Friday 2 June 2017
DO NOT FOLLOW HERACLIUS: THE TRUTH IS MADE CLEAR PART 2
Prophet Muhammad’s dear uncle and supporter Abu Talib, and Heraclius, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire both chose not to accept Islam. In both cases we can be fairly certain that it was a decision they did not take lightly, however they both chose to bow to external pressures. Instead of fearing God alone they found themselves afraid of what others would think, say or do. Today, more than a millennium later many people find themselves in the same position. They know or sense that Islam is the correct or true religion yet they refuse the gift that God has bestowed upon them.
There are many pressures in contemporary society that make converting to Islam a daunting issue. External pressures can put modern day people in the same position as Abu Talib and Emperor Heraclius. However, God does not call someone to Islam and then abandon them. If a person knows beyond doubt that Islam is the right religion they can also be sure, beyond doubt, that God has the authority and power to continue to guide them and ease their journey. Sometimes the mountain in front may look large and looming but what is a mountain except a part of creation totally submitted to the will of God?
“See you not that whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and living creatures, and many of mankind prostrate themselves to God…” (Quran 22:18)
God makes converting to Islam easy but we, human beings, the sons and daughters of Adam have an uncanny way of making our own lives difficult and filled with obstacles that in reality do not exist.
“…God does not want to place you in difficulty…” (Quran 5:6)
“…Whoever puts his trust in God then He will be enough for him…” (Quran 65:3)
This Quranic statement about trust is easy to say and easy to understand however when it comes to putting that complete trust into action it is not always easy. This is for two reasons. Of course, when a person is close to accepting Islam, Satan bombards him or her with tricks and illusions designed to lead the person away from the straight path to God. And secondly, people who do not fully understand the nature of God tend to fear the reaction of their family, friends or colleagues. Abu Talib was afraid that he would be thought of as a man without honour if he rejected the religion of his forefathers, and Heraclius thought he would lose his position, his power or his life. These things are of little consequence when compared to eternal bliss or damnation, however human beings are constantly fighting a battle to detach themselves from this illusionary world.
When a person converts to Islam some big changes are bound to happen. The transition to Islam is emotionally charged. Each person begins to feel like a changed person and consequently begins to act differently. Questions, thoughts and scenarios fill our minds, and Satan works overtime. Abu Talib might have addressed the same issues, Heraclius may have wondered whether his life would be in danger if he pressed the point or revealed his intentions to follow the teachings of Muhammad.
Nowadays we ask ourselves a different series of questions but they disturb our rest just the same. Should I dress differently? Should I tell my family? Am I still allowed to go out, drink alcohol, date? Hundreds of questions, but the reality is that these questions are really not relevant to whether a person wants to convert to Islam or not. If a person believes Islam is the truth then he or she should convert to Islam without delay. The details come later when a person establishes a relationship with God, when he understands the nature of our Creator.
Each person has a predetermined lifespan. We do not know when we are going to die and the next minute might literally be our last in this world. For this reason alone a person must not be like either Heraclius or Abu Talib. Both men let their love of this illusionary world dictate their Hereafter. Conversion should take place and trust in God should guide the new Muslim towards a lifelong relationship with Him.
Revealing that you are Muslim is not a condition of accepting Islam. At the same time however we must be mindful of the changes Islam requires and ask God to ease the way. Old habits must be broken slowly but surely and learning about the nature of God and His laws will allow each person to change into the type of person God loves. Although becoming a Muslim is an instantaneous event becoming a better Muslim requires a good, continuous effort on the part of anyone of us.
Friday 5 May 2017
DO NOT FOLLOW HERCLIUS: THE TRUTH IS MADE CLEAR PART 1
In the history of Islam there are two prominent men who refused to convert to Islam even though the truth was made clear to them. These men understood and admired Islam and they, each in their own way, loved Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. They were the Byzantium Emperor Heraclius and Abu Talib, Prophet Muhammad’s beloved uncle. Both men recognized the beauty of Islam yet they yielded to external pressure and refused to accept it as their religion.
When a person considers converting to Islam they are often faced with external pressures. What will my parents, wife, or brother say, they ask themselves. What about at work, how will I tell them I can no longer go to the bar after work? These things may seem trivial but they can often grow into huge mountains that cause a person to consider and reconsider over and over again. Even after a person converts to Islam and the initial euphoria wears off they might find themselves faced with more external pressures.
Heraclius and Abu Talib are two very different examples of how easily one is able to put the Hereafter at risk for the sake of matters belonging to this temporary life.
Heraclius – Emperor of Byzantium
In the year 628CE Prophet Muhammad sent a letter to Heraclius inviting him to accept Islam. It was one of several letters that Prophet Muhammad sent to several heads of State. Each letter was designed specifically for the person Prophet Muhammad was writing to.
Heraclius did not destroy the letter as the Emperor of Khosrau did, rather he read it out loud to his retinue and ministers. Heraclius also kept the letter, pondered on it and made enquiries into its truthfulness. He questioned Abu Sufyan, a staunch enemy of the Prophet and Islam, who happened to be in his lands for the sake of trade and business. He was summoned to the court for questioning. Abu Sufyan spoke truthfully about Muhammad and Heraclius was able to establish the truthfulness of Muhammad’s claim to prophethood. Heraclius even invited his court to Islam.
Heraclius was obviously both convinced and impressed by both what he read, and the results of his investigation. So why did he turn away? Was it the fear of losing his power and position? Was it the fear of losing his life? Clearly his heart leaned towards embracing Islam and he certainly did try to convince his people, taking seriously Muhammad’s advice to not misguide his own people. The hold this world of illusion had over Heraclius proved to be too strong. He died never having accepted Islam.
This is a problem those who are considering conversion may come across every day. The decision to change religions should not be taken lightly for it is a life changing event. However the gift of Islam should not be rejected for one would not know if they would have a chance to study it again.
ABU TALIB
Prophet Muhammad was eight years old when he came under the protection and care of his uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad and Abu Talib were very close and when Abu Talib fell on hard times Prophet Muhammad fostered one of his son’s, Ali, who grew up to be Muhammad’s son in law and the fourth Caliph of the Islamic nation. By preaching the message of Islam Prophet Muhammad put himself in great danger. Abu Talib, a man much respected in Mecca, protected Muhammad as much as he could. Even when he was encouraged to silence or control his nephew he staunchly took Muhammad’s side.
Although he was one of Prophet Muhammad’s most constant supporters Abu Talib refused to accept Islam. Even on his death bed when Prophet Muhammad begged him to accept Islam, he refused saying that he was happy on the religion of his forefathers. Abu Talib was fearful that his reputation and honour amongst the people of Mecca would be ruined if he at the last minute decided to forsake the religion of his father and grandfathers. The same honour that allowed him to protect and cherish Prophet Muhammad for over forty years, as well as go through periods of great deprivation for the sake of his nephew, would not allow him to embrace Islam.
Since the dawn of Muhammad’s prophethood, those wanting to embrace the new religion have faced personal distress and made hard decisions in order to submit to the will of God. External pressures, such as upsetting ones family and friends, or losing a job have meant that many risk their wellbeing in the Hereafter. It would be a great mistake to trade one’s eternal Paradise for the fleeting and temporary benefits of this world.
Next week we will discuss how a person can face contemporary pressures and offer some guidelines to make the transition to Islam an easy one.
Friday 24 March 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: HERACLIUS THE EMPEROR OF BYZANTIUM
Prophet Muhammad and the Emperor Heraclius were contemporaries. Born only 5 years apart, they both lived into their sixties. The reign of Heraclius was marked by ups and downs in military success. In 609CE, when he was 40, Muhammad received the first revelations that marked the beginning of his prophetic mission. In 610CE Heraclius deposed Procus as Emperor and took his place, but the beginning of his reign was marked by the defeat of his armies in Palestine and Turkey between 614 and 619CE. These defeats, and the subsequent victory the Romans would enjoy, were mentioned in the Quran at the time:
“The Romans have been defeated in the nearer land; and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. Within three to nine years.” (Quran 30:2-4)
The reconquest by the Romans of the lands ceded to Khosrau started in 625 and ended in triumph in 627CE. The following year, Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, sent a letter to Heraclius by the hand of Dihya al-Kalbi, by way of the governor of Bostra al-Sham, in Syria.
One morning, Heraclius got up in a sad mood. Some of the priests asked him why.
Being one who practiced astrology, Heraclius had been attempting to map out the future.
