WHAT ISLAM HAS TO OFFER THAT CHRISTIANITY
CANNOT?

THE PURITY OF FAITH

      After a series of very long and meaningful exchanges with a Christian student of Bible, who had also read the fair amount of the Qur'an, the student finally decided to ask; "Show me what Islam has to offer and let my heart and the grace God take over from there. If Islam is indeed the true faith God will guide me to it. Peace!"

    In response, I sent him the following four lines from the Qur'an with the commentaries by the famous translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali. In the original Arabic text these four short sentences from Surah Al-Ikhlaas (112) have their endings in a poetic rhythm. It is impossible to duplicate the beauty and marvel of that poetic outpouring it in the translated text.


1 Say: He is Allah the One and Only; 6296 6297
2 Allah the Eternal Absolute; 6298
3 He begetteth not nor is He begotten; 6299
4 And there is none like unto Him. 6300
 
6296 The nature of Allah is here indicated to us in a few words, such as we can understand. The qualities of Allah are described in numerous places elsewhere, e.g., in lix. 22-24, lxii. 1, and ii. 255. Here we are specially taught to avoid the pitfalls into which men and nations have fallen at various times in trying to understand Allah. The first thing we have to note is that His nature is so sublime, so far beyond our limited conceptions, that the best way in which we can realise Him is to feel that He is a Personality, "He", and not a mere abstract conception of philosophy. He is near us; He cares for us; we owe our existence to Him. Secondly, He is the One and Only God, the Only One to Whom worship is due; all other things or beings that we can think of are His creatures and in no way comparable to Him. Thirdly, He is Eternal, without beginning or end, Absolute, not limited by time or place or circumstance, the Reality. Fourthly, we must not think of Him as having a son or a father, for that would be to import animal qualities into our conception of Him. Fifthly, He is not like any other person or thing that we know or can imagine: His qualities and nature are unique. (112.1)

6297 This is to negative the idea of Polytheism, a system in which people believe in gods many and lords many. Such a system is opposed to our truest and profoundest conceptions of life. For Unity in Design, Unity in the fundamental facts of existence, proclaim the Unity of the Maker. (112.1)

6298 Samad is difficult to translate by one word. I have used two, "Eternal" and "Absolute". The latter implies: (1) that absolute existence can only be predicated of Him; all other existence is temporal or conditional; (2) that He is dependent on no person or things, but all persons or things are dependent on Him, thus negativing the idea of gods and goddesses who ate and drank, wrangled and plotted, depended on the gifts of worshippers, etc. (112.2)

6299 This is to negative the Christian idea of the godhead, "the Father", "the only-begotten Son" etc. (112.3)

6300 This sums up the whole argument and warns us specially against Anthropomorphism, the tendency to conceive of Allah after our own pattern, an insidious tendency that creeps in at all times and among all peoples. (112.4)

Note: Neither the Christ Jesus himself nor any of his disciples (including John), ever wrote or claimed that Jesus was "the begotten son" or "the only begotten son" of the Father. What one reads in the English translation of the Gospel according to John is the INJECTION of this term from The Vulgate. In response to the Arian claim that Jesus was made but not begotten, Jerome (c. 347-420) the famous apologist of the early Christian Church, translated the Greek term "monogenes" (meaning, "of a single kind") into Latin as "unigeitus" (meaning, "only begotten") in his translation of the Bible, commonly known as The Vulgate. In 1592, The Council of Trent chose The Vulgate as the authentic text in the matter of theology. The recent revised translations that are done from the original Greek text written by John do render "of a single kind" as the correct translations in John 1:18 and 3:16. 
For further details please read 'Anchor Bible' - Volume 29, The Gospel according to John (i), Garden City, New York; publishers Doubleday (1966), pages 13 and 14.

A reader's question:

      After reading this article, a Christian surfer questioned; 
If God does not take on anthropomorphic abilities, explain how Mary was pregnated? 

Response:

            It was the spoken word of God - "The Command", that was in the beginning with the God - The Creator. That Command was DIVINE..  All things came into being through THIS COMMAND..
   (In the opening of John's Gospel, "The God's Command" "Logos" has been SUBSTITUTED with the word "Jesus" by the Church.)

       There was Life (soul) within this Divine Command. When the Divine Command entered the womb of Virgin Mary, the conception happened...

IF THERE WAS ANY ACT OF BEGETTING (MEANING SIRING) INVOLVED,
THEN MARY WOULD NOT HAVE QUALIFIED AS THE "VIRGIN MARY", 
AFTER SUCH AN ACT OF IMPREGNATION.

FROM CRITIC "ANSWERING ISLAM":
     Under the website with the above title a Christian critic Andrew Vargo writes:  
"Muhammad used this Sura (and its statement of Tauhid) against the Pagans, Jews, and Christians, depending on the situation at hand. For example, the Christians believed in One God, however, Muhammad objected to the idea that God had a son and this sentiment is reflected in the third ayah. He also objected to the idea of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost), which he completely misunderstood. Muhammad incorrectly believed and taught that Christians believed in three gods and even implied that Mary was a member of the Trinity." 
RESPONSE: Majority of the Christians believe that Jesus was "begotten" by his Father. My question to this belief is: Did the Act of Begetting in reality ever take place? If so, Where was Jesus before the Act? Is it not true that Jesus the 2nd Person of the Trinity supposed to be "co-eternal" (none existed before or later in time) with the 1st Person, his Father, according to the Christian Doctrine of Trinity? Please respond.
           Mr. Vargo writes:  The word "begotten" is one of English translations of the Greek word "monogenes" which means "only", "one of a kind" and the scholars are debating whether it also can mean "only begotten".  Mr. Vargo, are you now admitting that the BELIEF of "begotten son" is a debatable issue and Jesus may have been or may not have been begotten by the 1st Person of the Trinity? Your above statement in fact proves that Islam has The Unwavering Truth and the Christians are trying to come closer to that Truth.  
           As for your FALSE accusation that the prophet "implied that Mary was a member of the Trinity", please read my article on the subject. I hope you will remove these false remarks after reading it. 


To read other articles by the author, click:
INDEX

      Please send your comments to author 
Akbarally Meherally at  webmaster9@mostmerciful.com