Sami Zaatari has produced a reply (*) to my rebuttal showing that Jesus is equal to God (the Father) and therefore worthy of the same honor and worship (*).

Zaatari provides a chart where he shows that Jesus is not God due to the limitations and attributes he has by virtue of being a man. This not only fails to take into consideration that Christians have always taught and believed that Jesus is truly and fully human in every sense – yet with the exception of sin – it conveniently ignores the massive and overwhelming amount of Biblical data which conclusively proves that Christ is fully God as well.

In light of this, we shall balance out this blatant omission by producing a chart of our own which takes into account all of what the Holy Bible teaches concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus.

God …	But Christ …	And yet Christ …
Is eternal, has no beginning and doesn’t die (Neh. 9:5; Ps. 90:2, 93:2; Isa. 57:15)	Was born (Matt. 1:18; 2:1-6; Luke 2:4-16)	Always existed and therefore eternal as well (John 1:1-3; 8:58; 17:5; Col. 1:17)
Is all-knowing (1 Kgs. 8:39; Job 37:16; Ps. 139:1-6; 147:4-5; Jer. 17:10; 1 John 3:20)	Grew in wisdom and was ignorant of the last day (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32; Lk. 2:40. 52; Heb. 5:8)	Knows all things perfectly (Matt. 9:4; 17:27; Mark 2:8; 7:29 [24-30]; John 2:23-25; 14:13-14; 16:30-31; 21:17; Acts 1:24 [2, 6, 21]; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rev. 2:23)
Is independent, and sovereign (Psalm 50:7-12; John 5:26; Acts 17:24-29; Rom. 11:33-36)	Was dependent upon God and the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1; John 5:19, 30)	Is also independent and sovereign (John 5:26; Acts 10:38; Rom. 14:9; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2-3, 8-12; Rev. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16)
Is not like a man, doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep, and cry and so on (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Hos. 11:9)	Was fully human, with the exception of sin, who needed to eat, sleep, drink etc. (Mark 4:38; John 4:6-9)	He is the Life, the Eternal Life, and the Bread of Life who controls and maintains all creation, provides physical and spiritual nourishment and sustenance to his followers, and grants salvation and rest to the weary (Matt. 11:27-30; John 4:10, 13-14; 5:21, 25-26, 28-29; 6:27-42, 47-58, 63; 7:37-39; 11:25-27; 14:6; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; 1 John 1:1-3)
Is greater than all (Job 33:12; John 10:29; 14:28)	Subject to the Father (1 Cor. 3:23, 11:3, 15:28)	Can do everything that God can do since he is equal with God (John 5:19-21; 10:27-33; 14:23)
Is the one and only true God (John 5:44, 17:3; Rom. 3:30; Gal. 3:20, 4:8; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19; 1 John 5:20)	Has a God who sent him (John 17:3, 20:17; Heb. 1:9; Rev. 3:2, 12)	He is God and has all the fulness of the Deity dwelling in him bodily (Isa. 9:6; John 1:1-3, 10, 14, 18; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:5-6; Col. 1:19, 2:9; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1)

To see a similar chart please go here.

Zaatari then asserts that God is for all mankind whereas Jesus is only for the children of Israel (cf. Matt. 15:24). This indicates that Zaatari hasn’t spent much time reading the Holy Bible carefully, nor the Quran for that matter. In the first place, even though Yahweh created the universe and desires all mankind to be saved:

"And now the LORD says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength- he says: ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.’" Isaiah 49:5-6

"Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear." Isaiah 45:21-23

The Scriptures are clear that Yahweh chose Israel to be his special possession:

"‘Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." Exodus 19:5-6

"See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? … Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?" Deuteronomy 4:5-8, 32-34

"When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance." Deuteronomy 32:8-9

A point with which the Quran agrees:

O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you and how I preferred you to (all) creatures. S. 2:47 Pickthall

Indeed, We gave the Children of Israel the Book, the Judgment, and the Prophethood, and We provided them with good things, and We preferred them above all beings. S. 45:16 Arberry

Furthermore, even though Christ himself restricted his earthly ministry to the places where the children of Israel dwelt, while also blessing the Gentiles who lived amongst them, such restriction did not apply to the Apostles whom he would later send out throughout the world to preach the Gospel as his representatives and ambassadors:

"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:17-20

"Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 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 28:18-20

As the Apostles Peter and Paul put it:

"After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: ‘Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.’" Acts 15:7-11

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.’ Again, it says, ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.’ And again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.’ And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.’ I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ." Romans 15:7-19

Again, this is a fact which the Quran agrees with since it clearly testifies that Jesus and his blessed and holy mother are a sign for all of mankind:

