirmed by several language scholars
and archaeological finds as the remains of the Tower of Babel can still
be seen. The greatest oriental language scholar Dr. Max Mueller
declared that all human languages can be traced back to one single original
language. The bricks with the story of Nebuchadnezzar can be
confirmed as it has been engraved on the bricks, which were
translated by professors Oppert and William Loftus, confirming it's
first abandonment at the time of Nimrod (Al-Namrood), and the
confusion of the languages described in Genesis 11:1-8 as
Nebuchadnezzar declared "Since a remote time, people had abandoned
it, without order expressing their words."
Even the historical account of Joseph and the seven years
of famine in Genesis 41 can be confirmed today as a marble tablet
surfaced on the seashore of Hadramaut in Yemen from around 1,800
B.C. translated in Arabic by Professor Schultens and translated by
Reverend Charles Foster which states: "Then came years barren and
burnt up: when one evil year had passed away, then came another to
succeed it..." Other inscriptions were found to confirmed
Joseph's (Yusuf), careful management of the food reserves during
the seven years of famine in Egypt. Even the name of Joseph was
mentioned in one of these inscriptions. The story of the "Walls of Jericho"
also was considered for many years as a fairy tale until Professor
John Garstang found one of the most amazing discoveries of the
century as he writes: "As to the main fact, then, there remains no
doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely that the attackers
would be able to clamber up and over their ruins into the city." While
all digs confirm an inward falling of any excavated city as armies
pushed the walls, the only walls found to be pushed outwards was the walls
of Jericho. Yet confirming the Bible in the Book of Joshua, chapter
6, verse 20 which reads: "And the walls fell down flat, so the people
went up into the city every man straight ahead, and they took the
city." To confirm check: (John Garstang, Joshua Judges,[London:
Constable, 1931]).
Bible Corruption vs. Quran Corruption
Who is Doing the Corruption?
Nowhere in the Quran, the Bible is referred to as being textualy
corrupted. The verses in the Quran that Muslims use to accuse
the Bible with textual corruption are only attempts used by some
Muslims to defend Islam. Even if the Quran were to accuse the
Bible of corruption, to substantiate this would be extremely
difficult in light of what we have today in the manuscript and
archaeological evidence. Regardless of the accusations people
make, whether the Quran or the Bible is corrupt, each has to
stand on its own. The Quran to be proven divine, has to stand
under the light, and be examined and found reliable historically,
archaeologically, prophetically, scientifically, and textually.
The same examination needs to be done on the Bible. These
accusations, however, can be answered by simply examining some
of these verses; "Can ye (O ye men of Faith) entertain the
hope that they will believe in you? Seeing that a party of
them heard the Word of Allah. And perverted it
knowingly after they understood it." (Al-Baqarah[2]:75).
"Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right)
places, and say: `We hear and we disobey'; And `Hear
you may not hear'; and with a twist of their tongues and
a slander to faith..." (Al-Nisa[4]:46a). It is a common thing
when debating with Muslims about corruption they will look for
the word "corruption", make a statement and ignore the
rest of the context. It is known fact today, people hear the
Quran or the Bible, and change the words that were said by
twisting their tongues, but nowhere they changed the text.
Interpretations are always abused by many, but the text remain
protected. Textual corruption is easily detected in the Bible
since originals are available. In the case of the verse above,
it refers to an argument between Muhammad and the Jews of
Madinah. The Quran claims that the Jews tried to hide the
prophecies of Muhammad in the Bible, but perverted it after
they heard it (understood it). It is agreed among Muslims that
textual corruption (Al-Tahreef Al-Lafthi), by adding,
deleting, and substituting words to the Quran is impossible.
However, making verbal changes, omitting, and twisting verses
while reading and reciting the word of God is possible. No one
can find verses in the Quran referring to textual corruption of
the Bible. If that was true, Muslim scholars would have produced
them. We could ask: Why was there no reference in the Quran for
textual corruption? There are several reasons
for that:
(1) Muhammad believed that he was mentioned in the Bible. How
could he refer to a book that was corrupt, and speaking of him.
(2) Muhammad was tryingto reach to Jews and some Christian sects.
It would be impossible for these people to be reached if he
accuses their Bible as corrupt.
(3) It would be difficult to say that God's word can be corrupted,
since the Quran testifies that God's words are protected by God.
That is why the Bible's integrity and purity is evident the moment
one reads the Arabic Quran.
You could ask: Why the Arabic only?
It is because the translators of the Quran into English and other
languages have the intention to export what they believe to the
West, and for the West to adopt Islam, they must teach the West
to put away their Bible, since the Bible (according to Muslims)
is corrupt. So, twisting the words and applying textual corruption
into the translated Quran is the only way. You may say: Such an
accusation demands evidence!
Since the subject concerns evidence, here it is: Take for example
Surah Al-Ahqaf[46] verse 30, in your major translations by Muslims.
Take the translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. It says: "They said,
"O our people, we have heard a book revealed after Moses, confirming
what came before it; it guides (men) to the truth and
to a straight path." Look at the words highlighted above that
say "before it." In the Arabic the words are not
"before it." Let's do a word for word translation, and I leave it to
the Arabic reader to be honest to himself when he reading this
word for word translation:
|
Arabic: | kaloo | ya kawmana | inna | sami'ina | kitaban | unzila | ba'd | Musa
|
|
English: | they said | O our people | we | have heard | a book | revealed | after | Moses
|
|
Arabic: | Musadekan | Lima | Bayna | Yadayehe
|
|
English: | confirming | what is | between | his hands
|
|
Arabic: | Yahdee | ela | al-hak | wa-ela tareekin mustakeem
|
|
English: | it guides | to | the truth | and to a straight path
|
Look at the highlighted words that say "between his hands."
These words have been replaced by "before it." This is
done to override the original words which is "bayna yadayehe" (between
his hands). If the words are translated correctly, the reader will
conclude that the Bible that was at Muhammad's time (between his hands)
as being correct and can be used as a guide to the truth,
which Muslims want to cover up, since they know that the Bible that
is at Muhammad's hands, is the same as the Bible we have today, but
Islamic pride forces them to ignore the facts. The words (between
his hands), is all over the Quran, and it has been changed throughout
the whole English Quran to say (before it), putting the Bible at an
unknown time in the past before the Quran. Here is another one from
Abdullah Yusuf Ali; "It is he who sent down to thee in truth,
the Book, confirming what went before it; and he sent down the Law
(Of Moses) and the Gospel (Of Jesus)." (Al-Imran[3]:3). Here is
a word for word translation:
|
Arabic: | nazzala | alayka | alkitabu | bel-hakkee | musaddekan | lima | bayna | yadayehe
|
|
English: | He sent | to you | the book | in truth | confirming | what is | between | his hands
|
|
Arabic: | wa-anzala | al-tawratah | wal-enjeel
|
|
English: | and He sent | the Torah | and Gospel
|
In the way he translates the verse, we have "between his hands'
translated to "before it', and his addition of (Of Jesus) after
Gospel, insinuates a well known modern Muslim claim, that is: the
Gospel of Jesus is the name of the original Gospel, which was lost,
and that is why he put the name (Of Jesus) after the word Gospel.
Muslims claim that the Gospel according to Matthew, The Gospel
according to Luke ... are the accounts of men, they will ask: what
happened to the Gospel of Jesus? (For more,
see Fatir:31, Yunus:37, Yusuf:111, and Al-Maida:51).
We must answer
this question of the Gospel of Jesus, it is simple: If your father
in a distant country writes you for many years, and he sends a message
after a message of his soon coming. One day he knocks on your door.
Should he carry a message with him? No, he
is the message! And after he comes, and visits, and goes back to his
distant country, he could send more messages to tell about his first
visit and his second visit in the future.
The Gospels of Luke, John,
Mark are what the Quran was referring to, the Quran, was speaking of
the Bible in His (Muhammad's) time, which He attested to, and respected.