In reply to the enquiry, he said, “Last night I was looking at the stars, and I saw that a leader of those who practice circumcision had appeared (and would conqueror all before him). Who are they who practice circumcision?”
The priests replied, “Except the Jews nobody practices circumcision, and you needn’t be afraid of them; just issue orders to kill every Jew present in the country.”
While they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the King of Ghassan [ a vassal state of the Roman empire in Greater Syria administered by an Arab king loyal to Byzantium] to convey the news of the Messenger of God to Heraclius was brought in.
Having heard the news, Heraclius ordered the priest check whether the messenger from Ghassan was circumcised. After having him physically examined, they reported that the man was circumcised. Heraclius then asked the messenger about the custom of the Arabs. The messenger replied, “Arabs also practice circumcision.”
When he heard this, Heraclius said, “The reign of the Arabs has began and their kingdom is about to become manifest.”
In 629CE, Heraclius re-conquered Jerusalem triumphantly bearing what was said to be the original cross venerated by the Christians, and which the Khosrau II had taken as booty 15 years previously. While resident there, the letter Muhammad had sent, perhaps a year earlier, came to his hand. When he read it, he enquired about the presence of someone from the author’s people in the territory he controlled, and was told of Abu Sufyan’s trade caravan from Mecca, which was trading nearby. He, with his companions, was summoned to the Emperor’s court in Jerusalem, appearing before Heraclius who had his Byzantine Grandees around him.
Heraclius called for his interpreter so as to question them, commanding him to ask who among them was the closest in kinship to the man who claimed to be a prophet.
Abu Sufyan replied, “I am the nearest relative to him (in this group).”
Heraclius asked, “And what is the relationship between you and him?”
Abu Sufyan said, “He is my (distant) cousin on the spear side.”
Heraclius said, “Bring him closer!” and had Abu Sufyan’s companions placed behind him, at his shoulders. Then he ordered his interpreter, “Tell his companions that I am going to question him about the man who claims to be a prophet, so if he tells a lie, immediately repudiate it as a lie.”
“How is the lineage of this man among you?” the Roman Emperor continued.
“He is of noble descent.” Abu Sufyan replied.
Heraclius further enquired, “Has anybody among you ever previously claimed the same as he does?” “Was he prone to lying before he claimed what he has claimed?” “Was anybody among his ancestors a king?”
To each question Abu Sufyan could only answer, “No.”
“Do the highborn or the humble among his people listen to him?”
Abu Sufyan replied, “The powerless, rather than the highborn, follow him.”
He said, “Are they increasing or decreasing in number?”
“They are increasing,” was the reply.
He then asked, “Does anybody among those who embrace his religion turn away discontent and renounce it after a while?”
“No.”
Heraclius said, “Does he break his covenants?”
The caravan leader replied, “No. We have a truce with him now, but we fear he may betray us.”
The questioning relentlessly continued: “Have you ever fought each other?”
“Yes.”
“How do the battles turn out?”
“Sometimes he wins the battles and sometimes we win them.”
“What does he order you to do (when he preaches)?
“He tells us to worship God alone and not to worship anything along with Him, and to renounce all the idols that our ancestors have taught us to worship. He orders us to pray, give charity, be chaste, fulfill promises and discharge our trusts to kith and kin.”
Abu Sufyan was to later admit that he would have lied about the Prophet if he hadn’t been afraid of the shame of having his colleagues (listening behind him) spread reports that he was a liar. So he answered as truthfully as he could. He also mentioned the part that he had feared betrayal from Muhammad and those he led because it presented the best opportunity he had to slip in a negative statement against him.
After he had finished interrogating Abu Sufyan about the Prophet, Heraclius decided to tell him what he had learned from the interview. His interpreter conveyed his analysis.
He said: “I asked you about his lineage among you, and you stated that he was of sound lineage. Indeed, all the Messengers of God come from sound lineages among their respective peoples.
“Then I asked if anybody had claimed what he claims before him among your tribe, and your reply was that none had. If you had said others had made such a claim, I would have assumed he was following that which had been said before him.
“I further asked if you had found him a liar before he said what he said, and you said that you had not. I know that a person who does not lie about other men would never lie about God.
“And I asked you if any of his ancestors had been a king. If your reply had been an affirmative, I would have thought that the man was seeking to restore his ancestral kingdom.
“Then I enquired whether the highborn or the humble followed him, and you told me his followers were mainly humble people. Indeed, they are invariably the followers of Messengers.
“Then I asked you whether his followers were increasing or decreasing, and you informed me that they were increasing. And so it is with true faith until it is complete.
“I further asked you whether there was anybody who embraces the religion he teaches who turns away discontent and renounces it after a while. Your reply was in the negative, which is how true faith is, when the delight of it mixes completely with their hearts.
“And I asked you whether you fought one another, to which you replied affirmatively, adding that the fortunes of war were sometimes in his favor and sometimes in yours. So it is with all Messengers, but the final victory will be with him.
“I asked you whether he is ever treacherous, and you said he is not. So it is with all the Messengers; they never act treacherously.
“Then I asked you what he enjoins upon you in the religion he preaches. You stated that he orders you to worship God alone, and not associate any thing with Him, and not worship the idols of your ancestors. And that he enjoins you to pray and give charity, to be chaste, fulfill covenants and discharge trusts. And this is the description of what a prophet does.”
Thus did The Byzantine Caesar acknowledge the prophethood of the Messenger of God.
After Heraclius had confirmed that he believed Muhammad to be a prophet, he said:
“I knew that he was going to appear, but I did not know that he would be from among you. If what you have said is true, he will rule the very ground beneath my feet; if I knew I would definitely see him in person, I would undertake the journey to meet him; and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.”
It is apparent that he ‘knew’, or at least suspected, that a powerful prophet had arisen among the Arab people. It was at this stage that he asked for the letter he had received from the Messenger of God so as to read it aloud to the assembly:
{In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
This letter is from Muhammad the slave of God and His Messenger to Heraclius, the ruler of the Byzantines.
Peace be upon him who follows the right path.
I am writing this invitation to call you to Islam. If you become a Muslim you will be safe - and God will double your reward, but if you reject this invitation of Islam you will bear the sin of having misguided your subjects. Thus do I urge you to heed the following:
“O People of the Scriptures! Come to a word common to you and us that we worship none but Allah and that we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take others as Lords beside Allah. Then if they turn away, say: Bear witness that we are Muslims.”
Muhammad, the Messenger of God}
When Heraclius had finished his speech and had read the letter, there was a great hue and cry in the Royal Court, so the Meccans were ejected. Abu Sufyan wondered aloud to his companions, “The affairs of ibn abi-Kabsha (the Prophet] have become so prominent that even the King of the Bani-Asfar (the fair skinned ones) fears him.”
Meanwhile, Heraclius had written a letter to a friend in Rome concerning the letter he had received whose knowledge he trusted as comparable to his own. Then he left Jerusalem for Homs (Emesa in Roman times) in Syria, where he awaited the reply.
When he received the reply from his friend, he saw that the man agreed that the signs portended the appearance of a new leader, and that the leader was the expected prophet. On that, Heraclius invited all the Grandees of Byzantium to assemble in his palace at Homs.
When his Grandees had assembled, he ordered that all the doors of his palace be closed. Then he came out and said, “O Byzantines! If success is your desire and if you seek right guidance and want your Empire to remain, then give a pledge of allegiance to the emerging Prophet!
On hearing this invitation, the Grandees of the Church ran towards the gates of the palace like a herd of wild asses, but found the doors closed. Heraclius, realizing their hatred towards Islam, lost hope that they would ever embrace Islam, and he ordered that they should be brought back to the audience room. After they returned, he said, “What I have just said was simply to test the strength of your conviction, and I have seen it.
The people prostrated before him and became pleased with him, and Heraclius turned away from faith.
A legend has grown up around the events at Homs. It is said that Heraclius first suggested that his bishops embrace Islam, but when they refused, he suggested that the Empire pay tribute to the Prophet of Islam. When they refused this in turn, he suggested making peace with the Muslims and agreeing to a pact of non-belligerence. When this too was refused, he left Syria for Byzantium, and gave up all interest in preserving the Empire south and east of Antioch – never taking the field against the Muslim advance in person, and sending incompetent generals as the defenders of his Middle Eastern lands. What is certain is that he treated the letter and the claim to prophethood therein seriously, and he made every effort to sway his people before turning back.
