The Religion of Jesus

[alisalaah]

The Religion of Jesus
by: Ali Salaah

Trinity?

Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", but the original text reads more accurately as "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations in my name"

John 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one", this verse is known as a historical fraud in Christian acadamia because it is not found in any manuscript before the 16th century.

Biblical Inerrancy?

This is a concept that states that even though NONE of the original manuscripts are still in existence or preserved in any way that every author, redactor and translator that Christians relied on was supported through the Holy Spirit and created completely error-free and infallable records.

This is contrary to logic and also contradicts the churches own admission of verses that can be considered historical fraud which shows that not only have some verses changed or been added even since the Nicene Creed but even more doubt is placed on what we have today versus the original manuscripts and even more doubt to go back to anything close to authenticated sayings and teachings of Jesus himself.

Translation Problems

There is a well known debate between translating the original scriptures between languages. Jesus spoke Aramaic. Many original scriptures were in Hebrew, translated to Greek and many times copied or translated between those states. It is well known and taught in Christian Universities that we do not maintain any of these core original manuscripts but only early copies or translations of them.

Many debates have been raised about the effect of mistranslation on understanding of core concepts of Christianity. This is further made worse because Christian creed was decided 4 centuries after Jesus, and well after the disciples and original documentation was fully available. This makes it easy to see how misconceptions would become official doctrine and orthodox belief in Christianity.

Athanasius vs. Arius

You would expect that a message meant to guide all of humanity would be pure and preserved from Jesus and his disciples. The logical progression for this would be that Christianity would be most pure in it's beginnings and then sects would arise that would break from Orthodoxy. But we see that Christianity and it's creeds were not "standardized" and rooted until the 4th century.

Among the most prominent disputes in the church were between Athanasius and Arius (who because of losing this debate it is now known as the Arian Heresy). Word of the dispute made it to the newly converted Emperor Constantine the Great, who was more concerned with seeing church unity than theological truth. "Division in the church," he told the bishops, "is worse than war." To settle the matter, he called a council of bishops.

Of the 1,800 bishops invited to Nicea (325 AD), about 300 came—and argued, fought, and eventually fleshed out an early version of the Nicene Creed. The council, led by Alexander, condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled him, and made it a capital offense to possess his writings. Constantine was pleased that peace had been restored to the church. Athanasius, whose treatise On the Incarnation laid the foundation for the orthodox party at Nicea, was hailed as "the noble champion of Christ." The diminutive bishop was simply pleased that Arianism had been defeated. But it hadn't. There were a total of 21 similar councils to establish what is now the Catholic Church and the belief of Arius were acceptable until after 381, and practiced well after that as well.

Other "Heresies" in ancient Christianity

It is noteworthy that during this time there was also a hugely validated claim similar to Arianism that noted Jesus was a Prophet, though the "Son of God" through his miraculous virgin birth. There still exists in Christianity a sect called Unitarianism which holds close to this. In early church history this belief was wide spread and had roots and chains leading back to the first Christians. This creed was not chosen by Constantine and the council but it is worth noting that Constantine was an ex-pagan (many historians denote him as a pagan, and say establishing Christianity was simply to unify his land under a state sponsored religion due to the spread of Christianity) and the ruler immediately after him (Julius the Apostate) was pagan and there are recorded influences of paganism on the chosen "Orthodox" belief that was chosen after 325 AD.

The vast majority of those who believed that Jesus was a Prophet converted to Islam when it spread as Islam's teachings were in perfect harmony with what they believed and they even had verses predicting the coming of another prophet. It is also worth noting that many of the Jews in Medina converted when Muhammad had arrived while others denied him due to not being of Jewish lineage. Both Christians and Jews of the time were able to recognize Muhammad due to predictions and prophecies of him in their texts.