We could ask: What did the Quran mean when it referred to the Bible in
the following verses; "Oh Yahya (John the Baptist) take hold of
the Book with might, and We gave him wisdom as a child." (Mary:12).
"And he (God) will teach him the book and the wisdom and the Torah
and the Gospel." (Al-Imran[3]:48). "and Mary believed in the
words of her Lord and His books." (Al-Tahrim[66]:12). Tens of
other verses in the Quran speaks highly of the Bible, and not one
accuses it with corruption.
Christ and History
The fifteenth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has 20,000
words listed under the person of Jesus Christ. And do you know what? There's not even a hint in all of those words that he did
not exist. There is more words about Jesus Christ than any other person in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica?
Is the West Pro-Christian?
Do you think the media in the West likes to write about Jesus? Why is it that every person that has ever lived in the
first hundred years at the time of Christ and written a book about the history
of the first one hundred years A.D., whether they be Buddhist, Hindu,
Skeptic, or Agnostic, had no choice but to include Jesus Christ in
his book. Why? Answer: Because Jesus Christ was and
still is the most fascinating historical person. In the west, pickup the
Newsweek magazine. What do you see? Go to our
universities in the West. What do you see?
Professor Avrumm Stroll of the University of Colombia sums it up "Jesus
probably did exist. But so many legends have grown up about him that it is
impossible for scholars to find out anything about the real man. The Gospel of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written long after Jesus was crucified, and
provide no reliable historical information about him. It is almost impossible to
derive historical facts from the legends and descriptions of miracles
performed by Jesus." People like Ahmad Deedat and others have little
or no difference at all from what is said here. Yet they gladly
take all this since it supports there claim, that is "The Bible is
Corrupt". The Muslims are not the only ones accusing the Bible of
corruption. In the West Muslims are getting allot of help to
promote Bible corruption. Is it because the West is Muslim? Or is it that any Non-Christian is Anti-Christian? It's exactly what I have been saying
"All against Christianity and Christianity against all" This phrase
shall be repeated throughout this book, and shall provide solid
evidence about Christ for a skeptical world.
The scholars, as well as most religions do not deny that Jesus actually lived
and talked. What they do have a problem with is the 200 interval between Jesus
and the written manuscripts The beginning "Oral" transmission was
good, but as time passed the story got corrupted "Orally." Some
people did not hear it right, others added something of their own or
took something away and passed it on. They were sincere but they
were sincerely passing along something that had never happened. As a
result, what was written down cannot be known for truth, myth,
legend or cooked up stories. That is what modern scholars say and, of
course, if that is what happened, we are in deep trouble. Is that
really what happened? In the Gospel according to
Luke he says: "Forasmuch as many have taken in
hand to set forth a declaration of
those things which are most surely believed among us."
Translation: "Forasmuch as many have written by hand in written
form of the events we witnessed and believed among us."
Interpretation: Luke declares that many wrote the historical account. In
other words, by the time he were there, there were already written reports
circulating about Jesus. How is it then critics are saying it was
oral for the first 200 years.
In Acts, chapter 1, you will find
there that Luke, who wrote his second book "The Book of Acts" as well as
the Book of Luke says; "O, Theophilus, the reason I wrote the former
book is to tell you of the things that Jesus said and did in the
land of Palestine...even as they delivered them unto us which from the
beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word."
Interpretation: "Theophilus, I wrote the book of Luke tell you
about the things of Jesus' life, which we believed among us, and
absolutely sure that they took place which we believed among." In the movie
"The Last Temptation of Christ" the disciples are sitting around the
fire. They are depicted cooking the food for the 5,000. As to show that
the so called miracles of Jesus are false. Without verifying what the
scriptures actually said. Agreeing with most of the Hollywood
stuff, Muslims follow along in the major deception the world ever had.
That is, rewriting the most truthful story man had ever lived. The story
of the Savior of the World. You will read and see lies all over
the globe concerning on the history of Christ. Why?
The history records that It was very dangerous to claim that you are The
Messiah. Unfortunately, today anyone can claim he is the Messiah and tricks
many, and not even go to jail. One of the major evidences that
surfaced in the 20th century is The Ryland's Papyri, in which are
found about eight verses from the Gospel of John. Carbon dating
proves it to be from the 110 A.D. This discovery shattered the
Liberal as well as the Muslim scholars who for hundreds of years
claimed that the Book of John was written in 200 A.D. when it is
already been copied in 110 A.D.? All the books and
Bible critic
material concerning the date of the New Testament is being taken
off
the shelf. Why?
John Robinson, A liberal writer who wrote the book, Honest to God
was challenged by his colleagues to look at the dates for when the New
Testament books were written. He responded with a book, Re-dating
The New Testament. In that book he made the astonishing claim that Mark
was written about 40 A.D. and all of the New Testament books were
written before 70 A.D. More and more of today's scholarship have no
choice but to choose that route. Why? Keep in mind,
Jesus died about 33 A.D.
William Ramsay, A world known archaeologist and a scholar who
traveled to disprove the Bible and was overwhelmed by the evidence ended up
as a Christian like me. His books were considered to be classics on
the study of the New Testament's history.
A. N. Sherwin-White, Another classical historian at Oxford
University who studied the extensive evidence against the historical accuracy
of The Book of Acts writes: "For Acts the confirmation of historicity
is overwhelming...any attempt to reject its basic historicity even in
matters of detail must now appear absurd."
William F. Albright, the world's foremost biblical archaeologist said
"everyone of the books that you've got in your New Testament were written by
baptized Jews between 50 to 80 A.D."
Otto Betz, one of the worlds most respected scholar in his book
"What do we know about Jesus?" said; "no
serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus."
F. F. Bruce, author of the New Testament Documents: Are They
Reliable, agrees: "The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for
unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar."
Also, keep in mind, that archaeology in the Middle East was not set
by God loving people, but by men with the sole desire to disprove the
accounts of the Bible, yet not "One single account in the Bible
has been disproved" Why? Yet as usual, some
Universities and Muslim scholars teach this ignoring the facts. Why?
Historical Evidence
Throughout history many scholars have attacked the Bible, yet it
remained and still stands as the most accurate book ever written.
The Bible have been confirmed by many historians, friends and foes of
Israel. Take for example the Samaritans who hated the Jews and were
sent to Israel around 700 B.C. by the Assyrians. They used the five
books of the Torah and accepted them as genuine, they jealousy
guarded and preserved them for thousands of years despite their
hatred to the Jews. The following are some of the great historians
who confirmed the accounts of the Bible:
Strabo, 54 B.C., A pagan historian and geographer confirmed the
Jewish history. He documented the escape of the Jews from Egypt
under Moses. He said: "Among many things believed respecting the temple
and inhabitants of Jerusalem, the report most credited is that the
Egyptians were the ancestors of the present Jews. An Egyptian
priest named Moses, who possessed a portion the country called Lower
Egypt, been dissatisfied with the institutions there, left it and came to
Judea with a large body of people who worshipped the divinity."
(Starbo, Geography, lib. xvi.,c.2).
Diorous Siculus, 80 B.C., a Greek historian in his book he
recorded: "In ancient times there happened a great plague in Egypt, and many
ascribed the cause of it to God, who was offended with them because
there were many strangers in the land, by whom foreign rites and
ceremonies were employed in their worship of the deity. The
Egyptians concluded; therefore, that unless all strangers were driven out of
the country, they should never be freed from their miseries. Upon
this, as some writers tell us, the most enemies and enterprising of
those foreigners who were in Egypt, and obliged to leave the
country...who retired into the province now called Judea, which was
not far from Egypt, and in those times uninhabited. These emigrants
were led by Moses, who was superior to all in wisdom and prowess.
He gave them laws, and ordained that they should have no images of the
gods, because there was only one deity, the heaven, which surrounds
all things, and the Lord of the whole." (Diodrous Siculus, Library
of History, lib. 1., ap Phot.).
