ANSWER TO LORETTA RAJKUMAR’S VIEWS WHO SAYS MOHAMMAD ALVI MAY HAVE READ THE GITA AND VEDAS BUT CAN HE COMMENT ON THE BIBLE [Part – II]

Certain issues raised by you in your post on my timeline had not been answered in the previous mail. Therefore, I am moving on to the second part of my response.

As you have seen, logic as well as biblical account seem to be confirming that Abraham had given the sacrifice of his first son Ismael (as given in the Quran) and not of Isaac (as Bible mentions now).

Bible has given detailed genealogy of Isaac’s descendants. Why is it that no trace of any remembrance of the sacrifice is seen in the descendants of Isaac while the descendants of Ismael kept the remembrance alive during all periods until the same was made part of Muslim rituals by Prophet Mohammad? In my earlier write-up, I have also given two other proofs, regarding how Ismael alone can be the ‘only son’ and not Isaac. Certain well-meaning people try to defend the present Biblical mention of Isaac as the ‘only son’ by saying that since Ismael had been taken to a far off place, people knew of Isaac as the ‘only son’. In their enthusiasm, they forget that it is not the people who are speaking but God is doing the talking in Genesis and wherever Ismael was, God would have known that Isaac was never the ‘only son’.

The change in name had not been made by any of the Prophets but apparently, at a later stage, it was made by the Roman Church. The Church only replaced the name of Ismael with Isaac and were not able to change the repeated mention of ‘only son’ and the mention of the name of Beer Sheba from two different places and thus the truth could not remain hidden.

Secondly, I have given sufficient proofs in my earlier write-up that it is the West which had been in the habit of changing the names and pronunciation of Muslim names, so as to make them appear more Christian. The question need to be asked from them why they did it.

Next you write: “respect our holy bible as most content was taken from the Old Testament by Mohammad. Jesus didn’t come and rewrite the Bible; he came to save mankind through his death which was prophesized accurately by the prophets of Old Testament.”

Bible indeed is the book that is worth being respected. In fact, the first Chapter of Quran makes it obligatory on all Muslims to consider all scriptures revealed earlier at same level as Quran and make no distinction between one and another. This is the reason why I give the same respect to Bible (Old Testament) as well as Gita and Vedas. It indeed is a Divine Scripture. Muslims who do not give the same level of respect to books revealed earlier are not acting as per the verse in Quran which makes it mandatory to accord same respect and do not distinguish one scripture from other. Even if some Muslims do not give the same respect, the value that Quran has bestowed on previously revealed scriptures becomes the reason why howsoever much others burn the Quran, a Muslim will never burn any of the scriptures, be it Gita, Vedas or Old Testament.

Seeing the similarity of subjects discussed, you concur that Mohammad took most of the content from the Old Testament, whereas I am of opinion that there is similarity between the content of Old Testament and Quran because of the same source of their origin. If Quran was Mohammad’s own creation, why would he have accorded the same level of respect to scriptures of other religion? Just as Jesus propagated the teachings of Moses and David but also added some more of his own, Mohammad propagated the teachings of Moses, David and Jesus but was given a scripture in the form of Quran. I am sure you agree that neither Moses nor David nor Jesus were speaking on their accord. Whatever they were speaking was divinely ordained. And Quran too says Mohammad speaks not a word on his own.

I am not only proving that scriptures like Old Testament, Bible and Quran are from the same source but also that the Vedas and Gita as well as the teachings of Buddha are from the same source. Divine plan is that man, towards the end of the world, will realize the oneness of God and will see that all Divine Avatars and Prophets were propagating the one and the only Divine Straight Path to reach the One and Only God of the Universe. There is no reason for proselytization, i.e. for a Christian to convert to Islam or vice versa or for a Hindu to convert to another religion or vice versa. Everybody will find the truth from his own scripture. Need of the hour is not to convert but to seek the truth and continue with the endeavour until you have found the truth or your soul departs from the body.

Except that Muslims do not consider Jesus as the ‘son of God’, as modern day Christians believe, all Muslims hold Jesus in high esteem and are actually waiting for the day when he will arrive in person once again. I can give countless examples from Bible itself to prove that Jesus is not the son of God. But you are right when you say that the death of Jesus had been prophesized accurately by the earlier Prophets.

