Here’s a big difference between Islam & Christianity.
Muslims say, “I will perform all the rituals perfectly, do all the good deeds I can, so that I can get into heaven.”
Christians say, “All my best deeds cannot earn me heaven because even my best deeds are not good enough. Only God’s deed can give me heaven.”
The Bible says no one can get to heaven by their own deeds. Only God can save us and give us heaven. All so-called human good deeds are like filthy rags to a holy and perfect God. God has already revealed to us THE WAY to Him. Anyone who accepts THE WAY, has accepted the promise of a home in heaven.
Muslims, you have a big problem. You will never know how many good deeds is enough. You will never know if your good deeds are accepted by your god or will he throw you into hell at the last minute? Actually, do you realize, you are doing all your good deeds for YOURSELF? You are doing it only to get the reward of heaven. Don’t you see that even your good deeds are done out of selfishness, which is a sin! How can a good and holy and just God accept such corrupted and tainted good deeds?
Christians who have accepted THE WAY have the promised inheritance of heaven. True followers of THE WAY do not need to bribe or buy their way into heaven by good deeds.
On the other hand, as heirs of heaven, true Christians are now free to do good deeds, not out of selfish motives to gain a place in heaven like muslims but out of gratitude to God, who loves us and has given us a place in heaven with Him. And Christians are able to do good deeds in sincerity and in love to reflect God’s love for the world.
What is THE WAY that God has prepared?
Jesus said: “I AM The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except though Me.” John 14:6
Jesus said: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” John 10:9
How To Invent A New Religion (and get 1.5 billion likes!)
First thing I need to do is to create a god.
He cannot be too complex to understand or explain. He should be reasonably simple within what a human mind can grasp. Otherwise, no one would believe what I say!
To avoid complications, I will just say that god cannot be known. I will use vague terms like merciful and compassionate to describe him, like the other religions.
I need to come up with some kind of encounter where god chooses me as his messenger. It has to be an ancounter that is impossible to have any witnesses. HAs to be some where remote. I know! I will say that I was in a cave…No. I need to make it appear more spiritual….I was MEDITATING in a cave and then god appeared to me. No,No, I cant say that. People will then ask me how did god look like and I would not be able to answer. Ah! I’ll just say an ANGEL appeared to me.
I need to add some drama to make it seem like I was the reluctant one, lest people say I made all this up since there are no witnesses. I’ll say the angel strangled me, forcing me to submit as the chosen one of god. I had no choice but to be the ultimate messenger of this god.
So far so good.
Then, I need to think about my target audience. Simple-minded, uneducated, poor, hungry, sex-starved peasants. I can easily make them my followers by promising them what they dont have.
For starters, as many wives as they want to have sex with! No, wait…there might not be enough women to go around , especially for me. I will limit them to, say, 4 wives. No limit for me though. I can have as many as I want. If anyone asks, I’ll just say god permits me but not you. I’m feeling generous though, so I’ll give them all the sex slaves their hand can possess.
If there is any discontent, I’ll tell them not to worry because in paradise they will have plenty more virgins waiting for them to enjoy. Here’s a nice random number, 72. They also get to eat all the food they want there. What the heck, I’ll even throw in a river of wine for their pleasure!
Now I have to keep them dumbed down. I cannot have intelligent or educated folks starting to ask questions which I cannot answer. I will employ a two-prong strategy. One to say, that “Sorry, the verse you question has been abrogated.” If they persist, I’ll throw this at them, “O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you.”
That should shut them up. Or else it is hell fire for the lot of them!
Next, I need to get some kind of a book written and say it is the word of god. I’m not creative enough to write stories so I’ll just borrow whatever I can recall from the Bible. In case the Christians and Jews get offended, I will placate them by saying, “Your books were sent as a revelation and as a light and my book only confirms your books.”