Christian History
Flavius Josephus (Yusefus), A.D. 37, writes in the most
significant historical records ever made, The Antiquities of the Jews
about a fellow by the name of Theudas, who claimed to be God's Messiah and
he knew he would have to do a miracle to prove his claim. The records
show that he was "Stoned to death" after he went down to the Jordan
River with a large crowd and prayed for several hours, "Part,
Jordan!". Josephus witnessed events leading up to the terrible war of
the Jews that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
These records demanded extra attention to accuracy, since life and
death depend on that. Concerning Jesus, Josephus said the
following: "Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be
lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a
teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him
both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and
when Pilate, at the suggestion of the of the principal men amongst
us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first
did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again in the third
day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other
wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of the Christians, so
named from him, are not extinct at this day" (Book 18, 3:3). Josephus
also describes in detail the death of James and John the Baptist.
Thallus (A.D. 52), a Palestinian writer, recorded the miraculous
darkness on the face of the Earth in his history. Julius Africanus
records, "Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains
away this darkness [on the day that Christ died] as an eclipse of
the sun unreasonably as it seems to me." We ask Why was it
"unreasonable"? Because a solar eclipse could
not take place at a time of the full moon. It was at the
season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died. Now according to Muslim claim,
Christ was never crucified, but had Judas Iscariot (an evil man) put to death
instead of him. Why would God, who controls nature cause the day to become
night, for an evil man?. This account confirms the
Gospel that "there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour"
(Mark 15:33).
There are other ancient historical references to the supernatural
darkness at the death of Christ. Even the astronomers confirm
Africanus's conclusion that a normal eclipse was astronomically
impossible at the time of a full moon, which was always the case
during Passover. The position of the moon was calculated to the
smallest degree for the required feast days. It must be an awesome,
and great event, that God will cover the sun from the world!
Tertullian, the early Christian writings show fascinating evidence. They
mention Tiberius who lived at the time of Jesus, and knew about his life.
Tertullian who was a judge and theologian at the end of the second
century wrote several books in the defense of the Christian faith.
He writes; "Tiberius accordingly, in those days the Christian name
made its entry into the world, having himself received intelligence from
the truth of Christ's divinity, brought the matter before the
senate, with his own decision in favor of Christ. The senate, because it
had not given the approval, rejected his proposal. Caesar held his
opinion, threatening wrath against all the accusers of the
Christians." (Apology 5:2). Since Tertullian allowed people to have
access to official government records and could prove he was
lying (which meant death), unless what he wrote here was true.
Justin Martyr (A.D. 148), a great Christian writer confirms Tertullian.
In his Apology (1:35), writing to the emperor, Antoninus Pius, in an attempt to
persuade him of the Christian faith. He urged the emperor to search and examine
the existing evidence in the imperial governmental archives in Rome
that contain all the reports from procurators and governors of
provinces. According to the Roman Law, every governor must submit a yearly
report of all exceptional events in their jurisdiction. This
report had to have detailed explanation of their actions in keeping the
peace and government. Justin Martyr referred to the emperor to the
"Acts of Pontius Pilate" specifically to a report for the year of
Christ's death. Justin Martyr writes; "They pierced my hands and
my feet' are a description of the nails that were fixed in His hands
and His feet on the cross; and after He was crucified, those who
crucified Him cast lots for his garments, and divided them among
themselves; and that these things were so, you may learn from the
"Acts" which were recorded under Pontius Pilate."
In other passages from his letter he writes; "He performed these
miracles so you may easily be satisfied from the "Acts" of Pontius
Pilate".
Again, for him to send a letter to the emperor of Rome with
fabrications, would mean the death penalty for Justin Martyr.
Tacitus (A.D. 112), a Roman historian, accessing the Roman
government archives, of Jesus he said; "Christus, the founder of the name,
was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the
reign of Tiberius; but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time,
broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief
originated, but through the city of Rome also." Tacitus was an
enemy of Christianity, yet he carefully recorded the story of Jesus. A
death penalty was proscribed for anyone who would tamper with
government archives. These historians were accurate to the letter
concerning historic events. Concluding from the above, How could it
be that Muslims claim that Christ never died on the cross?
Pliney, Governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, A.D. 112. In a
letter to the emperor he requested detailed instruction on how he
should interrogate Christians whom he was persecuting. In his
Epistles (X:96) he states that these believers would not worship
Trajan and could not be induced with torture to curse Christ.
Additionally he said that these Christians were "in the habit of
meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang
in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a God, and bound
themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any
fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a
truth when they should be called upon to deliver it up." How could
it be that most Muslims claim the early Christians didn't worship
Christ, who according to them were the (true Christians), are
found in all history to be worshipping Christ, as they believed he was
(in the flesh)?
Suetonius, Rome's official historian during the reign of Emperor
Haridian (A.D. 125). In his Life of Claudius he refers to the
Christians as being banished from "the instigation of Chrestus (Christ)."
Lucian, during the second century after Christ. Mentions that;
"Jesus was worshipped by His followers and was the man who was
crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into
the world." His death and his claim of deity was recognized by the best
historians of the ancient world friends and foes alike, Why?
Conclusion: We have ample evidence that all the disciples appeared
between 40 A.D. and 70 A.D. This means that within the lifetime of
the people that witnessed Jesus and his teaching, and miracles were
still alive. With all the archaeological and historical evidence,
scholars today cannot deny the date of the gospel writing and the
amount of historical data to prove all the events. Many
eyewitnesses and historical writers were on the scene. The foregoing are but a
few examples of the early historians who speak of Jesus. His life,
death and resurrection. He split history between B.C. and A.D. and
impacted the world like no one did!
Did Jesus Claim to be God?
Muslims and skeptics today cannot say that the New Testament books
came down hundreds of years later. as we have just proven that this
theme is out of date and out of style. Muslims and skeptics today
like Mr. Ahmad Deedat, a well known Islamic Apologist says in his
Muslim Debate with Anis Shorrosh, a Palestinian Christian "Jesus
never said he was God. He never said I am God worship me." Muslims
do not stand alone on this claim but "All other religions" and I
shall repeat my statement again "All Religions Against Christianity
and Christianity Against All" Why? Before Jesus was
about to be stoned said to the crippled man "your sins are forgiven in order
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins, I say unto you, `Take up your bed and walk, and the man got
up and walked out in front of all of them and they were all amazed.'"
(Mark 2:9-12).
Anyone can say that, but to heal and to forgive sins, is only
God's. There is no other explanation possible except that Jesus claimed to
be God in the flesh. Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. He is the one
who can forgive sins. If your sins are going to be forgiven, he is
the only one who can do it. It doesn't happen any other way. He went to
the cross, He died on the cross; He paid for the sins of the world.
He was put into the grave. He arose the third day. He is in heaven
now. He's living. He sent out his eyewitnesses of those events to
say it happened and to go and tell all people that if they want to have
a relationship with God, if they want to be forgiven, they can have
it immediately. It's free. It is grace. Jesus has done all the work.
Jesus can change your life. Jesus will put the Holy Spirit of God
in your life. That is how the Church started and spread across the
world and has come down to this day and we are preaching that same
message. I wonder if you know that Jesus is alive right now, and I wonder if
you've ever asked Him to forgive you of your sins?
If not, why not ask him to do that for you right now. Ask him to come into your
life and make you a Christian. The moment you ask Him to, He promises to
save you. So, my Muslim friend, if you think about your statement
that the Bible that we have today is corrupted, a statement you did
not substantiate with evidence and defies logic since logically God
will not allow thousands of years to pass without his true word
being transmitted and protected. What happened to what all the prophets
said all these years? What did Moses (Musa), David (Daud), Zechariah, John
(Yohanna) say, and all the rest of the prophets, and what happened to the
revelations God gave to them, and did God not protect his Word
(Revelations) he sent to man through them, it is not logical that
God will allow textual corruption to the word spoken through these
prophets, and allow these errors to pass undetected?
