Responding to one Muslim Dawagandist’s Denials
Warning – Reader’s discretion advised.
Ever since I agreed to debate Jalal Abualrub he has gone into a rampage of personal attacks, as well as producing a series of articles that are filled with blasphemies and insults against the true God whom Christians worship, such as constantly ridiculing and mocking the pure, eternal Spirit of the Father and the Son. I warn the readers that at times my language may be strong since I will only be adopting the language that Jalal uses in his rather inept and unscholarly articles in order to show what happens when someone uses his stupidity and assaults against his false god and his immoral prophet.
The Holy Bible says that it is necessary at times to answer a fool according to his own stupidity in order to expose him for the fool that he is:
"Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes." Proverbs 26:5
And further commands believers to sharply rebuke those who oppose the truth:
"He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." Titus 1:9-16
Abualrub is such a fool whose stupidity and blasphemies need to be silenced and rebuked by the grace of the risen and immortal Lord Jesus, Jalal’s eternal Master and King.
Jalal Abualrub, one of Satan’s favorite sons, continues his blasphemous trend by writing another "rebuttal" to one of my articles and (you guessed it!) once again didn’t bother providing a link to it (*). Jalal’s "response" can be found here.
Jalal insinuates that I misquoted 1 John 2:22-23 to say that whoever denies that the Father and the Son is God is the antichrist, and since Muhammad denied this glorious truth he is therefore one of these antichrists who were to come into the world:
"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour." 1 John 2:18
He further says that there isn’t a verse in the entire Bible which says that the Father and the Son are God. He then goes on a venomous rampage against the blessed and pure Holy Spirit since this man obviously has no fear and is trying to tempt God to come against him in judgement much like he did against another blasphemer, the late Ahmed Deedat (1, 2, 3). As the true Word of God says to such wicked, slandering children of Satan:
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Galatians 6:7-8
"For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:30-31
The Christology of John Reexamined
Since Jalal challenges my exegesis of 1 John it is vitally important that we examine both the Theology and Christology of this inspired writer in order to understand what he meant by calling Jesus God’s Son, i.e. did he mean that Jesus was a mere human being or was he proclaiming that Christ is the preexistent, Divine Son of God?
Here, once again, is the passage in question:
"Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain IN the Son and IN the Father." 1 John 2:22-24
Had Jalal actually bothered reading the entire epistle he would have discovered that Jesus, according to John, is God’s unique Son whom the Father sent into the world to die as a sacrifice for our sins:
"This is how God showed his love among us: He SENT his one and only Son INTO THE WORLD that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and SENT his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God." 1 John 4:9-10, 13-15
He would have further read that if any person denies that the Lord Jesus is God’s one and only or unique Son, s/he makes God out to be a liar:
"We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:9-13
The inspired Apostle is simply echoing the teachings which he heard from his blessed Lord and Master:
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:14-18
"what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God's Son’?" John 10:36
"‘But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ … Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.’" John 6:50-51, 53-58
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." John 12:47
Seeing that Muhammad denied all of these Biblical truths:
And the Jews say: 'Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouths. They imitate the saying of the disbelievers of old. Allah's Curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth! S. 9:30 Hilali-Khan
And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of 'Iesa (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)]: S. 4:157 Hilali-Khan
It is therefore evident that, as far as the New Testament is concerned, he was an antichrist and a liar.
Moreover, John states that if any prophet denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh that one is possessed and/or inspired by the spirit of antichrist:
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood." 1 John 4:1-6
It is important to discuss what John meant by Christ coming in the flesh. According to John, the Lord Jesus is the preexistent Word of Life, in fact Eternal Life itself, who existed with God the Father, and who himself is God in essence, that became flesh by being born of a woman:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men… He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1-4, 10, 14
"On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Dear woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied, ‘My time has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ … After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. John 2:1-5, 12
"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." John 19:25-27
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. THE LIFE appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you THE ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER AND HAS APPEARED TO US. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:1-3
John isn’t alone in identifying Jesus as THE Life, since Christ himself did so during his earthly ministry:
"Jesus said to her, ‘I am THE Resurrection and THE Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’" John 11:25-27
"Jesus answered, ‘I am THE Way and THE Truth and THE Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’" John 14:6
By calling himself THE Life and THE Truth Jesus was basically claiming to be God.