I may not remember all the history or chronology or names or events like in the Bible. So I’ll just mix them up in whatever random disjointed disconnected order and throw in some legends and myths. I guess none of my stories would be complete but that won’t matter. They’ll be too confused anyway. I’ll tell them, just recite it. You don’t have to read and study or understand it. Just memorize and recite it over and over and over.
I must keep it in one language though so that only my own uneducated people will recite it. If others seek to try and understand it, we will say, “No, you should only read it in my language. And you cannot understand or interpret it on your own. You need an imam or mullah to do that for you.”
Finally I will need to get some kind of slogan going. Again, I’m not smart enough to create one so I’ll just plagiarize the old saying of the Sabians, “there is no god but him.” Except that I’ll also add my own name into it! Genius!
Finally, I need a name for my new religion.
Since, my goal is to get everyone to submit to this “god”, and by that, of course, I mean I want them all to submit to me and everything I say.
Does Allah have the power to come to earth in the form of a human being?
Of course! He can do anything, can’t he?
I know Allah is too lofty for this and will not associate himself with weak human beings.
But I’m sure Allah has the capability to turn the invisible (himself) into visible and step into his own creation as a man. (just like the Christian’s God can.) I wonder what Allah would say or do if he comes as a man to earth?
I’m sure all muslims will agree that the first thing he MUST do is go around telling everyone, “I am Allah swt. Worship me!. Worship me!” Isn’t that right, muslims?
Since this is an unequivocal statement, all muslims will believe and accept his words.
There is no need for any miracles or signs or any other kind of evidence, because these signs mean nothing after all, since most of the prophets have already done miracles before.
Next, I think Allah would kill all the Jews in the world.
Oh, and he will also destroy all the pigs in the world.
Then, he will give Israel to the Palestinians.
And since America was an ally of Israel and the exporter of everything filthy (hollywood), he will wipe out America from the face of the earth.
What else do you think he would do?
Will he forgive sins on earth? Will he heal people who are sick and the demon-possessed? Will he speak about love?
Well, I know he will be merciful and compassionate to believers, the muslims, but he will strike terror in the hearts of unbelievers.
The first to experience this will probably be the atheists because they refused to believe in him; then the polytheists, like the Hindus and other religions. They will all be killed.
As for the Christians, since the quran says they are the closest to the believers but that they have gone astray, I guess Allah will require that all Christians submit to him. Those who refuse will become slaves or be beheaded or crucified.
What else do you think Allah would do on earth?
Yes, that’s right. He will not beget. To beget, Allah would need a consort. Since Allah does not have a consort, he cannot beget. If he had a consort, he can beget.
When he speaks, his words will be incoherent, disconnected, disjointed and every fifth or sixth sentence will not make sense. He will start to tell a story but will not finish it. Or he will describe the ending of a story but leave out the beginning. He will also have a tendency to keep repeating the things he has said over and over again.
Christians who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior believe that they are sons* of God the Father.
*(the meaning of ‘sons’ include both sons and daughters).
A slave has no personal relationship with his master. A son enjoys a precious personal relationship with his father.
“To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
A master uses his slaves. A father nurtures his sons.
“A slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.” (John 8:35)
A slave serves his master with the motive of receiving a reward. A son serves his father in gratitude because he already has the promise of the reward of inheritance.
A slave cannot inherit the kingdom of God. A son is the heir of the kingdom of God.
“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory…” (Romans 8:17)
Muslims worship Allah out of FEAR of being thrown into hellfire Christians worship the Father out of LOVE because they are accepted in His presence
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)
Muslims pray and recite the Quran to gain more merit points from Allah to avoid hellfire Christians pray and read the Bible to grow in intimacy and relationship with God.
Muslims fast because it is mandatory to fast in Ramadhan Christians fast voluntarily to spend time in devotion to God.
Muslims do good deeds to try and outweigh their bad deeds. Christians do good deeds to honor the Father’s name.
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Muslims do not know if they will be accepted by Allah. Christians know they have been accepted by the Father though Jesus Christ.
“For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
You cannot buy your way into heaven.
You cannot bribe your way into heaven.