In the Bible all the revelations for over 40 different prophets are still intact
today and no evidence till today surfaced of your claim of corruption, on
the contrary examine the recent findings in our country of the Dead
Sea Scrolls which excavated almost all the old testament with no
corruption at all. I suggest my Muslim friend that you examine the
evidence, that's logic, especially you being a Palestinian and I
know how careful we are culturally when we buy something, weather its
Gold, Oil, or Food, we always well examine the product and we refuse
to settle for an imitation. Also My Muslim friend, I remind you that
the Quran did not have a single verse in it pointing to textual
corruption in the Bible, and bring your evidence if you were really
truthful!!! On the contrary, the Quran always referred to the
Bible as being true, the Bible that was in the prophets "hands", or the
believers "hands" at the time of Muhammad, and if one looks up the
translations of the Quran one finds that this verse is all over the
Quran but mistranslated to "previous scriptures", as to refer to
the so called lost scriptures and books.
That sword cuts both ways, if the Bible is corrupt, then the Quran
is also corrupt, and if the Bible is not corrupt then the Quran is
corrupt, you cannot entertain any other solution. I will ask my
most important question, and if you desire not to respond to anything I
said, please respond to this one, I will be satisfied if you had
the courtesy to respond to this question only. Was the Bible corrupted
before Muhammad or after Muhammad? Allow me to help.
If you answer "before", you are in a dilemma because you accuse Muhammad of
being a false prophet, since the Quran clearly refers to the Holy Scriptures
as God's Word. If you say "after", you are still in a dilemma, since
the Bible has already been written in many languages and distributed
all over the ancient world! And we ask; who changed it? When was itchanged? What did it
say before it was changed? How come it was not
noticed, since a change like this need to include leaders and
communities world wide, and every copy needs to be either destroyed
or changed, this is an impossible task. On the other hand, when
Khalif Othman Ibin Afan, decided to collect and burn all the
Quran's before his late edition, the work required was great, and it was
well noticed by the Muslim world, and it could not be hidden. And we
ask; What did these Quran's say. How can you tell it was the same? Do you simply have no choice but to trust Othman Ibin
Afan? How do you expect converts to Islam to accept
by faith in Othman Ibin Afan?
Lets be fair, before one accuses the Bible translations one need to look
at the English translations of the Quran and see the abuse of the
English language to fit the favorable interpretation of Muslims
some Muslims who adjust the translations for the western mind. These
translators also, choose words with scientific terms that does not
exist in the Quran. As to say to the Quran has scientific miracles,
which we will discuss in the chapter of "Quran and Science". It
is good when someone points errors and mistakes, but please my Muslim
friend do not accuse the Bible to be wrong before you examine it. I
doubt that you did "examine it', and if you do, you will find
miracles and evidences beyond your imagination, miracles that the
Quran could not and never can produce. The rise and fall of nations
is foretold thousands of years ago, the plan of God for mankind is
already established and foretold in the Bible. I can tell you from
the Bible what will happen, for example; It is impossible to
destroy
Israel, simply because it is written in the Bible and promised by
God, go ahead try if you can, and if you try you will be judged by
God, Hitler tried to destroy the Jews, look what happened to him. I
will be glad to show you the evidence if you want, and remember My
Muslim friend that our eternal destiny is at stake here, and if the
Bible is true you will go to eternal Hell since the Bible teaches
that Hell is never temporary, you need to examine the truth and
do not be close minded. God wants us to be logical and does not
expect
blind faith or faith that is not based on factual evidence, present
your evidence if you were really truthful!!!
What About the Trinity?
Let's make it clear that Christians believe in One God. Muslims
simply declare; Trinity is confusing, complicated and illogical. We
simply ask; Why do you accept that God created you from simple mud,
so wonderfully made, complicated and does not sound logical, but
both of us accept that why? We believe in God's
ability to defy our logic! For God to be God, and for us to believe in him, he
has to defy logic, he can be everywhere at the same time, and he is beyond
time. Muslims seem to accept all of that. How does one answer a child
when he asks; where did God come from, I am sure you must have asked
theses questions to your mother, father, or teacher when you where
a child, but you accepted these illogical issues once you learned
that God is Omnipotent and Omnipresent. His ways are not our ways. How
can he explain to us things we do not comprehend. If your child asks
you about a word he read, he comes to you and says; Daddy, what is sex.
You are astonished at his question, so you answer; it's something
sweet, like honey, one day when you grow up and the time is right,
you can taste it. Muslims accept that the egg white is egg, the egg
yoke is egg, and the egg shell is egg, but they are not three
separate eggs but one egg, I know this is a simple example, we can
go a little higher.
Muslims seem to accept that a Muslim has one mind,
one body, and one soul, but it is a one Muslim not three Muslims.
God is One, a triune and mighty God. For a Mighty, Wonderful, Creator
God to exist he must be complicated, and is beyond our comprehension.
We hear the radio and do not see the electromagnetic waves and we can
never see them but we accept them as fact because we hear the sound
and we studied science. We would still accept it even if we did not
study science, because we listen to the sound of the radio. The
waves have no problem traveling to all the radios. Your child asks you if
there are little men in the box making the sound. You tell him, No.
It's waves. He asks; but I do not see any beach! You tell him it's a
different kind of waves.
We need to listen to the sound of the
Bible, understand the logical evidence, and accept what is
difficult. And do not get hung up on a simple statement that "Trinity is
illogical", and Muslims will loose their salvation forever, Muslims
accept hundreds of things that are illogical as I have illustrated
some. It is until Muslims can logically explain creation, Godhood,
Omnipotence, Omnipresence, then Christians will be required to
explain why God is a triune God. Muslims need to put away the idea
of Bible corruption, and accept the believe in God, demands also the
believe in His Books, His Angels, and all His prophets. Knowing
first that man cannot accuse God's books of textual corruption,
since man cannot prove it, and it goes against God's nature; he
keeps one of His promises, that is His Word is forever. Of this great God
the Book of Isaiah, hundreds of years before Christ came, shattered
the world's claims, and even the Jews whom do not believe in the
Trinity, as like Muslims "They do not understand", so they reject,
yet they never took out the hundreds of references in the Old
Testament to the Trinity. Many challenged the Bible to produce a
verse in the Old Testament that included the Trinity. Though the
word itself is not found, the teaching of the Trinity is all through the
Bible, including the Old Testament. The following is only one
example from Isaiah 48:16,: "Come near to Me, hear this: I have not
spoken in secret
from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And
now
the Lord God, and His Spirit, have sent Me."
It is Isaiah who becomes God's messenger.
He is pleading with them, and as He pleads you can hear. F. Delitzsch (p 253)
appropriately says, "Since the prophet has not spoken in his own person
before; whereas, on the
other hand, these words are followed in the next chapter by an
address concerning Himself from that servant of Jehovah who
announces Himself as the restorer of Israel and light of the Gentiles, and
who cannot be therefore either Israel, as a nation." or Isaiah, it can
be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is obvious that the
speaker is God who spoke from the beginning and is the one who
reveals God to man. And affirms that "the Lord God, and His Spirit,
have sent Me." A clear reference to three distinct personalities
yet all are God. The one who is God was sent by God and the Spirit of
God. It is confirmed in the New Testament in I John 4:14; "The
Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." The Bible
refers to the trinity over 700 places. It needs only a fraction of this to
prove it's of God. In John 1:1-3 identifies Christ as God and the
creator of all; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God...all things were made by Him." This
absolutely confirms what Isaiah foretold in the previous Old
Testament single verse, as the speaker was God:
"I have not spoken in secret from the beginning" = "In
the
beginning was The Word" "from the time that
it was, I was there"
= "and the Word was with God" = In summary, we need to make clear the
following:
Evidence of Science in the Bible Not Found in the
Quran
On The Stars
Many verses relating to science in the Bible are not even mentioned
in the Quran. In Genesis 15:5, God speaks to Abraham; "Look now
toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them."