Moreover, in order for Christ to be THE Eternal Life he must be the true God since, according to John himself, it is the true God who is Eternal Life:
"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even IN his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God AND ETERNAL LIFE. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:20-21
Notice how this logically works out:
In fact, according to Islamic theology names and attributes such as Life belong to God alone, and therefore cannot be ascribed to any creature no matter how exalted:
5. Maintaining the unity of Allaah’s names also means that Allaah’s names in the definite form cannot be given to His creation unless preceded by the prefix meaning ‘Abd "slave of" or "servant of". Many of the Divine names in their indefinite form like and are allowable names for men because Allaah has used some of them in their indefinite forms to refer to the Prophet …
"A messenger has come to you from among yourselves to whom anything which burdens you is grievous. He is full of concern for you and is full of pity (Ra’oof) and full of mercy (Raheem)."
But ar-Ra’oof (the One Most Full of Pity) and ar-Raheem (the Most Merciful) can only be used to refer to men if they are preceded by ‘Abd as in ‘Abdur-Ra’oof or ‘Abdur-Raheem, since the definite form they represent a level of perfection which only belongs to God. Similarly, names like ‘Abdur-Rasool (slave of the messenger), ‘Abdun-Nabee (slave of the Prophet), ‘Abdul-Husayn (slave of Husayn), etc., where people name themselves slaves to other than Allaah are also forbidden. Based on this principle, the Prophet forbade Muslims from referring to those put under their charge as ‘Abdee (my slave) or Amatee (my slave girl).(2) (Philips, The Fundamentals of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) [Islamic Book Service, New Delhi, India, Reprint Edition: 2004], 1. Chapter on the Categories of Tawheed, pp. 14-15)
Hence, Jesus was emphatically proclaiming himself to be God when he said that he is THE Life and THE Truth since even the Quran agrees that these are exclusive names and traits of the one true God:
That is because Allah, He is the Truth, and it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it is He Who is Able to do all things. S. 22:6 Hilali-Khan
Wherefore let God be exalted, the King, the Truth (al-haqqu)! There is no god but He! Lord of the stately throne! S. 23:116 Rodwell
Finally, many of the passages we cited from John’s writings, such as the above, all say that Jesus, like the Father, indwells his followers and has intimate fellowship with them. Jesus himself made the same claim during his earthly ministry:
"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20
"and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20
"‘On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are IN ME, and I AM IN YOU. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.’ … Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and WE will come to him and make OUR home with him." John 14:20-21, 23
"Remain IN ME, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain IN ME. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains IN ME and I IN HIM, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5
"I IN THEM and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me… I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be IN THEM." John 17:23, 26
Yet the only way for Jesus to be able to dwell and live with all true believers in the same way and to the same degree that the Father can is if Christ is omnipresent, which would mean that he is God since only God is spiritually present everywhere.
To summarize the data from the Johannine corpus we discovered that:
Here is where the problem lay for Jalal. Jalal believes that his prophet denied that Jesus is THE Life and Eternal Life itself, the Word who existed before the beginning of creation in intimate communion with the Father who then chose to become flesh or a man. Clearly, then, Muhammad was a liar and an antichrist according to the teachings of John, the blessed and inspired Apostle of the risen Lord and immortal Savior Jesus Christ.
For more on the Christology of John’s first epistle we suggest this article.
Jesus – A Prophet or Divine Son of God?
After citing Q. 4:171 to show that Jesus (which he says is not his real name, but Esa, the refutation of which can be found here), is a prophet he then selectively cites the NT to prove that the inspired Christian Scriptures agree with the Muslim book:
Muslims believe Jesus is the Christ, a prophet from Allah, a son like His other sons, i.e., prophets, whom He sent before and after Jesus. Christians reject the human Prophethood of Jesus and falsely claim he is God Himself, thus, denying his Messiahship and also denying the job of the Messiah: "And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak … there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people" (Luke 7:16) This is how Jesus, peace be upon him, described himself, "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house" (Matthew 13:57); This is also how the people perceived him to be, "And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" (Matthew 21:11), and, "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world" (John 6:14).
We would like to challenge Jalal to quote a scholarly Christian source to prove his assertion that orthodox Christian believers deny "the human Prophethood of Jesus." We want him to provide a reference to back up his gross distortion of Christian beliefs. After all, which knowledgeable Christian denies that Jesus is the Prophet like Moses, a high priest like Melchizedek, and a King like David?
And, even though he has been corrected over and over again(1), Jalal continues to distort what Trinitarians actually believe:
Any way one looks at this will find that Jesus is a human prophet and not God. Or else, God would have sent [sic] himself to the people and then described himself as being a prophet, from God, who is visiting his people!