There is one more point. Just as the coming and death of Jesus had been prophesized accurately, the birth, life and death of the descent of the Spirit of Truth viz. the 14 Ahlulbayt (who are the divinities mentioned in Genesis, Psalms, etc. as well as in the Vedas) too had been prophesized accurately by several previous Prophets and Jesus himself was no exception. Moreover, I am showing in my posts that the forecasts of their coming had also been given in the Vedas and people of the time were awaiting the coming of Divine Guides or Devatas in human form.

MENTION OF THE DIVINITIES IN GENESIS, PSALMS, ETC.

No Jew or Christian today have any knowledge of the presence of certain Divine Beings, despite various scriptures dear to them elaborately talking about presence of these Divine Beings. How can you then claim to have understood your scriptures clearly? Fact is that the Divine Message has not been understood by most adherents of various religions and this is the reason why we find different paths in existence claiming to take you to God. Truth is that there is only one Divine Straight Path which has been propagated through various scriptures in various times and places and all the wavering, digression and deviation from that path has been the handiwork of the Forces of Darkness (Satan). In short, there is one path being shown by the Divinities (Forces of Light) and attempt is being made on regular basis by the Forces of Darkness to deviate and misguide us from that path.

The Old Testament [Genesis 3.5 (LXX)] says when Satan tried to influence Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, it said to them that if they eat the forbidden fruit they would become like the divinities (translated by some as ‘like gods’). The actual word in Hebrew means ‘divinities’ which was translated by early scholars as ‘gods’. But the people had no idea who the divinities were? It was their lack of knowledge which made some translate it as ‘God’ [meaning One God] and others like Irenaeus deviated further to say that the plural ‘gods’ referred to ‘believers’. Whatever meaning they give, there is no doubt that term used in original Hebrew text is in plural.

Other than the presence of the term ‘divinities’ (in plural) in the aforementioned verse, three passages in Psalms talk about divinities in plural which have been translated by some as ‘gods’. [Ps. 82.1; 50.1; 82.6]. Genesis, 3.22 too talks of ‘Like us’. Not only in Bible, similar descriptions are also available in the Vedas and Upanishads and also in Quran but neither the Jews and Christians nor the Hindus and Muslims have much idea about the true identity of the divinities.

Psalm 50.1,3 (49.1, 3 LXX) refers to the phrase ‘God of gods’. It is the presence of this phrase ‘God of gods’ in Psalm which make commentators conclude that ‘God’ is ‘the son, who came manifested to men’ while identifying ‘gods’ as believers or even as ‘false gods’. [Christosis by Ben C. Blackwell, publisher Mohr Siebeck, 2011, Page 44]. All these conclusions have been reached because of the failure of the commentators to understand the true Divine Plan.

De Incarn. 54 says: ‘He became human that we might become gods. [read ‘divinities’]’. Likewise Psalm talks of phrases ‘sons of the Most High’ and ‘You are gods’. Does it not reveal that the divinities, who are the sons of the Most High, will descend in human form to guide us and elevate our character so that we become like divinities themselves. Once these divinities descend in human form, they will die like men, says the Psalms.

“I have said, you are gods and all the sons of the Most High, but you die like men.” [Psalm 82]

There are other instances where ‘gods’ is used. [Psalm 96.5; 81.9; Jer. 10.11]. There is great confusion among Christians regarding the identity of these ‘gods’. Mosser [Psalm 82;46] writes, “Iranaeus acknowledges that one can in a certain sense legitimately refer to glorified human beings as gods, but he insists that these are not the same kind of being as the One God.”

The book Christosis says: “In 3.6.1, Iranaeus begins a new section of Book 3, in which he defends the singular God in distinction to those who might use biblical texts to argue for divine multiplicity.” These ‘gods’ have been referred to as ‘immortals’. Says Ben C. Blackwell: “Two primary characteristics that characterised the gods are that of immortality and power to bring order out of chaos.” [Christosis, page, 46].

