FAQs in Islam (No. 055)

1: The Prophet termed Muhammad

Q1. What is the correct name of the Prophet to the Arabians?

A. By the sixth century the Sabbatarian Church of God in the East spread from the headwaters of the Nile into Arabia and Asia Minor into India and the Middle East. From 610 a Monophysite Christian convert was raised and educated as a priest (Abu). He was named Qasim bin ‘Abdullah, bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib bin Hashim of the tribal group of Hashim his great grandfather. He was converted to Sabbatarian Christianity (see also the paper Descendants of Abraham Part III: Ishmael (No. 212C)).

Soon his earnest desire to seek the truth in the Scriptures brought problems to his attention with the Monophysite Nasaari doctrine, which seemed to contradict the original texts themselves. Basically the Spirit was beginning to call him through the veil, which was termed the “Evangelion”. He sought the true Church. Purana scriptures from India indicate that he became known to the Churches of God based there. The Church's Muhammad called out to him in a dream, and Arabia's Apostle had a vision during his meditations in the cave. It terrified but inspired him. Thus he became a Sabbatarian Unitarian from the Church there in Arabia, being baptised (again) prior to his mission. Not being genetically of Aaron or Levi, he was grafted into the AhlulBayt of Rasulullah's brides as a Nasraani Sabi (TheoSebes/QEO-SEBHS/sebovmenoi = God Worshipper) Mursal. Several Hadith attest to the fact that he became a Sabi. As a Mursal (Bride of Rasulullah) he received more and more insight. Eventually, from his baptism, he was strengthened in The Holy Spirit (Ahmed) and reached the Mahmoodan state becoming Muhammad as a true Christian in the Churches of God.

Q2. It is alleged that the term The Praised One (or Ahmed) is one of the names of the Prophet, as a referral to himself, but it is a reference to the Spirit or Comforter, and some say it means both and is evidence for the Prophet’s acceptance. So, what is Ahmad really?

A. Muslims by and large are unaware that Ahmed is not the name of Qasim but is rather the Holy Spirit, because they do not read the Bible, and especially the text of John in Aramaic.

It would be unusual for the Prophet not to understand the role of the Spirit and it is unlikely that he would attempt to appropriate to himself the role of the Spirit.

At Surah 61:6 we see that Christ is declared the apostle of God. The good news of the Ahmed was of "the Comforter" that was to be sent to the Church. The Holy Spirit appeared conveying the power of God as the messenger or comforter of the Church at Pentecost 30 CE, but the power of it was rejected or mocked by many. The text refers to the section in Acts chapter 2 (cf. also Acts 8:11 etc.). The Hadith has deliberately obscured the understanding.

Q3. Do we know the true lineage of the Prophet?

A. The line is Ishmael to Kinana to Quraish, to Hashim to Qasim (cf. Muslim 2/245; Tirmidhi 2/201). He was later erroneously referred to as Muhammad which was never his name but rather a title of the body of the Church of God.

The Prophet was influenced by his father’s clan and several of his contemporaries at Mecca, Medina and Taif, who had become monotheists. Thus, they could accommodate some of the non-Trinitarian Monophysite forms of Christianity, but not the Athanasian Trinitarian forms, which had influenced the worship of saints and relics in accordance with Chaldean animism. They had adopted the worship of a deity, “Mary,” in forms of the Mother goddess cult, derived in Arabia from Astarte and linked with the Sun as a feminine entity in some of the mysteries (see the paper Mysticism Chapter 5 Islam (No. B7_5)).

Q4. We see and hear everywhere, in the press and in daily life, references to "the prophet of Islam, Muhammad" or Mahomet or Mohammed, etc. Does not "MAHOMET" mean the one who is not praised from the negation given by the prefix "ma"? In contrast, "MUHAMMAD" means the one who deserves praise. Can you explain this apparent contradiction?

A. Muhammad is The Godhead's religion (see Surah 48:29) that is, images of the One True God through the Spirit of God. Muhammad is the seal of the prophets according to Surah 33:40. The name of the preacher in question is not to be confused with the use of the term Muhammad since this is just a seal or title.

Muhammad was originally not a name at all. The word Muhammad is equivalent to a plural meaning: advocated ones. We can see that the meaning of the title Muhammad is actually synonymous with whatever titles may be given to the most blessed ones among the First Fruits.

Muhammad (Surah 3:144, 33:40, 47:2, 48:29) and Mahmoodan (Surah 17:79) certainly express a relationship to Ahmed, but may have different nuances to what we expect as words that don't have an appropriate equivalent in English.

Q5. Some say that the Prophet’s Night Trip that brought him to Jerusalem, and then to Paradise, was a vision. What is the real meaning of the Night Trip?

A. The Hadith has corrupted a text in the Koran in Surah 17:1 where the Prophet claimed that he had a vision where he was taken by night from the “Inviolable Place of Worship” (interpreted as Mecca) to the “Far Distant Place of Worship” (interpreted as the Temple Mount at Jerusalem). This vision was for the purpose of revealing the place of the Children of Israel in Scripture. The Hadithic traditions claim that this was on the winged horse “Buraq” and from there the Prophet was taken into heaven and back. The original understanding was as portrayed in Pickthall’s translation in the introduction to the Surah, where it was understood he had been transported on a heavenly steed through the seven heavens to the very presence of God in vision, in much the same way Paul and John wrote in the NT.

Much nonsense is spoken of regarding 27 Rajab. Some US commentators even claim that on this date the Prophet ascended from the Al Aksa mosque into heaven, which is scripturally and theologically impossible in both systems.

Q6. Was Qasim baptized in the same way as any evangelical Christian today?
A. Baptism in the Sabbatarian Churches has always been by full immersion as a repentant adult. Qasim was called in 608 CE.

Q7. Are you saying Qasim is saved contrary to his followers today? According to modern Christianity Islam and the Prophet have the same destiny and they are lost.
A. Qasim was a minister of the Churches of God and as such he and the Muhammad were part of the elect. The position of the brethren in the First Resurrection is up to God. We expect Qasim and the faithful of the church there to be in the First Resurrection. After the suppression of the church there with the killing of Ali and Hussein most were not eligible for the First Resurrection. Surah 4:154 ties the Sabbath to the Covenant. So a person who is not baptised and keeping the Sabbaths and the Scriptures cannot be in the First Resurrection.

Q8. Did the prophet Qasim remain faithful from 608 until his death?

A. There is no indication that the prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs did not remain faithful over the phase of the faith until the deaths of Ali and Hussein and the persecution of the faith by the idolaters that comprised what came to be termed Hadithic or Sunni Islam.

2: Islam

Q1. We know that Muslims worship one God but what is their religion? Was the Koran intended to form the basis of a new religion?

A. The group termed “Muhammad” formed the church as the Surrender to God or Al Islam. There is only one religion and one system of worship and that is the Islam that was given to Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and to Moses and Aaron, and to the prophets and to Christ to Qasim and the church which is “Muhammad” and on through the Churches of God until the present time. The Koran gives that sequence of authority in the Surah 37 As Saffat “Those who set the Ranks.”

When the faith was under attack by both the Trinitarians and the Jews in Arabia, the prophet Qasim, and the church called "Muhammad", was raised up in Arabia from the Unitarian Christians there, to deal with the false doctrines attacking the Oneness of God and the false practices the Trinitarians introduced. Qasim and the Council of Elders produced doctrinal explanation of the Bible providing leadership to the desert tribes.