And He said to him. "So shall your descendants be." While Abraham
thought that his descendants would be over a thousand the Bible new
that out galaxy alone had over 200 million stars called the Milky
Way.
On Orion
In the Book of Amos chapter 5 verse 8 which speaks of the
constellation known as "Pleiades" it reads; "Seek Him that maketh
the
seven stars and Orion." This is referring to the seven star in the
constellation known as Pleiades. In the King James Version the
translators confirmed that Amos original Hebrew statement about
"the
seven stars" referred to Pleiades while the modern translators
refer to it as "Pleiades and Orion" since the early translators were
puzzled as the assumption was always of a six star constellation of
Pleiades known to the naked eye. However. modern science today
confirm the existence of a seventh star which can be detected only
by the modern telescope. How did a book which is considered less than
the Quran know this fact?
On the Hydrological Cycle and Weather
Unlike the Quran which claims to be more superior than the Bible,
the Bible claims scientific knowledge in science that no honest Muslim
scholar can deny. On the hydrological cycle and weather for example
the Bible details the complex weather system far and beyond the
claims of modern Muslim scholars on the areas of evaporation, cloud
formation and rain. In Job God declares: "For He looketh at the
ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to establish a
weight over the wind, and apportion the waters by measure. When He made a
law for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt" (Job 28:24-26).
The Quran does not record such a find by Job, which confirms a modern
scientific find in the last century that the air and the wind
patterns are governed by their actual weight. Another discovery by
modern science is found in Ecclesiastes as God declares: "All the
rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from
which the rivers come, there they return again" (Ecclesiastes
1:7). The most recent study by the United States Department of
Agriculture proved that most of the water that makes the clouds worldwide comes
from the evaporating water found in the oceans which covers 70% of
the globe. On another verse God declares through Job: "Do you know
how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is
perfect in knowledge?" (Job 37:16). In another verse God
describes the full water cycle which is not mentioned in the Quran as God
declares: "For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain
from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man.
Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, the thunders
from His canopy?" (Job 36:27-29). In another verse Job describes
the springs of the sea: "Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or
have you walked in search of the depths?" (Job 38:16). How did Job over
30 centuries ago have discovered what modern oceanic research knew 3
decades ago by underwater exploration of the very deep ocean? How did King Solomon know that the planetary winds
followed a circular pattern from south to north and south again which determine
the weather pattern throughout the globe, as God revealed through him:
"The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the
wind whirls about continually, and comes again on it's circuit"
(Ecclesiastes 1:6).
On Medical Knowledge
The Bible has been the guide for all aspects of life for the
Israelites coming out of Egypt. In The Book of Leviticus, laws have
been set by God to guide the people on the dangers of eating animal
that have died naturally or touching dead human bodies was
considered unclean as they could contain infectious diseases. Sanitation laws
and quarantine laws have already been established long ago by God.
In the Book of Numbers, chapter 19:14-17 the washing with running
water was commanded after touching a dead body. In the Book of Leviticus
chapter 13:46 God declared concerning plagues and diseases: "He
shall dwell alone: his habitation shall be outside the camp." Since God
knew that infections are carried by germs that cannot be seen by the
naked eye. The bubonic plague that killed one third of Europe was called
The Black Plague between 1200 - 1400 A.D. was finally solved by
searching the pages of the Bible and finding the Quarantine law set
by God. These rules that were set by God for reasons of preserving
human life was not known to man until a few centuries ago.
Evidence of Science in the Quran
As I was growing up in the Islamic faith, I wanted evidence. I
started to search. I needed a strong foundation. Many nights while
I laid in bed, I would ask myself questions that I would not dare ask
my teacher. Some of these questions demanded answers. But many
times when we used to ask questions we got slapped, mocked, or yelled at.
Only certain questions are allowed. Questions that involved topics
and doctrines which supported the Islamic faith. One day and on my
own, I started looking in the Mosque Library, and what I found was
the answer I was looking for. The book was called The Quran, A
Modern View, by Mustafa Mahmud. It was about scientific miracles in
the Quran. After reading it, I believed in the Quran as the word of
God because it had modern scientific laws, and only a book with a
divine origin can have scientific facts written over a thousand
years before their discovery. In recent years many times I researched
using a computer program for scientific clues in the Bible. To my
astonishment I found every correct "scientific miracle verse" in
the Quran which led me and millions of Muslims to believe in the
Quran. To my astonishment it was already in the Bible. I also found out
more scientific errors than truth recorded in the Quran. It shattered my
foundation. The solid rock crumbled into sinking sand. I was living
in a dark cloud of doubt. I realized I cannot just trust the so
called "Muslim scholars." Why? Because they never
attributed the credit where the credit was due. They dropped out God's truth
inspired in the past. It was dishonest. I was like any Muslim "betrayed".
Mustafa Mahmud whom I respected more than any scholar, in his book The
Quran, A Modern View, comments on several Quranic verses that
contain modern science. On the surface, if one studies these
materials, he will find little or no Biblical references mentioned
by these writers. Why? It would be simple for
Christian scholars to refute theses claims once these "miracle verses" are
matched with Biblical equivalents. All claims made by Muslim scholars that the
Quran includes scientific miracles is easily refuted by a simple
research on comparative verses. It is obvious why Muslim scholars
ignore addressing the Bible and science. The accuracy of the Bible
on matters of science cannot be matched by any of the ancient
writings, especially the Quran. In this we shall include both Biblical as
well as Quranic material on science. After examining these materials one
can easily see why Muslim scholars avoid addressing the science in
the Bible. The simple answer to the Quranic "miracle verses" is
that they were unintentionally borrowed from the Bible. No one can deny
that the Bible existed before the Quran. In some cases we can find
Quranic verses not mentioned in the Bible. Although exaggerated
as scientific, a simple and honest examination of such claims can
prove that these verses are "scientific errors" and has nothing to do
with science. In all cases we need to be open for refutation on both
sides, since science as a study is based on evidence and research.
It is fair to say that once we find an equal or better verse in the
Bible for each Quranic verse, that we can dismiss the verse as a
"miracle verse", and put aside all scientific commentary credited
to the Quran, since it should only be fair to attribute them to the
Bible first, and reference the Bible first. Let us give credit to
who deserves it. Also we need to stick with what the Quran or the
Bible say exactly, and avoid additional things not mentioned in
these verses, which most of the Muslim scholars do. Muslims claim that
God inspired revelations to all prophets, and since it's the same God
who inspired to all prophets, it would be obvious to find similarities
between some. Christians would not disagree on this issue.
Nevertheless the question that will arise is; since the Bible was
first, then the argument that the Quranic verses are the original
will not stand. All Muslims believe that the Bible was inspired
before the Quran. The other important question is; If the Quran is
inspired by God, then it should have no scientific errors? If the Quran is more superior than the Bible as it claims
"Wa-Muhayminan A'alayh" than all the supposed Quranic claims to science also
should be superior to the science found in the Bible. It is very simple
to explain the play of words which these Muslim scholars do. To make
an example of that, lets just say that my kid wrote in his school
journal the following; "I then made a kite, flew it. Then we took a
round piece of plastic and cut my own Frisbee. I took my younger
brother and had a ball as we threw the Frisbee between us and
watched the a disk like object was spinning and flying back and forth
between us." Now, I claim that my 6 year old by a miracle to be a scientist
and a genius, I go and apply for a scholarship so he can go to
Harvard. A board is formed to investigate my claim. I go to meet
with them, while smiling at me I pull out a report I prepared to prove
my case. The report have the statement my son wrote with my analysis
as follows:
| My son: | I Made A Kite
|
| Interpretation: | I Made a Flying Object with Wings
|
| | It must have Propellers since it was a
Plane
|
| My reason: | a Kite in the dictionary is a "Flying
Object ".
|
| My son: | I made a Frisbee
|
| Interpretation: | My son made the world's first Flying Saucer
|
| My reason: | A Frisbee is a disc like object that flies
|
The board will immediately look at this as a joke, call security
and ask them to escort me out.