My view is very simple! The scholars have been unable to know the solutions to such puzzles because they confine themselves to one scripture alone. Madam you claimed in your comment that God is very powerful and has agents like the angels working for him and He does not need humans to do his work. If this is so, why is it that God would send apostles in and around Jerusalem alone and leave it to the believers (humans) to carry the message to far off places like Western Europe or Eastern Asia and Africa? The issues that remained untouched or were not elaborately defined by one Prophet were discussed in detail by another Prophet at some other place and time on earth. When you confined yourself to teachings of one or few of the Divine Prophets, you were left with several unanswered questions.

To give an example to my claim, you are requested to tell why no Christian or Jew is aware who are the Divinities (that they have erroneously translated as ‘gods’) who are being referred to in their own scriptures? Divinities are the same as Devatas (described elaborately in the Vedas but Hindus have very little knowledge about their true identity); they are the Ahlulbayt (mentioned in the Quran but Muslims have very little knowledge about their true role and identity); and they are also the Soshiants of Zoroastrians.

Had the scholars looked into other scriptures, like the Vedas and Upanishads, they would have found that the Devatas (translated as ‘gods’) were presented as immortals there as well.

Inability to understand the real identity of those translated as ‘gods’, Christian scholars created the concept of ‘Son of God’, thus further deviating from the intended meaning. Likewise, their inability to understand the true role of ‘Spirit of God’ led to the creation of the concept of Triad, thereby further distancing the Christian scriptures from other Divine Scriptures, which too were talking about spirit [like the Paramatma in Hindu scriptures and Rooh in Quran] and showing its relationship with man on one end and the God on the other. This deviation is very similar to the concept of triad developed by Hindus of later period which had Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh standing on the same pedestal. Several Hindu scholars who knew the truth have elaborately defined that the three are not three gods but names of various stages of evolution process of creation. Despite various scholars saying so, common Hindus continue to call Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as gods with different work assigned to them. Very much like the concept of divinities, Satan has deviated mankind from the true understanding of the concept of Divine Spirit.

Quran, 17: 85 says: “They will ask the (of Mohammad) concerning the spirit. Say: The spirit is by command of my Lord, and knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little.”

Says the book Christosis: “The first reference to the activity of the triune God is recorded in the first account of creation [Genesis 1: 1-31; 2: 1-4]. There it states: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” [Genesis 1: 2] and also: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness’” [Genesis 1: 26]. “Elohim”, the designation for God used in the original Hebrew text, is plural. It means “the Divine” as well as “gods” and should be understood, in light of the gospel, as a reference to the triune God.”

All these doubts will remain until you understand the scriptures in the light of view propagated by me; a view that I have formed after study of various scriptures (including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita, the Old and New Testament, the Quran as well as the books of Zorostrians and the teachings of Prophets like Lao-Tse, Confucius and Buddha.

Hear again the Truth regarding understanding of the Divine Creation Plan. One Absolute God, who was formless, devoid of attributes, shape or form, Omni-present and All Powerful created a Manifest Self which started worshipping the God from the moment it was created. Since the Manifest Self was the foremost creation, it had all the attributes and powers of God but was manifest in nature. This Manifest Self of God is called the Divine Spirit (and also Paramatma or Rooh). The Manifest Self prayed that there be more worshippers and pleased with Its worship, the Absolute God granted It the power to have more worshippers. One Noor or Light that was created divided to form several Noors or Lights (the Divinites), who were exactly same and similar to the Original Noor from which the division took place. These divinities are described as the 14 Manu or Devatas in Vedas and Upanishads or as Noor in the Quran. It is these Divinities who are running the cosmos, it is they who control the angels and it is they who appoint guides or Prophets and send scriptures on earth. They together comprise the Divine Spirit. At times, one or other of these Divinities or Lights kept descending in human form on earth to take knowledge and guidance to next level. And there was to be a time when the entire Spirit of Truth was to descend in human form to culminate teachings of knowledge and guidance. It was then that they were called the Ahlulbayt.

If there is any concept of Triad existing, it is this that I have described above.

However, while one Noor or Light divided to create several Divinities or Devatas, who were to become the Forces of Light or Guidance; perhaps by Divine Plan or just as every manifest form carries a shadow, Forces of Darkness or Misguidance too were created whose job is to lead us astray.

The Forces of Light need to be identified if we are to reach the One God of the Universe. Forces of Darkness are bent upon misguiding creations away from the Forces of Light while the Forces of Light continue to guide the pious and righteous souls.