Christian Priest who accept Muhammad

There is a famous story of a Persian named Salman al-Farsi who converted to Christianity and then devoted his life to studying religion. This is a very summarized version of it but you can find it in full online. He studied under many monks, where he would study with one until that monks death and then take recommendation for the most knowledgable monk after that one to travel and devote studying with. The final monk he studied with informed him that he did not know of anyone else to study with that was upon the truth but that from the scriptures there is a prophet that should appear in the land of Arabia and he described to him the description from the scriptures. Salman al-Farsi travelled and when he arrived in Medina he recognized that this was the city described to him from the monk and the scriptures. Salman lived there until the day that Muhammad arrived and upon arriving Salman tested Muhammad with tests which were also taught from the scriptures and then embraced Islam and accepted Muhammad as the prophet after Jesus.

There was also a Jew at the time in Medina who was known as the greatest scholars of the Jews, Abdullah ibn Salam, who also embraced Islam and confirmed that Muhammad was the prophet foretold in the scriptures. And beyond these there was a scholar in Mecca named Wariqa, who also accepted Muhammad after the first revelations came confirming what was in the previous scriptures.

Belief of Muslims

Muslims believe in pure monothiesm of God (The Creator) being completely separate from the created. The prophets were all sent to guide their people to the correct worship of God after they had went astray in the time or generations between one prophet and the next. For this reason the religion has always been one message, all prophets and all believers have been Muslim from Adam to us today. This single message and single religion is the truth, and other religions are either deviations from this truth (partially man-made) or completely man-made and all false.

This also makes perfect historical sense when we see that Jesus came to preach to the Jews and correct them in terms of belief and in sins that had become common. Jesus himself was a Jew, did not eat pork and said he came to "confirm the law". All the prophets came to confirm the message of monotheism.

In Christianity there is a concept of the religion being fundamentally different fromNoah, Abraham or Moses compared to "post-Jesus" where you see a shift from worshipping God, repenting directly to God and sacrifices done to God. In Christianity this all changes because of the belief that Jesus was the lamb of God and the ultimate sacrfice which finally relieved everyone of all sins, no more need for you to repent for a sin.

In Islam, on the other hand, there is no difference between the message of Adam, Noah, etc. and that of Muhammad. You also see from the story of Salman al-Farsi that when the True message of Jesus was fading and after the establishment of a creed opposite to what Jesus taught (Nicene Creed 325-381) that Muhammad (b. 570) came exactly at a time that Salman and the scholar of Christianity he studied with said "There is no one left upon the truth to study with" so travel here to meet the prophet that will come, and he did.

This makes complete logical sense that the religion, like God himself, remains true and is timeless in it's truth. The past messages of the prophets, including Jesus', have also been lost but since Muhammad was chosen by God to be the final prophet until the final Hour we see that the Quran is word for word and letter for letter preserved exactly as it was said from the lips of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Not only this but the thousands of sayings and teachings of Muhammad have been authenticated and written down in a way more accurate than the criterea used for history books and we can read the words of Muhammad or the words of God (Quran) today as if they were revealed yesterday. Not only this but even the conversion story of Salman al-Farsi is infinitely more authentically transmitted to us than any verse of the Bible, and can be read in the same language and words that he spoke them in.

This is the promise from God to allow guidance for all nations, through sending prophets and then choosing at a time where man was able to record and preserve the message to send the final prophet.

[alisalaah]

This was something I hoped would benefit others. Many people ask me about how I became Muslim (I was a practicing Christian before) and researching the early Christian history and such had a lot to do with my conversion. I decided to write this to help in dawah as these are some of the points that affected me, most of all the loss of the original teachings of Isa (alaihi salaam) and the complete authenticity of the Quran and Sunnah.

I struggled to keep it brief, though there is always an explosion of more detail behind every point, and the more one would read (as I did) into all of the early Christian history the more evident things become. This is definitely something that could help some Christians to evaluate the truth. Remember that non guides except Allah so focus on keeping your intentions pure and always make dua' for those who you give dawah to, as this is the practice of Rasululllah (sallallahu alaihi wasalaam). And remember that the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasalaam) said that for someone to become Muslim through you is better than everything in the dunya.

