A Response to “The Christian Response”

To “The Common Word between You and Us”.

The main conflict between Islam and Christianity:

By: Salama Abdelhady, Ph.D.

Dear colleagues of Yale Center for Faith and Culture, thank you for your impressing reply to the 138 Muslim Scholars. However, as a response to your response and specifically to your claim of the conflicts between Islam and Christianity, I write this letter:

Islam and Christianity are two monotheistic religions for the guidance of people to worship Allah and to fear the day of resurrection. Muslims believe in Jesus(as a prophet) and that he was lifted alive. However, the source of all conflicts between both religions and even the source of all dogmas in Christianity is Jesus Crucifixion as a Way for Salvation.

Concerning this event, Muslims have a statement that contradicts the Christian’s statement. Muslim’s statement is in accordance to the following a verse in the Holy Quran:

And because of their saying (the Jews in boast) “We Killed Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but THE RESEMBLANCE OF JESUS WAS PUT OVER ANOTHER MAN, and they killed that man. Those who differ therein are full of DOUPTS. They have no certain knowledge, i.e. they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely, as Word of Allah, they killed him not (Al-Nissa, 157)

So, according to this verse, the Christ was not the one who was crucified. But instead, a man who had been dressed his shape was crucified in his place.

Now let us discuss, as Muslims, the truth of this statement and the fuzziness of the contradicting statement.

1.As Muslims, we trust in the truth of every word of the Holy Quran, as a really revealed book from Allah to His prophet Mohamed through the spirit of Holiness, the Angel Gabriel. No word in this Quran has been seen to contradict all scientific discoveries. The nature of the earth as a sphere was stated in the Quran since more than 14 centuries in miraculous wording. There are hundreds of proofs. However, let us read verses (4-6) from a Surah in the Holy Quran (Surah Number 39) which states many scientific and logical facts: {4] Had Allah wished to take to Himself a son, He could have chosen whom He pleased (some higher creations) out of those whom He doth create (not from human beings as weak and defected creatures): but Glory be to Him! (He is above such things.) He is Allah, the One, and the Irresistible. [5] He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap spherically the Day, and the Day overlap spherically the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law) each one follows a course of motion for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power, He Who forgives again and again? 6] He created you (all) from a single Person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and He sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs (their designs): He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre of the straight path)?

2.The conclusions of meetings of 200 theologians, Liberal theologians investigating the life of Jesus, in their published document under the title “Jesus Seminar” is leading to expect a degree of fuzziness in the Bible’s statements. In addition, a published article concerning the trust of the Catholic Church in the Bible is increasing also such expectations: Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible", By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent, timesonline. The Jehovah witnesses, a Christian church, assure that the Romans were not crucifying their victims.

3.Twoo Gospels only described the scene of Jesus Crucifixion and record his loud cry as follows: Eloi, Eloi, Lema sabachtani, (according to English Copies of the Bible), Eloi, Eloi, Lema asabtani (according to German copies of the Bible). As noted, both cries used a different slang than that of Jesus. It is near to the Arabic-Hebrew slang that was used by the residents of southern areas of Palestine in these times. Eloi or Elhij in Arabic-Hebrew means my God, as stated. Lema means also Why in Arabic-Hebrew as stated the written translations. But sabachtanic, according to English copy, does not mean forsaken me, but it means pigmented me. Sabcha (or sabgcha) means a pigment. Asabtani, according to the German copies, also doesn’t mean forsaken me, but it means hurt me or shock me. So, there is a doubt concerning the man on the Cross because he used different language than that of Jesus, he is blaming God to be pigmented (may be by another shape) or hurt in some way. Finally, he is crying loudly in a completely different manner than that of Jesus to declare that he is another pigmented man. So, this scene is evidence to the fuzziness of Jesus Crucifixion. Someone claim that this sentence is a part of the Psalms. However, it not found there. And can you imagine a crying man may sing a song.