You cannot work your way into heaven.
You cannot earn your way into heaven.
You cannot lie your way into heaven.
You cannot pay your way into heaven.
The payment has already been made on your behalf.
Whether you accept this payment or not, is your choice and your decision will determine your eternal destiny.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Jesus said: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
“Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.” Galatians 4:7
Muslims believe that the Quran is unchanged and there are no variants in their scripture. We are told that all Muslims all over the world use the one and the same Quran.
Is this true?
Walk into your local Islamic bookshop and ask what versions of the Quran they sell.
This online books store, has 13 versions of the Quran in Arabic.
This bookshop in Jordan has over 20 Arabic versions of the Quran for sale.
Muslims say these are not different versions. We need to know there are 7 ahrufs, and qira’at, different ways of reciting. There are very minor differences, mainly vocal variations; slight differences in the way the verses are recited.
Some of these are Qalun, Al-Duri, Khalaf, etc. The two most widely used versions in existence today are the Hafs and Warsh versions.
What version do you use? Is yours a Hafs or Warsh version?
Here’s how you can tell…
Look at the first verse of Sura al-Fatihah. If there is a number “1” after the ‘Bismillah’ verse, then you have the Hafs version. If not, you have the Warsh version. Also, if you’re in Saudi Arabia, you’re using the Hafs. If you live in Morocco, you’re using the Warsh.
Do all these versions use the same Arabic words and text and carry the same meanings?
Here are a some examples of text variants that can be found in the different Arabic versions that show that the Quranic text and meaning itself has been altered! You look at these and judge for yourselves.
Hafs vs AlSusi – Different Pronouns Used!
Grammatical Error in Hafs! Not in Ruh!
Hafs vs alDuri: Different Words Used!
Hafs vs Warsh: Different Sentence Structure!
Hafs vs alBazzi: Different Verbs Used!
Hafs vs Warsh: Different Pronouns Used
Why are there numerous variances?
Compare Sura 2:125 in Hafs with the Warsh.
Hafs has this: وَاتَّخِذوْا “WatakhIzu” (You shall take) BUT in Warsh it is وَاتَّخَذوْا “WatakhAzu” (They have taken/made).
The Hafs version gives a command, while Warsh states a historical observation. Same verse but different words used and different meanings rendered. here are a few other differences found comparing Hafs and the Warsh.
Do you know how many verses are there in the Quran? You will find that number of verses in Hafs is 6236, while Warsh has only 6214 verses.
Which one is the right version? Which one did Muhammad recite? Which one matches the eternal preserved tablets that is with Allah?
Interesting fact: Did you know the the official version of the Quran was only finalized in 1924 in Cairo, Egypt? It was only authorized officially as recently as 1985, in Saudi Arabia. Why did it take 1300 years for the world to finalize and authorize the Quran, if there has always been just the one and the same Quran all ver the world? Now you know why.
Allah said that he will preserve his word (Sura 15:9). Did someone manage to change his words?
About 700 years BEFORE Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born, Isaiah the prophet, miraculously predicted this: “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
You can read it for yourself in Isaiah 7:14 (By the way, Immanuel is a prophetic title that reveals Jesus’ deeper purpose and mission.)
At no time in history past, since the world began, has a virgin given birth to a child nor is it humanly possible. Either Isaiah was a crazy liar or he was speaking the words of God. As it turned out, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. It is confirmed in the Gospels. In fact, Matthew quotes Isaiah’s prophecy WORD FOR WORD in Matthew 1:23 to make sure that no one gets it wrong or misses it.
The Quran which came 1400 years after Isaiah, and 600 years after Matthew, repeats what was prophesied and written more than a thousand years earlier in the Bible, about the virgin birth. God had already planned this birth thousands of years before it happened. The Bible reveals the prophecy as well as the fulfillment of the prophecy. And the purpose for it.
The Quran has a whole sura dedicated to Mariam but gives no reason for the purpose of the virgin birth. Mariam is said to be the sister of Harun and the daughter of Imran.