As noted above the story of Salman al-Farsi is amazing, here are some links:

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/88651
http://www.islamiska.org/e/salman.htm

[alisalaah]

Many people ask about the "Seal of the Prophets" which was a birthmark between the Prophet's (sallallahu alaihi wasalaam) shoulders. This was something that was very specific that Salman (radiallahu anh) looked for on the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasalaam). I will paste this post from another forum:

__________________________________________________ _______________

Assalamu aleikum,

Some info regarding your question about the seal:

Muhammad, is known as "the Final Seal of the Prophets." (Surat al-Ahzab: 40) No prophet would be sent after him, and the Qur'an would be the last revelation to guide people onto the true way.

Allah manifested that unique feature of the Prophet (saas) with a mark on his body. In Islamic sources and oral accounts, that sign between the Prophet (saas)'s shoulder blades is known as "the seal of Prophethood."

It is reported by Wahb bin Munebbih (ra) that the other prophets also had similar marks, but that that of the Prophet (saas) was different: "Allah never sent down a prophet who did not have the sign of prophethood on his right hand. The Prophet Muhammad (saas) was the only exception to this. His sign of prophethood was (not on his right hand) but between his shoulder blades. When asked about it, the Prophet said, 'This mark between my shoulder blades is like the marks on the prophets before me' …"78

Jaabir bin Samurah (ra) relates that: "I saw the Seal of Prophethood of Rasullullah (saas) between his two shoulders, the size of which was like that of a pigeon's egg."79 Ibrahim bin Muhammad (ra), one of the grandchildren of Ali (ra), reports: "Whenever Ali (ra) described the nobel features of Rasulullah (saas), he used to say: 'The seal of Prophethood was situated between his shoulders. He was a last of all prophets'."80 Abu Nadrah (ra) says: "I asked Abu Sa'eed Khudari (ra) about the Seal of Prophethood of Rasulullah (saas) He said: 'It was a piece of raised flesh that was on Rasulullah (saas)'s back'."81 "The place between his shoulders were wide and therein there was impression or seal of Prophethood inclined a little towards the right shoulder."82 Another report comes from Assib bin Yazid (ra): "I saw the seal in between his shoulders."83

http://www.mercyprophet.org/mul/node/1272

Also, some hadith references:

Sahih al-Bukhari

Narrated As Saib bin Yazid
My aunt took me to the Prophet and said, "O Allah’s Apostle! This son of my sister has got a disease in his legs." So he passed his hands on my head and prayed for Allah's blessings for me; then he performed ablution and I drank from the remaining water. I stood behind him and saw the seal of Prophethood between his shoulders, and it was like the "Zir-al-Hijla" (means the button of a small tent, but some said 'egg of a partridge.' etc.) (Volume 1, Book 4, Number 189)

Narrated As Saib
My aunt took me to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! My nephew is ill." The Prophet touched my head with his hand and invoked Allah to bless me. He then performed ablution and I drank of the remaining water of his ablution and then stood behind his back and saw "Khatam An-Nubuwwa" (The Seal of Prophethood) between his shoulders like a button of a tent. (Volume 7, Book 70, Number 574)

Sahih Muslim

Jabir b. Samura reported: I saw the seal on his back as if it were a pigeon's egg. (Book 030, Number 5790)

Abdullah b. Sarjis reported: I saw Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and ate with him bread and meat, or he said Tharid (bread soaked in soup). I said to him: Did Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) seek forgiveness for you? He said: Yes, and for you, and he then recited this verse: "Ask forgiveness for thy sin and for the believing men and believing women" (xlvii. 19). I then went after him and saw the Seal of Prophethood between his shoulders on the left side of his shoulder having spots on it like moles. (Book 030, Number 5793)