In the first place, the Christian position isn’t that Jesus sent himself to the people, but that the Father sent forth his Son into the world. Jalal keeps perverting the doctrine of the Trinity by assuming that Trinitarians believe that Jesus is the same Person as the Father, which is not what we believe. He further assumes unitarianism, e.g. God is only one Person, namely the Father, which means that if we say that Jesus is God then this somehow implies that we are claiming that Jesus is the Father and therefore sent himself to be his own prophet.
Moreover, since Jalal sourced a few NT books to support his case what we will do is turn to those very same Scriptures to see what Jalal conveniently omitted. Let us begin with Luke 7:
"One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took his place at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘What is it, Teacher?’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave ME no water for my feet, but she has wet MY feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave ME no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss MY feet. You did not anoint MY head with oil, but she has anointed MY feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this, who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’" Luke 7:36-50
In this same chapter Christ carries out an exclusively Divine function, specifically, forgiving a person’s sins against God. According to Jesus, he forgave the woman’s offenses against God because she had shown Christ great love. Thus, to love Jesus is to love God since he happens to be God, which explains why he has the ability to forgive transgressions.
Moving along to the context of Matthew 13:57:
"Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in HIS field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came to him and said, "Sir, didn't you sow good seed in YOUR field? Where then did the weeds come from?" "An enemy did this," he replied. The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?" "No," he answered, "because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn."’ … Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out HIS angels, and they will weed out of HIS kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.’" Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
In this parable Jesus claims to be the owner of the field, with the field being the world, which means that Jesus has just identified himself as the One who owns and rules the entire world since it is his kingdom! Jesus further identifies himself as the Son of Man who has control over the angels since they are his servants and workers. By claiming to be the Son of Man whose kingdom is the entire world the Lord Jesus was saying that he is the very One whom the prophet Daniel saw centuries earlier in a vision:
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14
Thus, Jesus is the Divine Son of Man who rules forever as king and who is worshiped by all creation! This leads us to the context of Matthew 21:
"The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise"?’" Matthew 21:14-16
Amazingly, the Lord Jesus justifies the praise he received from children by quoting the following Psalm that speaks of Yahweh receiving praise from the mouth of children and infants:
"O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is Your name in all the earth! For Your magnificence is exalted above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants You have perfected praise, because of Your enemies; that You might put down the enemy and avenger." Psalm 8:1-2 – Septuagint (LXX) Greek Version (Source)
Yet the only way for this quotation from the Psalms to count as valid justification for Jesus not to forbid, but to confirm the praise of his own person, from the children is if he was equating himself with Yahweh God. In other words, Jesus is basically saying that to praise him is to praise Yahweh God!
And now to our final passage that Jalal referenced:
"When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. But he said to them, ‘I AM (ego eimi); don't be afraid.’ Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading." John 6:16-21
Here, the Lord Jesus identifies himself the as the Divine I AM, the very God who tramples the seas and the waves and who comes to the rescue of his people:
"He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea." Job 9:8
"But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead… Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west… You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I AM. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?’" Isaiah 43:1-3, 5, 10-13
And:
"‘Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’ Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’ … Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.’ At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I came down from heaven"?’" John 6:27-29, 32-42
The Lord Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life who came down from heaven to save God’s people and to resurrect the dead at the last day! Jesus is basically saying that he is God since he is the Sustainer and Life-giver, functions and characteristics that only the true God has and can perform.
So much for Jalal’s appeal to the inspired NT Scriptures to prove his case that Jesus was only a prophet.
Jalal – More Knowledgeable Than His Own Prophet!
Jalal provides the following explanation of what Son of God means:
1 John 2:22-23 does not mean that Jesus is God, IT DOES NOT SAY THAT JESUS, THE SON OR CHRIST IS GOD. It only means that Jesus is the Masee`h (Messiah) and that denying his Messiahship and his connection to God as being His son, i.e., chosen one to be a prophet, is disbelief in God Himself that makes one an antichrist.