4.There is no hint or comment in any of the four Gospels that the mission of Jesus had to do any thing with Jesus Crucifixion and the related dogmas as the Cross, the Salvation, the great sin, the Body of the church, the hypostases, the priesthood and its secrets and grades, the trinity or any of the added dogmas after the ascention of Jesus. However, as the core of Jesus Crucifixion was salvation and saving the people from their father’s sin, it would be expected a statement from Jesus to assure the noble objective of such mission. And if his mission was the Salvation by being cursed on the cross, according to Saint Paul, why was he crying and blaming His God on the cross? Absence of any hint in the four Gospels to the Crucifixion increases the fuzziness of these dogmas.

5.According to the Bible, the only one who commented Jesus Crucifixion and drew many dogmas concerning such event was Saint Paul. However, he stated a condition for accepting the power of the cross. This condition was found in 1 Corinthians 1, as follows: The Message of the Cross: 1:18 for the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.”21 So, the faith in a cross is foolishness unless the God would destroy wisdom and intelligence. However, Saint Paul claimed that it is written that God would destroy the wisdom and intelligence. But No one had found such writings in the Bible. It is hard also to believe that it may happen. It is written that the God is wise and he gifted such wisdom to selected people as Solomon, prophets, disciples and others too. As Saint Paul has a bad history before his claimed meeting with the God, he was not one of Jesus disciples and he was also the only one who glorifies the cross and gave great importance to the crucifixion after Jesus lift increase the fuzziness of the Christians statement.

6.According to Judas Gospel, the last found Gospel near Al-Menya, Egypt in 1975 and translated by the Geographic Society, in this Gospel, and near to its end, Jesus said to Judas, “Truly I say, But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. , Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has […]. [57]. Considering this sentence “THE MAN THAT CLOTHES ME’, It is in agreement with the previously mentioned verse in the Quran which tells that Jesus was not crucified but God made ANOTHER MAN TO RESEMBLE HIM. So, the man on the cross was not Jesus but he was Judas as a sacrifice to his trading of Jesus. This explains the difference in language of the man on the cross and that of Jesus. It also explains how Jesus visited his disciples in his manhood-nature and asked them to touch his body and ate with them just after Judas crucifixion. It also explains the disappearance of Judas after the crucifixion where it was claimed that he threw the silver coins and hanged himself. (Matthew:27:5 So7 Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself”. So such found Gospel and its offered explanations lead us to believe in the truth of the Muslims statement.

7.Starting from the Wisdom and Intelligence, let us find a wise answer to these questions: how the Wise Creator who create such magnificent universe and give it such wise order put his power to an idol as the cross? Why does he glorify this idol in such holy manner? How His Wisdom can adopt such idol and make it a sign for His salvation? I think as Saint Paul had stated, it is conditioned by destroying the wisdom and intelligence. As there is a remaining wisdom and intelligence in the world, the Christians statement is still a fuzzy one.

As Muslims, we offered the proof of the truth of our statement that Jesus was not crucified nor killed, but he was lifted alive, as the Quran stated. The Quran and Judas Gospel prove that there is another person, Judas, who was crucified instead after he was dressed by Jesus resemblance to look similar to him.

Jesus crucifixion and its related dogmas represent the main conflict between the Muslims and Christians. The absence of similar dogmas in Islam, make the Islam a religion of logic (or Fitra). In Islam we believe by the pure logic, as stated in the Quran, by the existence of One God, Allah. There is no priesthood in Islam, no secrets, no cross, no Saints nor Bishops and no Ghosts nor hypostases. Mohamed is a man ,who received a message from one God. The Quran is revealed to him and he behaved to be a model for any Moslem according to this Quran. It guides us to the mercy of God on earth and to a good eternal life after death if we obey its orders. They claim that we go to Kabba to kiss a holy stone. Such claim is incorrect since no one believes that this stone has any holiness or power. It is just a stone and we may kiss it as Mohamed did and to express our obedience. Our visit to Kabba is a visit to the first place in which the God was worshipped on the earth. It is placed in Paran desert where Abram worshipped God and obeyed Him and left there his wife, Hagar, and their son, Ishmael. Ishmael is the grandfather of Kadar and the prophet Mohamed. Ishmael also was sacrificed by a lamp in such Paran desert (Arafat Mountains) which is the place of Muslim’s pilgrimage.

As a summary, we have no dogmas in Islam. Bypassing the crucifixion as an introducing dogma to many other dogmas in Christianity, this will pave the straight path to the true Common Word between Us.

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