amin@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Aminuddin Ahmad) (07/25/90)
>To: midway!sophist!goer@ncar.UCAR.EDU (Richard Goerwitz)
Jesus (Isa) (PBUH)is a messenger of Allah to the Muslims.
Islamic scriptures, the Qur'an, provides a substantial
information about Jesus. Some of many are as follows:
In the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful
And truly We gave to Moses the Books and We caused a train
of messengers to follow after him, and We gave to Jesus, son
of Mary, clear proofs and We supported him with the pure
spirit (Angel Gabriel) (Qur'an 2:87).
And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their
footsteps, confirming what was before him, and We bestowed
on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light,
confirming that which was before it in the Torah - a
guidance and an admonition to those who are careful (Qur'an
5:46).
...Jesus, son of Mary, said: O Children of Israel! See! I am
the messenger of Allah to you, confirming what was before me
in the Torah, and bringing good news of a messenger who will
come after me, whose name is the Praised One (Ahmad)...
(Qur'an 61:6).
There is actually no basis in the Old Testament for
Trinity or God-incarnate. There is no conclusive statement
by Jesus in the New Testament claiming to be God. According
to history, in the first century after the disappearance of
Jesus, those who followed him continued to affirm the Divine
Unity. This is illustrated by the fact that the 'Shepard of
Hermas', was written in about 90 A.D. was regarded as a book
of Revelation by the Church. The first twelve commandments
which it contains begins:
First of all, believe that God is One and that He created
all things and organised them and out of what did not
exist made all things to be, and He contains all things
but alone in Himself uncontained... (The Apostolic
Fathers, E.J. Goodspeed)
The teaching of Jesus spreads and came into contact with
other cultures. It began to be assimilated and adapted by
these cultures and altered to diminish persecution by the
rulers. In Greece, especially, it became metamorphosed, both
by its being expressed in a new language for the first time,
and by it realignment with the ideas and philosophy of that
culture. It was the many-gods viewpoint of the Greeks which
largely contributed to the formulation of this doctrine of
the Trinity, together with the gradual elevation of Jesus by
some, notably Paul of Tarsus, from prophet to God. It was
only in 325 A.D. that the doctrine of the Trinity was
declared to be the Orthodox Christian belief.
Arius, one of the leaders of the Christians in North
Africa stood up and reminded that Jesus had always affirmed
the Divine Unity. In North Africa and West Asia the
teachings of Arius were accepted by the majority of the
people who readily embraced Islam when it later came.
Because they had held to the doctrine of One-God and the
pure teachings of Jesus, they recognized Islam as the truth.
In the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful
O People of the Book! Commit no excesses In your religion:
nor say Of God aught but the truth. Christ Jesus son of
Mary Was (no more than) An apostle of God, And His Word,
Which he bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding From
Him : so believe In God and His apostles. Say not
"Trinity": desist: It will be better for you : For God is
One God: Glory be to Him : (Far Exalted is He) above
Having a son. To Him Belongs all things in the heavens And
on Earth. And enough Is God as a Disposer of affairs
(Qur'an 4:171).
Arius refuted that if Jesus was in reality the "son of
God," then the father must have existed before the son.
Therefore there is a time upon which the son did not exist.
Therefore, the son was a creature compose of an essence or
being which had not always existed. Since God is in essence
Eternal and Ever-existent, Jesus could not be of the same
essence as God.
If anyone is to say that Prophet Jesus (PBUH) is the
incarnation of God, it should be noted that there is
actually no basis in the Old Testament for Trinity or God-
incarnate and there is no conclusive statement by Jesus in
the New Testament claiming to be God!
--->Amin.