Many may think that Heraclius secretly became Muslim, for he sought to establish whether Muhammad’s prophetic claim was true by considering his background, motivations, and effects on his people; his character, accomplishments and message. Judging from his reply to Abu Sufyan and the invitation to his pillars of society in Homs, he seems to have been convinced that Muhammad was genuine. Perhaps his heart was swayed towards the monotheism expressed by Muhammad in his letter, and he certainly tried to follow his advice to avoid the sin of misguiding those he ruled. His subjects, however, proved too strong in their rejection, and he capitulated to their pressure, unable to submit to this new faith because he feared the rebellion of the people. For this reason, like the uncle of the Prophet, Abu Talib, who believed that Muhammad was a prophet and guarded him throughout his latter life until death but still did not submit to Islam due to the shame brought on by his peers, Heraclius died as a disbeliever in Islam and the Prophet of God.
To be continued....
“The Romans have been defeated in the nearer land; and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. Within three to nine years.” (Quran 30:2-4)
The reconquest by the Romans of the lands ceded to Khosrau started in 625 and ended in triumph in 627CE. The following year, Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, sent a letter to Heraclius by the hand of Dihya al-Kalbi, by way of the governor of Bostra al-Sham, in Syria.
One morning, Heraclius got up in a sad mood. Some of the priests asked him why.
Being one who practiced astrology, Heraclius had been attempting to map out the future.
In reply to the enquiry, he said, “Last night I was looking at the stars, and I saw that a leader of those who practice circumcision had appeared (and would conqueror all before him). Who are they who practice circumcision?”
The priests replied, “Except the Jews nobody practices circumcision, and you needn’t be afraid of them; just issue orders to kill every Jew present in the country.”
While they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the King of Ghassan [ a vassal state of the Roman empire in Greater Syria administered by an Arab king loyal to Byzantium] to convey the news of the Messenger of God to Heraclius was brought in.
Having heard the news, Heraclius ordered the priest check whether the messenger from Ghassan was circumcised. After having him physically examined, they reported that the man was circumcised. Heraclius then asked the messenger about the custom of the Arabs. The messenger replied, “Arabs also practice circumcision.”
When he heard this, Heraclius said, “The reign of the Arabs has began and their kingdom is about to become manifest.”
In 629CE, Heraclius re-conquered Jerusalem triumphantly bearing what was said to be the original cross venerated by the Christians, and which the Khosrau II had taken as booty 15 years previously. While resident there, the letter Muhammad had sent, perhaps a year earlier, came to his hand. When he read it, he enquired about the presence of someone from the author’s people in the territory he controlled, and was told of Abu Sufyan’s trade caravan from Mecca, which was trading nearby. He, with his companions, was summoned to the Emperor’s court in Jerusalem, appearing before Heraclius who had his Byzantine Grandees around him.
Heraclius called for his interpreter so as to question them, commanding him to ask who among them was the closest in kinship to the man who claimed to be a prophet.
Abu Sufyan replied, “I am the nearest relative to him (in this group).”
Heraclius asked, “And what is the relationship between you and him?”
Abu Sufyan said, “He is my (distant) cousin on the spear side.”
Heraclius said, “Bring him closer!” and had Abu Sufyan’s companions placed behind him, at his shoulders. Then he ordered his interpreter, “Tell his companions that I am going to question him about the man who claims to be a prophet, so if he tells a lie, immediately repudiate it as a lie.”
“How is the lineage of this man among you?” the Roman Emperor continued.
“He is of noble descent.” Abu Sufyan replied.
Heraclius further enquired, “Has anybody among you ever previously claimed the same as he does?” “Was he prone to lying before he claimed what he has claimed?” “Was anybody among his ancestors a king?”
To each question Abu Sufyan could only answer, “No.”
“Do the highborn or the humble among his people listen to him?”
Abu Sufyan replied, “The powerless, rather than the highborn, follow him.”
He said, “Are they increasing or decreasing in number?”
“They are increasing,” was the reply.
He then asked, “Does anybody among those who embrace his religion turn away discontent and renounce it after a while?”
“No.”
Heraclius said, “Does he break his covenants?”
The caravan leader replied, “No. We have a truce with him now, but we fear he may betray us.”
The questioning relentlessly continued: “Have you ever fought each other?”
“Yes.”
“How do the battles turn out?”
“Sometimes he wins the battles and sometimes we win them.”
“What does he order you to do (when he preaches)?
“He tells us to worship God alone and not to worship anything along with Him, and to renounce all the idols that our ancestors have taught us to worship. He orders us to pray, give charity, be chaste, fulfill promises and discharge our trusts to kith and kin.”
Abu Sufyan was to later admit that he would have lied about the Prophet if he hadn’t been afraid of the shame of having his colleagues (listening behind him) spread reports that he was a liar. So he answered as truthfully as he could. He also mentioned the part that he had feared betrayal from Muhammad and those he led because it presented the best opportunity he had to slip in a negative statement against him.
After he had finished interrogating Abu Sufyan about the Prophet, Heraclius decided to tell him what he had learned from the interview. His interpreter conveyed his analysis.
He said: “I asked you about his lineage among you, and you stated that he was of sound lineage. Indeed, all the Messengers of God come from sound lineages among their respective peoples.
“Then I asked if anybody had claimed what he claims before him among your tribe, and your reply was that none had. If you had said others had made such a claim, I would have assumed he was following that which had been said before him.
“I further asked if you had found him a liar before he said what he said, and you said that you had not. I know that a person who does not lie about other men would never lie about God.
“And I asked you if any of his ancestors had been a king. If your reply had been an affirmative, I would have thought that the man was seeking to restore his ancestral kingdom.
“Then I enquired whether the highborn or the humble followed him, and you told me his followers were mainly humble people. Indeed, they are invariably the followers of Messengers.
“Then I asked you whether his followers were increasing or decreasing, and you informed me that they were increasing. And so it is with true faith until it is complete.
“I further asked you whether there was anybody who embraces the religion he teaches who turns away discontent and renounces it after a while. Your reply was in the negative, which is how true faith is, when the delight of it mixes completely with their hearts.
“And I asked you whether you fought one another, to which you replied affirmatively, adding that the fortunes of war were sometimes in his favor and sometimes in yours. So it is with all Messengers, but the final victory will be with him.
“I asked you whether he is ever treacherous, and you said he is not. So it is with all the Messengers; they never act treacherously.
“Then I asked you what he enjoins upon you in the religion he preaches. You stated that he orders you to worship God alone, and not associate any thing with Him, and not worship the idols of your ancestors. And that he enjoins you to pray and give charity, to be chaste, fulfill covenants and discharge trusts. And this is the description of what a prophet does.”
Thus did The Byzantine Caesar acknowledge the prophethood of the Messenger of God.
After Heraclius had confirmed that he believed Muhammad to be a prophet, he said:
“I knew that he was going to appear, but I did not know that he would be from among you. If what you have said is true, he will rule the very ground beneath my feet; if I knew I would definitely see him in person, I would undertake the journey to meet him; and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.”
It is apparent that he ‘knew’, or at least suspected, that a powerful prophet had arisen among the Arab people. It was at this stage that he asked for the letter he had received from the Messenger of God so as to read it aloud to the assembly:
{In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
This letter is from Muhammad the slave of God and His Messenger to Heraclius, the ruler of the Byzantines.
Peace be upon him who follows the right path.
I am writing this invitation to call you to Islam. If you become a Muslim you will be safe - and God will double your reward, but if you reject this invitation of Islam you will bear the sin of having misguided your subjects. Thus do I urge you to heed the following:
“O People of the Scriptures! Come to a word common to you and us that we worship none but Allah and that we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take others as Lords beside Allah. Then if they turn away, say: Bear witness that we are Muslims.”
Muhammad, the Messenger of God}
When Heraclius had finished his speech and had read the letter, there was a great hue and cry in the Royal Court, so the Meccans were ejected. Abu Sufyan wondered aloud to his companions, “The affairs of ibn abi-Kabsha (the Prophet] have become so prominent that even the King of the Bani-Asfar (the fair skinned ones) fears him.”
Meanwhile, Heraclius had written a letter to a friend in Rome concerning the letter he had received whose knowledge he trusted as comparable to his own. Then he left Jerusalem for Homs (Emesa in Roman times) in Syria, where he awaited the reply.
When he received the reply from his friend, he saw that the man agreed that the signs portended the appearance of a new leader, and that the leader was the expected prophet. On that, Heraclius invited all the Grandees of Byzantium to assemble in his palace at Homs.
When his Grandees had assembled, he ordered that all the doors of his palace be closed. Then he came out and said, “O Byzantines! If success is your desire and if you seek right guidance and want your Empire to remain, then give a pledge of allegiance to the emerging Prophet!
