GREAT DECEPTION

PART 1. The dialogue between Bishop al Haritha b. Alqama with his delegation from Wadi

Sura Al Imran portrays an important event in the history of Islam and it’s relation to Christianity.

After Muhammad had established his Islamic state in Medina a worthy delegation of about 60

Christians, under the guidance of their political leader (emir), Al Aqib Abd al Masih, and their bishop, Abu Haritha b.Alqama, came from Wadi Nadjran in today’s North Yemen to visit Muhammad. They traveled far to investigate the spirit, which was guiding Muhammad and his followers. They sat with him for three days in Medina’s central mosque and discussed the essential aspects of the Christian and Islamic faiths.

Muhammad’s responses to such sensitive subjects are documented in Sura Al Imran 3:33-64. These verses show to what extent Muhammad was able to compromise with the Christians. He was ready to accept basic parts of the Christian faith, so long as they did not contradict his own beliefs.

But it is important to remember that these verses about Christian beliefs do not necessarily indicate that Muhammad really convinced of all that is written in Sura Al Imran. It shows, rather, what Muhammad was willing to accept from the Christian doctrine to win Christians to Islam. Muhammad was an experienced Arabic merchant who was ready even to trade in opinions and beliefs. Thus, the record of the discussion in Medina should not be understood as an Islamic treatise of faith. Rather, it is a compromise that Muhammad offered the Christians to win them to Islam. He explained that he was ready to accept and believe certain names, attributes and miracles of Christ, if they, in turn, would accept Islam and surrender themselves to Allah and his prophet.

While this principle does not fit easily into the Christian way of thinking, when reading Sura Al Imran it is important to keep in mind that Muhammad hoped that the Christians would acknowledge him as the Arab prophet of Allah if he accepted Jesus as the word of God incarnate. It was a bargain in which Muhammad offered the Christians a high level of esteem, if they were willing to accept Islam.

No Muslim is allowed to compromise more than Muhammad compromised in his dialogue with these Christians. His statements even mark the limits for modern Christian-Muslim dialogue. Contemporary Muslims cannot go beyond the bounds of Muhammad’s recitation before Yemenite Christians in Medina. His recitations are considered to be revelations from Allah. and contains unchangeable truth.

The following study of Sura Al Imran was written to offer the reader a critical insight into the subjects discussed in this three-day dialogue.

Muhammad drew close to Christ and almost appeared to be a Christian. Christians can show the Muslims from the Qur’an what Muhammad seemed to accept from the Gospel. In this way a bridge could be built for them to the real Christ in the Bible. Christians can suggest that, if Muslims really believe what is written about Christ in the Qur’an, they should also believe what is written in the Torah and the Gospel. Muslims should be encouraged to proceed from the Qur’an to the fullness of the Gospel.

33. Allah has chosen (purified) Adam and Noah and the house of Abraham and the house of Imran above the worlds

34. (also) the seed from one another. Allah is the all-hearing and all-knowing (omniscient).

Muhammad indicated and confessed that there are people who have been chosen and purified by Allah as leaders, to be examples to the world. Who could these chosen people be? Muslims believe that al prophets and messengers (ambassadors) of Allah are chosen. First, Adam (and with him all mankind) is considered to be selected out of all creation. They are followed by Noah and his offspring after being rescued from the Flood. Later comes Abraham with the Jews and the Muslims because they are understood to be his personal descendants. Finally, Muhammad declared that the family of Imran was also chosen. Imran in the Qur’an is Amran in the Bible, the father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. Exodus 6:20.

And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. Numbers 26:59.

Every member of this clan was deemed to have received the gift of prophesy. Moses was the spiritual and political leader of the people of the Old Testament, with Aaron their high priest and Miriam their prophetess.

21. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

22. So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. Exodus 15:20,21.

1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

2. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.

3. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

4. And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

5. And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

6. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

8. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

10. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

11. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

12. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.

13. And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14. And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

15. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. Numbers 12:1-15.

These spiritual attributes sounded very special to Muhammad, so he concluded that this whole family must have been chosen.

Both names, “Miriam” in Hebrew and “Maryam” in Arabic can be rendered “Mary” in English. Muhammad confused Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Miriam, the sister of Aaron

"O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"
Sura Maryam 19:28. YUSUF ALI

And Mary the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her

He thought that the mother of Jesus was Aaron’s sister. He was convinced that Jesus was a descendant of Imran, a gifted prophet from a prophetic family. Muhammad did not realise that there was a gap of 1,350 years between the age of Moses and Jesus. Bedouins at that time, because of the mode of their language and their ways of thought, could not easily distinguish between different kinds of past tenses in language and periods of time. With them, all that was past was ended, whether a few days or many years ago! Because of this, 1,350 years did not seem to them a long period of time.

Muhammad was never able to read the bible for himself. As far as it is possible to tell today, not all of the Torah and the Gospel had been translated into Arabic during his lifetime. It is certain that he could not understand Hebrew or Greek. He admitted twice in the Qur’an that he was illiterate.

157. "Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper."

158. Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."

Sura al A’raf 7:157,158. YUSUF ALI

He had to rely on others to inform him orally about the many events in the Old Testament and the Gospel. He never had access to the real source of truth through a translated Biblical text or holy book in the original languages. He tried hard to find out from the Jews and the Christians what God had actually revealed to them.

The response he got was mixed. One person described an event one way, another person told him the same story in a different way.

But Muhammad did not want to hear personal ideas about the Biblical texts, he wanted to learn the revealed word of Allah, the literal truth as the manifested will of Allah. So he collected as much information as possible from the different sources and formed his own conclusions.

When Muhammad wrote that Adam, Noah, Abraham and Imran were chosen people, he reflected the consecutive covenants of the Old Testament. To Muhammad, these chosen men were the ambassadors of Allah to mankind, humanity’s spiritual and political leaders. In keeping with Semitic thought, he concluded that not only these men but also their offspring would participate in this privilege. He considered the Jews, Christians and Muslims to be the chosen people of Allah because they are described as the seed of Abraham and Imran.

They were not clean and worthy in themselves, they were chosen through divine predestination. The Arabic expression for the word chosen is derived from the root that means cleaning or cleansing. This people had to be cleansed for them to be chosen. Muhammad does not explain how and why they were cleansed but only states that fact.

The unique privilege for this chosen people is that Allah knows them and hears them. Allah is the omniscient one who controls everything and everybody. He guides whom he wants. If he has indeed chosen the forefathers of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, then he has selected their offspring, too, and hears their sincere prayers.

By these verses Muhammad implied that not only were the Muslims chosen people but also the Christians and the Jews. Thereby he furnishes the delegation from Wadi Nadjran with the basis for a religious discussion. He somehow let them appear equal to the Muslims so as to win them over to Islam, which in his opinion was the latest most developed religion.

35. Then the wife of Imran said, “My Lord truly I have vowed to you in dedication what is within my womb. Receive it from me. You are the all-hearing the all-knowing.”

36. When she gave birth to “her” she said, “My Lord I have given birth to a female!” Allah knew what she had given birth to, (because) the male is not like the female. And (truly) I have named her Maryam and commend her (really) to you, with her seed, to protect them from the cursed Satan.

37. Her Lord received the girl with gracious favor and let her grow up like a nice plant. Zechariah was taking the responsibility for her. Whenever Zachariah visited her in the prayer corner (mihrab) of the sanctuary he found her provisioned. “Mary,” he said, “How comes this to you?” “This comes from Allah,” she said, “Truly Allah provisions whoever he wants without reckoning.”

This passage in the Islamic version of the birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The people of Wadi Nadjran may have explained to Muhammad previously, in a similar form, what they believed about Mary. The claimed that she was innocent and holy from her first day and considered her birth a sinless one.

The wife of Imran, never mentioned in the Qur’an by name (in the Bible it is Jochebed ).

And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. Exodus 6:20.

And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. Numbers 26:59,

said to the Lord (verse 35), “My Lord, I have dedicated what is in my womb to you. You are the all-hearing and omniscient.” She did not pray to Allah because Muhammad understood that God’s most common name in the Old Testament was Yaweh and not Elohim (Allah). He granted that the Jews had a special relationship with God and acknowledged the covenant of Yahweh with them. Therefore the wife of Imran not only prayed, “Oh Lord,” she had the privilege to say “My Lord”. Even as a woman she had a personal relationship with the Lord of the covenant.

Qur’anic verses related to texts of the Torah often use “Lord” instead of Allah.

This points to the possibility that Muhammad may have heard that “Elohim” is mentioned only 2600 times while the name “Yahweh” is written 6,828 times in the books of the Old Testament. Muhammad confirmed the privilege, which the Jews had when they addressed Allah in a personal way as “our Lord”.

It is customary among some Christians in Middle Eastern countries that if a mother or a father becomes severely ill, they cry to Allah or Christ: “Heal and save me! I will dedicate my next child to you!” Parent sometimes promise Allah a child in order to receive his blessing or to reach certain goals. There are many monks and nuns in the orthodox monasteries and Catholic convents in the Middle East who were dedicated to God before birth. It no longer belonged to Imran or his wife but to the Lord.

The expression “House of Imran” carries additional in that it created hopes in Imran’s wife. Moses and Aaron were chosen messengers and servants of the Lord. Therefore their mother thought she was going to have a baby boy again.

She dedicated what was inside her womb to Allah for several reasons: she hoped that the child would be a boy: she hoped that the boy would become a important prophet: she hoped that he would be a fitting addition to the honor of the house of Imran and finally, that their pressing problem may be solved.

She waited and prayed according to the Qur’an and believed that Allah is “the all-knowing and all-Hearing” especially towards his chosen people. The two names, which she used for the Almighty are written in the list of the 99 most beautiful names of Allah and appear in the Qur’an 158 and 64 times, respectively. They correspond with the most basic attributes of Allah. More than 25 percent of the names in this list refer to Allah as the one who controls everything. He is in full control of all that is going on. No one can escape him. Allah also knew about the desire of the wife of Imran to bring a prophetic infant into the world. He had decided the child’s fate in advance. It was completely predestined. The mother was calling her Lord so that the child would be acceptable to him and filled with his gifts and his spirit even while it was still in her womb.

The next section points out a strange contradiction. The mother was crying (verse 36) “My Lord, (truly) I have given birth to a female!” When the girl was born her mother and father was sad. It was not a boy as they had hoped but “only” a girl. It was not to be a brilliant prophet in the line of Imran prophets but a lowly girl. The wife of Imran cried out to Allah in despair, “My Lord, what have you done to me!?” The cry of all woman expecting to have a boy and having a girl instead is echoed in the Qur’an in this cry of Mary’s mother.

Then follows an explanation that can be best understood from a Muslim point of view. “The male is not like the female.” This looks like a simple, primitive philosophy, which is obvious, but in the Islamic context it has a distinct legal meaning. A man has a greater value, at least twice that of a woman. In Islamic law the testimony of two women infront of the judge are equal to that of one man.

O ye who believe! When ye deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as Allah Has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear His Lord Allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If they party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable Himself to dictate, Let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. The witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (For evidence). Disdain not to reduce to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it be small or big: it is juster in the sight of Allah, More suitable as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves but if it be a transaction which ye carry out on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if ye reduce it not to writing. But take witness whenever ye make a commercial contract; and let neither scribe nor witness suffer harm. If ye do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. So fear Allah; For it is Good that teaches you. And Allah is well acquainted with all things. If ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose). And if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another, let the trustee (faithfully) discharge his trust, and let him Fear his Lord conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it, - his heart is tainted with sin. And Allah knoweth all that ye do.

A widow will only receive half as much of the inheritance as her own son receives.

Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in all cases ('s) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. These are settled portions ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Al-wise.
Sura al-Nisa 4:11. YUSUF ALI

This is because woman are considered to be worth half as much as a man, even a one year old boy. This shows that women’s esteem is devalued in Islam.

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).
Sura al-Nisa 4:3. YUSUF ALI.

Mary’s mother was lamenting that she had given birth to a lesser person. It was unimaginable that a woman could be a honored prophet in Islam. When the wife of Imran cried out in dispair she wanted to complain to Allah that her child was but a girl, yet Allah knew this already because he had a unique purpose for her. The new-born girl was named Maryam, or Mary in English. It is vital to remember that the name “Mary” is the only female name mentioned in the whole Qur’an. Other women are called “the wife of Imran” or “the wife of Pharaoh” as if they were the property of their respective husbands. No other woman is named in the Qur’an. The name Maryam appears 34 times whereas the name of Jesus (Isa) appears only 25 times. This suggests that Mary was more important to Muhammad than Jesus.

The name Mary (Maryam) also has a symbolic meaning. It represents the names of all other women in the Qur’an because it means “the bitter one.” Mary’s mother was bitter because she had given birth to a female knowing that girls are discarded and neglected in Muslim countries and sometimes hated for their gender. The plight of women in this world and the discrimination against them is concentrated in this name “the bitter one”. The only woman mentioned in the Qur’an carries an insulting name which represents the suffering of all women in the world.

But despite her disappointment the mother of Mary committed the infant to her Lord saying (verse 36), “I have named her Mary and have dedicated her to you with her seed to protect them from the accursed Satan.” The wife of Imran was, in Muhammad’s eyes, a believing, praying woman. Even though she had given birth to a girl she committed the child to her Lord so that he would protect and guide her all her life. It is significant that she not only dedicated Mary, but also her offspring, to the Lord of the Old Testament covenant, so that he will protect them by his authority and grace from all evil. With this Muhammad indirectly confessed the sinlessness of Christ and the special guidance and protection which he gave all of his followers.

The only two people that Islam considers to be born without sin is Mary and Jesus. According to Islamic tradition, when a child is born it cries because Satan has touched and infected it with sin (Muslim, Fadhail 149; Musnad II, 233).

Muslims disagree with the Christian understanding of original inherited sin.

They think that a baby is born free of sin and only after birth is tainted by Satan. Both Mary and Jesus are considered in Islam to be “signs of God: (ayatollahs) because, according to Islamic traditions, they were the only two babies that came into the world without crying (Al-Bukhari, Anbiya 44, Tafsir Al Imran). God had protected them from the normally inevitable infection with evil and sin. Some Muslims even confess that Mary and Jesus remained sinless until death.

This verse in Al Imran directly attributes a superior role to Mary and Jesus. Here we can see the influence on the Qur’an of the Christian sect from Wadi Nadjran, where both Mary and Jesus was considered to be divine. Jesus is believed to be the only sinless man in History, while in the Qur’an Muhammad had to ask for forgiveness of his sins three times.

Patiently, then, persevere: for the Promise of Allah is true: and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and celebrate the Praises of thy Lord in the evening and in the morning.

Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes.

According to the Qur’an and the Bible Jesus never had to ask for forgiveness of His sins. Some Islamic traditions confirms that Christ was the only “messenger” who never sinned (Al-Bukhari, Tawhid 19; Musnad 1,281).

Muslims believe that Mary and Jesus were protected from Satan during their lifetimes and lived without sin. Satan is called the enemy of Allah and is often given the adjective “the accursed one” or “the stoned one” or “the one who is rejected.” Satan’s name (al-Shaitan or Shaitan) is mentioned about seventy times in the Qur’an, more than in the Old or New Testament. This means that the reality of Satan is greater for Muslims than it is for Jews or Christians. Some Muslims fear and curse Satan daily. Their curses are often not only theological topics or mere discussions but spells on specific people.

Curses can have real power and force. Such expressions are mentioned repeatedly in the Qur’an. The place of Satan in the Muslim psyche and folklore should not be ignored. When Muslims through stones at a certain pillar near Mecca during their pilgrimage they are symbolically warding off Satan.

According to Sura al-Najm 53:20-23 Satan himself whispered words into Muhammad’s heart, which were later called “the satanic verses”.

23.These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord!

These verses declare that Allah had a wife, al-Lat, and two daughters, Manat and al-Uzza. For a while, before renouncing these verses as whispered in his heart by the devil, Muhammad tolerated and supported polytheism. Since the admission to more than one God contradicts Allah as the supreme ruler Muhammad later repented and rejected these satanic verses in Sura al-Hajj 22:52,53 and confessed that it was the devil that whispered them into his heart.

52. Never did We send a messenger or a prophet before thee, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but Allah will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in, and Allah will confirm (and establish) His Signs: for Allah is full of Knowledge and Wisdom:

53. That He may make the suggestions thrown in by Satan, but a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease and who are hardened of heart: verily the wrong-doers are in a schism far (from the Truth):

Muhammad said as an excuse that all prophets are tempted and sometimes inspired by the devil. This shows that Muhammad was not always able to distinguish between the words of Satan and those of Allah, and that Satan had direct contact with Muhammad exercising the right to tempt him and have power over him. The prophet of the Arabs was not always able to distinguish between God’s voice and Satan’s. He was sometimes unsure of the revelations received .

