Sunday, May 29, 2016

Jesus - among those near God

In response to a question about evidence regarding Jesus' death in the Quran: 

Based on what I've understood of the Quran, I believe that Jesus [Essa Ibn e Mariam] was raised alive and brought near to Allah. 

Surah Al-Waqiah mentions three categories of people, among which the foremost in faith will be those brought near [أُولَٰئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ]. Interestingly, in the Quran, the only human being mentioned by name as among those brought near is Jesus:
إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ
When said the Angels, "O Maryam! Indeed, Allah gives you glad tidings of a word from Him, his name (is) the Messiah, Isa, son (of) Maryam, honored in the world and (in) the Hereafter, and of those brought near (to Allah).

In Surah Nisa, the angels and Jesus are mentioned as those worshipping Allah: 
لَّن يَسْتَنكِفَ الْمَسِيحُ أَن يَكُونَ عَبْدًا لِّلَّهِ وَلَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ وَمَن يَسْتَنكِفْ عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِ وَيَسْتَكْبِرْ فَسَيَحْشُرُهُمْ إِلَيْهِ جَمِيعًا
[Literal (word-by-word)] Never will disdain the Messiah to be a slave of Allah and not the Angels, the ones who are near (to Allah). And whoever disdains from His worship and is arrogant then He will gather them towards Him all together.
[Shakir] The Messiah does by no means disdain that he should be a servant of Allah, nor do the angels who are near to Him, and whoever disdains His service and is proud, He will gather them all together to Himself. 
[Yusuf Ali] Christ disdaineth nor to serve and worship God, nor do the angels, those nearest (to God): those who disdain His worship and are arrogant,-He will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer).

Interestingly, in Arabic grammar, present and future tense are both represented by the same verb. And so, the above verse can be understood as either in the present tense or the future tense. I understand it in the present tense.  

Word by word grammatical analysis: http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=4&verse=172 

The Living Matrix

Explaining the concept of the Living Matrix and why Creation must not be tinkered with, in response to an objection to concepts used to understand Virgin Birth and a related discussion about the return of Jesus:
SA wrote: Adam elahy salaam and his wife were born without any living matrix or water memory. Would you make them come back twice then? 
alQuraan does not mention any return of anyone at all. Death is a point of no return and nobody can evade it. Stop wasting time in mythology and start following alQuraan.


My response: 
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Do not see those who disbelieved that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We parted them and We made from [the] water every living thing? Then will not they believe?

All living things are made from water. Every living thing is a living matrix! To get an idea of the living matrix concept, please search online or read page 8 onwards of this rather simple article:  http://www.energeticfitness.com/Support%20Files/Some%20Biophysical%20Bases%20for%20the%20Human%20Energy%20System.pdf 

It is important to realise the wondrous nature of creation and to understand that tinkering with the software of creation can only corrupt it. We are in an age where advances in genetic engineering are bringing us a variety of treatment options. It is one thing to interact with the software as an end-user, like you use your computer, and its entirely another thing to make changes in the source code. Changes in the source code can either improve it or corrupt it. As Allah has created the software of life, any changes in the source code can only corrupt it! Hence the directive in Q30:30 and again in Q30:43 
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
So set your face to the religion upright. Nature (made by) Allah (upon) which He has created mankind [on it]. No change (should there be) in the creation (of) Allah. That (is) the religion the correct, but most men (do) not know.

فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ الْقَيِّمِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لَّا مَرَدَّ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصَّدَّعُونَ
So set your face to the religion right, before [that] comes a Day not (can be) averted [it] from Allah. That Day, they will be divided.

The Quran is a living document, seriously relevant to our time! We need to heed to the guidance lest we inflict 'zulm' upon ourselves. The narrations of warnings given to people long ago are relevant to us again. We need to understand each and every warning, so that we are guided aright! 

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Second Coming of Jesus

IS wrote: ... many a Muslims believe that hazrat Eisa ,asw, will come in the ummat of prophet Muhammad, pbuh, as a prophet and sahih Muslims declares him as the nabiullah in his second coming, but Quran declares him as the prophet unto Bani Israel. So in these cases quran has to be taken as correct and ahadeeth needs to be interpreted according to the Quranic teachings or rejected.