However, this raises some questions because according to Bible scholars, Mary’s father’s name is Heli (drawn from Luke’s genealogical record.) Mary has a sister (John 19:25) and a cousin, Elizabeth but there is no mention of any brother and her father’s name was definitely not Imran. There is no record anywhere for a thousand years to back up what the Quran claims in the 7th century AD.
So who is this Imran & Harun that the Quran claims are the father and brother of Mariam?
Muslims scholars have tried to explain it away for decades in claiming that Mary-Imran-Aaron was not a physical relationship, but in doing so they contradict the Quran as you can see if you carefully follow the following verses which connect Mary and Imran and his wife, Aaron and the virgin birth.
When the wife of Imran said, ‘Lord, I have vowed to Thee, in dedication, what is within my womb. Receive Thou this from me; Thou hearest, and knowest.’ And when she gave birth to her she said, ‘Lord, I have given birth to her, a female.’ (And God knew very well what she had given birth to; the male is not as the female.) ‘And I have named her Mary, and commend her to Thee with her seed, to protect them from the accursed Satan.’ S. 3:35-36 Arberry
Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, ‘Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.’ S. 19:27-28
And Mary, Imran’s daughter, who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and she confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Books, and became one of the obedient. S. 66:12
Was there confusion because Mariam, the mother of Jesus, had the same name as another Mariam?
That Mariam (Miriam in the Bible) was the daughter of Amram (Imran in Arabic) and the sister of Aaron (Harun in Arabic) & Moses (I Chronicles 6:3). So te Quran got that absolutely correct! BUT…that Mariam lived 1500 years before Mariam, the mother of Jesus!
Was Muhammad aware this huge As he was illiterate, he did not have the opportunity to read the Torah or Zabur or Injeel and make a comparison.
Could he have listened to Jews reading their scriptures and heard the name Maryam (Miriam) – Imran’s (Amram) daughter and Harun’s (Aaron) sister, mentioned in the Torah? And could he have heard Christians reading the Injeel where Mariam (Mary), the mother of Jesus is mentioned? Can you really blame Muhammad if he thought that both the Mariams were the same person!? It’s a mistake anyone can make.
Epilogue
Muhammad’s fascination with Mariam does not end there.
1.) Muhammad said, “In heaven, Mary mother of Jesus, will be one of my wives.” — al-Siyuti (6/395)
and
2.) “The Messenger of God … said, ‘God married me in paradise to Mary the daughter of ‘Imran and to the wife of Pharaoh and the sister of Moses.’” — Tabarani (Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya [Cairo: Dar al-Kutub, 1968/1388]
So which is the Mariam that Muhammad said will be his wife in heaven? Mariam, the mother of Jesus or Mariam, the daughter of Imran and sister of Moses? Or was it just all a colossal divine mix-up?
This week marks the holy week of Ramadan. Today is the 27th of Ramadan which is the holiest night for Muslims.
It is known as the Night Of Destiny, or Laylat al-Qadr (in Arabic: لیلة القدر) as many Muslims pray to God for mercy, forgiveness, blessings and salvation.
Last week, a Muslim asked me “how to be saved?”.
There may be others asking the same questions like “how to have forgiveness of sins.” etc.
I am going to write out a prayer for you below.
You can pray sincerely from your heart to God and He will hear you.
This is between you and God alone. No one else. This is not about religion. Not about Christianity or Islam. This is about you entering into the Kingdom of God. I’m not talking about conversion. I’m talking about transformation – from death to life.
If you think what I’m saying is rubbish and you dont believe it, that’s OK. I have written another prayer that you can use, at the end of this post.
I’m sharing with you what I believe right now, so that on this Night Of Destiny, you can fully trust in God to give you a wonderful eternal destiny.
None of us can can reach God by ourselves. God is completely holy. We are utter sinners. Jesus was the only one without sin. No one can come to God, unless we come through Jesus. He is the way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
If you want to enter into the Kingdom of God, Jesus is the door.