37. Her Lord received the child with gracious favour and by his goodness she grew up like a nice plant.

The reference to “her Lord,” not simply to “the Lord” or “to Allah”, points to the fact that the underprivileged girl had actually been chosen by the Lord to live in his covenant. She was granted a special relationship to “Yahweh, her Lord”. She was given to him before she was born, so she belonged to Him.

Her Lord gave her his grace, helped her to grow up and protected her in his garden like a beautiful plant. Mary is considered to have been a fair and gracious girl under the watchful eyes of her Lord. She was able to grow protected for her purpose to bear unique fruit in her time.

The next verses perplexes us again, but it was essential for Muhammad that Zachariah took charge of her. Zechariah was mistakenly named the guardian or stepfather of Mary. Muhammad implied that Zechariah had adopted her. Muhammad may have heard of the special relationship which existed between the family of Mary and the family of Zechariah. Mary had taken refuge in Zechariah’s house, with Elizabeth, when she was pregnant as an unmarried yet engaged girl.

39. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

41. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44. For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

45. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Luke 1:39-45.

Muhammad misunderstood this information and produced Arabic Bedouin poetry asserting that it was impossible for her to have gone into the house of Zechariah without a legal relationship between their families. Otherwise this action would have been dubious to Muslims. They would have wondered what he was going to do with her. However, when it is explained that Zechariah was her guardian and that he adopted her after her father Imran died, the relationship was considered legal.

Mary is portrayed in the Qur’an as a faithful Muslim believer. She regularly went into the sanctuary of the mosque (or temple) to pray. She lived there day and night and did not leave the holy place. She prayed facing in the right direction in the prayer corner. This beautifully designed corner in every mosque in which Muslims pray towards Mecca is called the mihrab.

Allah sent Mary provisions because she always prayed facing in the right direction. She received food from divine servants in the sanctuary. Muslims think that when they pray , they will receive material blessings, like money and food. Without prayer they would starve an even lose battles. Early in the morning the muezzin cries, “Come to prayer, come to success!” A Muslim hopes to be justified and blessed in this world and rewarded with paradise in the next because of his religious activity and good deeds. This self righteousness was demonstrated in the life of Mary. She prayed and the Lord sent his servants from paradise with all she needed for her daily food. She is considered to be the model for all Muslim women. A Muslim mother thinks that if she prays regularly, her family will be provided with all they need. Mary was described by Muhammad as an Old Testament believer with a Muslim understanding of prayer.

But Zechariah tired of what was happening. Everytime when he came to the sanctuary to bring Mary food he realized that someone already brought what the girl needed.

So he asked her how she had got the food. Zechariah presumed that Mary was perhaps visited by a young man who met her in the temple and brought her food. But Mary only answered him, “This comes from Allah.”

Muhammad closed this amazing story of Mary’s provisions with her conclusion (verse 37), “Truly Allah provideth whomsoever he wants without reckoning or without measure.” Even an unmarried girl called “the bitter one” can be chosen by Allah to be blessed and wonderfully cared for. These gifts will continue as long as she prays constantly. Nor can only the rich, clever, famous or mighty men be chosen and blessed, but also a neglected Muslim woman when she prays in the Islamic manner and spirit.

The existence of this story in the Qur’an represents the fact that Muhammad was aware of Marian traditions in the Eastern Orthodox churches. He had somehow accepted their thoughts and repeated them in a Qur’anic way in order to win the Christians for Islam.

Muslims feel closer to Orthodox and Catholic Christians than to the Protestants because of their belief in Mary and their idea of justification by good deeds rather than by grace alone.

These verses deal with the birth of John the Baptist, called Yahya in the Qur’an. When Zachariah saw that Mary always received food in the place of worship as a reward for her prayers he could have said to himself, “It would be good for me to also have such a blessed son.”

So in verse 38, Zechariah prayed in addition to the five obligatory prayer times and asked “his Lord” for a boy, so that he would no longer be obliged to work for food and clothing. He came to the conclusion that he would receive food from Allah as long as his son prayed. This shows the reason certain religious activities are often undertaken in Islam, with the hope of material gain as the actual goal. Service is seldom offered unless something is expected in return and there is some concrete reward. Muhammad was a smart merchant. He did not act out of charity; his personal worldview demanded that nothing should be given unless it is paid for. Those who work will get a salary, those who do not work will not eat. Muhammad stated in Sura Fatir 35:29,30 that religion is a business which is not in vain, and that Allah will pay wages to accord with a Muslim’s good deeds.

29. Those who rehearse the Book of Allah, establish regular Prayer, and spend (in Charity) out of what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for a commerce that will never fail:

30. For He will pay them their meed, nay, He will give them (even) more out of His Bounty: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (service).
Sura Fatir 35:29,30 Yusuf Ali.

This is a different perspective to that found in the Gospels. We have to understand this mentality when we approach Muslims. There as seldom generous services and offerings given without expectation of certain reward.

The expectation is normally an equal payment or a needed blessing for he service, as in business. If one serves his Lord the Lord has to bless him and he should receive concrete practical results. Even some Christians act in a similar way. In Islam this is the basic understanding of all services performed for Allah and it even relates to entry into paradise. If you build a mosque on earth, you are provided with a castle in paradise. “The good deeds drive away the bad deeds”

And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: For those things, that are good remove those that are evil: Be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord):
Sura Hud 111:114. Yusuf Ali.

On the day of judgment Allah will bring forth big scales to weigh the good against the bad deeds and thus decide everyone’s fate. These concepts of Islam are explained in mercantile terminology. To some extent Allah is thought to be a merchant.

We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account.
Sura al-Anbiya 21:47. Yusuf Aki. Yusuf Ali.

It is Allah Who has sent down the Book in Truth, and the Balance (by which to weigh conduct). And what will make thee realise that perhaps the Hour is close at hand?
Sura al-Shura 42:17. Yusuf Ali.

And the Firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the Balance (of Justice),
Sura al-Rahman 55:7. Yusuf Ali.

We sent aforetime our messengers with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His messengers: For Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will).

8. The balance that day will be true (to nicety): those whose scale (of good) will be heavy, will prosper:

9. Those whose scale will be light, will be their souls in perdition, for that they wrongfully treated Our

Zechariah according to Muhammad, responded to this understanding. Mary prayed and then received food. Zechariah decided to pray as well, not only to receive food, because then he would have to pray several times a day like Mary. He prayed for a good son.

He wanted to receive a boy who would pray for him so that he and the whole family would get everything free. In the Qur’an, Zechariah was a servant of his Lord and expected concrete benefits for his service. He hoped to be abundantly blessed.

In verse 38 a special kind of prayer is mentioned which is called al-du’a. There are two kinds of prayer in Islam, al-salat and al-du’a. The fist al-salat, is a liturgical, prescribed prayer which a Muslim has to pray five times a day. During these five prayer times he repeats the same liturgy up to seventeen times altogether. There is a certain sequence of washing, words and actions which must be repeated each time. During each one of these prayer rounds (rak’a) a Muslim must prostrate himself twice until his head touches the ground. This means that he prostrates to Allah up to 34 times a day. This prostration of a Muslim is the outward manifestation of Islam. The word “Islam” means surrendering and submitting to Allah. Islam not only means a spiritual deliverance to Allah, but also in reality, that Muslims should submit to whatever political force rules over their country in the name of Allah. When a Muslim confesses, “La Ilaha Illa Allah. Muuhammad rasul Allah,” he is proclaiming a allegiance to Allah and at the same time to his messenger in a religious and political sense.

If a Christian has delivered himself once to Jesus, this means once and for all. In contrast to this a Muslim must declare his submission to Allah up to 34 times per day. He is no longer a free person, but a slave of Allah, an abd-Allah. If a Muslim leaves Islam he must be killed. This does not apply to women. They will be flogged until they submit or they will be locked in a room and get nothing to eat or drink. Muslims have to remain slaves to Allah as long as they live.

Christians cannot pray these Muslim prayers because they are not slaves to Allah. They are free children of God. Their prayers differ fundamentally since they do not pray to Allah to receive rewards or wages for their services. Instead they are His children. All that exists He has provided for them.

His children have already received all possible blessings in the heavenly places through Jesus Christ.

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Romans 8:33.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3.

The prayer of the Muslim is radically different. He must fall prostrate to Allah 34 times a day and constantly acknowledge that he is a slave and the property of Allah. Christians believe that they are children of God and are allowed to speak freely with their father in heaven. They can talk to him honestly and openly everywhere.

The second kind of prayer in Islam is the individual call (al-du’a). This prayer is uttered according to what a Muslim feels in his heart and mind. It is a call to the unknown God and a cry to the Lord of the universe. Muslims do not have personal contact to their great Allah. They do not really know who he is and what he stands for. They address him with their prayer-calls like a slave murmurs his request to his master passing by. He can answer him if he wants (Sura al-Baqara 2:186), but his master is not even obliged to listen to his cry. Both the official prayer and the spontaneous are guarantied a answer. Allah is greater!

After Zechariah’s supplication, his humble prayer request asking for godly offspring, he received a special revelation. For a Muslim the fact that Zechariah was honoured with a revelation means that he is a prophet. We read in the Qur’an that several angels, not just one as the Bible states, appeared to him while he was completing the official prayer round, standing in the “mihrab” facing in the right direction. The fact that there was no “mihrab” at that time is of no concern to Muslims. In their mind there must have been one.

5. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

8. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

9. According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

11. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

13. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

16. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

17. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Where by shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

19. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

20. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21. And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

23. And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

24. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

25. Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. Luke 1:5-25.

Zechariah was met by only one angel while burning incense and performing his priestly services in the temple. But the Qur’an claims that different angels spoke to him while he was praying in the right direction like a good Muslim. By this Muhammad wanted to say that if he had faced in another direction, he would not have received an answer. After he had bowed down as a good Muslim prostrating to Allah, several angels appeared to him saying, “Truly Allah gives you good news.” The Arabic word yubashshiruka would mean in the New Testament “God evangelizes you and gives you good tidings.” The contents of this revelation was the name Yahya which means “the lively one who is full of life and power”.

The following expression is a astonishing confession confirmed and explained by several Muslim scholars. The Qur’an confirms that Yahya was sent to prepare the way for Jesus by confirming that he is “the Word of God incarnate.” The Qur’anic text implies that John the Baptist was sent to make others believe that Jesus is the Word of God, in person and to alert them to His coming.

This is one of the six occasions in the Qur’an when Jesus is called the Word of God.

While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: "Allah doth give thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a Word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a prophet,- of the (goodly) company of the righteous."

Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;

Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say ye: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will).

Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.

Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
Sura al-A’raf 7:158. Yusuf Ali.

How wonderful that the Qur’an states that John came to prepare the way for Christ. In reality Jesus was not only “the Word of God” but also the “Lamb of God,” as the substitute offering for mankind. This essential fact is denied by Muslims. In Islam Jesus can be referred to as the Word of God but never the Lamb of God. There is no substitute , no redemption and no forgiveness of sin by grace alone in Islam.

Muslims hope that Allah, like a great sultan, may grant a condemned sinner entry into paradise by his generous kindness. But not on the legal right of grace, rather only by his arbitrary mercy. Everyone has to work for his own fate. Therefore, according to Muhammad, Yahya could not proclaim the Lamb of God but only his incarnate Word. Nevertheless Muhammad accepted that Yahya had prepared the way for God’s incarnate Word.

It is probable that Muhammad had confused John the Baptist with John the evangelist, hearing verses from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John from the Christian delegation of Wadi Nadjran. It was the evangelist who revealed Christ as the Word of God in the prologue to his Gospel,

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:1-14

29. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

36. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:29,36.

Yahya was also described as a ruling lord, chaste and fasting in the desert. He was called a prophet and one of the Good Ones. Even Muhammad considered him to be more than a prophet, he also saw in him a politician. In Islam prophethood is sometimes connected with political office. According to Muhammad, John not only confirmed Jesus as the Word of God but also considered Him to be a ruler in the name of Allah and politically responsible for His people. Muhammad confirmed that Yahya personally led a simple life and did not live in luxury but often fasted and prayed.

He is called a prophet from the Good Ones. Mainly in folk Islam, Muslims believe that there are several hundred thousand prophets and that all of them must be good. In a Muslims opinion they cannot be bad because the Word of God has come through a clean vessel. So, even if they have sinned they are still considered to be good, otherwise the words they reveal cannot be good.

Likewise Muhammad is thought of as being good even though he sinned and killed. John the Baptist is also called a Good One.

The same expression was used for him as in the story of the rich young man in the Gospel who called Jesus “good master” and whom Jesus answered, “no is good except God.”

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:16-26.

15. And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

16. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Luke 18:15-17.

This Biblical concept of goodness is not understood in Islam because Muslims do not comprehend that we are all lost sinners and that there is no one good except God.

24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Romans 3:23-27.

They do not know God, therefore they do not know themselves. The Holy One is not their standard of judgment.

Following the angels’ great promise in verse 39 Zechariah could not believe the good news at first. “My Lord”, he called out, “How shall I have a son? I am an old man and my wife is barren.” This is close to the Biblical story of Zechariah doubting the promise of the Lord.

Zechariah was of advanced age and his wife was “barren”. This is close to the Biblical story of Zechariah doubting the promise of the Lord. Zechariah was of advanced age and his wife was barren. Muhammad accepted this story from the New Testament. He had pity on Zechariah because he also had no son. Muhammad’s son died young, so he too was without a heir. The call and doubts of Zechariah were in the heart of Muhammad as well.

The divine reply given in the Qur’an was simple. The angel answered, “No discussion! No questions! Allah will do what he wants!” This is one of several places in the Qur’an which show the actual spirit of Allah. When Allah decrees a thing he will do it. Man is only a puppet. There is no real free will in Islam. Allah’s answer to the supplicant is, “Don’t say any more! I have decided so I will execute it!” There is no room for explanation, understanding or acceptance; there isn’t even any need for it. The Muslim is only Allah’s slave, not his son. When Allah says that a child will be born.

It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.
Sura Maryam 19:35. Yusuf Ali.

Men have no control. Everything is predestined. A Muslim is not allowed to be his own active and responsible representative. He remains a passive frightened slave always fearing Allah’s vengeance.

“My Lord,” said the doubting Zechariah in verse 40, “appoint to me a sign!” Zechariah did not yet fully submit to the impossible at this point and asked for proof, in spite of the revelation in which the angels spoke about Allah’s decision. Again, he used the term “my Lord” as it was written in the Old Testament and not the Qur’anic expression Allah.

The answer that Zechariah received was, “Your sign will be that you will not be able to speak, only by tokens, to men for three days, and mention your Lord often and praise him at evening and dawn.” Here is many of the obvious differences to the original text in the New Testament, where we read that Zechariah had to stay under this punishment for nine long months. Muhammad, on the other hand, silenced him for only three days. Since Zechariah was considered to be one of the Good Ones, Muhammad could not believe that Allah would punish him for nine long months. If this was true and Allah did punish Zechariah for so long, he could also have punished Muhammad. When he was not obedient or when in doubt. Therefore Muhammad lessened the duration of the punishment and transformed it into a privilege saying,, “Praise your Lord in the morning and the evening. You will receive a son even when you did not really believe it!” Muhammad changed the nine months of punishment into three days of meditation and thanksgiving. He wanted to show that it was not possible for a good prophet to be punished so severely by Allah. This is a typical quotation from the Bible which has been altered to reflect the Qur’anic understanding. Muhammad basically accepted the historical truth, but twisted it until it fitted into his own religious logic and personal feelings.

He wanted to please the Christian delegation and reassure himself and his followers. This shows a anti-Biblical spirit that changed the historical facts to fit the local needs and culture. This alteration of the actual events underlines that Muhammad was not a prophet of truth, rather he just developed his own opinions.

These Qur’anic verses are the Islamic response to the annunciation of the birth of the baby Jesus to Mary in Nazareth, originally written in the Bible in:

18. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

19. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

20. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21. And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

22. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

23. And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

24. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

25. Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

26. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:16-38.

Here we find another occasion where Muhammad accepted historical facts and basic Christian doctrine but altered them to suit his own way of thinking. He duped them in order to win the delegates of Wadi Nadjran for Islam and to please his own Muslim people in Medina at the same time.

Muhammad claimed again, in verse 42, that more than one angel appeared to Mary and not Gabriel alone. This is another of many mistakes in the Qur’an. The angels informed Mary that she had been chosen by Allah. They spoke to her saying, “Oh Mary, truly Allah has chosen you and purified you above the women in the worlds.”

Mary was considered by Muslims to be the only woman chosen of all women in all ages. She was not only chosen but also purified by Allah. Muslims do not consider her to be a sinner or that she has inherited sin from her forefathers. But they think that she needed to be purified by Allah anyway to be appointed a prophetess.