Under Qasim they educated the Arab tribes into the Body of Christ and set up the body of the church under the twelve. This was Muhammad. They had to fight the Jewish monarchy over the Arab tribes and the pagans who allied with them. Qasim was succeeded by four Rightly Guided Caliphs or successors. Then the system was destroyed by so called “converts” who were in reality Arab pagans who compiled a false system called the Hadith and destroyed the meaning and structure of the writings that were compiled as a record of the Arab church. The murder of Ali was committed to ensure the suppression of the true faith in Arabia. See the paper Introduction to the Commentary on the Qur’an (Q001).

Q2. Most Muslims refer to their religion as Al Islam. What does Al Islam mean?

A. Alislam, meaning The Submission or The Surrender, is the term used to refer to the religious system and has effectively become the name of the religion. However, it really is the name of the legal system or Din (Surah 3:19, 85; 5:3; 61:7-9). The True Faith is the term. In the NT it was the sect called The Way or the Faith Once Delivered to the Saints and that is the sense used in Surah 61:7-9. It is clear from the Koranic usage, and compared with the NT, that CHRIST is the embodiment of our religion as the revelation of God to Mariam, his mother. In the letters of Paul for example we read Christ is Christianity. Christians are followers of Christ not followers of Christianity. The Religion is also called "Remembrance of Allah" and Truth. Jesus' testimony is "The Spirit of Prophesy”. There is another aspect seemingly applied also as reflected in Gabriel (Surah 2:97). Gabriel is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Ameen Spirit (Surah 26:193) or the Spirit of Truth, which is The Holy Spirit (see Jn. 14:17, 15:26, 16:13). The angel of the Lord appeared to John on Patmos as the one like the son of man (Rev. 1:13). After the incarnation of Christ this being is identified as Gabriel, the Angel to the Prophets and the Church (Dan. 8:15-12:13), as well as to Arabia's Apostle in the cave.

Q3. I am Muslim and have had reason to peruse what is written in the Old Testament - as it mirrors so closely many of the stories in the Qur’an. I don’t even know where to begin with the New Testament. Who were the men that wrote it? How many years did they live after Jesus? Basically do all Christians give the same weight to the Old and New Testaments? I’m asking because many converts ask to have this information cleared up after they become Muslim. I guess we want religion put into some kind of perspective of history.

A: The answers can also be found in the Koran. When the NT was written, Scripture was the OT. The NT is explanation of the prophetic purpose of the OT. Thus, it is commentary, as the Koran is also commentary, on the Law of God.

The OT is explained by the NT, and the Koran cannot be understood without the Bible because it is corrective commentary on it. There is only one Al Islam and it was given from the very beginning and all men are obliged to keep the laws of the living God, Eloah or Allah’. You cannot be a true Muslim and not keep the Sabbath.

From the Surah: Those who stand in ranks, we see that the Revelation of God was given from Adam to Noah, and to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and to Moses and Aaron, and to Christ and the Prophets. Thus, the term surrender applies to Moses, Christ and the Prophet in the Old and New Testaments and the Koran.

Muhammad, as Qasim and the Elders, and the Four Rightly guided Caliphs understood Al Islam. After that, it fell from the purity of its initial faith.

Q4. When it is claimed that: "Only Islam is the religion accepted by God", some say the better translation of this would be: "Only submission is accepted by God". Which is correct?

A. Islam is the surrender to God. If you do not surrender to God and obey His commandments you are not of Islam, no matter how much you protest. You are a donkey laden with golden books, understanding nothing.

Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith or the testimony of Jesus Christ are the elect (Rev 14:12; 12:17).

Q5. In the collective conscience, the word Jihad means Holy War. Could you explain to me the precise meaning of this term?

A. It has nothing to do with a Holy War (cf. Surah 2:218; 3:142; 8:72,74; etc.). The elect are engaged in a battle against sin on two fronts. We have to battle against the lusts of our own flesh (1Pet. 2:11) and also have to resist the author of sin, Satan the Devil (cf. the paper Steps to Overcoming Sin (No. 011)). The elect is called to overcome (Rev. 2:7; 3:12; Surah 9:19,20), remaining in the ways of God.

3: The Qur’an (Koran)

Q1. Could you explain what the word Qur’an means and who wrote it?

A. The Koran (meaning "Compilation" or "Repertoire") is simply a compilation of hundreds of revelations that came through prophets of the Church over many years. That association is why some traditions say Arabia's Apostle was a Sabi. Sabiyah is the Arabic name for those who are non-genetic Israelites and who are not full proselyte members of the Nabi; it refers only to those who are grafted into the Church through baptism, but is sometimes claimed to refer to the followers of John the Baptist. However, the latter assertion is impossible from the testimony of the Scriptures and the Church histories. Sabiyah refers to the Sabbath-keeping Church of the Holy Spirit. All these revelations were compiled into one book in Arabia, probably under Usman.

Q2. The majority of current Muslims say that God’s true and authentic book is the Qur’an not the Bible, and that the Bible we have today is corrupted. Is there truth in the assertion that the text of the Torah and/or the Gospels has been falsified?

A. The Qur’an enjoins its followers to heed the writings of the Bible including the Gospels and the writings that make up the accepted canon of Christian Scriptures (Surah 5:68). No person can claim to be a follower of Islam and ignore the teachings of the Bible, as we will see from the words of the Koran itself.

Modern Islam pretends that the books that the Prophet read are not the same as those extant today and hence they do not have to follow the orders of the Prophet in studying the Torah and the writings comprising the New Testament. The Bible has been protected by God as we know for certain from the finds in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ancient documents of history. Those who claim that the Bible has been lost profane the name and power of the One True God Eloah or Allah'.

We are to do and observe that which God commands. This cannot be done by claiming that both the Old and New Testaments have been altered to the point that we don't know what the original texts say, as does Modern Islam. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove that we have the exact same writings now as were in existence even before the birth of the prophet Qasim and the group called ‘Muhammad.” The Qur’an (Koran) cannot be understood in isolation from the Bible. Only by having an understanding of the law and testimony of the prophets of both Old and New Testaments can the Qur’an be properly understood. That's why the prophet himself commanded the reading of the Scriptures.

Q3. Is the Qur’an really the Word of the One True God?

A. The Koran is commentary on Scripture and confirms Scripture according to the Law and the Prophets and the Apostles who went before. It details the problems that the church in Arabia had with the Jewish tribes in trying to stamp out Christianity, and who used the pagan Arabs to assist them.

Those who do not follow the Scripture and use the Koran to pervert the Law and the Testimony are false teachers and Allah judges them. They have destroyed Islam as the Trinitarians have destroyed Christianity and the Rabbis have destroyed Judaism.

The Koran must be read in conjunction with the Bible and followed with the Law of God. One cannot read the Koran in isolation from the whole Bible and arrive at understanding. That is why the Imams or teachers in Islam know very little and teach that it is permissible to lie to obtain converts or attack Christianity. To lie is to undermine the Laws of God and the Ninth Commandment.

Q4. What is the difference between the Qur’an and the Sunnah? Is the Sunnah merely an exegesis of the Qur’an?

A. The Sunnah of Allah is comprehensively the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels and the Books of the Prophets. These are termed the Tawrat, the Zabur the Injil and the Sahaif respectively. In other words, the entire Scriptures.

If you do not read the Bible you cannot understand the Koran. The Koran cannot be divorced from the Bible. The claims that do are made so that Islam can be obscured and the faith perverted.

The modern Muslims even claim that the Bible, available up to and in 632 CE to the Prophet and the faith, has been lost. They do this so that they can ignore the Bible and thus corrupt the faith. The Prophet calls such false teachers asses or donkeys laden with golden books. They carry them dutifully but understand none of what is written therein.

Q5. Are there differences between the Bible and the Qur’an?