On hearing this invitation, the Grandees of the Church ran towards the gates of the palace like a herd of wild asses, but found the doors closed. Heraclius, realizing their hatred towards Islam, lost hope that they would ever embrace Islam, and he ordered that they should be brought back to the audience room. After they returned, he said, “What I have just said was simply to test the strength of your conviction, and I have seen it.
The people prostrated before him and became pleased with him, and Heraclius turned away from faith.
A legend has grown up around the events at Homs. It is said that Heraclius first suggested that his bishops embrace Islam, but when they refused, he suggested that the Empire pay tribute to the Prophet of Islam. When they refused this in turn, he suggested making peace with the Muslims and agreeing to a pact of non-belligerence. When this too was refused, he left Syria for Byzantium, and gave up all interest in preserving the Empire south and east of Antioch – never taking the field against the Muslim advance in person, and sending incompetent generals as the defenders of his Middle Eastern lands. What is certain is that he treated the letter and the claim to prophethood therein seriously, and he made every effort to sway his people before turning back.
Many may think that Heraclius secretly became Muslim, for he sought to establish whether Muhammad’s prophetic claim was true by considering his background, motivations, and effects on his people; his character, accomplishments and message. Judging from his reply to Abu Sufyan and the invitation to his pillars of society in Homs, he seems to have been convinced that Muhammad was genuine. Perhaps his heart was swayed towards the monotheism expressed by Muhammad in his letter, and he certainly tried to follow his advice to avoid the sin of misguiding those he ruled. His subjects, however, proved too strong in their rejection, and he capitulated to their pressure, unable to submit to this new faith because he feared the rebellion of the people. For this reason, like the uncle of the Prophet, Abu Talib, who believed that Muhammad was a prophet and guarded him throughout his latter life until death but still did not submit to Islam due to the shame brought on by his peers, Heraclius died as a disbeliever in Islam and the Prophet of God.
To be continued....
Friday 17 March 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: WARAQAH SON OF NAWFAL
Waraqah son of Nawfal was related to Khadeejah daughter of Khuwaylid, the wife of Prophet Muhammad. Waraqah was a respected man of his time and a well-known Christian scholar. He was also one of those who used to translate Christian holy texts into Arabic. Khadeejah brought the Prophet to Waraqah after the Prophet received his first revelation in the cave of ‘Hiraa.
The revelation had left the Prophet shaken and terrified. He had rushed home to his wife, overwhelmed by the experience. Khadeejah calmed him down and took him to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Khadeejah said:
"O son of my uncle, listen to what your nephew says"
After the Prophet related the whole incident to him, Waraqah said:
“This is the Namoos (Gabriel = the Holy Spirit) that used to come to Moses.”
Waraqah told the Prophet of the calamities that he would face from the first day of his Prophethood.
He said: “Would that I were a young man, would that I would be alive when your people expel you.”
The Messenger of God said: “Will they expel me?”
He said: “Yes. No man has ever come with that which you have brought but he was faced with hostility. If I live to see that day, I will support you strongly…”
Waraqah was a learned man. He was a believer in Jesus and a monotheist.
He understood the features of the revelation in the account that the Prophet gave him. Furthermore, Waraqah fully and sincerely supported Muhammad (pbuh) even though he had not yet become a prophet. He believed that Muhammad was the last awaited prophet.
Waraqah encouraged Muhammad (pbuh) to be patient if his people persecuted him and expelled him. He also encouraged him to continue his call, without ever doubting that God The Almighty would protect him from the polytheists of the Quraysh.
When the Prophet's Companions were not certain whether Waraqah was to be regarded as a believer, the Prophet said:
“Do not revile Waraqah, for I saw that he will be in the Garden (Paradise), or will have two gardens.”
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
The revelation had left the Prophet shaken and terrified. He had rushed home to his wife, overwhelmed by the experience. Khadeejah calmed him down and took him to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Khadeejah said:
"O son of my uncle, listen to what your nephew says"
After the Prophet related the whole incident to him, Waraqah said:
“This is the Namoos (Gabriel = the Holy Spirit) that used to come to Moses.”
Waraqah told the Prophet of the calamities that he would face from the first day of his Prophethood.
He said: “Would that I were a young man, would that I would be alive when your people expel you.”
The Messenger of God said: “Will they expel me?”
He said: “Yes. No man has ever come with that which you have brought but he was faced with hostility. If I live to see that day, I will support you strongly…”
Waraqah was a learned man. He was a believer in Jesus and a monotheist.
He understood the features of the revelation in the account that the Prophet gave him. Furthermore, Waraqah fully and sincerely supported Muhammad (pbuh) even though he had not yet become a prophet. He believed that Muhammad was the last awaited prophet.
Waraqah encouraged Muhammad (pbuh) to be patient if his people persecuted him and expelled him. He also encouraged him to continue his call, without ever doubting that God The Almighty would protect him from the polytheists of the Quraysh.
When the Prophet's Companions were not certain whether Waraqah was to be regarded as a believer, the Prophet said:
“Do not revile Waraqah, for I saw that he will be in the Garden (Paradise), or will have two gardens.”
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
Friday 10 March 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: BAHEERAH THE MONK
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had many champions among the early Christians, and they, having read about the emergence of a new prophet in their religious books, were quite supportive of him.
The first of these Christians was a monk called Baheerah, who the Prophet met as a boy of twelve. This was when the Prophet was travelling with his uncle Abu Taalib, in a merchant caravan heading to Ash-Shaam. The caravan stopped near Baheerah’s house for the travelers to rest.
Baheerah had studied ancient scriptures and religious texts from which he had learnt of the coming of a final prophet. He was convinced that this prophet would appear in his own lifetime, and his anticipation increased every time a caravan of Arab merchants passed by where he lived. Therefore, he was struck and awed at the arrival of a caravan from Mecca which, to his amazement, was shaded by a cloud hovering closely above them. The cloud moved as the caravan moved, and did not go any further when they stopped. It appeared as though it were providing shade for one person or all those in the caravan. When he also noticed that a tree lowered its branches over the caravan to provide further shade, he immediately realized that there must be someone extraordinary in the caravan.
Baheerah invited all the travelers from the caravan to a meal in his house, but none of their features had the traits of the awaited prophet. He inquired if there was anyone who had not joined the meal. It was then that he received news that a young boy, Muhammad, had been left outside to guard the caravan. Baheerah could not wait to see the boy, and when he did, he realized that this was the awaited prophet who carried all the signs that he was supposed to have, as described in the religious books that Baheerah had studied. When the caravan was going to leave, Baheerah told Abu Taalib, the uncle of the Prophet to take the boy back to Mecca as soon as possible, in order to guard him against those who might try to harm him.
Here was a Christian monk who did not forge facts or hide them, but was honest enough to know and acknowledge the truth of what he had seen: that the last prophet had indeed been born but had not yet embarked on his mission.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
The first of these Christians was a monk called Baheerah, who the Prophet met as a boy of twelve. This was when the Prophet was travelling with his uncle Abu Taalib, in a merchant caravan heading to Ash-Shaam. The caravan stopped near Baheerah’s house for the travelers to rest.
Baheerah had studied ancient scriptures and religious texts from which he had learnt of the coming of a final prophet. He was convinced that this prophet would appear in his own lifetime, and his anticipation increased every time a caravan of Arab merchants passed by where he lived. Therefore, he was struck and awed at the arrival of a caravan from Mecca which, to his amazement, was shaded by a cloud hovering closely above them. The cloud moved as the caravan moved, and did not go any further when they stopped. It appeared as though it were providing shade for one person or all those in the caravan. When he also noticed that a tree lowered its branches over the caravan to provide further shade, he immediately realized that there must be someone extraordinary in the caravan.
Baheerah invited all the travelers from the caravan to a meal in his house, but none of their features had the traits of the awaited prophet. He inquired if there was anyone who had not joined the meal. It was then that he received news that a young boy, Muhammad, had been left outside to guard the caravan. Baheerah could not wait to see the boy, and when he did, he realized that this was the awaited prophet who carried all the signs that he was supposed to have, as described in the religious books that Baheerah had studied. When the caravan was going to leave, Baheerah told Abu Taalib, the uncle of the Prophet to take the boy back to Mecca as soon as possible, in order to guard him against those who might try to harm him.