Muhammad esteemed Mary as the highest of all women mentioned in the Qur’an. She is understood to be the unique one of all women in heaven and on earth.

Here we may realize why the Catholic and Orthodox churches are theologically nearer to the Muslims than the Protestants. The amount of adoration given to Mary in the Catholic and Orthodox churches and the honour given her in Islam is astonishingly high.

However, after Muhammad had made her respectable and similar to the way some Christians adore her, he quickly humbled her and made her a good Muslim as well. Muhammad portrayed her as if she was joining a traditional line of Muslim ladies prostrating themselves to Allah during one of the five daily prayer times. This was typical of the way which Muhammad formulated his message to the Christians. On one hand, he allowed them to hear what they wanted to hear, admitting that Mary was the best of all women. On the other hand, he shaped her according to the Muslim society to which he belonged. This is the ploy that Muhammad often used in his bargaining, in order to win the Christians to Islam. He accepted some of their understanding, honoured their respect for Mary and encouraged them to believe that Muslims and Christians have much in common.

In verse 43, however, he not only introduced Mary as the supreme woman in all generations but made her an imam standing infront of all Muslim ladies to lead them in their formal prayer.

Verse 44 is an interruption and can be considered to be a special instruction for Muhammad from the angel Gabriel (maybe an answer to a certain question) about how Zechariah came to the guardianship. Mary may have brought heavenly food that was left over to her family at their home so that everyone wanted to be her guardian. They ended up casting quills in an old heathen way. This practice has been used before the idols in Mecca before Islam. They used it because they hoped to find out who the right one was, through the guidance of the spirits and gods. Muhammad agreed and confirmed this procedure, which he had previously used himself in front of the old gods of Mecca. He admitted this occult custom to Islam.

Verse 45 is one of the outstanding verses in the Qur’an for every Christian dealing with Muslims. In this unique verse Muhammad summed up 6 of the 21 names and attributes mentioned in the Qur’an about Jesus Christ. He revealed what he could tolerate about Jesus before the Christian listeners, offering his opinions as a base and key for constructive discussion with Muslims. Christians should learn it by heart and, if possible, in Arabic.

These words are considered to be a revelation and promise from Allah through his angels about who Jesus would be. These expressions set the frame and limit of all that Muslims are allowed to believe about Jesus. These six terms outline what Muslims can accept and tolerate about the Son of Mary.

According to Muhammad Allah addressed Mary personally through a group of angels, not through a man or a prophet or a soothsayer. Mary is therefore considered by Muslims to be the only prophetess who had direct contact with Allah. She carries nearly the same status as Muhammad and even higher in some respects. Sura 19 carries her own name, “Sura Maryam”, as a theme and title and promotes her to the status of Ayatollah, which means a sign or miracle of Allah.

Verse 45 is introduced by a tantalizing line, “Allah gives you good tidings”, which can be read and understood in Arabic to mean that Allah had personally “evangelized” her. This indicates that, in Islam, Allah was the first evangelist! If Muslims are angry with Christians for their evangelistic efforts the latter should point out that they are only following Allah’s example. He was the first one who gave Mary the good tidings. We should not be silent or hide what Allah has personally revealed in the Qur’an.

In Arabic this verse says, “Allah evangelizes you with a word of him.” This expression highlights on of the names of Jesus in the Qur’an, because “A Word of him” signifies a person, not only “a Word”.

It implements the incarnation of the Word of God in Jesus. The majority of Muslim scholars agree that this “Word” is not one spoken or heard as a sound but that it is a person.

This is one of the four verses in the Qur’an where Jesus is called the Word of God incarnate. Muhammad may have heard the message from the Gospel according to John chapter 1:1-14. He liked this expression but did not fully understand it. In the Gospel according to John it is written “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory”. Muhammad omitted “His glory” from this verse but accepted and believed that Jesus is the word of Allah incarnate.

According to Islam Abraham was a close friend of Allah (khalil Allah) Moses was Allah’s spokesman (kalim Allah). David was inspired with divine poetry and spiritual song (al-zabur). Solomon was inspired by Allah’s wisdom so that he could understand even the language of the birds (Sura al-Naml 27:16) and Zechariah personally received good news from Allah.

And Solomon was David's heir. He said: "O ye people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and on us has been bestowed (a little) of all things: this is indeed Grace manifest (from Allah.)"

All these prophets were inspired by the word of God and spoke it more or less faithfully, except Jesus. He not only heard the word of God, He was it. All prophets heard the word of God and proclaimed it, but they did not follow it completely. There was a difference in what they said and how they lived. But there was no conflict between the message of Jesus and his life. He fulfilled the word that he preached through the witness of his life. He was sinless in himself.

He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.

The expression that Christ is a Word of God points us to his divine nature. All the authority and the power of the Word of God dwelt in Jesus. The creating power of the Word of God, the healing capability, the authority to forgive sins, the comforting spirit and the renewing power all dwelt in Jesus. In him the will of God appeared in bodily form. He not only spoke the word entrusted to him, he lived it and indeed was it. Muslims can comprehend this reality according to the Qur’an - if they want! Sura Maryam 19:19 clearly states that Jesus is Holy.

In Islam the revelation to Muhammad became a book. In Christianity the revelation of God became a living person! The Christians believe that the will of God, his power and authority became flesh in Jesus. Some Muslims in India, Pakistan and Middle East request Christians to pray for them that Christ may heal them, believing that he is the healing Word of God. They think that God himself acts in his Word and that God is His Word.

Muslim scholars after Muhammad grasped this overwhelming reality and made every effort to break up this term. They claimed that the Word of God in Christ was “created”, that it was neither “born” nor did it emerge directly from God. They claimed instead that the Qur’an is the real presence of Allah but Jesus was only created not born. They tried to bring Jesus down to the level of all creation with their arguments, that his divine glory shining even in the Qur’an should be covered and hidden.

The second name of Jesus in the Qur’an is “Christ, the Messiah” (al-Masih). While the expression “Word of God” appears five times, the word Christ (al-Masih) appears eleven times. It is derived from the Arabic word “masaha” which means to anoint, to clean or to wipe. The word Christ or al Masih in Arabic actually means “the Anointed One”. It contains the full meaning of Jesus’ title. However Muslims and many Christians think that this is just a name. They do not know what it really means. We should remember how Jesus introduced himself as the “Anointed One” when he read aloud in the synagogue in Nazareth,

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me, to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” Isaiah 61:1,2.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'' Luke 4: 18,19.

This is the very verse in the New Testament through which Jesus revealed the meaning of his own title. Jesus is the “Anointed One”. We should make the distinction that “Christ” is not his name but his title. It describes his task and authority. In the Old Testament there were many kings, prophets and priests anointed with holy oil to receive the power of God and authority from him to fulfill their calling. Christians in addition confess that Jesus is the king of kings, the eternal high priest and the Word of God incarnate. The fullness of the divine authority dwells in him. All authority in heaven and earth is given to him.

18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18.

Muslims do not know or understand this spiritual reality. They use this title, but they have emptied it of content. This is an example of Muhammad’s cunning. He used a term but emptied it and replaced its original content with Islamic meaning.

The name Isa (Jesus) in verse 45 appears 25 times in the Qur’an. The exact meaning of Isa in the Qur’an is not Jesus. The name Jesus already existed in the Arabic on the day of Pentecost. It is pronounced Yeshua. In Hebrew the name is Yeshua or Joshua. Muhammad confused the Arabic name for Jesus by putting the first letter of the original name at the end and the last letter in the front. There are a variety of explanations why Muhammad named Jesus Isa. The name Isa was most probably derived from the Syrian pronunciation of the Greek name Jesus. Others say his name was changed to rhyme with Musa. Some scholars even claim that exchanging the first and last letters of a name indicates a spell or curse on this person. No one knows for certain why the name of all names was changed in Islam.

Isa in Arabic sounds more like Esau the brother of Jacob. Therefore, Muslims neither know Christ’s real name nor comprehend its meaning and power because the personal name of Christ was emptied and changed by Muhammad.

In Matthew chapter 1:21 and also in Luke 1:31 the angel Gabriel explained, “His name shall be Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” The literal meaning of Jesus is “He helps”, “He saves.” This divine description assures us and gives us great comfort that Jesus has already saved and is saving his followers from all their sins. What a wonder.

It reveals the divine program of salvation in the New Testament. The whole plan of salvation is hidden in the name of Jesus, at which Satan trembles. Therefore he twisted it in the Qur’an to Isa. Muslims don’t realize that Jesus has saved them on the cross from all their sins because his name, as it is written in the Qur’an, is twisted. So they reject and ignore their only saviour. The title “Son of Mary” is found 23 times in the Qur’an. Jesus may be called the Son of Mary in the Qur’an but never the Son of God. The former is mainly understood to be a disgrace in the Middle East. If a son is named according to his mother, it means his father is not known.

Muhammad wanted to justify Mary in Sura Al Imran and in Sura Maryam to make it clear that Jesus was not an illegitimate child but a unique son born of a virgin. This means that all faithful Muslims should believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. She had not had relations with a husband nor had she been raped. She conceived Christ spiritually, solely by the Word of God and his Spirit.

The beliefs of the Muslims on this topic are close to the Christian understanding but with one minor difference. They say that Jesus was “created” in Mary by the Word of God. But Christians confess that he was “born” in her. The difference may appear to the majority of Muslims and Christians as a trivial war of words. They claim that “created” could mean something similar to “born”. But it makes a huge difference if we consider the spiritual meaning.

In order to understand the source and the spiritual consequences of these two words we need to look at the historical background of the conflict surrounding them. Two influential men lived in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 AD, a preaching elder named Arius and a monk named Athanasius.

Arius was a philosopher and thought that Jesus was created by the word of God in Mary, born in Bethlehem, baptized by the Holy Spirit in the river Jordan and developed to the full status of Son of God by enlightenment, knowledge and obedience. Arius also confessed that Jesus died on the cross, was buried and resurrected on the third day from his grave and ascended to the right hand of God his heavenly father.

Athanasius did not agree with this philosophy and said that the teaching of Arius was blasphemy. If Jesus was created, he would have a beginning and not be the everlasting God. He would be created like the angels and demons. Athanasius believed and promoted the belief that Christ emerged from his father before all time as a word emerges from a person’s mouth. He is everlasting God from everlasting God. His birth in Bethlehem was merely is incarnation but not his beginning. Jesus existed long before his birth because he is the everlasting God.

These two different beliefs started a heated conflict, which weakened the churches in the Mediterranean area. The theologians fought bitterly among themselves for more than 300 years to find an answer to the question of the nature of Jesus. The result was a divided church. Muhammad may have heard rumours of this conflict and accepted some of the ideas transmitted by the followers of Arius.

Constantine the Great of the Byzantine Empire, needed to have a united church for his government. He called together the Christian leaders, patriarchs, bishops and monks, 318 of them, and ordered them to meet in Nicaea in 325 AD to discuss and decide on a unifying concept for the nature of Jesus. Finally the Nicene Creed was drafted and agreed upon. This creed was drafted and accepted by all Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches as the common denominator of their faith. In this creed we confess that Christ is, God from God, Light from Light, real God from real God, begotten (born) and not created, in one essence with the Father”. The Muslims have altered these two words and claim that Jesus was created and never begotten.

If Christ was created, then God was only his creator and Jesus his slave and property. But as long as Christ was begotten, God is his father and Christ is the Son of God. Christ shared his privilege with his followers who now have the right to be children of their heavenly Father and not slaves of God. The entire salvation of mankind is based on these two words “born and not created”. Muslims call Jesus only the Son of Mary, but we call him the Son of God. The Biblical resolution of this problem can be found in the first epistle of 1 John chapter 2:21-24 and in chapter 4:1-4:

“I have not written to you because you do not know the truth but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

Whoever denies the Son does not have the father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming and is now already in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

In verse 45 of the Sura, Muhammad tried to show the Christian delegation of Wadi Nadjran, despite his wily denial of the divinity of Jesus, that he also believed in Christ. He confessed in the following words that Christ would be highly honoured in this world and the next and that he would be one of those brought near to Allah.

Literally translated from Arabic the first expression means that Jesus appears as “one who has a big face.” During election time the faces of the candidates can be seen on large posters in the streets. No one can pass without seeing them. So, according to the Qur’an, no one can walk through this life or enter heaven without facing Jesus. In Islam He is one of the most important personalities in this world and the next.

However, for the Muslims, Jesus is not the only way, the divine truth and eternal life. He is considered in Islam to be one of the many ways of God, as a part of the whole truth. Muslims believe that he is alive in heaven today as Abraham and Moses are. Muhammad praised Jesus greatly before the delegation from Wadi Nadjran but he did not speak the whole truth. According to the Bible Jesus is the only way, the full truth and everlasting life. Jesus said,

He is seated at the right hand of his Father and pours out His Spirit on everyone who faithfully accepts the free justification, which Jesus completed by his death.

According to the Qur’an Jesus is alive, unlike other men’s souls waiting for the day of Judgment. He is already living the everlasting life. In the Qur’an Christ did not vanish or die when he was brought near to Allah. The rays of God’s holiness did not kill him because he was sinless. Muhammad presented Jesus in this way so that the Christians would be astonished to see what Muslims can believe about Christ.

In their view he is not only alive in the third heaven but also brought near to Allah personally. He is not waiting in the lower levels of the heavens like Adam, Moses and Abraham until they can approach and see God. Jesus is already near the Almighty like the cherubim and the seraphim.

Muhammad allowed Christ to be drawn closer to Allah than anyone else but not literally seated at his right hand.

This does imply that Christ is considered to be faultless and Holy in the Qur’an because he could be brought near to the throne of Allah. However Muslims neither accept that he is seated on the throne of God nor at the right hand of his Father. It was impossible for Muhammad to confess or admit the deity of Christ. So he only let him come very near to the Almighty but never let him be seated with him on his throne.

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Revelation 7:17.

He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.

Again the anti-Christian spirit appears, confessing and twisting the truth at the same time.

The sultans in the Ottoman Empire had fantastic golden thrones inlaid with precious stones. They were wide chairs, a kind of sofa, where two or three people could easily sit. The sultans invited privileged and honoured people to sit with them on their throne.

The Bible states that Jesus is seated at the right hand of his Father on the divine throne.

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1.

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? Matthew 22:44.

This is what Muhammad could not tolerate. He let him come near but not participate in the authority and glory of his Father. So Christ is considered by Muslims to be the second greatest person in world history, Muhammad being the first, not only in the past or in the present but also in the future.

“He shall speak to men in the cradle and as an adult and he shall be of the Good Ones.”

Muslims believe that Christ talked as a baby. Sura Maryam 19:23-33 states that Jesus could utter complete sentences the minute he was born. He did not need to learn how to speak because his mind was fully developed when he was born.

23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"

24. But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;

25. "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.

26. "So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'"

27. At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!

28. "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"

29. But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

30. He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;

31. "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;

32. "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;

33. "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!

Sura Maryam 19:23-33. Yusuf Ali.

Why do the Muslims believe that the baby Jesus could speak from birth? They think that he was the incarnate word of God! He appeared like a volcano, full of God’s word, spouting truth and wisdom abundantly from the minute he was born. He began his life by speaking and continuing to speak until today. Every word he pronounced was a revelation of God’s commands and promises.

This amazing tale about Jesus talking when he was a baby goes back to an apocryphal story from Syrian Christians, printed in the forged gospel of James (F13), also in the false, unacknowledged second gospel of Matthew (F19-20) and in the Nasrani gospel of the childhood of Jesus. Muhammad had heard this story from Christian slaves in Mecca. He couldn’t distinguish folk-tales from true revelation. This shows that he was not a prophet. The Christian patriarchs did not accept this fantastic story because they knew it was not true.

Mary, the mother of Jesus did not confirm this tale when Luke, the Greek doctor, visited her and investigated the details surrounding the birth of Jesus.

However Muhammad considered this story to be possible. He may not have believed it whole- heartedly, but he told it to impress the Christian leaders from Nadjran in order to draw them nearer to Islam. He wanted to convince them that he believed what they believed.

Muhammad also confessed to them that Christ is one of the Good Ones. He used the same expression that is used in the Bible to describe God when it states that no one is good except God

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:17.

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Mark 10:18.

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Luke 18:19.

But all the five hundred thousand and more prophets in Islam are called good because Muslims think that a good message could only come from a good source. They consider Jesus to be a good man. They have no negative ideas about him. They love Jesus, they honour him but they never confess that Jesus is divine. Anyone that says that Jesus is the only Good One, who is good as God is good, can no longer be a Muslim. They can agree that Jesus was brought very near to God. They call him one of the best messengers of God, but they would never agree that he is divine.