Once you accept this Divine Creation Plan, you will find all Divine Scriptures on earth endorsing this path alone. There will remain just One Straight Path to God and all deviants will be under the influence of the Forces of Darkness.


[To be continued. Further, read proofs that Jesus is not son of God, prophecies by Jesus regarding the coming of the Spirit of Truth and more]

ANSWER TO LORETTA RAJKUMAR’S VIEWS WHO SAYS MOHAMMAD ALVI MAY HAVE READ THE GITA AND VEDAS BUT CAN HE COMMENT ON THE BIBLE [Part - I]

Dear Ms. Loretta Rajkumar

 

Response to your comment had been pending since some time now. I have finally found time to respond.

 

You start your comment by saying that “God was against idol worship and He spoke to Moses; Moses was the only prophet who came face to face with the Holy God.” I agree with you that idol worship is not the desired mode of worship. Even many Hindus are against idol worship as they find no sanction for idol worship in the scriptures. But when you say God “spoke to Moses; Moses was the only prophet who came face to face with the Holy God,” you are partially correct and partially wrong. God did speak to Moses, that’s true. Old Testament as well as the Quran confirms this. But was Moses face to face with the Holy God? If you say so, that means God came to present Himself on that mountain top. Quran says it was God’s ‘tajalli’ or God’s light which was made visible to Moses. Saying Moses was face to face with God is akin to giving a form and shape to God, whereas He has none (even as per Christian view). His powers are visible in several manifest forms and the light visible to Moses was proof of God’s presence. Moses was unable to withstand even this light and fell unconscious.

 

Your claim that Moses was the only prophet who came face to face with the Holy God may be your view based on information available in the Old Testament. Quran explicitly talks of Prophet Mohammad being taken by angels to the abode of God and even talks of a distance of ‘two spears or even lesser’ between the Creator and His creation. You are requested to tell your view regarding whether Jesus got the opportunity to come face to face with the Holy God or not. I say this because you have given Jesus the status of ‘Son of God’ while you yourself are saying that none but Moses came face to face with the Holy God. Kindly tell whether the ‘Son of God’ ever had the opportunity to come face-to-face with his ‘Father’? Can you supplement your view (whatever it is) from the scriptures? If Jesus indeed came face to face with his ‘Father God’ then when did this happen? If he didn’t then you will have to agree that Moses was superior to Jesus in some attributes, which is not true and I too didn’t believe in this.

 

After this, madam, you are mentioning an altogether different subject. In nutshell, you are talking about God making extinct the great civilizations of the past including those of Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Egypt, etc. and ‘he didn’t ask sinful mankind like you n me to do His dirty work of killing His creations, He is God Almighty; he can’t fail, he has hosts of angels to take up His battle, not u and I nor I or Mohammad…” I agree with you fully. Man has no right to kill another human being without a reason. You are saying so because my name is Mohammad Alvi – a seemingly Muslim name – and all that you are hearing lately about Muslims through the media is their beastliness and cruelty. What I wish to tell you is that despite you hearing so much about the cruelty of Muslims who are fighting for Al-Qaida, ISIS and similar organizations, such people are still in minority. I consider all such people who are killing others in the name of Islam as having no link to Islam. Quran says clearly: “One who kills one innocent person is akin to killing the entire humanity.” This means anyone who has willingly killed one innocent person, his sin is as if he has killed the entire humanity. There is no place for savagery or brutality in true Islam. I say true Islam, because a pseudo-Islam has been propagated that endorses all such killings in the name of religion. But I must say that whatever logics these insane people give in the name of Islam for killing others, neither Prophet Mohammad’s life or teachings nor Quran endorse such treatment. Quran says: “To you your religion, to me mine.” It talks of righteousness and piety as the desired characteristics in a man. It even says that if a person sees injustice/oppression being done and remains mute witness without speaking in favour of the oppressed, his conduct is equivalent to as if he himself has committed the injustice/oppression. Is there any room for savage and brutal killing of innocents in the light of many such teachings? No! There is none. Not once during his entire life did the Prophet attacked anybody. All wars were fought in self-defence when armies marched on him. And whatever the propagandists may say against him, he did not kill one person in his life. Quran describes him as a Prophet of Benevolence, Peace and Good Conduct. And that he indeed was.