My Response: At least two verses of the Quran indicate the second coming of Jesus: 
In Surah Zukhruf verse 59 states: 
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا عَبْدٌ أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلْنَاهُ مَثَلًا لِّبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ
Not he (was) except a slave, We bestowed Our favor on him and We made him an example for (the) Children of Israel.

and verse 62 goes on to state: 
وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ فَلَا تَمْتَرُنَّ بِهَا وَاتَّبِعُونِ هَٰذَا صِرَاطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ
variously translated as: http://islamawakened.com/quran/43/61/

In Surah Nisaa, verses 157-159 state: 
وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا الْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا
بَل رَّفَعَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا
وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا
And for their saying, "Indeed, we killed the Messiah, Isa, son (of) Maryam, (the) Messenger (of) Allah." And not they killed him and not they crucified him but it was made to appear (so) to them. And indeed, those who differ in it (are) surely in doubt about it. Not for them about it [of] (any) knowledge except (the) following (of) assumption. And not they killed him, certainly. Nay, Allah raised him towards Him. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. And (there is) not from (the) People (of) the Book but surely he believes in him before his death. And (on the) Day (of) the Resurrection he will be against them a witness.


SA wrote: You have misundertsood these ayaatulQuraan and ignored clear ayaat against this Christian misbelief of the second coming of Esa elahy salaam and Jews misbelief of the second coming of the Messiah. Just because of the efforts of Bukahri and other liars. 

Before I show you other ayaatulQuraan against your misbelief, let me ask a question based on your quote
And (there is) not from (the) People (of) the Book but surely he believes in him before his death. unquote 
Can you please elaborate what do you intend from this. And where in those ayaat do you find the 'second coming:? 

My Response: 
لِّكُلِّ نَبَإٍ مُّسْتَقَرٌّ وَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ
For every news (is) a fixed time, and soon you will know.

As I continue to study the Mission of the Messengers mentioned in the Quran, World History according to the Quran and its Future Implications, I'm getting more and more convinced that the Quran is pointing to a major battle in the Middle East (Q6:92, Q28:59, Q42:7, Q48:16) between the believers and the followers of baatil after the appearance of the Creature from the Earth (Q27:82). I take People of the Book in that future context to include all believers including the ummat of Prophet Mohammad. Hence I take 43:62 to indicate Jesus' return before the Hour. 

Q3:33 lists in sequence the chosen ones, and informs us that Allah has chosen the Family of Imran. Mohammad was from the lineage of Abraham, and Jesus is the maternal grandson of Imran, and of Imran's lineage due to Jesus not having a father.    

Quran 4:157 is quite clear that they neither killed nor crucified Jesus. 

As far as hadith and other sources are concerned, I have not studied them. Being a born Muslim, I have heard of these expectations of 'end-of-time' events since childhood. However, only recently, after I've begin to understand some of the messages of the Quran, I'm getting more and more convinced that the expected future battle between good and evil is going to take place, and eventually the believers will emerge victorious, and evil will finally be contained permanently!  

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَىٰ بِآيَاتِنَا أَنْ أَخْرِجْ قَوْمَكَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَذَكِّرْهُم بِأَيَّامِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ
 And verily We sent Musa with Our Signs, that "Bring out your people from the darkness[es] to the light. And remind them of the days (of) Allah." Indeed, in that surely (are) the signs for everyone patient and thankful.

Which verse of the Quran clearly states that Jesus will not return? 

SA responded: You have spun quite a web in your mind and thoughts. May ALLAH save you from yourself. Qayamat is described as an uncalculateable and a sudden event. Yes, the appearance of the talking creature to happen before it but are we sure that it is not happening as we are writing or reading these lines? What if Qayamat occurs before I get to finsih this message? Is it a possibility or not? 43:63, not 62, does not indicate the return of Esa elahy salaam. Have a look at 2:87 and 2:253.
Now for one second, let us presume that Esa elahy salaam comes back before Qayamat and do all that you guys want him to do for you. But when he comes back, will he not know what Christians are calling him and his mother? Will he not know that in the name of holy trinity they have declared them gods and God's child? Yes, he will learn all that happened after his ascension and that is clearly against alQuraan. See Suratul Maidah ayaat 116-119.
Wussalaam. 

My Response: 
وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ يُوسُفُ مِن قَبْلُ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَمَا زِلْتُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِّمَّا جَاءَكُم بِهِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا هَلَكَ قُلْتُمْ لَن يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ رَسُولًا كَذَٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُّرْتَابٌ
And indeed, came to you Yusuf before with clear proofs, but not you ceased in doubt about what he brought to you [with it], until when he died, you said, "Never will Allah raise after him a Messenger." Thus, Allah lets go astray who [he] (is) a transgressor, a doubter."

وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ
And verily, We have written in the Scripture after the mention, that the earth - will inherit it My slaves, the righteous.

Please consider the above verses also. 

Q43:61 is the number of the verse I cited, and not 62. Thanks for pointing out the mistake.