(Note: The Bible was revealed to more than 40 prophets over 1,500 years. The Qur’an was allegedly revealed to one prophet alone in 33 years which is false as we see above.)

A. The people who claim to be Muslims now claim that the Bible has been lost and the one that exists is not the original Torah referred to in the Koran. They base this false claim on a fiction introduced in the later Caliphates regarding the loss in the Caliphates and then these fabricators absurdly refer back to the text in Jeremiah 8:8, which rebukes the scribes in his day for interfering with the texts. In the same way the Trinitarians get around the Bible by claims regarding the writings of Paul, and an appeal to Antinomian Gnosticism, and they keep the traditions of the Mystery and Sun Cults. Both systems are based on lies and have nothing to do with the laws of God and will lead to world war.

The Koran has a very definite message concerning the Bible or Scripture and the Law and the Covenant. The Koran confirms the message of the Bible and the Law and the Testimony and the Covenant of God. No professing Muslim can be of the Faith without adherence to Scripture and the Law of God within the baptism and the body of the Church of God. See the paper The Koran on the Bible, the Law, and the Covenant (No. 083).

The Koran or Qur’an is a commentary on Scripture written by the leaders of the Churches of God in the seventh century of the Current Era in Arabia. It will be unfolded and explained in its relationship to the Scriptures. The relationship of the texts is quite profound. They have their place in the history of the Church, as do the letters of the apostles in the history of the Church in the first century.

Q6. From Surah 2:4-6, 41-42, 89-91, 101 and 136, can we assert that what the People of the Book possessed, in the time of the Prophet, is seen as completely authentic by the Qur’an?

A. The family of the prophet had the texts of the Bible. We know when they were written and we know that the texts are all correct. The Dead Sea Scrolls show us what texts the people in the Middle East and the church and its officers had, and that they were the same as at the time of Christ and that Eloah does not change. The fiction was introduced that the original texts had been lost under the later Caliphates to avoid keeping the law. They had to claim that Qasim and the Muhammad had the correct texts otherwise he would simply have been uninformed as the Koran refers to the People of the Book and demands that if there is any doubt as to the Scriptures they are to be consulted as its final adjudicators.

The NT was written by the people of the first century church. The apostles Matthew and John wrote their gospels, and the disciples Mark and Luke wrote theirs. The writings of Paul are genuine and the Book of Hebrews is alleged to have been initiated by Paul and finished by another disciple, perhaps Barnabas. John is accepted as writing the gospel, epistles and the Revelation was given to him when God gave it to the Messiah.

The History of the canon is detailed in the paper The Bible (No. 164). That will give you more details. The original people of the book are still around, but they are in the minority. It is written: “verily we gave unto Moses the Scriptures and we caused a train of messengers to follow after Him, and we gave unto Jesus the son of Mariam [falsely termed Mary by Trinitarians] clear proofs and we supported him within the Holy Spirit. Is it ever so that when there cometh unto you a messenger with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?”

Q7. There appear to be important differences between the Bible and the Qur’an. People have deduced from this that it was necessary to reject one in favour of the other, or to take a little of one and combine it with a little of the other. What is your opinion on this?

A. When taken and read in isolation, the Koran, like the New Testament, can be distorted and it inevitably became the source of division, hatred, persecution and war. When all three books are read together, as they should be, understanding is possible and a complete plan of salvation emerges which cannot be misinterpreted.

The Koran is just another element of the New Testament Church written for the Arabs six hundred years after the First Century NT now in the Codex of the Bible.

Q8. Did the Qur’an evolve or/and has it undergone modifications over the centuries?

A. Usman burned any evidence of the Church that went against his plans and went as far as he could to deceive the “sheep” one step at a time without being caught out by the majority. However, Ali's party knew what was happening. When Usman died Ali took control, but the Usmanites had become strong. Ali was killed and eventually the Church had to go underground again. The murder of Ali was committed to ensure the suppression of the true faith in Arabia.

The outline of the story is told in the paper Introduction to the Commentary on the Qur’an (Q001).

4: Allah

Q1. What is the nature of the god - Allah - of the Muslims? Is he the same as the Yahweh of Scripture?

A. The name Yahovah (Yahweh) is applied to at least four beings, three of whom are angels or messengers for the God in Heaven at the same time as we see from the instance with Abraham and Lot, and the destruction at Sodom and Gomorrah. These aspects have been all examined at the papers: The Angel of YHVH (No. 024); The Names of God (No. 116); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243) and Abraham and Sodom (No. 091).

There are various names for God in both the Bible and the Qur’an. The Qur’an uses the Arabic name Allah’ which is entirely singular and admits of no plurality whatsoever. It is “the power” (or the Deity) which is God.

Anyone who does not understand the fact that there is only one True God is in heresy. A Biblical Unitarian does not accept that Jesus Christ was co-eternal or co-equal with the Father Eloah. There is only ONE TRUE GOD and He is the Father of all and He sent Jesus Christ (Jn. 17:3). Understanding that fact is vital to eternal life.

Allah’ is the Arabic form of the One True God Eloah who is extending Himself to become elohim through the people He has called into His system. Understanding this name of God is the test of understanding in the Holy Spirit. Ditheists or Binitarians fail this test.

Q2. If I understand correctly, the Muslims worship Allah. Is this their only God and if so, how did they get this name for Him?

A. The names Eloah and Allah’ are derived from the two variants of the same language structure.

The Arabic name, “Allah' ” is derived from Eastern Aramaic and earlier Chaldean, “Elahh.” It is singular and admits of no plurality. He is the One True God of the Bible, “Eloah.” The singular form “Eloah” and the Chaldean “Elahh” become the plural form “Elohim” in the Hebrew and “Elahhin” in the Chaldee. These are the extended being that is God and the Sons of God that are the heavenly host.

“Elohim” can be singular in usage and then is used to refer to “one of the Elohim.” Where it is used in the case of “Eloah” it is usually “ha Elohim” or “The Elohim” or “The God.” In Greek, this practice continued in the Koine as “Ho Theos” and “Theos” or the accusative “ton Theon” and simply “theos” is reference to the elohim. In the plural for elohim it became “theoi.” Islam recognises the One True God of John 17:3 as “Allah' ” The meaning of this term from its ancient origins really refers to God as “The Power.” It refers to the particle el, which can be used for a mighty one or the Almighty and also for the particle referring to the plural as these or those amongst us. In this sense it is the same in Hebrew and Chaldean and hence Aramaic and the variants. In this sense it is only in the plural when used of “these or those.” In this sense it is strange that it is plural at SHD 429 when written as ‘elleh in Chaldean but is grouped with the absolute singular form Eloah. This word is the same as Eloah (or Eloahh) or Elowahh in the Hebrew and refers to the singular one true God. The plural form elohim or elahhin in the Chaldean is plural except where the definite article is used making it Ha elohim meaning The God (cf. SHD 430 and notes). God is thus the power that extends to other beings of the heavenly host and exists as those among us. Thus the name elohim and yahovah are used of multiple beings as creations of the One True God, and all acting for Him. The concept is the same in Chaldean or Hebrew or the variants derived from those languages. The name Allah’ is merely a form that identifies this sense of the singular Power acting among us. It contains the idea of plurality only in so far as the agents of The Power act for it and contain elements of its power.

The propaganda that emanates from Binitarians and Trinitarians in the West regarding the name of God in Islam is uninformed nonsense and should be challenged whenever it is uttered (see the papers The Names of God (No. 116) and The Name of God in Islam (No. 054)).

Q3. Did the Prophet recognize the God of the Jews as the Only True God?