Here was a Christian monk who did not forge facts or hide them, but was honest enough to know and acknowledge the truth of what he had seen: that the last prophet had indeed been born but had not yet embarked on his mission.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
Friday 3 March 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: SALMAN THE PERSIAN PART 2
THE FIGHT AGAINST PERSECUTION
Today we are going to see how Salman as an early ex-Christian followed both Jesus and Prophet Muhammad throughout his life.
Salman was to play an important role in the struggles of the growing Muslim State. Towards the end of the fifth year after the Hijrah (The Migration), Prophet Muhammad got intelligence that a massive Quraysh army of about ten thousand strong, including a large cavalry force, had set out from Mecca in another major attempt to finish off the Muslims. They were to be joined by the Jews of Khaybar and other powerful Arab tribes like the Banu Asad and the Banu Ghatafan in a mighty alliance.
The Muslims had only a week to make preparations to defend themselves. The Prophet alerted the people, urged them to be steadfast and, as he had done before, summoned them to a consultation to discuss how to meet the grave threat. It is said that after several ideas were put forward, Salman eventually rose up and said:
"O Messenger of Allah, in Persia when we fear an attack of cavalry, we would surround ourselves with a trench, so let us dig a trench about us now."
The stunning suggestion was accepted. The course of the trench or khandaq was carefully planned with Salman advising on the width and depth. The Prophet made each section of the community responsible for a part of the trench. It was a massive undertaking. The work was strenuous and everyone, including the Prophet, dug and shifted the earth and boulders while chanting to keep their morale and spirits high. Salman being fit and strong and used to such hard labour is said to have done the work of ten men. While each section of the Muslims sought to claim Salman as its own, the Prophet was moved to say, "Salman is one of us, the people of (my) household."
The khandaq was completed in six days and not a moment too soon. The army of the Quraysh and their allies advanced and when they saw the Muslims camped outside the city, they were encouraged in their hope of putting an end to them as quickly as possible. When they drew nearer, however, they were amazed to see the broad trench that lay between them and the Muslim defenders on the other side. When Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Meccans, saw the trench, he said, "This stratagem has not been employed by the Arabs before."
In the following days, the Quraysh made several attempts to breach the trench, but they all ended in failure. A long siege followed in which the Muslims' endurance was sorely tested, while they manned the trench day and night. In the end, the Quraysh and their allies had to withdraw in disarray. The strategy of the trench, the steadfastness of the Muslims and, above all, God's help saved the city and the Muslims from annihilation.
Jesus (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was never against fighting if it is done to eliminate injustice and iniquities of the society. Most people, especially the Muslims, Christians and Jews believe that when Jesus returns to earth at the end of time he will himself defeat the forces of evil and he alone has the power granted to him by God to defeat the Anti-Christ. He will unite and gather believers together from the ends of the earth. His rule will make people return to the fundamentals of faith and Law. He will be a leader who will fight God’s war against the disbelievers, and that this war will be followed by a peaceful hegemony in which God’s Law will prevail throughout the world. This event is envisioned to be just around the corner!
SINS FALL AWAY JUST AS LEAVES FALL AWAY
Salman continued in the service of the Prophet and stayed close to him in the few eventful years that followed. A better opportunity to acquire knowledge and wisdom could not be found. In every event, in every meeting, in every journey - there was something to be learned. The Prophet, for example, was once with Salman and another person under a tree. He took a dry branch from the tree and shook it and the leaves fell. He asked Salman:
"Salman, aren't you going to ask me why I have done this?"
"Why have you done this?" inquired Salman and the Prophet replied:
"When a Muslim make Ablution and does it well, then performs the five (daily) prescribed Prayer, his sins fall away just as these leaves fall away."
And then he recited the verse of the Quran: "And establish prayer at both ends of the day and during the early watches of the night. Indeed, good deeds drive away evil deeds. This is a reminder to those who are mindful (of God)." (Chapter Hud, 11:114)
Salman practiced what he learned. It is related that he was once with a group of Muslims engaged in dhikr or the remembrance of Almighty God. The Prophet passed by and so they stopped. He asked:
"What have you been saying?"
"We are remembering Allah, O Messenger of Allah."
"Go on saying (your words of remembrance)," encouraged the Prophet, "for indeed I saw grace and mercy descending upon you and I dearly love to share this with you." Then he said:
"Praise be to Allah Who has made such people among my Ummah with whom I am commanded to find calmness and patience in myself."
Salman proved to be a keen student and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars among the Muslims after the passing of the Prophet. It is related that when the well-known companion of the Prophet, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, was on his deathbed, a man who came to visit him began to weep.
"Why do you weep?" asked Mu'adh.
"Because of the knowledge that I would have gained from you," replied the man.
"Don't cry," said Mu'adh comfortingly, "for when I die, seek knowledge from four persons: 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abdullah ibn Salam, Salman and Abu-d Darda."
As a scholar, Salman was noted for his vast knowledge and wisdom. 'Ali said of him that he was like Luqman the Wise. And Ka'b al-Ahbar said, "Salman is stuffed with knowledge and wisdom - an ocean that does not dry up."
LIVING BY THE SCRIPTURES
Salman had a knowledge of both the Christian scriptures and the Quran in addition to his earlier knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion. Salman translated parts of the Quran into Persian during the lifetime of the Prophet. He was thus the first person to translate the Quran into a foreign language.
Salman was keen to pass on his knowledge. It is related that while he was in a mosque in Ctesiphon, about a thousand people gathered about him. He told them to sit down and started to recite from Chapter Joseph in the Quran. They began to disperse until there were just about one hundred left. He became upset and said, "It is pleasant talk you want! But when I read the Book of Allah for you, you go away!"
In carrying out the instructions of the Prophet, he remained faithful and thorough. As the commander of a Muslim army besieging a castle in Persia, he was urged by his men to plunge immediately into attack.
"O Abu 'Abdullah!" they said, "shall we not attack them?"
He replied, "Let me invite them to Islam as I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'Invite them (to Islam).'"
Salman then addressed the besieged, saying:
"I am a man from among you, a Persian. Do you see the Arabs obeying me? If you accept Islam, you will have what we have and you will be up against what we are up against. If you do not accept Islam, you can come under the protection of the Muslims on payment of the jizyah (military exemption tax)."
The Persians refused both these options and said to Salman, "We will fight you."
The Muslim forces called on Salman to attack them forthwith but he continued to invite them to Islam for three days. Only when they remained obstinate, did he give the command to attack and they conquered the fortress.
There are other examples of the wisdom and correct behaviour of Salman. It is related that he was once with a military post. Some distance away, a person began to recite the Quran from Chapter Maryam. A Jew listening to the recitation started to defame Mary and her son, Jesus. The Muslims became incensed and set upon the Jew, beating him so badly as to draw blood. The Jew went to Salman and complained, for it had become known that anyone who was wronged or unjustly treated could go to Salman. Salman went to those who had beaten the Jew and asked:
"Why did you beat up this man?"
"We were reading Chapter Maryam and he vilified Mary and her son," they replied.
Salman reprimanded the Muslims and urged them to exercise restraint and treat the protected people (ahl al-dhimmah) with honor. He quoted the Quanic verse: "Do not revile those whom they invoke instead of Allah lest they revile Allah out of spite and in ignorance." (Surah al-An'am, 6:108)
See how Salman followed the Scriptures! This event is a good lesson for all the modern-day Muslims who practice terrorism, murder innocent lives and commit suicide bombings in the name of religion!
SALMAN THE MUSLIM REMINDS US OF JESUS!
Salman became known as "Salman the Good". He was a scholar who lived a rough and ascetic life. He had one cloak that he wore and on which he slept. He would not seek the shelter of a roof but often stayed under a tree or against a wall. A man once said to him:
"Shall I not build you a house in which to live?"
"I have no need of a house," he replied.
The man persisted and said:
"I know the type of house that if you stand up in it, its roof will hurt your head and if you stretch your legs the wall will hurt them."
Later, as a governor of al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) near Baghdad, Salman received a stipend of five thousand dirhams. This he would distribute as charity. He lived from the work of his own hands. When some people came to al-Mada'in and saw him working in the palm groves making baskets, they were amazed.
"You are the amir (=king) here and your sustenance is guaranteed and you do this work!"
"I like to eat from the work of my own hands," he replied.
Once Salman was being pressed to eat a little more from the food he was served but he insisted, "This is enough for me. This is enough for me. I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'The one who fills his stomach the most in this world will be the hungriest in the Hereafter. O Salman, the world is but a prison for the believer and paradise for the disbeliever.'"
