From writings of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, The Promised Messiah
The Ahmadiyya Gazette, March - April 1992
It would not have been possible for me to have attained this grace if I had not followed the footsteps of my lord and master, the pride of all the prophets, the best of mankind, Muhammad, the chosen one, peace and blessings of Allah be on him. Whatever I have achieved, I have achieved by following him, and I know from verified reliable experience that no man can reach God and obtain a deeper understanding of His ways without following that Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be on him.
Now, let me also make it known that the very first thing you are rewarded with, after having completely submitted yourself to the instructions and teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is that you are granted a new heart which is always rightly inclined, that is to say, a heart which has turned cold upon the love of this material world, and instead it begins to yearn for an everlasting heavenly pleasure. Having achieved this desire, this heart is now fit to receive that perfect and purest love--the love of God. Because of your complete obedience to him, all these blessings are bequeathed to you as his spiritual heritage. (Roohani Khaza'in, Vol. 22: Haqeeqatul Wahi, pp. 64-65)
Khataman-Nabiyyeen Through the Eyes of Hazrat Promised Messiah (as)
Dr Rasheed Syed Azam
Al-Nahl, Summer 1995
According to the Laws of God Almighty stated in the Holy Quran, the door to prophethood in Islam will remain open till the end of this world (7:36). Only Allah has the power to choose prophets (16:3) and prophethood is the highest grace from Him and He bestows it on whomsoever He pleases (62:5). The rule now is:
And whoso obeys Allah and this perfect Messenger shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed His blessings, i.e. the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. And they are an excellent company. (4 [Al-Nisa]:70)
The Holy Quran is the Perfect Book (2:3) and is the Complete Law (5:4). Therefore, only an ummati Prophet can appear in Islam, who is obedient to Allah and follows the Khataman-Nabiyyeen, the Perfect Messenger of Allah. No new Law (Shariah) is needed but a true prophet is always a mercy from Allah sent to purify people and guide them back to Allah. (79:19-20)
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi Alaihislam
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi of this age was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India, who came at the appointed time from Allah in accordance with the Prophecy of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He was sent to revive the true Islam as revealed to the Holy Prophet by Allah in the Holy Quran. He was an ummati Prophet. During his life on this earth he wrote more than eighty books which are truly a running commentary of the Holy Quran and show his dedication to the cause of Islam for the love of Allah and the Holy Prophet. Under Allah's command he established his jamaat as Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam to unite all humanity in love and peace under the banner of his master, Muhammad Mustafa Sallallaho alaihe wasallam, the Khataman-Nabiyyeen.
The Promised Messiah's Sacred Writings
A person with even very little intellect and some honesty and fear of Allah can easily discover by reading the sacred writings of the Promised Messiah that he was indeed from Allah and his writings contain nothing but the truth about Islam in its purest form. What does he say about the Holy Prophet? A small sample of his writings is presented here for the discerning critic and enlightened readers:
The gist of our faith is: la ilaha illallaho Muhammad-ur-rasoolullah (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.) Our belief, which we hold in this life here on earth and to which we will continue to adhere firmly till the time that we pass on to the next world, is that our spiritual leader and Master, Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is khataman-nabiyyeen, the seal of the prophets and the best of the messengers. At his hands religion has been consummated which guide man on the right path and further on to God Himself. We hold this belief with absolute certainty that the Holy Quran is the khatamul-kutub, the seal of all divine books, and not an iota can be added to or subtracted from its prescribed teachings, inhibitions, commands and injunctions. There will be no revelation or word from God which may amend or abrogate or change or alter any of the injunctions of the Holy Quran. If anyone subscribes to such views, in our opinion, he ceases to belong to the body of believers and becomes a heretic and an infidel thereby.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 3, P. 170: Izala-e-Auham)
We do believe that there is none worthy of worship except God Almighty and Sayyadena Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is His Messenger and khatamul-anbiya. We believe that Angels, Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Heaven and Hell all are reality.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 14, P. 323: Ayyamus-Sulh)
It would not have been possible for me to have attained this grace if I had not followed the footsteps of my lord and master, the pride of all prophets, the best of mankind, Muhammad, the chosen one, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Whatever I have achieved by following him, and I know from my truly verified experience that no man can reach God to obtain a deeper understanding of His ways without following this Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Now, let me also make it known that the very first thing you are rewarded with, after having completely submitted yourself to the instructions and teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is that you are granted new heart which is always rightly inclined. Such heart loses all love for this material world and instead it begins to yearn for an everlasting and unending heavenly pleasure. Having achieved this sublime state, your heart is now ready to receive that perfect and purest love of God. All these blessings are bequeathed to you as a spiritual heritage because of your complete obedience to the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 22, P. 64-65: Haqeeqatul Wahee)
I have been made to understand that of all the Messengers, the one who brought the perfect and purest of teachings full of wisdom, and one who exhibited in him the noblest of human qualities, is the Holy Prophet Muhammad, our lord and master, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 17, P. 345, Arba'een 1.)
From a study of the life of the Holy Prophet, khatamal-anbiya, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, it will become manifest to every reader that the Holy Prophet of Islam possessed exemplary character with purest heart. He was ever ready to sacrifice his life for God, he pinned no hopes on men and entertained no fear of them. He reposed his entire trust in Allah. Having enslaved himself entirely to the will and pleasure of Allah, he did not care what hazards he would face and what suffering he would be subjected to at the hands of the idolators as a result of declaring to the world the message of the Unity of God.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 1, P. 111, Braheene Ahmadiyya)
When we examine with fairness and justice all the prophets of the past, we find that Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the Holy Prophet of Islam, stands out as the most valiant among them, the one who fully possessed all the qualities of life and was the one most endeared to God.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 12, P. 82, Sirajual-Muneer)
The Holy Prophet, The Living Prophet
For all the children of Adam there is now no Messenger and intercessor other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the chosen one, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So you should endeavor to cultivate true love for this magnificent and majestic Prophet and not place any one else above him in any manner so that you may be counted in Heaven among those who have attained salvation. Remember also that salvation is not something which is attainable only after death. Rather true salvation manifests its light in this world. Who is truly delivered? One who believes that God is Truth and that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is the intercessor between God and mankind; he also believes that under God's command there is no book of the status of the Holy Quran. And for none else God proclaimed that he should live for ever with his message and his law, but this Noble Prophet lives for ever.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 19, P. 13, Kashtee Nuh)
The Promised Messiah's Poetry: Love and Devotion to the Prophet
The Promised Messiah Alaihislam also wrote many beautiful poems to express his love and devotion to the Holy Prophet of Islam. Here are a few samples:
Thy boundless blessings of peace
Be upon Mustafa, O God;
Verily through him we receive Thy Light.
My soul is eternally bonded
To the soul of Muhammad,
I made my heart drink deep,
Of the brimful cup of his love.
It was because of you that we
Became the best of all the peoples,
O Prophet of God who
Is the best of all the prophets.
As you marched ahead of all the rest,
We too stepped forward.
Let alone the human beings,
Even all the angels in the Heavens
Follow suit and join me,
As I sing thy praise.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 5, Pp 225-226, A'eena-e-Kamalate Islam).
Our Perfect Leader
That leader of ours,
From whom radiates all light,
His name is Muhammad.
He is the one,
Who has captivated my heart.
All prophets are holy,
One better than the other.
From God on high he is,
The crown of all creatures.
Today he is the sovereign,
Of the world of religion,
The crown of all the Messengers.
The healthiest influence;
The purest, the most comely;
The most trustworthy,
The most dependable:
Allah this superlative praise,
Befits him alone.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 20, P. 456, Qadian Ke Ariya Aur Ham)
Al-Qaseeda
The Promised Messiah has written very extensively, about his beliefs and his devotion to God Almighty and his love for the Holy Prophet, primarily in Urdu but also in Arabic and Persian languages to inform all Muslims about his claim and to show them back the way to Allah through true essence of Islam. Al-Qaseeda, a laudatory poem, is composed in flawless and fluent Arabic and is a literary masterpiece in honor of Khataman-Nabiyyeen. This encomium has 70 couplets and is included in the part of Roohani Khazain, Vol. 5, P. 590-594, A'eenae Kamalate Islam. No one has dared to accept a challenge from the Promised Messiah till this day to produce such glowing tribute to the Holy Prophet of Islam in such an eloquent and elegant diction. The Qaseeda provides a unique spiritual experience to a discerning critic with a longing heart and a keen eye.
The Promised Messiah's face was glowing with joy, it is reported by his companions, when this Qaseeda was completed. Hazoor Aqdas addressing the Holy Prophet, conveys his salutations and love and obedience with such pathos and glowing tributes which has no parallel in human history. This empathy and the complete identification with the Holy Prophet of Islam in cause of Allah was the reason that the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that the Promised Messiah will reflect his second coming and will be buried in his grave. What a tribute! The Promised Messiah says (The number of couplet is given in the parenthesis at the end of the couplet):
O my beloved, you are the ending fountain-head of Allah's blessings and knowledge and the whole humanity is now looking up to you to quench their spiritual thirst.(1)
Those who seek and discover that the cups of their life are empty come running towards the ocean of your blessings filled by Allah's Grace.(2)
You are the spiritual sun who has brought light to the four corners of the world.(3)
Your face reflects the glory of Allah and His attributes find expression through your excellent character.(41)
Allah has bestowed upon you all the best and the highest qualities of man and He has perfected the gift of prophethood in your person as Khataman-Nabiyyeen.(46)
I have received the gift of spiritual life through you, O my Master and Perfect Leader, and I am nothing but your humble servant. What a miracle! How well he raised me to life.(62)
O Lord, My Creator, Your everlasting blessings be upon the Holy Prophet in this world and in the hereafter.(63)
Look at me, O My Master, with mercy and grace. I am your most humble servant.(67)
Now, no rational person will fail to recognize the truth about the Promised Messiah and his love for the Holy Prophet, khataman-nabiyyeen. The Promised Messiah appeared at the right time according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophet and completed his mission under Allah's commands.
Ahmadiyya Beliefs
Every Ahmadi Muslim, by the grace of Allah, believes that Jesus (Hazrat Eesa, alaihissalaam) was a true and noble prophet of Allah and he died a natural death at the end of his term on this earth and is buried in Kashmir, India. How long the mullahs will continue to wait for `Messiah' to descend from Heaven? Only Heaven knows! He never went up there with his physical body in the first place. Do they ever study and understand the Holy Quran?
It is also our true belief that the prophethood in Islam will continue as this view is supported by the Holy Quran, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet and reliable Ahadith, and all early true reformers and thinkers in Islam preceding the advent of the Promised Messiah. The appearance of a follower (an ummati) Prophet is contained in the meanings of khataman-nabiyyeen. We believe that the Holy Prophet was so great that his followers can attain the status of prophethood in Islam because no new law is now needed. Our God is a living God and talks to His chosen ones even today.
Conclusion
Those people who falsely accuse Jamaat Ahmadiyya and its Holy Founder, Hazrat Promised Messiah, alaihissalaam, to be disrespectful to Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, Khatamal-Anbiya, peace and blessings be upon him, do so without any fear of Allah in their hearts. For them it would be sufficient to quote the following verse of the Holy Quran:
Beware of the day of Judgment when We shall call people along with their leaders. Whoever is given the book recorded with his deeds in his right hand will be eager to read it and find that he will be dealt with mercy and justice. But whoever remained spiritually blind in this world shall also be blind in the Hereafter and will be even farther removed from the path leading to Allah. (17:72,73)
References
Roohani Khazain, Vol 1-23 (1984): 16 Gressenhall Road, London SW18 5QL (U.K.)
Selections From the Writings of the Promised Messiah (1988): Islam International Publications Ltd., U.K.
Al-Qaseeda (From A'eenae Kamalate Islam): Commentary By Hazrat Maulana J. D. Shams. Pakistan, 1956.
Al-Nahl, Summer 1995
According to the Laws of God Almighty stated in the Holy Quran, the door to prophethood in Islam will remain open till the end of this world (7:36). Only Allah has the power to choose prophets (16:3) and prophethood is the highest grace from Him and He bestows it on whomsoever He pleases (62:5). The rule now is:
And whoso obeys Allah and this perfect Messenger shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed His blessings, i.e. the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. And they are an excellent company. (4 [Al-Nisa]:70)
The Holy Quran is the Perfect Book (2:3) and is the Complete Law (5:4). Therefore, only an ummati Prophet can appear in Islam, who is obedient to Allah and follows the Khataman-Nabiyyeen, the Perfect Messenger of Allah. No new Law (Shariah) is needed but a true prophet is always a mercy from Allah sent to purify people and guide them back to Allah. (79:19-20)
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi Alaihislam
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi of this age was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India, who came at the appointed time from Allah in accordance with the Prophecy of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He was sent to revive the true Islam as revealed to the Holy Prophet by Allah in the Holy Quran. He was an ummati Prophet. During his life on this earth he wrote more than eighty books which are truly a running commentary of the Holy Quran and show his dedication to the cause of Islam for the love of Allah and the Holy Prophet. Under Allah's command he established his jamaat as Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam to unite all humanity in love and peace under the banner of his master, Muhammad Mustafa Sallallaho alaihe wasallam, the Khataman-Nabiyyeen.
The Promised Messiah's Sacred Writings
A person with even very little intellect and some honesty and fear of Allah can easily discover by reading the sacred writings of the Promised Messiah that he was indeed from Allah and his writings contain nothing but the truth about Islam in its purest form. What does he say about the Holy Prophet? A small sample of his writings is presented here for the discerning critic and enlightened readers:
The gist of our faith is: la ilaha illallaho Muhammad-ur-rasoolullah (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.) Our belief, which we hold in this life here on earth and to which we will continue to adhere firmly till the time that we pass on to the next world, is that our spiritual leader and Master, Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is khataman-nabiyyeen, the seal of the prophets and the best of the messengers. At his hands religion has been consummated which guide man on the right path and further on to God Himself. We hold this belief with absolute certainty that the Holy Quran is the khatamul-kutub, the seal of all divine books, and not an iota can be added to or subtracted from its prescribed teachings, inhibitions, commands and injunctions. There will be no revelation or word from God which may amend or abrogate or change or alter any of the injunctions of the Holy Quran. If anyone subscribes to such views, in our opinion, he ceases to belong to the body of believers and becomes a heretic and an infidel thereby.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 3, P. 170: Izala-e-Auham)
We do believe that there is none worthy of worship except God Almighty and Sayyadena Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is His Messenger and khatamul-anbiya. We believe that Angels, Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Heaven and Hell all are reality.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 14, P. 323: Ayyamus-Sulh)
It would not have been possible for me to have attained this grace if I had not followed the footsteps of my lord and master, the pride of all prophets, the best of mankind, Muhammad, the chosen one, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Whatever I have achieved by following him, and I know from my truly verified experience that no man can reach God to obtain a deeper understanding of His ways without following this Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Now, let me also make it known that the very first thing you are rewarded with, after having completely submitted yourself to the instructions and teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is that you are granted new heart which is always rightly inclined. Such heart loses all love for this material world and instead it begins to yearn for an everlasting and unending heavenly pleasure. Having achieved this sublime state, your heart is now ready to receive that perfect and purest love of God. All these blessings are bequeathed to you as a spiritual heritage because of your complete obedience to the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 22, P. 64-65: Haqeeqatul Wahee)
I have been made to understand that of all the Messengers, the one who brought the perfect and purest of teachings full of wisdom, and one who exhibited in him the noblest of human qualities, is the Holy Prophet Muhammad, our lord and master, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 17, P. 345, Arba'een 1.)
From a study of the life of the Holy Prophet, khatamal-anbiya, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, it will become manifest to every reader that the Holy Prophet of Islam possessed exemplary character with purest heart. He was ever ready to sacrifice his life for God, he pinned no hopes on men and entertained no fear of them. He reposed his entire trust in Allah. Having enslaved himself entirely to the will and pleasure of Allah, he did not care what hazards he would face and what suffering he would be subjected to at the hands of the idolators as a result of declaring to the world the message of the Unity of God.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 1, P. 111, Braheene Ahmadiyya)
When we examine with fairness and justice all the prophets of the past, we find that Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the Holy Prophet of Islam, stands out as the most valiant among them, the one who fully possessed all the qualities of life and was the one most endeared to God.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 12, P. 82, Sirajual-Muneer)
The Holy Prophet, The Living Prophet
For all the children of Adam there is now no Messenger and intercessor other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the chosen one, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So you should endeavor to cultivate true love for this magnificent and majestic Prophet and not place any one else above him in any manner so that you may be counted in Heaven among those who have attained salvation. Remember also that salvation is not something which is attainable only after death. Rather true salvation manifests its light in this world. Who is truly delivered? One who believes that God is Truth and that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is the intercessor between God and mankind; he also believes that under God's command there is no book of the status of the Holy Quran. And for none else God proclaimed that he should live for ever with his message and his law, but this Noble Prophet lives for ever.
(Roohani Khazain, Vol. 19, P. 13, Kashtee Nuh)
The Promised Messiah's Poetry: Love and Devotion to the Prophet
The Promised Messiah Alaihislam also wrote many beautiful poems to express his love and devotion to the Holy Prophet of Islam. Here are a few samples:
Thy boundless blessings of peace
Be upon Mustafa, O God;
Verily through him we receive Thy Light.
My soul is eternally bonded
To the soul of Muhammad,
I made my heart drink deep,
Of the brimful cup of his love.
It was because of you that we
Became the best of all the peoples,
O Prophet of God who
Is the best of all the prophets.
As you marched ahead of all the rest,
We too stepped forward.
Let alone the human beings,
Even all the angels in the Heavens
Follow suit and join me,
As I sing thy praise.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 5, Pp 225-226, A'eena-e-Kamalate Islam).
Our Perfect Leader
That leader of ours,
From whom radiates all light,
His name is Muhammad.
He is the one,
Who has captivated my heart.
All prophets are holy,
One better than the other.
From God on high he is,
The crown of all creatures.
Today he is the sovereign,
Of the world of religion,
The crown of all the Messengers.
The healthiest influence;
The purest, the most comely;
The most trustworthy,
The most dependable:
Allah this superlative praise,
Befits him alone.
(Roohani Khazain, V. 20, P. 456, Qadian Ke Ariya Aur Ham)
Al-Qaseeda
The Promised Messiah has written very extensively, about his beliefs and his devotion to God Almighty and his love for the Holy Prophet, primarily in Urdu but also in Arabic and Persian languages to inform all Muslims about his claim and to show them back the way to Allah through true essence of Islam. Al-Qaseeda, a laudatory poem, is composed in flawless and fluent Arabic and is a literary masterpiece in honor of Khataman-Nabiyyeen. This encomium has 70 couplets and is included in the part of Roohani Khazain, Vol. 5, P. 590-594, A'eenae Kamalate Islam. No one has dared to accept a challenge from the Promised Messiah till this day to produce such glowing tribute to the Holy Prophet of Islam in such an eloquent and elegant diction. The Qaseeda provides a unique spiritual experience to a discerning critic with a longing heart and a keen eye.
The Promised Messiah's face was glowing with joy, it is reported by his companions, when this Qaseeda was completed. Hazoor Aqdas addressing the Holy Prophet, conveys his salutations and love and obedience with such pathos and glowing tributes which has no parallel in human history. This empathy and the complete identification with the Holy Prophet of Islam in cause of Allah was the reason that the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that the Promised Messiah will reflect his second coming and will be buried in his grave. What a tribute! The Promised Messiah says (The number of couplet is given in the parenthesis at the end of the couplet):
O my beloved, you are the ending fountain-head of Allah's blessings and knowledge and the whole humanity is now looking up to you to quench their spiritual thirst.(1)
Those who seek and discover that the cups of their life are empty come running towards the ocean of your blessings filled by Allah's Grace.(2)
You are the spiritual sun who has brought light to the four corners of the world.(3)
Your face reflects the glory of Allah and His attributes find expression through your excellent character.(41)
Allah has bestowed upon you all the best and the highest qualities of man and He has perfected the gift of prophethood in your person as Khataman-Nabiyyeen.(46)
I have received the gift of spiritual life through you, O my Master and Perfect Leader, and I am nothing but your humble servant. What a miracle! How well he raised me to life.(62)
O Lord, My Creator, Your everlasting blessings be upon the Holy Prophet in this world and in the hereafter.(63)
Look at me, O My Master, with mercy and grace. I am your most humble servant.(67)
Now, no rational person will fail to recognize the truth about the Promised Messiah and his love for the Holy Prophet, khataman-nabiyyeen. The Promised Messiah appeared at the right time according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophet and completed his mission under Allah's commands.
Ahmadiyya Beliefs
Every Ahmadi Muslim, by the grace of Allah, believes that Jesus (Hazrat Eesa, alaihissalaam) was a true and noble prophet of Allah and he died a natural death at the end of his term on this earth and is buried in Kashmir, India. How long the mullahs will continue to wait for `Messiah' to descend from Heaven? Only Heaven knows! He never went up there with his physical body in the first place. Do they ever study and understand the Holy Quran?
It is also our true belief that the prophethood in Islam will continue as this view is supported by the Holy Quran, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet and reliable Ahadith, and all early true reformers and thinkers in Islam preceding the advent of the Promised Messiah. The appearance of a follower (an ummati) Prophet is contained in the meanings of khataman-nabiyyeen. We believe that the Holy Prophet was so great that his followers can attain the status of prophethood in Islam because no new law is now needed. Our God is a living God and talks to His chosen ones even today.
Conclusion
Those people who falsely accuse Jamaat Ahmadiyya and its Holy Founder, Hazrat Promised Messiah, alaihissalaam, to be disrespectful to Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, Khatamal-Anbiya, peace and blessings be upon him, do so without any fear of Allah in their hearts. For them it would be sufficient to quote the following verse of the Holy Quran:
Beware of the day of Judgment when We shall call people along with their leaders. Whoever is given the book recorded with his deeds in his right hand will be eager to read it and find that he will be dealt with mercy and justice. But whoever remained spiritually blind in this world shall also be blind in the Hereafter and will be even farther removed from the path leading to Allah. (17:72,73)
References
Roohani Khazain, Vol 1-23 (1984): 16 Gressenhall Road, London SW18 5QL (U.K.)
Selections From the Writings of the Promised Messiah (1988): Islam International Publications Ltd., U.K.
Al-Qaseeda (From A'eenae Kamalate Islam): Commentary By Hazrat Maulana J. D. Shams. Pakistan, 1956.
The Excellences of Prophethood
From writings of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, The Promised Messiah
The life of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was a life of grand success. In his high moral qualities, his spiritual power, his high resolve, the excellence and perfection of his teaching, his perfect example and the acceptance of his prayers, in short, in every aspect of his life, he exhibited such bright signs that even a person of low intelligence, provided he is not inspired by unreasonable rancour and enmity, is forced to confess that he was a perfect example of manifestation of Divine qualities and was a perfect man. (Al-Hakam, 10th April, 1902, p. 5)
It is my belief that if, leaving the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, aside, all the Prophets who had preceded him had combined to perform the task and to carry out the reform which the Holy Prophet performed and carried out, they would not have been able to do so. They had not the heart and the strength which had been bestowed upon the Holy Prophet. If any one should say that this shows disrespect towards the other Prophets, he would be guilty of uttering a calumny against me. It is part of my faith to honour and respect the Prophets, but the Holy Prophet's superiority to all other Prophets is the principal part of my faith and my whole being is saturated with it. It is not within my power to exclude it. Let my unfortunate opponent, who is sightless, say what he pleases, but our Holy Prophet, peace be on him, performed a task, which all the others combined together, or separately, could not have performed. This is Allah's grace which He bestows upon whomsoever He so wills. (Malfoozat, Vol. II, p. 174)
The life of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was a life of grand success. In his high moral qualities, his spiritual power, his high resolve, the excellence and perfection of his teaching, his perfect example and the acceptance of his prayers, in short, in every aspect of his life, he exhibited such bright signs that even a person of low intelligence, provided he is not inspired by unreasonable rancour and enmity, is forced to confess that he was a perfect example of manifestation of Divine qualities and was a perfect man. (Al-Hakam, 10th April, 1902, p. 5)
It is my belief that if, leaving the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, aside, all the Prophets who had preceded him had combined to perform the task and to carry out the reform which the Holy Prophet performed and carried out, they would not have been able to do so. They had not the heart and the strength which had been bestowed upon the Holy Prophet. If any one should say that this shows disrespect towards the other Prophets, he would be guilty of uttering a calumny against me. It is part of my faith to honour and respect the Prophets, but the Holy Prophet's superiority to all other Prophets is the principal part of my faith and my whole being is saturated with it. It is not within my power to exclude it. Let my unfortunate opponent, who is sightless, say what he pleases, but our Holy Prophet, peace be on him, performed a task, which all the others combined together, or separately, could not have performed. This is Allah's grace which He bestows upon whomsoever He so wills. (Malfoozat, Vol. II, p. 174)
THE BELIEF IN THE UNITY OF GOD
This seems to be a rather simple and elementary concept. It should not be difficult for anybody to understand the oneness of God, and there the matter seems to rest. But in fact there is far more to this than meets the eye. When one examines the concept of Unity in depth, the entire world of religion seems to revolve around this pivotal point. This belief influences man's life in all its aspects. It also implies the negation of all else but God. So belief in the oneness of God is not the end-all of belief, but all other beliefs spring from this fountain-head of eternal truth. This also delivers a message of liberation from all other yokes and releases man from all obligations except such as are born out of his submission to God.
This article has been further elucidated from different angles, both in the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam. For instance, the declaration 'La houl wala quat illa Billah' (There is no all-encompassing power except Allah) opens up new windows for a deeper and wider understanding of Unity. It negates all fears other than the fear of God. The second part of the same brings to the focus of attention another very important aspect of Unity. i.e. that the power to achieve good is solely dependent on God, and that He is Master of all sources of strength and energy. Hence while the first part relates to the negative aspects of power, the second part relates to the positive.
In application to human actions, intentions and motivations etc., these two forces are all-encompassing. Man's intentions and his subsequent actions are always guided and controlled either by fear or hope, and there is no exception to this rule. Those who do good deeds do so out of fear and hope, and those who indulge in vices are motivated by the same. The fears of non-believers belong to the negative ungodly category, and they shape their lives in accordance with these worldly fears. Sometimes they are afraid of earning the displeasure of monarchs and authorities, sometimes they are afraid of society in general or of despots and bullies. Again, sometimes they act evilly out of a fear of poverty and loss etc. So, in a world full of vices, a large part of human actions can be explained with reference to these fears.
The belief in Unity dispels these fears altogether and brings to one's mind the importance of the fear of God, which means that one must not be afraid of the displeasure of the ungodly, but should always endeavour to avoid displeasing God, and shape one's life according to that fear alone. In the positive sense, the same applies to all human motivations and consequent actions. Man always lives by some motive to please someone, himself being no exception. In fact, more often than not, he works to please himself even at the cost of those who are otherwise dear to him.
A more exaggerated form of this attitude renders man a worshipper of his own ego. To achieve his purpose, man has to please those on whom his pleasures depend. As such, again he has to constantly strive to win the favours of monarchs, authorities etc. What we are describing is the worst form of slavery. The hopes and fears of a slave are completely dependent on the whims. pleasures and displeasures of his master. But a godless man has not one master alone. Every other human being in relation to his personal interests can play as God to him. If you analyse the ultimate cause of social, moral or political evils, it is such human worship which destroys the peace of man's mind, and society as a whole begins to deteriorate endlessly.
From this point of view, when you cast another glance at the fundamental declaration, that 'there is no God but Allah, the One and Only', all these fears and hopes relating to objects other than God are dispelled, as if by the waving of a magic wand. In other words, by choosing one master alone, you are liberated from slavery to all others. To be a slave of such others as are themselves slaves to numberless gods is a poor bargain indeed. But that is not all. The gods that such people worship are many a time products of their own imagination, which can do them neither good nor harm. Most men, on the other hand, worship nothing but mortals like themselves, their own egos being supreme among them all. Hence each of them bows to numberless egotistic gods, their interests being at clash with each other, creating a situation which is the ultimate of chaos.
The Islamic concept of Unity also inculcates in man the realisation of the oneness of the human species, and does away with all such barriers as divide man into racial, ethnic and colour denominations. This gives birth to the universal concept of equality in Islam, which is its distinctive feature. Hence from the vantage point of God, all human beings, wherever and in whichever age they were born, stand equal in His sight. As will be demonstrated shortly, it is this fundamental which gives rise to all other fundamental beliefs and doctrines in Islam. As briefly mentioned before, Islam's doctrine of Unity is absolute and unsplittable; it has no room for adding to the Godhead in any form. He has neither a father nor a mother, nor has He a spouse. For Him to give birth to sons and daughters is inconceivable.
Another important aspect of Unity of God as presented by the Quran relates to absolute harmony in His creation. It is this harmony concept which appealed so strongly to Einstein. He was compelled to pay tribute to the perfect symmetry in nature, which according to him required the oneness of creator. He was a scientist, and his perception of that harmony was limited to the material universe. But the Holy Quran speaks of the harmony in creation in all its possible applications. The Holy Quran claims that within nature, as created by God, and within the divine books revealed by God, there is no disharmony; that there is complete concurrence between one area of God's creation and another, and between one book and the other.
It goes further to declare that there is perfect consistency between the Word of God and the Act of God, and that there can be no contradiction between nature and the divine word as revealed to His prophets. This subject is beautifully expressed in the first five verses of Surah Al-Mulk, and is also taken up in many other verses of the Quran from various angles.
Coming to individuals, the belief in Unity plays a very important role in the education and upbringing of humans. It requires a consistency between man's views and actions, a consistency between his relationship with God and his fellow beings, thus binding creation in a single chain of unbreakable unity. This can be better understood by bringing to focus the practices of some so-called religious people, who preach hatred for one section of human society against another in the name of the one and only God. The principle of Unity of God is at variance with this practice, and as such does not permit people to create divisions between God and His creation and within the creation of God.
This article has been further elucidated from different angles, both in the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam. For instance, the declaration 'La houl wala quat illa Billah' (There is no all-encompassing power except Allah) opens up new windows for a deeper and wider understanding of Unity. It negates all fears other than the fear of God. The second part of the same brings to the focus of attention another very important aspect of Unity. i.e. that the power to achieve good is solely dependent on God, and that He is Master of all sources of strength and energy. Hence while the first part relates to the negative aspects of power, the second part relates to the positive.
In application to human actions, intentions and motivations etc., these two forces are all-encompassing. Man's intentions and his subsequent actions are always guided and controlled either by fear or hope, and there is no exception to this rule. Those who do good deeds do so out of fear and hope, and those who indulge in vices are motivated by the same. The fears of non-believers belong to the negative ungodly category, and they shape their lives in accordance with these worldly fears. Sometimes they are afraid of earning the displeasure of monarchs and authorities, sometimes they are afraid of society in general or of despots and bullies. Again, sometimes they act evilly out of a fear of poverty and loss etc. So, in a world full of vices, a large part of human actions can be explained with reference to these fears.
The belief in Unity dispels these fears altogether and brings to one's mind the importance of the fear of God, which means that one must not be afraid of the displeasure of the ungodly, but should always endeavour to avoid displeasing God, and shape one's life according to that fear alone. In the positive sense, the same applies to all human motivations and consequent actions. Man always lives by some motive to please someone, himself being no exception. In fact, more often than not, he works to please himself even at the cost of those who are otherwise dear to him.
A more exaggerated form of this attitude renders man a worshipper of his own ego. To achieve his purpose, man has to please those on whom his pleasures depend. As such, again he has to constantly strive to win the favours of monarchs, authorities etc. What we are describing is the worst form of slavery. The hopes and fears of a slave are completely dependent on the whims. pleasures and displeasures of his master. But a godless man has not one master alone. Every other human being in relation to his personal interests can play as God to him. If you analyse the ultimate cause of social, moral or political evils, it is such human worship which destroys the peace of man's mind, and society as a whole begins to deteriorate endlessly.
