I would like to take this Christmas morning to speak directly to the growing number of Islamic readers we have here on our blog. I would like to thank you for stopping by and reading what we have to say. We appreciate the opportunity of proclaiming to you the faith of Christianity, a faith that had been proclaimed for hundreds of years prior to the time of Muhammad.
You will recognize these words from the Qur’an:
1. Say: He is Allah the One and Only;
2. Allah the Eternal Absolute;
3. He begetteth not nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him.
(Al-Ikhlaas, 112:1-4)
Likewise,
And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary confirming the law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light and confirmation of the law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah. (Al-Maida, 5:46)
You may have even considered the third ayah of Al-Ikhlaas during the Christmas season, for assuredly its background is the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God eternally, as to His divine existence of the second Person of the Trinity, not in the sense of God having a wife and begetting a son in time. But surely, Al-Ikhlaas is seeking to deny the very heart of the Christian confession of the deity of Jesus Christ. If you read Arabic, you are familiar with this ayah:
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
With this in mind, may I invite you to consider the following Biblical text:
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
These words were written seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, and hence 1,300 years before the days of Muhammad. There is surely no question about the validity of this text, for the Great Isaiah Scroll, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, confirms the text of Isaiah’s prophecy. The very wording of the beginning of this prophecy should be understood by every Muslim reader: the Hebrew reads, Wnl’ê-!T;nI !Be… Wnl’ª-dL;yU dl,yå-yKi, or in Arabic, لأَنَّهُ يُولَدُ لَنَا وَلَدٌ وَنُعْطَى ابْنًا. Do you see the significance of this? The very same root term, yld, is used here of the birth of a child, the coming Messiah, the “Son” who is “given,” that appears in Al-Ikhlaas’ third ayah, which says God does not beget nor is He begotten!
But here is what I wish you to consider. As you can see, the literal Arabic reading of the description of “the law that had come before him” in Surah 5:46 is that it was “between his hands,” i.e., what he possessed. But what did Isaa possess in the first century? We know He read from the very prophet Isaiah, for Luke 4:17 tells us: “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written….” So, if Jesus held this prophecy in His hands, and it describes the coming Messiah as both a child who is born, yld, and a Son who is given, even calling him “Mighty God,” and Surah 5:46 tells us that Isaa confirmed, or guaranteed the truthfulness of, that which was between His hands, then does it not follow that you, as a Muslim, cannot believe both Al-Maida and Al-Ikhlaas? Since Al-Ikhlaas contradicts this prophecy from God that preceded it by 1300 years, and since Isaa verified the truthfulness of what is found in Isaiah, how can the Qur’an actually be the revelation of God?
Have you ever considered Jesus’ own words, recorded long before Muhammad, in the New Testament? I would invite you to take a fresh look at Jesus. Take the time to read His own words in the New Testament. You will find a very different Jesus than the Isaa of the Qur’an, to be sure!