In verse 47 Mary responded with deep reservation to the revelation of the angel saying, “My Lord, how shall I have a son when no man touched me?” We should understand that this verse is not considered to be a direct word from Mary or the personal opinion that Muhammad recorded in the Qur’an, but a divine revelation from Allah. Muslims think that Allah sent the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, 600 years after the annunciation of the birth of Christ to Mary in Nazareth, to confirm that no man had touched Mary. Muhammad tried to justify Mary in Sura Maryam 19:16-33 and Sura Al Imran 3:36. Muslims except that Mary was a virgin, a girl of 12 to 16 years old on the basis of this Qur’anic revelation. No one had touched her and no rape had taken place. She kept herself clean from all temptation. She was a praying, pious girl not leaving the place of worship except when the angel Gabriel met her (Sura Maryam 19:16-17). Muslims marvel at Mary and consider her a miracle of Allah, a sinless prophetess.

In the Qur’an the angels answered the critical reply Mary gave with a harsh statement. They told her that the creation of Christ in her is easy for Allah. When he decides something, he commands that it will be and it is. There is no room for man’s free will in Islam. Mary was not asked to accept or even believe the angel’s message. The will of Allah was forced upon her. Allah did not care about her feelings and wishes. Allah appears as a dictator. He executes his will without consideration or respect for mankind. Those who want to understand Allah in Islam should study this passage and compare it carefully with the parallel verses in Sura Maryam. This can help us to comprehend the totally different concept of Allah in Islam and God in Christianity.

In Luke 1:26-45 we read the actual account, which is based on Mary’s personal testimony to Luke, the Greek doctor. Mary was deeply shocked by the holy angel’s gracious greeting. She tried to collect her thoughts and to understand the meaning of this heavenly greeting. She did not respond to his words nor did she open the dialogue with him as the Qur’an claims.

The angel Gabriel then took away her fear and explained the divine plan to her step by step. She would give birth to a boy and name him Jesus; he would be great and called the Son of the Most High; he would reign in succession to his ancestor David because God had promised him a 1000 years earlier that he would have a everlasting heir.

12. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. 2 Samuel 7:12-14).

After this detailed explanation Mary confessed that she never had relations with a man. It did not seem logical to her to have a child without a husband.

So, the angel helped her again to understand the spiritual birth of Christ in her, that the Holy Spirit himself would come into her and the power of God would overshadow her. It was not the angel who breathed the spirit of God into her but the innermost spirit of God, begetting Jesus in Mary.

According to the Gospel, after this long explanation the angel also revealed to Mary that her relative Elizabeth, the barren wife of Zechariah, was with child in spite of her old age.

This helped Mary to grasp the mystery, that with God the impossible is possible. She submitted herself willingly to the divine plan and believed it. She agreed to the Will of God without being forced. Whoever compares the original text of this historical event with Muhammad’s poetic yet Islamic summary can see the difference between these two religions. In Islam there was a unconditional command given by Allah, without any discussion, while in the Gospel God’s love and Mary’s faith unite.

In the Qur’anic account, after the angels told Mary what Allah had decided they continued with their divine promises about Jesus. In verse 48 they told her that Allah would personally teach Jesus the book, the wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel. He would not only teach him the Old Testament (Torah), the New Testament (Gospel) and Proverbs (Wisdom), but there is an additional , secret divine book mentioned in Islam. What could this book have been, when at that time the Qur’an had not yet appeared? The Muslims and the Jews understand that this expression refers to the eternal tablet in heaven. According to Islam all revelation was recorded previously in heaven in the original text. What exists today as the Old Testament, Psalms and the Prophets with the Gospel and the Epistles in the New Testament, and even the Qur’an are only considered to be copied parts of the original book that exists in heaven. All events of history, even the life of every person on earth, are written in detail in this heavenly book.

In a surprising statement Muhammad confessed that Allah had personally taught Jesus this original book! Jesus did not hear about it from the Jews as the case was with Muhammad, or even from the Christian slaves but directly from Allah. This indicates that Christ in Islam is understood to be the Word of God incarnate. Allah told him every secret in this and the next world and revealed his complete will to Christ. Muslims can accept that all the truth and wisdom of God is brought together in Jesus. Muhammad went so far in his dialogue with the Christians that he admitted that Jesus was the word of God and knew all the will of the Almighty. This implies Jesus knew the entire Old Testament and confirmed it and that it was never altered.

Verse 49 continues, “He will be an ambassador (messenger) for the children of Israel.”

This is one of the seven verses in the Qur’an that state clearly that Jesus is Rasul Allah. What is the difference between al-rasul and al-nabi? It is the difference between an ambassador and a prophet. The Muslim testimony is, “La Ilah illa Allah. Muhammad rasul Allah!” There is no God but Allah. Muhammad is his prophet!

The word prophet (nabi) is not written in the testimony of the Muslims, which they repeat every day. Muhammad is not considered to be only a religious prophet but also the political messenger of Allah. The word rasul means one who has been sent in the name of a sending authority. He acts in the power and authority of the one who sent him. A prophet is only considered to have received spiritual inspiration and religious duties, while an ambassador of Allah has to build the divine kingdom, if need be with weapons and spiritual laws. A religious ambassador combines political authority with a spiritual message. The revelation of God’s will is only half of his duty. To build the kingdom of Allah with political power is the other half of his call according to Islam.

In the Gospel the angel Gabriel revealed to the virgin Mary that her son should inherit the throne of his ancestor David and build a eternal, divine kingdom.

But Muhammad did not allow Jesus to be called a divine King because he would then have appeared greater than Muhammad. But, at the same time, he did not deny the political authority of Christ.

Muslims not only claim that Christ and Muhammad were prophets, but also political leaders and statesmen. These principles are applied when Christ is referred to as an ambassador of Allah. There are many prophets but only a few ambassadors mentioned in the Qur’an.

Moses is one of them as well as Jesus and Muhammad. Muslims believe that Jesus had received spiritual and political authority from Allah. They think that he had to build the heavenly kingdom on earth and to set down spiritual and political laws.

But there is a enormous difference in the way the Bible handles the political authority of Jesus. It is recorded in the Gospels that Jesus spoke 90 times about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, but that he mentioned the church (ecclesia) only three times. Jesus did not come primarily to build his church. He came to establish the kingdom of God. He came to bring all creation back to the Father. He came to inherit all that God had created on earth. He did not come only for the saints or for some special believers. He came to serve the lost and wanted to guide everyone back to his Father. When the children of Israel rejected their king, as it is revealed in the parable of the vineyard, they killed their Lord. He then passed on his call and the rights for the inheritance of the kingdom to the Gentiles.

33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

40. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41. They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. Matthew 21:33-46.

It was a basic change that took place after the children of Israel delivered Christ their king to the Roman authority. From that time on all were allowed and called to enter the spiritual kingdom of God. The word “church” in Greek is ecclesia and refers only to the ones who were called out. They were those who had answered the divine call and carried the responsibility for their spiritual community. After the Holy Spirit had been poured out on all flesh the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles referred twice as often to the church as the kingdom.

They did not overlook the kingdom but the main concern, after the resurrection of Christ, was the church.

This means that the priority for the Christians remains the church, the assembly of the “called-out ones”.

But one third of their time and budget, according to the New Testament, should be directed at “the salvation” of the “lost.” Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost.

Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18:14.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10.

He cares deeply about the lost ones and does not only stay with the saved. He prefers to leave the 99 righteous alone and seek the one who is lost until he is found and saved

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Luke 15:7.

Muhammad noticed something of this spiritual tension in the service of Jesus that he did not come initially to build his church but to establish the kingdom of his heavenly Father. Once more, Muhammad accepted 90% of what Jesus was and did, but twisted the essential point.

He claimed that Jesus was only an ambassador of Allah, never the eternal king or the Son of God. Muhammad did not understand what Jesus meant when he said,

Here Jesus reveals that he really is an ambassador of God, sent as his messenger, but at the same time he confesses to be the Son of his Heavenly Father.

Muhammad delivered a brilliant speech, which he had learned by heart, during the three day discussion. He tried to understand, absorb and to change the information he had heard from the Wadi Nadjran delegation about the promises of the angel Gabriel to Mary, so that it fitted into his Islamic thought pattern. In poetic form Muhammad offered the Christians what he accepted from the promises given by Allah about the coming of Jesus, to convince his listeners that Islam is the most developed and final religion. He used parts of the Gospel as a sly tool to attract them to Islam. He did this in the following three ways:

Sura Al Imran 49-51 contains the third sermon of Christ to his people, one of eight recorded in the Qur’an. Christ speaks here as an adult in the first person. There is a gap of about thirty years between the promises the angel Gabriel gave to Mary about the birth of Christ and this sermon given by Jesus. Passages from Sura Maryam 19:10-33 could fill in this time gap. Christ says in the Qur’an:

What a tremendous message! Muhammad had done his homework thoroughly. He had listened carefully to the testimonies, references and arguments from the Christian delegation from Wadi Nadjran. Muhammad had absorbed their words like a dry sponge soaking up water and developed them into his own thoughts. Eventually, he presented it again in a condensed poetical form as a pure revelation from Allah. He was able to say in a few words what many Christian sermons cannot.

The seven names mentioned in Sura Al Imran 3:45-49 show the superlative nature of Christ. However, the miracles that Jesus performed according to the Qur’an are even more magnificent than his names and titles. In Sura Al Imran 49-52 we find six (or eight) of the ten miracles performed by Christ mentioned in the Qur’an.

All the verses of Muhammad written in the book of the Muslims are called ayat (signs or miracles. However, there is a basic difference between the miracles performed by Muhammad and those Jesus performed. The wonders Muhammad performed were only words, whereas the wonders Jesus performed were concrete deeds and acts of healing. The first miracle mentioned in Sura Al Imran 3:49 describes how Jesus formed a bird out of clay as a child. Then he breathed into it turning it into a flying bird.

The source of this story is known. It is one of the fantastic stories about Jesus’ childhood recorded in the false, unsubstantiated second gospel of Matthew. The story was not confirmed by the eyewitnesses and apostles.

It was circulated throughout the Middle East by Syrian Christians but never accepted into the canon of the New Testament. Muhammad had heard this story and believed it. He believed even more than the Christians did about the miracles of Jesus! He believed wonders that were never performed. This shows us that he was not a prophet, but a misinformed seeker of truth, who, in turn misled others by his false revelations.

There are two terms used in verse 49, however, that are electrifying for any understanding Christian. Christ said, “I will create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird.” Jesus is said to have used the word “I create”.

The Arabic text states clearly that the boy Jesus formed a bird of clay with his own hands and was able to create life in it. He is, therefore, not only a messenger in Islam but possessed the capacity to create something out of nothing from childhood. This Qur’anic verse echoes verse three in the first chapter of the Gospel according to John. Here we read, “All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made.” Christians should remember that Jesus is not only the Saviour but he is also the Creator. Muhammad himself conceded that Jesus had the capability to create. The Qur’an does not mention anyone having the same authority as Jesus.

Muhammad underlined this astonishing fact by claiming that Jesus said, “I will breath into the lifeless form of the bird vital life, so that the bird could fly away.” This means that the Muslims can believe that Christ had a life giving Spirit within him, that his breath is able to give life to a dead body.

The Qur’an states several times that only Allah is able to create something out of nothing. He breathed into Adam and gave him life.

"When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him."

But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give!

The same expression is used in reference to Jesus to mean that he breathed life in accordance with the will of Allah.

This can remind us of how Jesus entered the locked room on the evening after his resurrection to his fearful disciples and blew his Spirit at them saying,

God created Adam as a living soul and Jesus creates his disciples spiritually, as sons and daughters of God, filled with his eternal spiritual life. When we compare this to the Qur’anic account of Jesus’ creation of a small, flying bird we can see the gradual difference and evaluation of his creation in the Qur’an. Muhammad felt obliged to confess that Jesus had the ability to create. But he did not want to ascribe to him the authority to create men, nor could he understand what it means to grant everlasting life. So he simply stated that the boy Isa created a flying bird with his own hands. What a difference, what a wily admission!

Twice, it is stated in the Qur’an that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind several times merely by the power of his words. He did not need to use an operation or any medication. Muhammad considered him to be the Word of Allah incarnate, full of Allah’s power to create, to heal and to act.

The miraculous healing of the lepers by Christ has a special meaning for Muslims. In Islam leprosy is sometimes understood a punishment from Allah for hidden sin. Since Jesus was able to heal leprosy, he was also authorised to forgive sins. It is the same as when the paralyzed man was let down though the opened roof infront of Jesus.

1. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noticed that he was in the house.

2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

3. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

6. But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

7. Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

8. And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9. Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11. I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Mark 2:1-12.

Jesus did not tell this sick man that he would be healed immediately but that his sins were forgiven. The theologians standing around marveled and were incensed in their thoughts, for no-one could forgive sins but God. They suspected Jesus of blaspheming. Jesus understood their inner turmoil and explained to them that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins. Then he said to the lame man, “Stand up, take your bed and go home!” Jesus revealed his authority to forgive sins through this healing miracle. Muslims know from the Qur’an that Jesus was able to heal every illness and could even free men from the reason for the illness. Muslims in India and Pakistan sometimes approach Christians asking them to intercede for them and ask the living Jesus in heaven to heal them.

We read in verse 49 that Jesus had the authority to raise the dead to life. These facts are not in the grammatical singular form in Arabic or the dual form but in the plural. This means that Jesus raised at least three people from the dead according to the Qur’an. In the Gospel it is stated that he raised a girl:

41. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

42. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. Mark 5:35-43,

14. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

15. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. Luke 7:11-17,

43. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

These miracles are also recorded in the Qur’an but not explained in detail. Muslims do not know how Jesus healed and saved needy people but only believe that such events took place. We should explain these texts to the Muslims and encourage them to read these accounts in the Gospel by themselves so that they can see and meet Jesus as he was and is.

Nevertheless, it is recorded in this verse that Jesus was not able to perform all these miracles by himself. He was able to do so only with the permission of Allah. Muslims cannot understand what Jesus meant when he confessed in John 5:19,20 that he could do nothing by himself, but all that he sees the Father doing he will do, too. Jesus denied himself and continually glorified his Father. Jesus insisted that his followers should learn from him because he is humble and gentle in heart.

25. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Matthew 11:11-30.

One of the 99 most beautiful names of Allah is “the proud one”, but Jesus is the “humble one”! This spirit of self-denial and sacrifice contradicts the proud spirit in Islam.

In three other verses in the Qur’an it is written that Allah sent “the spirit of the holy” to strengthen the incapable Christ so that he could perform these outstanding miracles.

We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay!

Then will Allah say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity.

Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.'
Suras al-Maida 5:110. Yusuf Ali.

Most Muslims do not realise that Allah, the spirit of the holy, and Christ are mentioned together in the same verses. These three authorities worked together as a Trinity in order to complete these miracles. Muslims do not believe in the equality of the essence of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity, but the Qur’an indirectly confesses the cooperative action of Allah, his spirit and Christ. This means that without realizing it the Muslims believe in the Trinity in action, if not in essence.

Muhammad had drawn closer to the Christians yet there was still an unbridgeable gap between them. He had portrayed Christ with three breathtaking miracles, as an almighty creator, as the greatest physician on earth and as the one who gives life to the dead.

These wonders were done with the restriction or limitation that they were allowed by Allah in accordance with his will and sustained by his spirit. Muhammad imitated the Christian faith as far as possible so that the delegation from Wadi Nadjran would be convinced that Muslims believe the same truths as they do, even in a kind of Trinity. But in reality he had already stripped Christ of his divine authority and made him a slave of Allah.

Muhammad continued his poetic recitation with the supposed words of Christ, “I will prophesy to you what you eat and what you treasure up in your houses. Surely in this is a great sign, if you are believers.”

Muhammad had to face mounting problems in Medina. Most of his followers were natives of this town, but a hundred or more of the Muslims in Medina were refugees from Mecca. The Muslims from Medina had previously signed and accepted three consecutive agreements to host the refugees from Mecca, and did so faithfully for a time. But the Muslims from Medina became rich at the expense of the refugees, because the Mecca Muslims had no income and spent all the money they had brought with them. The relationship between the two groups of Muslims became an acute problem and reflected poorly on Islam. Muhammad was upset. He knew that some of the Median Muslims had a lot of money hidden in their homes. Also, whenever the guest Meccan Muslim were not in the house the Medinans ate better food, which they would hide when the refugees were present. Muhammad was angry and threatened the Median Muslims, warning them that Christ would come again soon, at the end of time, and that he had x-ray eyes. He could look through walls and see what treasures they were hiding in their houses, and would judge them for their stinginess and hypocrisy.

Muhammad acknowledged that Christ would come a second time and that nothing could be hidden from his eyes. He confessed, indirectly, that Christ is the all-knowing, the omniscient one. This admission in the Qur’an could be derived from the Gospel according to John 2:24,25.