A. The Islamic faith refers to the One True God as Allah. The profession of the faith of Islam (Shahaadah) is correct in that there is no Eloah but Eloah (La Elaaha Ella Allah (see also Surah 37:35; 47:19). The corrupted Muslims insist upon adding a second “Shahaadah” proclaiming that Muhammad is God’s Messenger. This is by definition ‘Shirk’ (idolatry) and a flagrant defiance of God and His messenger(s). The Koran declares that the faith makes no distinction between the prophets (Surah 3:83-84). All prophets are equal in their inspiration from God.

Muhammad and the first four caliphs called the rightly guided caliphs were the only doctrinally pure Muslim leaders. After them Islam collapsed and became perverted by traditions (named the Hadith or Ahadith) as had Judaism and Christianity before them.

Qasim and the Muhammad commenced to preach purely to obviate the Athanasian Trinitarian doctrines they saw as a heresy, and to unify the Arab people under Monotheism. The Koran groups Christians with two sets of names – People of the Scripture and Christians generally. These distinctions are now lost because modern Christians do not understand the distinctions extant at the time. The distinctions involved the Trinitarians who fought against Islam and the persecuted Pergamum Church, which allied with Islam.

Q4. A Christian told me that Allah possesses a soul. Does Allah possess a soul like the angels, man and the other creatures, seeing that all were created just like God? Is the soul created or not?

A. The Bible talks about a spirit in man. It is different from the Spirit of God. It is like our breath. It is a gift of life from God (Zech. 12:1). When we die the spirit of man leaves us (Ps. 146:4). It returns to God (Eccl. 12:7). When God made Adam He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7; 1Cor. 15:45).

So this spirit in man is not a soul that lives on in “Heaven” after we die. The Bible says man became a living soul or a person. This soul can die (Ezek. 20:18). When the Bible talks about the soul it is really talking about the life of the body. Soul can mean creature, or man or life. Both animals and man die the same death, but man will live again. So the spirit of man is what makes us different to animals.

God is not a person; He is a being of pure Spirit. Teaching that God possesses a soul is another attempt to assert that the soul is eternal. The eternal soul is another lie, in the same vein as demons cannot die and they cannot repent.

Q5. What is the Holy Spirit in the Qur’an? Would the Arabic expression ruh al-qodos indicate the Holy Spirit, as it is very similar to the Hebrew term for Holy Spirit, ruach al qodesh?

A. Ahmed certainly means Advocate or “Most Praised” and refers to the Holy Spirit of which Jesus (Yahoshua/Joshua) was Herald. The Church was guided by the Holy Spirit and this is the Ahmed/Advocate referred to in the Koran.

Q6. When referring to God, why does the Koran use both the pronoun "I" and "WE"? Some say it is a feature of literary style in Arabic, or a person designated by using the pronoun "we" out of respect or glorification. Please advise me so I can respond adequately to unbelievers that raise this question.

A. The Koran is narrated through (the) Godhead's Name –Smillahalrahmanalrahim. Each chapter is preceded by the equivalent formula “By Allah-Alrahman-Alrahim's name” (Q1:1).

The beginning of chapter 9 has been lost and so the Bismillah is missing there. The Bismillah is not part of the revelation except where it appears in the discourse.

In much of the Koran, (the) Godhead's Name praises (the) Godhead above all else (Q1:5). Moreover, (the) Godhead's Name frequently shifts between speaking in the first person singular to the first person plural and back again even in the same sentence (Q2:38). These patterns are directly comparable with the saying of the Lord alternating with the saying of Elohim through the Prophets of old. Just like the “saying” of the Lord in Exodus 4:22 and Jeremiah 31:9 concerning Israel, (the) Godhead's Name speaks to us as its children from Q31:16-19.

In Q90:3, the Name might be swearing by itself and by Jesus (Q19:15 and 33) respectively as begetter and begotten which Hebrews 1:8-9 indicates is that certain “Elohim” (of Psalm 45:6-7) are subordinate to the Supreme God.

In Q43:57-60, (the) Godhead's Name speaking describes Jesus as a Servant and a Caliph, indirectly, likewise attesting to his divinity. (The) Godhead on the other hand while being the source of Spirit (Q4:171, Q58:22) begets not (Q10:68, Q17:111, Q18:4, Q19:35, Q19:88-92, Q21:26, Q23:91, Q25:2, Q37:152, Q43:81, Q72:3) – save by adoption (Q39:4) – but even then demands declaration of real parentage (Q33:5). Nor is it begotten (Q112:3) though there is no god without it (Q2:163). Yet while matter is our mother, Spirit is our father, while (the) Godhead has no consort (Q6:101). Even so, (the) Godhead's Name is Our Father, and by its name (the) Godhead is our patron.

Q7. Surah 12:87 contains the expression in Arabic ruh Allah, rendered by some translators as mercy of Allah. What is the concept?

A. The word in the Surah 12 at ayat 87 is not ruh Allah as many mistakenly construe it. It is rauh. Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his fn. 1762 makes this statement asserting that many translators have mistakenly construed it. He says that: “Rauh includes the idea of a Mercy that stills or calms our distracted state and is particularly appropriate here in the mouth of Jacob.”

5: Christ in the Koran

Q1. In contrast to Talmudic Judaism, which did not recognize the Messiah, did the Prophet of Islam recognize Jesus as the Messiah who had to come?

A. Qasim’s family had been under Christian influence and was Christian; but he was not Trinitarian and that was the issue on which Islam was founded and the Koran written. It must be remembered that the Arabian Prophet was writing to refute the Trinitarian heresy. Trinitarians claimed that Christ was a true God when the Bible was clear that there was only One True God and that Christ was His son whom He sent (Jn. 17:3; 1Jn. 5:20). The Koran must be read in that light but it must also be read in the light of the texts available to Qasim and the council of the Muhammad.

No self-appointed Muslim will be able to read the Qur’an and ignore the Torah, or the Gospels, or the Psalms, or the Prophets.

Q2. It seems that in the Surah 4:171, the Qur’an recognizes Jesus as the Word of God sent to Mariam (Mary). Is this a good understanding of the Surah?

A. Yes, It is His ruach ha qodes and His word that Allah spread in Christ (cf. Surahs. 2:87; 3:45; 4:171; 5:46). The ayat is directed at the people of the Book or Scriptures. In the letter to Negus, king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Muhammad said: "... Jesus is His [Allah’s] slave and His messenger and His spirit and His word which He cast unto Mary." Yussuf Ali also in fn. 676 refers to 3:59 and states he is a spirit proceeding from God but not the One True God. The text has the words added: For God is one God: Glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son; i.e. ‘Far Exalted is He’ is added to disguise the text which merely says Glory be to Him above having a son. This text does not deny the son but rather that the Glory is to God alone.

Q3. The Koran strongly denies the divinity of Christ and his divine sonship. What does the Koran teach concerning Christ, and is Islam faithful to the faith which was once delivered?

A. Like the Bible, the Koran must be taken in context and cannot be read in isolation. Texts from the Koran taken in isolation indeed appear to deny the fact of Christ as Son of God as we see immediately above but the text has been added to much later (see the paper Christ and the Koran (No. 163)).

No prophet can disagree with the law and what was revealed before him in the testimony (Isa. 8:20). The message of any prophet is merely explanation of what has gone before, and God’s revelation of what is to come to pass. Hadithic Islam has introduced an interpretation that conflicts with the Koran, as well as with Scripture. So also does most of Christianity disagree with the Law and the Testimony. Christianity can’t even obey the Ten Commandments. Judah can’t even acknowledge that they killed the Messiah when the Scriptures said that they would kill him, and the NT testifies that they did kill him.