From this point of view, when you cast another glance at the fundamental declaration, that 'there is no God but Allah, the One and Only', all these fears and hopes relating to objects other than God are dispelled, as if by the waving of a magic wand. In other words, by choosing one master alone, you are liberated from slavery to all others. To be a slave of such others as are themselves slaves to numberless gods is a poor bargain indeed. But that is not all. The gods that such people worship are many a time products of their own imagination, which can do them neither good nor harm. Most men, on the other hand, worship nothing but mortals like themselves, their own egos being supreme among them all. Hence each of them bows to numberless egotistic gods, their interests being at clash with each other, creating a situation which is the ultimate of chaos.
The Islamic concept of Unity also inculcates in man the realisation of the oneness of the human species, and does away with all such barriers as divide man into racial, ethnic and colour denominations. This gives birth to the universal concept of equality in Islam, which is its distinctive feature. Hence from the vantage point of God, all human beings, wherever and in whichever age they were born, stand equal in His sight. As will be demonstrated shortly, it is this fundamental which gives rise to all other fundamental beliefs and doctrines in Islam. As briefly mentioned before, Islam's doctrine of Unity is absolute and unsplittable; it has no room for adding to the Godhead in any form. He has neither a father nor a mother, nor has He a spouse. For Him to give birth to sons and daughters is inconceivable.
Another important aspect of Unity of God as presented by the Quran relates to absolute harmony in His creation. It is this harmony concept which appealed so strongly to Einstein. He was compelled to pay tribute to the perfect symmetry in nature, which according to him required the oneness of creator. He was a scientist, and his perception of that harmony was limited to the material universe. But the Holy Quran speaks of the harmony in creation in all its possible applications. The Holy Quran claims that within nature, as created by God, and within the divine books revealed by God, there is no disharmony; that there is complete concurrence between one area of God's creation and another, and between one book and the other.
It goes further to declare that there is perfect consistency between the Word of God and the Act of God, and that there can be no contradiction between nature and the divine word as revealed to His prophets. This subject is beautifully expressed in the first five verses of Surah Al-Mulk, and is also taken up in many other verses of the Quran from various angles.
Coming to individuals, the belief in Unity plays a very important role in the education and upbringing of humans. It requires a consistency between man's views and actions, a consistency between his relationship with God and his fellow beings, thus binding creation in a single chain of unbreakable unity. This can be better understood by bringing to focus the practices of some so-called religious people, who preach hatred for one section of human society against another in the name of the one and only God. The principle of Unity of God is at variance with this practice, and as such does not permit people to create divisions between God and His creation and within the creation of God.
Faculties for seeing God can be developed in this very world
Hadhrat Masih Mauood (AS)
Ahmadiyya Gazette, July 1994
The Holy Quran teaches us that salvation is a matter that is manifested in this very life as He has said:
`He who is blind in this world will be blind in the hereafter also. (17:73)
This means that a person takes with him from this world the faculties for seeing God and the means of eternal salvation. He has repeatedly indicated that the means of man's attaining salvation is eternal as God Himself is eternal. It is not that after a time He recalled that if men cannot attain salvation by any other means, He should bestow salvation on them by killing Himself. A person can be described as having attained salvation when all his passions are consumed and God's will becomes his will and he becomes so devoted to God out of love that nothing remains his and everything becomes God's. All his words and deeds and movements and designs should be for God and he should perceive in his heart that all his delights are now in God and that a moment's separation from God means death for him. He should be so inebriated with the love of God that everything beside God should be naught in his estimation. If the whole world should attack him with swords and should seek to separate him from God through fear, he should remain steadfast like a firm mountain. The fire of perfect love should flare up within him and he should hate sin. As other people love their children and wives and friends so that their love pervades their hearts, and the death of any of them distresses them so much as if it was their own death, that type of love and indeed a greater love should be generated in his heart for God, so much so that he should become like an insane person in the grip of that love and should be ready to endure every torment and every wound for the sake of that love so that God Almighty may be pleased with him.
When a person is overcome to this degree by his love of God, all his passions are burnt up by the fire of love and a great revolution takes place in his nature and he is bestowed a heart that he did not posses before, and is bestowed eyes that he did not have before, and he is so much affected by certainty that he begins to see God in this very world. That burning sensation for the world with which the nature of the worldly is afflicted like hell, is totally removed from him and he is bestowed a life of comfort and pleasure and delight. This condition of his is called salvation inasmuch as his soul falling upon the threshold of God with love and devotion finds unending comfort and the union of his love with the love of God transports him to a station of devotion which is beyond description.
(Article attached to Chashma Ma'rifat, 47-48)
Ahmadiyya Gazette, July 1994
The Holy Quran teaches us that salvation is a matter that is manifested in this very life as He has said:
`He who is blind in this world will be blind in the hereafter also. (17:73)
This means that a person takes with him from this world the faculties for seeing God and the means of eternal salvation. He has repeatedly indicated that the means of man's attaining salvation is eternal as God Himself is eternal. It is not that after a time He recalled that if men cannot attain salvation by any other means, He should bestow salvation on them by killing Himself. A person can be described as having attained salvation when all his passions are consumed and God's will becomes his will and he becomes so devoted to God out of love that nothing remains his and everything becomes God's. All his words and deeds and movements and designs should be for God and he should perceive in his heart that all his delights are now in God and that a moment's separation from God means death for him. He should be so inebriated with the love of God that everything beside God should be naught in his estimation. If the whole world should attack him with swords and should seek to separate him from God through fear, he should remain steadfast like a firm mountain. The fire of perfect love should flare up within him and he should hate sin. As other people love their children and wives and friends so that their love pervades their hearts, and the death of any of them distresses them so much as if it was their own death, that type of love and indeed a greater love should be generated in his heart for God, so much so that he should become like an insane person in the grip of that love and should be ready to endure every torment and every wound for the sake of that love so that God Almighty may be pleased with him.
When a person is overcome to this degree by his love of God, all his passions are burnt up by the fire of love and a great revolution takes place in his nature and he is bestowed a heart that he did not posses before, and is bestowed eyes that he did not have before, and he is so much affected by certainty that he begins to see God in this very world. That burning sensation for the world with which the nature of the worldly is afflicted like hell, is totally removed from him and he is bestowed a life of comfort and pleasure and delight. This condition of his is called salvation inasmuch as his soul falling upon the threshold of God with love and devotion finds unending comfort and the union of his love with the love of God transports him to a station of devotion which is beyond description.
(Article attached to Chashma Ma'rifat, 47-48)
Who is Allah?
''Listen, O those who can, to what God desires from you. And what He desires is only that you become solely His and do not associate any partners with Him, neither in the heavens nor on the earth. Our God is that God who is alive even now as He was alive before. He speaks even now as He used to speak before. And even now He hears as He used to hear earlier. It is a false notion that in these times He does hear but does not speak. But He hears and speaks, too. All His Attributes are eternal and everlasting. None of His Attributes is in abeyance, nor will it ever be. He is the One without any associate Who has no son, nor has He any wife. He alone is the peerless Who has no one like Him. And He is the One Who is unique in that none of His Attributes are exclusively possessed by anyone besides Him. He is the One Who has no equal. He is the One Who has no one to share with Him His Attributes. And He is the One no Power of Whose is less than perfect. He is near, though He is far and He is far, though He is near.
He can reveal Himself to Ahl-e-Kashf in personification, but He has no body, nor any shape. He is above all, but it cannot be said that there is anything beneath Him. He is on 'Arsh, but it can't be said that He is not on the earth. He is the sum total of all Perfect Attributes and He is the Manifestation of every True Praise. He is the source of all that is Good and encompasses all Powers and He is the source of all Beneficences. He is the One to Whom everything returns. He is the Lord of all realms. He possesses every Perfection and is free from all defects, imperfections and weakness. It is His sole prerogative that all those who belong to the earth as well as all those who belong to the heavens should worship Him.
As far as He is concerned nothing is impossible for Him. All souls and their potentialities, and all particles and their potentials are His and only His creation. Nothing comes into existence without His agency. As for Him He reveals Himself through His Powers, His Omnipotence and His Signs. We can attain Him only through Him. He always reveals His Person to the righteous and shows them His Omnipotence—and this is the only means by which He is recognized and by which that way is recognized which is favoured by Him. He sees without physical eyes and hears without physical ears and speaks without a physical tongue. Likewise it is His work to bring a thing into existence from nothingness.
For example, in the visions of dream you see how He creates a world without matter and shows you every mortal and nonexistent being as having existence. Thus are all His Powers. Ignorant is he who denies His Powers. Blind is he who has no knowledge of His profound and inconceivable Powers. He can, and does, everything that He intends to, except those things which violate His Majesty or which are in conflict with His Promises and Verdicts. He is unique in His Being, in His Attributes, in His Actions and in His Powers.
All doors to reach Him are closed except the one door which the Noble Qur'an has opened. And all Prophethoods and all Books of the past are such as now there is no need left to follow them independently. Because the Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) comprises them all and encompasses them all. And except it [the Prophethood of Muhammad (as) ] all routes to God are closed. Each and every truth which leads to God is in it alone. Neither any truth will come after this, nor there was a truth which is not present in it. And for this reason all Prophethoods have ended with this Prophethood. And so it should have been: for a thing which has a beginning must also have an end. But this Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) in its intrinsic beneficence is not deficient. Rather its beneficence far surpasses the beneficence of other prophethoods. Following the Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) is the easiest route through which one can reach God. Obedience to it wins greater gifts of Divine love and Divine communion than ever before.''
[The Will, p.12-15]
He can reveal Himself to Ahl-e-Kashf in personification, but He has no body, nor any shape. He is above all, but it cannot be said that there is anything beneath Him. He is on 'Arsh, but it can't be said that He is not on the earth. He is the sum total of all Perfect Attributes and He is the Manifestation of every True Praise. He is the source of all that is Good and encompasses all Powers and He is the source of all Beneficences. He is the One to Whom everything returns. He is the Lord of all realms. He possesses every Perfection and is free from all defects, imperfections and weakness. It is His sole prerogative that all those who belong to the earth as well as all those who belong to the heavens should worship Him.
As far as He is concerned nothing is impossible for Him. All souls and their potentialities, and all particles and their potentials are His and only His creation. Nothing comes into existence without His agency. As for Him He reveals Himself through His Powers, His Omnipotence and His Signs. We can attain Him only through Him. He always reveals His Person to the righteous and shows them His Omnipotence—and this is the only means by which He is recognized and by which that way is recognized which is favoured by Him. He sees without physical eyes and hears without physical ears and speaks without a physical tongue. Likewise it is His work to bring a thing into existence from nothingness.
For example, in the visions of dream you see how He creates a world without matter and shows you every mortal and nonexistent being as having existence. Thus are all His Powers. Ignorant is he who denies His Powers. Blind is he who has no knowledge of His profound and inconceivable Powers. He can, and does, everything that He intends to, except those things which violate His Majesty or which are in conflict with His Promises and Verdicts. He is unique in His Being, in His Attributes, in His Actions and in His Powers.
All doors to reach Him are closed except the one door which the Noble Qur'an has opened. And all Prophethoods and all Books of the past are such as now there is no need left to follow them independently. Because the Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) comprises them all and encompasses them all. And except it [the Prophethood of Muhammad (as) ] all routes to God are closed. Each and every truth which leads to God is in it alone. Neither any truth will come after this, nor there was a truth which is not present in it. And for this reason all Prophethoods have ended with this Prophethood. And so it should have been: for a thing which has a beginning must also have an end. But this Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) in its intrinsic beneficence is not deficient. Rather its beneficence far surpasses the beneficence of other prophethoods. Following the Prophethood of Muhammad (sa) is the easiest route through which one can reach God. Obedience to it wins greater gifts of Divine love and Divine communion than ever before.''
[The Will, p.12-15]
EXISTENCE OF GOD
The existence of God looks like an obvious truth to the believers, but to the non-believers it is, as if covered with seven veils. I have gathered some points from every day logic and some from historical prospective to provide a base to prove existence of God to the non-believers. I understand that each point that follows could be a topic for discussion, but I have tried my best to put as much as possible in a limited space.
All RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN GOD
Its an undeniable fact that all the religions on this earth claim to be from GOD. Hadhrat Muhammad (SAW), Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Baba Nanak and every religious leader taught people to believe and worship GOD. Although all religions have slight differences in the attributes they ascribe to God, but all the religions hold the common view that there is a God who has created this universe. History tells us that even those ancient religions that no longer exist in this world, they also held the view of God, whether they were in ancient America, or in jungles of Africa or in England, or in Java or Sumatra, or in Japan and China or in Siberia or in India. It is an important point that what's the reason for this thought provoking unity among so varied religions? In the ancient times people were not linked together through any means of communication or transport, then how is it possible that people living in isolation thousands of mile away from each other, held the common view about the existence of God? Many of the lands were even not discovered at that time.Even now it is difficult for two persons to completely agree on any issue, then how come this universal unanimity regarding existence of God? All these facts lead us to the only possible conclusion that not only there is a living God but also that God has always manifested Himself through some means to his men to make them believe in Him. Historians agree that if there is such universal unanimity about any issue then there is no reason to disagree with it. Another fact worth noting is that there have been a small number of atheists all the times, this proves that the 'existence of God' is not related to any psychological need of human beings. In this world, one can lead ones life without acknowledging the existence of God, though he will be attempting to close his eyes to the very obvious and clear truth.
WHO ARE THOSE WHO CALL PEOPLE TOWARDS GOD?
If we look at the life of all those men, who have called other people towards God, we find a surprising common thing about all of them, that they were very pious and righteous men. They were the people who were respected in their nations. They were true people, who spent their lives to guide people to the right path. They persuaded people to shun oppressing others. They taught to look after the poor and needy. They fought all their life against the unjust rulers of the time. They were invariably opposed by the people in power at that time, although They were highly honoured and valued for the purity of their character, even by those who later, on the announcement of their claims, became their enemies. It is inconceivable that those who did not lie about men, began suddenly to lie about God. They were the people whose lives were exemplary for others. Whether it is Indian Krishna, or Irani Zoroaster or Egyptian Moses, or Israelite Christ or Punjabi Baba Nanak, or Leader of the righteous Muhammad (SAW) who was given the title of Trustworthy by his nation from his very youth and who challenged his nation that he had led all of his life among them and Could they point out to any single lie or felony in his life? So all these righteous persons who came to this world at different times and places, all of them say one thing in common... "There is a GOD.... There is a GOD...." Not only they claimed that there is a God but also they claimed that He talked to them.
One may find great philosophers or scholars in the world who have done great works, but their work cannot be compared to the work of those righteous persons. Actually if we study the lives of those philosophers we find that no great deeds compared to their lofty sayings. Why is it that these great philosophers were not able to exhibit that righteousness which was shown by people from GOD? The people whose names I have mentioned above, all of them faced great hardships in the life due to their teachings but nothing could lead them astray from the true path. Their killings were planned, they were exiled from their homes and they were boycotted, but they never gave up their beliefs. Why did not they tell lie and relieve themselves from those hardships that were imposed on them just because of their true belief in God. Their lack of interest in material desires proves it that they were selfless people. When such truthful and trustworthy people are saying it in unison, that they have met with God, they have listened His voice and they have experienced his manifestations, then it really leaves us with no doubt. Even in this material world the people whom we know that they are habitual liars, when they go to a court and speak something under an oath, they are believed, then why don't we believe in those righteous persons?
EVEN DISBELIEVERS IN THEIR HEART ARE AFRAID OF GOD
Human nature in itself provides us with a strong inclination towards a belief in God. There are certain sins which human nature doesn't like to get involved in. For instance, relationship with Mother, sister and daughters, uncleanliness owing to certain discharges from body. These are certain things which even a atheist will not like to do. But if there is no fear of a super being, Why not to lie all the times?, why not to steal and commit adultery? What are the reasons that keep them away from these evils? If they do not feel the power of some unseen, then they should do whatever pleases them. Then truth and lie and justice and oppression should be all the same for them. Its only God's fear that is ruling on their hearts. Although their mind does not acknowledge the existence of God but the human nature created by God cannot defy it. So even an atheist at heart holds some view about God and judgment day. While in distress, everybody pray to a super-Being for relief. Why so, if they don't believe in that super-being, whom we call God?
EVERY THING IN THIS UNIVERSE HAS A CREATOR
If we deeply study this universe, we see that every thing culminates in a Creator. He is the ultimate and every thing is working under his guidance. If we look at different stages of human birth and growth, we see that as we go backward, we find we are moving towards weaker and weaker stage. Eventually we shall find that the growth starts from a clot of clinging substance. So human beings who themselves start from such a weak stage, how can they be their own creator. So it proves without any doubt that human beings are not their own creator. We see that if we start studying the birth process minutely, ultimately we will find ourselves at the limit of human knowledge. At that stage, all the worldly knowledges will reach their limit and will be totally exhausted about what had actually happened? So that is a stage where divine hand is working. Every scientist have to believe that all the processes of this universe ultimately reaches a point where their knowledge becomes inadequate or insufficient to describe them. Once somebody asked a bedouin that what proof does he has about the existence of God. He replied that if he saw excrement of a camel in the middle of a jungle, he could tell that a camel had passed through that jungle. Then after seeing so many different creatures in this universe, couldn't he tell that there is some creator of them?
IS THIS UNIVERSE CREATED JUST BY CHANCE?
Some of the people believe that this universe was created just by chance and they also try to prove it through science. But God says that all those things that happens just by chance, they don't have such an order in them. Different colors are used together to make a picture. If we just throw the paints on a paper, will they ever make a picture? Houses are made of bricks, but if we just throw the bricks in a pile, will they form a house? It is true that sometimes some of the things are made by chance, but a close analysis of the universe clearly refutes this 'by chance' theory. All right, for a moment, if we believe that matter was created by chance, and this world also came into being by chance, I will ask the readers to study deeply the creation of human beings, Is it possible that such a perfect being was created by chance? See the stars, the planets, sun etc. and then the creation of day and night. Every thing just fits so nicely in a finely woven net, doesn't that orderliness speaks of a powerful creator?
Even in this world we can easily judge the power and wisdom of a creator of anything by closely examining his creation. A good picture is painted by an excellent painter, a powerful computer is made by an intelligent team of researchers. Looking at the orderliness of any things tells us that how intelligent its creator is. God has given to every being an appropriate body and shape, so that it can sustain itself. God kept the food for trees in earth, therefore he gave roots to the trees, so that they can get their food. God made flesh as food for tiger, therefore He gave strong nails and teeth to the tiger, so that it can kill its prey and eat it. God made grass as food for horses and camels, therefore He gave them long neck, so they can graze it. God created lungs for human beings, therefore He also created air, so that they can breath. Human beings depend on water, so God created Clouds, so that they can take water to them. Such an enormous and perfect order could never have been created just by chance? Only a super-being could do it.
TRUE BELIEVERS ARE ALWAYS EXALTED ON OTHERS
God said that he would always exalt His true believers on others. True believers are always triumphant on non believers, they always overcome them. If there is no God then how are they successful.All the founders of different religions were men of weak means. When Moses called Pharaoh towards God, Pharaoh replied that which God was he talking about? "I am GOD" So God ruined Pharaoh, and made Moses as the King of that time. Incidence of Pharaoh has become an example for this world and also for the next world. Same happened with other prophets. Same happened with Muhammad(SAW). All of his enemies were defeated. All those nations of that time, who opposed him were conquered by him or his followers. The founders of religions did not posses those powers and means which ordinarily make for successful leadership. Yet it is inconceivable that an innocent person of ordinary accomplishments, as soon as he begins to lie about God, should come to have such tremendous powers that his teachings dominate all other teachings current in his time. Such a development is impossible without the help of a powerful God. Why were their prophecies and their promises fulfilled? No doubt there have been others, generals and dictators, who have attained to apparently similar success. But it never lasts for long, but the success which is foretold, which is attributed to God from the beginning, success on which is staked the Prophet's whole moral reputation and which is achieved in spite of the tough opposition endures for ever.
GOD LISTENS TO THE PRAYERS
God has always listened to the prayers of the righteous people of all the times. A non believer may say that it might have been by chance that those incidents happened that were prayed for. But the accepted prayers are different from the other ones. God not only listens to the prayers of his chosen one, but also He informs them about their acceptance. Many prophets have claimed about a number of things, and all those claims had been fulfilled, e.g their ultimate success is always foretold when apparently they were very weak and oppressed, but all of them succeeded ultimately.
REVELATION
It has always been God's practice to communicate to people of every age. Not only He talks to the chosen ones (Prophets) but also to other righteous people and sometime even to very mean and filthy people, just to show his manifestations. Sometimes, God foretells people news about future and sometimes also about next world. Many times He has revealed news about the events, that are to happen hundreds of year later. God told in Quran some fourteen hundred years ago about the great progress of Christians, which was to occur sometimes later. It was foretold that a time will come when camels would be no longer used. Even it was told that the transportation that will be used in future would work with fire. It was foretold that a time will come when people would die in large numbers by earthquakes, storms and rains, and wars would also bring large number of fatalities. And such large scale destruction would have never happened before on this earth. Islam is a religion, about which God has said, that there will be people in every century, with whom God would communicate, and this has come true. How it can all happen by chance?
UNIVERSE IS NOT FROM EVER
Some atheists claim that this universe is in existence from ever and it will last for ever. If this universe is in existence from ever, then it must have infinite source of power and energy, but we see that no material thing is infinite in this universe. The temperature of Sun is falling down, even the earth is cooling off. All the sources of energy in this universe are being consumed up and exhausting. So the world is approaching to its end as was prophesied by all the religions. It proves that the universe came into being a finite time ago and it also has a definite end. We know from our whole life's experience, that if we consider any process, there are only two possibilities, that a process is either started by some human beings, or it might be a result of some other process. If we move back in this tree of processes which are a result of some other process, ultimately we shall come across a process, which could not be attributed to any other process. At that place, we are left with no other argument, except to believe that it was started by some Super being. We refer to that super being as 'GOD', some atheists call this Super Being by the name of 'nature'. Actually just giving a different name to this Super Being really does not make much difference, they believe in GOD, and all they need is just a little fine tuning.
PRAYER FOR GOD's MANIFESTATION
All the non believers should think that if there is a God then they will be in deep trouble on the day of Reckoning and in the next world. So if anybody is interested in getting the true knowledge about God, then he should pray earnestly that if there is a God with infinite powers as the people claim then may GOD manifest Himself on him. May God show him the right path. If anybody does such prayers earnestly for 40 days, then we believe, whatever his origin, religion and country is, God will show him the true path and he will have no doubt about the existence of God.
All RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN GOD
Its an undeniable fact that all the religions on this earth claim to be from GOD. Hadhrat Muhammad (SAW), Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Baba Nanak and every religious leader taught people to believe and worship GOD. Although all religions have slight differences in the attributes they ascribe to God, but all the religions hold the common view that there is a God who has created this universe. History tells us that even those ancient religions that no longer exist in this world, they also held the view of God, whether they were in ancient America, or in jungles of Africa or in England, or in Java or Sumatra, or in Japan and China or in Siberia or in India. It is an important point that what's the reason for this thought provoking unity among so varied religions? In the ancient times people were not linked together through any means of communication or transport, then how is it possible that people living in isolation thousands of mile away from each other, held the common view about the existence of God? Many of the lands were even not discovered at that time.Even now it is difficult for two persons to completely agree on any issue, then how come this universal unanimity regarding existence of God? All these facts lead us to the only possible conclusion that not only there is a living God but also that God has always manifested Himself through some means to his men to make them believe in Him. Historians agree that if there is such universal unanimity about any issue then there is no reason to disagree with it. Another fact worth noting is that there have been a small number of atheists all the times, this proves that the 'existence of God' is not related to any psychological need of human beings. In this world, one can lead ones life without acknowledging the existence of God, though he will be attempting to close his eyes to the very obvious and clear truth.
WHO ARE THOSE WHO CALL PEOPLE TOWARDS GOD?
If we look at the life of all those men, who have called other people towards God, we find a surprising common thing about all of them, that they were very pious and righteous men. They were the people who were respected in their nations. They were true people, who spent their lives to guide people to the right path. They persuaded people to shun oppressing others. They taught to look after the poor and needy. They fought all their life against the unjust rulers of the time. They were invariably opposed by the people in power at that time, although They were highly honoured and valued for the purity of their character, even by those who later, on the announcement of their claims, became their enemies. It is inconceivable that those who did not lie about men, began suddenly to lie about God. They were the people whose lives were exemplary for others. Whether it is Indian Krishna, or Irani Zoroaster or Egyptian Moses, or Israelite Christ or Punjabi Baba Nanak, or Leader of the righteous Muhammad (SAW) who was given the title of Trustworthy by his nation from his very youth and who challenged his nation that he had led all of his life among them and Could they point out to any single lie or felony in his life? So all these righteous persons who came to this world at different times and places, all of them say one thing in common... "There is a GOD.... There is a GOD...." Not only they claimed that there is a God but also they claimed that He talked to them.
One may find great philosophers or scholars in the world who have done great works, but their work cannot be compared to the work of those righteous persons. Actually if we study the lives of those philosophers we find that no great deeds compared to their lofty sayings. Why is it that these great philosophers were not able to exhibit that righteousness which was shown by people from GOD? The people whose names I have mentioned above, all of them faced great hardships in the life due to their teachings but nothing could lead them astray from the true path. Their killings were planned, they were exiled from their homes and they were boycotted, but they never gave up their beliefs. Why did not they tell lie and relieve themselves from those hardships that were imposed on them just because of their true belief in God. Their lack of interest in material desires proves it that they were selfless people. When such truthful and trustworthy people are saying it in unison, that they have met with God, they have listened His voice and they have experienced his manifestations, then it really leaves us with no doubt. Even in this material world the people whom we know that they are habitual liars, when they go to a court and speak something under an oath, they are believed, then why don't we believe in those righteous persons?
EVEN DISBELIEVERS IN THEIR HEART ARE AFRAID OF GOD
Human nature in itself provides us with a strong inclination towards a belief in God. There are certain sins which human nature doesn't like to get involved in. For instance, relationship with Mother, sister and daughters, uncleanliness owing to certain discharges from body. These are certain things which even a atheist will not like to do. But if there is no fear of a super being, Why not to lie all the times?, why not to steal and commit adultery? What are the reasons that keep them away from these evils? If they do not feel the power of some unseen, then they should do whatever pleases them. Then truth and lie and justice and oppression should be all the same for them. Its only God's fear that is ruling on their hearts. Although their mind does not acknowledge the existence of God but the human nature created by God cannot defy it. So even an atheist at heart holds some view about God and judgment day. While in distress, everybody pray to a super-Being for relief. Why so, if they don't believe in that super-being, whom we call God?
EVERY THING IN THIS UNIVERSE HAS A CREATOR
If we deeply study this universe, we see that every thing culminates in a Creator. He is the ultimate and every thing is working under his guidance. If we look at different stages of human birth and growth, we see that as we go backward, we find we are moving towards weaker and weaker stage. Eventually we shall find that the growth starts from a clot of clinging substance. So human beings who themselves start from such a weak stage, how can they be their own creator. So it proves without any doubt that human beings are not their own creator. We see that if we start studying the birth process minutely, ultimately we will find ourselves at the limit of human knowledge. At that stage, all the worldly knowledges will reach their limit and will be totally exhausted about what had actually happened? So that is a stage where divine hand is working. Every scientist have to believe that all the processes of this universe ultimately reaches a point where their knowledge becomes inadequate or insufficient to describe them. Once somebody asked a bedouin that what proof does he has about the existence of God. He replied that if he saw excrement of a camel in the middle of a jungle, he could tell that a camel had passed through that jungle. Then after seeing so many different creatures in this universe, couldn't he tell that there is some creator of them?
IS THIS UNIVERSE CREATED JUST BY CHANCE?
Some of the people believe that this universe was created just by chance and they also try to prove it through science. But God says that all those things that happens just by chance, they don't have such an order in them. Different colors are used together to make a picture. If we just throw the paints on a paper, will they ever make a picture? Houses are made of bricks, but if we just throw the bricks in a pile, will they form a house? It is true that sometimes some of the things are made by chance, but a close analysis of the universe clearly refutes this 'by chance' theory. All right, for a moment, if we believe that matter was created by chance, and this world also came into being by chance, I will ask the readers to study deeply the creation of human beings, Is it possible that such a perfect being was created by chance? See the stars, the planets, sun etc. and then the creation of day and night. Every thing just fits so nicely in a finely woven net, doesn't that orderliness speaks of a powerful creator?
Even in this world we can easily judge the power and wisdom of a creator of anything by closely examining his creation. A good picture is painted by an excellent painter, a powerful computer is made by an intelligent team of researchers. Looking at the orderliness of any things tells us that how intelligent its creator is. God has given to every being an appropriate body and shape, so that it can sustain itself. God kept the food for trees in earth, therefore he gave roots to the trees, so that they can get their food. God made flesh as food for tiger, therefore He gave strong nails and teeth to the tiger, so that it can kill its prey and eat it. God made grass as food for horses and camels, therefore He gave them long neck, so they can graze it. God created lungs for human beings, therefore He also created air, so that they can breath. Human beings depend on water, so God created Clouds, so that they can take water to them. Such an enormous and perfect order could never have been created just by chance? Only a super-being could do it.
TRUE BELIEVERS ARE ALWAYS EXALTED ON OTHERS
God said that he would always exalt His true believers on others. True believers are always triumphant on non believers, they always overcome them. If there is no God then how are they successful.All the founders of different religions were men of weak means. When Moses called Pharaoh towards God, Pharaoh replied that which God was he talking about? "I am GOD" So God ruined Pharaoh, and made Moses as the King of that time. Incidence of Pharaoh has become an example for this world and also for the next world. Same happened with other prophets. Same happened with Muhammad(SAW). All of his enemies were defeated. All those nations of that time, who opposed him were conquered by him or his followers. The founders of religions did not posses those powers and means which ordinarily make for successful leadership. Yet it is inconceivable that an innocent person of ordinary accomplishments, as soon as he begins to lie about God, should come to have such tremendous powers that his teachings dominate all other teachings current in his time. Such a development is impossible without the help of a powerful God. Why were their prophecies and their promises fulfilled? No doubt there have been others, generals and dictators, who have attained to apparently similar success. But it never lasts for long, but the success which is foretold, which is attributed to God from the beginning, success on which is staked the Prophet's whole moral reputation and which is achieved in spite of the tough opposition endures for ever.
GOD LISTENS TO THE PRAYERS
God has always listened to the prayers of the righteous people of all the times. A non believer may say that it might have been by chance that those incidents happened that were prayed for. But the accepted prayers are different from the other ones. God not only listens to the prayers of his chosen one, but also He informs them about their acceptance. Many prophets have claimed about a number of things, and all those claims had been fulfilled, e.g their ultimate success is always foretold when apparently they were very weak and oppressed, but all of them succeeded ultimately.
REVELATION
It has always been God's practice to communicate to people of every age. Not only He talks to the chosen ones (Prophets) but also to other righteous people and sometime even to very mean and filthy people, just to show his manifestations. Sometimes, God foretells people news about future and sometimes also about next world. Many times He has revealed news about the events, that are to happen hundreds of year later. God told in Quran some fourteen hundred years ago about the great progress of Christians, which was to occur sometimes later. It was foretold that a time will come when camels would be no longer used. Even it was told that the transportation that will be used in future would work with fire. It was foretold that a time will come when people would die in large numbers by earthquakes, storms and rains, and wars would also bring large number of fatalities. And such large scale destruction would have never happened before on this earth. Islam is a religion, about which God has said, that there will be people in every century, with whom God would communicate, and this has come true. How it can all happen by chance?