Muhammad accepted this authority, but while the Gospel according to John states that Jesus knew the aims and sins of all people around him, The Qur’an only mentions that Jesus will reveal the hidden money and food of the Muslims to put them to shame at judgment day.

How do Islamic scholars comment on this alarming event in the Qur’an? Tabari explained the verse in this following way: “ ‘I will inform you of what you eat....’ Truly Jesus, son of Mary, said to one of his students, ‘Dear friend, your relatives have hidden various foods for you. Will you give me something to eat from them?” After Jesus enlightened his companions about what their parents had hidden from them, the parents hindered their children and said, ‘Do not play with this sorcerer.’ They gathered them together in a house, but Jesus came and asked the children to come out. They told him, ‘They are not here.’ Then Jesus asked, ‘What do you have in this house?’ They answered, ‘Pigs.’ Jesus said, ‘So it shall be.’ So when they opened the door all their children had turned to pigs’ ”(Tabari III, 279,280).

Razi comments, “The one on whom peace rests informs what is hidden” (Razi VIII, 57).

Muhammad emphasized Christ’s ability to uncover what is hidden as a striking miracle for all Muslim believers. However, Muhammad addressed this discourse specifically to the delegation of Wadi Nadjran telling them that Christ knows exactly what the are thinking. He would reveal if they were playing with Muhammad or were really interested in the truth as he presented it. Christ would also tell them what they treasure up in their Wadi Nadjran homes and that they should be ready to sacrifice for the poor Muslim refugees.

This verse shows that all Muslims can believe in an omniscient Jesus who will come again and look into their hearts with his x-ray eyes revealing their secrets and sins and judging them as the divine judge on the day of the resurrection.

In verse 50 Christ says, “I will confirm what is in my hands from the Torah and allow some of that which was forbidden before you. I have come to you with a sign from the Lord. So fear Allah and obey me!”

Muhammad went further in this sermon reciting that Jesus was sent by Allah to confirm the truth of the Torah. How can some Muslims claim today that the Torah, the Psalms and the Prophets have been changed, when according to the Qur’an Christ came to confirm the Torah? Elsewhere in the Qur’an we read that Christ came to confirm the validity and the infallibility of the Torah!

43. But why do they come to thee for decision, when they have (their own) law before them?- therein is the (plain) command of Allah; yet even after that, they would turn away. For they are not (really) People of Faith.

45. We ordained therein for them: "Life for life, eye for eye, nose or 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 Allah hath revealed, they are (No better than) wrong-doers.

46. 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 Allah.

Sura al-Maeda 5:43,45,46. Yusuf Ali.

27. Then, in their wake, We followed them up with (others of) Our messengers: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good Pleasure of Allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors.
Sura al-Hadid 57:27. Yusuf Ali.

Why then do many Muslims insist that the Bible has been altered? Let them read what Jesus confessed in Matthew 5:17,18 where he proclaimed,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 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 until all things are fulfilled.”

Christ came to fulfill the Torah. He, himself, is the guarantee of the truth of the Torah. He is the Word of God incarnate. No-one can change him. He is entitled to confirm the divine truth of the Torah. The Qur’an confirms this authority.

According to the Qur’an Jesus continued, “I will allow you some of what was forbidden to you.”

This verse is one of the most exiting statements in the Qur’an about Christ and the Muslim law.

Islam is a religion under law, similar to life under the Torah in the Old Testament. Every word in the Old Testament and every word in the Qur’an are considered to be a divine revelation, command or law. There is no opportunity for free will, opinions or choice for people living under these laws. Whatever they want to do is limited by their law. We should understand that all Jews and Muslims are under the law. But Christ came to free us from the curse of the law

10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: Galatians 3:10-13.

This does not mean that the law of Moses no longer exists for Christians. All followers of Christ are judged and condemned by this divine law, but they are also justified by the atoning death of Jesus and filled with his comforting Spirit. This Spirit is the new law in their hearts and, at the same time, gives them the power to fulfill its demands.

Paul writes that the law of the life-giving spirit of Christ has liberated us from the law of sin and death.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2.

14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14.

They are no longer under law as Muslims and Jews but live in the grace of Jesus.

All people, according to the Islamic understanding, should live under the Sharia (the all encompassing law in Islam). No-one is authorised to remain outside the law, except Jesus Christ. Jesus was legislative, not executive. He was allowed to change the law. Who is the only law giver for the Muslims? Non except Allah. But since Jesus was entitled to change the law, he, too, is considered to be a divine law giver in Islam.

Muhammad had no authority to change the law. He was often unsure and fearful of offending the law of Moses. He tried not to change any paragraph of the law, in case the Jew would consider him a false prophet. He repeatedly asked and urged the Jews to give him a detailed account of what was written in the Torah, but they mocked, misled or ignored him (Ibn Hisham II, 45-67). Jesus, however, did not fear the Jews. He had the authority to develop the law, and to fulfill it. He declared,

“All food that goes into your stomachs is not unclean but out of your hearts come unclean thoughts” Matthew 15:11.

Jesus also confirmed that the Mosaic law says, “An eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but He added, “I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him, too. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic let him have your cloak also” Matthew 5:38-40.

Since Jesus was able to change the law he proves by this act that he had the same jurisdiction and authority as Allah. Muhammad concluded correctly that Jesus was a divine law giver, that he had the right to demand, “Fear Allah and obey me!” According to the Qur’an he did not ask his disciples to love God with all their hearts. He told them to fear Allah. The holy love of God and our sincere love for him is not an Islamic theme, but the fear of Allah and the deep respect before the Almighty are part of Islamic doctrine.

The verse, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10 somehow sums up Islam. However, Paul writes that the fullness of all wisdom dwells in Christ personally.

In the Qur’an Jesus not only told his listeners to fear Allah and worship him with respect, but he continued in his authority as the divine law giver and said, “Obey me!” It is tantalizing to think that this Qur’anic revelation commands everybody, including every Muslim, to obey Jesus. They should accept and live according to his words in the New Testament. It is a tragedy that Muhammad was never able to read or understand the Gospel. As a result he neglected the salvation of Christ. He accepted him as a law-giver but not as a saviour.

Muhammad let Jesus say, “Obey me!” in order to lure the Christians from Wadi Nadjran over to Islam. This command was a cunning word in a clever bargain, but ever since, according to the Qur’an, every Muslim has to obey Jesus. Many Christians may believe in Christ but they do not obey him faithfully. Yet the Qur’an tells all Muslims to obey Jesus. Should all Christians not also study the new law of Christ and live according to it?

Today there are liberal Christians who say that if the Muslims have to submit to Jesus, then Christians should follow Islam, too. They do not know or understand the following verse (51) in which Jesus seems to say, “Allah is my Lord and your Lord! Serve him like slaves! This is a straight path.”

Muhammad exulted Christ almost to the level of Allah. He confessed that he is a creator, a superb physician by the power of his word. He is a life giver to the dead, the all-seeing, omniscient, the confirmer of the Torah and the divine law giver, who has the right to demand complete obedience from everybody. After this admiring confession to the Christian delegation from northern Yemen, for which he hoped to win their trust in himself as a prophet of Islam. Muhammad had to please his own followers as well. In this two-sided struggle he had to bring Christ down to earth again, to the level of every Muslim. He had done this already with Mary (Sura Al Imran 3:42,43). After having exalted her as the only chosen woman in this and the next world, after making her a prophetess and an ayatollah he described her as a faithful, praying imam kneeling down with all other Muslim women. The evaluation of Christ as a good Muslim was introduced with his confession, “Allah is my Lord and your Lord.” The ever faithful Lord of the covenant in the Old Testament is Yahweh. Every member taking part in this covenant had the right to say, “Yahweh is our Lord”, since the Almighty had introduced the Ten Commandments with the words, “I am the Lord Your God.”

Muhammad tried to unite the three religions with this false statement, “Our God and your God are one”

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)."

He claimed that Allah and Yaweh are the same God. However Jesus did not say Allah (or Elohim) is his Lord but comforted his disciples by saying, “I will ascend to my Father and to your Father to my God and your God” John 20:17. He confessed clearly that God is his Father and not his Lord and granted this unique right to all who believe in him.

He did not teach his followers to pray to Allah, Elohim or to Yahweh but to say, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” Matthew 6:9.

Muhammad did not accept the Lord’s prayer, but wanted to subordinate Christ under Allah together with all Jews and Christians. He was never ready to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11.

But the Bible tells us that no-one is able to call Jesus Christ except by the Holy Spirit.

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

There is no Holy Spirit in Islam. Muhammad actually wanted to portray Jesus as a slave of Allah. In this case all his followers would automatically worship Allah as good Muslims, prostrating to the unknown, unreachable, distant, dictatorial God.

The expression in the Qur’an, “Worship Him,” means to serve Allah as a slave. The Arabic word for slave means, “I belong to my Lord, he owns me. He can do with me whatever he wants. I am ready to serve him as he wishes.” Islamic worship always means slave-like submission to Allah. Muhammad let Jesus demand this from all his followers. They were to worship Allah like slaves in order to make them good Muslims.

This is the straight path which Muhammad contrived. He rejected the original path of the Jews. Muslims pray in the al-Fatiha that Allah may not lead them in the way of the Jews, because the wrath of Allah rests upon them.

The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.

Muhammad also wanted to distinguish his path from the path of the Christians, who are considered to be lost, wandering thirstily in the waterless desert, hallucinating, seeing three gods instead of the one and only (Sura al-Fatiha 1:7). Muhammad may have seen the paved Roman roads and used their imagery to describe the Islamic path. The word “sirat” is not an Arabic word but most probably comes from “strada” the Latin word for the Roman roads which all lead to Rome. Muhammad admired these paved roads on which a chariot could travel quickly and easily. When he compared these broad ways to the sandy paths on which camels and caravans had to pass through the desert, he said to himself, “What a wonderful street. What a wonderful broad way for the progress of Islam.” Today the “Sharia” is considered to be the paved street which guides every Muslim straight to paradise. But the Bible gives us the opposite message. No one can fulfill the law completely, therefore everyone building his hope on the law will inescapably be judged by the law and condemned to hell.

13. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13,14.

With this cunning method Muhammad made Jesus appear like a Muslim imam who commanded the bishop of the Wadi Nadjran church to obey him and accept Islam. However, the bishop hesitated to follow the call of Muhammad, who sensed his increasing opposition. But Muhammad did not give up. He challenged the bishop with the opposition of the unbelieving Jews. He showed him how Jesus called his disciples out from among the Jews and guided them to the final decision to become good Muslims.

According to the Qur’an, Christ addressed his sermon to the Jews first of all. He had tried to convince them by breathtaking miracles, by warning them of their stinginess, changing the divine law to make life easier for them and demanding obedience to himself. This would have been a straight path, according to Islam. But the majority of the Jews did not respond to his call. They hardened their hearts against the Gospel and hated Jesus for his fame.

Verse 52 indicates that Jesus perceived the increasing disbelief of the Jews, so he challenged them openly, “Who will be my helpers for Allah?” Jesus noticed that many of the Jews did not believe in him. They did not want to have spiritual contact with him and were not ready to obey his commands. Most of them were only following because of the miracles. In the Gospel of Christ according to John 6:66-71 the epochal turning point in the life of Jesus, the point at which the vast majority of his followers left him was clearly revealed.

66. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

69. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

70. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

71. He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:66-71.

Jesus was suddenly alone with some loyal disciples and hounded by the Jewish authorities who wanted to kill him John 5:16-21; 8:37-40; 11:53-54; Matthew 16:13-23.

16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

20. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. John 5:16-21.

Muhammad was alert to the painful fact that there was a time in Jesus’ life when the number of disciples had peaked. But when the persecution started nearly everyone deserted him apart from the twelve apostles. How did Muhammad handle this historical change in the life of Christ? It is documented in the Qur’an that Jesus challenged his remaining followers in an Islamic way by asking, “Who will be my helpers.” The Arabic word for helpers, ansar, used here, has several meanings. The word can mean helper in social life but can also mean fierce fighters in the Holy War until victory. So Jesus was asking, according to Muhammad, which of his followers would be ready to fight for him with weapons for victory in the way of Allah.

In these condensed verses we read the confession of the apostles of Christ as Muhammad conceived it, in order to convince the Christians from Wadi Nadjran that they, too, could consider themselves Muslims without qualms. Muhammad formulated the creed of the apostles from an Islamic point of view.

In this creed, the apostles of Christ offered themselves first emotionally, as victorious helpers for Allah. This is one of the six different names or titles for the apostles of Christ mentioned in this brief confession and following prayer. Muhammad had realized that Jesus had different kinds of followers.

The first kind, then, are the disciples. They are ready to listen, to learn and to study. They are not yet sure what they are going to believe and to do, but they are open to their master; they honour admire and love him.

The second category are the emotional helpers or fighters. They are exited about their teacher and his unlimited power. They are ready to fight for him even if they did not understand him fully. They don’t hesitate to sacrifice their time and money for him, to strive for the establishment of the kingdom of Allah. They are ready to fight in the cause of Allah whatever the cost as Peter had actually done.

Then they confessed that they are believers in Allah bound to him in an everlasting providence. This means that they trusted him and his revelation and understood what they wanted him to do and not to do, according to the Sharia.

Finally, the disciples confessed that they were Muslims in the sense that everyone who has yielded his life to Allah is considered to be a Muslim. That includes Abraham (Sura Al Imran 3:67), Moses, Mary, Jesus and his apostles.

This is the Islamic understanding of gradual progress in a godly life: first students, then fighters, next believers and finally Muslims! Therefore, Muslims today often suspect that Christians are fighters for their faith. In 1981 the patriarch of the Coptic church in Egypt, eight of his bishops and fifty priests were placed in custody for several months simply because Muslims claimed that they tried to establish a Christian enclave in Egypt or that they interfered in political matters. Everywhere in the Islamic world Muslims think that the Christians will try whenever possible to take over the government, to replace the Islamic law with human and Christian rights. They think that their ultimate aim is to form a Christian state. Muslims always feel that indigenous Christians and foreign missionaries have, not only a religious concern in all their actions, but also a subversive political one. They look at Christians through their Islamic spectacles and understand that Christians, just like Muslims, will try to establish a religious state.

Muhammad named the apostles of Christ Muslims in order to help the Christian delegation to accept the Islamic faith more readily. What a sly maneuver! He played with the spiritual meaning of words by saying that everyone who has yielded himself to God is already a Muslim. Muhammad, however did not want them to turn only to a general spiritual Islam, but expected an additional surrender to his own leadership. He wanted to push the bishop and his church to accept him a the ambassador of Allah and submit to his Sharia unconditionally by indicating that all apostles of Christ were already Muslims.

This supposedly Christian creed in verses 52 is followed by a devout apostolic prayer:

The Qur’an did not exist in the apostolic age; extant were only the Torah, the Psalms, the Wisdom, the Prophets and the Gospel. In other words the Old and New Testament scriptures are the books revealed by God.

According to this prayer in the Qur’an the disciples of Jesus are considered to be Muslims because they believed in the Bible! This is an ingenious tactic to bring the followers of Jesus to Islam, if you plant the idea in their minds that they are already Muslims as long as they believe in the Bible. They would not need to convert to Islam. They are already Muslims.

If you compare the prayer of the apostles of Christ, documented in the Qur’an, with a real prayer as, for example, in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 3:14-21, you can understand the major difference between prayer in Christianity and Islam.

13. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21.

The prayer that Muhammad put on the lips of the apostles of Christ sounds poor, empty spiritless and powerless. However, Paul’s real prayer is full of love, divine energy, knowledge, depth, faith, hope and assurance. He did not pray for himself as is claimed for the apostolic prayer recorded in the Qur’an, but he prayed for all believers in the church, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit the one and only God forever.

Muhammad was able to distinguish between the different stages in Christian maturity. He stated that there are beginners, emotional adherents and devoted Muslim believers in the revealed word. Then he pointed to a higher class, the followers of Christ who are sincere and really obedient and go with him wherever he wants. With these words Muhammad was indirectly confessing that there is a higher level of commitment to God in Christianity than in Islam describing “the followers of Christ” with several distinctive attributes in the Qur’an: They are considered not to be proud but merciful and kind

Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.
Suras al-Maida 5:82. Yusuf Ali.

27. Then, in their wake, We followed them up with (others of) Our messengers: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good Pleasure of Allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors.
Sura al-Hadid 57:27. Yusuf Ali.