Q4. Why does the Messiah of the Koran seem to have been born as all human beings; wasn’t he begotten of God?

A. This is the sentiment of the Koran, which says Christ was not begotten of God in any physical sense (cf. Surah 19:34; 4:171) but God simply said: Be! And he was in the body of Mariam and a human foetus (Surah 3:59). By this process the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Surah 4:171; John 1:14).

Q5. In the Qur’an, does it say that Jesus was born as a man who was capable of sinning?

A. Christ had to be able to have sinned or he is a robot and there is no judgment of Satan. In all points he was tempted as we are (Heb. 4:15; see the paper The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160)). Nowhere in the Koran does it intimate that he was not capable of sinning, and his sacrifice and our salvation depend on it. How else can he be the Messiah as the Koran proclaims him to be?

Q6. Why does the doctrine of the Koran say that Christ was not crucified but it was another who was crucified and at the same time it identified Jesus as the Messiah? The text is in contradiction with the gospels.

A. From Surahs 3:55 and 5:117, it clearly states that God allows Jesus to die and that Jesus was resurrected by his God, who brought him back to Him. Modern Islam rejects comment on the Messiah and they even deny the Gospels they are told to read. Modern Islam does not actually want to obey and do what the Koran says.

Q7. In Surah 5:110, the Qur’an makes reference to Jesus and says that he preached to men from the cradle. Could you explain this?

A. The text says: So that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity (see also Yussuf Ali fn.817 and 3:46 and n. 388 to that text). It is a reference to the gospels (Lk. 2:46) where Christ spoke to the elders at the Temple and who were amazed with him. The text goes on to say of God speaking to Christ: Behold! I taught thee The Book and Wisdom (cf. 3:48), The Law and the Gospel. In this text it also refers to the healing of the blind and the lepers and the resurrection of the dead by God’s will rather than Christ’s own will and power. The use of clay to create and heal is referred to in the text.

6: The Bible and Christianity

Q1. Do the Muslims believe in the same God as the Christians?

A. The Islamic faith refers to the One True God as Allah. It is easy for all to see that there is no God but the One True God. This is eternal life that you know the One True God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17:3).

What the Arabian Prophet does do is destroy completely the Athanasian concept of the Trinity, which was never held by the original Christian Church, and for which they have been continually persecuted.

The Trinity was built on the lie of Binitarianism introduced at Nicea in 325 CE. The concept of the Duality of Christ and God stems from this error (see the paper Binitarian and Trinitarian Misrepresentation of the Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127b)). The Prophet Qasim was faced with refuting this error continually, due to the spread of the false teaching (see the paper Christ and the Koran (No. 163)).

Christ was not only pre-existent; he was and is the elohim or Elohi of Israel, as Yahovah, sent by Yahovih or Yahovah of Hosts, the Elyon or God Most High. This being, the one true God, is Eloah. He is the object of worship of the Temple as HaElohim or The Elohim or God. Christ is not the one true God. Only this being, Eloah (Elahh to the Chaldeans and Allah’ to Islam) stood alone in abiding perpetuity having nothing coeval or co-existing with Himself (cf. the paper Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127)). Ha Elohim (or The Elohim) was Eloah. He was Messiah’s God and he appointed Messiah and anointed him as elohim with the oil of gladness above his partners (cf. Ps. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9) and Christ was faithful to the one who made him (cf. Heb. 3:2 Marshall’s Greek English Interlinear RSV).

Q2. The majority of the translations of the Qur’an use the word religion or the religion of Allah. Is this word religion found in the original Qur’an?

A. The Koran is often misinterpreted and mistranslated to hide the interrelated meaning between the Koran and the Bible.

The Cow
[2.138] (Receive) the baptism of Allah, and who is better than Allah in baptising? and Him do we serve.
The Holy Qur'an, translated by M.H. Shakir and published by Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, Inc., in 1983.

Several other translations are listed below.

Pickthall: (We take our) colour from Allah, and who is better than Allah at colouring. We are His worshippers.

Darabadi: Ours is the dye of Allah! and who is better at dyeing than Allah! And we are His worshippers.

Mohammed Asad: [Say: “Our life takes its] hue from God! And who could give a better hue [to life] than God, if we but truly worship Him?"

Yusufali: (Our religion is) the Colour of Allah: and who can colour better than Allah? And it is He Whom we worship.

Comment: Sibghah ص ب غ: the root-meaning implies a dye or colour; apparently the Arab Christians mixed a dye or colour in the baptismal water, signifying the baptized person got a new colour in life. Yusuf Ali.

The word “Sibghatun” means dye, color, hue (n). Thus, the words derived from the root letters mean: to dye, color, baptize, dip, immerse, hue, assume the attribute, mode, mature, code of law, religion.

In the Ayah 138 of Surah Al-Baqaraah of the Qur’an the attributes of Allah and His Code of Law is called Allah’s Sibghah.

The Koran commands that the faithful repent and be baptised. The modern Hadith teaches that baptism is unnecessary, and uses the text to imply that Allah baptises rather than any physical baptism being required, which is the exact opposite of the intent of the Koran and the Bible. The message of the Koran must be interpreted within the context of Scripture. Baptism is the key requirement of the elect to attain the First Resurrection. Those who teach against it, do not attain to the Kingdom of God and the Garden of the First Resurrection themselves, and prevent all who listen to them from doing so.

The Bible is clear that there is one Faith, one Lord, one Baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:5; Surah 2:138; 5:73; 6:82). Most of the world is not effectively baptised.

Q3. Where is the reference to the "gentile prophet" that the Qur’an says is in the Books? I have been looking for it... Surah 7:157. The argument is that the term Ummi and its derivatives cannot mean "illiterate," but it means "Gentile." When searching for all references to this word and derivative (seven times)--all instances seem to flow better with the translation Gentile. I did find one of the places that the modern Islamic scholars argue is a reference--but it is not from the Torah or Gospels. It is in Isaiah 42. It is interesting because it does specify a place (where Kedar dwells) which would indicate the Arabian habitations.

A. Surah 7:157-9 refers to the Church that follows the laws of Moses (159) (see Pickthall).

Muslim scholars try to make the text refer to the unlettered prophet as being a reference to Qasim (Muhammad) of the Arabian church and Yusuf Ali has a reference to this (1127) and refers back to the comments by Moses where he says that The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet in the midst of thy brethren like unto me. He omits the comments by Moses from Deut. 18:15. Qasim was not of the sons of Israel and was not of the brethren of the children of Israel and could not be referred to here.

Verses 16-18 show that God is saying clearly that He will raise this prophet from Israel and anyone who will not hearken to him will have it required of him and the prophet who utters words not commanded of him will die.

This text can only refer to Christ and not Qasim and the Muslims use this text to avoid the requirement to follow the law.

Q4. Does the Bible contain prophecies about the prophet of the Muslims?

A. To properly understand the texts of the faith, you must be submissive to God and repent and be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit or be in that process (look at the paper Repentance and Baptism (No. 052)). Satan is the god of this world (2Cor. 4:4) and he established this tripartite religious system of False Judaism, False Christianity and False Islam, so that the faith could not be understood and the divisions could be used in the last days to establish the Beast system and ultimately destroy mankind.

Q5. Who are the “People of the Book”?

A. What should be borne in mind when reading the Koran is that we are talking about three separate Christianities, with two irreconcilable concepts of God. The Christian church in the East included one of the original churches founded by the Apostles, that of John at Ephesus and Smyrna, and also, later, quasi heretical offshoots, including the Nestorians and various elements, which were later called Monophysite.

