father or mother. As far as our physical bodies are concerned they are mere
dust. In God’s sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is. The
greatness of Jesus arose from the divine command ‘Be’: for after that he was
more than dust a great spiritual leader and teacher" The logic of it is
that, if being born without a male parent entitles Jesus to being equated with
God, then, Adam would have a greater right to such honor, and this no Christian
would readily concede. Thus, the Muslim is made to repudiate the Christian
blasphemy. Further, if the Christian splits hairs by arguing that Adam was
"created" from the dust of the ground, whereas Jesus was immaculately
"begotten" in the womb of Mary, then let us remind him that, even
according to his own false standards, there is yet another person greater than
Jesus, in his own Bible . Who is this superman? Paul’s Innovation "For this
Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God… Without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life…" (Hebrews 7:1,3) Here is a candidate for Divinity itself, for only
God Almighty could possess these qualities. Adam had a beginning (in the
garden), Jesus had a beginning (in the stable); Adam had an end and, claim the
Christians, so had Jesus "and he gave up the ghost". But where is
Melchisedec? Perhaps he is hibernating somewhere like Rip Van Winkel (a fairy
tale character who slept for many ages.) And what is this "Hebrews"?
It is the name of one of the Books of the Holy Bible, authored by the gallant
St. Paul, the self appointed thirteenth apostle of Christ. Jesus had twelve
apostles, but one of them (Judas) had the Devil in him. So the vacancy had to be
filled, because of the "twelve" thrones in heaven which had to be
occupied by his disciples to judge the children of Israel (Luke 22:30). Saul was
a renegade Jew, and the Christians changed his name to "Paul",
probably because "Saul" sounds Jewish. This St. Paul made such a fine
mess of the teachings of Jesus, peace blessings be upon him, that he earned for
himself the second most coveted position of "The Most Influential Men of
History" in the monumental work of Michael H. Hart: The 100 or The Top
Hundred or the Greatest Hundred in History. Paul outclasses even Jesus because,
according to Michael Hart, Paul was the real founder of present day
Christianity. The honor of creating Christianity had to be shared between Paul
and Jesus, and Paul won because he wrote more Books of the Bible than any other
single author, whereas Jesus did not write a single word. Paul needed no
inspiration to write his hyperboles here and in the rest of his Epistles. Did
not Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Goebbels say: "The bigger the lie the
more likely it is to be believed’? But the amazing thing about this exaggeration
is that no Christian seems to have read it. Every learned man to whom I have
shown this verse to, seemed to be seeing it for the first time. They appear
dumbfounded, as described by the fitting words of Jesus: "…seeing they
see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matthew
13:13) The Holy Quran also contains a verse which fittingly describes this well
cultivated sickness: "Deaf, dumb and blind, will they not return (to the
path)." (2:18) The Sons of God The Muslim takes strong exception to the
Christian dogma that "Jesus is the only begotten son, begotten not
made". This is what the Christian is made to repeat from childhood in his
catechism. I have asked learned Christians, again and again as to what they are
really trying to emphasize, when they say: "Begotten not made". They
know that according to their own God given (?) records, God has sons by the
tons: "…Adam, which was the son of God."(Luke 3:38) "That the
sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair… And when the sons of
God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them…"
(Genesis 6: 2,4) "…Israel is My son, even My firstborn:" (Exodus
4:22) "…for I (God) am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My
firstborn." (Jeremiah 31:9) "…the Lord hath said unto me (David):
‘Thou art My son: this day have I begotten thee." (Psalms 2:7) "For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans
18:14) Can’t you see that in the language of the Jew, every righteous person,
every Tom, Dick and Harry who followed the Will and Plan of God, was a "Son
of God". It was a metaphorical descriptive term commonly used among the
Jews. The Christian agrees with this reasoning, but goes on to say: "but
Jesus was not like that". Adam was made by God. Every living thing was made
by God, He is the Lord, Cherisher and Sustainer of all. Metaphorically speaking
therefore God is the Father of all. But Jesus was the "begotten" son
of God, not a created son of God ? Begotten Means "Sired"! In my forty
years of practical experience in talking to learned Christians, not a single one
has opened his mouth to hazard an explanation of the phrase "begotten not
made". It had to be an American who dared to explain. He said : "It
means, sired by God." "What!?" I exploded : "Sired by
God?" "No, no!" he said, "I am only trying to explain the
meaning, I do not believe that God really sired a son." The sensible
Christian says that the words do not literally mean what they say. Then why do
you say it? Why are you creating unnecessary conflict between the 1,200,000,000
Christians and a thousand million Muslims of the world in making senseless
statements? Reason for Objection The Muslim takes exception to the word
"begotten", because begetting is an animal act, belonging to the lower
animal functions of sex. How can we attribute such a lowly capacity to God?