If you believe that Jesus came to save you from your sins and to give you eternal life in heaven as your final destiny….Pray this prayer with sincerity in your heart to God….
“My God, who created the whole universe, You created me. I come before you sincerely on this
Night of Destiny and open my heart to You. None of my thoughts, words and deeds are hidden from You.
I’m praying to You, O God, that You will forgive all my sins now. Cleanse my heart and give me Your
righteousness so that I can have a clean heart and I can be accepted before You. Let Your presence be
in my heart so that I can know You and follow You. I receive Your peace, love and joy. Thank you for
a new life that You have given me, an eternal life as You have promised. I receive Your salvation
through Jesus, the Way, The Truth and the Life.”
If you have prayed this prayer, it is between you and God. You don’t have to tell anyone publicly if you don’t want to. But I encourage you to share privately with someone you trust. If you want, you can send me or someone else a private message, and we can guide you further to know even more and to answer your questions.
How to pray this prayer? Just go to some place where you can be alone. It can be in your bedroom, so you can talk to God alone in prayer. You can kneel or prostrate. God is able to hear and answer your prayer today.
Perhaps some of you are already laughing or mocking. It’s your choice to reject the message of salvation on this Night Of Destiny.
If you are one of those, then here is another prayer for you to pray to God:
“O God of Abraham. You are the God of all truth. I choose to believe in Your truth alone.
I think that all the things that I have read here are lies, so I reject them, because I don’t want
to believe any lies. But, God, if anything here is the truth from You, please show it to me clearly
because I do not want to miss any blessings from You. Reveal to me in my dreams. Even when I sleep,
I open my spirit to you so that You can speak to me and teach me Your truth.”
The basis of the Quran is the revelation to Muhammad. According to Islam, the revelation was given by the angel Jibreel.
Were there witnesses who saw and heard this to verify the claim? No
Did Muhammad do any miracles to prove what he said happened? No.
I wanted to find out more so I did a brief study on these claims to find evidence that what Muhammad said is true. I think both Christians & Muslims might be surprised (or shocked) by some of these things. I’m sharing it here. If there are any errors, it is unintended. Please let me know, with your proof, so I can correct it. All references about the incident are from accepted Muslim sources like Sahih Hadith Bukhari & Hadith Muslim. (My own analysis of events is based on comparison with the Bible.)
This is how it all unfolded….
Muhammad had an encounter with an angel. He did not know who or what this spiritual being was. The angel that appeared to him began to strangle and press him violently and tried to force him to recite/read. Even though Muhammad pleaded that he was illiterate but the angel kept insisting and kept up the torture. This happened repeatedly for a total of three times.
First of all, an angel is a servant of God and will only do what they are commanded by God. No angel of God has ever acted in a such a violent and abusive manner against a single human being in this way. Secondly, shouldn’t the angel have known that Muhammad was illiterate, yet he cruelly forced Muhammad to do what poor Muhammad just could not do. Thirdly, this incident caused Muhammad such great fear and he was so terrified that he ran back home to his wife Khadija to find comfort.
In the Bible, any time that an angel appears to a human being, his first words are almost always, “DO NOT FEAR.” Because such fear is not from God! We see this repeated over and over again the Bible. No prophet was ever abused in such a manner! Muhammad was so overcome with FEAR that he is described in Islamic sources as: trembling, heart beating fast, snorting like a horse, and neck muscles twitching. In fact, Muhammad is convinced that it is a demon!
At home Khatija comforts and assures her husband that Allah would not shame him. (even though she did not even witness what actually happened, she was trying her best to make Muhammad feel better; she was just being a good wife!). How did Khadija come to her conclusion that the “angel” was not from satan? By unveling her private parts with the prophet seated on her lap. Her reasoning was that an angel of God would not be hanging around to while she exposes her private parts.
