a.
"A FALSE MAN FOUND A RELIGION? WHY, A FALSE MAN CANNOT BUILD A
BRICK HOUSE! IF HEDOES NOT KNOW AND FOLLOW TRULY
THE PROPERTIES OF MORTAR, BURNT CLAY AND WHATELSE HE WORKS IN, IT IS NO HOUSE
THAT HE MAKES, BUT A RUBBISH HEAP. IT WILL NOT STAND
FOR
TWELVE CENTURIES,[Now, fourteen centuries] TO LODGE A HUNDRED-AND
EIGHTY MILLIONS;[Athousand million today.] IT WILL
FALL STRAIGHTAWAY . SPECIOSITIES ARE SPECIOUS[Specious:Having the ring of truth or
plausibility but actually false.]. . . IT IS LIKE A FORGED BANK
NOTE; THEY GETIT
PASSED OUT OF THEIR WORTHLESS HANDS: OTHERS, NOT THEY, HAVE TO SMART
FOR IT.NATURE
BURSTS-UP IN FIRE-FLAMES, FRENCH REVOLUTIONS AND SUCH-LIKE,
PROCLAIMINGWITH
THE TERRIBLE VERACITY THAT FORGED NOTES ARE FORGED." Heros and
Hero-Worship ), p.58
b."IT
GOES GREATLY AGAINST THE IMPOSTER THEORY, THE FACT THAT HE LIVED IN
THISENTIRELY
UNEXCEPTIONABLE, ENTIRELY QUIET AND COMMON PLACE WAY, TILL THE HEAT
OF HISYEARS
WAS DONE. HE WAS FORTY BEFORE HE TALKED OF ANY MISSION FROM HEAVEN .
. ALLHIS
'AMBITION,' SEEMINGLY, HAD BEEN, HITHERTO, TO LIVE AN HONEST LIFE;
HIS 'FAME,' THEMERE
GOOD OPINION OF NEIGHBOURS THAT KNEW HIM..." Heros and
Hero-Worship, p. 70
"AMBITION?
WHAT COULD ALL ARABIA DO FOR THIS MAN; WITH THE CROWN OF GREEKHERACLIUS, OF PERSIAN CHOSROES,
AND ALL THE CROWNS IN EARTH; - WHAT COULD THEY ALLDO FOR HIM? IT WAS NOT OF THE
HEAVEN ABOVE AND OF THE HELL BENEATH. ALL CROWNS ANDSOVEREIGNTIES WHAT- SOEVER, WHERE
WOULD THEY IN A FEW BRIEF YEARS BE? TO BE SHEIK OF MAKKAH OR ARABIA,
AND HAVE A BIT OF GILT WOOD PUT INTO YOUR HAND, - - - WILL THAT BEONES SALVATION? I DECIDEDLY
THINK, NOT, WE WILL LEAVE IT ALTOGETHER, THIS IMPOSTERHYPOTHESIS, AS NOT CREDIT- ABLE:
NOT VERY TOLERABLE EVEN, WORTHY CHIEFLY OFDISMISSAL BY US." Heros and
Hero-Worship, p. 72/3
One
may ask, if both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus (pbuh), where
exactly is the parting of ways? The major difference between Islam and
Christianity is the Christians’ insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ
(pbuh).
A study of the Christian scriptures reveals that Jesus (pbuh) never
claimed divinity. In fact there is not a single unequivocal statement in the
entire Bible where Jesus (pbuh) himself says, "I am God" or where he
says, "worship me". In fact the Bible contains statements attributed
to Jesus (pbuh) in which he preached quite the contrary. The following
statements in the Bible are attributed to Jesus Christ (pbuh):
(i)
"My Father is greater than I."
[The Bible, John 14:28]
(ii) "My Father is greater than all."
[The Bible, John 10:29]
(iii) "…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…."
[The Bible, Mathew 12:28]
(iv) "…I with the finger of God cast out devils…."
[The Bible, Luke 11:20]
(v) "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father
which hath sent me."
[The Bible, John 5:30]
2. The Mission of
Jesus Christ (pbuh) – to Fulfill the Law
Jesus
(pbuh) never claimed divinity for himself. He clearly announced the nature of
his mission. Jesus (pbuh) was sent by God to confirm the previous Judaic law.
This is clearly evident in the following statements attributed to Jesus (pbuh)
in the Gospel of Mathew:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle 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."
[The Bible, Mathew 5:17-20]
3.