Metaphorically we are all the children of God, the good and the bad, and Jesus
would be closer to being the son of God than any one of us, because he would be
more faithful to God then any one of us can ever be. From that point of view he
is preeminently the son of God. Although this pernicious word
"begotten" has now unceremoniously been thrown out of the "Most
Accurate" version of the Bible, the Revised Standard Version (R.S.V.), its
ghost still lingers on in the Christian mind, both black and white. Through its
insidious brainwashing the white man is made to feel superior to his black
Christian brother of the same Church and Denomination. And in turn, the black
man is given a permanent inferiority complex through this dogma. Brain-washed
Inferiority The human mind can’t help reasoning that since the "begotten
son" of an African will look like an African, and that of a Chinaman as a
Chinese, and that of an Indian like an Indian: so the begotten son of God aught
naturally to look like God. Billions of beautiful pictures and replicas of this
"only begotten son of God" are put in peoples hands. He looks like a
European with blonde hair, blue eyes and handsome features like e one I saw in
the "King of Kings" or "The Day of Triumph" or "Jesus
of Nazareth". Remember Jeffrey Hunter? The "Savior" of the
Christian is more like a German than a Jew with his polly nose. So naturally, if
the son is a white man, the father would also be a white man (God?). Hence the
darker skinned races of the earth subconsciously have the feeling of inferiory
ingrained in their souls as God’s "step children". No amount of face
creams, skin lighteners and hair straighteners will erase the inferiority. God
is neither black nor white. He is beyond the imagination of the mind of man.
Break the mental shackles of a Caucasian (white) man-god, and you have broken
the shackles of a permanent inferiority. But intellectual bondages are harder to
shatter: the slave himself fights to retain them. Chapter Six : Answer to
Christian Dilemmas "Christ in Islam" is really Christ in the Quran:
and the Holy Quran has something definite to say about every aberration of
Christianity. The Quran absolves Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, from
all the false charges of his enemies as well as the misplaced infatuation of his
followers. His enemies allege that he blasphemed against God by claiming
Divinity. His misguided followers claim that he did avow Divinity, but that was
not blasphemy because he was God. What does the Quran say ? Addressing both the
Jews and the Christians, Allah says: "O People of the Book! commit no
excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah (God) aught but the truth. Christ
Jesus son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah (God), and His Word,
which he bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah
(God) and His messengers…" (4:171) Going to Extremes "O People of
the Book" is a very respectful title with which the Jews and the Christians
are addressed in the Holy Quran. In other words, Allah is saying "O Learned
People!", "O People with a Scripture!" According to their own
boast, the Jews and the Christians prided themselves over the Arabs, who had no
Scripture before the Quran. As a learned people, Allah pulls up both the
contending religionists for going to either extremes as regards the personality
of Christ. The Jews made certain insinuations about the legitimacy of Jesus and
charged him of blasphemy by twisting his words. The Christians read other
meanings into his words; wrench words out of their context to make him God. The
modern day Christian, the hot – gospeller, the Bible thumper, uses harsher words
and cruder approaches to win over a convert to his blasphemies. He says: (a)
"Either Jesus is God or a liar" (b) "Either Jesus is God or a
lunatic" (c) "Either Jesus is God or an impostor" These are his
words, words culled from Christian literature. Since no man of charity, Muslim
or otherwise, can condemn Christ so harshly as the Christian challenges him to
do, perforce he must keep non-committal. He thinks he must make a choice between
one or the other of these silly extremes. It does not occur to him that there is
an alternative to this Christian conundrum. Sensible Alternative Is it not
possible that Jesus is simply what he claimed to be, a prophet, like so many
other prophets that passed away before him? Even that he is one of the greatest
of them, a mighty miracle worker, a great spiritual teacher and guide – the
Messiah!. Why only God or Lunatic? Is "lunacy" the opposite of
"Divinity" in Christianity? What is the antonym of God? Will some
clever Christian answer? The Quran lays bare the true position of Christ in a
single verse, followed by a note by Yusuf Ali’s: "That he was the son of a
woman, Mary, and therefore a man;" "But a messenger, a man with a
mission from Allah (God), and therefore entitled to honor." "A Word
bestowed on Mary, for he was created by Allah’s word ‘Be’, and he