Monophysitism, however, had later heretical divergences from the original sect of the Apostles. Monophysitism was both the doctrine of the Unitarians (often also termed Arians) and also that of the Asians. Athanasians were opposed in the west by the Unitarian Christians termed Arian Christians, by the Trinitarians from Rome.

The people of the Scripture are seen from Surahs 2:105, 111ff., 120, 144; 3:23, 64ff., 98f.,110ff., 186f., 199; 4:44f., 123, 153ff., 171; 5:5, 15, 19ff., 59, 65, 68, 77, 29:46; 33: 26 f.; XCVIII 1 to end; LVII: 29. Their history is told in the papers General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122) and The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170).

Q6. What is Nazarenism; is it Judaism, and where did it develop? Is Islam a form of Arabic Nazarenism?

A. The Nazarenes were one of two forms of Judaizing in the Christian Middle East. They kept themselves distinct from Gentile Christianity. The first were referred to as Ebionites. They admitted only a gospel according to St Matthew; they rejected Paul as an apostate heretic (and denied the divinity of Christ as the Trinitarians saw it).

The Nazarenes acknowledged the obligation of the whole “Mosaic Law” for Christians of Jewish descent, but allowed Gentile Christians as proselytes of the gate, to omit these observances (cf. ERE, art. “Judaizing”, Vol. 7, p. 611a).

They were thus not seen as part of the church or of early Islam.

Q7. Are the Nazarenes different from Jews and Christians?

A. Nazarenes were basically Messianic Jews who acknowledged the whole Mosaic Law and introduced in effect a distinction into the Christian faith in the Middle East. As such they could not be of Islam in the same way the church was operating.

Q8. Who was Theophilus of Dibous? What was his role for the origin of Christianity in Arabia and his beliefs?

A. Theophilus the Indian came from the island of Dibous and was appointed by the Emperor Contantius (d. November 3, 361) who was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. He was an Arian but like his father Constantine he was not formally baptised until he was near death and was baptised as an Arian and he certainly advanced the Arian cause throughout his reign. Not a lot is known with certainty as the later Trinitarian theologians vilified all and claimed that Constantius and the bishop of Antioch at the time were so-called semi-Arians. That was a term and a sect that did not emerge until after the Council of Constantinople in 381 and is improbable. He acted against Jewish interest by limiting the capacity to own slaves or convert Christians to Judaism as slaves. Writers closer to the time were more adamant that he was a pure Arian and the history of the Emperors indicate he could have been nothing else. However, he was also a pagan and retained the title of Pontificus Maximus and he appointed Julian the Apostate as his successor in November 361. Theophilus of Dibous was appointed by him to go to Asia Minor throughout the South and Southeast particularly and into Ethiopia before the death of Constantius and reportedly in the sixth decade, which meant he was appointed sometime in 360 and well before November of 361. He is also reported to have gone from Asia Minor and Ethiopia into India. This is most likely as the Archbishop of Abyssinia, bishop Mueses followed his footsteps into India and on into China (see the paper General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No.122)).

There is no doubt that Antioch was not Trinitarian at that time and the Sabbatarian Arians were in control of Asia Minor under the Paulicians and the Arabs generally and also the Nestorians. That was to continue until and contribute to the rise of Islam ca 622.

Q9. In numerous texts and translations relative to the religion of Islam we see the word unfaithful appearing (in Arabic al kafir). Who were these persons referred to as al kafir or non-believers in the time of Mohammad?

A. Unbelievers at the time were people who denied the faith by breach of the Laws and the testimony. They could be Pagans usually as Trinitarians were specifically identified by their doctrines. However, Trinitarians could not marry in Islam but Sabbatarians Unitarians could.

Q10. In Surah 6:125, it says that Allah guides certain people to believe, and yet He also punishes those who do not believe. We know that Allah is perfectly just, so how would you explain this Surah?

A. The Surah refers to the calling of God as referred to in the NT text where God calls and is a reference to Romans 8:29-30. God calls those who He wills and opens their breasts to the faith. Those whom He does not call he leaves straying. These are those who refuse to believe and are those He consigns to the Second Resurrection as we see in the NT texts and especially in Romans and in Revelation chapter 20. Each is called in their proper time.

Q11. There are also ayats (verses) which say to kill the "miscreant". What do these verses mean, and would it be necessary to put them in the context of the era in which they were written?

A. The OT Scriptures are clear on the punishments under the law and the Koran merely reinforces the law and the penalties which in many cases are allocations to the Second Resurrection.

Q12. Surah 5:69 does not say "the Jews" but uses a verb "those who Judaized". What believers is it talking about?

A. These are the Ebionites and Nazarenes referred to above.

Q13. Why does the Qur’an make a distinction between Sabeans and Christians?

A. Sabaeans are not specifically Sabbath–Keeping Christians although they probably were from the intrusions of the Abyssinians ca 300-350. They were at the time of Islam Southern Arabians although their origin may have been in the North and originally (probably from before Solomon) they worshipped the Moon God and the sun consort Shams and the Morning Star system of Astarte. They were overthrown in the South by another dynasty. About A.D. 300 the ever-increasing Abyssinian immigrants overthrew the Himyarite dynasty in Southern Arabia, and inaugurated the "Kingdom of Saba, Raidan, Hadhramôt, and Yemen", which, after yielding place for an interval to a Judaeo-Sabean kingdom and violent religious persecution, which was no doubt aimed at the formerly Abbysinian Christian community (cf. Pereira, "Historia dos Martyres de Nagran", Lisbon, 1899) was re-established by Byzantine intervention in 525. After the rout of the Viceroy Abraha at Mecca in 570, the Persians seized control. Southern Arabia became a Persian province till its incorporation in Islam.

After this period there were three forms of Sabean groups. The First in Iraq near Basra were also called Nasorians or Mandeans or Christians of St. John. There was a Gnostic group who practiced regular immersion probably on a yearly basis. They live in harmony with Islam but are probably not the group mentioned in the Koran (cf. Yusuf Ali n. 76).

Another group of pseudo-Sabeans lived near Harran and attracted attention ca 820. They had long hair and peculiar dress and probably adopted the name to obtain privileges because the Sabeans were mentioned in the Koran and they then claimed they were people of the Book (ibid).

Q14. Is it true that Islam and Muslims are neologisms that the Christian monks or friars forged on the basis of the Arab word "muslim"?

A. The Arabic word Muslim is the active participle of aslama of which the noun of action is Islam. Thus it is a product of the Arabic language itself. It means the Resignation or Surrender to God and carried with it that meaning from its root forms.

Christian monks and ascetics did not occur until the later centuries of the Christian Church just before the rise of Islam itself. It is thus impossible to be an invention of these aberrant groups.

7: Four Rightly Guided Caliphs

Q1. I have heard there are different branches of Islam if so what are they?

A. The two main branches of Islam are Sunni and Shi’a Islam. There are also Sufi Mystics that have numerous lodges all over the world. Other major branches are Karijite, Ahmadiyya, and also the Quranism movement.

Details of these and other smaller branches such as

are found in the reference at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches

Also there are various groups such as the Kurds who were the tribe of Sala u Din or Saladin the great general of Islam at the time of the Crusades. Also the Alawites in Syria who are another minor branch but effectively control its politics and officer corps. The conflicts between the Islamist and the Liberal schools are also extensive.

Q2. What does each branch of Islam believe?

A. This topic is too large for reference here but details can be found in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (ERE) and the various Wikipedia articles such as those above.

Q3. Are there conflicts of belief between the branches of Islam?

A. Islam is riddled with deadly and vicious sects and their consequent wars. The problems in Iraq are largely caused by the Sunni/Shi’a conflicts as are the conflicts between Iran and Iraq and elsewhere also.