He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, ‘that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us’: It is a matter (so) decreed." S. 19:21 Y. Ali

And she who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her of Our spirit and appointed her and her son to be a sign unto all beings. S. 21:91 Arberry

And that his Gospel is a light and guidance for the people, not just for Israel:

It is he Who sent down to you the book in truth, confirming what is between his/its hands (musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi) went before it; and he sent down the Law and the Gospel before this, as a guide to mankind… S. 3:3-4

Zaatari erroneously thinks that Jesus fleeing to Egypt to escape from king Herod is evidence against his Deity, when it is a strong indication of it. After all, even though Christ was a helpless babe under the care of Joseph, Herod still wasn’t able to locate him in order to kill him. And is it a coincidence that Jesus manages to leave at the perfect moment thereby saving both his parents (his mother and adoptive father) and himself from slaughter and harm?

This actually demonstrates that even while a babe Christ was still in control of his circumstances since no one could take his life (or the life of his family for that matter) before the appointed time, just as he himself stated:

"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." John 10:17-18

As far as Zaatari’s assertion concerning Jesus hiding himself from the Jews who wanted to kill him is concerned this also provides implicit attestation for his Deity. Let us look at some of the examples of Jesus "hiding" from his enemies to see if Christ was really running from them:

"‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, BECAUSE HIS TIME HAD NOT YET COME." John 8:20

As the context itself shows the reason why Jesus hid himself was not because he was afraid, but because it was not his time to die. This is why he could slip through the temple grounds without anyone seizing him.

"At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.’ At this they tried to seize him, BUT NO ONE LAID A HAND ON HIM, BECAUSE HIS TIME HAD NOT YET COME." John 7:25-30

The people tried to seize Jesus but could not take hold of him since his time hadn't arrived.

"Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, BUT NO ONE LAID A HAND ON HIM. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn't you bring him in?’ ‘NO ONE EVER SPOKE THE WAY THIS MAN DOES, the guards declared." John 7:43-46

Here we see how Jesus controlled the crowds’ intent of seizing him simply through his preaching! Doesn’t this actually prove that Jesus had the ability to guide and control the crowds solely by his powerful word, that very same word which he uses to sustain creation and raise the dead both spiritually and physically?

"I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live… Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." John 5:25, 28-29

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:3

And here is another passage where people sought to kill Jesus:

"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. BUT HE WALKED RIGHT THROUGH THE CROWD AND WENT ON HIS WAY." Luke 4:28-30

The above reference again shows how Christ had power over his surroundings since he simply walked right through the mob without anyone being able to a lay a hand on him. We now turn to our final example:

"Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, 'Who is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'I AM,' Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, 'I AM,' THEY DREW BACK AND FELL TO THE GROUND." John 18:4-6

This last passage expressly and unambiguously demonstrates the sovereign power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that it was Jesus’ use of the "I AM" that drove the soldiers to the ground, a phrase which he often used to denote his eternal existence and perfect Deity. For the details please consult the following rebuttals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

The above example also provides explicit evidence that Christ had the ability to destroy these soldiers just by the power of his word, and further confirms what Jesus said concerning no one being able to take his life away unless he permitted it.

Finally, all of these references highlight Jesus’ compassion and mercy in that they all show that Christ didn’t want to be placed in a situation where he would have to harm his opponents before the appointed time of their judgment. Jesus himself said that Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed as a consequence of the Jews rejecting him and his spokespersons; yet this would take place only when the disbelievers had reached the limit of the sins that God would put up with:

"‘Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."’ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ‘Do you see all these things?’ he asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’" Matthew 23:32-39, 24:1-2

"For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last." 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16

Until that time arrived Christ, out of his love and compassion, avoided any situation in which he would have to physically harm them since he didn’t want to kill them but desired to grant them salvation and give them every chance to repent.

Jesus even made sure to leave them with absolutely no excuse for rejecting God’s offer of love and hope which is found in his unique Son:

"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

"Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:7-10

"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. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." John 12:47-50

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’" John 15:18-25

Hence, their rejection of God’s love and the supernatural miracles he gave in confirmation of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, demonstrated that they fully deserved the judgment that eventually came upon them and the land.

It is now time turn this against Sami’s deity and show how even his own prophet didn’t think that Allah was powerful enough to protect him. According to Islamic sources when the following verse was "revealed,"

O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord, for if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. Allah will protect thee from mankind. Lo! Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. S. 5:67

Muhammad claimed that he wouldn’t require the protection of anyone since Allah would suffice for him:

O Messenger, make known, all of, that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and do not conceal any of it out of fear that you may suffer some harm; for if you do not, that is, if you do not make known all of what has been revealed to you, you will not have conveyed His Message (risalatahu, or read plural, risalatihi, ‘His Messages’) since to conceal some of it is to conceal it all. God will protect you from people, who may try to kill you. The Prophet (s) used to have guards up until [the time that] this [verse] was revealed, then he said, ‘Depart, for God protects me now’, as reported by al-Hakim. God does not guide the unbelieving folk. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn; source)

However, this passage was "revealed" in Medina when he was head of state and with the Arab tribes in submission to him and he therefore didn’t really need anyone to protect him in such an environment.