was;"(3:59). A spirit proceeding from Allah (God), but not Allah: his life
and mission were more limited than in the case of some other messengers, though
we must pay equal honor to him as a prophet of Allah. The doctrines of Trinity,
equality with God, and sons, are repudiated as blasphemies. Allah (God) is
independent of all needs and has no need of a son to manage His affairs. The
Gospel of John (whoever wrote it) has put a great deal of Alexandrian Gnostic
mysticism round the doctrine of the Word (Greek, Logos), but it is simply
explained here." Jesus Questioned Reproduced below are verses 119 to 121
from the Chapter of Maeda (chapter 5 of the Quran) depicting the scene of
Judgment Day, when Allah will question Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him,
regarding the misdirected zeal of his supposed followers in worshipping him and
his mother: and his response, "And behold! Allah will say: ‘O Jesus the son
of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, take me and my mother for two gods beside
Allah?’ He will say: ‘Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to
say). Had I said such a thing, Thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest
what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full
all that is hidden. ‘Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command
me to say, to wit, ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord’; and I was a witness
over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the
Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things. ‘If Thou dost punish
them, they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in
power, the Wise.’" (5:116-118) Claimed No Divinity If this is the statement
of truth from the All-Knowing, that "Never said I to them aught except what
Thou didst command me to say, to wit, ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your
Lord’", then how do the Christians justify worshipping Jesus? There is not
a single unequivocal statement throughout the Bible, in all its 66 volumes of
the Protestant versions, or in the 73 volumes of the Roman Catholic versions,
where Jesus claims to be God or where he says "worship me". Nowhere
does he say that he and God Almighty "are one" and "the same
person." The last phrase above "one and the same person" tickles
many a "hot-gospeller" and "Bible-thumper," not excluding
the Doctor of Divinity and the Professor of Theology. Even the new converts to
Christianity have memorized these verses. They are programmed to rattle off
verses out of context, upon which they can hang their faith. The words "are
one" activates the mind by association of memories. "Yes", say
the Trinitarians, the worshippers of three gods in one God, and one God in three
gods, "Jesus did claim to be God!" Where? Reverend at the Table I had
taken Rev. Morris D.D. and his wife, to lunch at the "Golden Peacock."
While at the table, during the course of our mutual sharing of knowledge, the
opportunity arose to ask, "Where?" And without a murmur he quoted,
"I and my father are one" to imply that God and Jesus were one and the
same person. That Jesus here claims to be God. The verse quoted was well known
to me, but it was being quoted out of context. It did not carry the meaning that
the Doctor was imagining, so I asked him, "What is the context?"
Choked on "Context" The Reverend stopped eating and began staring at
me. I said, "Why? Don’t you know the context?", "You see, what
you have quoted is the text, I want to know the context, the text that goes with
it, before or after." Here was an Englishman (Canadian), a paid servant of
the Presbyterian Church, a Doctor of Divinity, and it appeared that I was trying
to teach him English. Of course he knew what "context" meant. But like
the rest of his compatriots, he had not studied the sense in which Jesus had
uttered the words. In my forty years of experience, this text had been thrown at
me hundreds of times, but not a single learned Christian had ever attempted to
hazard a guess as to its real meaning. They always start fumbling for their
Bibles. The Doctor did not have one with him. When they do start going for their
Bibles, I stop them in their stride: "Surely, you know what you are
quoting?", "Surely, you know your Bible?" After reading this, I
hope some "born-again" Christians will rectify this deficiency. But I
doubt that my Muslim readers will ever come across one in their lifetime who
could give them the context. What is the Context? It is unfair on the part of
the Reverend, having failed to provide the context, then to ask me, "Do you
know the context?" "Of course," I said. "Then, what is
it?" asked my learned friend. I said, "That which you have quoted is
the text of John chapter 10, verse 30. To get at the context, we have to begin
from verse 23 which reads: 23. "and Jesus was in the temple area walking in
Solomon’s Colonnade." (John 10:23). John, or whoever he was, who wrote this