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In the Book of Genesis
(Bible) God made
two separate promises to
Abraham's wife SARAH received the following favor:
100 years old. (Gen. 21:5). God's promise was fulfilled, when from the descendants of Isaac, came King Saul, King David and King Solomon. The Nations of Judaism and Christianity have their roots in Isaac - the second son of Abraham. God makes one significantly promise to Abraham: This portentous favor bestowed upon Abraham and
his One Son, happens to be the key that unlocks the mystery of God's Master
Plan. This eternal Divine Blessing for all the nations of the earth was
through a seed of the son of Abraham, who
had accompanied his father and passed God's test of Supreme Sacrifice.
The event thus become a pivotal part of the human history for Jews, Christians
and Muslims. The details of this exceptional Blessing were recorded in
the Bible as under:
And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine
only {son}: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which {is}
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because
thou hast obeyed My Voice. Gen 22: 16/18
ONLY ONE SON WAS OFFERED FOR SACRIFIC God decided to test the faith of Abraham, He said;
There happens to be an unresolved, longer than a millennium old debate, as to who accompanied Prophet Abraham and submitted himself to the will of God - the first born - Ishmael - the progenitor of the prophet Muhammad, or the second born - Isaac - the progenitor of Jesus Christ? The Bible writers had placed the name of Isaac in the blank space above. Muslims believe Ishmael was the one that was taken by Abraham for the ‘Supreme Sacrifice’. Every year, Muslims throughout the world celebrate Id al-Adha as a day of festivity, recalling the courage and patience of Ishmael and the unwavering devotion of Abraham. There are judicious reasons to believe that this event happened in the life of prophet Abraham when Isaac was not yet born. We will now examine what the Bible and the Qur'an have to say on this controversial subject. After the sacrificial offering the Bible records;
The word "only" is very significant in the above quoted three verses. In the Hebrew text the word used is "yachiyd" (not "echad"), which identifies absolute singularity - the one and only. The logical argument put forward is: God must have used the phrase “thine only {son}” during the period of fourteen years when Isaac was not yet born and Ishmael the Only Son of Abraham was old enough to accompany his father for the Sacrificial Offering. The Jews and Christians argue: being born to Hagar, a hand-maid of Abraham's wife, Ishmael was recognized as the Descendant or the Seed of Abraham, but not as his Son. The following verse from their own Bible NEGATES their argument and declares ISHMAEL born to Hagar was called "a son". And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. Gen. 16:15 Christian scholars going to their second line of defense say: Ishmael, the Son of a bondwoman, was called Abraham's Son at the time of his birth - but that was only for the time being. Ishmael lost the status of being the Son of Abraham the day Isaac was born to Abraham's wife Sarah the freewoman. The Bible nowhere records losing of the acquired status. In fact, the biblical text quoted below, proves that in the sight of God the Creator, Ishmael was the Son of Abraham even after the death of his father Abraham.
The idea of a son losing his status probably comes from the cuneiform tablets exemplifying the law of the second and third millennium. The law states that a childless father could adopt a son to serve him in his old age. Should a son be born later to that man, the adopted son's status as an heir would be altered. The answer to this Law of Adoption is: Ishmael was not adopted, he was fathered by Abraham. Hagar was the wife of Abraham records the Bible: Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. Genesis 16: 3 The obvious question is, what are the reasons that in spite of these overwhelming evidences the name of Isaac appears in the blank space above? The descendants of Ishmael and Isaac (Arabs and Jews) have fought battles in the arenas of politics and religions since the day of a serious domestic quarrel in the house of Abraham. This Domestic Dispute led Sarah driving away Hagar and her son Ishmael. Tribal pride and deep rooted hatred for the enemy can make a person go to any lengths. In the history of mankind, false pride and jealousy have been the roots of many evils and untold sufferings. The Jewish scribes wrote the Book of Genesis. It is very probable that they would not have liked the idea that this singular honor of being offered for the Supreme Sacrifice go to the progenitor of their enemy - Ishmael - rather than their own patriarch - Isaac. The unyielding pride of Jewish priests made Jesus call them stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart. The Encyclopedia Judaica, volume number 9, under the heading “Ishmael”, records as under:
THE QUR'ANIC NARRATION A question is often asked: Does the name of Ishmael appear in the Qur'anic narration as the one that was offered for the Supreme Sacrifice? The answer is: No. The name of Ishmael does not appear in the text. However, the Qur'anic narration gives the sequence of events that happened before and after the sacrificial offering. These chronological events very precisely testify that Isaac was born after the event. Abraham pleads for a Son:
Qur'an 37:111/113. The above verses clearly indicate that the incident of Supreme Sacrifice happened before the birth of Isaac and Ishmael was the “only Son” of Abraham, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis 22:2/12/16. GOD'S MASTER PLAN SEPARATES THE TWO BRANCHES OF ABRAHAM WITH A PURPOSE: Long before the birth of Ishmael, God had disclosed to his mother that his son will live "to the east of all his brothers". God had also foretold that her son's hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him. Gen. 16:12. The mocking of Isaac was just a ploy to implement the God's Master Plan. The text below tells us why God separated the two branches of Abraham and not let them grow together under the one roof? Looking back at the history, we find that the Christ-taught “True Monotheism” took a 180 degree turn, during the fourth century. The “Distorted Monotheism” was firmly established by a Royal Decree by the Roman Emperors. The "Creed of Nicaea" introduced the Doctrine of Homoousious. The co-equality, co-eternity and consubstantiality of Jesus with his Father became the Creed of Christianity by the Sword of a Pagan Emperor Constantine and his successors. Later on, the Doctrine of Trinity became the irreversible Doctrine of Christian Faith. It then became necessary to teach all over again the noble principle established by the patriarch Abraham, through a Messenger from among the descendants of this separated and safe-guarded branch, that had not been influenced by the Vicars of Christ - principally the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. Professor Jacob M. Myers, a contributor to Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, writes in his book, Invitation to The Old Testament, Doubleday & Co. Inc., New York (1966), pg. 26:
GOD REVEALED HIS MASTER PLAN TO ISAIAH When the prophecies made by the prophet Isaiah are recorded in the New Testament by the Gospel writers, as being fulfilled in Christ, the skeptics have questioned: Were the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled by history, or was the history of Christ written to fulfill the prophecies? That question does not arise in the case of various prophecies that speak of the coming Prophet Muhammad in Arabia. In the Bible there is only one character that is named Kedar, the son of Ishmael. The Land where Kedarites had settled is called Arabia. In Isaiah chapter 42, the first seven verses prophecy the coming of Jesus. The prophecy for the coming of a new prophet in Arabia with a new scripture, begins with verse number eight. The text reads:
"They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images; they say to the molten images, `Ye are our gods.'" Isaiah 42 : 17.
