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Response to "What Did Jesus Really Say? by Misha'al ibn Abdullah Al-Kadhi: Introduction
What indeed did Jesus say?
An answer to the book "What did Jesus really say?"
Introduction
This book should be used as a companion to the book it is an answer to.
Allow me to make a few statements to start with.
In reviewing any publication, it is important that the reliability and
integrity of the author is scrutinized. If the author is under
suspicion, so is his publication. Please understand me, I will not try
to prove the esteemed author a crook, since I believe that he wrote his
book in honesty and in the belief that he was doing it for the glory of
God.
Unfortunately, good intententions are not enough, since we are dealing
here with the question of Truth, that could lead to the salvation or
damnation of many people who read it.
There was a mother whose baby became ill with diarrhoea, and doing the
culturally correct thing, she took him to a traditional healer.
Unfortunately the traditional healer told the mother not to give the
baby any water, since he was loosing it through his bowel anyway. The
baby dehydrated, and by the time the mother reached the hospital, it
was too late. Although the intention of the traditional healer was
very good, his prescription killed the patient, because of his lack of
ability.
Let us now examine the ability of the author:
One of his first statements is:
In the Qur'an, we are told that the Gospel of Jesus (pbuh) underwent a
series of major alterations after his departure until six hundred years
later the changes to this gospel had become so severe as to necessitate
God's intervention. This is when the final message of God for all time,
the message of Islam was sent down upon Muhammad (pbuh). This book
attempts to study this claim in as much detail as humanly possible
within my limited abilities in order to test the truthfulness of this
assertion.
The truthfullness of "this assertion" cannot be tested since the Quran
does not claim that the Bible was altered. "This assertion" simply does
not exist in the Qur'an and we observe that the author did not give any
reference for his confident assertion.
What does the Qur'an really teach about the Bible?[1]
"We did indeed aforetime Give the Book to Moses: Be not then in doubt
Of its reaching (thee): And we made it A guide to the Children Of
Israel." -- Sura 32:23
TAKE NOTE: Be not in doubt of its, (i.e. the Bible) reaching thee -
(i.e. the Muslims of Mohammed's time). The Qur'an states unequivocally
that the Taurat reached the Muslims of Mohammed's time. Surely if it
was corrupted, there would have been a warning against it, not an
endorsement of it?
"And before thee also The apostles We sent Were but men, to whom We
granted inspiration: if ye Realise this not, ask of those Who possess
the Message." -- Sura 16:43
NOTE: The message is very clear: they had to ask those who posessed it.
If it was corrupted, there would have been a warning. This is another
endorsement.
"If thou wert in doubt As to what We have revealed Unto thee, then
ask those Who have been reading The Book from before thee: The Truth
hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: So be in no wise Of those in
doubt.
Nor be of those who reject The Signs of God, Or thou shalt be of
those Who perish." -- Sura 10:94 and 95
These verses from the Qur'an admonished and asked Muhammad and every
Muslim since, to accept and trust that the scriptures revealed before
Muhammad's time - that is the Bible and not to doubt them.
Sura 5 verses 47 to 50:
47 It was We who revealed The Law (to Moses): therein Was guidance and
light. By its standard have been judged The Jews, by the Prophets Who
bowed (as in Islam) To God's Will, by the Rabbis And the Doctors of Law:
For to them was entrusted The protection of God's Book, And they were
witnesses thereto: Therefore fear not men, But fear Me, and sell not My
Signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge By (the light of)
what God Hath revealed, they are (No better than) Unbelievers.
48 We ordained therein for them: "Life for life, eye for eye, Nose for
nose, ear for ear, Tooth for tooth, and wounds Equal for equal." But if
Any one remits the retaliation By way of charity, it is An act of
atonement for himself. And if any fail to judge By (the light of) what
God Hath revealed, they are (No better than) wrong-doers.