Why? Because important missing elements needed to
substantiate my claim, are missing in my child's letter.
_ First: To prove that the Word "Frisbee" is a flying saucer my
child's document needed to include an "Electromagnetic
Force-field-thermonuclear Engine".
_ Second: the fact that this object called Frisbee is tossed by
hand between each other shows that no special engine called "The
Electromagnetic Force-filed Engine", is involved.
The amazing and sad thing is that millions of Muslims are reading
into these so called miracles as they were reality. Books are being
sold by the tons in Islamic countries with such bizarre claims. Any
well educated person shall be able to refute these claims by simply
looking up any interpretation of the Quran. Yet I have not met one
Muslim who will refute these claims as false. Why?
One could ask; why would very educated people consult astrologers, mediums, palm
readers, and fortune tellers. Regardless of there education. Mrs.
Reagan the wife of Ronald Reagan did the very same thing. Sometimes
and for some reason logical people will look into illogical matters
as fact. My only conclusion is that the power of deception
sometimes over powers us as human beings, and we fall into error. How week
are we as people. We look into things just because we blindly believe
they are true. By no means I am blaming the Quran of playing the
word tricks, but I do hold responsible the scholars who claim this
twisted interpretation as fact. It is a plain corruption in the
interpretation of the Quran, and Muslims need to object to such
things. The following examples shall prove my point.
On the Creation of Man
Quran: "Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were
both a solid mass, and we cleave them asunder, and by means of
water we give life to every living thing? Will they
not then believe?" (Al-Anbiyaa'[21]:30)
Bible: "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the
moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven. So God created great sea creatures
and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded,
according to their kind, and every winged bird according to it's
kind. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:20-21).
Muslim claim: Mustafa Mahmud, an Egyptian scientist concluded this
to refer to a scientific fact not known by Muhammad. That all living
things have water in them. He explains his claim with the evidence;
when we examine any living creature and find they contain water.
this includes microscopic life, since the word "every living thing" is
used. He supports this by other verses; "And Allah has created
every animal from water" (Al-Nur[24]:45). Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his
commentary on this verse concludes some other things; "About 72% of the
surface of our globe is still covered with water, and it has been
estimated that if the inequalities of the surface were all leveled,
the whole surface would be under water, as the mean elevation of
the land sphere level would be 7,000 - 10,000 feet bellow the surface
of the ocean. This shows the predominance of water on our globe. That
all life began in the water is also a conclusion to which our
latest knowledge of biological science points. Apart from the fact that
protoplasm, the original basis of living matter, it's liquid or
semi-liquid, and in a state of constant flux and instability, there
is the fact that land animals, like the higher vertebrates,
including man, in their embryological history, origins like those of fishes,
indicating the watery origin of their original habitat."
The evidence: As the reader of the Quranic verses discovers the
simplicity of these verses and the play with words these writers
do. One should translate the verses to what they are saying instead of
adding things that are not in the verses. It is obvious that these
verses are saying that God created (made) life from water. This
interpretation is fair. The Quran did not say "And Allah made water
to be in all living things". What it said is "Allah created life
from water". The Arabic "min al-maa" means "from the water" as it is
written in all the translations of the Quran. Several verses in the
Quran supports this creation from water as we can see later. These
kind of conclusions are obviously tampering with what Allah was
saying. A thing that Muslims always accuse Christians of doing.
And we ask: Do you believe that Mr. Ali and Mr. Mahmud were correct in
concluding all of this from the above verse? What
can you conclude from Genesis 1:21 above? Why is the
Quran given all the credit when these verses were before the Quran over 2000
years? It is easy to make assumptions from Genesis
1:21 as Muslim scholars do. It is better to stick to the exact meaning of what
the verse is trying to say. We leave it up to the Muslim conscious to conclude
which of the above verses provide more scientific truths. Muslims are welcome to
feed on the Bible's stronger scientific claims. In The Book of
Psalms of David (Al-Zabur), Psalm 24:1-2; "The earth is the Lord's, and
all it's fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has
founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters."
Quran: "Behold thy Lord said to the
angels: "I am about to create man from sounding clay from mud molded into
shape." (Al-Hijr[15]:28).
Bible: "Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been
formed out of clay." (Job[Ayub] 33:6).
Muslim claim: Mustafa Mahmud writes: "sounding clay is smelly
fermented mud. God once mentions that life was created from water,
and other places he mentions that it was created from dust, and
then he confirms it as from mud that is smelly, mixed with soil. and it
is a strange but accurate agreement with the discoveries of science
after 1,400 years."
Evidence: The human life is created from clay confirms today by
science, after they have been mocking the biblical account of the
creation of man from the dust of the ground as simple and silly. In
November 1982, The laughing had to take a pause when scientists at
NASA's Ames Research Center were startled to discover that clay and
earth contain every single element found in the human body.
However, if the Quran discovered this which is in agreement with science
than how do the Muslim scholars explain the Bible in Job chapter 33
verse 6, which was thousands of years before the prophet. The Muslims
prophet did not come up with something new. It was all in the Bible
which was "between his hands." Can you claim that you discovered
the light bulb today? Why all these Muslim scholars
avoid quoting these verses in their books?
Quran: "Dost thou deny him who created thee from dust, then out of
a sperm-drop, then fashioned thee into a man?" (Al-Kahf[18]:37). It is not
logical to say that all living things have dust and sperm. It is better to allow
the Quran to say what Allah intended to say, and
not add things to it.
Muslim claim: Mustafa Mahmud comments on the verse "That He did
create in pairs - male and female, from a seed when lodged." He
says; "We now know that the sperm decides the sex of the new born,
whether it is a male or a female, and not the egg, as it alone has the
factors for sex determination." How did the Quran come up with such agreements with scientific results
and research through hundreds of years...coincidence? And if we accept one chance, how do we accept the
rest?". Other Quranic translations like J. M.
Rodwell put it this way: "And that He hath created the sexes, male and
female, from the diffused germs of life."
Evidence: I wonder what is "diffused germs of life" are? Since in the whole of the Quran it never mentions any Germs
of any sort. This translation is more difficult than the Arabic in the Quran. I
would like to first give a word for word translation of the verse, so we
can reach the true intent of what the verse is saying, and I would
leave the Arabic reader to choose which of the three is more
accurate:
| Arabic: | wa-anahu | khalaqa | al-zawjayni
| al-thakara | wal-untha | min | nutfatin | itha
| tumna
|
| English: | And he | created | the pairs
| the male | and female | from | a drop | as it
| gushes
|
Now, how does Mr. Mahmud come up with his interpretation? The verse does not say "And he determined the
sexes male or female from the male sperm". The Quran is simply saying that God
created what we already observe in life as male and female from the fluid that
ejects from the male organ. That translation would be fair, or like we say
in computer programming "kiss" (keep it simple stupid). This idea
was already established thousands of years before the Quran. It was
simple; you put sperm in a female and you have babies, it could be
a male baby, or a female baby. two sexes no more. The Quran did not
come with anything new or miraculous on this point. The ancients
knew how to fertilize female cows and sheep. They also knew how to
needier males to stop the fertilization, as they did with slaves and animals.
Scientific Discovery or Error? You be the Judge.
Quran: "Created man out of a blood clot." (Al-Alaq[96]:2).
Muslim Claim: Dr. Bucaille says the Quranic verse is a major scientific
discovery.
Evidence: How can that be true? Every single
translator and interpreter of the Quran translates the "Alaqa" to "blood clot".
Yet he gets into a play of words from "blood clot" "Alaqa" to "Aliqa" (to
stick, or cling), then to a fetus which clings to the uterus through the
placenta, How? Especially when the fetus has nothing
to do with blood. You might say I am not a doctor. Well, ask one, he will be
glad tell you with a smile.