UNIVERSE IS NOT FROM EVER
Some atheists claim that this universe is in existence from ever and it will last for ever. If this universe is in existence from ever, then it must have infinite source of power and energy, but we see that no material thing is infinite in this universe. The temperature of Sun is falling down, even the earth is cooling off. All the sources of energy in this universe are being consumed up and exhausting. So the world is approaching to its end as was prophesied by all the religions. It proves that the universe came into being a finite time ago and it also has a definite end. We know from our whole life's experience, that if we consider any process, there are only two possibilities, that a process is either started by some human beings, or it might be a result of some other process. If we move back in this tree of processes which are a result of some other process, ultimately we shall come across a process, which could not be attributed to any other process. At that place, we are left with no other argument, except to believe that it was started by some Super being. We refer to that super being as 'GOD', some atheists call this Super Being by the name of 'nature'. Actually just giving a different name to this Super Being really does not make much difference, they believe in GOD, and all they need is just a little fine tuning.
PRAYER FOR GOD's MANIFESTATION
All the non believers should think that if there is a God then they will be in deep trouble on the day of Reckoning and in the next world. So if anybody is interested in getting the true knowledge about God, then he should pray earnestly that if there is a God with infinite powers as the people claim then may GOD manifest Himself on him. May God show him the right path. If anybody does such prayers earnestly for 40 days, then we believe, whatever his origin, religion and country is, God will show him the true path and he will have no doubt about the existence of God.
THE PURPOSE OF CREATION
Though different people, on account of their shortsightedness or lack of courage, appoint various types of objectives for their lives and stop short at worldly purposes and desires, yet the purpose that God Almighty has specified in His Holy Word is: I have created jinn and men so that they should worship me (51: 57) . According to this verse the true purpose of human life is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and devotion to Him. It is obvious that it is not open to man that he should himself appoint the purpose of his life by his own authority inasmuch as man does not arrive in the world of his own will, nor will he depart from this world of his own will. He is a created being and He Who created him and bestowed upon him better and higher faculties than those bestowed upon other animates, has appointed a purpose for his life. Whether anyone comprehends that purpose or not, without doubt the purpose of man's creation is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and to lose himself in Him (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, p. 100).
We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it. But man undertook it. Indeed he is capable of forcing himself to obey, disregardful of consequences (33: 73). This means that the Divine Trust, by which are meant the love of God and complete obedience to Him, was offered to the angels and the whole of creation and the mountains, all apparently full of strength, but they all refused to undertake it, being afraid of its grandeur. But man undertook it for he possessed two qualities, that he could force himself in the cause of God Almighty and could advance so far in love of Him as to forget altogether everything else (Tauzeeh Maram, pp. 27-28).
The real purpose of all the external and internal limbs and faculties that have been bestowed on man is understanding and worship and love of God. That is why, despite a thousand occupations, man does not find his true well being except in God Almighty. Having acquired great wealth, or achieved high office, or having become a great merchant, or having acquired governing authority, or become a great philosopher, he departs in the end from these worldly involvements with a sense of frustration. His heart rebukes him all the time about his deep concern with the world and his conscience never approves his wiles and deceits and wrongful actions. This problem can be appreciated in another way. The purpose of the creation of a thing is determined by its highest achievement beyond which its faculties cannot rise. For instance, the highest a bullock is capable of is ploughing, or irrigation, or transportation, and therefore these are the purpose of its life and it cannot rise above them. But when we take stock of man's faculties and powers to discover his highest capacity, we find that he is invested with the faculty of seeking after God so much so that he desires that he should become so devoted to God's love that he should have nothing of his own and that everything should become God's. He shares his natural needs like food and drink and rest with other animates, and in industry some animals are ahead of him; for instance, the bees produce such excellent honey from every type of flower that man has so far not been able to compete with them. It is clear, therefore, that the highest capacity of man is meeting with God Almighty and thus the true purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open towards God.
How To Achieve The Purpose Of Life
The question is how and through what means can man achieve this purpose? The principal means for achieving this purpose is the correct recognition of and faith in the True God. If this first step is wrongly taken and a person sets up a bird, or an animal, or any of the elements, or a human being as his god, it cannot be expected that his subsequent steps would be taken along the straight path. The True God helps His seekers; but that which is dead cannot help the dead. As the Holy Quran says: Unto Him is the true prayer. Those on whom they call beside Him, do not respond to them at all. Their case is like that of one who stretches forth his hands towards water that it may reach his mouth, but it reaches it not. The prayer of the disbelievers is but a delusion (13: 15).
Second Means
The second means of achieving the true purpose of life is to become aware of the perfect beauty of God Almighty, for beauty is something which naturally attracts the hearts and generates love. The beauty of God Almighty is His Unity and His Greatness and His other attributes, as the Holy Quran says: Proclaim: He is Allah, the Single; Allah, the Self-Existing and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. (12: 2-5). This means that in His Being and His attributes and His Glory, God is One without associate. All are dependent upon Him and every particle derives its life from Him. He is the Source of grace for everything and receives no grace from anything. He is neither a son nor a father for none is equal to Him. The Holy Quran repeatedly draws attention to God's perfection and greatness and points out that such God is the Besought of all hearts and not one who is dead or weak or lacks mercy or power.
Third Means
The third means of achieving the purpose of life is to become aware of the benevolence of God Almighty for love is generated by beauty and benevolence. The benevolent attributes of God Almighty are set forth briefly in the Surah Fatihah, where it is said: All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment (1:2-4). It is obvious that the perfection of benevolence consists in that God Almighty created His servants from nothing and thereafter His Providence was bestowed upon them and He became the support of everything, and all types of His mercy were manifested for His servants. His benevolence is without limit and beyond count as is repeatedly set forth in the Holy Quran, as, for instance: If you try to number the bounties of Allah, you will not be able to count them (14:35).
Fourth Means
The fourth means of achieving the true purpose is Prayer, as is said: Call on Me, I shall respond to you (40:61). There is repeated urge towards Prayer, so that man should achieve his purpose not through his own power, but through God's power.
Fifth Means
The fifth means of achieving the purpose of life is striving in the cause of Allah with one's property and one's faculties and one's life and one's reason, as is it said: Strive in the cause of Allah with your properties and your lives (9:42); and it is said: They spend out of whatsoever We have bestowed upon them (2: 4); and it is said: Those who strive after Us shall We guide along the paths that lead to Us (29: 70).
Sixth Means
The sixth means for achieving the purpose of life is steadfastness; that is to say, that a seeker should not become tired and should not be daunted by trials, as it is said: On them who affirm: Our Lord is Allah; and then remain steadfast, angels descend, re-assuring them: Fear not, nor grieve, and rejoice in the Garden that you were promised. We are your friends in this life and in the hereafter (41: 31-32). This is an indication that the pleasure of God Almighty is won through steadfastness. It is true that steadfastness is more than a miracle. Steadfastness is that one should find oneself surrounded on all sides by calamities and one should find one's life and honour in danger and nothing comforting should be available, so much so, that God Almighty should stop comforting visions and dreams and revelation and should leave one in the midst of terrifying fears, but that at such a time, one should not abandon courage and should not step back like a coward and should not let one's fidelity be weakened. One's sincerity and loyalty should not be shaken, one should be pleased with the humiliation, one should be reconciled to death, one should not await the support of a friend, one should not seek glad tidings from God, because of one's delicate situation, and one should stand up straight despite helplessness and weakness and the lack of every comfort. One should stretch forth one's neck, saying: Whatever is to happen, let it happen; one should face courageously whatever has been determined and one should not be impatient nor complain till the trial is completed. This is the steadfastness through which one wins God. This is that the perfume of which is given forth by the dust of Messengers, Prophets, siddiqs and martyrs. This is indicated in the prayer: Guide us along the straight path, the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours (1: 6-7); meaning, show us the path of steadfastness by treading along which one wins Thy bounties and favours and Thou art pleased. This is also indicated in another verse: Our Lord pour down upon us steadfastness and cause us to die in a state of submission to Thee (7:127); meaning, Lord: at this time of trial send down upon our hearts the comfort that should make us steadfast and do Thou so ordain that we should die in a state of submission to Thee. At the time of trials and misfortune, God Almighty causes a light to descend upon the hearts of those who are dear to Him, being strengthened by which they face misfortunes calmly and, out of the sweetness of their faith, they kiss the chains that are put round their feet in His cause. When calamities descend upon a man of God and signs of death appear, he does not contend with his Lord that He might be safeguarded against them, inasmuch as to persist at such a time in supplications for security amounts to fighting God Almighty and is contrary to complete submission. A true lover advances forward at a time of calamity and holding life as nothing, and saying goodbye to love of it, submits himself completely to the will of his Lord and seeks only His pleasure. Concerning such people, God, the Glorious, says: Of the people there are those who dedicate themselves to seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Most Compassionate towards such devoted servants (2: 208) That is the spirit of steadfastness through which one meets God.
Seventh means
The seventh means of achieving the purpose of life is keeping company with the righteous and to follow their example. One of the needs of the advent of Prophets is that man naturally seeks a perfect example, for it fosters eagerness and resolve. He who does not follow a good example becomes slothful and goes astray. This is indicated in the verse: Keep company with the righteous (9: 119); and: The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours (1:7).
Eighth Means
The eighth means of achieving the purpose of life are pure visions and dreams and revelation from God Almighty. To travel towards God is to tread upon a very delicate path which is attended by diverse types of calamities and sufferings. It is possible that a person may be overtaken by forgetfulness in pursuing this unfamiliar path or may give up hope and should abandon further advance. Therefore, the mercy of God Almighty seeks to comfort him in his progress in this journey and strengthen his heart and to uphold his resolve and to increase his eagerness. Thus it is God’s way that from time to time he comforts those who are voyaging along this path with His revelation and manifests to them that He is with them. Thus strengthened, they perform this journey with great eagerness. He has said: For them are glad tidings in this world and in the hereafter (10:65).
There are several other means for achieving the purpose of life which the Holy Quran has set out, but considerations of space forbid us setting them out here (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, pp. 101--108).
A question is raised that God Almighty being Gracious and Benevolent, His direction that man should worship Him is for the benefit of man and not that it adds in any way to God's honour. It is true that through the worship of God man's own welfare is intended, yet the Rabubiyyat of God Almighty demands that avoiding evil and devoting himself to His worship and obedience, he should achieve his good fortune. If he does not wish to follow that path His wrath is aroused not for His own sake, but for his sake and He subjects him to diverse types of warnings and admonitions. If he still does not take heed, he is consumed in the fire of rejection and of despair. It is not permissible that anyone should say to Him: Why do You bother about what would harm me or benefit me? Why do You admonish us and send revealed Books and punish us? If we worship You, it would be for our own good and if we do not worship You, we shall suffer loss. Why should You worry? Should anyone say that, and indeed if the whole world and all mankind were to supplicate Him that He should spare them His admonitions and commandments and revealed Books, and that they do not desire paradise, but would be content with this world and should be left for ever to it, that they do not desire the great bounties of the hereafter, that He should not interfere with their actions and should abstain from planning rewards and punishments for them and should not concern Himself with their benefit or their loss, their supplication would not be granted even if they continued to submit it throughout their lives with crying and weeping. It is not enough that a person is free and worships God for his own benefit and that Permeshwar has no concern with it, but the Glory and Greatness of God demand that man should carry out the worship of God and should follow the ways of goodness. His Godhead naturally demands that the signs of servitude should be manifested before Him and His perfection demands that man should humble himself in His presence. That is the reason why in the end His chastisement overtakes the disobedient and the vicious and those who persist in wrong-doing. His Blessed Being has eternally possessed the power to award reward and impose punishment; otherwise, he would not occupy Himself to award good recompense to the virtuous and ill recompense to the vicious. Were it not for His attribute of awarding recompense, He would have kept silent and abstained altogether from bestowing recompense. There- fore, though it is true that the harm or benefit of man's actions reverts to him and the greatness and kingdom of God Almighty are neither increased nor decreased thereby, yet it is true and is a firm verity that His attribute of Rabubiyyat demands that His servants should be firmly established in their position of His worshippers, and that if anyone should raise his head in the slightest degree out of arrogance, his head be immediately smashed. In short, there is a demand in God's Being for the manifestation of His Greatness, His Godhead, His Supremacy, His Glory and His Kingdom, and recompense and the requirement of obedience and servitude and worship are the consequences of that very demand. For the manifestation of His Rabubiyyat and Godhead, He has created this variegated world. Had His Being been free from this desire of manifestation, why should He have addressed Him- self to creation at all? Who had coerced Him that He should create the universe and by establishing a relationship between souls and bodies should make this world the manifestation of His wonderful powers? He must have possessed a power of determination that moved Him to the creation of the universe. There are indications in His Holy Word, the Quran, which show that God Almighty created the universe so that He should be recognized through His attribute of creation, and after creation He showered His mercy and benevolence upon the world so that He should be recognized through His mercy and benevolence. In the same way, He instituted punishment and reward so that His attributes of retribution and bounty might be recognized. After death, He will raise up mankind again so that He might be recognized as All-Powerful. His purpose in all His wonderful works is that He should be recognized. Thus, by the creation of the world and by the system of recompense, what is desired is the understanding of God, which is the essence of worship. This proves that God Almighty Himself demands that His creatures should attain His understanding, the perfect reality of which is known through worship. As a beauteous one on account of the perfection of his beauty desires to display it, so God Almighty, Who possesses to perfection the reality of beauty, desires that His excellences should be disclosed to people. This proves that God Almighty demands worship which is the basis and means of recognition from His servants and His supremacy attends to the destruction of one who opposes His desire and denies His worship and turns away from it. If you reflect over the world and observe carefully that which God Almighty has hitherto meted out to rebels and non-believers and that which He has always done to the faithless ones and the wrong-doers, you would realize that without doubt it is an established verity that God Almighty, by the demand of His Being, loves goodness and hates evil and is at enmity with it. He desires that people should discard vice and should adopt goodness, and though goodness or evil, which man practices, does not in any way interfere with God's kingdom, yet that is His demand. It is thus obvious that if God Almighty has not created the souls, He has no right to demand from any soul why it does not render to Him that perfect worship that is due to its Creator (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 215-220) .
We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it. But man undertook it. Indeed he is capable of forcing himself to obey, disregardful of consequences (33: 73). This means that the Divine Trust, by which are meant the love of God and complete obedience to Him, was offered to the angels and the whole of creation and the mountains, all apparently full of strength, but they all refused to undertake it, being afraid of its grandeur. But man undertook it for he possessed two qualities, that he could force himself in the cause of God Almighty and could advance so far in love of Him as to forget altogether everything else (Tauzeeh Maram, pp. 27-28).
The real purpose of all the external and internal limbs and faculties that have been bestowed on man is understanding and worship and love of God. That is why, despite a thousand occupations, man does not find his true well being except in God Almighty. Having acquired great wealth, or achieved high office, or having become a great merchant, or having acquired governing authority, or become a great philosopher, he departs in the end from these worldly involvements with a sense of frustration. His heart rebukes him all the time about his deep concern with the world and his conscience never approves his wiles and deceits and wrongful actions. This problem can be appreciated in another way. The purpose of the creation of a thing is determined by its highest achievement beyond which its faculties cannot rise. For instance, the highest a bullock is capable of is ploughing, or irrigation, or transportation, and therefore these are the purpose of its life and it cannot rise above them. But when we take stock of man's faculties and powers to discover his highest capacity, we find that he is invested with the faculty of seeking after God so much so that he desires that he should become so devoted to God's love that he should have nothing of his own and that everything should become God's. He shares his natural needs like food and drink and rest with other animates, and in industry some animals are ahead of him; for instance, the bees produce such excellent honey from every type of flower that man has so far not been able to compete with them. It is clear, therefore, that the highest capacity of man is meeting with God Almighty and thus the true purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open towards God.
How To Achieve The Purpose Of Life
The question is how and through what means can man achieve this purpose? The principal means for achieving this purpose is the correct recognition of and faith in the True God. If this first step is wrongly taken and a person sets up a bird, or an animal, or any of the elements, or a human being as his god, it cannot be expected that his subsequent steps would be taken along the straight path. The True God helps His seekers; but that which is dead cannot help the dead. As the Holy Quran says: Unto Him is the true prayer. Those on whom they call beside Him, do not respond to them at all. Their case is like that of one who stretches forth his hands towards water that it may reach his mouth, but it reaches it not. The prayer of the disbelievers is but a delusion (13: 15).
Second Means
The second means of achieving the true purpose of life is to become aware of the perfect beauty of God Almighty, for beauty is something which naturally attracts the hearts and generates love. The beauty of God Almighty is His Unity and His Greatness and His other attributes, as the Holy Quran says: Proclaim: He is Allah, the Single; Allah, the Self-Existing and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. (12: 2-5). This means that in His Being and His attributes and His Glory, God is One without associate. All are dependent upon Him and every particle derives its life from Him. He is the Source of grace for everything and receives no grace from anything. He is neither a son nor a father for none is equal to Him. The Holy Quran repeatedly draws attention to God's perfection and greatness and points out that such God is the Besought of all hearts and not one who is dead or weak or lacks mercy or power.
Third Means
The third means of achieving the purpose of life is to become aware of the benevolence of God Almighty for love is generated by beauty and benevolence. The benevolent attributes of God Almighty are set forth briefly in the Surah Fatihah, where it is said: All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment (1:2-4). It is obvious that the perfection of benevolence consists in that God Almighty created His servants from nothing and thereafter His Providence was bestowed upon them and He became the support of everything, and all types of His mercy were manifested for His servants. His benevolence is without limit and beyond count as is repeatedly set forth in the Holy Quran, as, for instance: If you try to number the bounties of Allah, you will not be able to count them (14:35).
Fourth Means
The fourth means of achieving the true purpose is Prayer, as is said: Call on Me, I shall respond to you (40:61). There is repeated urge towards Prayer, so that man should achieve his purpose not through his own power, but through God's power.
Fifth Means
The fifth means of achieving the purpose of life is striving in the cause of Allah with one's property and one's faculties and one's life and one's reason, as is it said: Strive in the cause of Allah with your properties and your lives (9:42); and it is said: They spend out of whatsoever We have bestowed upon them (2: 4); and it is said: Those who strive after Us shall We guide along the paths that lead to Us (29: 70).
Sixth Means
The sixth means for achieving the purpose of life is steadfastness; that is to say, that a seeker should not become tired and should not be daunted by trials, as it is said: On them who affirm: Our Lord is Allah; and then remain steadfast, angels descend, re-assuring them: Fear not, nor grieve, and rejoice in the Garden that you were promised. We are your friends in this life and in the hereafter (41: 31-32). This is an indication that the pleasure of God Almighty is won through steadfastness. It is true that steadfastness is more than a miracle. Steadfastness is that one should find oneself surrounded on all sides by calamities and one should find one's life and honour in danger and nothing comforting should be available, so much so, that God Almighty should stop comforting visions and dreams and revelation and should leave one in the midst of terrifying fears, but that at such a time, one should not abandon courage and should not step back like a coward and should not let one's fidelity be weakened. One's sincerity and loyalty should not be shaken, one should be pleased with the humiliation, one should be reconciled to death, one should not await the support of a friend, one should not seek glad tidings from God, because of one's delicate situation, and one should stand up straight despite helplessness and weakness and the lack of every comfort. One should stretch forth one's neck, saying: Whatever is to happen, let it happen; one should face courageously whatever has been determined and one should not be impatient nor complain till the trial is completed. This is the steadfastness through which one wins God. This is that the perfume of which is given forth by the dust of Messengers, Prophets, siddiqs and martyrs. This is indicated in the prayer: Guide us along the straight path, the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours (1: 6-7); meaning, show us the path of steadfastness by treading along which one wins Thy bounties and favours and Thou art pleased. This is also indicated in another verse: Our Lord pour down upon us steadfastness and cause us to die in a state of submission to Thee (7:127); meaning, Lord: at this time of trial send down upon our hearts the comfort that should make us steadfast and do Thou so ordain that we should die in a state of submission to Thee. At the time of trials and misfortune, God Almighty causes a light to descend upon the hearts of those who are dear to Him, being strengthened by which they face misfortunes calmly and, out of the sweetness of their faith, they kiss the chains that are put round their feet in His cause. When calamities descend upon a man of God and signs of death appear, he does not contend with his Lord that He might be safeguarded against them, inasmuch as to persist at such a time in supplications for security amounts to fighting God Almighty and is contrary to complete submission. A true lover advances forward at a time of calamity and holding life as nothing, and saying goodbye to love of it, submits himself completely to the will of his Lord and seeks only His pleasure. Concerning such people, God, the Glorious, says: Of the people there are those who dedicate themselves to seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Most Compassionate towards such devoted servants (2: 208) That is the spirit of steadfastness through which one meets God.
Seventh means
The seventh means of achieving the purpose of life is keeping company with the righteous and to follow their example. One of the needs of the advent of Prophets is that man naturally seeks a perfect example, for it fosters eagerness and resolve. He who does not follow a good example becomes slothful and goes astray. This is indicated in the verse: Keep company with the righteous (9: 119); and: The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours (1:7).
Eighth Means
The eighth means of achieving the purpose of life are pure visions and dreams and revelation from God Almighty. To travel towards God is to tread upon a very delicate path which is attended by diverse types of calamities and sufferings. It is possible that a person may be overtaken by forgetfulness in pursuing this unfamiliar path or may give up hope and should abandon further advance. Therefore, the mercy of God Almighty seeks to comfort him in his progress in this journey and strengthen his heart and to uphold his resolve and to increase his eagerness. Thus it is God’s way that from time to time he comforts those who are voyaging along this path with His revelation and manifests to them that He is with them. Thus strengthened, they perform this journey with great eagerness. He has said: For them are glad tidings in this world and in the hereafter (10:65).
There are several other means for achieving the purpose of life which the Holy Quran has set out, but considerations of space forbid us setting them out here (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, pp. 101--108).
A question is raised that God Almighty being Gracious and Benevolent, His direction that man should worship Him is for the benefit of man and not that it adds in any way to God's honour. It is true that through the worship of God man's own welfare is intended, yet the Rabubiyyat of God Almighty demands that avoiding evil and devoting himself to His worship and obedience, he should achieve his good fortune. If he does not wish to follow that path His wrath is aroused not for His own sake, but for his sake and He subjects him to diverse types of warnings and admonitions. If he still does not take heed, he is consumed in the fire of rejection and of despair. It is not permissible that anyone should say to Him: Why do You bother about what would harm me or benefit me? Why do You admonish us and send revealed Books and punish us? If we worship You, it would be for our own good and if we do not worship You, we shall suffer loss. Why should You worry? Should anyone say that, and indeed if the whole world and all mankind were to supplicate Him that He should spare them His admonitions and commandments and revealed Books, and that they do not desire paradise, but would be content with this world and should be left for ever to it, that they do not desire the great bounties of the hereafter, that He should not interfere with their actions and should abstain from planning rewards and punishments for them and should not concern Himself with their benefit or their loss, their supplication would not be granted even if they continued to submit it throughout their lives with crying and weeping. It is not enough that a person is free and worships God for his own benefit and that Permeshwar has no concern with it, but the Glory and Greatness of God demand that man should carry out the worship of God and should follow the ways of goodness. His Godhead naturally demands that the signs of servitude should be manifested before Him and His perfection demands that man should humble himself in His presence. That is the reason why in the end His chastisement overtakes the disobedient and the vicious and those who persist in wrong-doing. His Blessed Being has eternally possessed the power to award reward and impose punishment; otherwise, he would not occupy Himself to award good recompense to the virtuous and ill recompense to the vicious. Were it not for His attribute of awarding recompense, He would have kept silent and abstained altogether from bestowing recompense. There- fore, though it is true that the harm or benefit of man's actions reverts to him and the greatness and kingdom of God Almighty are neither increased nor decreased thereby, yet it is true and is a firm verity that His attribute of Rabubiyyat demands that His servants should be firmly established in their position of His worshippers, and that if anyone should raise his head in the slightest degree out of arrogance, his head be immediately smashed. In short, there is a demand in God's Being for the manifestation of His Greatness, His Godhead, His Supremacy, His Glory and His Kingdom, and recompense and the requirement of obedience and servitude and worship are the consequences of that very demand. For the manifestation of His Rabubiyyat and Godhead, He has created this variegated world. Had His Being been free from this desire of manifestation, why should He have addressed Him- self to creation at all? Who had coerced Him that He should create the universe and by establishing a relationship between souls and bodies should make this world the manifestation of His wonderful powers? He must have possessed a power of determination that moved Him to the creation of the universe. There are indications in His Holy Word, the Quran, which show that God Almighty created the universe so that He should be recognized through His attribute of creation, and after creation He showered His mercy and benevolence upon the world so that He should be recognized through His mercy and benevolence. In the same way, He instituted punishment and reward so that His attributes of retribution and bounty might be recognized. After death, He will raise up mankind again so that He might be recognized as All-Powerful. His purpose in all His wonderful works is that He should be recognized. Thus, by the creation of the world and by the system of recompense, what is desired is the understanding of God, which is the essence of worship. This proves that God Almighty Himself demands that His creatures should attain His understanding, the perfect reality of which is known through worship. As a beauteous one on account of the perfection of his beauty desires to display it, so God Almighty, Who possesses to perfection the reality of beauty, desires that His excellences should be disclosed to people. This proves that God Almighty demands worship which is the basis and means of recognition from His servants and His supremacy attends to the destruction of one who opposes His desire and denies His worship and turns away from it. If you reflect over the world and observe carefully that which God Almighty has hitherto meted out to rebels and non-believers and that which He has always done to the faithless ones and the wrong-doers, you would realize that without doubt it is an established verity that God Almighty, by the demand of His Being, loves goodness and hates evil and is at enmity with it. He desires that people should discard vice and should adopt goodness, and though goodness or evil, which man practices, does not in any way interfere with God's kingdom, yet that is His demand. It is thus obvious that if God Almighty has not created the souls, He has no right to demand from any soul why it does not render to Him that perfect worship that is due to its Creator (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 215-220) .
Man Lived on Earth Even Before the Advent of Adam
According to a news of Daily Telegraph London (reproduced in Sydney Morning Herald 12th February 1997) a 12,500 footprint, along with thousands of artifacts, believed that have been 13,000 years older than the oldest human tools, have been found in Chile. This recent discovery has mentioned the theories of how and when the earliest humans arrived in Americas.
Another research had appeared a few months ago according to which the people of aboriginal stock of Australia inhabited America 14,000 years ago. The Australian Newspapers captioned the news to the effect that Australians were the first occupants of America.
With regard to the Australian aborigines, the scientists believe that they have been living here for at least the last 40,000 years. A recent archaeological find rather suggests that as soon as the humans reached the Homo Erectus Stage in the evolutionary process, believed to be 176,000 years ago, they somehow reached Australia. Alternatively, the life evolved independently at different centres e.g. Africa, Central Asia, Java and Australia. (Contrary to the popular belief that life originated in Africa from where it spread to different parts of the world.)
The Archaeological discoveries, therefore lead us to believe that in any case humans had inhabited various parts of the world before much before the advent of Adam. This is however, contradictory to the statement of the Bible that Adam was the first man created on earth (Genesis 1:26 to 2:8). This is one of the pronouncements of the Bible, which being in conflict with Science, have cast doubts in the minds of it's followers about it's authenticity or the very existence of God's revelation, and have consequently turned them atheists and agnostics.
But the Quran tells us a different story. The Promised Messiah peace be upon him had said much earlier than the above mentioned discoveries became public that, "We believe in the existence of human race before Adam". An English scholar of Astronomy, Professor Rege met the Promised Messiah on 12th May and 18th May 1908 in Lahore and asked him a few questions as reported in Malfooza'at Vol. 10, Pages 353 and 426. Among other questions he asked: "It is written in the Bible that Adam or say the first man was born in Jeehoon, Seehon and belonged to that country. Are, then, all the mankind, that is found in different parts of the world like America and Australia, the descendants of the same Adam?" To this question the Promised Messiah replied, "We do not follow the Bible in holding that the world began with the birth of Adam six or seven thousand years ago, and that before this there was nothing, and God was, as it were idle and without work. Neither do we claim that all mankind who are now found in different parts of the earth, are the progeny of the self-same Adam. On the Contrary we hold that this Adam was not the first man. Mankind existed even before him, as is hinted by the Quran itself, when it says to Adam, "I am about to place a Khalifa in the earth." As Khalifa means successor, it is clear that man existed even before Adam. Hence we cannot say whether the original inhabitants of America, Australia etc. are the progeny of this last Adam or some other Adam gone before him. (Malfooza'at Vol. 10, Page 426).
In this regard another interesting thing is that the knowledge of the year of birth of Adam was also revealed by God to the Promised Messiah through a vision, according to which Adam was born 4,598 solar years before the Holy Prophet (SAWS) was commissioned by God i.e. the year of his manifestation, or start of Quranic Revelation. The most august event took place on August 20, 610 coinciding with 24th Ramadhan of first year of call. ("Lunar/Solar calendar of the Prophets Era" by Maulana Dost Muhammad Shahid). The current year being 1987, it happened 1387 years ago and therefore Adam was born 5,985 years ago.
Quran also clarifies that Adam is not unique in being created from dust as all mankind including Jesus were created in a similar way - contrary to the Bible which mentions Adam as having been exclusively created from dust. Quran says, "Surely, the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam. He created him out of dust, and then He said to him, 'Be' and he was" (Imran 3:60). Similarly about the creation of whole of mankind Quran says, "And of His signs is that He created you from dust; then behold, you are men spreading over the earth." (Al-Rum 30:21)
It follows from the above mentioned scientific discoveries that man spread to various parts of the earth in its early stages of development. The evolutionary tree of human race sprang from the same root and spread in the form of branches, sub-branches and further sub-branches over different parts of the world. After man creation God gave him proper form and provided him with the appropriate guidance (Taha 20:51). He, therefore, sent His Successors (Khalifas) as Adam in each branch and sub-branch as soon as man as a result of evolutionary process became capable enough, physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually to receive, understand and follow His guidance. The only Prophet who was sent to and addressed the whole of mankind was Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The word "Adam" used in the Quran may also stand allegorically for the sons of Adam or mankind.
The branches and sub-branches of human tree having spread forth in different parts of the world, passed through different cycles of rise and fall, destruction and progress, ignorance and guidance, even much before all last Adam, who appeared 5,985 years ago.
Another research had appeared a few months ago according to which the people of aboriginal stock of Australia inhabited America 14,000 years ago. The Australian Newspapers captioned the news to the effect that Australians were the first occupants of America.
With regard to the Australian aborigines, the scientists believe that they have been living here for at least the last 40,000 years. A recent archaeological find rather suggests that as soon as the humans reached the Homo Erectus Stage in the evolutionary process, believed to be 176,000 years ago, they somehow reached Australia. Alternatively, the life evolved independently at different centres e.g. Africa, Central Asia, Java and Australia. (Contrary to the popular belief that life originated in Africa from where it spread to different parts of the world.)
The Archaeological discoveries, therefore lead us to believe that in any case humans had inhabited various parts of the world before much before the advent of Adam. This is however, contradictory to the statement of the Bible that Adam was the first man created on earth (Genesis 1:26 to 2:8). This is one of the pronouncements of the Bible, which being in conflict with Science, have cast doubts in the minds of it's followers about it's authenticity or the very existence of God's revelation, and have consequently turned them atheists and agnostics.
But the Quran tells us a different story. The Promised Messiah peace be upon him had said much earlier than the above mentioned discoveries became public that, "We believe in the existence of human race before Adam". An English scholar of Astronomy, Professor Rege met the Promised Messiah on 12th May and 18th May 1908 in Lahore and asked him a few questions as reported in Malfooza'at Vol. 10, Pages 353 and 426. Among other questions he asked: "It is written in the Bible that Adam or say the first man was born in Jeehoon, Seehon and belonged to that country. Are, then, all the mankind, that is found in different parts of the world like America and Australia, the descendants of the same Adam?" To this question the Promised Messiah replied, "We do not follow the Bible in holding that the world began with the birth of Adam six or seven thousand years ago, and that before this there was nothing, and God was, as it were idle and without work. Neither do we claim that all mankind who are now found in different parts of the earth, are the progeny of the self-same Adam. On the Contrary we hold that this Adam was not the first man. Mankind existed even before him, as is hinted by the Quran itself, when it says to Adam, "I am about to place a Khalifa in the earth." As Khalifa means successor, it is clear that man existed even before Adam. Hence we cannot say whether the original inhabitants of America, Australia etc. are the progeny of this last Adam or some other Adam gone before him. (Malfooza'at Vol. 10, Page 426).