49 And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son Of Mary, confirming The
Law that had come Before him: We sent him The Gospel: therein Was
guidance and light, And confirmation of the Law That had come before
him: A guidance and an admonition To those who fear God.
50 Let the People of the Gospel Judge by what God hath revealed Therein.
If any do fail To judge by (the light of) What God hath revealed, They
are (no better than) Those who rebel."
The context of these ayats is as follows: Non-Muslims came to Mohammed
for judgement in their disputes. The Qur'an orders them to be their own
judges, and to use their own scriptures (the Bible) as the basis for
judgement. Would the Qur'an order this if it was corrupted? Again we see
a Qur'anic endorsement of the integrity of the Bible At the time of
Mohammed, instead of a warning.
The fact is: Nowhere does the Qur'an even so much as hint that the Bible
has undergone changes, in fact, it states that the Qur'an should be
tested against it. The Qur'an does say that the Jews of that time lied
about the message of their book, but it NEVER questions the integrity of
the book itself.
We see that the author, already in his preface, displays his ignorance
of the scriptures. What makes this worse is the fact that he is
ignorant about the contents of the Qur'an. How can we accept anything
this man says about the Bible if he does not even know his own book?
Let us now have a look at his scientific method:
(This next quote is from the chapter on the "Goal of this book",
the table entry under "The Bible")
"Muslims are told that the previous scriptures were tampered with by
mankind and the Bible should only be accepted in as far as it is
confirmed by the Qur'an. It is to be treated with respect, however any
statements which clearly oppose those of the Qur'an are to be rejected
as the work of mankind."
This statement would make any scholar cringe, since it professes the
worst kind of bias. It may seem to Muslims a very pious and worthy thing
to say, but it defeates the whole purpose of the book which is to
establish the truth about the Bible. How can one study two contradicting
scriptures to find which one contains the truth if from the outset the
one scripture is made the standard which the other scripture is judged
by? He has decided beforehand which parts of the Bible are acceptable and
which parts not. The unacceptable parts are not judged by his evidence,
but by his bias. The "evidence" is only produced after sentence has
already been passed.
This is in contradiction with what the Qur'an teaches, since the Qur'an
also teaches that the Bible should be the standard to judge the Qur'an
by, and not only the other way round:
"If thou wert in doubt As to what We have revealed Unto thee, then
ask those Who have been reading The Book from before thee: The Truth
hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: So be in no wise Of those in
doubt." -- Sura 10:94
In plain English: "If you have any doubts about the Qur'an, compare it
with the Bible."
We see that from the outset his criterium for judgement is not his
"evidence", but the Qur'an. Why should we accept the evidence of the
Qur'an? The only proof that the Qur'an is the word of God is the word of
Mohammed. The Bible was written over a period of thousands of years, by
more than forty authors, AND THEY ALL TAUGHT THE SAME MESSAGE. Then came
Mohammed, and because his message contradicts the message of the
previous prophets, we are told, based on the witness of ONE MAN, that
the previous scriptures, accepted as the word of God for centuries, were
corrupted.
The Taurat says:
"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity,
or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of
two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the
matter be established." -- Deuteronomy 19:15
The author says that Paul, and others after him, willingly corrupted
the word of God. Yet the only witness he considers before he passes
judgement is that of Mohammed. According to the principles in God's
word (the Taurat), the case should be thrown out of court.
We will see in the rest of the book that the rest of the author's
"evidence " (which he calls upon AFTER he has already passed judgement)
is based on false interpretations of history and of the scriptures, and
often false facts. The reason for this is his bais: he panelbeats
history and scriptures to fit in the mold of the Qur'an.
Stay with us, this study will prove to be an adventure!
1. At these links you will find more in depth studies on the
Qur'anic statements regarding the Bible:
A Qur'anic Truth Unveiled
and What the Qur'an says about the Bible.
The Rebuttal to "What Did Jesus Really Say?"
Answering Islam Home Page