In the ancient of times that's how they figured it all out: they
married a woman, woman always had the menstrual cycle, blood came
out...she got in a bad mood...a week later they made up and (Made
Love), the male sperm was ejected into the female, to ensure he
fertilizes her, he learned that since he watered the plants in the
yard...and that's how they had ...well... a boy or a
girl...preferably twin boys...they can heard the sheep, plow the
earth, and keep the family name, well...one day the woman did not
bleed as usual on the end of each month...again..."Walla" the blood
did not come out... they waited an extra week or two to make sure
it really clotted inside her...the women gathered around to talk about
it... then an announcement was made "she must be pregnant" with
either a boy or a girl ... that will be silly...they just said "a
baby". A scientific error all the sudden became a scientific
discovery. In previous verses he created them from: Dust, Water,
and Ejected Sperm. Lets add blood to that, and again, we can make up
all kinds of things. But that's not fair the Muslim might ask? what about these verses?:
Quran: "Man we did create from a quintessence of
clay; then we placed him as a drop of sperm in a place of rest,
firmly fixed. Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed
blood; then of that clot We made a (fetus) lump; then we made out of that
lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out
of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create."
(Al-Mu'minum[23]:14).
Muslim Claim: .Mr. Mahmud expounds on these
verses as he says: "Man was not created from mud from the beginning...but
from different levels of creatures that came from mud, there is a
middle stage between man and mud...these previous stages made ready
modern man... then the Quran tells us about the different creation
levels of the fetus as the bones were made before the
muscles (out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with
flesh). It is well known in the study of embryology that the spinal cord is
constructed before the muscles."
Praise Allah, the Muslim responds. So then you take him to a book store and give
him a shock. You buy a Bible and turn it to...lets see...Job 10:8-12...it is
good old Job again! The verses say: "Your hands have made me and fashioned
me, an intricate unity; Yet you would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that you
have made me like clay. And will you turn me into dust again? Did you not pour
me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, cloth me with skin and
flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?" (Job 10:8-11).
You respond, Wow !
Evidence: How did Mr. Mahmud conclude that the Quranic verses
mention muscles? Since muscles are constructed after
the bones, as he writes. We question: Nothing in the Arabic verses says anything
about "muscles", for that Lets go to a "Word for Word" translation of the
last verse:
| Arabic: | Fa-Kasawna | Al-Ithama | Lahman
|
| English: | We clothed | the bones | meat
|
No muscles at all! All interpreters and translators of the Quran
agree that "Lahm" means Meat. I was born in the village of "Bait
Lahm" or Bethlehem, which every one knows means the house of Meat.
And we ask: How is it that the sperm becomes a "blood" clot? How is it that the Quran have been sent as a "Better book"
than the Bible, especially when the Biblical verses by Job (Ayub) is more
accurate when it mentions "Sinews" which means nerves and
muscles? Why didn't all these scholars and
commentators of the Quran not mention these verses, since they already exist in
the Bible? You wouldn't think they could be...you
know ...Biased? One last question: why all these
quotes from good old Job (Ayub)? The Hebrew
word "hannashesh" means tendon, or nerves. There is
no word used in the Quran to mean that. But it has no "hannashesh" or "Asab" or
"Adal" in the Quranic verse, it is simply "meat". That word which Mr. Mahmud
needed was simply created in his interpretation as underlined above, yet it was
found in the Bible only.
On Fingerprints
Quran: "Does man think that We cannot assemble his
bones? Nay We are able to put together in perfect order the very
finger tips." (Al-Qiyamah[75]:3-4)"
Muslim Claim: Muslim scholars claim that the Quran foreknew that
finger prints are unique to every individual. They use finger
prints in police work to find criminals. This is a very modern discovery
only God can know at the time of the Quran.
Evidence: There is no way to substantiate this claim from these
verses. All what this verse is saying is that in judgment day God
will resurrect the dead in perfect order. With flesh and bones, as
it is evident from verse 3 "Does man think we cannot assemble his
bones?"
Nothing about fingerprints being unique to each individual. The
verse is saying "put together" on the "bones", and
not "differentiate between each persons finger tips". For that to happen one
must corrupt the verse to say the following; "Does man think that We
cannot assemble his bones? Nay we are able to
differ his fingerprints." Muslims will never accept such
corruption to the text of the Quran, and I will not blame them for rejecting it.
On Biology
Quran: "The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah
is that of a Spider, who builds a house; but truly the flimsiest of
houses is the Spider's house." (Al-Ankabut[29]:41).
Muslim Claim:
Mustafa Mahmud comments concerning a verse in the Quran This is as
he claims a major discovery in Biology, since modern biology discovered
that the spider's family is the cruelest in all the animal kingdom.
Since it is self destructive, as the female kill the male and the
children eat the female. Defiantly a discovery in biology not known
by Muhammad.
Evidence: Everyone knew that a spider web is weak, you
could blow on it and it will fall apart, but if Muslims want to
conclude that the Quran discovered this for the first time they
should wonder when they read the Book of Job (Kitab Ayub) chapter
7 verses 13-15; "So are the paths of all who forget God; And
the hope of the hypocrite shall perish, Whose confidence shall be cut
off, And whose trust is a spider's web. He leans on his house, but
it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure." (Job
[Ayub] 7:13-15).
More Questions: Why didn't Mr. Mahmud and others quote
this verse? They always quote Biblical verses out of
context. But when it comes to the superior knowledge found in the Bible, you
will always find it missing. If we read Mr. Ali's translation of the Quran he
gets into a deep discussion on the different types of spiders webs
that he might have looked up in the encyclopedia to add a richness
and give strength to the Quran. Again, why do not we let the Quran
speak for itself? why is this stuff already in the
Bible? Muslims might claim
that there is no problem if one prophet has been inspired similar
verses to other prophets. Then the question will be; what is the
new scientific miracles that the Quran brought to science? We claim "None", what do you claim? Bring forth your evidence, if you were
truthful. Why not read (Kitab Ayub) in English (The Book of Job)
and see what Job was inspired by God. Also the other question should
be asked; does all the material in the Quran agrees with what is in
the Bible? And what about tons of verses borrowed
from pagan, apocryphal, and fictitious sources? That
we shall prove later on "The source of the Quran".
On Earth and Geology
On the mountains he quotes the Quran: "They ask thee concerning the
Mountains: say, `My Lord will uproot them and scatter them as
dust.'" Explosions will take place in Judgment day in the mountains. These
"explosions" also are mentioned in the Bible: "He removes
mountains, and they do not know when he overturns them in his anger." (Job
9:5). Again, Job (Ayub) said all that thousands of years before.
Other verses on mountains by Job: "But as a mountain falls and crumbles
away, and as a rock is moved from it's place; as water wears away
stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you
destroy the hope of man." (Job 14:18-19). Job not only mentions
mountains, but spoke about erosion. Is this a scientific
breakthrough? I say no. They already knew about
erosion, that's why they use rock supports around agricultural land in the east.
Now we could lookup an encyclopedia on erosion and expound like our friends,
then, Walla !!! a scientific miracle. No offense on the (Walla) it
has nothing to do with the name of God (Allah) it's just like
saying (Wow).