In this regard another interesting thing is that the knowledge of the year of birth of Adam was also revealed by God to the Promised Messiah through a vision, according to which Adam was born 4,598 solar years before the Holy Prophet (SAWS) was commissioned by God i.e. the year of his manifestation, or start of Quranic Revelation. The most august event took place on August 20, 610 coinciding with 24th Ramadhan of first year of call. ("Lunar/Solar calendar of the Prophets Era" by Maulana Dost Muhammad Shahid). The current year being 1987, it happened 1387 years ago and therefore Adam was born 5,985 years ago.
Quran also clarifies that Adam is not unique in being created from dust as all mankind including Jesus were created in a similar way - contrary to the Bible which mentions Adam as having been exclusively created from dust. Quran says, "Surely, the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam. He created him out of dust, and then He said to him, 'Be' and he was" (Imran 3:60). Similarly about the creation of whole of mankind Quran says, "And of His signs is that He created you from dust; then behold, you are men spreading over the earth." (Al-Rum 30:21)
It follows from the above mentioned scientific discoveries that man spread to various parts of the earth in its early stages of development. The evolutionary tree of human race sprang from the same root and spread in the form of branches, sub-branches and further sub-branches over different parts of the world. After man creation God gave him proper form and provided him with the appropriate guidance (Taha 20:51). He, therefore, sent His Successors (Khalifas) as Adam in each branch and sub-branch as soon as man as a result of evolutionary process became capable enough, physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually to receive, understand and follow His guidance. The only Prophet who was sent to and addressed the whole of mankind was Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The word "Adam" used in the Quran may also stand allegorically for the sons of Adam or mankind.
The branches and sub-branches of human tree having spread forth in different parts of the world, passed through different cycles of rise and fall, destruction and progress, ignorance and guidance, even much before all last Adam, who appeared 5,985 years ago.
Prophets of God
Our universe and all that it contains is the creation of Allah, the Wise. He has created every thing with a purpose and to achieve that purpose He has provided all necessary guidance and means. He has created man in His own image and has made him the chief of His creation. Both good and bad have been made manifestly clear to man. He has also been blessed with wisdom by which he can find out the right path, can sift right from wrong and truth from falsehood. The Holy Quran tells us that man has been endowed with both spiritual and physical eyes by which he can distinguish good from evil and has been given a tongue and two lips that he might ask for guidance, and above all God has placed before him a supreme object of his life that he may devote all his faculties and energies to achieve it.
Man has been granted the choice of both selection and action. Hence he is the master of his own destiny.
To achieve the object of life, God, out of His benevolence raises prophets, who serve as models. These prophets have been appearing in every people and in all parts of the world. Their mission has always been to guide mankind to its Creator, through their example and model. The guidance revealed through each prophet was designed to cater for the specific needs of the time and location; hence they were essentially temporary in nature. With the advancement and maturity of mankind God sent advanced and matured teachings suitable to their time. God’s guidance for human race commenced through Adam (peace be upon him) and reached the zenith through Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). God says,
“This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion.” (5:4)
Thus the revelation of Law, or Shariah, was perfected and completed by Islam.
According to one saying of the prophet Mohammed the number of prophets who were chosen to convey the message of God to mankind is 124,000. The names of all of them are not mentioned anywhere. However the Holy Quran states in very clear words,
“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (35:25)
It also mentions the following twenty-eight prophets by name: Adam (peace be upon him), Noah (peace be upon him), Abraham (peace be upon him), Lot (peace be upon him), Ishmael (peace be upon him), Isaac (peace be upon him), Jacob (peace be upon him), Joseph (peace be upon him), Hud (peace be upon him), Salih (peace be upon him), Shuaib (peace be upon him), Moses (peace be upon him), Aaron (peace be upon him), David (peace be upon him), Solomon (peace be upon him), Elias (Elijah) (peace be upon him), Jonah (peace be upon him), Ezekiel (Dhul-Kifl) (peace be upon him), Elisha (Alyasa) (peace be upon him), Idris (Enoch) (peace be upon him) (19:57), Job (peace be upon him) (4:164), Zechariah (peace be upon him) (19:3), John (Yahya) (peace be upon him) (3:40), Jesus (peace be upon him) (3:46), Luqman(peace be upon him) (31:13), Ezra (peace be upon him) (9:30), Dhul-Qarnain (peace be upon him) (18:84), Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (48:30).
Belief in all the prophets and their messages is an integral part of the belief of every Muslim. The Holy Quran states,
“This messenger of Ours believes in that which has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; all of them believe in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers, saying, ‘We make no distinction between any of His Messengers.’ ” (2: 286).
In peophethood all are equal but their ranks are different as is clear from the following verse of the Holy Quran,
These Messengers have We exalted some of them above others; among them there are those whom Allah spoke; and some of them He exalted in degrees of rank...’ (2:254).
So Wherever and to whichever people prophets have been sent, they are our (Muslims) prophets as well, and we hold them in great reverence. In the following pages a brief history of a few of them is given for the benefit of the reader.
Hadrat Adam (peace be upon him)
Adam (peace be upon him) lived about 6,000 years ago. Most probably he was born in present day Iraq. He is popularly believed to be the first man created by God upon earth. This view is, however, wrong. The world has passed through different cycles of creation and civilization, and Adam (peace be upon him), the progenitor of the present human race, is only the first link in the present cycle, and not the very first man in God’s creation. Nations have risen and fallen, civilizations have appeared and perished, and many other cycles of human civilization may have appeared and disappeared. Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi, the great Muslim mystic says that once he saw himself in a dream performing a circuit of the Kabah. In the dream a man who claimed to be one of his ancestors appeared before him. “How long is it since you died?” asked Ibn Arabi. “More than forty thousand years,” the man replied. “But this period is much more than what separates us from Adam (peace be upon him)!” said a surprised Ibn Arabi. The man replied, “Of which Adam (peace be upon him) are you speaking? About the Adam (peace be upon him) who is nearest to you or of some other?” “Then I recollected,” says Ibn Arabi, “a saying of the Holy Prophet to the effect that God had brought into being no less than a hundred thousand Adams (peace be upon them), and I said to myself, ‘Perhaps this man who claims to be an ancestor of mine was one of the previous Adams.’ ” (Futuhat ii, p. 607)
It does not, however, mean that the race, which lived before Adam (peace be upon him), was entirely swept away before he was born. Most likely, there had remained a small degenerated remnant of the old race and Adam (peace be upon him) was one of them. God then selected him to be the progenitor of a new race and the precursor of a new civilization. Created, as it were, out of the dead, he represented the dawn of a new era of life.
Allah, the knower of the unseen has said,
“And when thy Lord said to the angels, I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth, they said, ‘Wilt Thou place therein such as will cause disorder in it, and shed blood? We glorify Thee with Thy praise and extol Thy holiness.’ He answered, I know what you know not.’ ” (2:31)
In this verse God has used the word khalifah for Adam (peace be upon him). Khalifah in Arabic means a successor. It is, therefore, clear that men had existed and lived on earth before Adam (peace be upon him) whom he succeeded. We cannot say whether original inhabitants of America, Australia, etc., are the progeny of this last Adam (peace be upon him) or of some other Adam (peace be upon him) gone before him.
In short, the Holy Quran speaks of that Adam (peace be upon him) who was appointed as Khalifah and the first Prophet of God, and who was raised for the guidance of mankind. God taught him the knowledge and made him leader of men. He was appointed a prophet in the gardens of Eden, which lay near Babylon in Iraq. It was a very fertile land abounding in its verdure and was referred to as Jannah, that is, the garden. Angels and other beings were commanded by God to obey Adam (peace be upon him). All obeyed except Iblis.
An explanation of Iblis seems inevitable as a lot of controversy prevails about this entity.
‘Iblis’ is a being which contains little good and much of evil and which, on account of its having despaired of God’s mercy owing to its disobedience, is left perplexed and confounded. Iblis is often considered the same Satan, but in some cases, also different from him. It must be understood that Iblis was not one of the angels, because, whereas he has been described in 2:35 as disobeying to God, the angels, we are told, are ever ‘submissive’ and ‘obedient’ (66:7). God was angry with Iblis because he too was commanded to serve Adam (peace be upon him) but he disobeyed (7:13). Moreover, even if there were no separate commandment for Iblis, the one for angels can be extended to all beings because angels are the custodians of different parts of the universe. The commandment given to them automatically extends to all beings. Iblis is an attributive name given to the evil spirit opposed to the angels. He has been so named because he possesses the qualities of being deprived of good, being left bewildered in the way, and of despairing of God’s mercy. That Iblis of Adam (peace be upon him) was not the Satan spoken of in verse 37 of Surah Baqarah. It is apparent from the fact that the Quran mentions the two names side by side wherever the story of Adam (peace be upon him) is given, but everywhere a careful distinction is observed between the two. Wherever it speaks of the being, who, unlike the angels, refused to serve Adam (peace be upon him), it invariably mentions the name Iblis, and wherever it speaks of the being who beguiled Adam (peace be upon him) and became the means of his being turned out of ‘the garden,’ it mentions the name ‘Satan.’ The distinction, which is most significant and which has been maintained throughout the Quran in at least ten places (2:35, 37; 7:12, 21; 15:32; 17:62; 18:51; 20:117, 121; 38:75) clearly shows that Iblis is different from ‘Satan’ who beguiled Adam (peace be upon him) and who was one of Adam’s (peace be upon him) own people. Elsewhere, the Quran says that Iblis belonged to a secret creation of God and, unlike the angels, was capable of obeying or disobeying God (7:12, 13) (Commentary of 2:36).
The Law Introduced Through Adam (peace be upon him)
Under the guidance of God Adam (peace be upon him) built the House of God in Arabia. He and his followers turned to it in worship. This house united them and kept them focused. It is the same house, which is presently called the Kabah in Saudi Arabia.
Basic rules for living in society were taught to the people through Adam (peace be upon him). The fundamental rights given to all people through Adam (peace be upon him) are mentioned in the Holy Quran as,
“It is decreed for thee that thou shalt not hunger therein nor shalt thou be naked; And that thou shalt not thirst therein, nor shalt thou be exposed to the sun.” (20:119, 120)
In other words, provision of food, clothing, shelter and water to the people was fixed as the duty of the authorities. So through Adam (peace be upon him) a social order for the progress and prosperity of its people as well as of the future generation was established. Adam (peace be upon him), as has already been stated, was appointed as the prophet in the Garden of Eden near Babylon in Assyria or present day Iraq. He was allowed to use whatever pleased him but was forbidden to approach a tree�a particular family tree.
It appears Adam (peace be upon him), who had a great desire for the good of all people, approached the forbidden one also. They were an arrogant people who picked a quarrel with Adam (peace be upon him) and his followers. It eventually ended in a fight and the people of Adam (peace be upon him) had to migrate from Iraq to some neighboring country.
This lapse of Adam (peace be upon him) has been highly exaggerated by Christian writers and cited as an unpardonable sin. Rather, a sin, which every human being inherits. Bible being an interpolated book contains confused statements about the forbidden tree. In Genesis 2:17 we have,
“But the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Contrary to this we have in Genesis 3:4-5,
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and yea shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
This statement of the serpent as opposed to God’s appears to be true. We have in Genesis 4: 6,
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
This statement of the Bible makes it crystal clear that Eve and not Adam (peace be upon him) committed the first sin. Therefore, if this sin is to be inherited, then all those who are born of woman including Jesus (peace be upon him) must inherit it first. But there exist many other verses in the Bible that prove that there were men like Malik Sidak Saleem who were born without sin.
In the issue of Adam’s (peace be upon him) sin the Holy Quran is very clear and unambiguous. It says:
“And verily, We had made a covenant with Adam beforehand, but he forgot, and We found in him no resolve to disobey Us.” (20:116)
This verse shows that Adam’s (peace be upon him) lapse was only an error of judgment. It was inadvertent and involuntary and not at all intentional or deliberate. To err is human. One becomes sinful if one commits it willfully and knowingly. Hence the theory of original sin and its inheritance is a castle built on a precipice.
The lapse of Adam (peace be upon him) and Eve no doubt was inadvertent and accidental and hence not a sin. However they discovered that by acting on the advice of Satan or the serpent they had lodged themselves in trouble with certain evil family, and as a result had to migrate from that place. They, however, repented and turned to God Who granted Adam (peace be upon him) His grace. God also turned to him with mercy and guided him (20:13).
Adam (peace be upon him) conveyed the message of God to the people and was successful in his assignment. A progressive society governed by the divine rules was established in that land by him.
Hadrat Noah (peace be upon him)
Noah (peace be upon him) was an inhabitant of Iraq (Genesis 11:9). Very little is known of his childhood or youth. The Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man and perfect in his generation and Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9). He appeared about ten centuries after Adam (peace be upon him). The people of his time had become worldly and were involved in social and moral evils. They had forgotten the real Creator and had resorted to the worship of idols. They had many idols, the principal ones being Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq and Nasr.
Noah (peace be upon him) Visits the House of God
Noah (peace be upon him) visited the house of God built by Adam (peace be upon him). According to Al-Arzaki, Noah (peace be upon him) carried out major repairs to the House of God after the Deluge (Akhbar Mecca) and performed the Pilgrimage (Al-badaya 1:119). The worship of one God was revived in that area after long time, and the example of Noah (peace be upon him) did indeed infuse afresh the love of God in his people.
Noah (peace be upon him) Conveys Message of God
God appointed Noah (peace be upon him) for the guidance of mankind. The Holy Quran says:
“We sent Noah to his people and he said, ‘O my people, worship Allah, you have no other god but Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of the great day.’” (7:60)
On hearing this message the chiefs of his people replied,
“We see you to be in manifest error.”
Hadrat Noah (peace be upon him) then very politely told them,
“There is no error in me, rather I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the message of my Lord and give you sincere advice and I know from Allah what you do not know. Do you wonder that an exhortation has come to you from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, that he may warn you and that you may become righteous and that you may be shown mercy?”
Despite the bitter opposition of the chiefs, Noah (peace be upon him) continued his preaching. Only a handful of weak ones, the poor and the youth, believed in him. He preached to his people day and night, and spoke to them in public and in private. He reminded them of the great favors and bounties that God had bestowed upon them and also warned them of the evil consequences of the rejection of the divine message. But all his preaching and warning, his sympathy and solicitude, were treated with ridicule, opposition and abuse. Instead of following him whose heart was full of love for them, they chose to follow their false leaders.
The chief of his people told him,
“We see thee nothing but a mortal like ourselves, and we see that none have followed thee but those who, to all outward appearance, are the meanest of us. And we do not see in you any superiority over us; nay, we believe you to be a liar.”
Noah (peace be upon him) tried to convince them and win them over for God. He advised them to seek forgiveness of the Lord, as He is a great Forgiver of sins. Enumerating the benefits of belief in One God he informed them, God will send down rain for them in abundance and will grant them increase in wealth and children. He will also cause gardens to grow and rivers to flow for them. He further drew their attention to the great creation of seven heavens in perfect harmony and placing of the moon in it as a light and the sun as a lamp. Lastly he drew their attention to their own growth out of the earth and their return to it and then their resurrection. But all his advice fell on deaf ears. Their chiefs persuaded them to continue the worship of idols saying Noah (peace be upon him) was just a man like them who only sought to gain superiority over them. So when Noah’s (peace be upon him) exhortation and preaching throughout his prophetic life proved a voice in the wilderness, God revealed to him,
“Noah: None of thy people will believe except those who have already believed; grieve not, therefore, at what they have been doing.”
Noah (peace be upon him) Offers Special Prayer
After the intimation from God that none of his people will believe in him any more, Noah (peace be upon him) offered the following prayer to God:
“My Lord, leave not of the disbeliever’s even one dweller in the land. For, if thou dost leave them, they will only lead astray Thy servants and will beget none but sinners and disbelievers. My Lord! Forgive my parents, and me, and him who enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and the believing women; and increase Thou not the wrong doers in aught but in ruin.”
Noah (peace be upon him) Builds the Ark
God commanded Noah (peace be upon him) to build an Ark. The Holy Quran says:
“And build thou the Ark under our eyes and as commanded by our revelation. And address Me not concerning the wrongdoers. They are surely going to be drowned.” (11:38)
He immediately followed the instructions of God and prepared the Ark. The chiefs of his people ridiculed this move of his and termed it as an act of a lunatic. Noah (peace be upon him) prayed to God saying,
“I am overcome so come Thou to my help.”
The Deluge
God heard Noah’s (peace be upon him) prayers and soon after, at the appointed time, God opened the gates of heaven with water, which fell in torrents. And earth burst forth with springs and both waters met according to the decree of God. God further directed Noah (peace be upon him):
“Embark therein two of every kind, male and female, and thy family except those against whom the word has already gone forth, and those who believe. And there had not believed in him except a few.”
And again,
“Embark therein. In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. My Lord is assuredly Most Forgiving, Merciful.”
Thus there appeared a great deluge in that part of the world. The might of the chiefs and their arrogance was brought to naught by God. The deluge consumed all opponents of Noah (peace be upon him) including his disbelieving son, while Noah (peace be upon him) and his followers were saved. Their ark anchored at Mount Al-Judi. Judi (Djudi) is a lofty mountain mass in the district of Bohtan, about 25 miles north-east of Jazirah ibn Omar in 37 degrees east longitude and 30 degrees north in latitude. It owes its fame to the Mesopotamian tradition, which identifies it, and not Mount Ararat, the mountain on which Noah’s (peace be upon him) Ark rested. Older exegesis identified the mountain which is now called Judi, or according to Christian authorities the mountains of Gordyene, as the apobaterion of Noah (peace be upon him) (Enc. of Islam, vol. I, p. 1059). Babylonian traditions also place Mount Al-Judi in Armenia (Jew Enc. under “Ararat”). The Bible admits that Babylon was the place where the descendants of Noah (peace be upon him) lived (Gen. 11:9).
The story of deluge with some variation is to be found in almost all countries. The reason is that when the descendants of Noah (peace be upon him) and those of his companions who were the founders of human civilization spread to other lands (as they were more powerful than the people already living there) they either exterminated the indigenous inhabitants or absorbed them. Thus they must have introduced into all the countries they subjugated their own traditions and customs. Subsequently the tradition about the deluge must also have come to be introduced into other lands. With the lapse of time, however, the immigrants ceased to have any connection with their original home and the catastrophe consequently came to be regarded as a local occurrence, with the results that local names of persons and places came to be substituted for the original names. So the deluge was not a universal visitation, nor should the traditions of different lands be taken to point to separate floods (Short Commentary).
The Law Introduced Through Noah (peace be upon him)
The law introduced through Noah (peace be upon him) has not been preserved. However it appears that it contained basic principle of the unity of God. The law of Noah (peace be upon him) was suitable for his time. It was to be transformed and developed in due course to suit the future needs. The Holy Quran states:
“He has prescribed for you the religion which he enjoined on Noah.”
The law introduced through him remained in force about a thousand years (29:15). Many prophets followed his law until God revealed the new one. It extended to the time of Abraham (peace be upon him) who was of his party (37:84).
It seems that the first fifty years of Noah’s (peace be upon him) dispensation were years of all-round spiritual progress and regeneration. After that moral decadence and degeneration set in and his people gradually became degraded morally, till their degeneration became complete in nine hundred years.
Hadrat Ibraheem (Abraham) (peace be upon him)
The followers of three principle religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, hold Abraham (peace be upon him) in great reverence. He was a native of Ur. Ur in present day is called Al-Muqayyar (or Mughair), and is about two hundred miles south east of Baghdad in Iraq.
Abraham (peace be upon him) was brought up in the house of his uncle Azar. The Bible mentions different name of Abraham’s father that is Terah (genesis 11:26) Tharah (Luke 3:34) and ecclesiastical history mentions Athar as his father. The Holy Quran mentions Azar as his Ab (26:87). Ab in Arabic is equally applicable to father, uncle and grandfather. His paternal uncle ran a shop where idols were sold. Abraham (peace be upon him) observed the crafting of idols at his uncle’s home. The idols were made by humans and sold to public as their gods. One day his uncle left Abraham (peace be upon him) at the shop to attend to customers. An old man came to the shop and said, I want to buy an Idol. Abraham (peace be upon him) asked him, Which one would you like to have? Abraham (peace be upon him) showed that idol to him. He was about to buy that idol when Abraham asked the man, How old are you? The man replied, Seventy years. Upon this Abraham (peace be upon him) told him, This idol was made only yesterday. Won’t you feel ashamed while bowing down before a day-old idol? These words of Abram had great effect on the old man and he did not buy the idol and went home. Such was the dislike of Abraham (peace be upon him) to the idols during his youth. He would voice out his displeasure time and again. In the beginning he discussed this issue very politely but later on had bitter discussions with his uncle. His uncle mostly ignored such religious discussions but at the end warned Abraham (peace be upon him) of severe consequences. However, Abraham’s uncle was very much impressed by his noble character and he offered him his daughter Sarah in marriage.
Abraham (peace be upon him) Appointed as Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) lived a pious life and was always engaged in doing of good. He walked on the path of righteousness but most of the people of his time were bent towards the world. The unity of God taught by Noah (peace be upon him) had vanished from the surface of the world and the people were groping in the darkness, engaging themselves in the worship of idols. God appointed Abraham (peace be upon him) a Prophet to stamp out the worship of idols from the society.
Abraham, right from childhood had abhorred idols and now he was commissioned to uproot the worship of idols from the society. He wasted no time and embarked on the task in full earnest. He went to his father-in-law and said, “Do you take idols for god? Surely I see you and your people in manifest error.” (6:75)
He spoke in public and private about the futility of idol worship. His method of argumentation was mostly sarcastic.
During his evening meetings, Abraham (peace be upon him) used to invite those who worshipped the sun and the moon and other heavenly bodies as their gods to his house. During one of these discussions, one evening, on seeing a star he observed, “O this is my Lord.” But when it set, he said, “I don’t like those who set.” Then he saw the moon rise with spreading light, he said, “Can this be my Lord?” But when it set, he said, “If my Lord guide me not, I shall surely be of the people who go astray.” And when he saw the sun rise with spreading light, he said, “Can this be my Lord? This is the greatest.” But when it also set, he said, ‘O my people! Surely I am quit of that which you associate with God.” Thus he exposed the false beliefs of his people. He spoke ironically to taunt them of their folly.
Discussion with the King
Abraham (peace be upon him) was a great iconoclast. His people worshipped the sun and the stars, their chief god being Merodach (Madruk), originally the god of the morning and the spring sun (Enc. Bib. & Enc. Rel. Eth, ii p. 296). They believed that all life depended on the sun. Abraham (peace be upon him) very wisely asked the infidel King that if he, as he claimed, controlled life and death, then let him reverse the course of the sun on which all life depended. The King was in a fix. He could not say that he could not accept Abraham’s challenge to bring the sun from the west to the east, for that would have demolished his claim of being the controller of life and death. At the same time if he had said that he could do so, it meant that he claimed to exercise control over the sun which would have been a great blasphemy in the eyes of his people who worshipped the sun. Thus he was completely confounded and did not know what to say. He was defeated squarely.
Debate with People
Under the guidance of God, Abraham (peace be upon him) continued his mission diligently. One of his great debates is recorded in the Holy Quran as follows:
“When he said to his father and his people, ‘What are these images to which you are so devoted?’
They replied, ‘We found our fathers worshipping them.’
He said, ‘Then, you, as well as your fathers, have indeed been in manifest error.’
They said, ‘Is it really the truth that thou hast brought us, or art thou jesting?’
He replied, ‘Nay, your Lord is the Lord of heavens and the earth Who created them; and I am of those who bear witness to this; and, by Allah, I will certainly plan against your idols after you have gone away and turned your backs.’
So he broke them into pieces, all accept the chief of them, that they may return to it.
They said, ‘Who has done this to our gods? Surely, he is a wrongdoer.’
Some others said, ‘We heard a young man speak ill of them; he is called Abraham.’
They said, ‘Then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness against him.’
Then they said to Abraham, ‘Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?’
He replied, ‘Well, someone has surely done this. Here is the chief of them. So ask them if they can speak.’
Then they turned towards one another and said, ‘You yourselves are surely in the wrong.’
And they were made to hang down their heads for shame and said to Abraham, ‘Certainly thou knowest well that these do not speak.’
He said, ‘Do you then worship, instead of Allah, that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm you? Fie on you and on that which you worship instead of Allah! Can you not understand?’ ” (21:53-68)
It should be remembered that Abraham (peace be upon him) always spoke to idol worshipper with irony and sarcasm. In this debate he “seems to have rebuked his people and to have brought home to them the futility of their idolatrous practices, first by breaking the idols and then by challenging their votaries to ask those idols, if they could speak, to tell them who had broken them.”
Abraham (peace be upon him) Thrown in the Fire
This infuriated his opponents. The chiefs, instead of accepting the truth, were enraged and said, “Burn him and help your gods if at all you mean to do something.” But Allah commanded, “O fire, be thou a means of coolness and safety for Abraham!” The Quran says, “And they had intended an evil plan against him, but we made them the worst losers. ” (21:68-71)
God frustrated their plans and saved Abraham (peace be upon him).
“How the fire became cool we are not told. Timely rain or a stormy hurricane might have extinguished it. In any event God did bring about circumstances, which led to Abraham’s deliverance. There is always an element of mystery in heavenly miracles; and the manner of Abraham (peace be upon him) being saved from the fire was indeed a great miracle. That Abraham (peace be upon him) had been cast into the fire is credited not only by the Jews, but also by the eastern Christians�25th of the second Canun, or January being set apart in the Syrian Calendar for the commemoration of the event.” (Hyde, De Rel. Vet Pers., p. 73)
Abraham (peace be upon him) was seventy-five years old when God commanded him for migration. “He journeyed from Ur (Mesopotamia) to Harran and from there to Canaan, which God decreed to give to his posterity. This journey had a precise objective. In pursuance of Divine plan and design, all the great Prophets or their followers, at one time or another, have to emigrate from their homes. In the like manner Abraham (peace be upon him) was asked to migrate.
Abraham (peace be upon him) migrated from Ur with a few selected members including his nephew Lot. They passed through Egypt. The king was impressed by Abraham and offered some presents and a royal lady by the name of Hagar to him.
Abraham (peace be upon him) and Sarah did not have any child, so when Hagar was presented to Abraham (peace be upon him) by the king of Egypt, Sarah married her to Abraham (peace be upon him) so that they can have a child. Abraham (peace be upon him) was eighty-five when he married Hagar. All of them were earnestly supplicating God for righteous progeny. The Bible mentions the childless state of Abraham (peace be upon him) as follows:
“And Abraham said, ‘Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.’ And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, ‘This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’ And he brought him forth abroad, and said, ‘Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them,’ and he said unto him, ‘So shall thy seed be.’ ” (Genesis 15:3-5)
God heard their prayers. The angel spoke with Hagar and said, says the Bible, “And the Angel of Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.” (Genesis 16:10,11)
The first child was born to Abraham (peace be upon him) from Hagar. The Bible says:
“Abraham was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abraham.” (Genesis 16:16).
Promises of God with Sarah and Hagar
After the birth of Ishmael, Sarah the elder wife of Abraham, was also promised by God of a child. In fact multiple promises were given to them for their progeny. In Genesis 17:16-20 we have:
“And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
Abraham (peace be upon him) Settles His Only Son in Mecca
Abraham (peace be upon him) did nothing of his own accord, rather did as was commanded by God. He took Ishmael and his mother Hagar to the appointed land in the wilderness of Arabia and while settling them there offered the following prayer:
“Our Lord, I have settled some of my progeny in an uncultivable valley near thy Sacred House. Our Lord, that they may observe prayer. So make men’s heart incline towards them and provide them with fruits and that they may be thankful. Our Lord, certainly, Thou knowest what we keep secret and what we make known. And nothing whatever is hidden from Allah, whether in the earth or in the heaven.” (14:38-39)
Ishmael was yet a child when in obedience to divine command and in fulfillment of divine plan, Abraham (peace be upon him) brought him and his mother Hagar to the bleak and barren tract where Mecca now stands. At that time there was no sign of life and no means of sustenance at the place (Bukhari). But God had so designed that the place should become the scene of the activities of God’s last message for mankind. Ishmael was chosen as the vehicle for the implementation of this divine plan.
The prayer was made at a time when not a blade of grass was to be seen for many miles around Mecca. Yet the prophecy met with fulfillment in a marvelous manner, for the choicest fruits now reach Mecca in plenty, in all seasons.
It is recorded in the history that when Abraham (peace be upon him) left his child and his wife in that barren land, Hagar ran after him and asked Abraham, Are you leaving us here? He did not answer. Then she asked him again saying, Are you leaving us here by the command of God? Abraham (peace be upon him) just pointed towards the sky. She understood this and said, Then God will not waste us, and returned to the baby. What a faithful lady she was! She trusted in God and He provided her with all the necessary things and protected them. The child grew in that atmosphere, under those circumstances and in due course this place became a town.
Abraham (peace be upon him) Sacrifices His Son
Abraham (peace be upon him) had seen a dream that he was slaughtering his only son. When Ishmael was twelve, Abraham (peace be upon him) came to visit them and mentioned the dream to him. The Holy Quran mentions the whole episode as follows:
“And he prayed, My Lord, grant me a righteous son. So We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing son. And when he was old enough to work and run along with him, he said, ‘O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I am offering thee in sacrifice. So consider what thou thinkest of it!’ He replied, ‘O my father, do as thou art commanded; thou wilt find me, if Allah pleases, steadfast in my faith.’ And when they both submitted to the will of God, and Abraham had thrown him down on his forehead. We called to him, ‘O Abraham. Thou hast, indeed fulfilled the dream.’ Thus, indeed, do we reward those who do good.” (37:101-106)
On the contrary the Bible says:
“And He said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, who thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee.” (Genesis 22:2)
In this self-contradicting statement Isaac has been mentioned as the only son, while the reality is that Isaac was at no time of his life Abraham’s only son. The only son was Ishmael who was thirteen years older than Isaac. It is clear from the Bible and the Holy Quran that the incident took place when the son was able to do some work along with the father. It sets the age of the child at the time of the incident at about twelve years. And it was Ishmael who was the only son of Abraham (peace be upon him) up to the age of twelve as Isaac was not yet born. However, after this incident God gave glad tidings about the birth of Isaac. The Holy Quran says:
“And we gave him the glad tidings of Isaac, a prophet, and one of the righteous. ” (37:113)
A year later, when Abraham (peace be upon him) was hundred years old, Isaac was born. Genesis 22:6 tells us that the son offered as sacrifice was not a baby. He in fact carried the wood of the burnt offering on his head, and Genesis 22:12 describes that the son offered as sacrifice was the only son. Here it does not mention any name. At the time of sacrifice Abraham (peace be upon him) was ninety-nine years old and the only son he had at that time was Ishmael. It seems that the writers of the Bible, while claiming credit of sacrifice, have deliberately changed Isaac with Ishmael, and Moriah for Marwah, a hillock in the vicinity of Mecca.
Moreover, in the religious ceremonies of the Jews and the Christians, no trace of the supposed sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is found. Muslims, who are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, commemorate with great fervor his intended sacrifice, by slaughtering every year rams and goats all over the world on the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah. This universal sacrifice of quadruplets by Muslims establishes beyond dispute the fact that it was Ishmael and not Isaac whom Abraham (peace be upon him) offered for sacrifice.
In reality, Abraham (peace be upon him) was not required to fulfill his vision in the literal sense. It was only a practical demonstration of his intention and preparedness to sacrifice his son which was desired of him. The vision had already symbolically been fulfilled in Hagar and Ishmael having been left by Abraham (peace be upon him) in the valley of Mecca, a land of arid and barren waste. That brave act had, in fact, symbolized the sacrifice of Ishmael. The other purpose of the divine command to Abraham (peace be upon him) first to sacrifice his son, and then to abstain from it, was to abolish human sacrifice, a most inhuman practice prevalent among most nations at the time.