Salman, however, was not extreme in his asceticism. It is related that he once visited Abu-d Darda' with whom the Prophet had joined him in brotherhood. He found Abu-d Darda's wife in a miserable state and he asked:
"What is the matter with you?"
"Your brother has no need of anything in this world," she replied.
When Abu-d Darda' came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food. Salman told him to eat but Abu-d Darda' said:
"I am fasting."
"I swear to you that I shall not eat until you eat also."
Salman spent the night there as well. During the night, Abu-d Darda' got up to pray but Salman got hold of him and said:
"O Abu-d Darda', your Lord has a right over you. Your family has a right over you and your body has a right over you. Give to each its due."
In the morning, they prayed together and then went out to meet the Prophet. The Prophet supported Salman in what he had said.
Salman and Abu-d Darda' remained close friends. When apart, they often wrote to each other offering advice and support. Abu-d Darda' once wrote to Salman requesting him to make haste and return to the "holy land". Salman wrote back to him saying, "Surely the earth does not make anyone holy. It is only man's deeds which make him holy."
Salman, because of the influential household in which he grew up, might easily have continued to live a life of ease and luxury in the sprawling Persian empire of his time. His search for truth however led him, even before the Prophet had appeared, to renounce a comfortable and affluent life and even to suffer the indignities of slavery. According to the most reliable account, he died in the year 35 AH, during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
Today we are going to see how Salman as an early ex-Christian followed both Jesus and Prophet Muhammad throughout his life.
Salman was to play an important role in the struggles of the growing Muslim State. Towards the end of the fifth year after the Hijrah (The Migration), Prophet Muhammad got intelligence that a massive Quraysh army of about ten thousand strong, including a large cavalry force, had set out from Mecca in another major attempt to finish off the Muslims. They were to be joined by the Jews of Khaybar and other powerful Arab tribes like the Banu Asad and the Banu Ghatafan in a mighty alliance.
The Muslims had only a week to make preparations to defend themselves. The Prophet alerted the people, urged them to be steadfast and, as he had done before, summoned them to a consultation to discuss how to meet the grave threat. It is said that after several ideas were put forward, Salman eventually rose up and said:
"O Messenger of Allah, in Persia when we fear an attack of cavalry, we would surround ourselves with a trench, so let us dig a trench about us now."
The stunning suggestion was accepted. The course of the trench or khandaq was carefully planned with Salman advising on the width and depth. The Prophet made each section of the community responsible for a part of the trench. It was a massive undertaking. The work was strenuous and everyone, including the Prophet, dug and shifted the earth and boulders while chanting to keep their morale and spirits high. Salman being fit and strong and used to such hard labour is said to have done the work of ten men. While each section of the Muslims sought to claim Salman as its own, the Prophet was moved to say, "Salman is one of us, the people of (my) household."
The khandaq was completed in six days and not a moment too soon. The army of the Quraysh and their allies advanced and when they saw the Muslims camped outside the city, they were encouraged in their hope of putting an end to them as quickly as possible. When they drew nearer, however, they were amazed to see the broad trench that lay between them and the Muslim defenders on the other side. When Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Meccans, saw the trench, he said, "This stratagem has not been employed by the Arabs before."
In the following days, the Quraysh made several attempts to breach the trench, but they all ended in failure. A long siege followed in which the Muslims' endurance was sorely tested, while they manned the trench day and night. In the end, the Quraysh and their allies had to withdraw in disarray. The strategy of the trench, the steadfastness of the Muslims and, above all, God's help saved the city and the Muslims from annihilation.
Jesus (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was never against fighting if it is done to eliminate injustice and iniquities of the society. Most people, especially the Muslims, Christians and Jews believe that when Jesus returns to earth at the end of time he will himself defeat the forces of evil and he alone has the power granted to him by God to defeat the Anti-Christ. He will unite and gather believers together from the ends of the earth. His rule will make people return to the fundamentals of faith and Law. He will be a leader who will fight God’s war against the disbelievers, and that this war will be followed by a peaceful hegemony in which God’s Law will prevail throughout the world. This event is envisioned to be just around the corner!
SINS FALL AWAY JUST AS LEAVES FALL AWAY
Salman continued in the service of the Prophet and stayed close to him in the few eventful years that followed. A better opportunity to acquire knowledge and wisdom could not be found. In every event, in every meeting, in every journey - there was something to be learned. The Prophet, for example, was once with Salman and another person under a tree. He took a dry branch from the tree and shook it and the leaves fell. He asked Salman:
"Salman, aren't you going to ask me why I have done this?"
"Why have you done this?" inquired Salman and the Prophet replied:
"When a Muslim make Ablution and does it well, then performs the five (daily) prescribed Prayer, his sins fall away just as these leaves fall away."
And then he recited the verse of the Quran: "And establish prayer at both ends of the day and during the early watches of the night. Indeed, good deeds drive away evil deeds. This is a reminder to those who are mindful (of God)." (Chapter Hud, 11:114)
Salman practiced what he learned. It is related that he was once with a group of Muslims engaged in dhikr or the remembrance of Almighty God. The Prophet passed by and so they stopped. He asked:
"What have you been saying?"
"We are remembering Allah, O Messenger of Allah."
"Go on saying (your words of remembrance)," encouraged the Prophet, "for indeed I saw grace and mercy descending upon you and I dearly love to share this with you." Then he said:
"Praise be to Allah Who has made such people among my Ummah with whom I am commanded to find calmness and patience in myself."
Salman proved to be a keen student and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars among the Muslims after the passing of the Prophet. It is related that when the well-known companion of the Prophet, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, was on his deathbed, a man who came to visit him began to weep.
"Why do you weep?" asked Mu'adh.
"Because of the knowledge that I would have gained from you," replied the man.
"Don't cry," said Mu'adh comfortingly, "for when I die, seek knowledge from four persons: 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abdullah ibn Salam, Salman and Abu-d Darda."
As a scholar, Salman was noted for his vast knowledge and wisdom. 'Ali said of him that he was like Luqman the Wise. And Ka'b al-Ahbar said, "Salman is stuffed with knowledge and wisdom - an ocean that does not dry up."
LIVING BY THE SCRIPTURES
Salman had a knowledge of both the Christian scriptures and the Quran in addition to his earlier knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion. Salman translated parts of the Quran into Persian during the lifetime of the Prophet. He was thus the first person to translate the Quran into a foreign language.
Salman was keen to pass on his knowledge. It is related that while he was in a mosque in Ctesiphon, about a thousand people gathered about him. He told them to sit down and started to recite from Chapter Joseph in the Quran. They began to disperse until there were just about one hundred left. He became upset and said, "It is pleasant talk you want! But when I read the Book of Allah for you, you go away!"
In carrying out the instructions of the Prophet, he remained faithful and thorough. As the commander of a Muslim army besieging a castle in Persia, he was urged by his men to plunge immediately into attack.
"O Abu 'Abdullah!" they said, "shall we not attack them?"
He replied, "Let me invite them to Islam as I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'Invite them (to Islam).'"
Salman then addressed the besieged, saying:
"I am a man from among you, a Persian. Do you see the Arabs obeying me? If you accept Islam, you will have what we have and you will be up against what we are up against. If you do not accept Islam, you can come under the protection of the Muslims on payment of the jizyah (military exemption tax)."
The Persians refused both these options and said to Salman, "We will fight you."
The Muslim forces called on Salman to attack them forthwith but he continued to invite them to Islam for three days. Only when they remained obstinate, did he give the command to attack and they conquered the fortress.
There are other examples of the wisdom and correct behaviour of Salman. It is related that he was once with a military post. Some distance away, a person began to recite the Quran from Chapter Maryam. A Jew listening to the recitation started to defame Mary and her son, Jesus. The Muslims became incensed and set upon the Jew, beating him so badly as to draw blood. The Jew went to Salman and complained, for it had become known that anyone who was wronged or unjustly treated could go to Salman. Salman went to those who had beaten the Jew and asked:
"Why did you beat up this man?"
"We were reading Chapter Maryam and he vilified Mary and her son," they replied.
Salman reprimanded the Muslims and urged them to exercise restraint and treat the protected people (ahl al-dhimmah) with honor. He quoted the Quanic verse: "Do not revile those whom they invoke instead of Allah lest they revile Allah out of spite and in ignorance." (Surah al-An'am, 6:108)
See how Salman followed the Scriptures! This event is a good lesson for all the modern-day Muslims who practice terrorism, murder innocent lives and commit suicide bombings in the name of religion!
SALMAN THE MUSLIM REMINDS US OF JESUS!