More on Job: "He puts his hands on the flint; He overturns the mountains at
the roots." (Job 28:9c). "The mountains melt like wax at the presence
of the Lord." (Psalms 97:5). In another Quranic verse we read concerning
man's creation: "We have created man in the best of molds, then do we abase
him to be the lowest of low" (Al-Tin[95]:4-5). In the Bible we read: "My
frame was not hidden from you, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought
in the lowest parts of the earth." (Psalms 139:15). Mr. Mahmud comments
that the Quran calls the mountains pillars: "He created the heavens
without any pillars that ye can see; He set on mountains standing
firm, lest it should shake with you; And He scattered through it
beasts of all kinds." (Luqman[31]:10). And in other verses mountains
are described as "pillars". He explains: "that the mountains act as
weights that holds the crust of the earth on it's place, not
allowing it to slide over the flaming sea inside the earth." One wonders
how would Mr. Mahmud interpret the Bible verse: "The Earth and all its
inhabitants are dissolved; I set up its pillars firmly" (Psalms
74:3). Or another verse from the Bible: "Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters
roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." (Psalms
46:2-3). The explanation that Mr. Mahmud wanted to conclude from the Quranic
verse was already in the Bible. Yet he never quoted the Bible, Why? On the creation of the Earth, Mr. Mahmud comments on the
verse "And afterwards stretched forth the earth", to conclude that the Quran
knew a major scientific discovery concerning the earth. He says;
"This agrees with the most modern views on astronomy of the shape of
the earth, since the word "Duhia" means "egg." What Mr. Mahmud
concludes is that earth is more flat on the north pole, than the
south poll, making earth in the shape of an egg. Again he twisted
the words around to fit his aim, and again we have to go to the "Word
for Word" translation:
| Arabic: | Wa-lardu | ba'ada | thalika
| dahaha
|
| English: | and earth | after | that | he
extended
|
This has nothing to do with eggs. the word "Dahaha" and "Duhia" are
not the same. In fact both translators of the Quran I have, agree
with my "word for word" translation. J. M Rodwell translates it:
"And afterwards stretched forth the earth". Mr. Ali translates it: "And
the earth moreover, hath He extended (to a wide expanse)"
parenthesis his. We remind our Muslim friends that the Bible
already made very clear the shape of the earth: "And he (God) stretches
out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing." (Job 26:7).
"It is he who sits above the circle of the earth" (Isaiah
40:22). The Bible has the missing word that Mr. Mahmud was looking for.
Why didn't he borrow Bible verses to prove his point? Again, which is more accurate, the Bible or the
Quran? Another question; When was
Isaiah born? I will help you since you have enough
homework. Isaiah was born about 700 years before Christ, which makes this about
1400 years before the Quran...no more questions! On another verse of
the Quran were Allah says, "Coils the day upon the night and the night upon
the day", which is a definite proof to a Muslim that the earth is
round, since darkness moves over the light and light moves over the
darkness with the word "coil" has to refer to a round shape it's moving
over. Although one could see that the word coil can be referred to
coiling over a flat surface, like coiling wire over a flat board. Another
important factor needs not to be ignored is that in the Quranic
verse it refers to the night moving and the day (light) moving around the
earth, which does not necessarily mean the earth is round, since
you can run around the Kaaba and it's square and stands still while you
go around. The fact is, it's the earth is rotating around itself.
The word "yukawir" (rotates) was used in the ancient for an example of
rolling the turban around your head "yukawir", and you do not
normally rotate your head to roll the turban around. It is obvious that the
writer of the Quran thought that the sun and the moon coil around
the earth as it concludes in the verse after; "the sun and the moon
moves".
However, in the Gospel of Luke he describes the coming of
Christ in the daytime: "Even thus shall it be in the day when the
Son of man is revealed." While in the few verses that follows Luke
describes that Christ will come in the night (Luke 17:34). This was
criticized for hundreds of years as a contradiction, how could a
single event come to be at both day and night. This does prove that
earth had a side which would be night and another which would be
day. In the last few centuries many Bible critics denounced some
verses concerning the movement of the sun. In Psalm 19:6, King
David (Daud) by the inspiration of God writes concerning the sun:
"Its rising from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the
other end, And there is nothing hidden from its heat." The accusation was
that the Bible claimed that the sun moved in an orbit around the earth. This
ancient false claim was not made by the Bible, since the words used
"in his circuit unto the ends of it (the heavens)." It was not known
until the Hubble Telescope confirmed the accuracy of the Bible as
scientists proved that the sun moves through space in a circuit
covering an enormous orbit that lasts over two hundred and sixty
million years.
Modern western and Muslim critics alike falsely accused the Bible
of referring to a flat earth in Isaiah 11:12 and Revelation 7:1, as
the expression "four corners of the earth" refers to a flat surface.
However, this expression was always considered "colloquial". It
referred to the four extremities of the globe from a central
position, as God referred to a globe. "It is He who sits on the circle of the
earth..." (Isaiah 40:22a), clearly confirming modern science, as in
another verse by the prophet Job: "hangs the earth on nothing." Job
also confirms a very modern scientific known fact not known in the
Quran when he refers to the area on the north of the axis of the
earth towards the polar star is almost empty of stars, this "hole
in the space" of a 300 million light-years gap has taken cosmologists
by surprise and is different than the rest of the other directions
which are full of stars, as God through Job declares: "He stretches out
the north over empty space" (Job 26:7). For more on this refer to
Mitchell Waldrop, "Delving the Hole in space, Science magazine, Nov. 27, 1981).
Electromagnetic Waves
On the electromagnetic waves, Mr. Mahmud points out a discovery by
the Quran; "By the Sky which returns, (Wa-ssama'e That Irrajj'a)
And by the Earth which opens out." He comments that; the sky acts like
a reflector of the electromagnetic waves. Radio waves bounces back to
earth, so we can hear the sound on the radio. Without that we will
loose the wave. We agree with the electromagnetic wave theory. On
the other hand, on what basis he concludes that the Quran was talking
about electromagnetic waves? In the Bible: "With
him (God) have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal
mirror?" (Job 37:18). Here is not only "sky which returns" but "sky
which reflects." This is the word Mr. Mahmud was looking for. I shall
reserve myself, this time, and not ask anymore questions.
To the Muslim that the Quran is filled with science, we advise, a
close examination of each claim. To prove scientific laws and
theories discovered in recent times not known by the prophet of
Islam takes more than the play with words. A close examination of each
accurate claim, can easily prove that this knowledge was previously
known and already existed in the Bible. Another reference is Dr.
William Campbell's book The Quran, in the Light of Science,
examines more of these claims, proving that Dr. Bucaille was not
using scientific methods to determine his conclusions. As I
presented, one must study both claims before making a decision. The
problem that is prevalent in the Islamic world today is that
Muslims do not give a chance to the Christian point of view, and close the
door, leaving no opportunity for either to prove their claim.
Conclusion (What About You?)
How solid is your foundation in Islam? What evidence
does Islam provide non-Muslims when they question for evidence on Islam. Why
should he believe that Muhammad is a true prophet of God? Why is the Quran a true Word of God? And why should he build his faith on
Islam? What sort of proofs can Islam
provide? How deep do Muslims
dig when building their faith on Islam? Or is it
because the majority of Muslims have Muslim parents, and carry a birth
certificate with "Muslim' stamped on it, and in school are guided
to stand in a long line of Muslims waiting to get in class for
Islamic studies while Christians go to their Christian studies? And then a Muslim teacher will give the Islamic point of
view, and "his" point of view on Christianity, since the majority of nominal
Christians are too scared to comment when asked "is Jesus God"? And then a Muslim attends the local Masjid and strengthens
his faith listening to Friday prayer speeches, and start educating himself in
Islam without ever hearing the full Christian point of view. Now I know
that some have an idea or read some books that did not have a good
point of view on the Christian faith. Yet the majority of Muslims
never spent the time to look and dig deep into the subject. If
that is all you did in my opinion it is not enough. Since you have not
done your homework on really studying the Bible, the true and only Word
of God, I say "the only" because till now no other have surfaced with
evidence that can compare.
The Narrow Gate
At last I hope you consider what I have, I really care about
Muslims, believe it or not, for what do I gain from this but the
joy that I found in the King of Truth, the very Christ who died to
redeem you and me back to himself and that is the only reason I challenge
you and the whole World with Gods Bible. The Quran and most of the
world religions promote works for salvation. According to the Bible
there is no amount of work man can offer God to receive salvation,
not good deeds, martyrdom, or pilgrimage to a Holy place, but only
through what God did for man. The Bible alone explains the narrow
way of God's salvation: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is
wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter
by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that
leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14). The
choice you make is either eternal torment in hell, or everlasting
glory with God. Which gate will you choose?
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