Abraham (peace be upon him) as a Law Bearing Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) followed the law of Noah (peace be upon him) up to fifty years. Later on, when God tried him with certain commandments, which he fulfilled, God said,
“... I will make thee a leader of men. Abraham asked, And from among my offspring? God said, My covenant does not embrace the transgressors.” (2:125)
In the great trial of sacrifice of his only son, Abraham’s (peace be upon him) conduct proved par excellent. The time demanded new law so God chose Abraham (peace be upon him) for it. The House of God had fallen to ruins and it required reconstruction. Under the command of God, Abraham (peace be upon him) and Ishmael rebuilt it on the old foundations (2:128). God enjoined on him saying:
“Associate not anything with Me and keep My house clean for those who perform the circuits, and those who stand up and those who bow and prostrate themselves in prayer.” (22:27)
Abraham (peace be upon him) Proclaims Pilgrimage (Hajj) for Mankind.
God instituted pilgrimage (Hajj) for mankind through Abraham. He ordered him saying,
“Proclaim unto men the pilgrimage. They will come to thee on foot, and on every lean camel, coming by every distant deep track” (22:28).
Thus the pilgrimage as an institution began with the Patriarch Abraham (peace be upon him) and has continued without a break to this day. The gathering in Mecca every year of many hundreds of thousands of Muslims from every distant land bears an irrefutable testimony to the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Shariah of Abraham
The laws introduced through Abraham (peace be upon him) were contained in the scriptures, but these have not been preserved as they were intended for a limited period only. However they are mentioned as scriptures of Abraham (peace be upon him) in the Holy Quran (87:20). The Holy Quran tells us that the scriptures contained the following:
“Verily, he, indeed, will prosper who purifies himself. And remembers the name of his Lord and offers Prayers. But you prefer the life of this world, whereas the Hereafter is better and more lasting. This, indeed, is what is taught in the former Scriptures. The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses.” (87:15-20)
Abraham (peace be upon him) taught simple form of unity of God to his people. Laws of Abraham (peace be upon him) remained in force till the time of Moses (peace be upon him) when other laws were introduced.
Rise and Fall of Abraham’s Progeny
Hadrat Abraham (peace be upon him) was very much concerned about the renaissance of his people. He supplicated to God saying,
“... ‘My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead.’ God said, ‘Dost thou not believe?’ Abraham said, ‘Yes, but I ask this so that my heart may be at ease.’ God Answered, ‘Take four birds and make them attached to thee. Then put each of them on a hill; then call them; they will come to thee in haste.’ ...” (2:261)
This is a vision of Abraham (peace be upon him) in which he was shown the way to train his followers and regeneration them.
The interpretation of ‘taking of four birds’ in this vision meant that his posterity would rise and fall four times, a phenomenon that was to be witnessed twice among the Israelites, and to be repeated twice later on among the followers of the Holy Prophet of Islam who was a descendent of Abraham (peace be upon him) through Ishmael. The power of the Jews, the progeny of Abraham (peace be upon him) through Isaac, was crushed twice, first by Nebuchadnezzar and then by Titus (17:5-8) (Enc. Brit. under ‘Jews’). Each time God raised them after their fall, the second revival having been brought about by Constantine, the Roman emperor who accepted Christianity. Similarly, the power of Islam was first rudely shaken when Baghdad fell to the Tartar hordes, but soon it recovered from the crushing blow. The victors became the vanquished and the grandson of Halaku, the despoiler of Baghdad, was converted to Islam. The second fall came later when there was a general and wholesale decline of Muslims both in the spiritual and political field (Commentary, 2:262). God has raised the Promised Messiah in the latter days for the second renaissance of Islam, which is to take place through peaceful means.
The Promised Victory
The Holy Quran states:
“And we have already written in the Book of David, after the reminder that my righteous servant shall inherit the land.” (21:106)
This is a divine decree and nobody can alter the decree of God.� In our assessment the hearts of dwellers of Palestine will be won over by true Islam, that is, Ahmadiyyat and those truly righteous followers of God will inherit it. It will not happen, however, with the help of cannons or bombs.
Abraham’s Prayer for a Great Prophet Among His Progeny
The Holy Quran says,
“And, our Lord, raise up among them a messenger from among themselves, who may recite to them thy signs and teach them the book and wisdom and may purify them; surely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.” (2:130)
In this verse Abraham (peace be upon him) prayed for a great Prophet with specific missions. This was later fulfilled in the person of Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a descendent of Ishmael, on whom the fiery law (Deuteronomy 33:2) for all mankind was revealed in the form of the Holy Quran.
Hadrat Musa (Moses) (peace be upon him)
Israelites were living in bondage in Egypt. The King had subjected them to very hard and difficult conditions. To perpetuate their control over Israelites, one of the measures taken against them was that the male children of Israelites be slain. The King had ordered the midwives to carry out this evil task quietly at the very birth of the children of Israelites (Exodus 1:16). But the will of God prevented the midwives from such an evil act. When the King came to know of this, he gave order to his people, saying,
“Every son that is born ye shall cast into river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” (Exodus 1:22)
We have in he Holy Quran,
“ ... Pharaoh behaved arrogantly in the earth, and divided the people thereof into sections; he sought to weaken one section of them, slaughtering their sons and sparing there women... ” (28:5)
Such was the scene of Egypt when Moses (peace be upon him) was born there in the house of Imran during the despotic reign of Ramses II. God decided to help the weak Israelites and bring about a complete change in their position. They were to be delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh and were to become leaders and inheritors of favors and bounties of God.
God’s ways are mysterious and human being cannot perceive them. The case of the freedom of Israelites is a marvelous one. It establishes beyond doubt that Allah’s decision always comes to pass and no power can be a hindrance in the way of their fulfillment.
Let us see how the events had unfolded for the liberation of the Israelites.
The Holy Quran says that at the birth of Moses (peace be upon him), God revealed to his mother saying:
“... You suckle him; and when thou fearest for him, then cast him into the river and fear not, nor grieve; for we shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of the messengers.” (28:8)
The Old Testament, although it has under gone many changes, yet contains the following statement:
“And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bul-rushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river-side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him; and said, this is one of the Hebrews children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and became her son. And she called his name Moses; and she said, because I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:3)
This statement from the Bible in essence is very close to what we have in the Holy Quran as an accurate account of Moses (peace be upon him).
The mother of Moses was a very sincere believer and had a living relationship with God. After the birth of Moses (peace be upon him) she suckled him as God had directed her and when she felt otherwise then without any hesitation she placed the infant Moses in the ark (28:8, 20:40) and floated it in the river and directed her daughter to follow it. The daughter kept the watch over the ark in such a way that no one could perceive it. The ark was picked up by a member of the family of Pharaoh who happened to be bathing in the river. The ark was brought to the palace of Pharaoh, where his wife saw the beautiful Israelite baby. She was attracted towards the infant and pleaded with the husband saying,
“... He will be a joy for my eyes and for you also, slay him not, hopefully he may prove to be useful for us or we may adopt him as a son.” (28:10)
Then she sent for wet nurses for the baby. The baby did not accept any one of those who came. Meanwhile Moses (peace be upon him) sister managed to reach there and offered a solution to the problem saying,
“... Shall I direct you to a people of a household who will bring him up for you and will be his sincere well-wishers?” (28:13)
They agreed and Pharaoh approached the mother of Moses (peace be upon him) for the nursing and upbringing of the child. She readily agreed to their proposal and the baby was given to her for upbringing and training on the expense of Pharaoh. The mother of Moses (peace be upon him) was so delighted over the return of her child according to Allah’s promise that she could hardly control her emotions. Her faith in Allah became even more solid. She was fully convinced that this child would be a prophet of Allah in due course as Allah had informed her earlier. So she spared no efforts in upbringing the child in the best manner. Moses (peace be upon him) had such a holy mother for benevolent care and guidance and a mighty monarch as guardian unto his manhood. He had a healthy and wholesome affect of his mother, overriding the evil ways and manner of his guardian monarch. He developed manly qualities of might and power and valor from palace on the one hand, and learned good manners and self-control over them from the pious mother on the other.
As Moses (peace be upon him) advanced toward maturity his observation of daily life of the people of Egypt became intense. He was able to see very clearly the cruel treatment meted out to the Israelites. The whole atmosphere of Egypt had developed totally against the Israelites and even ordinary Egyptians carried out atrocities against them. Moses (peace be upon him) had great aversion against oppression and was very much helpful to the weak. An incident for illustration purpose may be of interest. The Holy Quran says:
“... One day he entered the city at a time when its inhabitants were in a state of heedlessness; and he found therein two men fighting�one of his own party and the other from enemies. And he who was of his party sought his help against him who was of his enemies. So Moses struck the latter with his fist; and thereby caused his death. Then Moses said, ‘This is of Satan’s doing, he is indeed an enemy, a manifest misleader.’ ” (28:16)
Moses (peace be upon him) had no intention of killing the Egyptian but his single punch caused the death of the Egyptian. On this Moses (peace be upon him) become very much upset and implored God for forgiveness and made a solemn promise with Him saying, “I will never be a helper of the guilty.” Next morning he got out of his home being watchful of the situation. Suddenly he heard the call of help from the same Israelite, who was again engaged in some dispute with another Egyptian. Moses (peace be upon him) said to him, “You are definitely a misguided person.” And when Moses (peace be upon him) made up his mind to lay hold of the man, who was an enemy of both, the Israelite thought that Moses (peace be upon him) was about to hold him, cried out loudly, “O Moses (peace be upon him) do you intend to kill me as you have killed a person yesterday?” (28:20) This cry disclosed the incident, which had taken place a day earlier. The Egyptians were already in search of the killer of the Egyptian. So the condition of Moses (peace be upon him) became very vulnerable. He, therefore, confined himself to his home. A well-wisher of Moses (peace be upon him) who happened to know the evil design of authorities came to him with the news that the chiefs were counseling together to kill him and advised him to depart from the area immediately.
Moses (peace be upon him) Departs for Midian
Moses (peace be upon him) secretly departed from home to some direction praying and moving watchfully. After covering some distance he decided to go to Midian. After a few days’ journey Moses (peace be upon him) arrived in the vicinity of Midian. In the outskirts of Midian he found shepherds watering their animals. Among them were two young ladies who were holding back their flocks. Moses (peace be upon him) asked them what was their problem? They replied, “We cannot water our animals until all the shepherds have departed with their flocks. And our father is an old man.” (28:24) Moses (peace be upon him) watered their flocks and returned to the shade of the tree while praying to God for help and guidance. When the two ladies came back and narrated the story to their father, he sent one of them back to Moses (peace be upon him). She came and bashfully approaching Moses (peace be upon him) said: “My father calls you home so that he may reward you for the service you rendered to our flock.” On his arrival at their home Moses (peace be upon him) narrated the incident, which had happened in Egypt. The old man replied, “Have no fear any more, you have escaped from an unjust people” (28:26).
It seems that the household was already in search of some good servant. So his daughters suggested for employing Moses (peace be upon him) as he had proved himself to be a strong and honest man. The father was fully convinced of the nobility of Moses (peace be upon him); he, therefore, offered him one of his daughters in marriage. In due course marriage contract was made. The old man Shuaib was a holy man and perhaps knew through revelation that his son-in-law would be a prophet of God. So he wanted him to remain in his company for a long time and benefit from his company. He made eight to ten years of service an essential condition for marriage. Moses (peace be upon him) accepted the condition of service and remained with Hadrat Shuaib about eight to ten years.
Moses (peace be upon him) Commissioned to Prophethood
After completing the term of service, Moses (peace be upon him) set forth from Midian with his family. On the way he saw a manifestation of God. He told his family to wait for him while he went up the mountain, where he had seen the light and was expecting great communication of God. On arrival at the spot, he was called by a voice from the right side of the valley, in the blessed spot, out of the tree:
“... Moses, verily I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds; Cast down thy rod. And when he saw it move as though it were a serpent, he turned back retreating and did not look back. O Moses, said the voice, come forward and fear not; surely thou art of those who are safe. Insert thy hand into thy bosom; it will come forth white without evil effect, and draw back thy arm toward thyself in order to still thy fear. So these shall be two proofs from thy Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs. Surely, they are a rebellious people. ” (28:31-33)
With these words Moses (peace be upon him) was commissioned to return to Pharaoh and his people for their guidance and reformation. Moses (peace be upon him) had lived among them and was aware of their arrogance, cruelty and inhumane behavior. The responsibility of guiding them seemed to him very heavy and the task extremely difficult. No doubt the responsibilities of prophethood are indeed very heavy, and Moses (peace be upon him), it appears, felt that he was not equal to the great task with which he was being entrusted. That is why he said,
“My breast is straightened and my tongue is not fluent; so send word to Aaron (peace be upon him) also. ” (26:14)
He also recalled the incident in which an Egyptian had died with his fist and the blame of killing him was placed on him. Allah, the Wise, granting the request of Moses (peace be upon him), said,
“We will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and We will give power to you both so that they shall not reach you. So go with our signs. You two and those who follow you will prevail (28:36).”
Allah said again,
“So go to Pharaoh and say, both of us are the messengers of the Lord of the world. To tell thee to send the children of Israel with us.” (26:17-18)
The Bible also mention about it in Exodus chapter 5 but in a different way.
The name of Pharaoh whom Moses (peace be upon him) gave the message of God has not been mentioned in the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran. Some historians say it was Ramses II while more recent ones say it was Merneptah, the son of Ramses II. However, it does not make much difference, as both were despotic and most cruel to the Israelites.
Moses (peace be upon him) in the Court of Pharaoh
Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him), with a mighty message and full assurance of victory from God, reached Cairo. On arrival first they contacted Israelites and gave them the glad tiding of achieving freedom from the bondage of Pharaoh and persuaded them to prepare for the impending departure. Then they went to Pharaoh. Moses (peace be upon him) conveyed him the message of God in a very plain and polite manner saying,
“O Pharaoh surely, I am a messenger from the Lord of worlds. It is not right that I should say anything of God except the truth. I have come to you with a clear sign from your Lord; therefore, let the children of Israel go with me.” (7:105-106)
“... And torment them not. We have, indeed, brought thee a great sign from thy Lord; and peace shall be on him who follows the guidance. It has, indeed, been revealed to us that punishment shall come upon him who rejects the message of God and turns away.” (20:48-49)
On hearing this message, the following dialogue took place between Moses (peace be upon him) and Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said, Who then is the Lord of you two, O Moses?
Moses (peace be upon him) said, Our Lord is He who gave unto everything its proper form and then guided it to its proper function.
Pharaoh said, What will be the fate of the former generations?
Moses (peace be upon him) said, The knowledge thereof is with my Lord preserved in a Book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets.
It is He Who has made the earth for you a bed and has caused pathways for you to run through it; and who sends down rain from the sky and thereby We bring forth various kinds of vegetation in pairs;
Eat ye and pasture your cattle. Verily, in this are signs for those endowed with reason.
From this earth have We created you, and into it shall We cause you to return, and from it shall we bring you forth a second time.
And we did show Pharaoh Our signs, all of them; but he rejected them and refused to believe. (20:50-57)
Miracles of Moses (peace be upon him)
Pharaoh then demanded some miracle saying, “� ‘If thou hast indeed come with sign, then produce it, if thou art truthful.’ So he (Moses) flung down his rod and behold! It was a serpent plainly visible. And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it appeared white to beholders.” (7:107-109)
These miracles were so impressive and imposing that Pharaoh was dumb founded but his courtiers, the chiefs of his people, came to his aid saying that Moses (peace be upon him) was most surely a skilful sorcerer and desired to turn the people out of their land. The other chiefs joined in and advised Pharaoh to put off Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother for a while and call all skilful sorcerers from all over the country for combating Moses (peace be upon him). Then they asked Moses (peace be upon him) for the appointment of a date for the final contest. Moses (peace be upon him) said, “Your appointment shall be the day of the festival and let the people be assembled when the sun is risen high.” (20:60) The discussion ended there and people dispersed. Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother returned to Israelites and continually conveyed the message of God to them and kept assuring them of the impending victory.
Moses (peace be upon him) returned to the appointed place on the fixed date and time. Pharaoh and the chiefs had already gathered all the people and their skilful sorcerers. The record of the contest that ensued between them according to the Holy Quran is given below:
“They said, O Moses, either do thou cast first, or we shall be the first to cast.
Moses said, Nay, cast ye, then lo! their cords and their staves appeared to him, by their magic, as though they ran about.
And Moses conceived a fear in his mind.
We said, Fear not, for thou wilt have upper hand;
And cast that which is in thy right hand; it will swallow that which they have wrought, for that which they have wrought is only a sorcerer’s trick. And a sorcerer shall not thrive, contrive what he may!” (20:66-70)
This contest did establish the truth of Moses (peace be upon him) but Pharaoh and his people did not pay heed to it, rather advancing in their transgression and said,
“Wilt thou leave Moses and his people to create disorder in the land and forsake thee and thy gods? He answered, We will ruthlessly slay their sons and let their women live. And surely we are dominant over them.” (7:128)
Thereafter pharaoh and his chiefs intensified in their brutal treatment of Israelites while Moses (peace be upon him) intensified his exhortation to the Israelites for becoming more steadfast in their faith and seeking help from God. The Israelites made complaints about the evil treatment, while Moses (peace be upon him) encouraged them to bear it with patience saying,
“Your Lord is about to destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land.”
They replied, ‘We were persecuted before thou camest to us and even after thou camest to us.’
He said,
Lord is about to destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land, that He may see how you act.’ (7:130).
Other Signs Shown to Pharaoh and His People
God Almighty afflicted the people of Pharaoh with drought, scarcity of fruits and by sending upon them storms, locusts, lice, frogs and blood as clear signs. But they behaved proudly and were a sinful people. And when there fell upon them the punishment, they said,
“O Moses, pray for us to thy Lord according to that which he has promised to thee. If thou remove from us the punishment, we will surely send with thee the Children of Israel.” (7:131, 134-135)
Nine miracles were shown to Pharaoh and his people through Moses (peace be upon him) but they did not benefit from them. Due to the fear of persecution by Pharaoh and the chiefs, only a few youths from among them believed in Moses (peace be upon him) (10:84). After the defeat of sorcerers Pharaoh became more furious. At this critical hour God revealed to Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother:
“Take for your people some houses in the town and construct your houses so that they face each other and observe prayer. And give glad tidings to the believers.” (10:88)
Under this direction of God, Moses (peace be upon him) convinced the Israelites to dwell very close together so as to be able to help one another in the time of need. This is only achievable when people build their houses near or facing each other. It also indicated that they should have a common goal or ideal and remain focused on it. Thus Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) concentrated on having the Israelites united and prepared fully for migration on the one hand and implored God against Pharaoh on the other hand in the following way:
“Our Lord, Thou hast bestowed upon Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and riches in the present life, with the result, Our Lord, that they are leading men astray from Thy path. Our Lord! Destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they believe not until they see the grievous punishment.” (10:89)
God heard their prayers and gave them final orders for departure from Egypt saying:
“Take away My servants by night, and strike for them a dry path through the sea. Thou wilt not be afraid of being overtaken, nor wilt thou have any other fear.” (20:78)
In order to fully understand the nature and significance of this incident which indeed constituted a great divine sign, it is necessary to read this verse along with other relevant verses such as vv. 2:51, 26:62-64 and 44:25.
The Bible mentions the crossing of the sea in the following words:
“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Stretch out thine hand over the sea.’ And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its strength. And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.” (Exodus 14:21-28)
The Holy Quran says:
“And remember the time when we divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh’s people while you looked on.” (2:51)
“And when the two hosts came in sight of each other the companions of Moses said, ‘We are surely overtaken’ � Then we revealed to Moses saying, ‘Strike the sea with thy rod.’ Whereupon it parted and every part was like a huge sand-hill.” (26:62-64)
Along with it read also,
“And leave the sea at a time when it is motionless. Surely, they are a host which is doomed to be drowned.” (44:25)
When Moses and the Israelites arrived at the northern extremity of the Red Sea, the ebb of the tide had begun. As the water receded, it left behind dunes, the tops of which were gradually uncovered, leaving the intervening depressions full of water. The Israelites crossed over at that moment. On arrival at the spot the Egyptian forces saw a bare stretch of the shore and pursued the fugitives, their chariot wheels stuck fast in the wet soil and the water returned upon them when the wind shifted and they were thus destroyer by God.
Historians differ as to the exact place from where Moses (peace be upon him) crossed the Red Sea. Keeping all views in sight, “What is most probable is the fact that from Tal Abi Sulaiman which was the capital of the Pharaohs in the time of Moses (peace be upon him), the Israelites at first went to north east to the gulf of Timsah but finding that a net of gulfs barred their way, they turned south and crossed the Red Sea near the town of Suez where it is hardly more than 2/3 mile wide and started for Qadas.” (Enc. Bible Col 1437)
In short, Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) “led the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan. The Israelites left secretly by night, and when Pharaoh learnt of their flight, he pursued them with his hosts and was drowned in the Red Sea.”
When Pharaoh was drowning he proclaimed belief in the God of the children of Israelites. God acknowledging his belief said:
“What! Now! while thou wast disobedient before this and wast of the mischief-makers. So this day we will save thee in thy body alone that thou mayest be a sign to those who came after thee. And surely many of mankind are heedless of Our Signs.” (10:92-93)
“It is remarkable that the Quran alone of all religious scriptures and books of history mentions this fact. The Bible makes no mention of it, nor does any book of history. But in what wonderful manner the word of God has proved true! After the lapse of more than 3,000 years the body of Pharaoh has been discovered and it now lies in a preserved state in the museum at Cairo. The body shows Pharaoh to have been a lean, short-bodied man, with a countenance expressive of anger and stupidity. Moses (peace be upon him) was born in the time of Rameses II and was brought up by him (Exodus 2:2-10), but it was in the reign of his son, Merneptah (Meneptah) that he was entrusted with the mission of a Prophet (Jew Enc., vol 9, p. 500 & Enc. Bib., under “Pharaoh” & under “Egypt”).” (Large Commentary, Vol 1, Page 448).
Moses (peace be upon him) and the Israelites in Sinai
After having crossed the sea safely, Israelites saw the destruction of the powerful enemy with their own eyes and thanked God. God called Moses (peace be upon him) for thirty nights on Mt. Tur and then this period was extended for another ten nights. Before leaving for the meeting with God, Moses (peace be upon him) said to his brother Aaron (peace be upon him), “Take charge of my people in my absence and manage them well.”
Moses (peace be upon him) was blessed with special communication with God. It made him bold, and he requested God to show him that perfect manifestation which He promised the prophet prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:18. Upon this God manifested himself on the mountain, and it broke into pieces and Moses (peace be upon him) fell unconscious . On recovery he thanked God and said, “Holy art thou I turn to thee and I am the first believer” (7:144). He was then given the Ten Commandments for Israelites. The words of those commandments were not preserved. However, they are found in the current Bible in the following words.
The Ten Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And Shewing mercy unto thousand of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hollowed it.
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbors. (Exodus 20:1-17)
Besides these commandments, law of retaliation, which was vigorously followed by the Israelites, is mentioned in the following words:
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
And if man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. (Exodus 21:23-27)
The Holy Quran describe this law as follow:
“We prescribed for them: life for life, and eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and for other injuries equitable retaliation. And whoso waives the right thereto, it shall be an expiation for his own sins; and whoso judges not by what Allah has sent down, these it is who are wrongdoers.” (5:46)
During the absence of Moses (peace be upon him) Israelites due to their weak faith restored to the worship of calf, which Samiri prepared with their ornaments. They did not heed to the polite admonition of Aaron (peace be upon him). On return from Tur, Moses (peace be upon him) rebuked them and was hard on his brother. He excommunicated Samiri and frightened the followers a great deal, then picked up seventy leading men and went back to the mountain for repentance. An earthquake took place, which struck terror among the Israelites. They joined in repentance with Moses (peace be upon him) and were forgiven by God.
Moses (peace be upon him) introduced the divine Commandments on the tablets and advised them that their progress and prosperity lay in obedience to them. Israelites were to be trained in Sinai for the victory of Canaan.
Having lived for a long time in bondage and in a state of dependence, the Israelites had become cowardly and indolent. So God intended them to stay in the desert for some time and to live on game and wild herbs in order that they may shed their cowardice and laziness by living an independent life in desert. Thus revitalized, they were to be led to the Promised Land and made rulers of Palestine. The Israelites, however, failed to understand the real purpose of God or, having understood it, failed to appreciate it and foolishly insisted upon living in a town. God wanted to prepare them to rule over the Promised Land but those unfortunate people hungered after husbandry. So they were told to go down to a town where they would get the desired things.
Promised Land and the Israelites
Reference to the Promised Land has been made in the Holy Quran in the following verse:
“And We have already written in the book of David, after the reminder, that My righteous servants shall inherit the land.” (21:106)
Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) encouraged Israelites to march forward from Sinai to conquer Canaan, the Promised Land, and assured them of victory, provided that they strive to enter the gates thereof. But they replied saying,
“O Moses (peace be upon him), there is in that land an unruly and powerful people, and we shall not enter it until they go forth from it. But if they go forth from it, then we will enter it. � Go thou and thy Lord and fight the enemy, we sit here and wait for the victory.” (5:23, 25)
When the Israelites behaved in a cowardly manner, God decreed that they should continue to wander in the wilderness for forty years in order that the life of the desert should invigorate them and infuse in them new life and should strengthen their morals.
Moses (peace be upon him) had succeeded in bringing the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s bondage and brought them freedom, but could not convince them to conquer Canaan and died in Sinai.
Future Disclosed to Moses (peace be upon him)
Allah alone possesses the knowledge of the future. He imparts it through his chosen ones. Here under we mention a few prophecies of Moses (peace be upon him).
“And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said, The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” (Deuteronomy 33:2)
In this passage three prophecies have been mentioned:
Manifestation of God on Moses (peace be upon him) in Sinai.
God’s manifestation on Jesus (peace be upon him) in Seir, the area in which many miracles of Jesus (peace be upon him) took place.
God’s manifestation on Mohammed which was to take place at mount Paran. The Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conquered Mecca at the head of ten thousands companions. Paran in Arabic is called Faran, the name of the hill that lays between Mecca and Medina. The fiery law mentioned is the Holy Quran�a permanent law for mankind.
God spoke to Moses (peace be upon him) and said:
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 20:18-19)
In this prophecy Moses (peace be upon him) was told that God would raise a Prophet from among their brethren, that is, the Ishmaelites who will be a law bearing Prophet like unto Moses (peace be upon him). This was fulfilled in the person of Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The word of the prophecy “and will put my words in his mouth” are very significant as the Holy Quran introduced by Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) claims to be the very words of God. There is no other religious book, which claims to be the exact words of God.
Moses (peace be upon him) was a law bearing Prophet and all those appeared after him including David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon him) followed his law. His dispensation came to an end with the death of Jesus (peace be upon him) in Kashmir, India.
Hadrat Isa Bin Maryam (Jesus) (peace be upon him), Son of Mary
Mother of Jesus (peace be upon him) forms an integral part of his name so we commence his life by a brief mention of his mother. Grandmother of Jesus (peace be upon him), Hanna, loved pious life and had a keen desire to have a pious child. She vowed that her child would be dedicated to the service of the church (synagogue). In due course she gave birth to a girl who was named Mary.
During those days only males were dedicated to the service of the church. Nevertheless, due to her vows that she had made earlier, she dedicated Mary, her only child, to the service of the church. Zakaria became Mary’s guardian. Mary grew from childhood to womanhood in the church and lived a pious and chaste life. So pious was young Mary that her guardian, Zakaria, begged God to grant him a pious son like Mary. He was granted Yahya (John) who became a prophet in due course.
During her devotion she saw visions and was strengthened in her faith by the words of God. Angel told her that God had chosen her over all the ladies of her time. She should therefore remain devotedly engaged in His worship alone. She was in this state of devotion when one day she saw an angel in the form of a man, who conveyed her glad news from God that she would have a son. This news disturbed her very much. She argued with the angel saying that she was a virgin and under the vow he had chosen the life of celibacy and she had not been unchaste. Under these circumstances how can she bear a child? she asked. The angel replied that her statement was correct but the child would be born because it was the command of God. He creates things without even any material. He had decided that the miraculous birth of the child should take place and serve as a sign for the Israelites. They had become unworthy of prophethood due to their persistent rejection of prophets sent to them. God, therefore, had decided to shift prophethood from Israelites to the children of Ishmael. The fatherless birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) thus was to serve as a sign for Israelites.
Birth of Jesus (peace be upon him)
After receiving news from the angel, Mary felt conceived with the command of God in November or December of that year. On realizing this, she understood that God had changed her lifestyle and she could no longer continue her devotion in the church. With the pregnancy becoming more visible, in March or April of next year, the Essential brotherhood, to which Mary belonged, in their perplexity and fearing scandal, secretly prevailed upon one Joseph to marry her. Later on, on realizing that she was already with pregnancy, Joseph wanted to do away with her but was prevented by an angel. From the Chamber of dedication, Mary went to the east in Bethlehem, about seventy miles south of Nazareth to avoid the public eye. She had no one to help her in her difficulties except God. Having full trust in God and through the guidance from Him alone, she completed her time of pregnancy. The pains of childbirth drove her close to the trunk of a palm tree in the fountain land of Judea (19:24). It appears that she gave birth to Jesus (peace be upon him) in Jewish month of Elul as dates ripe in this month (Dictionary of the Bible by John D. Davis under the word “Year”). The month of Elul corresponds to the months of August-September (Peak’s commentary of Bible, p. 117)
St. Luke, writing about the time of the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him), says,
“ There were the shepherds in the same country (Judea), abiding in the fields and keeping watch by night over their flocks.” (Luke 2:7-8)
A careful study of both Muslim and Christian scriptures establishes that the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) took place in the summer, that is, in September and not in December. Luke’s statement categorically rejects the popular belief, as shepherds cannot abide in the open fields in Palestine in the month of December. One may ask, why then the Christian world celebrates the birth of Christ on December 25th. For a clearer understanding of this issue, the following passages from the Encyclopedia Britannia and Chambers Encyclopedia under the word “Christmas” should be consulted:
“The exact day and year of Christ’s birth have never been satisfactorily settled; but when the fathers of the Church in AD 340 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely chose the day of winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of people and which was their most important festival. Owing to changes in man-made calendars, the time of the solstice and the date of Christmas day vary by a few days.” (Enc. Brit. 15th Edition, Vol. 5, pp. 642 and 642A)
And again:
“The winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun, and at Rome 25th December was observed as a pagan festival of the nativity of Sol-Invictus. The church, unable to stamp out this popular festival, spiritualized it as the feast of the Nativity of the sun of Righteousness.” (Ch. Enc.)
This establishes beyond doubt that Jesus (peace be upon him) was not born in December. According to J. Stewart, Jesus (peace be upon him) was born in 8 BC in September or October. For a full discussion, see his book, When Did Our Lord Actually Live.
The birth story mentioned in the Holy Quran is the most accurate one.
At the time of delivery, Mary was strengthened by revelation and directed to the nearby rivulet and the ripe dates on the date palms standing at the slope close by her. She delivered Jesus (peace be upon him) in pain and was exhausted but soon regained strength by the dates and water. She followed the instructions of God and avoided communication with people and remained devoted to Him.
Sometime after the birth of the child, Joseph came and took them to Egypt, where they lived till the death of Herod, a notorious king (Matthew 2:13-23).
No records are available about the childhood or youth of Jesus (peace be upon him) or the life of his mother. They came back to Judea only after the appointment of Jesus (peace be upon him) to prophethood.