Salman became known as "Salman the Good". He was a scholar who lived a rough and ascetic life. He had one cloak that he wore and on which he slept. He would not seek the shelter of a roof but often stayed under a tree or against a wall. A man once said to him:
"Shall I not build you a house in which to live?"
"I have no need of a house," he replied.
The man persisted and said:
"I know the type of house that if you stand up in it, its roof will hurt your head and if you stretch your legs the wall will hurt them."
Later, as a governor of al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) near Baghdad, Salman received a stipend of five thousand dirhams. This he would distribute as charity. He lived from the work of his own hands. When some people came to al-Mada'in and saw him working in the palm groves making baskets, they were amazed.
"You are the amir (=king) here and your sustenance is guaranteed and you do this work!"
"I like to eat from the work of my own hands," he replied.
Once Salman was being pressed to eat a little more from the food he was served but he insisted, "This is enough for me. This is enough for me. I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'The one who fills his stomach the most in this world will be the hungriest in the Hereafter. O Salman, the world is but a prison for the believer and paradise for the disbeliever.'"
Salman, however, was not extreme in his asceticism. It is related that he once visited Abu-d Darda' with whom the Prophet had joined him in brotherhood. He found Abu-d Darda's wife in a miserable state and he asked:
"What is the matter with you?"
"Your brother has no need of anything in this world," she replied.
When Abu-d Darda' came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food. Salman told him to eat but Abu-d Darda' said:
"I am fasting."
"I swear to you that I shall not eat until you eat also."
Salman spent the night there as well. During the night, Abu-d Darda' got up to pray but Salman got hold of him and said:
"O Abu-d Darda', your Lord has a right over you. Your family has a right over you and your body has a right over you. Give to each its due."
In the morning, they prayed together and then went out to meet the Prophet. The Prophet supported Salman in what he had said.
Salman and Abu-d Darda' remained close friends. When apart, they often wrote to each other offering advice and support. Abu-d Darda' once wrote to Salman requesting him to make haste and return to the "holy land". Salman wrote back to him saying, "Surely the earth does not make anyone holy. It is only man's deeds which make him holy."
Salman, because of the influential household in which he grew up, might easily have continued to live a life of ease and luxury in the sprawling Persian empire of his time. His search for truth however led him, even before the Prophet had appeared, to renounce a comfortable and affluent life and even to suffer the indignities of slavery. According to the most reliable account, he died in the year 35 AH, during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
Friday 24 February 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: SALMAN THE PERSIAN PART 1
An early Christian and one of the greatest of the Prophet's companions, Salman the Persian narrates his story of his search for the true religion of God to Abd-Allaah ibn Abbas:
I was a Persian man, one of the people of Isfahaan( A region in northwest Iran) from a village thereof called Jayy. My father was the chieftain of his village, and I was the dearest of God's creation to him. He loved me so much that he kept me in his house near the fire, as girls are kept in. I strove hard in the Magian (Zoroastrian) religion until I became the keeper of the fire, which I tended and did not let go out for a moment. My father had a huge garden, and he was busy one day with some construction work, so he said:
“O my son, I am too busy with this building today, go and check my garden,” and he told me some of the things he wanted done. I went out, heading towards his garden, and I passed by one of the Christian churches, where I could hear their voices as they were praying. I did not know anything about the people because my father had kept me in his house. When I passed by and heard their voices, I entered upon them to see what they were doing. When I saw them, I was impressed with their prayer and I was attracted to their way. I said: "By God, this is better than the religion that we follow."
By God, I did not leave them until the sun set, and I forgot about my father’s garden and did not go there. I asked them: "Where did this religion originate?"
They said: "In Al-Shaam" (known today as Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan). I returned to my father who had become worried and sent people out to look for me. Upon my arrival, he said, "O son! Where have you been? Didn’t I entrust you with an assignment?”
I said: "O my father, I passed by some people who were praying in a church of theirs, and I was impressed with what I saw of their religion. By God, I stayed with them until the sun set."
He said: "O my son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better than that."
I said: "No, by God, it is better than our religion."
He was afraid for me, and he put fetters on my legs and kept me in his house. I sent word to the Christians saying: "If any Christian merchants come to you from Al-Shaam, tell me about them."
Some Christian merchants came to them from Al-Shaam, and they told me about them.
I said to them: "When they have completed their business and want to go back to their own country, tell me about that."
So when they wanted to go back to their own country, they told me about that, and I threw off the irons from my legs and went out with them, until I came to Al-Shaam. When I reached Al-Shaam, I said: "Who is the best person in this religion?"
They said: "The bishop in the church."
So I went to him and said: "I like this religion, and I would like to stay with you and serve you in your church and learn from you and pray with you."
He said: "Come in."
So I went in with him, but he was a bad man. He would command them and exhort them to give charity, but he kept a great deal of it for himself and did not give it to the poor; he had amassed seven chests of gold and silver. I hated him deeply when I saw what he was doing, then he died and the Christians gathered to bury him.
I said to them: "This was a bad man; he commanded you and exhorted you to give charity, but when you brought it to him he kept it for himself and did not give any of it to the poor."
They said: "How do you know that? Show us where his treasure is."
So I showed them where it was and they brought out seven chests filled with gold and silver. When they saw that they said: "By God, we will never bury him".
Then they crucified him and pelted him with stones.
[An important point to note here is that Salman did not turn away from what he thought was the truth at that time because of the actions of one person. He did not say, “Look at these Christians! The best of them is so evil!” Rather, he understood that he had to judge the religion by its beliefs, and not by its adherents.]
Then they brought another bishop and appointed him in his place. I have never seen a man who does not offer the five daily prayers who was better than him; he shunned this world and sought the Hereafter and no one strove harder than him night and day. I loved him as I had never loved anyone before, and I stayed with him for a while. Then when he was about to die, I said: "O So and so, I was with you and I loved you as I had never loved anyone before, and now the decree of God has come to you as you see; to whom do you advise me to go? What do you command me to do?"
He said: "O my son, by God, I do not know of anyone today who follows what I followed. The people are doomed; they have changed and abandoned most of what they used to follow, except for a man in Mosul (A major city in northwest Iraq). He is So and so, and he follows what I used to follow, so go and join him."
When he died and was buried, I went to the man in Mosul. I said to him: "O So and so, So and so advised me when he died to come to you, and he told me that you follow the same as he followed."
He said to me: "Stay with me."
So I stayed with him, and I found him to be a good man who followed the same as his companion had followed. But soon he died. When he was dying I said to him: "O So and so, So and so advised me to come to you and told me to join you, but now there has come to you from God what you see. To whom do you advise me to go? What do you command me to do?"
He said: "O my son, by God I do not know of anyone who follows what we used to follow except a man in Naseebeen (A city on the road between Al-Mosul and Al-Shaam). He is So and so; go to him."
When he died and was buried, I went to the man in Naseebeen. I came to him and told him my story and what my companion had told me to do. He said: "Stay with me."
So I stayed with him and I found him to be a follower of the same way as his two companions, and I stayed with a good man. By God, soon death came upon him, and when he was dying I said to him: O So and so, So and so advised me to go to So and so; then So and so advised me to come to you. To whom do you advise me to go and what do you command me to do?"
He said: "O my son, by God we do not know of anyone left who follows our way and to whom I can tell you to go, except a man in Amuria (A town that was part of the Eastern Region of the Roman Empire). He follows something like what we follow. If you wish, go to him, for he follows our way."
When he died and was buried, I went to the man in Amuria and told him my story. He said: "Stay with me."
So I stayed with a man who was following the same way as his companions. I earned wealth until I had cows and sheep, then the decree of God came to him. When he was dying I said to him: "O So and so, I was with So and so, and So and so told me to go to So and so; then So and so told me to go to So and so; then So and so told me to come to you. To whom do you advise me to go and what do you command me to do?"
He said: "O my son, by God, I do not know of anyone who follows our way to whom I can advise you to go. But there has come the time of a Prophet, who will be sent with the religion of Abraham. He will come from the land of Arabia and will migrate to a place located in between two lands filled with black rocks [as if burned by lava], between which there are palm trees. He will have characteristics that will not be hidden. He will eat of what is given as a gift but he will not eat of what is given as charity. Between his shoulder blades is the Seal of Prophethood. If you can go to that land then do so."
Then he died and was buried, and I stayed in Amuria as long as God willed I should stay, then some merchants of Kalb (An Arab tribe) passed by me and I said to them: "Will you take me to the land of the Arabs and I will give you these cows and sheep of mine?"
They said: "Yes."