 

After saying all this, I agree that not only in this age but during all ages since the demise of Prophet Mohammad, there have been people who used Islam to their advantage. Islamic teachings were sabotaged by self-interest seekers very soon after Prophet’s death. The books that Muslims possess today give a mix of real teachings and those propagated by self-interest seekers. A vivid example of the extent to which Prophet Mohammad’s teachings were sabotaged can be seen by the brutal and savage assault by the Muslim rulers of the time, barely 50 years after Prophet’s demise, on Prophet’s family itself. All but one of the male members of the family of Prophet’s grandson and all his friends and well-wishers were brutally killed, so much so that neither the aged nor the 6-month old children were spared. The savagery of al-Qaida and ISIS fades in front of the savagery committed by the killers of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson. Truth is that when the teachings of Islam were usurped and sabotaged, the greatest price was paid by none but the Prophet’s own family which had continued to remain the torchbearer of true Islamic teachings. Consequently, Prophet’s family and descendants remained in house-arrests or imprisonment and many of them were killed either by sword or poison, by the hands of those who had usurped Islamic teachings and yet were trying to show themselves as rulers of Muslims. Therefore, when you see ISIS and al-Qaida in their present conduct, don’t blame their conduct on Islam and Prophet Mohammad but you should know that the Prophet’s family has paid the greatest price for remaining on the path taught by Prophet Mohammad and standing opposed to those who were flaunting Prophet’s teachings and showing them as true Islam.  

 

There is one clarification that I wish to give. You in your writing say that ‘after Jesus’s death, 700 years later Mohammad comes and changes the whole world of thinking that he is the only messenger of god.’ This is not true. Both Mohammad and Quran endorses all the Biblical prophets from Adam till Jesus but says that Mohammad was the Prophet that even Jesus had prophesied when he advised to his trusted followers not to go with his teachings beyond the lost tribes of Israel and they would not have done so that the Promised Son of Man would arrive. As you rightly said, Mohammad was born in 570 A.D., the time that would have taken to Jesus’s followers to go with his teachings to the lost tribes of Israel. Muslims are of view that the term ‘Paraclete’ in Bible is reference to Mohammad and I have proved on several occasions that the Spirit of Truth that Jesus was repeatedly talking about was the Rooh or Holy Spirit that resulted in the birth of Divinities – the Ahlulbayt – one of whom was Mohammad. And when the Light (Noor) of Ahlulbayt came one after another in human form, it was the Spirit of Truth that had actually descended on earth because the light or spirit of 14 together comprise the Holy Spirit. Moreover, you might not be aware, Mohammad was known as the most truthful person in the whole of Arabia even before the time when he proclaimed that he had been appointed the Messenger of God. There are stories of innumerable Christians who acknowledged from their own scriptures including the teachings of Jesus that Mohammad was the last Prophet who had been prophesied not just by Jesus but by other Prophets prior to Jesus. Since Christians and Jews who acknowledged from their scriptures that Mohammad was the prophesied Prophet had embraced Islam, those who were left were those who either couldn’t recognize him or didn’t want to recognize. If you are a Christian, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to understand this because you know how the Jews denied Jesus’s divine role, despite all the miracles that he showed and all the good things that he did and preached. Those from among the Jews who identified Jesus’s link with Divinity embraced his teachings while those who didn’t continued to remain Jews and oppose Jesus’s teachings. Just as there were those who didn’t connect Jesus with Divinity, 600 years later there were still more who were not ready to connect Mohammad with Divinity.

 

Next you say that because of Islam and Mohammad’s teachings the world is in chaos… God gave the 10 commandments, because of the idol worshippers… God didn’t go and say that go and kill all unbelievers… but teach them and show love and compassion…” I have already said that Islam and Mohammad’s teachings have nothing to do with the conduct of the present day Muslims who have since long deviated from the teachings of Mohammad and the path that he was preaching. I value the 10 commandments and it has been made obligatory in Quran to respect and revere the 10 commandments given to Moses. Quran even wants Muslims to give the same weightage and value to the Ten Commandments as is given to the Quran.