Q4. Can you please describe what a Caliph is? Also is this office or person (whichever it may be) in operation today?

A. The office of Caliph was a ruler in Islam. It is derived from the Arabic Khalifah meaning successor. The form now in use is Khalif. The Oxford Universal Dictionary says the pronunciation with a long a is bad.

It is the Muslim title for the civil and religious ruler as successor to the prophet Qasim and leader of the “Muhammad.” His dominion is a Caliphate.

The first four caliphs were called the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. After that period Islam is considered to have deteriorated theologically under the Ummayids and Abbasids. There are a series of papers on Islam on the web at www.ccg.org and also on the fall of Jerusalem under Omar in the paper Golgotha: the Place of the Skull (No. 217). Look also at Mysticism Chapter 5 Islam (No. B7_5).

Q5. Could you please explain what is/was an Imam and how one becomes/became an Imam?

A. There are two meanings and uses for Imam. The title means to go before or precede. It is used of an officiating priest at a Muslim Mosque.

It was also used as a title given to various Muslim leaders and chiefs including the Caliphs or independent princes. The normal study and acceptance of a Muslim community are required.

8: Paradise

Q1. What does a system which claims that they go directly to heaven with 70 virgins attending to one’s every wish (provided they mangle as many people who disagree with them as possible) have to do with God and the Scriptures or the Qur’an?

A. The answer is nothing, no such doctrine exists in the faith or the Quran and those who teach so are liars and will face the judgment of the prophets and the elect in the second resurrection.

In Surah 2, The Cow, at verses 111-113, the Koran says:
“And they say: None enters Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. These are their own desires. Say bring you proof if you are truthful.
No, but whosever surrenders his purpose to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
And the Jews say the Christians follow nothing, and the Christians say the Jews follow nothing; yet both are readers of the Scripture. Even thus speak those who know not. Allah will judge between them on the day of the Resurrection concerning that wherein they differ.”

Thus the Koran is clear that the Resurrection of the dead is applicable to all flesh and not only to Christian or Jew, or indeed to any so-called “Muslim.”

The Bible and the Koran are explicit that the resurrection of the dead is to the Gardens of Paradise, as they are termed in the Koran, and to judgment. No one goes to heaven or hell after he dies. There is no such thing as heaven and hell in the Bible or the Qur’an (see the paper The Soul (No. 092) and also The Resurrection of the Dead No. 143)).

Q2. Where does this idea come that people think we can blow each other up and somehow be admitted to a heavenly place administered to by females of beauty and virtue?

A. Certainly those who think that they are a martyr for the faith and that they will go straight to heaven and will have some 70 beautiful virgins waiting on his needs in heaven did not get them from the Koran, as it says no such thing.

If you say you are a Christian, or Jew, or of Islam, and do not acknowledge the truth of the Resurrection of the dead, and the Rule of the Messiah, you are not a follower of the Law and the Testimony of the Prophets and the faith of Jesus Christ and there is no light in you (Isa. 8:20). The Koran and the Bible do not differ on this teaching. Nor could they because if the Koran and the Bible differ, then the Koran is a false work by a false prophet.

Christ said that the angels in heaven neither marry nor are given in marriage. The risen dead are not permitted to marry. Christ said: “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels, which are in heaven” (Mark 12:25).

Q3. The New Testament talks about the third Heaven where paradise is, and the Koran shows a seventh Heaven, where the prophet found it?

A. The terms are generic. The NT term refers to the classifications of the basic Atmosphere, Solar and Galactic structure of the Earth and the heavenly structure of the Throne of God in the “sides of the North.” The seven classifications of the Koran are developments of these making distinction between the Atmospheres, inner and outer space, the Solar system, the Galaxy and so on.

9: The Sharia

Q1. On what basis is Sharia established? Where does its source come from, the Koran or Hadiths or neither?

A. Sharia is based on the Hadith and has no basis in the Bible or the Koran. It is heresy.

Q2. Does Islam authorise polygamy? Many people use verse 3 of Surah 4 to assert that it does, but is that indeed what the text says?

A. Polygamy is far from ideal but if present in society it requires regulation. That is why Mohammad regulated it based on the laws of God given to the prophet Moses (see the paper Polygamy in the Bible and the Koran (No. 293).

Q3. Are there passages in the Qur’an that refer to tithing, and if so, would it show that those who wrote the Qur’an actually gave their tithe?

A. God said through the prophet Malachi that Tithing is the sign of the repentance of the individual and is the test of the return to God (Malachi 3:6-18). Note that the Tithes are the basis of the sign of the return to God according to these Surahs 2:43,83; 4:162; 5:12,55; 9:11; 19:31,55; 21:73; 27:3; 98:5 etc. Thus, the prophet enjoined to the Church the keeping of tithing. The correct doctrines on tithing are explained in the paper Tithing (No. 161).

Q4. Muslims claim that consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the Qur'an? Is it the consumption or intoxication that is prohibited?

A. A drunkard will not inherit the Kingdom of God because of his control problems. Moderation is promoted - not abstinence (cf. Surah 16:67; 2:219; 10:91 and Wine in the Bible [188]). Alcohol in moderation is good. If you have problems with alcohol, learn to control it.

10: Islamic Calendar

Q1. Islam follows a lunar calendar but why don’t they calculate the months from the conjunction instead of the crescent moon?

A. The Fuqaim, a clan of the Kinana in pre-Hadithic times had responsibility for the calendar in Ishmael as the Levites and Issachar had in Israel. At the beginning of Islam, the children of Israel and Ishmael observed initially the holy days on the same or similar days. The calendar was predicted accurately for years in advance, for millennia, until the crescent was introduced from paganism and the Babylonian system. The Arabs followed the original system down to the times of the prophet.

No sooner was the prophet dead than his teachings were perverted and the calendar was corrupted. Under or after the Caliph Omar II (717-720) what became known as the Hadith commenced to be written. From the time of the death of Qasim in 632 the sayings not recognised by “the Muhammad” were rejected and refused to be written or compiled for good reason. The Hadith had wrecked the calendar of Islam due to its interpretation of the Surah, and for centuries this false system corrupted Islam and prevented any unification or reconciliation of the three great faiths.

Islam has made a farce out of God’s Calendar by misusing the words of the prophecy and dislocating the calendar from the seasons and the harvests of the Bible narrative. Thus, the plan of salvation is made obscure to the Arabs who claim to follow God and the faith of Islam as revealed to Abraham, Moses, Aaron, the prophets, Christ and the Church, which is the true Muhammad of the texts.

Q2. In Christianity and Judaism there are sacred months, does Islam have its own sacred months?

A. The Four Sacred Months in Islam are Rajab, Sha’aban, Ramadhan and Muharram. They were originally the same four months as found in Judaism and in the Bible and Ancient Israel. The Four Sacred months of the Faith, which were Abib, Iyar and Sivan as the first three months, and Tishri as the Seventh month according to the Bible, were restated in the Koran, but their names were not given so the Hadith wrecked that nexus as well. The Hadith did to Islam what the Talmud did to Judaism.

The calendar of the Church of God in Arabia was destroyed by the Hadith and the pagan Arabs after the death of the last Rightly Guided Caliph and the Crescent Moon was not introduced to Islam and its rituals for almost a thousand years after the formation of the faith there.

We know for a fact that the prophet and the church fasted according to the New Moon as determined by the Temple Calendar and we know that the Conjunction was kept as the New Moon according to the inscriptions in Mecca made after the establishment of Islam (see the paper Hebrew and Islamic Calendar Reconciled (No. 053)).

Q3. Does the Koran advocate the observance of the 7^th day Sabbath?