PROPHET MUHAMMAD, A MERCY FOR ALL CREATURES Anyone who has read the Message of the Qur'an can tell you, it is a blessing for anyone and everyone that reads and understands it. The people who have joined Islam would not have, were it not for the Qur'an, revealed to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Unfortunately, the original Message of Jesus Christ has been overshadowed by the teachings of those who claimed a direct designation from Jesus himself or, centuries later became the Vicars of Jesus. Al-Hamdullilah (praise be to Allah), no one has attempted to override or preclude the Message of the Qur'an. The Message of this Final Testament -the Qur'an- is eternal. One Christian scholar, after reading this article wrote to me; "...the Muslim faith is a continuation of Christianity - or perhaps a different interpretation of the will of God revealed to the Prophet and suited to the people and conditions of Western Arabia at the time." To this I would say: the true Disciples of Jesus were Muslims. The Holy Qur'an confirms that these Disciples were the Believers in Allah. To Allah ("The Only True God" of John 17:3), they bowed and to Him did they bear witness that they were Muslims. (see Qur'an 3:52 and 5:111{5:114}). A Muslim is one who submits to the Will of Allah. (Qur'an 12:101). REASONS WHY CHRISTIANITY IS PLUMMETING One bright and sunny Sunday morning I stationed
myself under the shade of a tree, on a path leading from a car park to
a church. It was a recently renovated, very modern-looking Protestant Church
in Burnaby, B.C., Canada, with a sizable attendance. My object was to conduct
a survey and obtain answers from the churchgoers personally. I had a short
questionnaire in my hand with a few simple questions. The answers to these
questions would tell me what are the beliefs of the churchgoers today,
about their "Lord", Jesus. Here is what I found. To my questions: Was Jesus
the beloved Son of God? The Son of Virgin Mary? The Prophesied Messiah?
The God's Christ? The Saviour? An Intercessor between Man and God?, almost
every one quickly concurred and said He was. To my questions: Was Jesus,
God the Son? God the Incarnate? Son of Man? The Second Person of the Trinity?
The Prophet of God? The Holy Servant of God?, people took time to answer.
Many said: Yes, he was. Some said; No, he was not, some were not sure.
There were only a few who said: Yes, to each and every question.
The point I am making is, there are several verses in the Bible which directly and explicitly deny the "co-equality" and "co-eternity" of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The defenses that are put forward by the clergy and the scholars sound hollow to open-minded Christians, who desire to question the validity of the Doctrine of Trinity. The Doctrine as taught by the Church has no endorsement in the Bible. On the other hand, the Doctrine of Unity has far more support in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Majority of these confused Christians begin with the changing of churches, jumping from one denomination to another and finally venture to look outside of their realm. They find the concept of Muslims for their prophet Muhammad to be uniform. He was a messenger of God, and a servant of God. He never claimed to be a "Saviour" or the propitiation for mankind's inherited or committed sins. Man is not born with an inherited sin committed by Adam or Eve. Every one is personally answerable for one's deeds. After reading the Qur'an they find Islam's concept of Allah (lit. "the God") to be much simpler and lucid. There is no god but Allah. He has no associate or partner. He is eternally Self-sufficient and Supreme. The recently conducted professional surveys in the West indicate: Christianity plummeting at an alarming rate and Islam the fastest growing religion. It is suggested that by the turn of this century the number of practicing Muslims will surpass that of the practicing Christians. The Scriptures say; "My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth." Qur'an 21:105 and Psalms 37:29. After reading the biblical prophecies, these bewildered Christians discover that Jesus Christ did speak of the coming of another "male" salvific figure like "himself". Jesus admitted: he was a Prophet like Moses (John 5:46). Apostle John acknowledged: Jesus was a Paraclete {Comforter, Advocate} (1 John 2:1). Concerning the coming of "another Paraclete", after the departure of Jesus and "into the age", apostle John writes: he (Paraclete - the Spirit of Truth) shall glorify Jesus, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:13/14) Please note, the pronoun repeatedly used by the author is "he" and not "it". The entity called "Spirit of Truth" which takes the pronoun "he" was with the passing of the time confused with the "Holy Spirit" which takes the pronoun "it". To read further please click;
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