 

The conduct of present day Muslims and a lot many others who preceded them is very much like the followers of Moses, who started worshipping the idol of a calf, within 40 days of Moses’ departure. When Moses returned with his 10 commandments, ‘because of the idol worshippers’, as you say, most of his followers were already worshipping the idol that they had themselves made. Would you blame Moses, his religion or his God for this deviation? Just as you will not blame Moses, his religion or his God, you are not justified if you blame Mohammad or the path that he showed or Allah – the God – for the conduct of present day ISIS, Jaish and al-Qaida members. Or in other words, just as when you see the Christian Spaniards wiping out the Aztecs from South America, you see the European Christians wiping out Indians from North America, or migrant Christians killing millions of local aborigines in Australia, the Christian US destroying two cities in Japan in a single day or the Christian Nazis driving out the Jews from mainland Europe and you don’t put the blame on Christianity or Jesus or His God, you will be unjustified if you put the blame for the conduct of ISIS, Jaish and al-Qaida on Mohammad, the path shown by him or the One God of the cosmos that the Muslims believe in.

 

Jesus indeed was a champion of righteousness and peace. He didn’t retaliate even with his persecutors. Mohammad’s conduct was no different. Bani Umayya tribe of Quraish had waged several wars on Mohammad. Several neo-Muslims were killed by them and no effort was spared by them to cut the cord of Islam in its infancy. While Mohammad was in Makkah, all kinds of torture, cruelty and humiliation were inflicted on him and his followers. Yet, we see, about 12 years after he was forced to leave Makkah, when Mohammad returned to Makkah with thousands of believers in Islam, not even a drop of blood was spilled despite the fact that he was all powerful and the Bani Umayya had no chance to even flee. General amnesty was declared. There was no forceful conversion as well. Nobody was imprisoned or tortured. There were several people who had tortured Mohammad in the past, who had inflicted humiliation on him, and had in the past tried to inflict as many damages possible on Islam and its followers, yet none was killed, imprisoned or tortured.

 

Countless other examples can be given of Mohammad’s hatred of violence and war and his total love for peace and justice to prevail. The study of lives and conduct of the true followers of Islam – the Ahlulbayt – too reveal the extent they would go to maintain peace and avert war or bloodshed. Ali would never fight with a person who was disarmed, who was with his back to him or who didn’t come to wage an attack on him. Ali even spared an enemy who had come to kill him but when he was about to be killed, spat on Ali’s face. Ali immediately let go his opponent because he didn’t want to fight him in a fit of rage. History has recorded that while Muawiya – Ali’s chief opponent who belonged to Bani Umayya tribe – used deceit as his chief weapon, Ali never resorted to the same tactics and was seen as the most upright and peace loving person even when he was fighting a war.

 

Now we come to a very crucial subject that you have raised. You say: “Can you tell me which 12 tribes does Islam belongs? As from the time God chose the 12 tribes of Israel, he accurately told Abraham to go and possess the land given to him and his descendants… and the Bible clearly states that it was Isaac the promised seed of Abraham will be the sacrifice and not Ismael.  Now that Abraham who was a Hebrew/Jewish… Sara who was a mobite woman and Hagar was an Egyptian maid, how does that link to Islam that came about 4000 years later… then why change all Jewish names to Islam, eg. Abraham Abrahim, Jacob to Yacob, Isaac to Isaak, Moses to Musa, etc…. the bible clearly says that no words must be taken from this bible or add on, those who do this will face eternal damnation, respect our holy bible as most contents was taken from the old testament by Mohammad.. Jesus didn’t come and rewrite the Bible, He came to save mankind through his death which was prophecised accurately by the prophets of Old Testament.”

 

Again, Madam, there are some points that I agree to and some that I don’t. Let us see your point of view. You say Abraham was a Hebrew/Jewish. Is it true? If Abraham was Jewish, then you will have to agree that all Christians are on the wrong. Because Jesus never said he was bringing a new religion. He always kept saying that he was merely reiterating what had been said earlier. If Abraham was Jewish, then Christians should call them as Jewish because there is no religion that Jesus brought. The answer to what you said lies in your statement alone. Truth is that Abraham was not Jewish. Abraham was propagating the path of the One Lord of the Universe; the same path that was propagated by other Prophets before and after him. It is we humans who gave the names likes Jews and Christians.