God Sent Jesus' (pbuh)
The Bible mentions the prophetic nature of Jesus (pbuh) mission in the
following verses:
(i)"… and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent
me."
[The Bible, John 14:24]
(ii)"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent."
[The Bible, John 17:3]
4. Jesus Refuted
even the Remotest Suggestion of his Divinity
Consider the following incident mentioned in the Bible:
"And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing
shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’
And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one,
that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ "
[The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17]
Jesus
(pbuh) did not say that to have the eternal life of paradise, man should
believe in him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that Jesus
(pbuh) would die for his sins. On the contrary he said that the path to
salvation was through keeping the commandments. It is indeed striking to note
the difference between the words of Jesus Christ (pbuh) and the Christian dogma
of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus (pbuh).
5.
Jesus (pbuh) of Nazareth – a Man Approved of God
The following statement from the Bible supports the Islamic belief that Jesus
(pbuh) was a prophet of God:
"Ye
men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of
you, as ye yourselves also know."
[The
Bible, Acts 2:22]
6. The First
Commandment is that God is One
The
Bible does not support the Christian belief in trinity at all. One of the
scribes once asked Jesus (pbuh) as to which was the first commandment of all,
to which Jesus (pbuh) merely repeated what Moses (pbuh) had said
earlier:
"Shama
Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adonai Ikhad."
This is a Hebrew quotation, which means:
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord."
[The Bible, Mark 12:29]
It
is striking that the basic teachings of the Church such as Trinity and
vicarious atonement find no mention in the Bible. In fact, various verses of
the Bible point to Jesus’ (pbuh) actual mission, which was to fulfill the law
revealed to Prophet Moses (pbuh). Indeed Jesus (pbuh) rejected any suggestions
that attributed divinity to him, and explained his miracles as the power of the
One True God.
Jesus
(pbuh) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all earlier
prophets of Almighty God.
NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version.
III) Concept of God
in Old Testament:
1.
God is One
The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from
Moses (pbuh):
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad".
It is a Hebrew quotation which means: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
[The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]
2. Unity of
God in the Book of Isaiah
The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:
(i) "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]
(ii) "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]
(iii) "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like
me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]
3. Old Testament
condemns idol worship
(i) Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
anything 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."
[The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]
(ii) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy:
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
beneath the earth."
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God."
Dr. Mir Valiuddin was
Professor of Philosophy at Osmania University, Hyderabad (India). He has
identified the year 822 C. E. on the authority of Imam Qushayri. Cf.,
Valiuddin, Dr. Mir., Qur’anic Sufism (Lahore: Sh.Muhammad Ashraf, nd) p. 3.
Schimmel, Annemarie., Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1975) p.14 & Stoddart, William., (Sidi Imran
Yahya) Sufism: The Mystical Doctrines
and Methods of Islam (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1981) p. 20.
English translation of these
verses is by the poet himself. Cf., Iqbal, Dr. Muhammad., “MacTaggart’s
Philosophy” in Indian
Art and Letters, 6, 1932. Included in Thoughts and Reflections of Iqbal, edited by Syed Abdul Vahid.
(Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1964) p. 127
Chishti, Prof. Yusuf Saleem.,
“Qur’an-e-Hakeem say Bu‘d aur Begangi kay Asbab,” in Hikmat-e-Qur’an, September, 1994. p.7
Tasawwuf
The question of the legitimacy of
what has come to be known among the Muslims as tasawwuf (or mysticism) is often
passionately debated among its proponents and opponents. When we look at the
subject of tasawwuf and its objectives, it becomes plainly evident that these are completely
in keeping with Islamic teachings. The subject of tasawwuf and its goals can be summarized as
follows:
Salvation from ignorance and attainment of gnosis (Ma‘arfah);
Refinement and purification of the self (Tazkiyah Al-Nafs);
Cleansing of the spiritual heart (Tasfiyah Al-Qalb) and the enlightenment of the
soul (Tajliyah Al-Ruh);
Sincerity and devotion to the Creator (Ikhlas) and detachment from material
and worldly concerns (Zuhd); and
Commitment to the service of all the creatures of
God.
This last point has been
beautifully summed up in a couplet by Shaikh Sa‘di:
The essence of tariqah is not to be found,
In the rosary, or the prayer rug, or the Sufi cloak.
It is the service to God’s creatures in which,
You will find its true meaning manifest.
It is patently clear that these
objectives of tasawwuf are also the objectives of Islam. Consequently, as far as the
subject and goals of tasawwuf are concerned, they cannot be separated from the objectives and
goals of Islam.