They would not sell their scriptures for profit (Sura Al Imran 3:199). They are placed above all unbelievers (Sura Al Imran 3:55). The followers of Christ appeared to be a special class of people to Muhammad. He was convinced that they would follow Jesus through fire and water, through bad and good. They imitated the love of Jesus and did not desert him. Muhammad called them the best of the enemies of Islam (Sura al-Maida 5:82) because they even had sympathy for the Muslims. Their character reflected that of their priests and monks, who were not proud. Muhammad let Allah say, “I will put in the hearts of those following you (Christ) tender mercy and loving kindness” (Sura al-Hadid 57:27).

This is the direct Islamic confirmation of Romans 5:5 where Paul confessed, “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.” Muhammad noticed something of the spirit of Christ in the members of his church but did not understand it.

The last phrases seems even more important for the followers of Christ, as they prayed, “Inscribe us with those who will bear witness.” Muhammad believed that Christians are faithful to their Lord and his Gospel and even ready to be martyred. Muhammad heard that Jesus spoke about a book of life in which all his followers will be entered name by name.

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Revelation 3:5.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

He promised to raise them on the day of resurrection. In this sense Muhammad let the apostles confess in the Qur’an that they were faithful in their testimony and ready to die for Christ but only asked him to register them in the book of life. Muslims cannot think that grace and faith alone can save them. They hope that obedience, deeds, sacrifice and even martyrdom for Allah will open the door to the everlasting gardens. How do Muslims expect Christians to act? They expect them not only to know the Gospel and to confess its truth but to surrender wholly to Allah, to fight for him and follow Christ whatever it costs, even to die for their faith. In these verses we see a condensed poetical description of how Muhammad expected Christians to be, disciples, fighters for Allah, believers, Muslims, followers of Christ, witnesses and even martyrs. It would be worthwhile for every Christian to ask himself how far along this road he is and how ready he is to fulfill his call in following Jesus.

There is a real danger, however, for every mission minded Christian who imitates the Muslims, thereby practicing contextualisation, in order to win Muslims for Christ. He will be accused according to the Sharia, of being a misguided hypocrite (zindiq) who confesses Islam but isn’t a true Muslim. He is considered a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He must be executed immediately, according to the Sharia, without being given a chance to repent. Muhammad allowed himself to act like a Christian in order to win the Christians for Islam, but Christians are not allowed to act like Muslims to win Muslims.

This text refers to the crucial fact that the Jews were trying to deceive and kill Jesus secretly. Muhammad had heard about the anti-Christian opposition of the religious leaders among the Jews and their attempt to do away with Jesus by any possible means Matthew 26:4.

And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. Matthew 26:4.

But Muhammad, in his thoughts, did not allow the Jews to complete their conspiracy against Jesus, otherwise it would have been possible for the Jewish tribes in Medina to overcome Muhammad, too. So he said that the Jews had been cunning but he considered Allah to be more cunning and described him as the most cunning one. Some Muslim scholars do not like the literal meaning of these Arabic words. They call Allah the best planner, the best advisor or the cleverest one of all, but it is actually written in Arabic that he is the craftiest of all.

If Allah is the cleverest of all deceivers, then his followers will learn from him, imitate him and be cunning among themselves too. Muhammad often said: “The Holy War only means cunning, imposture and betrayal” (al-Bukhari, Djihad 18; Abu Dawud, Djihad 92). A Muslim is allowed to lie in four cases: in the Holy War, to reconcile two enemies, a man to his different wives and a wife to her husband (al-Tirmidsi, Birr 26; Musnad VI, 459, 461). Even swearing in some cases does not always confirm the truth.

Allah has already ordained for you, (O men), the dissolution of your oaths (in some cases): and Allah is your Protector, and He is Full of Knowledge and Wisdom.
Sura al-Tahrim 66:2. Yusuf Ali.

Politics, commerce, school and family life are not based on clear truth but are interwoven with tricks, swindle and cheating.

Why did Muhammad allow himself to point out such a terrible attribute of Allah’s? What was the aim for making Allah appear to be the most cunning one in the Qur’an? The following verses in the Qur’an give us the answer. Muhammad let Allah himself explain and solve this theological riddle and reveal what Allah’s greatest deception in world history was.

This is one of the four direct speeches which Allah made to or about Jesus in the Qur’an. He promised Jesus to let him fall asleep, then Allah would lift him up to himself. This is the great deception of Allah, that he saved Jesus from crucifixion!

The Christians had informed Muhammad that Christ died on the cross. Muhammad considered such a divine punishment improper for a messenger of Allah. He believed that the righteous Allah would never allow the faithful Jesus to be crucified. Jesus, according to the Qur’an, was good and sinless and Allah is good and faithful in person. It was unthinkable for Muhammad that Allah would sentence the blameless Jesus to die on the cross. He must have helped him, otherwise Allah would no longer be faithful.

Furthermore, if Allah had allowed Jesus to be crucified, then the same fate could happen to Muhammad, too. So Muhammad made sure that there was no possibility that Jesus could have been crucified. He claimed that Allah had let Jesus fall asleep, then kindly sent his angels to lift him up to himself. But the Arabic word “mutawaffika” has a twofold meaning. It can mean that Jesus fell asleep and that he died, just as when an elderly person dies they say that he fell asleep, he died in peace.

To appease the Christians Muhammad used this word that allows the interpretation that Jesus really died. At the same time he confirmed the Muslim version of Jesus’ death that he only fell asleep and was then taken up to Allah. Both meanings are found in the same word because Muhammad wanted to satisfy both sides. But he wanted to avoid the cross of Christ by any means. In this verse and in another verse in the Qur’an Muhammad denied the historical fact of the crucifixion of Jesus.

That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

He admitted craftily that Jesus died but that he was not crucified. Islam can tolerate many of the beliefs and practices in Christianity, except the divine sonship of Jesus and his atoning death on the cross. This is the great stratagem of Allah that he saved Jesus from the cross.

Muhammad did not understand the reason or the aim of the cross. He could not distinguish that God is love and holy at the same time. He did not understand that the Holy One has to judge every sin and finally to condemn every sinner. However, God loves sinners, too, and yearns to save them. This contradiction in the innermost being of God was nearly unthinkable for him.

God himself has solved this unsolveable problem for mankind in the incarnation of Christ, so that one man can remain sinless in order to be worthy and acceptable as the substitute for all sinners. Christ was legally empowered to be the Lamb of God carrying the sins of the world away.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

The idea of a substitute to bear the judgment of God for others is intolerable in Islam. Allah is considered to be sovereign. He can forgive whom he wants, when he wants and where he wants. Allah is absolute and is not bound by any law or principle. He is not a personal God or a father who wants to save his children. Allah is not love nor is there any need for him to be incarnated in order to die in the sinners’ place. The reason and the possibility of the cross remain illogical and hidden to Muslims.

Muslims assume that there is no need for a cross because they do not see themselves to be condemned and lost sinners. They admit that everybody commits concrete sins, big and small ones.

They try to wipe them out with their prayer and fasting, but they never consider themselves condemned sinners who are lost in God’s verdict. They trust in their self-righteousness established by their own good deeds. They do not think that they need a crucified Christ as a substitute for them. It is hidden from Muslims that they are already saved by the atoning death of Christ, and that they can receive the divine righteousness prepared for them by grace alone.

They do not believe in salvation by faith but trust in their own good deeds, hoping that these will outweigh their sins in the balance on the judgment day. So the cross remains the great stumbling block for all Muslims.

18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

23. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

24. But unto them, which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.

In the light of the cross of Christ, Allah in Islam had to reveal his face and his spirit as the most cunning one. He claimed to have saved Jesus from the cross by letting him fall asleep before he was raised to Allah. But the Bible tells us precisely who “the most cunning one is”. It informs us that the snake was the most subtle of all animals in the garden.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1.

These stern and probing words tell us who Allah in Islam is. He is not God. He only uses the Arabic word for God (Allah) as a disguise. He spoke as Allah, but he was never the real God. He is unclean, the most cunning spirit. He wanted to deny the historical fact of the cross and eliminate its objective, its possibility and its result. It is not a simple deception that was written in the Qur’an. Muhammad wanted to destroy salvation at its roots and wipe out salvation completely. Thus, the spirit of Islam was forced to reveal itself infront of the cross as the most cunning one.

Muhammad could not grasp that Christ was the victor over Satan, death and all demonic forces through his death on the cross and resurrection. He was deceived. These evil powers used him as a false prophet to deny the historical fact of the cross and its possibility, so that Muslims should not realise that the evil powers are already overcome. The great deception of Muhammad was actually a defense mechanism of the demonic powers. They did not want the victory of Christ to be made known to mankind, including the Muslims. So they led Muhammad to say that Jesus fell asleep and died in peace as if the divine victory on the cross, had never happened.

"So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!

In our syncretistic age some liberal Muslim philosophers and humanistic and superficial Christians suggest that Muhammad never denied the death of Christ on the cross. These people claim that Sura al-Nisa 4:157 does not mean that Christ did not die or that he was not crucified. They say that he was not crucified by the Jews, but by the Romans. Judaea was under Roman occupation when Jesus lived there. The Jews had no right to sentence anyone to death. If they had killed Jesus, then they would have stoned him but never crucified him. These Muslim philosophers claim that the Romans were the ones who crucified countless Jews before the walls of Jerusalem and that Jesus was one of them. They try to please the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians!

Such hypothesis are syncretistic attempts to unite Islam and Christianity. They have no basis in Islamic thought nor do they correspond with Muhammad’s original aim. He could not tolerate the idea of a prophet being crucified in accordance with the will of Allah. This was impossible for Muhammad. Any pain and shame inflicted on a prophet was unthinkable to him for personal reasons.

Muhammad was a skilled merchant. He wanted to please the Christians and tried to put honey in their mouths. He tried to appease them after having denied the central Christian doctrine. He did this by confessing that Christ is living according to Islam. The grave of Jesus remained empty in Islam. Jesus lives! The idea that Jesus is alive is not only treated as a Christian belief. This fact is twice stated in the Qur’an.

Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

Sura Al Imran 3:55. Yusuf Ali.

Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-

This confession confronts us with a striking fact: Muhammad is dead; Jesus lives! The grave of Muhammad remains occupied. Many Muslims travel there to visit the sacred grave of their prophet in Medina and hope that his bones are still there. Muslim scholars do not teach that Muhammad is in paradise. He is still waiting in the intermediate stage (barzakh) for the day of judgment. Hence all Muslims must pray for Muhammad every day they pronounce his name by saying, “May Allah pray over him and give him peace.”

Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.

Muhammad is not yet at peace. He waits, as everybody does, for the day of resurrection when he also will face judgment.

Muhammad is dead; Jesus lives! Christianity is the religion of life. Islam is the religion of death. The founder of Christianity lives, the founder of Islam is dead. Whoever follows Christ enters everlasting life; whoever follows Muhammad passes into everlasting death and judgment.

Muhammad went so far in his recitation as to confirm to Christians that Christ is really alive, not in the third, fourth fifth or sixth heaven, but with God himself. Allah said to Jesus, “I will lift you up to me.” This is one of the strongest arguments, which Muhammad used to try to win Christians to Islam.

Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

These words are not considered by Muslims to be the personal thoughts of Muhammad. They are believed to come directly from Allah. These words about the death of Christ and his ascension to Allah are accepted by Muslims as divine revelation and confirmation of the everlasting presence of the Son of Mary in the presence of God.

Allah said, “I will lift you up to me.” This exceeds the promise of the angel Gabriel in Sura Al Imran 3:45 that Christ would be brought near to Allah. This would mean that Jesus now lives with the Almighty participating in his holiness and glory. In this unique Qur’anic phrase there is enough room for the Christian belief about the intercessory task of Christ as the high priest infront of the holy God. Yes, Jesus justifies and intercedes for all who believe in him. However Muslims do not believe in the interceding privilege of Jesus as the high priest, nor do they believe that the Lamb of God ever existed. They claim, in their Traditions (Hadith), that Jesus is in the third heaven together with John the Baptist.

Both will remain in the same level near Adam, far under Abraham and Moses. Muslims are not ready to believe even what is written in the Qur’an where Allah says, “I will lift you up to me!” However, sometimes, Muslim commentators affirm the sinlessness and state indirectly that he is the greatest of all prophets (al-Bukhari, Tawhid 19; Musnad 1,281).

Allah goes on in the Qur’an to tell Jesus, “I will purify you of those who do not believe (the Jews and even the Muslims) and I will set you and your followers (the obedient Christians) above all unbelievers until the resurrection day.”

Muhammad wanted to win the bishop and his church of Wadi Nadjran to Islam by stating that the Christians are a higher class of people. Muhammad had admitted in several places in the Qur’an that the Christians had special qualities, and a spirit no one else has in the whole world

Such persons as are covetous and commend covetousness to men. And if any turn back (from Allah's Way), verily Allah is Free of all Needs, Worthy of all Praise.

When the first Muslims were persecuted in Mecca, Muhammad encouraged about 80 of them to flee to Ethiopia. The Christians there granted the refugees asylum, cared for them and supplied them with everything they needed.

They even defended them against their slave-owners in Mecca and did not deliver them into their hands. However they did not evangelize the Muslim refugees beyond their humanitarian help and charitable aid. They strengthened anti-Christian forces indirectly because their aid was not accompanied by the Gospel. The believers in Ethiopia were obligated to help the Muslims with asylum but it was wrong that they did not evangelize them.

Muhammad wrote in his Qur’an that Allah had put mercy and loving-kindness into the hearts of those following Christ

Such persons as are covetous and commend covetousness to men. And if any turn back (from Allah's Way), verily Allah is Free of all Needs, Worthy of all Praise.

Muhammad had noticed that Christians receive a spiritual power from the Gospel of Christ to deny themselves and to have pity on persecuted Muslims, so that they protected them from the persecutors. The Christians in Ethiopia did not accept the presents from the rich merchants of Mecca and gained nothing other than refugees. Muhammad was deeply impressed. However he did not know that the apostle Paul wrote that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.

And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.Romans 5:5.

Muhammad had seen the secret of the Christian church, that the Spirit of God dwelt in their weakness, creating love, joy, peace, patience and other spiritual fruit in them. But Muhammad did not understand that the atoning death of Christ and his ascension to God resulted in the Holy Spirit being poured out on all repentant believers. He did not comprehend the secret of our Christian faith.

“He who has the Son has everlasting life. He who does not have the Son does not have everlasting life” 1 John 5:12.

Muhammad only sensed the spiritual reality and could not understand its roots and reasons. After Muhammad exalted the Christians he gave them a severe blow, too, so that they would not become proud. He let Allah say:

Muhammad was bitterly upset with all Christians since they had different opinions and creeds. One sect claimed that Mary was the mother of God, another considered her to be only a servant of the Almighty. Some churches emphasized that Jesus was the Son of Man others called him the Son of God or even God incarnate. Certain believers claimed that God could never die and speculated that Jesus did not really die in body on the cross, that he only appeared as a crucified one. However, others fought for the reality of the death of Jesus on the cross in all details. Muhammad was upset because of these deep differences between the Christians about their basic beliefs. He could not read the Torah or the Gospel because they were not yet translated into Arabic. He was relying on the contradictory testimony’s of Coptic and Syrian Christians; there was no unity among them.

Muhammad also noticed that some of the Christians considered themselves better than others. They looked down on certain groups, while others were clinging together and praising their own church as the best. In these verses Muhammad let Allah warn the Christians that he would judge them because they are not one. What a challenge for all Christians! Christ prayed that all his followers may be one, as the Holy Trinity is one.

21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:, John 17:21,22.

But Muhammad had to warn them, that Allah would judge them all on the resurrection day because they were not one.

Muslims believe in the resurrection of the dead on the judgment day. According to Islam no one can know the forgiveness of his sins before this final day. All the followers of Muhammad wait with deep uncertainty and fear in their hearts for this decisive hour. Allah will finally come to judge and divide the good Muslims from the bad and throw them, together with all the unbelievers, into the roaring flames of hell. Actually no Muslim is good as God is good. Therefore, all Muslims must go to hell. Muhammad confirmed this bitter heart- breaking fact by revealing,

What a terrible religion that declares that all their followers will end up in hell! Muslims have no assurance of their forgiveness, no certain hope that they will receive everlasting life. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in them and no divine Comforter assures them of their eternal justification. They have to pray, fast, pay a religious tax and go on pilgrimages, so that Allah may have mercy upon them after they have all burned in hell together. This is not Christian apologetics. This is written in the Qur’an itself!

Only the Muslim martyrs in the Holy War hope to enter paradise immediately after their death as a reward for their self-sacrifice for Allah. They wait in vain for the promised wonderful food, drink and sensual joy,

Whoever rejects the crucified One has no hope. Only those who love him and believe in him will understand what the apostle Paul said, “Christ also assures them that he who believes in him will not be judged, but has already stepped over from death to eternal life.”

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18.

After the Islamic explanation of the death of Christ and his ascension to Allah, Muhammad warned the Christian delegation not to doubt his message. He described the terrible punishment of Allah as his final challenge. The unbelievers shall be punished without mercy in this world and the next.