 

You are trying to belittle the position of Hajira (Hager) when you say while Sara was a noble woman, Hajira (Hager) was an Egyptian maid. Neither the teachings of Jesus nor that of Mohammad value a man on the basis of his wealth and status. The sole criteria for measuring a person is righteousness and good deeds. When you belittle Hajira because she was a maid, you are speaking against the teachings of Jesus. Moreover, all Jews who were freed by Moses were at one point in time slaves in that very Egypt from where Hajira belonged. So, from your point of view, how can the Jews make claim of supremacy over others? Even Joseph was taken as slave and sold as slave during one phase of his life. Does this give a reason to belittle his position? Hajira’s elevated position in the eyes of the God can be seen in Genesis itself when God couldn’t see Hajira running to fetch water for his dying son and made water sprout from close to Ismael’s feet.

 

You put the blame on Muslims for changing the Jewish names to Islam, eg. Abraham to Ibrahim, Jacob to Yaqoob, Isaac to Isaak, Moses to Musa, etc. I think you have said this because of your lack of knowledge in this area. It is not Muslims who have changed names but it is the European Christians who are in the habit of changing names. When Muslims reached the shores of Spain, their fleet was being commanded by Tariq, who landed near a mountain on the Spanish coast. Muslims called that mountain ‘Jabr-ut-tariq’ or ‘mountain of Tariq’. Europeans call it Gibraltor today. Born in 721 A.D., Jabir ibn Hayyan gave so much contribution to the field of Chemistry that he is known as Father of Chemistry. Europeans call him Geber. Abu Ali Husain nicknamed Ibn-e-Sina is regarded as one of the most significant thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. Europeans call him Avicenna. Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi is described by many as father of modern surgery. His books, originally written in Arabic, were translated in European languages and were taught to the students of medicine as recently till the last century. West call him Albucasis. These are just few examples out of the many that I can give to show that it is not the Muslims but the Western world which has changed names so that they appear less Muslim and people do not realize the contribution of Muslims to science and technology.

 

The same happened to the case of the names of Prophets of yesteryears. You are perhaps reading the English translations of your scriptures. Do you know the names that you are reading in English have not been similarly pronounced in the original Hebrew texts? Even the name of Jesus is not mentioned in Hebrew text but the pronunciation is similar to the Quranic Isa. The same is the case with Musa (and not Moses). Conclusion: if you really feel like asking questions in this regard, then you should ask the Western world why they have altered the pronunciations of the names of their own prophets.

 

The great tortures and hardships that the Christians had to face for several hundred years after Jesus, from the hands of Roman rulers, slowly led to an amalgamation of Roman beliefs and Christian teachings. Jesus was nowhere the ‘Son of God’ in early Christian teachings but he became the ‘Son of God’ with progress in time. Likewise, lot many changes were brought about in the translations of Old Testament and Bible by the later day priests to suit their advantage.

 

For instance, I can give examples from Old Testament itself which will shed light on how the Christian world replaced the name of Ismael with Isaac wherever the description of the son’s sacrifice given by Ibrahim (Abraham) is talked about in the Old Testament. I know this will come hard on your existing belief but I request you to give this a patient reading.

 

Let’s read what description Old Testament (Genesis, 22.1 onwards) says when it talks of the sacrifice given by Abraham. You will agree that Genesis talks about Isaac and not Ismael in its description. Genesis says:

 

22:1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 22:2 God said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. 22:5 So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”

22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”

22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed.

 

Quran says Abraham took his elder son Ismael for sacrifice but Genesis says that he took Isaac. The prayer made by Abraham regarding his progeny’s expansion from Ismael; remaining of leadership (Imamat) even in his descendants; and about the 12 princes in the progeny is mentioned in the Quran but Old Testament is showing Abraham praying for his son Isaac and his progeny. How will you decide now, at a time when we are face to face with two contradicting versions, the real truth? How will you know who is right and who is wrong? And who altered the description by changing the names of the persons mentioned. Was it Isaac’s name that was replaced with the name of Ismael or was it Ismael’s name that was replaced with the name of Isaac? This is important because while Mohammad and the 12 princes (the 12 Imams) were born in the progeny of Ismael, the progeny of Isaac saw illustrious prophets like Jacob, David, Lot, Moses, Jesus and many more. While the prophets in the progeny of Isaac are respectful figures for all – Jews, Christians and Muslims – Mohammad who was born in the progeny of Ismael is revered only by the Muslims.

 

The issue can be solved by no other means but by the use of intellect. I request you to understand the issue through use of your faculties of reason and intellect. I will give three proofs from Old Testament itself which will give an indication that it were the Christians (or Jews) who replaced the name of Ismael with that of Isaac wherever the mention of the sacrifice had been made so that people face difficulty in reaching the truth.

 

I request you to read the aforementioned description from Genesis regarding the sacrifice. Again and again, Isaac is being called the ‘only son’ whereas it may be proved from Genesis itself that Ismael was the elder brother who was taken along with his mother Hajira (Hager) and left at a far off place in a barren land. If Isaac indeed was the one who had been taken for sacrifice, why the repeated mention of ‘only son’.

 

Come, let’s use our intellect! Abraham was 86 years old when Ismael was born to Abraham and Hajira. This can be proved from Genesis itself which says:

 

 

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 16:16 (Now Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.)

 

Genesis 17:24 tells that Abraham was 99 years old when the Divine Order for circumcision came and Abraham not only ordered circumcision of his 13 year old son Ismael but rest of the people. The same year, the angels arrived and gave glad tidings to Sara (Abraham’s other wife) regarding the birth of a son. This proves that when Isaac was born, Ismael must have been 14 years old. Quran says that when the kid Ismael grew big enough to move around with his father, the order for sacrifice came. Naturally, it is apparent from Quran that Ismael was not a grown up youth when the sacrifice was given but had just started helping his father in his work. Isaac was born when Ismael was 14 years old, as per Genesis. The repeated stress on the term ‘only son’ in Genesis shows that originally there was the mention of Ismael, who was the only son of Abraham till he was 14, but his name was later replaced with that of Isaac.

 

Now see the second proof. The barren desert of Beer Sheba was the place where Abraham had left his wife Hajira and infant son Ismael. If you read the history of Beer Sheba, it was considered as the border outpost of the then inhabited region, beyond which there was nothing but barren desert. Clearly, Abraham had gone beyond Beer Sheba to the barren desert and left his wife and child there. Quran is of view that Hajira and Ismael were left at the place which is now called Makkah. Quran also narrates the incident of spring flowing from near the feet of Ismael and that place is still considered sacred by the Muslims. See 21.14 onwards from Genesis:

 

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

 

The description tells that Hajira and not Sara “went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.” The description in Genesis also talks about water coming out miraculously from close to the feet of Ismael. Thus, the description in Genesis is same as the description in Quran when it comes to water sprouting from the ground for Ismael, with the only difference that while Quran indicates the place as modern day Makkah, Genesis describes it as the ‘wilderness of Beer Sheba’.

 

I invite you to read the aforementioned description of Genesis (22.1 onwards) where the sacrifice is mentioned. The description talks about Abraham taking two of his servants and traveling for three days to reach the foot of the mountain where he was to give the sacrifice. It talks about his attempt to give sacrifice of his ‘only son’ (Isaac, as mentioned in Genesis) but ends with:

 

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed.

 

This descriptions shows that Abraham was staying at Beer Sheba while 21.14 tells that Hajira with her son Ismael wandered around in the wilderness of Beer Sheeba. This too proofs that the sacrifice was given of Ismael and not of Isaac who lived somewhere near Jerusalem.

 

Now the third proof, which is more logical in nature. That this incident of sacrifice occurred with Ismael and not Isaac can be inferred from the fact that its remembrance remained in the progeny of Ismael while the progeny of Isaac retained not even a single remembrance in terms of rituals. All through history, since the time of Ismael, his progeny and followers, continued with the rituals of running between two hills (Safa and Marwah) in remembrance of Hajira’s run in search of water to and fro seven times. The ritual was retained as part of the Hajj ritual by Prophet Mohammad, perhaps because it is a living proof that the sacrifice was meant for Ismael and not for Isaac. Are these not enough reasons to prove my point of view?

 

To be continued…