Prophethood of Jesus (peace be upon him)
God taught Jesus knowledge of the Torah, granted him wisdom and appointed him prophet for the Israelites (3:50). He appeared fourteen centuries after Moses (peace be upon him). During this long period the Old Testament had undergone many changes. Jewish scholars, scribes and Pharisees at the time had tempered with the Torah and had disfigured it. The followers of Moses (peace be upon him) were divided into seventy-one sects at that time. God sent Jesus (peace be upon him) as the terminal prophet for the house of Israel. God granted him revelation so that the wrong teachings that had crept into the Torah could be sifted and Jewish beliefs and practices could be rectified. He preached the message of God to them but they would not pay heed to him; they rather turned against him. He spoke in parables, conveying the message to the poor and the rich Israelites alike. Very few of them believed in him. Jews accused him of claiming to be the king of Jews. Little did they understand from the prophecy that he was to be a spiritual king. When he spoke against the erroneous beliefs, they turned into his bitter enemies. They even reported him to the Roman rulers of the land and demanded his execution. He was accused of blasphemy and sought for trial.
Trial of Jesus (peace be upon him)
He was tried in the court of Pontius Pilate, the local Governor. The wife of Pilate had seen in a dream that Jesus (peace be upon him) was a righteous person and that he should not be harmed. Therefore when Pilate sat on the judgment seat he called for water and washed his hands saying, ‘I am free from the sin against this righteous man.’ He had delayed the proceedings till third hour on the Friday. During trial too he used all means to save him. At one point he even gave the Jews an option, saying he used to give amnesty to someone every year, and if they wanted he could release Jesus (peace be upon him) for them. But they refused the offer. He asked them what he should do with Jesus (peace be upon him). They spoke with one voice: “Kill him for blasphemy and if you don’t do it we will report you to the King.” When Pilate could not prevail upon them, he handed over Jesus (peace be upon him) to the Jews for crucifixion.
They carried him to Golgotha and put him on the cross. He prayed to God saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” that is, “O my God, O my God, why have Thou forsaken me?”
Hebrew 5:7 states, “When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.” A heavy swoon fell on him and in this state he was taken down from cross at ninth hour before the Sabbath day. When he was taken down from the cross he was unconscious, extremely feeble and resembled a “dead person.” His legs were not broken to bring sure death on him. However, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and water and blood gushed out of his body. It was a clear sign that he was alive but to ward off his enemies he was declared dead. Shortly after the incident a follower of Jesus (peace be upon him) by the name of Joseph of Armithia, an influential fellow with authorities, came to Pilate and requested that the body of Jesus (peace be upon him) should be handed over to him. His request was granted readily. He took the feeble, unconscious body of Jesus (peace be upon him), placed him in a pre-arranged spacious sepulture in a private garden. Another follower, Nicodimus, the physician, brought pre-prepared ointments and applied it on the wounds of nails and wrapped him in a linen cloth. They tended their master in the sepulture dearly. Their efforts were successful and Jesus (peace be upon him) came to consciousness during the night.
Next morning they disguised him into the clothes of a gardener to avoid recapture. Later on he met disciples in their private places, shared fish and other food with them. Tarried with them for few weeks, carefully avoiding public appearance, and not letting anyone know about his movement. Jesus (peace be upon him) secretly planned and prepared for migration from Galilee. Before disappearing from the scene he directed some of his disciples to go to Galilee. They traveled to east and met him in Galilee Mountains. He entrusted them with the task of preaching to Israelites. Bidding them farewell, he departed secretly in search of the lost sheep of the house of Israel elsewhere. His followers returned to Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-52) He had told them that he had other sheep that are not of this fold. He set forth along with his mother and very few disciples on the long journey in search of the lost ten tribes of Israel. This ends the first phase of his ministry according to the Gospels.
The death of Jesus (peace be upon him) on the cross is a cardinal issue for the Jews, Christians and the Muslims. Jews believe that the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) was not miraculous, rather (God forbid) illicit, and that was false in his claim of prophethood and he had no connection with God. To prove their claim they tried to kill him on the cross. Because it was written in their book, “He who is hanged on a tree is accursed of God.” They failed in their attempt as has been stated above. The Jews, however, still maintain that they killed Jesus on the cross.
Christians believe that although Jesus (peace be upon him) died on the cross, he died to atone their sins, and then rose from the dead on the third day. If one can prove that he did not die on the cross then the basic Christian belief is shattered. Hence they adamantly retain the belief of his death on the cross although facts tell us otherwise.
Muslim in general, are of the view that Jesus (peace be upon him) did not die on the cross, rather God casted the figure of Jesus (peace be upon him) on some other person. The Jews, they say, killed that disfigured person on the cross instead of Jesus (peace be upon him). This belief, too, goes against the facts. God the Wise was able to save him from all such ignominious situations. These three types of beliefs have created a great dilemma for the followers of the three principal faiths in the world.
The most authentic source of information in this regard is the word of God, the Holy Quran, which says:
“... They slew him not nor did they bring about his death on the cross. But he was made to resemble like a crucified person and those who differ in are certainly in a state of doubt about it, they do not have certain knowledge about it. They follow their conjectures only. The reality is that they have not brought death on him. On the contrary Allah has exalted him to Himself...” (4:158-159)
In very clear words Allah has rejected the claim of the Jews and has stated that they failed in their attempt to bring about the death of Jesus (peace be upon him) on the cross. Rather he was exhausted when taken down from the cross and was in a swoon and resembled a dead one. Allah the Wise has thus saved him from ignominious death and exalted him to Himself. The words of the Holy Quran, “Allah has exalted him to Himself,” are the key words to solve the issue. Because no single place can be fixed as an abode of God. He is everywhere in the whole universe. By saving Jesus (peace be upon him) from an accursed death on the cross, God exalted him and proved to his enemies that he was beloved of God and that all the accusations leveled against him were baseless.
In short the three above-mentioned beliefs are falsified by the words of the Holy Quran. It has been already stated above that according to the Gospels as well, Jesus (peace be upon him) did not die on the cross. He did survive the crucifixion. Let us examine what happened next.
Palestine after the Disappearance
of Jesus (peace be upon him) from the Scene
Jesus (peace be upon him) left Palestine apparently in search of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It served a dual purpose: Firstly, the attention of the Jews was diverted away from the followers of Jesus (peace be upon him) and they no longer pursued them actively. And secondly, true followers of Jesus (peace be upon him) were able to carry out their message, secretly, to Israelites in Palestine in the absence of Jesus (peace be upon him) himself. Their leader James the righteous held the reign of Jerusalem church from approximately 40-60 CE. After him the Ebionites, one of the offshoot of James’s ministry, continued the mission. They strictly followed the Mosaic Law, believed Jesus (peace be upon him) to be the Messiah who was born a human being. They held James in great esteem and opposed all changes introduced by Paul.
Emergence of Paul
Paul was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish sect. He was an active persecutor of the followers of Jesus (peace be upon him).
He changed his stance while he journeyed to Damascus on a mission against the disciples of Jesus (peace be upon him) when “suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:5-6)
Thereafter he was directed to go to the city where he would be given directions for his mission. When he got up he could not see anything. He remained blind for the next three days, and then Ananias, a disciple, was directed to cure Saul. The Lord said to Ananias,
“Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)
After receiving this authority Ananias went to the palace of Soul and said,
“Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus (peace be upon him), that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.” (Act 9:17-18)
Paul’s whole claim to apostleship of Jesus (peace be upon him) is based on the above-mentioned vague and unauthentic episode.
On the eve of the departure of Jesus (peace be upon him) from the scene of Palestine, deterioration of his followers had commenced. At that critical hour a division among the followers took place. One section strictly adhered to his teaching under the leadership of James the righteous, while the other section, which was initiated by Paul, emerged with a completely new type of faith, which was later called Christianity. The latter group was afraid of persecution and was not ready to bear hardships. Instead they wanted life of ease and comfort. It is necessary to mention a few things about Paul for a better understanding of his philosophies.
Paul received no direct education and training from Jesus (peace be upon him) himself nor from his disciples, rather was a bitter enemy of Christ during his sojourn in Palestine. But after the departure of Jesus, Paul, seeing a leadership opportunity in the horizon, grasped it with deception.
Paul commenced his work saying,
“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 hanged on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)
In the very first stride he throws away the “yoke” of the Mosaic law from his shoulder. Next he declares:
“For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? Whose damnation is just?” (Romans 3:7-8)
In the third stride he says:
“That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. ” (II Corinthians 11:17)
These three quotes from Paul vividly explain that he was divorced from the beliefs and practices of Jesus (peace be upon him) and his true followers, and initiated the beliefs of original sin and its atonement, trinity and the like. Instead of transforming people according to the religion, he boldly changed and disfigured the religion to suite the beliefs and practices of the people. Christ was manipulated and changed into fiction by Paul. Christianity today presents dogmas, which are alien to the teachings of Christ. If these beliefs were presented to Jesus (peace be upon him) today, he would surely denounce them. The Holy Quran has explained the issue very clearly in Surah Al-Maida, verse 117. We, therefore, do not need to go into the details.
Second Phase of the Life of Jesus (peace be upon him)
We have mainly two sources of knowledge about the life of Jesus Christ (peace be on him): the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran. In the Bible, we read (Matthew 15:24): in reply to a Canaanite woman Jesus (peace be upon him) said,
“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The Holy Quran confirms that he was a prophet to the children of Israel (3:50). He conveyed his message only to the Israelites. At that time only one tribe was living in Israel, the rest of them had fled Israel during the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. In II Kings 17:18 we have,
“So the lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight, none was left except the tribe of Judah.”
So Jesus (peace be upon him) spent three years of his ministry preaching to the tribe of Judah, who did not heed to the message, rather tried to murder him. After escaping the death on the cross he set forth to the mountainous region to the east in search of the other tribes. We have in John 10:16,
“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd.”
The other tribes of Israel had moved to the east and had settled in Iraq and Iran in small segments and in large numbers in Afghanistan, Laddakh and Kashmir. The route taken by Jesus (peace be upon him) and his mother to these areas has been mention in Rawzat-us-Sufa, a well-known history book, in pages 130-135. According to this book Jesus (peace be upon him) traveled from his home country of Nasibian. It means that Jesus (peace be upon him) after bidding farewell to disciples at Galilee, traveled to northeast 450 miles and reached Nasibian. Next he went to Mosul, Tehran, Herat, and Peshawar en route to Kashmir. Everywhere he went, he preached his message to the Israelites only. It seems these tribes were receptive to the glad tidings given by Jesus (peace be upon him) and they accepted him readily. Jesus (peace be upon him) reached the last 10 tribes of Israelites whom King Shalmaneser had taken captive to Meda, that is, the present day Iran. The Israelite over a period had settled in Afghanistan and Kashmir and on arrival of Jesus (peace be upon him) there, they accepted him.
The Holy Quran has mentioned about the shelter provided to Jesus (peace be upon him) during his difficult time, saying,
“And we made son of Mary and his mother a sign; and gave them shelter on an elevated land of green valley and springs of running waters.” (23:51)
This is an apt description of the valley of Kashmir. Jesus (peace be upon him), after surviving death on the cross, very much needed such a shelter. After the long journey from Galilee to Kashmir Jesus (peace be upon him) finally had comfort and peace. His message was easily understood and accepted by the Afghans and the Kashmiris, who were the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. Jesus (peace be upon him) preached the unity of God and was able to unite the Israelites before expiring at the age of 120 years. He is buried in Khanyar, Sirinagar, Kashmir, India. His grave is known as grave of Yus Asif or Nabi Sahib. For additional details, please see Jesus in India by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him).
Miracles of Jesus (peace be upon him)
Prophets are raised by God to bring about a renaissance in the society of their time. They infuse new life in their followers and quicken the dead humanity. The relationship between man and God is revived through them. Jesus (peace be upon him) appeared among the Israelites at a very crucial time of their history. God had been very kind to them for a very long time by raising prophet after prophet among them, but they had failed to appreciate the favors of God and were ungrateful. Therefore, God created Jesus (peace be upon him) merely with his own command from Virgin Mary without the agency of a male, in the same manner as He had created Adam (peace be upon him), without a mother or father. It was perhaps to point out to the Israelites that they had become so corrupt that none of them deserved to be called father of a prophet. They did not heed to this, rather became more arrogant and accused both him and his mother vehemently. God showed many miracles through Jesus. He raised spiritually dead Israelites to life. The humble and despised fisherman of Galilee under the impact of ennobling precept and example of the master began soaring high in the spiritual realm, preaching to the Israelites the word of God. Spiritually blind were granted spiritual sight, hearing to spiritually deaf, and spiritually dead were restored to a new life. (Matt 13:15)
The Holy Quran also mentions quickening of spiritually dead people.
“O ye who believe; respond to Allah and the messenger when he calls you that he may give you life.” (8:25)
It should be remembered that actually dead never come to life again. It is an established fact and whole history of mankind and Prophet’s bear witness to it. Among the great miracles of raising the dead to life, Lazarus is the only dead mentioned by name in the Gospels who was restored to life by Jesus (peace be upon him). But in the same Gospel it is stated that Jesus (peace be upon him) said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep” (John 11:11). It is obvious that this man was not dead actually, rather he was unconscious and with the prayers of Jesus (peace be upon him) he was cured and became conscious. It should be remembered that people are always healed through the prayers of their prophets. Moreover Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke in parables and his words should no be taken literally. Besides, it is mentioned in John 5:4 that there was a healing pond in Jerusalem that could cure every type of sick.
Earlier prophets also performed such miracles. For example a dead man was cast into the grave of Elisha, and when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet (II Kings 13:21). In another place it is written that Elisha crossed over water (II King 2:14). Miracles of Moses (peace be upon him) are mentioned in Exodus chapters 8 and 9. In the terminology of the Gospels, the giving of life to the dead signifies spiritual life. See John 17:3, John 20:31 and I Corinthian 15:31-51.
The following statement of Jesus (peace be upon him) makes the issue crystal clear:
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
These verses show that all his miracles were spiritual. Statements in the Gospels are parables and figurative speech. Those who take them literally make grave mistake.
Status of Jesus (peace be upon him)
There is a lot of controversy prevalent about his status. The narration of the Gospels has contradictory statements. At many places it mentions him as son of man, but at other places calls him Son of God. Yet at other places holy people and even wicked ones are also mentioned as Sons of God. In short, this is a term of the Gospel applied to all humans and is not a peculiarity of Jesus (peace be upon him).
The Holy Quran states that Jesus (peace be upon him) was born miraculously to pious and virgin Mary. He was a human being and his virtuous mother trained him in the ways of God. He was endowed with wisdom and spoke words of wisdom in his youth as well as in old age. God appointed him as prophet for the Israelites alone. He followed laws of Moses (peace be upon him) and was blessed with revelations from God. His revelations corrected those portions of the Old Testament that were tempered with by human hands during long passage of time. His revelations are mentioned as Injeel, that is, glad tidings. They do not comprise new laws, they are rather reformatory and as commentary to the laws of the Old Testament. The following statement makes it explicitly clear. Jesus (peace be upon him) says in Matthew 5:17-20:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
His message from the mountain is given below:
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they, which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they, which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Mathew 5:1-16)
These teachings in essence are taken from different parts of Torah that is the Old Testament (commandments given to Moses). The emphasis of Jesus (peace be upon him) on politeness was not a new commandment. Israelites during years of captivity in Egypt had become extremely cowardly, so Moses (peace be upon him) emphasized on the law of retaliation. Acting on these teachings for centuries, the Israelites had become hard hearted by the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) and there was an urgent need to soften their hearts toward other people. Therefore, under the guidance of God, Jesus (peace be upon him) taught the Israelites afresh aspects of politeness from the teachings of Moses (peace be upon him).
No change was introduced in the ordinances of lawful and unlawful things. However those things which Israelites themselves have made unlawful (Quran 4:16, 43:64) without divine authority were declared afresh lawful (Holy Quran 3:50-51). Their neglect for financial sacrifices was renewed by Jesus (peace be upon him), and a new life was infused in them (Matthew 13:15). They became soaring beings in the spiritual realm. A mighty transformation was brought about in the lost ten tribes of Israelites in Kashmir, etc., by Jesus Christ.
Prophecies About the Future
Toward the close of his mission, Jesus (peace be upon him) made some prophecies about future. Speaking in parable he said:
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. And when time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. 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. And they caught him and cast him out of vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 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.
Jesus (peace be upon him) said 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 marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for prophet.” (Matt 21:33-46)
In John (14:26) we have:
“But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
In Mathew (23:38-39) we have:
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
In John 16:13:
“Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”
The Holy Quran states that Jesus (peace be upon him) affirmed the prophecies of Moses (peace be upon him) about the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as well as gave good news about the coming of a prophet like himself. (The Holy Quran 61:7)
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was raised from the progeny of Hadrat Ishmael (peace be upon him), the rejected corner stone. The kingdom of God was taken from the Israelites and given to the Ishmaelites. He is the comforter who appeared right at the ripe time. The glory of God was manifested through him. He is the spirit of truth. He said nothing out of his own accord, rather what ever he heard from God conveyed to the people in pristine purity. The record of his revelation in the form of the Holy Quran is a glaring testimony to the fulfillment of the prophecies in the person of Hadrat Muhammad. We conclude this narration saying blessed are indeed those who believe in him who came after Jesus (peace be upon him) in the name of the Lord.
“Commentary” in the text refers to The Holy Qur’an, Arabic Text and English Translation with Commentary, Edited by Malik Ghulam Farid. “Large Commentary” refers to The Holy Qur’an with English Translation with Commentary, Vol. 1-5
Man has been granted the choice of both selection and action. Hence he is the master of his own destiny.
To achieve the object of life, God, out of His benevolence raises prophets, who serve as models. These prophets have been appearing in every people and in all parts of the world. Their mission has always been to guide mankind to its Creator, through their example and model. The guidance revealed through each prophet was designed to cater for the specific needs of the time and location; hence they were essentially temporary in nature. With the advancement and maturity of mankind God sent advanced and matured teachings suitable to their time. God’s guidance for human race commenced through Adam (peace be upon him) and reached the zenith through Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). God says,
“This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion.” (5:4)
Thus the revelation of Law, or Shariah, was perfected and completed by Islam.
According to one saying of the prophet Mohammed the number of prophets who were chosen to convey the message of God to mankind is 124,000. The names of all of them are not mentioned anywhere. However the Holy Quran states in very clear words,
“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (35:25)
It also mentions the following twenty-eight prophets by name: Adam (peace be upon him), Noah (peace be upon him), Abraham (peace be upon him), Lot (peace be upon him), Ishmael (peace be upon him), Isaac (peace be upon him), Jacob (peace be upon him), Joseph (peace be upon him), Hud (peace be upon him), Salih (peace be upon him), Shuaib (peace be upon him), Moses (peace be upon him), Aaron (peace be upon him), David (peace be upon him), Solomon (peace be upon him), Elias (Elijah) (peace be upon him), Jonah (peace be upon him), Ezekiel (Dhul-Kifl) (peace be upon him), Elisha (Alyasa) (peace be upon him), Idris (Enoch) (peace be upon him) (19:57), Job (peace be upon him) (4:164), Zechariah (peace be upon him) (19:3), John (Yahya) (peace be upon him) (3:40), Jesus (peace be upon him) (3:46), Luqman(peace be upon him) (31:13), Ezra (peace be upon him) (9:30), Dhul-Qarnain (peace be upon him) (18:84), Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (48:30).
Belief in all the prophets and their messages is an integral part of the belief of every Muslim. The Holy Quran states,
“This messenger of Ours believes in that which has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; all of them believe in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers, saying, ‘We make no distinction between any of His Messengers.’ ” (2: 286).
In peophethood all are equal but their ranks are different as is clear from the following verse of the Holy Quran,
These Messengers have We exalted some of them above others; among them there are those whom Allah spoke; and some of them He exalted in degrees of rank...’ (2:254).
So Wherever and to whichever people prophets have been sent, they are our (Muslims) prophets as well, and we hold them in great reverence. In the following pages a brief history of a few of them is given for the benefit of the reader.
Hadrat Adam (peace be upon him)
Adam (peace be upon him) lived about 6,000 years ago. Most probably he was born in present day Iraq. He is popularly believed to be the first man created by God upon earth. This view is, however, wrong. The world has passed through different cycles of creation and civilization, and Adam (peace be upon him), the progenitor of the present human race, is only the first link in the present cycle, and not the very first man in God’s creation. Nations have risen and fallen, civilizations have appeared and perished, and many other cycles of human civilization may have appeared and disappeared. Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi, the great Muslim mystic says that once he saw himself in a dream performing a circuit of the Kabah. In the dream a man who claimed to be one of his ancestors appeared before him. “How long is it since you died?” asked Ibn Arabi. “More than forty thousand years,” the man replied. “But this period is much more than what separates us from Adam (peace be upon him)!” said a surprised Ibn Arabi. The man replied, “Of which Adam (peace be upon him) are you speaking? About the Adam (peace be upon him) who is nearest to you or of some other?” “Then I recollected,” says Ibn Arabi, “a saying of the Holy Prophet to the effect that God had brought into being no less than a hundred thousand Adams (peace be upon them), and I said to myself, ‘Perhaps this man who claims to be an ancestor of mine was one of the previous Adams.’ ” (Futuhat ii, p. 607)
It does not, however, mean that the race, which lived before Adam (peace be upon him), was entirely swept away before he was born. Most likely, there had remained a small degenerated remnant of the old race and Adam (peace be upon him) was one of them. God then selected him to be the progenitor of a new race and the precursor of a new civilization. Created, as it were, out of the dead, he represented the dawn of a new era of life.
Allah, the knower of the unseen has said,
“And when thy Lord said to the angels, I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth, they said, ‘Wilt Thou place therein such as will cause disorder in it, and shed blood? We glorify Thee with Thy praise and extol Thy holiness.’ He answered, I know what you know not.’ ” (2:31)
In this verse God has used the word khalifah for Adam (peace be upon him). Khalifah in Arabic means a successor. It is, therefore, clear that men had existed and lived on earth before Adam (peace be upon him) whom he succeeded. We cannot say whether original inhabitants of America, Australia, etc., are the progeny of this last Adam (peace be upon him) or of some other Adam (peace be upon him) gone before him.
In short, the Holy Quran speaks of that Adam (peace be upon him) who was appointed as Khalifah and the first Prophet of God, and who was raised for the guidance of mankind. God taught him the knowledge and made him leader of men. He was appointed a prophet in the gardens of Eden, which lay near Babylon in Iraq. It was a very fertile land abounding in its verdure and was referred to as Jannah, that is, the garden. Angels and other beings were commanded by God to obey Adam (peace be upon him). All obeyed except Iblis.
An explanation of Iblis seems inevitable as a lot of controversy prevails about this entity.
‘Iblis’ is a being which contains little good and much of evil and which, on account of its having despaired of God’s mercy owing to its disobedience, is left perplexed and confounded. Iblis is often considered the same Satan, but in some cases, also different from him. It must be understood that Iblis was not one of the angels, because, whereas he has been described in 2:35 as disobeying to God, the angels, we are told, are ever ‘submissive’ and ‘obedient’ (66:7). God was angry with Iblis because he too was commanded to serve Adam (peace be upon him) but he disobeyed (7:13). Moreover, even if there were no separate commandment for Iblis, the one for angels can be extended to all beings because angels are the custodians of different parts of the universe. The commandment given to them automatically extends to all beings. Iblis is an attributive name given to the evil spirit opposed to the angels. He has been so named because he possesses the qualities of being deprived of good, being left bewildered in the way, and of despairing of God’s mercy. That Iblis of Adam (peace be upon him) was not the Satan spoken of in verse 37 of Surah Baqarah. It is apparent from the fact that the Quran mentions the two names side by side wherever the story of Adam (peace be upon him) is given, but everywhere a careful distinction is observed between the two. Wherever it speaks of the being, who, unlike the angels, refused to serve Adam (peace be upon him), it invariably mentions the name Iblis, and wherever it speaks of the being who beguiled Adam (peace be upon him) and became the means of his being turned out of ‘the garden,’ it mentions the name ‘Satan.’ The distinction, which is most significant and which has been maintained throughout the Quran in at least ten places (2:35, 37; 7:12, 21; 15:32; 17:62; 18:51; 20:117, 121; 38:75) clearly shows that Iblis is different from ‘Satan’ who beguiled Adam (peace be upon him) and who was one of Adam’s (peace be upon him) own people. Elsewhere, the Quran says that Iblis belonged to a secret creation of God and, unlike the angels, was capable of obeying or disobeying God (7:12, 13) (Commentary of 2:36).
The Law Introduced Through Adam (peace be upon him)
Under the guidance of God Adam (peace be upon him) built the House of God in Arabia. He and his followers turned to it in worship. This house united them and kept them focused. It is the same house, which is presently called the Kabah in Saudi Arabia.
Basic rules for living in society were taught to the people through Adam (peace be upon him). The fundamental rights given to all people through Adam (peace be upon him) are mentioned in the Holy Quran as,
“It is decreed for thee that thou shalt not hunger therein nor shalt thou be naked; And that thou shalt not thirst therein, nor shalt thou be exposed to the sun.” (20:119, 120)
In other words, provision of food, clothing, shelter and water to the people was fixed as the duty of the authorities. So through Adam (peace be upon him) a social order for the progress and prosperity of its people as well as of the future generation was established. Adam (peace be upon him), as has already been stated, was appointed as the prophet in the Garden of Eden near Babylon in Assyria or present day Iraq. He was allowed to use whatever pleased him but was forbidden to approach a tree�a particular family tree.
It appears Adam (peace be upon him), who had a great desire for the good of all people, approached the forbidden one also. They were an arrogant people who picked a quarrel with Adam (peace be upon him) and his followers. It eventually ended in a fight and the people of Adam (peace be upon him) had to migrate from Iraq to some neighboring country.
This lapse of Adam (peace be upon him) has been highly exaggerated by Christian writers and cited as an unpardonable sin. Rather, a sin, which every human being inherits. Bible being an interpolated book contains confused statements about the forbidden tree. In Genesis 2:17 we have,
“But the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Contrary to this we have in Genesis 3:4-5,
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and yea shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
This statement of the serpent as opposed to God’s appears to be true. We have in Genesis 4: 6,
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
This statement of the Bible makes it crystal clear that Eve and not Adam (peace be upon him) committed the first sin. Therefore, if this sin is to be inherited, then all those who are born of woman including Jesus (peace be upon him) must inherit it first. But there exist many other verses in the Bible that prove that there were men like Malik Sidak Saleem who were born without sin.
In the issue of Adam’s (peace be upon him) sin the Holy Quran is very clear and unambiguous. It says:
“And verily, We had made a covenant with Adam beforehand, but he forgot, and We found in him no resolve to disobey Us.” (20:116)
This verse shows that Adam’s (peace be upon him) lapse was only an error of judgment. It was inadvertent and involuntary and not at all intentional or deliberate. To err is human. One becomes sinful if one commits it willfully and knowingly. Hence the theory of original sin and its inheritance is a castle built on a precipice.
The lapse of Adam (peace be upon him) and Eve no doubt was inadvertent and accidental and hence not a sin. However they discovered that by acting on the advice of Satan or the serpent they had lodged themselves in trouble with certain evil family, and as a result had to migrate from that place. They, however, repented and turned to God Who granted Adam (peace be upon him) His grace. God also turned to him with mercy and guided him (20:13).
Adam (peace be upon him) conveyed the message of God to the people and was successful in his assignment. A progressive society governed by the divine rules was established in that land by him.
Hadrat Noah (peace be upon him)
Noah (peace be upon him) was an inhabitant of Iraq (Genesis 11:9). Very little is known of his childhood or youth. The Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man and perfect in his generation and Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9). He appeared about ten centuries after Adam (peace be upon him). The people of his time had become worldly and were involved in social and moral evils. They had forgotten the real Creator and had resorted to the worship of idols. They had many idols, the principal ones being Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq and Nasr.
Noah (peace be upon him) Visits the House of God
Noah (peace be upon him) visited the house of God built by Adam (peace be upon him). According to Al-Arzaki, Noah (peace be upon him) carried out major repairs to the House of God after the Deluge (Akhbar Mecca) and performed the Pilgrimage (Al-badaya 1:119). The worship of one God was revived in that area after long time, and the example of Noah (peace be upon him) did indeed infuse afresh the love of God in his people.
Noah (peace be upon him) Conveys Message of God
God appointed Noah (peace be upon him) for the guidance of mankind. The Holy Quran says:
“We sent Noah to his people and he said, ‘O my people, worship Allah, you have no other god but Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of the great day.’” (7:60)
On hearing this message the chiefs of his people replied,
“We see you to be in manifest error.”
Hadrat Noah (peace be upon him) then very politely told them,
“There is no error in me, rather I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the message of my Lord and give you sincere advice and I know from Allah what you do not know. Do you wonder that an exhortation has come to you from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, that he may warn you and that you may become righteous and that you may be shown mercy?”
Despite the bitter opposition of the chiefs, Noah (peace be upon him) continued his preaching. Only a handful of weak ones, the poor and the youth, believed in him. He preached to his people day and night, and spoke to them in public and in private. He reminded them of the great favors and bounties that God had bestowed upon them and also warned them of the evil consequences of the rejection of the divine message. But all his preaching and warning, his sympathy and solicitude, were treated with ridicule, opposition and abuse. Instead of following him whose heart was full of love for them, they chose to follow their false leaders.
The chief of his people told him,
“We see thee nothing but a mortal like ourselves, and we see that none have followed thee but those who, to all outward appearance, are the meanest of us. And we do not see in you any superiority over us; nay, we believe you to be a liar.”
Noah (peace be upon him) tried to convince them and win them over for God. He advised them to seek forgiveness of the Lord, as He is a great Forgiver of sins. Enumerating the benefits of belief in One God he informed them, God will send down rain for them in abundance and will grant them increase in wealth and children. He will also cause gardens to grow and rivers to flow for them. He further drew their attention to the great creation of seven heavens in perfect harmony and placing of the moon in it as a light and the sun as a lamp. Lastly he drew their attention to their own growth out of the earth and their return to it and then their resurrection. But all his advice fell on deaf ears. Their chiefs persuaded them to continue the worship of idols saying Noah (peace be upon him) was just a man like them who only sought to gain superiority over them. So when Noah’s (peace be upon him) exhortation and preaching throughout his prophetic life proved a voice in the wilderness, God revealed to him,
“Noah: None of thy people will believe except those who have already believed; grieve not, therefore, at what they have been doing.”
Noah (peace be upon him) Offers Special Prayer
After the intimation from God that none of his people will believe in him any more, Noah (peace be upon him) offered the following prayer to God:
“My Lord, leave not of the disbeliever’s even one dweller in the land. For, if thou dost leave them, they will only lead astray Thy servants and will beget none but sinners and disbelievers. My Lord! Forgive my parents, and me, and him who enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and the believing women; and increase Thou not the wrong doers in aught but in ruin.”
Noah (peace be upon him) Builds the Ark
God commanded Noah (peace be upon him) to build an Ark. The Holy Quran says:
“And build thou the Ark under our eyes and as commanded by our revelation. And address Me not concerning the wrongdoers. They are surely going to be drowned.” (11:38)
He immediately followed the instructions of God and prepared the Ark. The chiefs of his people ridiculed this move of his and termed it as an act of a lunatic. Noah (peace be upon him) prayed to God saying,
“I am overcome so come Thou to my help.”
The Deluge
God heard Noah’s (peace be upon him) prayers and soon after, at the appointed time, God opened the gates of heaven with water, which fell in torrents. And earth burst forth with springs and both waters met according to the decree of God. God further directed Noah (peace be upon him):
“Embark therein two of every kind, male and female, and thy family except those against whom the word has already gone forth, and those who believe. And there had not believed in him except a few.”
And again,
“Embark therein. In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. My Lord is assuredly Most Forgiving, Merciful.”