He further says in an entry found in the comments section below his article:
islam life on April 14 2008 20:07:23
as-salamu alaikum warahmatullah
it seems that all semite languages, including arabic, used to refer to allah as being 'father' in the sense that they all depend on him and his taking care of them, sustaining them, his guidance, his compassion, like a father does to his children, and also call themselves the children of allah, iyalu-llah, in the sence that they are his dependants under his care......
european christians, greatly were and still are ignorant of the essence of eastern languages, came and corrupted these words as their desire instructed them...yet even when they corrupted these words, they knew that the same words were used to descibe people in the OT, many many times, especially the word son...so to decieve their own people, they play the game of capitalizing and lower casing the word son so as to lure christians into thinking that a capital letter makes THE SON different than a son...you all know that we do not have capital letters in arabic, hebrew or other eastern languages...not even greek has this invented english system...
as-salamu alaikum warahmatullah
Apart from the fact that this is NOT what the NT writers meant when they identified Jesus as God’s unique and beloved Son, Jalal’s comments only provide further evidence that Muhammad was a false prophet. After all, Muhammad didn’t understand the term S/son of God in the same way that Jalal does, but actually thought the only way for God to have a son is if he had sex with a consort:
Yet, they join the jinns as partners in worship with Allah, though He has created them (the jinns), and they attribute falsely without knowledge sons and daughters to Him. Be He Glorified and Exalted above (all) that they attribute to Him. He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have children when He has no wife? He created all things and He is the All-Knower of everything. S. 6:100-101 Hilali-Khan
And exalted be the Majesty of our Lord, He has taken neither a wife, nor a son (or offspring or children). S. 72:3 Hilali-Khan
Jalal’s comments demonstrate that Muhammad was grossly mistaken for erroneously thinking that the only way God could have children is if he has a consort whom he sleeps with, which therefore shows that he is a false prophet for holding to such an ignorant position. This also implies that Jalal is a lot smarter than his own prophet since he understands that the title S/son of God simply refers to a prophet, or to someone created and sustained by God, and doesn’t imply that God has a wife, a point which his prophet failed to grasp. After all, didn’t Muhammad know that by Father both the Jews and Christians simply meant that God was their Provider, the One who gives life and sustenance to all creatures, or to the One who raises and inspires prophets?
What this basically shows is that Jalal is simply lying again for making it seem that the concept of God’s spiritual Fatherhood isn’t incompatible with the teachings of his false prophet, since it clearly is. Muhammad’s carnal mind didn’t allow him to understand God’s Fatherhood in a purely spiritual sense, but could only see it in a physical, sexual manner.
It is more likely that Jalal is lying at this point since this is what he wrote in one of his previous "articles":
Mockerism: Allah said, “The son of Adam tells a lie against me though he has no right to do so, and he abuses Me though he has no right to do so. As for his telling a lie against Me, he claims that I cannot recreate him as I created him before; as for his abusing Me, it is his statement that I have offspring. No! Glorified be Me! I Am far from taking a wife or offspring.” (Bukhari) (Modalism or Moodalism; source)
In fact, in his recent debate with Dr. James R. White (*) Jalal can be heard telling the audience that Muslims such as himself are mad because Christians say God has a Son. Yet here he makes it seem that there is absolutely nothing wrong with calling Jesus the Son of God since it really means that he is a prophet inspired by God! The lies and cover-up of Muslim dawagandists never cease to amaze us.
Finally, Christ is not another name for the Holy Spirit, it is the title of the Incarnate One, the One who happens to be Yahweh God the Son, the Adoni or Lord of David:
"While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’" David himself calls him "Lord." How then can he be his son?’ The large crowd listened to him with delight." Mark 12:35-37
Thus, despite the fact that the title Messiah does not sound like Yahweh, Jesus the Messiah is Yahweh God the Son, the Mighty God whom the prophet Isaiah saw become a man by being born as a child to a virgin in order to rule on David’s throne forever:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7
"But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’" Matthew 1:20-23
"But the angel [Gabriel] said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’" Luke 1:30-33
"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." Galatians 4:4-7
This concludes the first part of our rebuttal. Please continue reading the second part.
Endnotes
(1) In fact Jalal was corrected just recently in his debate against Dr. James White concerning the topic, "Does the Bible teach that Jesus is God?," if one can even call it a debate. White completely overwhelmed and embarrassed Jalal all throughout their exchange, showing that Jalal has no business speaking publicly on such topics ever again unless he wants to further embarrass and humiliate Muslims. Even Jalal realizes that he embarrassed himself in his public discussions with both Dr. White and David Wood since he can be found on his forums claiming that this was his first debate, apparently in an attempt to justify his rather poor performance. Those interested in hearing the debates for themselves can do so by going to the following link: http://www.twtpubs.com/index.php?p=r:general:debate2&type=article
Responses to Jalal Abualrub
Articles by Sam Shamoun
Answering Islam Home Page