She [Khadija] said to the apostle of God, ‘O son of my uncle, are you able to tell me about your visitant, when he comes to you?’ He replied that he could, and she asked him to tell her when he came. So when Gabriel came to him, as he was wont, the apostle said to Khadija, ‘This is Gabriel who has just come to me.’ ‘Get up, O son of my uncle, she said, ‘and sit by my left thigh’. The apostle did so, and she said, ‘Can you see him?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. She said, ‘Then turn round and sit on my right thigh.’ He did so, and she said, ‘Can you see him?’ When he said that he could she asked him to move and sit in her lap. When he had done this she again asked if he could see him, and when he said yes, she disclosed her form and cast aside her veil while the apostle was sitting in her lap. Then she said, ‘Can you see him?’ And he replied, ‘No.’ She said, ‘O son of my uncle, rejoice and be of good heart, by God he is an angel and not a satan.’
Later she and Muhammad went to visit her cousin, Waraqa, whom they hoped could make sense of had happened and advise Muhammad. Waraqa was literate and he was supposedly a Christian. I say “supposedly” because there was a heretic cult in that place at the time. They were the Nestorians, whose beliefs differed from what the Bible teaches.
In all likelihood, Waraqa was a Nestorian and not a true Christian, follower of Jesus Christ.
What makes me say this?
What can we know about Waraqa? It is said that he used to “read the Gospel in Arabic”. This is false because the Gospel had not been translated to Arabic at that time! So what was he reading?!
It is also said that Waraqa used to “write/copy the Gospel in Hebrew.” Again this is untrue because the Gospel was only translated to Hebrew a few centuries later. So what was Waraqa copying?!
When Muhammad relates his encounter with the angel to Waraqa, this man, who was old and almost blind by this time, tells Muhammad that the angel is Jibreel (Gabriel). How and why did Waraqa come to such a conclusion when he himself was not there to witness what happened?
Waraqa claims the angel is the SAME Jibreel (Gabriel) that appeared to Moses. But wait a minute! This is a very crucial point. Gabriel did not appear to Moses!
There is no evidence anywhere in the Bible or in history where Gabriel had appeared to Moses! Where did Waraqa get his information?
In truth, the angel Gabriel is recorded as having appeared to three people in the records of the Bible – Daniel, Zechariah & Mary but NOT to Moses. So what Waraqa said was innaccurate!
Muhammad believes what Waraqa tells him. But he is worried that the Arabs might oppose him because of the revelations. Waraqa assures him that he will support Muhammad as long as he is alive. Unfortunately Waraqa dies a few days later having fed misinformation to his nephew, the would-be prophet!
Muhammad is sad and becomes suicidal and tries to kill himself on several occasions.
Being suicidal is a satanic act. God would never lead anyone to suicide. Muslim scholar Bassam Zawadi defends Muhammad’s attempt to commit suicide and says it is because of depression. He argues, “What, a Prophet cannot be depressed? Says who? What criteria are people using to say that?”
I will give you 3 examples from the Bible of people who were suicidal.
1. King Saul – an evil spirit tortured him. He was often depressed and needed David to soothe him with music. In the end how did Saul die? By killing himself with his own sword.
2. Judas Isacriot – satan entered him. He betrayed Jesus. Regretted it, and he hanged himself.
3. In Mark 9:21 is the story of a young boy who was demon possessed and the evil spirit would always attempt to “kill him by causing him to fall into water (to drown) or fire (to be burnt).” Read the story, Jesus heals the boy. And “the spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.” And the boy was restored and healed completely.
Did you notice that, “convulsed him violently”. That’s what an evil spirit does to a body it can inhabit. Similiar to what Muhammad experienced then?
A depiction of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. From the manuscript Jami’ al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period.
Let’s move on.
After a period of silence, Muhammad again encounters the same angel. And from then on, the revelations became more regular.
According to Muhammad, the angel that appeared to him had 600 wings. Isn’t this a contradiction? The Quran says the maximum number is 4 wings (sura 35:1), which in turn contradicts what the Bible says about angels (seraphims) that have 6 wings. No record anywhere of any angel with 600 wings!