Thus there appeared a great deluge in that part of the world. The might of the chiefs and their arrogance was brought to naught by God. The deluge consumed all opponents of Noah (peace be upon him) including his disbelieving son, while Noah (peace be upon him) and his followers were saved. Their ark anchored at Mount Al-Judi. Judi (Djudi) is a lofty mountain mass in the district of Bohtan, about 25 miles north-east of Jazirah ibn Omar in 37 degrees east longitude and 30 degrees north in latitude. It owes its fame to the Mesopotamian tradition, which identifies it, and not Mount Ararat, the mountain on which Noah’s (peace be upon him) Ark rested. Older exegesis identified the mountain which is now called Judi, or according to Christian authorities the mountains of Gordyene, as the apobaterion of Noah (peace be upon him) (Enc. of Islam, vol. I, p. 1059). Babylonian traditions also place Mount Al-Judi in Armenia (Jew Enc. under “Ararat”). The Bible admits that Babylon was the place where the descendants of Noah (peace be upon him) lived (Gen. 11:9).
The story of deluge with some variation is to be found in almost all countries. The reason is that when the descendants of Noah (peace be upon him) and those of his companions who were the founders of human civilization spread to other lands (as they were more powerful than the people already living there) they either exterminated the indigenous inhabitants or absorbed them. Thus they must have introduced into all the countries they subjugated their own traditions and customs. Subsequently the tradition about the deluge must also have come to be introduced into other lands. With the lapse of time, however, the immigrants ceased to have any connection with their original home and the catastrophe consequently came to be regarded as a local occurrence, with the results that local names of persons and places came to be substituted for the original names. So the deluge was not a universal visitation, nor should the traditions of different lands be taken to point to separate floods (Short Commentary).
The Law Introduced Through Noah (peace be upon him)
The law introduced through Noah (peace be upon him) has not been preserved. However it appears that it contained basic principle of the unity of God. The law of Noah (peace be upon him) was suitable for his time. It was to be transformed and developed in due course to suit the future needs. The Holy Quran states:
“He has prescribed for you the religion which he enjoined on Noah.”
The law introduced through him remained in force about a thousand years (29:15). Many prophets followed his law until God revealed the new one. It extended to the time of Abraham (peace be upon him) who was of his party (37:84).
It seems that the first fifty years of Noah’s (peace be upon him) dispensation were years of all-round spiritual progress and regeneration. After that moral decadence and degeneration set in and his people gradually became degraded morally, till their degeneration became complete in nine hundred years.
Hadrat Ibraheem (Abraham) (peace be upon him)
The followers of three principle religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, hold Abraham (peace be upon him) in great reverence. He was a native of Ur. Ur in present day is called Al-Muqayyar (or Mughair), and is about two hundred miles south east of Baghdad in Iraq.
Abraham (peace be upon him) was brought up in the house of his uncle Azar. The Bible mentions different name of Abraham’s father that is Terah (genesis 11:26) Tharah (Luke 3:34) and ecclesiastical history mentions Athar as his father. The Holy Quran mentions Azar as his Ab (26:87). Ab in Arabic is equally applicable to father, uncle and grandfather. His paternal uncle ran a shop where idols were sold. Abraham (peace be upon him) observed the crafting of idols at his uncle’s home. The idols were made by humans and sold to public as their gods. One day his uncle left Abraham (peace be upon him) at the shop to attend to customers. An old man came to the shop and said, I want to buy an Idol. Abraham (peace be upon him) asked him, Which one would you like to have? Abraham (peace be upon him) showed that idol to him. He was about to buy that idol when Abraham asked the man, How old are you? The man replied, Seventy years. Upon this Abraham (peace be upon him) told him, This idol was made only yesterday. Won’t you feel ashamed while bowing down before a day-old idol? These words of Abram had great effect on the old man and he did not buy the idol and went home. Such was the dislike of Abraham (peace be upon him) to the idols during his youth. He would voice out his displeasure time and again. In the beginning he discussed this issue very politely but later on had bitter discussions with his uncle. His uncle mostly ignored such religious discussions but at the end warned Abraham (peace be upon him) of severe consequences. However, Abraham’s uncle was very much impressed by his noble character and he offered him his daughter Sarah in marriage.
Abraham (peace be upon him) Appointed as Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) lived a pious life and was always engaged in doing of good. He walked on the path of righteousness but most of the people of his time were bent towards the world. The unity of God taught by Noah (peace be upon him) had vanished from the surface of the world and the people were groping in the darkness, engaging themselves in the worship of idols. God appointed Abraham (peace be upon him) a Prophet to stamp out the worship of idols from the society.
Abraham, right from childhood had abhorred idols and now he was commissioned to uproot the worship of idols from the society. He wasted no time and embarked on the task in full earnest. He went to his father-in-law and said, “Do you take idols for god? Surely I see you and your people in manifest error.” (6:75)
He spoke in public and private about the futility of idol worship. His method of argumentation was mostly sarcastic.
During his evening meetings, Abraham (peace be upon him) used to invite those who worshipped the sun and the moon and other heavenly bodies as their gods to his house. During one of these discussions, one evening, on seeing a star he observed, “O this is my Lord.” But when it set, he said, “I don’t like those who set.” Then he saw the moon rise with spreading light, he said, “Can this be my Lord?” But when it set, he said, “If my Lord guide me not, I shall surely be of the people who go astray.” And when he saw the sun rise with spreading light, he said, “Can this be my Lord? This is the greatest.” But when it also set, he said, ‘O my people! Surely I am quit of that which you associate with God.” Thus he exposed the false beliefs of his people. He spoke ironically to taunt them of their folly.
Discussion with the King
Abraham (peace be upon him) was a great iconoclast. His people worshipped the sun and the stars, their chief god being Merodach (Madruk), originally the god of the morning and the spring sun (Enc. Bib. & Enc. Rel. Eth, ii p. 296). They believed that all life depended on the sun. Abraham (peace be upon him) very wisely asked the infidel King that if he, as he claimed, controlled life and death, then let him reverse the course of the sun on which all life depended. The King was in a fix. He could not say that he could not accept Abraham’s challenge to bring the sun from the west to the east, for that would have demolished his claim of being the controller of life and death. At the same time if he had said that he could do so, it meant that he claimed to exercise control over the sun which would have been a great blasphemy in the eyes of his people who worshipped the sun. Thus he was completely confounded and did not know what to say. He was defeated squarely.
Debate with People
Under the guidance of God, Abraham (peace be upon him) continued his mission diligently. One of his great debates is recorded in the Holy Quran as follows:
“When he said to his father and his people, ‘What are these images to which you are so devoted?’
They replied, ‘We found our fathers worshipping them.’
He said, ‘Then, you, as well as your fathers, have indeed been in manifest error.’
They said, ‘Is it really the truth that thou hast brought us, or art thou jesting?’
He replied, ‘Nay, your Lord is the Lord of heavens and the earth Who created them; and I am of those who bear witness to this; and, by Allah, I will certainly plan against your idols after you have gone away and turned your backs.’
So he broke them into pieces, all accept the chief of them, that they may return to it.
They said, ‘Who has done this to our gods? Surely, he is a wrongdoer.’
Some others said, ‘We heard a young man speak ill of them; he is called Abraham.’
They said, ‘Then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness against him.’
Then they said to Abraham, ‘Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?’
He replied, ‘Well, someone has surely done this. Here is the chief of them. So ask them if they can speak.’
Then they turned towards one another and said, ‘You yourselves are surely in the wrong.’
And they were made to hang down their heads for shame and said to Abraham, ‘Certainly thou knowest well that these do not speak.’
He said, ‘Do you then worship, instead of Allah, that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm you? Fie on you and on that which you worship instead of Allah! Can you not understand?’ ” (21:53-68)
It should be remembered that Abraham (peace be upon him) always spoke to idol worshipper with irony and sarcasm. In this debate he “seems to have rebuked his people and to have brought home to them the futility of their idolatrous practices, first by breaking the idols and then by challenging their votaries to ask those idols, if they could speak, to tell them who had broken them.”
Abraham (peace be upon him) Thrown in the Fire
This infuriated his opponents. The chiefs, instead of accepting the truth, were enraged and said, “Burn him and help your gods if at all you mean to do something.” But Allah commanded, “O fire, be thou a means of coolness and safety for Abraham!” The Quran says, “And they had intended an evil plan against him, but we made them the worst losers. ” (21:68-71)
God frustrated their plans and saved Abraham (peace be upon him).
“How the fire became cool we are not told. Timely rain or a stormy hurricane might have extinguished it. In any event God did bring about circumstances, which led to Abraham’s deliverance. There is always an element of mystery in heavenly miracles; and the manner of Abraham (peace be upon him) being saved from the fire was indeed a great miracle. That Abraham (peace be upon him) had been cast into the fire is credited not only by the Jews, but also by the eastern Christians�25th of the second Canun, or January being set apart in the Syrian Calendar for the commemoration of the event.” (Hyde, De Rel. Vet Pers., p. 73)
Abraham (peace be upon him) was seventy-five years old when God commanded him for migration. “He journeyed from Ur (Mesopotamia) to Harran and from there to Canaan, which God decreed to give to his posterity. This journey had a precise objective. In pursuance of Divine plan and design, all the great Prophets or their followers, at one time or another, have to emigrate from their homes. In the like manner Abraham (peace be upon him) was asked to migrate.
Abraham (peace be upon him) migrated from Ur with a few selected members including his nephew Lot. They passed through Egypt. The king was impressed by Abraham and offered some presents and a royal lady by the name of Hagar to him.
Abraham (peace be upon him) and Sarah did not have any child, so when Hagar was presented to Abraham (peace be upon him) by the king of Egypt, Sarah married her to Abraham (peace be upon him) so that they can have a child. Abraham (peace be upon him) was eighty-five when he married Hagar. All of them were earnestly supplicating God for righteous progeny. The Bible mentions the childless state of Abraham (peace be upon him) as follows:
“And Abraham said, ‘Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.’ And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, ‘This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’ And he brought him forth abroad, and said, ‘Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them,’ and he said unto him, ‘So shall thy seed be.’ ” (Genesis 15:3-5)
God heard their prayers. The angel spoke with Hagar and said, says the Bible, “And the Angel of Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.” (Genesis 16:10,11)
The first child was born to Abraham (peace be upon him) from Hagar. The Bible says:
“Abraham was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abraham.” (Genesis 16:16).
Promises of God with Sarah and Hagar
After the birth of Ishmael, Sarah the elder wife of Abraham, was also promised by God of a child. In fact multiple promises were given to them for their progeny. In Genesis 17:16-20 we have:
“And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
Abraham (peace be upon him) Settles His Only Son in Mecca
Abraham (peace be upon him) did nothing of his own accord, rather did as was commanded by God. He took Ishmael and his mother Hagar to the appointed land in the wilderness of Arabia and while settling them there offered the following prayer:
“Our Lord, I have settled some of my progeny in an uncultivable valley near thy Sacred House. Our Lord, that they may observe prayer. So make men’s heart incline towards them and provide them with fruits and that they may be thankful. Our Lord, certainly, Thou knowest what we keep secret and what we make known. And nothing whatever is hidden from Allah, whether in the earth or in the heaven.” (14:38-39)
Ishmael was yet a child when in obedience to divine command and in fulfillment of divine plan, Abraham (peace be upon him) brought him and his mother Hagar to the bleak and barren tract where Mecca now stands. At that time there was no sign of life and no means of sustenance at the place (Bukhari). But God had so designed that the place should become the scene of the activities of God’s last message for mankind. Ishmael was chosen as the vehicle for the implementation of this divine plan.
The prayer was made at a time when not a blade of grass was to be seen for many miles around Mecca. Yet the prophecy met with fulfillment in a marvelous manner, for the choicest fruits now reach Mecca in plenty, in all seasons.
It is recorded in the history that when Abraham (peace be upon him) left his child and his wife in that barren land, Hagar ran after him and asked Abraham, Are you leaving us here? He did not answer. Then she asked him again saying, Are you leaving us here by the command of God? Abraham (peace be upon him) just pointed towards the sky. She understood this and said, Then God will not waste us, and returned to the baby. What a faithful lady she was! She trusted in God and He provided her with all the necessary things and protected them. The child grew in that atmosphere, under those circumstances and in due course this place became a town.
Abraham (peace be upon him) Sacrifices His Son
Abraham (peace be upon him) had seen a dream that he was slaughtering his only son. When Ishmael was twelve, Abraham (peace be upon him) came to visit them and mentioned the dream to him. The Holy Quran mentions the whole episode as follows:
“And he prayed, My Lord, grant me a righteous son. So We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing son. And when he was old enough to work and run along with him, he said, ‘O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I am offering thee in sacrifice. So consider what thou thinkest of it!’ He replied, ‘O my father, do as thou art commanded; thou wilt find me, if Allah pleases, steadfast in my faith.’ And when they both submitted to the will of God, and Abraham had thrown him down on his forehead. We called to him, ‘O Abraham. Thou hast, indeed fulfilled the dream.’ Thus, indeed, do we reward those who do good.” (37:101-106)
On the contrary the Bible says:
“And He said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, who thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee.” (Genesis 22:2)
In this self-contradicting statement Isaac has been mentioned as the only son, while the reality is that Isaac was at no time of his life Abraham’s only son. The only son was Ishmael who was thirteen years older than Isaac. It is clear from the Bible and the Holy Quran that the incident took place when the son was able to do some work along with the father. It sets the age of the child at the time of the incident at about twelve years. And it was Ishmael who was the only son of Abraham (peace be upon him) up to the age of twelve as Isaac was not yet born. However, after this incident God gave glad tidings about the birth of Isaac. The Holy Quran says:
“And we gave him the glad tidings of Isaac, a prophet, and one of the righteous. ” (37:113)
A year later, when Abraham (peace be upon him) was hundred years old, Isaac was born. Genesis 22:6 tells us that the son offered as sacrifice was not a baby. He in fact carried the wood of the burnt offering on his head, and Genesis 22:12 describes that the son offered as sacrifice was the only son. Here it does not mention any name. At the time of sacrifice Abraham (peace be upon him) was ninety-nine years old and the only son he had at that time was Ishmael. It seems that the writers of the Bible, while claiming credit of sacrifice, have deliberately changed Isaac with Ishmael, and Moriah for Marwah, a hillock in the vicinity of Mecca.
Moreover, in the religious ceremonies of the Jews and the Christians, no trace of the supposed sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is found. Muslims, who are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, commemorate with great fervor his intended sacrifice, by slaughtering every year rams and goats all over the world on the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah. This universal sacrifice of quadruplets by Muslims establishes beyond dispute the fact that it was Ishmael and not Isaac whom Abraham (peace be upon him) offered for sacrifice.
In reality, Abraham (peace be upon him) was not required to fulfill his vision in the literal sense. It was only a practical demonstration of his intention and preparedness to sacrifice his son which was desired of him. The vision had already symbolically been fulfilled in Hagar and Ishmael having been left by Abraham (peace be upon him) in the valley of Mecca, a land of arid and barren waste. That brave act had, in fact, symbolized the sacrifice of Ishmael. The other purpose of the divine command to Abraham (peace be upon him) first to sacrifice his son, and then to abstain from it, was to abolish human sacrifice, a most inhuman practice prevalent among most nations at the time.
Abraham (peace be upon him) as a Law Bearing Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) followed the law of Noah (peace be upon him) up to fifty years. Later on, when God tried him with certain commandments, which he fulfilled, God said,
“... I will make thee a leader of men. Abraham asked, And from among my offspring? God said, My covenant does not embrace the transgressors.” (2:125)
In the great trial of sacrifice of his only son, Abraham’s (peace be upon him) conduct proved par excellent. The time demanded new law so God chose Abraham (peace be upon him) for it. The House of God had fallen to ruins and it required reconstruction. Under the command of God, Abraham (peace be upon him) and Ishmael rebuilt it on the old foundations (2:128). God enjoined on him saying:
“Associate not anything with Me and keep My house clean for those who perform the circuits, and those who stand up and those who bow and prostrate themselves in prayer.” (22:27)
Abraham (peace be upon him) Proclaims Pilgrimage (Hajj) for Mankind.
God instituted pilgrimage (Hajj) for mankind through Abraham. He ordered him saying,
“Proclaim unto men the pilgrimage. They will come to thee on foot, and on every lean camel, coming by every distant deep track” (22:28).
Thus the pilgrimage as an institution began with the Patriarch Abraham (peace be upon him) and has continued without a break to this day. The gathering in Mecca every year of many hundreds of thousands of Muslims from every distant land bears an irrefutable testimony to the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Shariah of Abraham
The laws introduced through Abraham (peace be upon him) were contained in the scriptures, but these have not been preserved as they were intended for a limited period only. However they are mentioned as scriptures of Abraham (peace be upon him) in the Holy Quran (87:20). The Holy Quran tells us that the scriptures contained the following:
“Verily, he, indeed, will prosper who purifies himself. And remembers the name of his Lord and offers Prayers. But you prefer the life of this world, whereas the Hereafter is better and more lasting. This, indeed, is what is taught in the former Scriptures. The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses.” (87:15-20)
Abraham (peace be upon him) taught simple form of unity of God to his people. Laws of Abraham (peace be upon him) remained in force till the time of Moses (peace be upon him) when other laws were introduced.
Rise and Fall of Abraham’s Progeny
Hadrat Abraham (peace be upon him) was very much concerned about the renaissance of his people. He supplicated to God saying,
“... ‘My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead.’ God said, ‘Dost thou not believe?’ Abraham said, ‘Yes, but I ask this so that my heart may be at ease.’ God Answered, ‘Take four birds and make them attached to thee. Then put each of them on a hill; then call them; they will come to thee in haste.’ ...” (2:261)
This is a vision of Abraham (peace be upon him) in which he was shown the way to train his followers and regeneration them.
The interpretation of ‘taking of four birds’ in this vision meant that his posterity would rise and fall four times, a phenomenon that was to be witnessed twice among the Israelites, and to be repeated twice later on among the followers of the Holy Prophet of Islam who was a descendent of Abraham (peace be upon him) through Ishmael. The power of the Jews, the progeny of Abraham (peace be upon him) through Isaac, was crushed twice, first by Nebuchadnezzar and then by Titus (17:5-8) (Enc. Brit. under ‘Jews’). Each time God raised them after their fall, the second revival having been brought about by Constantine, the Roman emperor who accepted Christianity. Similarly, the power of Islam was first rudely shaken when Baghdad fell to the Tartar hordes, but soon it recovered from the crushing blow. The victors became the vanquished and the grandson of Halaku, the despoiler of Baghdad, was converted to Islam. The second fall came later when there was a general and wholesale decline of Muslims both in the spiritual and political field (Commentary, 2:262). God has raised the Promised Messiah in the latter days for the second renaissance of Islam, which is to take place through peaceful means.
The Promised Victory
The Holy Quran states:
“And we have already written in the Book of David, after the reminder that my righteous servant shall inherit the land.” (21:106)
This is a divine decree and nobody can alter the decree of God.� In our assessment the hearts of dwellers of Palestine will be won over by true Islam, that is, Ahmadiyyat and those truly righteous followers of God will inherit it. It will not happen, however, with the help of cannons or bombs.
Abraham’s Prayer for a Great Prophet Among His Progeny
The Holy Quran says,
“And, our Lord, raise up among them a messenger from among themselves, who may recite to them thy signs and teach them the book and wisdom and may purify them; surely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.” (2:130)
In this verse Abraham (peace be upon him) prayed for a great Prophet with specific missions. This was later fulfilled in the person of Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a descendent of Ishmael, on whom the fiery law (Deuteronomy 33:2) for all mankind was revealed in the form of the Holy Quran.
Hadrat Musa (Moses) (peace be upon him)
Israelites were living in bondage in Egypt. The King had subjected them to very hard and difficult conditions. To perpetuate their control over Israelites, one of the measures taken against them was that the male children of Israelites be slain. The King had ordered the midwives to carry out this evil task quietly at the very birth of the children of Israelites (Exodus 1:16). But the will of God prevented the midwives from such an evil act. When the King came to know of this, he gave order to his people, saying,
“Every son that is born ye shall cast into river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” (Exodus 1:22)
We have in he Holy Quran,
“ ... Pharaoh behaved arrogantly in the earth, and divided the people thereof into sections; he sought to weaken one section of them, slaughtering their sons and sparing there women... ” (28:5)
Such was the scene of Egypt when Moses (peace be upon him) was born there in the house of Imran during the despotic reign of Ramses II. God decided to help the weak Israelites and bring about a complete change in their position. They were to be delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh and were to become leaders and inheritors of favors and bounties of God.
God’s ways are mysterious and human being cannot perceive them. The case of the freedom of Israelites is a marvelous one. It establishes beyond doubt that Allah’s decision always comes to pass and no power can be a hindrance in the way of their fulfillment.
Let us see how the events had unfolded for the liberation of the Israelites.
The Holy Quran says that at the birth of Moses (peace be upon him), God revealed to his mother saying:
“... You suckle him; and when thou fearest for him, then cast him into the river and fear not, nor grieve; for we shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of the messengers.” (28:8)
The Old Testament, although it has under gone many changes, yet contains the following statement:
“And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bul-rushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river-side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him; and said, this is one of the Hebrews children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and became her son. And she called his name Moses; and she said, because I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:3)
This statement from the Bible in essence is very close to what we have in the Holy Quran as an accurate account of Moses (peace be upon him).
The mother of Moses was a very sincere believer and had a living relationship with God. After the birth of Moses (peace be upon him) she suckled him as God had directed her and when she felt otherwise then without any hesitation she placed the infant Moses in the ark (28:8, 20:40) and floated it in the river and directed her daughter to follow it. The daughter kept the watch over the ark in such a way that no one could perceive it. The ark was picked up by a member of the family of Pharaoh who happened to be bathing in the river. The ark was brought to the palace of Pharaoh, where his wife saw the beautiful Israelite baby. She was attracted towards the infant and pleaded with the husband saying,
“... He will be a joy for my eyes and for you also, slay him not, hopefully he may prove to be useful for us or we may adopt him as a son.” (28:10)
Then she sent for wet nurses for the baby. The baby did not accept any one of those who came. Meanwhile Moses (peace be upon him) sister managed to reach there and offered a solution to the problem saying,
“... Shall I direct you to a people of a household who will bring him up for you and will be his sincere well-wishers?” (28:13)
They agreed and Pharaoh approached the mother of Moses (peace be upon him) for the nursing and upbringing of the child. She readily agreed to their proposal and the baby was given to her for upbringing and training on the expense of Pharaoh. The mother of Moses (peace be upon him) was so delighted over the return of her child according to Allah’s promise that she could hardly control her emotions. Her faith in Allah became even more solid. She was fully convinced that this child would be a prophet of Allah in due course as Allah had informed her earlier. So she spared no efforts in upbringing the child in the best manner. Moses (peace be upon him) had such a holy mother for benevolent care and guidance and a mighty monarch as guardian unto his manhood. He had a healthy and wholesome affect of his mother, overriding the evil ways and manner of his guardian monarch. He developed manly qualities of might and power and valor from palace on the one hand, and learned good manners and self-control over them from the pious mother on the other.
As Moses (peace be upon him) advanced toward maturity his observation of daily life of the people of Egypt became intense. He was able to see very clearly the cruel treatment meted out to the Israelites. The whole atmosphere of Egypt had developed totally against the Israelites and even ordinary Egyptians carried out atrocities against them. Moses (peace be upon him) had great aversion against oppression and was very much helpful to the weak. An incident for illustration purpose may be of interest. The Holy Quran says:
“... One day he entered the city at a time when its inhabitants were in a state of heedlessness; and he found therein two men fighting�one of his own party and the other from enemies. And he who was of his party sought his help against him who was of his enemies. So Moses struck the latter with his fist; and thereby caused his death. Then Moses said, ‘This is of Satan’s doing, he is indeed an enemy, a manifest misleader.’ ” (28:16)
Moses (peace be upon him) had no intention of killing the Egyptian but his single punch caused the death of the Egyptian. On this Moses (peace be upon him) become very much upset and implored God for forgiveness and made a solemn promise with Him saying, “I will never be a helper of the guilty.” Next morning he got out of his home being watchful of the situation. Suddenly he heard the call of help from the same Israelite, who was again engaged in some dispute with another Egyptian. Moses (peace be upon him) said to him, “You are definitely a misguided person.” And when Moses (peace be upon him) made up his mind to lay hold of the man, who was an enemy of both, the Israelite thought that Moses (peace be upon him) was about to hold him, cried out loudly, “O Moses (peace be upon him) do you intend to kill me as you have killed a person yesterday?” (28:20) This cry disclosed the incident, which had taken place a day earlier. The Egyptians were already in search of the killer of the Egyptian. So the condition of Moses (peace be upon him) became very vulnerable. He, therefore, confined himself to his home. A well-wisher of Moses (peace be upon him) who happened to know the evil design of authorities came to him with the news that the chiefs were counseling together to kill him and advised him to depart from the area immediately.
Moses (peace be upon him) Departs for Midian
Moses (peace be upon him) secretly departed from home to some direction praying and moving watchfully. After covering some distance he decided to go to Midian. After a few days’ journey Moses (peace be upon him) arrived in the vicinity of Midian. In the outskirts of Midian he found shepherds watering their animals. Among them were two young ladies who were holding back their flocks. Moses (peace be upon him) asked them what was their problem? They replied, “We cannot water our animals until all the shepherds have departed with their flocks. And our father is an old man.” (28:24) Moses (peace be upon him) watered their flocks and returned to the shade of the tree while praying to God for help and guidance. When the two ladies came back and narrated the story to their father, he sent one of them back to Moses (peace be upon him). She came and bashfully approaching Moses (peace be upon him) said: “My father calls you home so that he may reward you for the service you rendered to our flock.” On his arrival at their home Moses (peace be upon him) narrated the incident, which had happened in Egypt. The old man replied, “Have no fear any more, you have escaped from an unjust people” (28:26).
It seems that the household was already in search of some good servant. So his daughters suggested for employing Moses (peace be upon him) as he had proved himself to be a strong and honest man. The father was fully convinced of the nobility of Moses (peace be upon him); he, therefore, offered him one of his daughters in marriage. In due course marriage contract was made. The old man Shuaib was a holy man and perhaps knew through revelation that his son-in-law would be a prophet of God. So he wanted him to remain in his company for a long time and benefit from his company. He made eight to ten years of service an essential condition for marriage. Moses (peace be upon him) accepted the condition of service and remained with Hadrat Shuaib about eight to ten years.
Moses (peace be upon him) Commissioned to Prophethood
After completing the term of service, Moses (peace be upon him) set forth from Midian with his family. On the way he saw a manifestation of God. He told his family to wait for him while he went up the mountain, where he had seen the light and was expecting great communication of God. On arrival at the spot, he was called by a voice from the right side of the valley, in the blessed spot, out of the tree:
“... Moses, verily I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds; Cast down thy rod. And when he saw it move as though it were a serpent, he turned back retreating and did not look back. O Moses, said the voice, come forward and fear not; surely thou art of those who are safe. Insert thy hand into thy bosom; it will come forth white without evil effect, and draw back thy arm toward thyself in order to still thy fear. So these shall be two proofs from thy Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs. Surely, they are a rebellious people. ” (28:31-33)
With these words Moses (peace be upon him) was commissioned to return to Pharaoh and his people for their guidance and reformation. Moses (peace be upon him) had lived among them and was aware of their arrogance, cruelty and inhumane behavior. The responsibility of guiding them seemed to him very heavy and the task extremely difficult. No doubt the responsibilities of prophethood are indeed very heavy, and Moses (peace be upon him), it appears, felt that he was not equal to the great task with which he was being entrusted. That is why he said,
“My breast is straightened and my tongue is not fluent; so send word to Aaron (peace be upon him) also. ” (26:14)
He also recalled the incident in which an Egyptian had died with his fist and the blame of killing him was placed on him. Allah, the Wise, granting the request of Moses (peace be upon him), said,
“We will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and We will give power to you both so that they shall not reach you. So go with our signs. You two and those who follow you will prevail (28:36).”
Allah said again,
“So go to Pharaoh and say, both of us are the messengers of the Lord of the world. To tell thee to send the children of Israel with us.” (26:17-18)
The Bible also mention about it in Exodus chapter 5 but in a different way.
The name of Pharaoh whom Moses (peace be upon him) gave the message of God has not been mentioned in the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran. Some historians say it was Ramses II while more recent ones say it was Merneptah, the son of Ramses II. However, it does not make much difference, as both were despotic and most cruel to the Israelites.
Moses (peace be upon him) in the Court of Pharaoh
Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him), with a mighty message and full assurance of victory from God, reached Cairo. On arrival first they contacted Israelites and gave them the glad tiding of achieving freedom from the bondage of Pharaoh and persuaded them to prepare for the impending departure. Then they went to Pharaoh. Moses (peace be upon him) conveyed him the message of God in a very plain and polite manner saying,
“O Pharaoh surely, I am a messenger from the Lord of worlds. It is not right that I should say anything of God except the truth. I have come to you with a clear sign from your Lord; therefore, let the children of Israel go with me.” (7:105-106)
“... And torment them not. We have, indeed, brought thee a great sign from thy Lord; and peace shall be on him who follows the guidance. It has, indeed, been revealed to us that punishment shall come upon him who rejects the message of God and turns away.” (20:48-49)
On hearing this message, the following dialogue took place between Moses (peace be upon him) and Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said, Who then is the Lord of you two, O Moses?
Moses (peace be upon him) said, Our Lord is He who gave unto everything its proper form and then guided it to its proper function.
Pharaoh said, What will be the fate of the former generations?
Moses (peace be upon him) said, The knowledge thereof is with my Lord preserved in a Book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets.
It is He Who has made the earth for you a bed and has caused pathways for you to run through it; and who sends down rain from the sky and thereby We bring forth various kinds of vegetation in pairs;
Eat ye and pasture your cattle. Verily, in this are signs for those endowed with reason.
From this earth have We created you, and into it shall We cause you to return, and from it shall we bring you forth a second time.
And we did show Pharaoh Our signs, all of them; but he rejected them and refused to believe. (20:50-57)
Miracles of Moses (peace be upon him)
Pharaoh then demanded some miracle saying, “� ‘If thou hast indeed come with sign, then produce it, if thou art truthful.’ So he (Moses) flung down his rod and behold! It was a serpent plainly visible. And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it appeared white to beholders.” (7:107-109)
These miracles were so impressive and imposing that Pharaoh was dumb founded but his courtiers, the chiefs of his people, came to his aid saying that Moses (peace be upon him) was most surely a skilful sorcerer and desired to turn the people out of their land. The other chiefs joined in and advised Pharaoh to put off Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother for a while and call all skilful sorcerers from all over the country for combating Moses (peace be upon him). Then they asked Moses (peace be upon him) for the appointment of a date for the final contest. Moses (peace be upon him) said, “Your appointment shall be the day of the festival and let the people be assembled when the sun is risen high.” (20:60) The discussion ended there and people dispersed. Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother returned to Israelites and continually conveyed the message of God to them and kept assuring them of the impending victory.
Moses (peace be upon him) returned to the appointed place on the fixed date and time. Pharaoh and the chiefs had already gathered all the people and their skilful sorcerers. The record of the contest that ensued between them according to the Holy Quran is given below:
“They said, O Moses, either do thou cast first, or we shall be the first to cast.
Moses said, Nay, cast ye, then lo! their cords and their staves appeared to him, by their magic, as though they ran about.
And Moses conceived a fear in his mind.
We said, Fear not, for thou wilt have upper hand;
And cast that which is in thy right hand; it will swallow that which they have wrought, for that which they have wrought is only a sorcerer’s trick. And a sorcerer shall not thrive, contrive what he may!” (20:66-70)
This contest did establish the truth of Moses (peace be upon him) but Pharaoh and his people did not pay heed to it, rather advancing in their transgression and said,
“Wilt thou leave Moses and his people to create disorder in the land and forsake thee and thy gods? He answered, We will ruthlessly slay their sons and let their women live. And surely we are dominant over them.” (7:128)
Thereafter pharaoh and his chiefs intensified in their brutal treatment of Israelites while Moses (peace be upon him) intensified his exhortation to the Israelites for becoming more steadfast in their faith and seeking help from God. The Israelites made complaints about the evil treatment, while Moses (peace be upon him) encouraged them to bear it with patience saying,
“Your Lord is about to destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land.”