According to the Sharia all pagans must be killed by Muslims if they do not accept Islam. After ten thousand of them were slaughtered by the Muslim invaders they found that this bloodshed was horrific and senseless.

They decided that the remaining animists should be sold as slaves to the Christians and the Jews, so that the Muslims may profit financially from this slave-trade. The animists would then inherit hell during their lifetime as they were ruled by their Islamic, Jewish and Christian masters and in the afterlife as well. Slavery is considered to be the punishment of Allah for the unbelievers, according to the Sharia. At the same time, the Christians who bought slaves would finance the spread of Islam by enriching the Muslim slave traders.

These verses were not empty words when Muhammad recited them. He prophesied that all opposing pagans and unbelievers were committed to life-long hell and they would find no helper. This warning even includes the statement that Christ cannot help anyone who is not a Muslim. The saints will also not be able to help them. Muhammad himself would also not be able to help them if they do not accept Islam. When Muslims put pressure on Christians, Jews and animists they think that they are fulfilling the will of Allah.

More than fifty million Christians live in Muslim countries as second class citizens and experience a life of deprivation because they still believe in the Son of God crucified.

The crucial point in these verses are the words of Allah: “I will punish them personally with a terrible chastisement in this world and in the next.” Allah in Islam is not love nor is he patience. He only calls everybody to surrender to Islam unconditionally. If non-Muslims do not accept Islam, a terrible chastisement awaits them in this world and especially in the next. Christians and Jews who have not accepted Islam will roast in hell. Every time their skin peels off they will receive a new skin so that they can suffer everlasting pain.

Muhammad tried to frighten the Christian delegation with such words so that they not reject Islam and not neglect his offer. Muhammad had honoured them and even lifted them up higher as Muslims. But in the next moment he confronted them with the reality of Islam. The Muslims were ready to carry out the punishment of Allah if the Christians would not accept Islam immediately.

In the Qur’an, Allah’s sermon to Christ ends with these terrible and frustrating words. There is no love of God, no offer of salvation, no promise of a new heart nor a divine spirit for the believers, only threatening and frightening words to non-Muslims. Not by love, free will or inner agreement should they surrender to Allah but out of fear and sheer horror. This was the “divine” challenge to the Christian delegation from Wadi Nadjran. Islam means nothing more and nothing less than submission or surrender to Allah and his executive ambassador.

When Muhammad had finished reciting his speech supposedly given by Allah, his listeners were left with a terrible picture of a merciless judge. He then turned the page and started, in his own name, to praise the Muslim believers and explained how they would receive wonderful heavenly rewards.

In verse 57 Muhammad claims that Muslim believers who perform deeds of righteousness would be paid their full wages by Allah. The divine reward is considered to be a payment of wages by Allah, as when carrying out a business transaction. Islam is a religion of commercial self righteousness. Everyone has to build up his own righteousness by good deeds. Allah is described indirectly as a merchant. If someone offers him deeds of righteousness, he will reward them with blessings. If no good works and prayers are offered, no benefit can be expected. Salvation by grace is illogical to Muslims. It would even look unjust to them. Allah would not offer the righteous by saving the unrighteous. Muhammad insisted that Allah does not love the evil-doers. He claimed this in strong words. It is written eighteen times in the Qur’an that Allah does not love sinners, but it is mentioned fourteen times that he loves generous Muslims, the faithful fighters and all who fulfill Islamic law.

Christians are included in the rejected category of unbelievers, who break the divine law, because they believe in the unity of the Trinity. The Jews are cursed for not fulfilling the demands of their covenant. Allah loves Muslims only if they do good. That means that they have to pray five times a day, they must fast in Ramadan, they should go on a pilgrimage to Mecca once a lifetime, give alms to the poor and strive for the world Islamic expansion. This is what Allah likes. Good deeds do not mean that Muslims have to deny themselves, to become honest servants of others. Good works means first that they should fulfill their ritual duties and fight in the holy war.

"And behold! I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me and Mine Messenger: they said, 'We have faith, and do thou bear witness that we bow to Allah as Muslims'".
Suras al-Maeda 5:111. Ysuf Ali.

If they refuse, be sure that Allah is your Protector - the best to protect and the best to help.
Sura al-Anfal 8:40. Ysuf Ali.

Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure.
Sura al-Saff 61:4. Yusuf Ali.

The Qur’an points out that Allah does not love the evil-doer. We read in detail that Allah does not love the unjust

If a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days (of varying fortunes) We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses (to Truth). And Allah loveth not those that do wrong.
Sura Al Imran 3:140. Yusuf Ali.

Contend not on behalf of such as betray their own souls; for Allah loveth not one given to perfidy and crime:

The Jews say: "Allah's hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief.

O ye who believe! make not unlawful the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you, but commit no excess: for Allah loveth not those given to excess.
Sura al-Maida 5:87. Yusuf Ali.

O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters.

Sura al-A’raf 7:31. Yusuf Ali.

If thou fearest treachery from any group, throw back (their covenant) to them, (so as to be) on equal terms: for Allah loveth not the treacherous.
Sura al-Anfal 8:58. Ysuf Ali

Undoubtedly Allah doth know what they conceal, and what they reveal: verily He loveth not the arrogant.

Verily Allah will defend (from ill) those who believe: verily, Allah loveth not any that is a traitor to faith, or show ingratitude.

Qarun was doubtless, of the people of Moses; but he acted insolently towards them: such were the treasures We had bestowed on him that their very keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men, behold, his people said to him: "Exult not, for Allah loveth not those who exult (in riches).

That He may reward those who believe and work righteous deeds, out of his Bounty. For He loves not those who reject Faith.

“For God so loved the world that he sacrificed His only begotten Son that everyone that believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life” John 3:16.

If God had not loved all the unjust he would not love anyone. No one could have assurance that God loves him, if God did not love all sinners.

“But demonstrates His own love for us, in that we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.

Every man and woman is an evil-doer in the eyes of the Holy God. This means that Allah in Islam does not love anyone, not even the Muslims, because he does not love the evil-doers.

Muhammad sensed from the countenance and reaction of his listeners that the bishop of Nadjran and his church members did not accept his revelation of his prophethood. They may have told Muhammad they could agree to certain points of his discourse, but that most of it was inaccurate according to the texts of the Bible or conflicted with them. Muhammad got upset and claimed in verse 58 that all his discourses was nothing but true revelation and wonderful signs of Allah. He called each of the Qur’anic verses a divine miracle and claimed that the angel Gabriel granted him insight into the historical events that was superior to what Christians found in their Bible. Where the Islamic angel Gabriel from what was in the Bible allegedly abrogated the relevant bible texts.

Muhammad finally cut of all discussions and inserted a decisive summary of his recitation in verse 59:

Truly the likeness of Jesus in Allah’s sight is as Adam’s likeness. He created him out of dust and said to him, “Be!” and he was.

What does this argument often repeated by Muslims actually mean? They told the Christians that there are three people, not just one, in world history who came into being without a father. These three are Adam who was created out of dust, Eve who was made out of Adam’s rib.

O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.

They ask thee about the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone): None but He can reveal as to when it will occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. Only, all of a sudden will it come to you." They ask thee as if thou Wert eager in search thereof: Say: "The knowledge thereof is with Allah (alone), but most men know not."

So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith: (establish) Allah's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah: that is the standard Religion: but most among mankind understand not.

He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?

(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).

and Jesus, who was born out of the Spirit of Allah. Thus, Muhammad tried to bring Jesus down to the level of every created being, claiming that it is not unique to have come into being without a father. These three according to Islam were created, not born of God (Tabari III, 295). But if we examine these three people carefully we find, according to the Qur’an, that Adam was made out of different substances, while Jesus was formed by the Spirit of God. Eve was formed from Adam’s rib but Jesus was the Word of God incarnate. Adam and Eve sinned. Christ remained sinless. Adam and Eve died. Christ lives. There are vast differences between the first Adam and the second even according to the Qur’an. Jesus is the Word of God incarnate and not mere clay.

Muhammad tried again, by argument, to convince the Christians that his message was of divine origin and challenged them to stop their disobedience and give up their rebellious spirit. Muhammad claimed that he had revealed God’s truth. However, the bishop and his delegation could not accept Muhammad’s man-made conclusion and rejected his message politely after the three day dialogue.

Muhammad got very angry about his unsuccessful attempt and recognized that he was defeated by the noblest and best delegation that had ever visited the Muslims in Medina. In his hatred, he demanded that they enter with him into the immediate judgment of Allah. He urged them to rush home to northern Yemen and to bring their sons and their wives back to Medina.

Then Muhammad and his Muslim community would also bring their sons and their wives and place them opposite the Christian adversaries. Both parties should approach their God immediately and urge him to illimenate the rebellious liars on the spot, just as the earth had previously opened her mouth and swallowed down the children of Korah who had apposed Moses, the messenger of God.

1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

2. And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

3. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

5. And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

7. And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

9. Seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

10. And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

11. For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

13. Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

14. Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

15. And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

16. And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:

17. And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.

18. And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

19. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.

21. Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

22. And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

24. Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

25. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

27. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

28. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.

29. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.

30. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

31. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

32. And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

33. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

34. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

35. And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. Numbers 16:1-35.

Muhammad considered the Christians to be liars, because they did not accept him as a prophet and did not accept the Qur’an to be the most highly developed, precise truth. This was the deepest contempt and disdain possible for Muhammad, because he deemed their refusal a reproach, treating him as a false prophet and a deceiver. To save himself from this suspicion and irreparable blame he claimed that he was right and that the Christians were wrong. He insisted he was revealing the full truth but the Christians were deceivers, always opposing and withstanding the final revelation of Allah. To prove his rightness he called the bishop and his delegation to undergo an ordeal to test the assurance of their faith and to shake them in their innermost conviction.

Anyone who wants to enter into a dialogue or discussion with Muslims should be sure about his own faith and know his creed well, otherwise he will be challenged and tempted in the deepest layers of his spiritual being.

The challenge of Muhammad to the delegation of Wadi Nadjran reveals another secret about Islam. Muslims have condemning prayers and try to destroy their enemies by cursing them. We should not underestimate the power of the Islamic curses, because it is a form of black magic used in private, political and religious confrontations. In 1992, for example, the president of Kenya rejected a Muslim, which was running for election. He called them slave traders when they insisted on registering as a political Islamic party. Since the president did not apologize for his harsh reproach they started a prayer chain around the clock in Mombassa asking Allah to kill the president and to topple his government right away. This lasted several months.

In Berlin in 1987 a Turkish Mullah challenged an American missionary who was successful in evangelizing Muslims to bring his whole community into a stadium. He would also come with his Muslim community. Both parties rallied for this prayer duel. Each group stood at a goal. The Muslims cursed the Christians for an hour with loud voices asking Allah to kill these deceivers on the spot. The Christians blessed the cursing Muslims and asked Christ to save them from their blind hatred. After an hour the voices of both parties became hoarse and all went home sad.

The bishop of Wadi Nadjran did not fall into this trap. He went home with his delegation having understood who Muhammad and Islam were. We should recognise that Muhammad did not just attempt to pray against the Christian leaders, but also included their sons and wives (note: the sons first and then the wives) in his curses. Muslims often think in terms of family units and not individuals. They direct their hatred not only on evangelists, pastors and bishops but also on all members of their family and communities. Whoever finds himself called by the Lord to serve among Muslims should put himself with every member of his household and his community under the protecting power of the blood of Jesus. There is no other shelter apart from Jesus himself. There is no power that can save us from the attacks of Satan, except the blood of Jesus. Don’t be afraid of the black magic in Islam because the blessing of Jesus is stronger than the curse of Muhammad. Whoever does not completely surrender his life, sins, time, money and interest to his living Lord and Saviour had better refrain from entering into a romantic adventurous service among hostile Muslims because it is quite dangerous to deal with the Islamic spirit.

4. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

The crucial discussion between the bishop of Wadi Nadjran and Muhammad in Medina had a bitter end. When the honourable Christians started to leave the town after the three day discussions, Muhammad challenged them again with a final message. He tried to hammer the fact into them that his discourse contained pure, divine truth. The summary of all Islamic truth, which he delivered again to the delegation was nothing other than the Islamic creed, “There is no God except Allah.”

This is the core testimony in Muslim culture, which understands itself to be theocracy. All aspects of life are centered in the almighty, omniscient and all-wise Allah. He acts like a super-computer who thinks, guides and decides everything. Nothing happens without his control and will. No one knows him and no one can understand him. He is the unreachable, far off, great and sovereign God. Men can only worship and bow down to him like slaves.

The bishop of Nadjran and his companions, however, had found a different kind of God in their Bible to this great Allah revealed in the Qur’an. They believed in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the near and personal God. He had bound himself to them, the justified sinners, as their Father. He adopted them and filled them with his Holy Spirit. The concept of God that Jesus revealed contradicts the Islamic Allah completely. Christians know who God is: “Our Father in heaven”. Muslims do not know their great Allah. The Christian God is unlimited love. Allah is, in spite of his mercy, only a just judge.

Bishop Abu Haritha b. Alqama, the Christian king Al-Aqib Abd al-Masih and the whole delegation began to leave calmly without having accepted Muhammad as a prophet and rejecting his Islam. Muhammad called them deprivers, spoilers and wrong doers, who would bring mischief over themselves and the whole world.

However he partly controlled his anger, and addressed them again, honouring them with the title “People of the Book”. He once again confessed that Allah had granted the Christians divine guidance and heavenly light by his revelation in the Torah and the Gospel.

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 Allah.

Muhammad recognised and even accepted that all the 66 books of the Bible can be summarised by the name “Jesus Christ”. Muhammad urged and implored the departing delegation again to turn back and discuss this unique person, the Word of God incarnate, in who all other divine words are concentrated.

However, Muhammad limited his confession at once, as if striking with a two-edged sword. Muslims cannot accept Jesus as a partner of God nor as the Son of God and never as God in person. They are unable to accept a man with a mortal body as divine Lord. Allah is the everlasting unique one. Muhammad understood well that there are few differences between Muslims and Christians except the divinity of Jesus and his coming to reconcile the world to God on the cross. Muhammad ultimately cut himself off from Christ, the only way, the saving truth and the everlasting life. He rejected the Son of the heavenly Father but continued to call the departing delegation back to meet once more around the Name above all names, Jesus. When Muhammad saw that all his cunning and persistence could not change the minds of the Christians he demanded a last affirming word from them that they, the Muslims of Medina, were the real and only Muslims, Allah fearing and Allah serving, like submissive slaves to their master. Their was not much of an answer from the Christian side. For three days they had tried to explain everything and had not been understood. They must certainly have tried to evangelize Muhammad, but he was not ready to deny his prophethood and refused to accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. He assumed an increasingly determined anti-Christian spirit.

This was the bitter end to a long and persistent discussion on both sides. There are enough dreamers and idealists among faithful and liberal Christians today who think they can solve all problems by discussion. This is not possible with Muslims. They are convinced that they are right and we are wrong. They see their faith to be based on divine revelation, which cannot be debated, only accepted.

As Christians we honour them, accept them as they are and pray for them, so that the Lord will open their hearts and minds. They need to know the reality of God the Father, then they will recognize the reality of their sinful life, too, and be ready to accept the reality of the complete salvation already prepared for them by Jesus.

We pray that the Spirit of the Lord will hover over all Muslims and open their closed minds and unbind their chained hearts until God can say “Let there be light. Then there was light.”

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

15. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

16. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

17. Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

18. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Acts 26:15-18.

Muhammad was an experienced oriental merchant and a genuine seeker after the truth. He thought that he had received a divine call from the angel Gabriel and considered himself to be the chosen prophet for his Arabs. He fought with poetic words, straight preaching, clever tricks and sharp weapons in order to win pagans, Jews and Christians to Islam. He tried to learn whatever was possible about the divine law of the Jews who settled in the Arabian Peninsula. He imitated the Jews for a while in their religious practices, and first asked all the Muslims of Medina to pray towards Jerusalem in order to win the Jews for Islam. When they mocked him and hid the full biblical knowledge from him, he persecuted them and crushed them, tribe by tribe, until there was no more Jews in Medina. As a result of the Jewish opposition Muhammad commanded all Muslims to turn from Jerusalem to Mecca during their prayers. With this turn he established their own Islamic identity.

Muhammad dealt with the Christians in a similar way. He honoured them for their kindness and mercy in Ethiopia towards the persecuted Muslims of Mecca. He also recognised that they were honest not wily, humble not proud. He was somehow jealous of them because he felt that they were a higher class of people (Sura Al Imran 3:55). He tried his level best to win the Christian delegation from Wadi Nadjran to Islam. He understood that if he could not succeed in winning these Christian leaders by clever arguments and borrowed biblical texts, he would be defeated spiritually. All Christians would then remain a threat with there advanced arguments and more educated lifestyle which were based on love.

