Responding to one Muslim Polemicist’s Denials
Umar has written a "rebuttal" (*) to my article on the Quran testifying that Jesus is the most exalted of all (*). Here we want to address one specific aspect of Umar’s response and later follow it up with a rebuttal to the rest of his points (Lord willing).
In reply to my quotation from Muslim writer Dr. Nader Pourhassan, Umar says that:
The one who talked to God is not Jesus, rather it is Prophet Musa (A) (Sura 4:164).
This pretty much provides further proof of what we have been saying all along, that Umar, Zaatari, Osama Abdallah, and Zawadi do not have a clear understanding of what their own religion teaches, specifically what their Muslim scripture says regarding such issues.
For instance, even though Q. 4:164 says that God spoke directly to Moses,
And messengers We have mentioned unto thee before and messengers We have not mentioned unto thee; and Allah spake directly unto Moses;
The verse nowhere says that God ONLY spoke to Moses. Umar is simply reading things into the text that are not there.
Furthermore, there is another passage in the Quran which expressly says that God spoke to some people, not just to one person:
Those Messengers! We preferred some to others; to SOME of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honour); and to 'Iesa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary), We gave clear proofs and evidences, and supported him with Ruh-ul-Qudus [Jibrael (Gabriel)]. If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Verses of Allah had come to them, but they differed - some of them believed and others disbelieved. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought against one another, but Allah does what He likes. S. 2:253 Hilali-Khan
Here are two other versions:
We have made some of these apostles to excel the others; among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank… Shakir
And those Messengers, some We have preferred above others; some there are to whom God spoke, and some He raised in rank… Arberry
In light of this how does Umar know for certain that God didn’t speak to Jesus, that Christ wasn’t one of those whom God spoke to directly? Where does the Quran deny that God spoke directly to Christ?
This leads us to our final and most important point. The Quran itself testifies that God did speak to Jesus directly:
(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ. S. 3:55
When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic; And when I inspired the disciples, (saying): Believe in Me and in My messenger, they said: We believe. Bear witness that we have surrendered (unto Thee) "we are muslims"… Jesus, son of Mary, said: O Allah, Lord of us! Send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from Thee. Give us sustenance, for Thou art the Best of Sustainers. Allah said: Lo! I send it down for you. And whoso disbelieveth of you afterward, him surely will I punish with a punishment wherewith I have not punished any of (My) creatures. And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden? I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things. If Thou punish them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgive them (lo! they are Thy slaves). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, the Wise. Allah saith: This is a day in which their truthfulness profiteth the truthful, for theirs are Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they are secure for ever, Allah taking pleasure in them and they in Him. That is the great triumph. S. 5:110-111, 114-118
Now if the Quran meant that an angel spoke to Jesus on behalf of God then it could have clearly come out and stated this just as it did in relation to God sending his Spirit or the angels to speak with Zechariah and Mary respectively:
Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer. And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous. S. 3:38-39
And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation. O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship). S. 3:42-43
(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah). S. 3:45
Clearly, this is not what the Quran claims happened in the case of Jesus. The Muslim scripture emphatically and unambiguously says that God spoke to Christ directly.
So much for Umar’s assertion that God did not talk to Jesus (according to the Quran at least).
Lord Jesus willing, a rebuttal to the rest of his points to follow shortly.
Unless noted otherwise, Quranic references taken from the Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall version.
Disclaimer
Now for the record, and just to make things clear, we do not believe that the Quran is the word of God nor do we believe that it contains the actual sayings and conversations of Jesus or any other prophet for that matter (unless, of course, such sayings are also found in the Holy Bible). We do not believe that the speeches recorded in the above verses between God and Jesus actually took place, since neither God nor Jesus speak in the Quran. These are fraudulent tales concocted by one trying to deceive mankind from embracing the true message of God which is found in the Holy Bible. Our point in citing the Quran is to show why serious Muslim scholars and students should discourage Umar and his colleagues from writing articles defending Islam since they end up doing more damage than good. The writings of such polemicists are actually helping us expose this false religion and for that we are thankful and do want to encourage them to continue with their work of destroying and discrediting Islam.
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