Who is this angel that came to Muhammad? This must be some “special” angel who wanted to terrify and impress Muhammad! Also Muhammad saw the angel filling the sky and horizon and sitting on a throne. A THRONE? An angel that has a throne? This is very very strange!
There is no record anywhere that angels have thrones. The throne is only for God. It becomes clear that this being is a usurper. He is not acting on God’s instructions. This being has his own throne and authority and seems to change/disguise himself to have more wings than even God’s angels!
Therefore, I am convinved that the angel that showed up to Muhammad was not Jibreel (Gabriel) as Waraqa had mistakenly led Muhammad to believe. Some Hadith sources give the name of the angel as NAMUS.
It is worrisome that there are no such names for any angels anywhere else in the Bible or the Quran.
“Namus” is an Arabic word that means “law” or “custom”. Whereas “Gabriel” means ‘God is my Strength’. So we have Gabriel whose name shows that he is a servant of God and depends on God as his strength, and Namus, who has his own throne and by the definition of his name, would imply that he depends on the law or customs (rituals). Two very different beings.
So who was it who gave those revelations to Muhammad that became the basis for the Quran?
My conclusions
What Muhammad experienced during the first encounter shows signs of being an encounter by an evil spirit in the manner in which it attacked Muhammad. Hadiths show that Muhammad experienced the influence of magic, witchcraft, had delusions, became suicidal, became stark raving mad for 1 year before he recovered.
Fear is not from God, but from satan. Confusion is not from God. Muhammad was fearful. Muhammad was confused. He was possessed by an evil spirit who abused, tortured and treated him violently so that Muhammad would fall under his authority. It was not the REAL Gabriel. He would never have done that. Waraqa was grossly mistaken. Read the accounts of Gabriel’s visits to humans and notice that his first words are always “Do not fear!” Satan is able to disguise himself as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14).
Satan is known as the father of lies. (John 8:44). What kind of message do you think the father of lies revealed? Jesus said, “The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy”. (John 10:10)
In my opinion, Muhammad is not to be blamed. The finger needs to be pointed at NAMUS.
Who is NAMUS?
Hadith sources and references:
Sahih Bukhari Vol 1, Bk 1, No. 3; Vol 6, Bk 60, No. 478; Vol 9, Bk 87, No. 111; Sahih Muslim Bk 001, No. 0301, all by Aisha.
Sahih Bukhari Vol 1, Bk 1, No. 3; Vol 4, Bk 55, No. 605; Vol 4, Bk 54, No. 461: ; Vol 6, Bk 60, No.444, 445, 447,448; Vol 8, Bk 73, No. 233 by Jabir bin Abdullah;
Sahih Muslim Bk 001, No. 0304, 0307, 0330, 0331, 0332, 0333, 0337, 0340.
Sahih Bukhari Vol 4, Bk 54, No. 457: by Aisha; Vol 4, Bk 54, No. 458: by Masruq; Vol 6, Bk 60, No. 379: by Abdullah; Vol 6, Bk 60, No. 380
Suicidal: Sahih Bukhari 9:87:111. Ibn Ishaq p.106-107
I believe my God loves me and has demonstrated His love for me in a way that no one else can even before I became a Christian. (Romans 5:8)
Can you show me that Allah loves me now? According to the Quran, I am categorized as “the worst of creatures” (Sura 98:6) and Allah will only love me if I become a Muslim. Is his love limited?
I believe God has forgiven all my past sins and has given me a clean heart before Him and to live a new life for Him. (1 John 1:9)
Can you show me that as a Muslim you have 100% assurance right now that all your sins are forgiven? Or do you believe that you will never know if all your sins are truly forgiven during your lifetime on earth?
I believe my God has promised me eternal life and a home in heaven. (John 3:16-17)
Where is the promise in Islam for eternal life? There is no promise for any Muslim, not even Muhammad. (Sura 46:9). In fact, in Sura 19:71, Allah promises that a
Muslim’s destination is hell first before a few are rescued.