Muhammad went in this argument so far that he tried to attract the Christians by offering them the legal right to exist as a Christian minority in a Muslim country. He confessed that they had received divine guidance and a special call from Jesus Christ, The Word of God incarnate. He tried to please them and tolerate them in order to draw them closer to Islam through signal kindness and tolerance. He revealed to them:

These unique verses contain a tremendous statement which has become the legal base for every Christian community in all Islamic countries. The Muslim law-maker considers these verses a divine revelation and a definite privilege for the Christians, giving up the need to become a Muslim. They could remain Christians in the midst of Islam.

The spiritual season for this paragraph of the Sharia is the fact that the Muslims consider the original Gospel to be a divine revelation to Jesus, the Son of Mary, which contained the divine “guidance”.

We read several times in the Qur’an that Allah guides whom he wants and misleads whom he wants (Suras Yusuf 12:27; Ibrahim 14:4; al-Nahl 16:93; al-Fatir 35:8; al-Muddathir 74:31). When Muslims accept the Gospel as the heavenly guidance they should realize that all Christians are guided towards paradise according to the determining will of Allah.

This significant statement is backed by another term, which says that there is “light” in the Gospel, light from the divine light. Muhammad did not want to confess that Christ himself is the light of the world or that his followers reflect his light as lights in the world, but neither could he deny that the holy light really shines in the Gospel.

Muhammad went further and confirmed that the gospel of Christ confirms the law of Moses as a subsequent revelation. He confessed again in this verse the central Muslim term “guidance”, now on the base of an interwoven harmony between the Torah and the Gospel. Why then does the Muslims suspect that the Bible has been altered?

Muhammad claimed that a hidden warning remains in the Bible and that only God-fearing people will understand and respond to it. Muhammad had tried to study the Torah and the Gospel and observed the life of the Christians and the Jews carefully. He recognised the spiritual fruit originating in the divine guidance and admired Christian conduct. He wanted to draw them nearer to Islam by his generous tolerance and crammed his clever confession with Christian phrases.

He called them “People of the Gospel”, a beautiful name if it means that they always spoke about the New Testament, being filled with its words and living by it Muhammad told some liberal Christians that they would be nothing unless they lifted up the Torah and the Gospel (Sura al-Maida 5:68). By writing this he, indirectly, confessed that he acknowledged the sanctifying power of the Bible.

Muhammad, the ruler, lawmaker and legal judge in Medina, went further and stated that Christians have the privilege to decide and judge the affairs of their community alone according to the principles written in the Gospel. The Muslims forced the patriarchs and the bishops of the different churches in the Middle East not only to act as spiritual leaders but also as political representatives, judges and tax collectors. The bishops had to agree to rule as independent barons, emirs and princes. They had limited political authority as long as they lived humbly and obediently under the Islamic law in the country. All church orders, family affairs, matters of marriage and inheritance had to be handled by the standards set in the gospel.

Muhammad encouraged the Christian leaders to be strict in their rule of conduct. He insisted that all Christians who do not live according to the Gospel would be considered as rebellious sinners, sordid fornicators and godless offenders because they were not meeting the legal requirements of divine righteousness. To be born a Christian in most of the Islamic countries means that one has to live under the law of one’s religious community.

No one is free to do what he likes but must live, marry and behave as a Christian. Other adaptations of the Gospel, such as shown by Christian “sects” of the West (like the Protestants) cannot be recognised. The bishop has to fight against such intruders disturbing his flock.

This limited freedom for the Christian community does not mean that Christians would be allowed to evangelize Muslims. This would be considered a offense worse than murder (Sura al-Baqara 2:218)! The Christians can only be Christians within their own walls and limits. Whoever steps over this religious boundary attacks his own community indirectly, which is expected not to evangelize Muslims. This is one of the reasons why bishops often forbid and hinder any Christian outreach among Muslims. They may even report such activities to the Muslim authorities to save their own community from severe punishment and attack.

Muhammad tried to please the Christians, so they would feel safe and contented under the yoke of Islam and finally accept it as the so-called “better religion”. Those who do not know the real Islam can easily be deceived by this apparent generous tolerance and freedom in limited areas. However Muhammad acted like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He tried everything possible to attract the Christians. He was convinced that Islam is the final and best religion and believed that every rational person would gladly accept Islam.

After Muhammad had tried his best by word, hospitality, granting judicial rights, limited independence and offering his high esteem to the Christians he became sad and deeply angry. He had to realize that faithful Christian leaders, dispite their sincere attention, remained Christian and did not convert to Islam. He felt and understood their refusal as a personal offense and disdain because they did not accept him as a prophet and refused to acknowledge him as a messenger of Allah. They did not obey his word or accept his Sharia as divine law. Their rejection was, for Muhammad like a defeat and an attempt to undermine his authority. He hated them increasingly and considered them to be his enemies. However, he continued to call the Christians the best among the enemies of the Muslims (Sura al-Maida 5:82) because he found them sympathetic even to their persecutors, and they sometimes even showed love for their enemies with no traces of pride. Muhammad marveled at the followers of Christ even in his hatred! As soon as Muhammad heard about the death of the Negus in Ethiopia he prayed the official prayer for the burial of Muslims for him which was meant only for faithful Muslims (Musnad III, 255).

However, to secure his own community and to assure his followers that Islam was the only true religion, he resorted to attacking all the Christians in the Arabian Peninsula and bringing them under the Islamic yoke. This motive may also have been personal revenge that drove him to these attacks. He had warned the Christians about the terrible judgment from Allah, which would fall on all unbelievers (Sura Al Imran 3:56). They did not trust his words. He concluded that he had to crush them in order to save Islam. Only victory over the Jews and Christians will give the Muslims the feeling that Allah is with the victorious.

After three days of inter-religious dialogue in the central mosque in Medina the bishop of the Wadi Nadjran church, Abu Haritha b. Alqama, their king, Al Aqib Abd al-Masih, and the delegation of sixty Christians left Muhammad and his Muslims, having refused to accept Islam in the end. They insisted that they had submitted themselves to Allah long before Muhammad came. But Muhammad did not consider their submission genuine, since, then they would have surrendered to him as well. It was only a question of time until Muhammad would send his riders to overrun and conquer this small Christian kingdom. He justified his right to subdue the highly esteemed delegation through a divine revelation, which offers one of the most negative statements in the Qur’an against the Christians and the Jews:

Muhammad commanded his squads to spread out in order to conquer one Bedouin tribe after another in the Arabian Peninsula. Jews and Christians, called “the People of the Book”, were also among those who should be fought against with deadly weapons until they surrender.

In everyday politics war is considered to be the last resort, to be used when there are no more useful arguments. Muhammad, through his commandment to fight against the Jews and Christians, admitted that he had no longer arguments left to convince them to accept Islam. Christians and Jews were more highly educated than Muslims. Muhammad had to conquer and subdue these People of the Book, so that Muslims would not be tempted to leave Islam and accept one of these two established religions.

Muhammad backed his decision carefully, theologically and legally, because not all Muslims agreed to attack the honoured, rich and educated Christians of Wadi Nadjran. Therefore, Muhammad pointed out to them that:

The Jews refused to follow this Bedouin religion because they followed Moses the spokesman of God. The Christians followed Christ, the Son of God, who opened the door to his Father for them and gave them the Spirit of love, power and everlasting life.

Muhammad concluded that the Jews, even though Abraham’s children, and the Christians, as descendants of the family of Imran, had to be fought with weapons until they were broken people living under constant pressure and painful scorn. Through this persecution they would be pushed to accept Islam. If they did not accept this religion freely they would have to accept it by force. The word “Islam” not only means a spiritual submission but also a unconditional surrender to Allah, together with subjugation under the political system under Muhammad.

Islam is not only a religion in the western sense of the word but also a state religion or a religious state with all its laws, intolerance’s and arbitrariness.

To this command Muhammad added three special punishments for the people of the Book, which should be carried out after their surrender to the Muslims.

What was the original ugly sin that the People of the Book had committed? Why had they enraged Muhammad to such a extent?

The Jews and Christians had not accepted Muhammad as a real prophet and did not consider Islam as a inspired religion. Muhammad’s religion and political authority and the very existence of Islam were at stake by their refusal. So, Muhammad felt he was obliged to subdue and erase these People of the Book from the Arabian Peninsula.

What was the exact accusation? He had against the Jews? He claimed that they called Ezra a son of God. There is no evidence in any Jewish books that any Jew ever called Ezra a son of God. He was a political leader who led some of the scattered Jews out of Babilon back to Jerusalem in order to establish the kingdom of the Old Covenant in the year 458 BC. It is significant that Muhammad linked his verdict with the one who established a political Jewish kingdom rather than with one of the prophets. He rejected Ezra, who had given the Jews their self-confidence back as a nation. Maybe some Jews honoured Ezra more than Moses but the Old Testament undoubtedly states, “Hear O Israel the Lord your God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:29,30). Their is no place for another god besides Yahweh in Judaism. Muhammad built his judgment about the Jews on dubious suspicion only in order to find a legitimate reason to attack them.

It was relatively easy for Muhammad to condemn the Christians. They confessed openly to him that Jesus Christ was the Son of God incarnate, with his divine authority, love and holiness. Muhammad held Christians in high esteem as about 100 verses in the Qur’an testify, however, he rejected his divinity and wrote 26 times in the Qur’an that God could never have a son. Muhammad calculated that, if Jesus was true God in the body of man, he would have been much greater than Muhammad, himself, the ruler of Medina. He accepted some of the arguments of the anti-Christian Jews against the divinity of Christ and also denied his redemption on the cross. He hated the idea of a crucified prophet because this would mean that Allah could also punish him in the same way. Muhammad cursed the Christians for continually violating the Islamic creed, “There is no God but Allah”, by confessing their own belief in the crucified Son of the most High and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The final curse that Muhammad uttered was a command for Allah to kill al Christians on the spot as long as they claim that Jesus is the Son of God.

There are still some idealistic or humanistic Christians who hope that a sincere dialogue with Muslims could lead to a common denominator between these two equal religions. They are blind to the reality of the Islamic spirit. As long as this curse against all followers of Christ is in the Qur’an and engraved in the minds of Muslims, their affirmation and admiration for Christians is either ignorance or deception.

After the success of the Muslim fighter’s attack, many Christians of Wadi Nadjran became Muslims out of fear or they paid tribute to Muhammad, who guaranteed them life, property and freedom of religion inside their churches. The following contract, dictated by the conquered Christians in Damascus by the Khalif Omar b. Khattab, indicates that the guarantee of protection signed by Muhammad may have contained for the Wadi Nadjran Christians, too.

“IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE:

“This is a letter which we, the Christians of Syria, are directing to you, Omar b. Khattab, O prince of believers. When you arrived in our country, we asked you to protect our lives as well as those of our family members and brothers in the faith. We requested you furthermore to guard our properties.

“(In return for these guarantees), we pledge not to build churches or monasteries; not to restore weak structures or to repair those in areas where Muslims reside.

“We have committed ourselves to welcome Muslim travelers and passers-by as guests in our homes and to host them for at least three days.

“We declare our obligation to hide no spies or foreign envoys in our churches or monasteries, nor to withhold information from Muslims which could endanger their welfare.

“We promise to provide no Qur’anic instruction for our children, that is, to give them none of our own opinions regarding the Qur’an.

“We vow neither to conduct our religious services out of doors nor to recommend this in our sermons.

“We agree to hinder no one in our religious community from following Islam, if that is his wish.

“It would be our duty to treat Muslims kindly and to stand when they sit. We consent neither to imitate them by dress or speech (that is, by their particular idioms) nor to call ourselves or our children by their names. We affirm neither to saddle our riding animals nor to bear arms.

“We shall not allow Arabic letters to be imprinted in our stamps nor do we deal in alcoholic beverages. We consent to have the front part of our hair cut, and not to display our books or crosses in Islamic areas.” (Abd al-Masih, The Holy War in Islam. Villach: Lght of Life, p. 49-51; al-Turtushi, Siradj al-Muluk, Cairo, 1972, p. 135-136.)

What does this commitment, forced on the Christians in Damascus in AD 635, mean? They were no longer allowed to build or repair their church buildings, because Muslims hoped that after a few generations there would be no more need for such buildings.

They had to offer hospitality to very Muslim, who requested it, to entertain him and care for his horse or camel for three days as well.

They had no right to teach their children their own interpretation of the Qur’an in order to prevent them from converting to Islam. Instead they had to keep silent when any member of their family intended to accept Islam.

They had to honour every Muslim in the street and public places, and were not allowed to dress themselves as the ruling class. They even had to indicate their lowliness by a special haircut and by the colour of the belt they wore.

It was forbidden for them to display a cross on their clothes, books or on the outside of their houses and churches. They were not allowed to sing with a loud voice or to conduct outdoor meetings or processions. They had to exist covered and hidden, keeping their heads bowed as a punishment for not accepting Islam.

Many Christians could not stand such discrimination over a long period of time. In the end about ninety percent of them accepted Islam and hoped to remain Christians secretly. However, the second and third generation was already fully Islamised.

Whenever one member of the Christian community violated one of these conditions, or when the Muslim leaders merely had the hint that the Christians wanted to violate the conditions of this guarantee for protection, the whole community had to suffer punishment. They were then considered rebels and enemies of the Muslims.

Precisely this happened to the Christians in Wadi Nadjran. Some years after the death of Muhammad, Khalif Omar suspected that they had not fulfilled every condition of the agreement to the letter. He drove the remaining Christians away from their homeland and expelled them from the Arabian Peninsula, allowing them to flee to the Byzantine Christians in Jordan as poor refugees!

On his deathbed Muhammad had demanded, according to a tradition of his teenage wife, Aisha, that no Jew or Christian should be allowed to remain in the sacred land of Islam. Muhammad understood that the members of these two religions had a more advanced education than the Muslims. They were more active in their daily life and worked more diligently and responsibly. They were not robbers, thieves or adulterers. Their religion kept them in love of God and in love for their neighbours. Muhammad felt a threat and a danger to his Islam in the very existence of the Christian church. So he advised driving them out of the Arabian Peninsula as soon as possible.

“It is not possible that two religions exist beside each other on the Arabian Peninsula”

The Christians of Wadi Nadjran had a written guarantee, signed by Muhammad personally. However, the Khalif Omar b. Khattab claimed he wasn’t the one who signed this contract, stating that Muhammad had died a long time ago. The last will of Muhammad orally spoken, was more important to him than his previous signature.

The history of the Wadi Nadjran church is traumatic, bitter and grimly unjust. They honestly tried to understand Muhammad in a human way and sent a honourable delegation to Medina. They sat with him in an open dialogue for three days, but they were not convinced that Muhammad was a real prophet nor that Islam was a better religion than the law of Moses and the Gospel of Christ.

They finally left Muhammad and his community with his threats ringing in their ears, and his curses prophesying to them that his revenge would follow soon. A few weeks later Muhammad ordered his riders to conquer the Christian kingdom, to prove that Islam is the victorious religion.

They had to pay a burdensome tribute to Muslims and to agree to live under the rule of Islam as second class citizens. They were finally driven out of their houses because the leaders of Islam felt that their existence as honourable people would always be a temptation to many Muslims. They had to run away stripped of their belongings.

Muhammad, however, did not actually succeed in his method and plan against the Christians. He was not successful in his use of Christian verses in his recitation to win the Christians for Islam, nor was he able to conquer with the sword.

Today over one hundred thousand Christian workers serve the Muslims in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf. A half million soldiers, from so-called Christian countries, had to protect the Kaaba from the attack of the Muslim dictator Saddam Hussein, who had declared a Holy War against his Muslim neighbours. If the skill and faithfulness of the many Christian specialists had not been brought the oil out of the Arabian sands and seas the Muslims would still be lounging in their Bedouin tents.

These days when Christian tourists walk in the mountains of North Yemen they find, from time to time, warm hospitality in open houses and hearts. Some of the descendants from the Wadi Nadjran church still live there as Muslims. They have asked the visiting Christians,“Why have you come so late? We have been waiting for you for centuries!”

There are references to various Arabic works which are helpful if a decision is made to serve the Lord among the Muslims. The need is vast, the harvest ripe and the workers few. Even people who call themselves Christians do not appear to be very Christian when they enter the Middle East preferring not to proclaim the name of the Lord. We do not have an excuse. The Lord, in Matthew 28, said: “Go ye into all the world”. He also said that if we do not proclaim Him before men, He would not proclaim us before the Father in heaven. He also said: “What you did not do for the least, you have not done for me”.

It is not a request, it is a command. Will we not say: “Send me Lord, I will go. Make me an instrument of your love.