They replied, ‘We were persecuted before thou camest to us and even after thou camest to us.’
He said,
Lord is about to destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land, that He may see how you act.’ (7:130).
Other Signs Shown to Pharaoh and His People
God Almighty afflicted the people of Pharaoh with drought, scarcity of fruits and by sending upon them storms, locusts, lice, frogs and blood as clear signs. But they behaved proudly and were a sinful people. And when there fell upon them the punishment, they said,
“O Moses, pray for us to thy Lord according to that which he has promised to thee. If thou remove from us the punishment, we will surely send with thee the Children of Israel.” (7:131, 134-135)
Nine miracles were shown to Pharaoh and his people through Moses (peace be upon him) but they did not benefit from them. Due to the fear of persecution by Pharaoh and the chiefs, only a few youths from among them believed in Moses (peace be upon him) (10:84). After the defeat of sorcerers Pharaoh became more furious. At this critical hour God revealed to Moses (peace be upon him) and his brother:
“Take for your people some houses in the town and construct your houses so that they face each other and observe prayer. And give glad tidings to the believers.” (10:88)
Under this direction of God, Moses (peace be upon him) convinced the Israelites to dwell very close together so as to be able to help one another in the time of need. This is only achievable when people build their houses near or facing each other. It also indicated that they should have a common goal or ideal and remain focused on it. Thus Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) concentrated on having the Israelites united and prepared fully for migration on the one hand and implored God against Pharaoh on the other hand in the following way:
“Our Lord, Thou hast bestowed upon Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and riches in the present life, with the result, Our Lord, that they are leading men astray from Thy path. Our Lord! Destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they believe not until they see the grievous punishment.” (10:89)
God heard their prayers and gave them final orders for departure from Egypt saying:
“Take away My servants by night, and strike for them a dry path through the sea. Thou wilt not be afraid of being overtaken, nor wilt thou have any other fear.” (20:78)
In order to fully understand the nature and significance of this incident which indeed constituted a great divine sign, it is necessary to read this verse along with other relevant verses such as vv. 2:51, 26:62-64 and 44:25.
The Bible mentions the crossing of the sea in the following words:
“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Stretch out thine hand over the sea.’ And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its strength. And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.” (Exodus 14:21-28)
The Holy Quran says:
“And remember the time when we divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh’s people while you looked on.” (2:51)
“And when the two hosts came in sight of each other the companions of Moses said, ‘We are surely overtaken’ � Then we revealed to Moses saying, ‘Strike the sea with thy rod.’ Whereupon it parted and every part was like a huge sand-hill.” (26:62-64)
Along with it read also,
“And leave the sea at a time when it is motionless. Surely, they are a host which is doomed to be drowned.” (44:25)
When Moses and the Israelites arrived at the northern extremity of the Red Sea, the ebb of the tide had begun. As the water receded, it left behind dunes, the tops of which were gradually uncovered, leaving the intervening depressions full of water. The Israelites crossed over at that moment. On arrival at the spot the Egyptian forces saw a bare stretch of the shore and pursued the fugitives, their chariot wheels stuck fast in the wet soil and the water returned upon them when the wind shifted and they were thus destroyer by God.
Historians differ as to the exact place from where Moses (peace be upon him) crossed the Red Sea. Keeping all views in sight, “What is most probable is the fact that from Tal Abi Sulaiman which was the capital of the Pharaohs in the time of Moses (peace be upon him), the Israelites at first went to north east to the gulf of Timsah but finding that a net of gulfs barred their way, they turned south and crossed the Red Sea near the town of Suez where it is hardly more than 2/3 mile wide and started for Qadas.” (Enc. Bible Col 1437)
In short, Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) “led the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan. The Israelites left secretly by night, and when Pharaoh learnt of their flight, he pursued them with his hosts and was drowned in the Red Sea.”
When Pharaoh was drowning he proclaimed belief in the God of the children of Israelites. God acknowledging his belief said:
“What! Now! while thou wast disobedient before this and wast of the mischief-makers. So this day we will save thee in thy body alone that thou mayest be a sign to those who came after thee. And surely many of mankind are heedless of Our Signs.” (10:92-93)
“It is remarkable that the Quran alone of all religious scriptures and books of history mentions this fact. The Bible makes no mention of it, nor does any book of history. But in what wonderful manner the word of God has proved true! After the lapse of more than 3,000 years the body of Pharaoh has been discovered and it now lies in a preserved state in the museum at Cairo. The body shows Pharaoh to have been a lean, short-bodied man, with a countenance expressive of anger and stupidity. Moses (peace be upon him) was born in the time of Rameses II and was brought up by him (Exodus 2:2-10), but it was in the reign of his son, Merneptah (Meneptah) that he was entrusted with the mission of a Prophet (Jew Enc., vol 9, p. 500 & Enc. Bib., under “Pharaoh” & under “Egypt”).” (Large Commentary, Vol 1, Page 448).
Moses (peace be upon him) and the Israelites in Sinai
After having crossed the sea safely, Israelites saw the destruction of the powerful enemy with their own eyes and thanked God. God called Moses (peace be upon him) for thirty nights on Mt. Tur and then this period was extended for another ten nights. Before leaving for the meeting with God, Moses (peace be upon him) said to his brother Aaron (peace be upon him), “Take charge of my people in my absence and manage them well.”
Moses (peace be upon him) was blessed with special communication with God. It made him bold, and he requested God to show him that perfect manifestation which He promised the prophet prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:18. Upon this God manifested himself on the mountain, and it broke into pieces and Moses (peace be upon him) fell unconscious . On recovery he thanked God and said, “Holy art thou I turn to thee and I am the first believer” (7:144). He was then given the Ten Commandments for Israelites. The words of those commandments were not preserved. However, they are found in the current Bible in the following words.
The Ten Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And Shewing mercy unto thousand of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hollowed it.
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbors. (Exodus 20:1-17)
Besides these commandments, law of retaliation, which was vigorously followed by the Israelites, is mentioned in the following words:
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
And if man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. (Exodus 21:23-27)
The Holy Quran describe this law as follow:
“We prescribed for them: life for life, and eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and for other injuries equitable retaliation. And whoso waives the right thereto, it shall be an expiation for his own sins; and whoso judges not by what Allah has sent down, these it is who are wrongdoers.” (5:46)
During the absence of Moses (peace be upon him) Israelites due to their weak faith restored to the worship of calf, which Samiri prepared with their ornaments. They did not heed to the polite admonition of Aaron (peace be upon him). On return from Tur, Moses (peace be upon him) rebuked them and was hard on his brother. He excommunicated Samiri and frightened the followers a great deal, then picked up seventy leading men and went back to the mountain for repentance. An earthquake took place, which struck terror among the Israelites. They joined in repentance with Moses (peace be upon him) and were forgiven by God.
Moses (peace be upon him) introduced the divine Commandments on the tablets and advised them that their progress and prosperity lay in obedience to them. Israelites were to be trained in Sinai for the victory of Canaan.
Having lived for a long time in bondage and in a state of dependence, the Israelites had become cowardly and indolent. So God intended them to stay in the desert for some time and to live on game and wild herbs in order that they may shed their cowardice and laziness by living an independent life in desert. Thus revitalized, they were to be led to the Promised Land and made rulers of Palestine. The Israelites, however, failed to understand the real purpose of God or, having understood it, failed to appreciate it and foolishly insisted upon living in a town. God wanted to prepare them to rule over the Promised Land but those unfortunate people hungered after husbandry. So they were told to go down to a town where they would get the desired things.
Promised Land and the Israelites
Reference to the Promised Land has been made in the Holy Quran in the following verse:
“And We have already written in the book of David, after the reminder, that My righteous servants shall inherit the land.” (21:106)
Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon him) encouraged Israelites to march forward from Sinai to conquer Canaan, the Promised Land, and assured them of victory, provided that they strive to enter the gates thereof. But they replied saying,
“O Moses (peace be upon him), there is in that land an unruly and powerful people, and we shall not enter it until they go forth from it. But if they go forth from it, then we will enter it. � Go thou and thy Lord and fight the enemy, we sit here and wait for the victory.” (5:23, 25)
When the Israelites behaved in a cowardly manner, God decreed that they should continue to wander in the wilderness for forty years in order that the life of the desert should invigorate them and infuse in them new life and should strengthen their morals.
Moses (peace be upon him) had succeeded in bringing the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s bondage and brought them freedom, but could not convince them to conquer Canaan and died in Sinai.
Future Disclosed to Moses (peace be upon him)
Allah alone possesses the knowledge of the future. He imparts it through his chosen ones. Here under we mention a few prophecies of Moses (peace be upon him).
“And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said, The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” (Deuteronomy 33:2)
In this passage three prophecies have been mentioned:
Manifestation of God on Moses (peace be upon him) in Sinai.
God’s manifestation on Jesus (peace be upon him) in Seir, the area in which many miracles of Jesus (peace be upon him) took place.
God’s manifestation on Mohammed which was to take place at mount Paran. The Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conquered Mecca at the head of ten thousands companions. Paran in Arabic is called Faran, the name of the hill that lays between Mecca and Medina. The fiery law mentioned is the Holy Quran�a permanent law for mankind.
God spoke to Moses (peace be upon him) and said:
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 20:18-19)
In this prophecy Moses (peace be upon him) was told that God would raise a Prophet from among their brethren, that is, the Ishmaelites who will be a law bearing Prophet like unto Moses (peace be upon him). This was fulfilled in the person of Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The word of the prophecy “and will put my words in his mouth” are very significant as the Holy Quran introduced by Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) claims to be the very words of God. There is no other religious book, which claims to be the exact words of God.
Moses (peace be upon him) was a law bearing Prophet and all those appeared after him including David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon him) followed his law. His dispensation came to an end with the death of Jesus (peace be upon him) in Kashmir, India.
Hadrat Isa Bin Maryam (Jesus) (peace be upon him), Son of Mary
Mother of Jesus (peace be upon him) forms an integral part of his name so we commence his life by a brief mention of his mother. Grandmother of Jesus (peace be upon him), Hanna, loved pious life and had a keen desire to have a pious child. She vowed that her child would be dedicated to the service of the church (synagogue). In due course she gave birth to a girl who was named Mary.
During those days only males were dedicated to the service of the church. Nevertheless, due to her vows that she had made earlier, she dedicated Mary, her only child, to the service of the church. Zakaria became Mary’s guardian. Mary grew from childhood to womanhood in the church and lived a pious and chaste life. So pious was young Mary that her guardian, Zakaria, begged God to grant him a pious son like Mary. He was granted Yahya (John) who became a prophet in due course.
During her devotion she saw visions and was strengthened in her faith by the words of God. Angel told her that God had chosen her over all the ladies of her time. She should therefore remain devotedly engaged in His worship alone. She was in this state of devotion when one day she saw an angel in the form of a man, who conveyed her glad news from God that she would have a son. This news disturbed her very much. She argued with the angel saying that she was a virgin and under the vow he had chosen the life of celibacy and she had not been unchaste. Under these circumstances how can she bear a child? she asked. The angel replied that her statement was correct but the child would be born because it was the command of God. He creates things without even any material. He had decided that the miraculous birth of the child should take place and serve as a sign for the Israelites. They had become unworthy of prophethood due to their persistent rejection of prophets sent to them. God, therefore, had decided to shift prophethood from Israelites to the children of Ishmael. The fatherless birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) thus was to serve as a sign for Israelites.
Birth of Jesus (peace be upon him)
After receiving news from the angel, Mary felt conceived with the command of God in November or December of that year. On realizing this, she understood that God had changed her lifestyle and she could no longer continue her devotion in the church. With the pregnancy becoming more visible, in March or April of next year, the Essential brotherhood, to which Mary belonged, in their perplexity and fearing scandal, secretly prevailed upon one Joseph to marry her. Later on, on realizing that she was already with pregnancy, Joseph wanted to do away with her but was prevented by an angel. From the Chamber of dedication, Mary went to the east in Bethlehem, about seventy miles south of Nazareth to avoid the public eye. She had no one to help her in her difficulties except God. Having full trust in God and through the guidance from Him alone, she completed her time of pregnancy. The pains of childbirth drove her close to the trunk of a palm tree in the fountain land of Judea (19:24). It appears that she gave birth to Jesus (peace be upon him) in Jewish month of Elul as dates ripe in this month (Dictionary of the Bible by John D. Davis under the word “Year”). The month of Elul corresponds to the months of August-September (Peak’s commentary of Bible, p. 117)
St. Luke, writing about the time of the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him), says,
“ There were the shepherds in the same country (Judea), abiding in the fields and keeping watch by night over their flocks.” (Luke 2:7-8)
A careful study of both Muslim and Christian scriptures establishes that the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) took place in the summer, that is, in September and not in December. Luke’s statement categorically rejects the popular belief, as shepherds cannot abide in the open fields in Palestine in the month of December. One may ask, why then the Christian world celebrates the birth of Christ on December 25th. For a clearer understanding of this issue, the following passages from the Encyclopedia Britannia and Chambers Encyclopedia under the word “Christmas” should be consulted:
“The exact day and year of Christ’s birth have never been satisfactorily settled; but when the fathers of the Church in AD 340 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely chose the day of winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of people and which was their most important festival. Owing to changes in man-made calendars, the time of the solstice and the date of Christmas day vary by a few days.” (Enc. Brit. 15th Edition, Vol. 5, pp. 642 and 642A)
And again:
“The winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun, and at Rome 25th December was observed as a pagan festival of the nativity of Sol-Invictus. The church, unable to stamp out this popular festival, spiritualized it as the feast of the Nativity of the sun of Righteousness.” (Ch. Enc.)
This establishes beyond doubt that Jesus (peace be upon him) was not born in December. According to J. Stewart, Jesus (peace be upon him) was born in 8 BC in September or October. For a full discussion, see his book, When Did Our Lord Actually Live.
The birth story mentioned in the Holy Quran is the most accurate one.
At the time of delivery, Mary was strengthened by revelation and directed to the nearby rivulet and the ripe dates on the date palms standing at the slope close by her. She delivered Jesus (peace be upon him) in pain and was exhausted but soon regained strength by the dates and water. She followed the instructions of God and avoided communication with people and remained devoted to Him.
Sometime after the birth of the child, Joseph came and took them to Egypt, where they lived till the death of Herod, a notorious king (Matthew 2:13-23).
No records are available about the childhood or youth of Jesus (peace be upon him) or the life of his mother. They came back to Judea only after the appointment of Jesus (peace be upon him) to prophethood.
Prophethood of Jesus (peace be upon him)
God taught Jesus knowledge of the Torah, granted him wisdom and appointed him prophet for the Israelites (3:50). He appeared fourteen centuries after Moses (peace be upon him). During this long period the Old Testament had undergone many changes. Jewish scholars, scribes and Pharisees at the time had tempered with the Torah and had disfigured it. The followers of Moses (peace be upon him) were divided into seventy-one sects at that time. God sent Jesus (peace be upon him) as the terminal prophet for the house of Israel. God granted him revelation so that the wrong teachings that had crept into the Torah could be sifted and Jewish beliefs and practices could be rectified. He preached the message of God to them but they would not pay heed to him; they rather turned against him. He spoke in parables, conveying the message to the poor and the rich Israelites alike. Very few of them believed in him. Jews accused him of claiming to be the king of Jews. Little did they understand from the prophecy that he was to be a spiritual king. When he spoke against the erroneous beliefs, they turned into his bitter enemies. They even reported him to the Roman rulers of the land and demanded his execution. He was accused of blasphemy and sought for trial.
Trial of Jesus (peace be upon him)
He was tried in the court of Pontius Pilate, the local Governor. The wife of Pilate had seen in a dream that Jesus (peace be upon him) was a righteous person and that he should not be harmed. Therefore when Pilate sat on the judgment seat he called for water and washed his hands saying, ‘I am free from the sin against this righteous man.’ He had delayed the proceedings till third hour on the Friday. During trial too he used all means to save him. At one point he even gave the Jews an option, saying he used to give amnesty to someone every year, and if they wanted he could release Jesus (peace be upon him) for them. But they refused the offer. He asked them what he should do with Jesus (peace be upon him). They spoke with one voice: “Kill him for blasphemy and if you don’t do it we will report you to the King.” When Pilate could not prevail upon them, he handed over Jesus (peace be upon him) to the Jews for crucifixion.
They carried him to Golgotha and put him on the cross. He prayed to God saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” that is, “O my God, O my God, why have Thou forsaken me?”
Hebrew 5:7 states, “When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.” A heavy swoon fell on him and in this state he was taken down from cross at ninth hour before the Sabbath day. When he was taken down from the cross he was unconscious, extremely feeble and resembled a “dead person.” His legs were not broken to bring sure death on him. However, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and water and blood gushed out of his body. It was a clear sign that he was alive but to ward off his enemies he was declared dead. Shortly after the incident a follower of Jesus (peace be upon him) by the name of Joseph of Armithia, an influential fellow with authorities, came to Pilate and requested that the body of Jesus (peace be upon him) should be handed over to him. His request was granted readily. He took the feeble, unconscious body of Jesus (peace be upon him), placed him in a pre-arranged spacious sepulture in a private garden. Another follower, Nicodimus, the physician, brought pre-prepared ointments and applied it on the wounds of nails and wrapped him in a linen cloth. They tended their master in the sepulture dearly. Their efforts were successful and Jesus (peace be upon him) came to consciousness during the night.
Next morning they disguised him into the clothes of a gardener to avoid recapture. Later on he met disciples in their private places, shared fish and other food with them. Tarried with them for few weeks, carefully avoiding public appearance, and not letting anyone know about his movement. Jesus (peace be upon him) secretly planned and prepared for migration from Galilee. Before disappearing from the scene he directed some of his disciples to go to Galilee. They traveled to east and met him in Galilee Mountains. He entrusted them with the task of preaching to Israelites. Bidding them farewell, he departed secretly in search of the lost sheep of the house of Israel elsewhere. His followers returned to Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-52) He had told them that he had other sheep that are not of this fold. He set forth along with his mother and very few disciples on the long journey in search of the lost ten tribes of Israel. This ends the first phase of his ministry according to the Gospels.
The death of Jesus (peace be upon him) on the cross is a cardinal issue for the Jews, Christians and the Muslims. Jews believe that the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) was not miraculous, rather (God forbid) illicit, and that was false in his claim of prophethood and he had no connection with God. To prove their claim they tried to kill him on the cross. Because it was written in their book, “He who is hanged on a tree is accursed of God.” They failed in their attempt as has been stated above. The Jews, however, still maintain that they killed Jesus on the cross.
Christians believe that although Jesus (peace be upon him) died on the cross, he died to atone their sins, and then rose from the dead on the third day. If one can prove that he did not die on the cross then the basic Christian belief is shattered. Hence they adamantly retain the belief of his death on the cross although facts tell us otherwise.
Muslim in general, are of the view that Jesus (peace be upon him) did not die on the cross, rather God casted the figure of Jesus (peace be upon him) on some other person. The Jews, they say, killed that disfigured person on the cross instead of Jesus (peace be upon him). This belief, too, goes against the facts. God the Wise was able to save him from all such ignominious situations. These three types of beliefs have created a great dilemma for the followers of the three principal faiths in the world.
The most authentic source of information in this regard is the word of God, the Holy Quran, which says:
“... They slew him not nor did they bring about his death on the cross. But he was made to resemble like a crucified person and those who differ in are certainly in a state of doubt about it, they do not have certain knowledge about it. They follow their conjectures only. The reality is that they have not brought death on him. On the contrary Allah has exalted him to Himself...” (4:158-159)
In very clear words Allah has rejected the claim of the Jews and has stated that they failed in their attempt to bring about the death of Jesus (peace be upon him) on the cross. Rather he was exhausted when taken down from the cross and was in a swoon and resembled a dead one. Allah the Wise has thus saved him from ignominious death and exalted him to Himself. The words of the Holy Quran, “Allah has exalted him to Himself,” are the key words to solve the issue. Because no single place can be fixed as an abode of God. He is everywhere in the whole universe. By saving Jesus (peace be upon him) from an accursed death on the cross, God exalted him and proved to his enemies that he was beloved of God and that all the accusations leveled against him were baseless.
In short the three above-mentioned beliefs are falsified by the words of the Holy Quran. It has been already stated above that according to the Gospels as well, Jesus (peace be upon him) did not die on the cross. He did survive the crucifixion. Let us examine what happened next.
Palestine after the Disappearance
of Jesus (peace be upon him) from the Scene
Jesus (peace be upon him) left Palestine apparently in search of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It served a dual purpose: Firstly, the attention of the Jews was diverted away from the followers of Jesus (peace be upon him) and they no longer pursued them actively. And secondly, true followers of Jesus (peace be upon him) were able to carry out their message, secretly, to Israelites in Palestine in the absence of Jesus (peace be upon him) himself. Their leader James the righteous held the reign of Jerusalem church from approximately 40-60 CE. After him the Ebionites, one of the offshoot of James’s ministry, continued the mission. They strictly followed the Mosaic Law, believed Jesus (peace be upon him) to be the Messiah who was born a human being. They held James in great esteem and opposed all changes introduced by Paul.
Emergence of Paul
Paul was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish sect. He was an active persecutor of the followers of Jesus (peace be upon him).
He changed his stance while he journeyed to Damascus on a mission against the disciples of Jesus (peace be upon him) when “suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:5-6)
Thereafter he was directed to go to the city where he would be given directions for his mission. When he got up he could not see anything. He remained blind for the next three days, and then Ananias, a disciple, was directed to cure Saul. The Lord said to Ananias,
“Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)
After receiving this authority Ananias went to the palace of Soul and said,
“Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus (peace be upon him), that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.” (Act 9:17-18)
Paul’s whole claim to apostleship of Jesus (peace be upon him) is based on the above-mentioned vague and unauthentic episode.
On the eve of the departure of Jesus (peace be upon him) from the scene of Palestine, deterioration of his followers had commenced. At that critical hour a division among the followers took place. One section strictly adhered to his teaching under the leadership of James the righteous, while the other section, which was initiated by Paul, emerged with a completely new type of faith, which was later called Christianity. The latter group was afraid of persecution and was not ready to bear hardships. Instead they wanted life of ease and comfort. It is necessary to mention a few things about Paul for a better understanding of his philosophies.
Paul received no direct education and training from Jesus (peace be upon him) himself nor from his disciples, rather was a bitter enemy of Christ during his sojourn in Palestine. But after the departure of Jesus, Paul, seeing a leadership opportunity in the horizon, grasped it with deception.
Paul commenced his work saying,
“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 hanged on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)
In the very first stride he throws away the “yoke” of the Mosaic law from his shoulder. Next he declares:
“For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? Whose damnation is just?” (Romans 3:7-8)
In the third stride he says:
“That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. ” (II Corinthians 11:17)
These three quotes from Paul vividly explain that he was divorced from the beliefs and practices of Jesus (peace be upon him) and his true followers, and initiated the beliefs of original sin and its atonement, trinity and the like. Instead of transforming people according to the religion, he boldly changed and disfigured the religion to suite the beliefs and practices of the people. Christ was manipulated and changed into fiction by Paul. Christianity today presents dogmas, which are alien to the teachings of Christ. If these beliefs were presented to Jesus (peace be upon him) today, he would surely denounce them. The Holy Quran has explained the issue very clearly in Surah Al-Maida, verse 117. We, therefore, do not need to go into the details.
Second Phase of the Life of Jesus (peace be upon him)
We have mainly two sources of knowledge about the life of Jesus Christ (peace be on him): the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran. In the Bible, we read (Matthew 15:24): in reply to a Canaanite woman Jesus (peace be upon him) said,
“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The Holy Quran confirms that he was a prophet to the children of Israel (3:50). He conveyed his message only to the Israelites. At that time only one tribe was living in Israel, the rest of them had fled Israel during the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. In II Kings 17:18 we have,
“So the lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight, none was left except the tribe of Judah.”
So Jesus (peace be upon him) spent three years of his ministry preaching to the tribe of Judah, who did not heed to the message, rather tried to murder him. After escaping the death on the cross he set forth to the mountainous region to the east in search of the other tribes. We have in John 10:16,
“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd.”
The other tribes of Israel had moved to the east and had settled in Iraq and Iran in small segments and in large numbers in Afghanistan, Laddakh and Kashmir. The route taken by Jesus (peace be upon him) and his mother to these areas has been mention in Rawzat-us-Sufa, a well-known history book, in pages 130-135. According to this book Jesus (peace be upon him) traveled from his home country of Nasibian. It means that Jesus (peace be upon him) after bidding farewell to disciples at Galilee, traveled to northeast 450 miles and reached Nasibian. Next he went to Mosul, Tehran, Herat, and Peshawar en route to Kashmir. Everywhere he went, he preached his message to the Israelites only. It seems these tribes were receptive to the glad tidings given by Jesus (peace be upon him) and they accepted him readily. Jesus (peace be upon him) reached the last 10 tribes of Israelites whom King Shalmaneser had taken captive to Meda, that is, the present day Iran. The Israelite over a period had settled in Afghanistan and Kashmir and on arrival of Jesus (peace be upon him) there, they accepted him.
The Holy Quran has mentioned about the shelter provided to Jesus (peace be upon him) during his difficult time, saying,
“And we made son of Mary and his mother a sign; and gave them shelter on an elevated land of green valley and springs of running waters.” (23:51)
This is an apt description of the valley of Kashmir. Jesus (peace be upon him), after surviving death on the cross, very much needed such a shelter. After the long journey from Galilee to Kashmir Jesus (peace be upon him) finally had comfort and peace. His message was easily understood and accepted by the Afghans and the Kashmiris, who were the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. Jesus (peace be upon him) preached the unity of God and was able to unite the Israelites before expiring at the age of 120 years. He is buried in Khanyar, Sirinagar, Kashmir, India. His grave is known as grave of Yus Asif or Nabi Sahib. For additional details, please see Jesus in India by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him).
Miracles of Jesus (peace be upon him)
Prophets are raised by God to bring about a renaissance in the society of their time. They infuse new life in their followers and quicken the dead humanity. The relationship between man and God is revived through them. Jesus (peace be upon him) appeared among the Israelites at a very crucial time of their history. God had been very kind to them for a very long time by raising prophet after prophet among them, but they had failed to appreciate the favors of God and were ungrateful. Therefore, God created Jesus (peace be upon him) merely with his own command from Virgin Mary without the agency of a male, in the same manner as He had created Adam (peace be upon him), without a mother or father. It was perhaps to point out to the Israelites that they had become so corrupt that none of them deserved to be called father of a prophet. They did not heed to this, rather became more arrogant and accused both him and his mother vehemently. God showed many miracles through Jesus. He raised spiritually dead Israelites to life. The humble and despised fisherman of Galilee under the impact of ennobling precept and example of the master began soaring high in the spiritual realm, preaching to the Israelites the word of God. Spiritually blind were granted spiritual sight, hearing to spiritually deaf, and spiritually dead were restored to a new life. (Matt 13:15)
The Holy Quran also mentions quickening of spiritually dead people.
“O ye who believe; respond to Allah and the messenger when he calls you that he may give you life.” (8:25)
It should be remembered that actually dead never come to life again. It is an established fact and whole history of mankind and Prophet’s bear witness to it. Among the great miracles of raising the dead to life, Lazarus is the only dead mentioned by name in the Gospels who was restored to life by Jesus (peace be upon him). But in the same Gospel it is stated that Jesus (peace be upon him) said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep” (John 11:11). It is obvious that this man was not dead actually, rather he was unconscious and with the prayers of Jesus (peace be upon him) he was cured and became conscious. It should be remembered that people are always healed through the prayers of their prophets. Moreover Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke in parables and his words should no be taken literally. Besides, it is mentioned in John 5:4 that there was a healing pond in Jerusalem that could cure every type of sick.
Earlier prophets also performed such miracles. For example a dead man was cast into the grave of Elisha, and when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet (II Kings 13:21). In another place it is written that Elisha crossed over water (II King 2:14). Miracles of Moses (peace be upon him) are mentioned in Exodus chapters 8 and 9. In the terminology of the Gospels, the giving of life to the dead signifies spiritual life. See John 17:3, John 20:31 and I Corinthian 15:31-51.
The following statement of Jesus (peace be upon him) makes the issue crystal clear:
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
These verses show that all his miracles were spiritual. Statements in the Gospels are parables and figurative speech. Those who take them literally make grave mistake.
Status of Jesus (peace be upon him)
There is a lot of controversy prevalent about his status. The narration of the Gospels has contradictory statements. At many places it mentions him as son of man, but at other places calls him Son of God. Yet at other places holy people and even wicked ones are also mentioned as Sons of God. In short, this is a term of the Gospel applied to all humans and is not a peculiarity of Jesus (peace be upon him).
The Holy Quran states that Jesus (peace be upon him) was born miraculously to pious and virgin Mary. He was a human being and his virtuous mother trained him in the ways of God. He was endowed with wisdom and spoke words of wisdom in his youth as well as in old age. God appointed him as prophet for the Israelites alone. He followed laws of Moses (peace be upon him) and was blessed with revelations from God. His revelations corrected those portions of the Old Testament that were tempered with by human hands during long passage of time. His revelations are mentioned as Injeel, that is, glad tidings. They do not comprise new laws, they are rather reformatory and as commentary to the laws of the Old Testament. The following statement makes it explicitly clear. Jesus (peace be upon him) says in Matthew 5:17-20:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
His message from the mountain is given below:
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they, which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they, which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Mathew 5:1-16)
These teachings in essence are taken from different parts of Torah that is the Old Testament (commandments given to Moses). The emphasis of Jesus (peace be upon him) on politeness was not a new commandment. Israelites during years of captivity in Egypt had become extremely cowardly, so Moses (peace be upon him) emphasized on the law of retaliation. Acting on these teachings for centuries, the Israelites had become hard hearted by the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) and there was an urgent need to soften their hearts toward other people. Therefore, under the guidance of God, Jesus (peace be upon him) taught the Israelites afresh aspects of politeness from the teachings of Moses (peace be upon him).
No change was introduced in the ordinances of lawful and unlawful things. However those things which Israelites themselves have made unlawful (Quran 4:16, 43:64) without divine authority were declared afresh lawful (Holy Quran 3:50-51). Their neglect for financial sacrifices was renewed by Jesus (peace be upon him), and a new life was infused in them (Matthew 13:15). They became soaring beings in the spiritual realm. A mighty transformation was brought about in the lost ten tribes of Israelites in Kashmir, etc., by Jesus Christ.
Prophecies About the Future
Toward the close of his mission, Jesus (peace be upon him) made some prophecies about future. Speaking in parable he said:
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. And when time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. 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. And they caught him and cast him out of vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 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.
Jesus (peace be upon him) said 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 marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for prophet.” (Matt 21:33-46)
In John (14:26) we have:
“But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
In Mathew (23:38-39) we have:
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
In John 16:13:
“Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”
The Holy Quran states that Jesus (peace be upon him) affirmed the prophecies of Moses (peace be upon him) about the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as well as gave good news about the coming of a prophet like himself. (The Holy Quran 61:7)
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was raised from the progeny of Hadrat Ishmael (peace be upon him), the rejected corner stone. The kingdom of God was taken from the Israelites and given to the Ishmaelites. He is the comforter who appeared right at the ripe time. The glory of God was manifested through him. He is the spirit of truth. He said nothing out of his own accord, rather what ever he heard from God conveyed to the people in pristine purity. The record of his revelation in the form of the Holy Quran is a glaring testimony to the fulfillment of the prophecies in the person of Hadrat Muhammad. We conclude this narration saying blessed are indeed those who believe in him who came after Jesus (peace be upon him) in the name of the Lord.
“Commentary” in the text refers to The Holy Qur’an, Arabic Text and English Translation with Commentary, Edited by Malik Ghulam Farid. “Large Commentary” refers to The Holy Qur’an with English Translation with Commentary, Vol. 1-5
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