I believe my God is my Saviour who has rescued me from being a slave to sin and given me a new life as a child of God. (Colossians 1:13-14)
And you want me to come to a religion where there is no saviour and I have to relinquish my rights as a child of God and become a slave again? And I have to depend on my own good deeds and hope it is accepted by Allah someday?
Now I can pray and worship my God anywhere and anytime, whether in my house or in my car or in the shopping mall and God welcomes and accepts me.
Can you tell me why there such a restriction and limitation in Islam that I must pray at certain times, facing a certain direction, and performing specific actions in a certain way. If I do anything differently, my prayers would become invalid and not accepted by Allah?
I have a personal relationship with God, who is with me and His presence is in me to lead me, guide me, to teach me and help me.
Why is that in Islam, Allah has no personal relationship or interest with his creatures?
I believe my God is my heavenly Father who cares for me and speaks to me like a loving father who cares for all His children.
Why is it that in Islam, Allah is too lofty and proud to associate with his slaves?
To me, Islam and Christianity are as different as night and day.
Thank you for your invitation but I will stay with Jesus.
Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Before Adam & Eve disobeyed God, there was no sin in the world. After Adam & Eve sinned, the perfect world that God had created was marred. Sin and death came into the world for the first time. God did not excuse their sin and make it simply go away. That would have been unjust and irresponsible for a holy God. There was a consequence to their sin even though it was only one sin. There was a punishment they had to bear. A price to be paid for that one single sin. What was the punishment? They were driven out of the Garden, and they had to endure a spiritual SEPARATION from God’s presence.
We read that Adam & Eve tried to make things right again by hiding and by making for themselves a covering of leaves to hide their sin, their shame and their guilt. But it was not good enough. God Himself had to intervene and act. Because of His great love and mercy for His creation, God Himself provided for them a proper covering made of skin. Where did this skin come from? Obviously, from an animal. Perhaps it was a sheep or a lamb, that had to be sacrificed to provide the suitable covering for Adam & Eve. This is how terrible sin is. Sin results in death, even the death of an innocent animal.
The good deed that Adam & Eve tried to do for themselves in covering their nakedness was hopeless and not accepted by God. Instead, God Himself covered their shame, guilt and sins with the blood-stained skin garments from a sacrificed animal. This was the only way Adam & Eve could be properly covered, forgiven and accepted again by God.
Remember, this was the consequence of ONE single sin that Adam & Eve committed.
How many sins have you & I committed all our lives? Let’s say you commit just one sin a day, and assuming you are 25 years old, for example. You would have committed a total of 9,125 sins of disobedience against God in your life! How many good deeds have you done? You think your good deeds can save you? Would you say you have 10,000 good deeds to your name? And how do you know if your good deeds are even accepted by God? You could be doing a good deed but you could be doing it out of pride! Does such a “tarnished” good deed count in God’s sight? God says your so-called “good deeds” are like filthy rags to Him!
Adam & Eve did not escape punishment even though it was just ONE sin! Do you think you and I can escape punishment for our multitude of sins? Adam & Eve’s good efforts were rejected by God. There is a lesson here for us. Man cannot save himself no matter how hard he tries and no matter how many good deeds he does. Only God can save us. He has to provide forgiveness of our sins on HIS terms, not ours.
Thousand of years later when, John the Baptist saw Jesus, he exclaimed: This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”
Hebrews 9:28
So also Christ died once, for all time, as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Jesus is God’s sacrifice for all your sins. You can either accept God’s sacrifice for your sins and be forgiven, like Adam & Eve did. Or you can go ahead and keep pursuing 1,000,000 good deeds in your life but still never have any assurance if your good deeds are accepted until you leave this world. By that time, it will be too late when you are shown that your good deeds did not measure up!
There is only one way. There is no other way. Jesus said, “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except though Me.” John 14:6
Let Jesus cover your sins for you so that YOU can be accepted by God.