Yet during his time in Mecca when he was outnumbered by the unbelievers we can see his fears and doubts in Allah’s ability to protect him. For instance, on the night of his exodus from Mecca he had let his first cousin Ali sleep in his bed in order to deceive the pagans into thinking that he was still in his house.

"Then Gabriel came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘Do not spend this night in the bed in which you usually sleep.’ When the first third of the night had gone past, the young men gathered at his door and waited for him to go to sleep so that they could fall upon him. When the Messenger of God saw them there he said to ‘Ali b. Abu Talib, ‘Sleep on my bed and wrap yourself up in my green Hadrami cloak; nothing unpleasant will befall you from them.’ The Messenger of God used to sleep in that cloak when he went to bed… Then the Messenger of God went off, and God blinded the sight of those who were lying in wait for him so that he departed without their seeing him… Then the Messenger of God came out, took a handful of dust and said, ‘Yes, I do say that; and you are one of them.’ Then God took away their sight so that they could not see him, and Muhammad began to sprinkle the dust on their heads…" (The History of al-Tabari – Muhammad at Mecca, translated and annotated by W. Montgomery Watt and M.V. McDonald [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1988], Volume VI (6), pp. 142-143)

If Muhammad really trusted his god to save him why did he resort to such trickery? Doesn’t this actually prove that Muhammad didn’t think that his deity was powerful enough to save him so he decided to take matters into his own hand by deceiving his enemies into thinking that he was still in his house sleeping in his bed? Moreover, doesn’t Ali’s willingness to take Muhammad’s place and suffer possible martyrdom in the process show that he had more courage and trust than his own prophet?

Doesn’t this further show that the details of Gabriel coming to Muhammad to inform him not to sleep in his bed that night or the story of Allah preventing the Quraysh from seeing Muhammad and that the latter threw dust on their heads are nothing more than legends and myths which Muslims invented? After all, if Allah really did do all these things then there was no need for Ali to sleep in Muhammad’s place. Moreover, if Muhammad was so sure that nothing would befall Ali then, instead of asking his cousin to sleep in his stead, why didn’t he simply remain in bed that night? If Allah or Gabriel could save Ali as he slept in his prophet’s bed then surely he/they could have also saved Muhammad from being assassinated. So why didn’t Muhammad simply walk right pass his enemies and ride out of Mecca, much like Jesus walked right through the midst of his enemies when they tried to seize him?

In light of the above doesn’t this strongly suggest that some Muslims were so embarrassed by Muhammad’s actions that they decided to insert these miraculous details into the story in order to salvage the reputation of their messenger and his deity since it shows that Muhammad didn’t really trust his god to save him?

It gets worse. Allah further proved to be powerless to save his messenger from being inspired by Satan:

"Al-Qasim b. Al-Hasan – al Husayn b. Daud – Hajja – Abu Ma‘shar – Muhammad b. Ka‘b al-Qurazi and Muhammad b. Qays: The Messenger of God was sitting in a large gathering of Quraysh, wishing that day that no revelation would come to him from God which could cause them to turn away from him. Then God revealed:

By the Star when it sets, your comrade does not err, nor is he deceived…

"and the Messenger of God recited it until he came to:

Have you thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?

"when Satan cast on his tongue two phrases:

These are the high-flying cranes; verily their intercession is to be desired.

"He uttered them and went on to complete the surah. When he prostrated himself at the end of the surah, the whole company prostrated themselves with him. Al-Walid b. al-Mughirah raised some dust to his forehead and bowed over that, since he was a very old man and could not prostrate himself. They were satisfied with what Muhammad had uttered and said, ‘We recognize that it is God who gives life and death, who creates and who provides sustenance, but if these gods of ours intercede for us with him, and if you give them a share, we are with you.’

"That evening Gabriel came to him and reviewed the surah with him, and when he reached the two phrases which Satan had cast upon his tongue he said, ‘I did not bring you these two.’ Then the Messenger of God said, ‘I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to him words which He has not spoken.’ Then God revealed to him:

And they indeed strove hard to beguile you away from what we have revealed to you, that you should invent other than it against us…

"to the words:

and then you would have found no helper against us.