A. Early Islam under the Arabs adopted the week from the Jews and Christians. The names of the week came from the Jewish and Early Christian practices such as al Jumaah, meaning the meeting or congregation for worship, and the following or seventh day of the week was named as- Sabt, the Sabbath, on which worship was commanded by the God through the prophets and on which the Prophet Qasim himself did double prayers at the mosque and refrained from trade. The days go from twilight to twilight when colour can no longer be distinguished in thread. This has never changed from ancient times and agrees with ancient Hebrew systems.

When Islam is summoned to Juma’ah prayers, they are to hasten to the remembrance of Allah and cease trading (cf. Surah 62 Juma’ah (Congregation)). This is a reference to the fact that in the afternoon of Friday all trading ceased and people prepared for the Sabbath. The more cunning of later Islam directed this to the afternoon of the sixth day alone, and abandoned the Sabbath. Christianity replaced the seventh-day Sabbath and made the first day of the week (known as Sunday) their Sabbath, a practice firmly established by Zoroaster in Persia from the eighth century BCE.

The Sabbath is provided for spiritual development through submission to the divine command and through the recitation, hearing, and studying of the sacred books in worship. To fail to submit oneself to God and neglect the revelatory blessings of the Sabbath is to make a monkey of oneself. That is, to make oneself capable of obedience only as mimicry and without spiritual understanding.

Muhammad said to keep the Sabbath and whoever did not do so was an ape. Like Christ and the Apostles, all of Al Islam from Adam to Christ kept the Sabbath. But those who believed a lie subverted it and changed the day of worship of the faith to Sunday. They also introduced Easter for the worship of the ancient Goddess, which caused both Israel and the Arabs and the Sons of Keturah to stumble. In the same way, the Juma’ah was confined to Friday prayer session and the Sabbath was forgotten in Islam. Look at the paper The Juma'ah: Preparing for the Sabbath (No. 285).

To suggest that Ishmael had a different calendar from Israel and later Judah and early Christianity is nonsense. The week is tied to the Sabbath and had to remain and did so remain, being ordained by the Prophet to be kept (see the paper The Sabbath in the Qur'an (No. 274)).

Q4. Why doesn’t Modern Islam keep the Sabbath?

A. Islam was corrupted by the eastern mystical influences and the pagans destroyed it. Mystics invented the Hadith to destroy the Qur’an as the Jews invented the Talmud to destroy the Torah. Even the Modern Islam emblem of the crescent and star is the symbol of the mother goddess system of Istar or Easter. There is not one major religious system that follows the message of the Torah, the Prophets, or the Church.

11: Abraham

Q1. What was the religion of Abraham? Was he Jewish, Christian or Muslim?

A. There is only one religion and one system of worship from the Patriarchs through Moses and Christ to Qasim and the elders of the “Muhammad” and on through the Church of God until the present time.

The Surrender and the Law of God was given to Abraham and to Isaac, prophet of the righteous and through his line (Surah 37:83-113). The descendants of Abraham were to have a major role in the future of the world and through them the world was given a great legacy.

Q2. Who is the "only son" of Abraham? Muslims state that it was Ishmael his first born son and not Isaac.

A. The misunderstanding in the Koran regarding the sacrifice of Isaac is explained in the text Genesis 22, Judaism, Islam, and the sacrifice of Isaac (No. 244). It was Isaac that was mentioned as the intended sacrifice and not Ishmael as taught by the Hadith. The concept regarding a rite of passage makes the conflict irrelevant; however, it does not mention Ishmael directly in the texts but rather the Hadith.

Q3. Was Abraham really the father of Monotheism?

A. No, Adam was the Father of Monotheism and all the patriarchs and prophets were monotheists.

Q4. The Qur’an says that Abraham was a friend of Allah. Why was this so?

A. The reasons are all found in Scripture and the comment is a direct reference to the texts in Scripture. The reasons are explained in the text Why was Abraham called "the Friend of God"? (No. 035).

Q5. Which are the Scriptures of Abraham?

A. It is in fact the Religion of Abraham not the Scriptures. The faith was given to Abraham and He was called from Ur of Chaldea. It was this legacy that he gave to his descendants.

Q6. According to Surah 2:130, was Abraham one of the elect?

A. The Surah and ayat confirm he was called of God and given the faith and it was this faith that he gave to his descendants. This was the faith of the Surrender or Al Islam in the Arabic. Ayat 130 says he will be in the hereafter as one of the Righteous and thus he was one of the elect. The Hebrew text of Genesis states that the Gentiles recognised him as a prince of the elohim and hence a son of God. The English translations do not translate this correctly.

Q7. In what way is Abraham an example to follow, according to the Surah 60:4?

A. According to the ayat, Abraham and those with him are an example of the faith and the distinction between the faith and infidels, unless as Abraham did, when he prayed for forgiveness for them.

Q8. What is the meaning of the Arabic word hanif?

A. A Hanif is a person who maintains the pure monotheistic beliefs of the prophet Abraham. In other words, the Church of God and the prophets and patriarchs are the Hanif of the “Muhammad,” which is the body of Christ.

Note that many Hanifs were Christian friends or even opponents of Islam. The requirement was to have devoted one’s self to the faith of Abraham. On the collapse of true Islam after the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs some Hanif were obliged to oppose what Islam had become. Some were classified as Sabbatarian Christians and others as opponents of Islam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanif

12: Prophesies in the Qur’an

Q1. What does the Qur’an have to say in prophecy or about the prophets?

A. The Koran has much to say about the prophets in Surahs 2:61, 91, 136, 177, 213; 3:21, 80ff.

Their inspiration is discussed in 4:163 and 6:86ff. There is an adversary to each (6:113). God has made His covenant with them (33:7). Much of the prophecy in the Koran is merely restatement of the plan of Salvation in Scripture particularly concerning the Gardens of Paradise (cf. Surahs 2; 7; 13; 15; 18; 19; 22; 25; 36; 37; 38; 43; 44; 47; 52; 55; 56 and 76). Because the Imams don’t study Scripture they are ignorant of the time frames between the Gardens and differ greatly on the time interval between the two Gardens of the First and Second Resurrection.

13: Arabs

Q1. Can you explain the context of the beliefs of the Arabs before Islam emerged among the Arabs?

A. The Arabs had a mixture of beliefs that ranged between Christianity, Paganism and Judaism. Their Christianity was of a few types ranging from Unitarian Sabbatarianism, of which Qasim was one, to Trinitarianism and on to Nestorianism. The paganism was in fact the worship of the Moon God sin and Shams or Shamas his female consort the Sun and the Morning Star Istar, or Easter, the Goddess. Judaism among the Arabs had long since been corrupted to Talmudic Mysticism.

14. Taqiyya

Q1. Muslims teach that it is OK to lie to others to conceal the faith or gain advantage. Where does this idea come from?

A. This practice is termed Taqiyya. It stems from the misrepresentation and corruption of the Koran at Surah 3:28 and 16:106.

Let not the believers take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than Believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from God: except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them. But God cautions you (to remember) Himself; for the final goal is to God (cf. Yussuf Ali and fn. 373).

Muslims even lie to each other over matters of their views and association. In some areas it is difficult to know who are Sunni and Shia as many (Shia particularly) conceal their classification and identify as Sunni in some Sunni or Shia controlled areas under this doctrine of Taqiyya.

This view is completely contrary to Scripture and the Koran. The view is a corruption of the Koran and a direct breach of the Ninth Commandment. Surah 16:106 exonerates those who are under torture or duress (cf. Yussuf Ali n. 2145 re ‘Ammar bin Yasir).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya