Bismillah,
As you have read in the previous post, Pastor Mitch and I have been discussing Christianity. I am hoping that he’ll take a few minutes of his time to read some of the posts that related to Christianity – I thought you’d find this interesting Pastor Mitch. There are five pillars of Islam and sometimes outsiders view the prayer as strange or have questions about the pillars, they are: belief in One God, Prayer, Charity, Pilgrimage, and Fasting. Because Charity and Fasting are well known in the Christian community and in the Bible, I will not talk about them here. So, let us look at prayer, pilgrimage, and belief in one God briefly from a Biblical point of view
Prayer
• "And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed..." (Matt 26:39).
• "And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship..." (Joshua 5:14)
• "And they (Moses and Aaron) fell upon their faces..." (Num 20:6)
• "And Abraham fell on his face..." (Genesis 17:3)
• "...when Soloman had made an end of praying all his prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to Heaven" (1 Kings 8:54)
Pilgrimage (Hajj)
• Ezekiel (Ezekiel 40: 1-2) Annual pilgrimage to city south of Israel; described as a square house (42: 15-20); a Holy place (41:4); pilgrims coming in white garments (44:17).
• Psalm (84:3-6) “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with blessings”
Sidenote: The Qur’an also refers to pilgrimage to Becca, as it is the ancient name of Mecca. This is well known in Muslim and non-Muslim historical records.
Belief in One God (Tawheed)
• "Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10)
• "since there is only one God" (Romans 3:30)
• "The Mighty One, God, the LORD!" (Joshua 22:22)
• "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder" (James 2:19),
• "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve" (Matthew 4:10)
• “Hear O’ Israel, The Lord our God is One Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:41)
• “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20: 3)
• “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30)
• “And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19: 16-17)
Sidenote: Pastor Mitch mentioned on his page that the Qur’an does not fit with the messages of the previous Prophets because the Qur’an does not teach about the Trinitarian message. Let it be known that the word Trinity and Trinitarian do not exist anywhere in the Bible. No Prophet used the word Trinity.
3 comments:
Yup. The Bible does not use the word Trinity. Some verses that lead to this conclusion (which I am sure you know of...)
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3.13-17 ESV)
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1.1-3 ESV)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1.15-20 ESV)
For those joining Mitch and I in this discussion, we had begun our talk speaking about the laws of logic in relation to understanding Christianity and Islam. I’d like to return to these laws of logic now. First and foremost, the Muslim position is that the original Gospel contains a true message. However, the original Gospel does not exist today (see the list of Biblical Errors for some examples which are agreed upon by Christian scholars).
Mitch has said, that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” I’d like to remind him of Exodus Chapter 20 verses 3-5, which states: “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”
Returning to the laws of logic we have two statements being made:
(1)God has another additional human form and it is to be worshipped.
(2)God has no likeness and nothing else is to be worshipped but God.
These statements contradict one another and can not co-exist. So, we have a problem. Pastor Mitch, you are either leaving aside the laws of logic or claiming that the omnipotent God did not know Jesus would come when Exodus was revealed (the latter is obviously also self-contracting since an omnipotent God knows everything).
Could you please help us to understand this contraction Pastor Mitch?
Bismillaah
Assalaamu Alaikum Warahmatuhlahi Wabarakatuh!
Maasha Allaah! Great Dawa, subhan Allaah!
As for the topic on hand.
@ Mitch
In the belief of pure monotheism there is no one and nothing that has the right to be worshipped but Allaah, alone. He is over all things ominpotent. He is not a he or a she. Creator of everything that exisits with no beginning and no ending.
Allah is so great that he would never ever demean himself to be a human. It is demeaning to sweat, use the restroom, sleep and ect. Allah is great he never does any of these things. He never needs rest nor anything else. He is not in need of us, we are in need of Him. Him alone we worship and Him alone we repent too.
Sincerely,
Halimah bint David
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