"He remained grief stricken and anxious until the revelation of the verse:

Never did we send a messenger or a prophet before you… to the words… God is knower, wise.

"When those who had emigrated to Abyssinia heard that all the people of Mecca had accepted Islam, they returned to their clans, saying, ‘They are more dear to us’; but they found that the people had reversed their decision when God cancelled what Satan had cast upon the Messenger of God’s tongue." (The History of al-Tabari, pp. 111-112; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Note the following part once again,

"I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken"

Allah also failed to protect his "messenger" from coming under the control of a sorcerer,

Narrated Aisha:
Magic was worked on Allah's Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (Sufyan said: That is the hardest kind of magic as it has such an effect). Then one day he said, "O ‘Aisha do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied he is under the effect of magic. The first one asked, ‘Who has worked magic on him?’ The other replied, ‘Labid bin Al-A’sam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.’ The first one asked, ‘What material did he use?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hair stuck to it.’ The first one asked, ‘Where (is that)?’ The other replied, ‘In a skin of pollen of a male date palm tree kept under a stone in the well of Dharwan.’" So the Prophet went to that well and took out those things and said, "That was the well which was shown to me (in a dream). Its water looked like the infusion of Henna leaves and its date-palm trees looked like the heads of devils." The Prophet added, "Then that thing was taken out." I said (to the Prophet) "Why do you not treat yourself with Nashra?" He said, "Allah has cured me; I dislike to let evil spread among my people." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 660)

This is despite the fact that Allah said he would protect his faithful from such harm:

O you who believe! take care of your souls; he who errs cannot hurt you WHEN YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT WAY; to Allah is your return, of all (of you), so He will inform you of what you did. S. 5:105 Shakir

And when thou recitest the Qur'an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast. Lo! he hath no power over those who believe and put trust in their Lord. His power is ONLY over those who make a friend of him, and those who ascribe partners unto Him (Allah). S. 16:98-100 Pickthall

Thus, it is Allah who is weak and fails the test of being God.

And what a marked contrast between the Lord Jesus Christ and Allah! Christ was able to completely protect his family and his own life even while he was a young helpless babe, as well as promising his followers that they would not be controlled by Satan but would actually have power over him in Jesus’ name:

"The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’" Luke 10:17-20

Whereas Allah couldn’t save his last "prophet" from the power and control of Satan or a sorcerer; nor could he insure that his "messenger" Muhammad would be able to escape from his house safe and sound!

In light of this who can blame Muhammad for not trusting Allah and taking matters in his own hand by leaving Ali in his bed in order to deceive his enemies into thinking that he was sleeping in his house so as to flee for his life?

For more on the issue of the satanic verses and Muhammad’s bewitchment we recommend the following rebuttals (1, 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18).

And for the thorough refutation of Sami’s assertions that Jesus denied he was as good as God, that he supposedly didn’t know that it wasn’t the season for figs yet, and that John was somehow greater than Jesus because Christ claimed that the Baptist was the greatest man that was born please consult the following articles and discussions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

This concludes the first part of our rebuttal. Lord Jesus willing, we will rebut the rest of Zaatari’s points in the next sections. For now, we leave Zaatari with the following chart which conclusively demonstrates that Allah cannot be God according to his own criteria:

God is eternal.	Allah, however, is time bound and even calls himself time, all of which implies that he is not eternal. At the very least, this shows that time is not created (1).
God is all knowing, knows everything.	Allah, however, has to test people in order to know whether they will be faithful or not, and often makes guesses which actually come out wrong (1, 2, 3).
God is perfect, has no defects, and lacks nothing.	Allah, however, is imperfect since he lacked certain attributes which he later acquired, such as mercy (1, 2, 3, 4).
God is independent, and sovereign.	Allah, however, takes orders from a higher power and even prays to him (1). Also see the above links.
God is Almighty.	Allah, however, is not almighty since he is not powerful enough to enter into his own creation to become a man without ceasing to be God (1). He also failed to protect his messenger Muhammad from being inspired by the devil and affected by magic.
God is all good and pure.	Allah, however, is not all good or completely pure since he lies and deceives both believers and unbelievers (1, 2, 3).
God is greater than all.	Allah, however, is not greater than all since Muhammad is his equal (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
God is the one and only true God.	Allah, however, is not the only deity and actually has a God who orders and sends him (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
God is for all of mankind.	Allah, however, is only for Muslims and those who love him since he hates the rest, especially Jews and Christians, and orders that they be subjugated to the rule of Islam (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

For more on Allah failing Zaatari’s own criteria for Deity we recommend the following articles (1, 2).

Continue with Part 2.

Rebuttals to Sami Zaatari
Articles by Sam Shamoun
Answering Islam Home Page