So I gave them the cows and sheep, and they took me there, but when they brought me to Wadi al-Qura they wronged me and sold me as a slave to a Jewish man. When I was with him I saw the palm trees, and I hoped that this was the land that my companion had described to me, but I was not sure. While I was with him, a cousin of his from Banu Qurayzah came to him from Medinah, and he sold me to him, and he took me to Medinah. By God, as soon as I saw it, I recognized it from the description given to me by my companion. I stayed there, and God sent His Messenger, who stayed in Mecca as long as he stayed, and I did not hear anything about him because I was so busy with the work of a slave. Then he migrated to Medinah, and by God, I was at the top of a palm tree belonging to my master, doing some work on it, and my master was sitting there. Then a cousin of his came and stood beside him, and said:
"May Allah kill Bani Qeelah! (People of the tribe Qeelah). By Allah, right now they are gathering in Qibaa! (The outskirts of Medinah) to welcome a man who has come from Mecca today, and they say that he is a Prophet."
When I heard that, I began to shiver so much that I thought I would fall on top of my master. I came down from the tree and started saying to that cousin of his: "What are you saying, what are you saying?"
My master got angry and he struck me with his fist and said: "What has it got to do with you? Go back to your work!"
I said: "Nothing; I just wanted to make sure of what he was saying."
I had some food that I had collected, and when evening came, I went to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) when he was in Qibaa, and I entered upon him and said to him: "I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have companions who are strangers and are in need. This is something that I have to give in charity, and I see that you are more in need of it than anyone else. I brought it near to him and the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said to his companions: “Eat,” but he refrained from eating.
I said to myself: "This is one."
Then I went away and collected some more. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) moved to Medina, then I came to him and said: "I see that you do not eat (food given in) charity; this is a gift with which I wish to honour you."
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) ate some of it and told his companions to eat too. I said to myself: "This is two."
Then I came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) when he was in Baqee’ al-Gharqad (a grave yard in Medina) , where he had attended the funeral of one of his companions and he was wearing two shawls and was sitting among his companions. I greeted him with salaam then I moved behind him, trying to look at his back to see the Seal that my companion had described to me. When the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) saw me going behind him, he realized that I was trying to find confirmation of something that had been described to me, so he let his shawl drop from his back, and I saw the Seal and recognized it. Then I embraced him, kissing (the Seal) and weeping, and the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said to me: “Turn around.”
So I turned around and I told him my story as I have told it to you, O Ibn ‘Abbaas. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) wanted his companions to hear my story.
THE EMANCIPATION
Then Salman was kept busy with the work of a slave, until he had missed attending Badr and Uhud with the Prophet. He said: Then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said to me: “Draw up a contract of manumission, O Salman.”
So I drew up a contract of manumission with my master in return for three hundred palm trees which I would plant for him, and forty ounces of gold. The Prophet said to his companions: “Help your brother.”
So they helped me with the palm trees, one man gave thirty small trees and another gave twenty, and another gave fifteen, and another gave ten, i.e., each man gave according to what he had, until they had collected three hundred small trees for me. Then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said to me: “Go, O Salman, and dig the holes where they are to be planted. When you have finished, come to me and I will plant them with my own hand.”
So I dug the holes for them, and my companions helped me, then when I had finished, I came to him and told him. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) came out with me and we started to bring the trees close and the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) planted them with his own hand. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Salman, not one single tree among them died. Salman gave the trees to his master but there still remained the money. A piece of gold the size of an egg was brought to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) from one of his campaigns. He said: “What happened to the Persian who had a contract of manumission?”
I was summoned to him and he said: “Take this and pay off what you owe, O Salman.”
I said: "How could this pay off everything I owe, O Messenger of Allah?"
He said: “Take it, and Allah will help you to pay off what you owe.” This was one of the miracles the Prophet performed by the leave of God.
So I took it and weighed it for them, and by the One in Whose hand is the soul of Salman, it was forty ounces of gold, so I paid them their dues and I was set free. I was present with the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be upon him) at al-Khandaq, and after that I did not miss any major event with him.
THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
One of the great companions of the Prophet by the name of Abu Hurairah reported:
“We were sitting in the company of God’s Messenger when Surah al-Jumuah (Quran chapter 62) was revealed. He recited these words:
“And [God has sent Muhammad also to] others who have not yet joined them (but they will come)…” (Quran 62:3)
A person among them said, ‘O God’s Messenger! Who are those who have not joined us?’
God’s Messenger made no reply. Salman the Persian was among us. The Messenger of God placed his hand on Salman and then said, ‘By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, even if faith were near Pleiades (the seven stars), men from among these [i.e. Salman’s folk] would surely attain it.”
Many in this world are like Salman, searching for the truth about the True and Only One God. This story of Salman is similar to stories of people in our own time. The search of some people took them from one church to another, from church to Buddhism or Passiveness, from Judaism to ‘Neutrality’, from religion to meditations to mental abuse. There are those who shifted from one idea to another, but don’t even think of wanting to know something about Islam! When they met some Muslims, however, they opened their minds. The story of Salman is that of a long search. You could make your search for truth shorter by benefiting from his.
Read more about Salman the Persian in the next article which I am to post next Friday if God is willing.
Saturday 18 February 2017
THE STORY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN: THE NEGUS, KING OF ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia is a country in Africa that most of us know very little about. All you know about it is severe famine and poverty. The region that we now call Ethiopia was once known as Abyssinia. It was also previously known as the Kingdom of Axum, and named by Mani (216–276 CE) as one of the four great powers of his time along with Persia, Rome, and China. Axum remained a strong empire and trading power until the rise of Islam in the 7th century. However, unlike the relations between the Islamic powers and Christian Europe, Axum was on good terms with its Islamic neighbours. For Muslims, Ethiopia is synonymous with freedom from persecution and fear.
In the early years of Islam the Muslims were persecuted and tortured by the ruling families of Mecca. There were even people who mistreated members of their own families. Among the new converts to Islam were the poor and the weak who were made to endure pain and hunger all because they believed in One God. In order to protect them and their new found religion Prophet Muhammad sent about 80 people, including one of his own daughters, to Ethiopia. This event is known as the first Hijrah (migration).
The King of Ethiopia, sometimes known as the Negus and possibly one of the last rulers of the Axum Empire was known as a just and truthful man. He was a Christian with deep religious convictions. Prophet Muhammad believed that his followers would be well looked after if they migrated to a country whose religion was based on the teachings of Prophet Jesus, son of Mary and that the King of Ethiopia, being a devout Christian, would give his people sanctuary and treat them with compassion. The migrants set off on their hazardous journey carrying with them a letter of introduction for the King. What follows is a translation of that letter:
{I begin with the Name of God, the Most Merciful, Most Gracious, From Muhammad, the Messenger of God to the Negus Al-Asham, king of Abyssinia.
Peace be upon you, I praise God and I bear witness that Jesus, son of Mary, is the slave of God. He was created by the command of God and Mary the virgin, the good, the pure, conceived Jesus. As God created Adam, He created Jesus. I call you to God, the Unique without partner, and to His obedience, and to follow me and believe in that which came to me, for I am the Messenger of God.
I send to you my cousin Jafar with a number of Muslims, and when they come, I ask you to entertain and receive them. Peace be upon all those who follow True Guidance.}
When the rulers of Mecca heard about the migration they hastened to send their own emissaries to the Ethiopian court. It was their fear that if such a ruler welcomed the Muslims it would give credence to the new religion and legitimize their beliefs. They planned to convince the King to expel the Muslims by giving him gifts, and by spreading gossip and slander about the new religion and the immigrants. However the King was a wise, noble and just man and was prepared to meet and hear both groups.
The two Meccan delegates reiterated their accusations. They said, “Your Majesty, you well know that a group of fools have turned renegade and have taken asylum in your country. They did not embrace your religion, but rather invented their own religion that neither of us knows. We are people of high rank who are related to their fathers, uncles, and tribes, and ask that you would surrender these wretched renegades to us”.
The King then asked the group of Muslims why they had chosen this new religion rather than adhere to the religion of their forefathers or embrace the established religion of Christianity. Jafar, the son of Abu Talib and thus Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, rose to speak on behalf of the immigrants and Islam. He said:
"O your Majesty, we used to be a people of ignorance. We worshipped idols, ate dead animals, committed great sins, severed family relations, and the strong among us abused the weak. We were like that until God sent from among us a Prophet who was known for his noble descent, honesty, trustworthiness, and decency. He invited us to worship God alone and abstain from worshipping stones and idols. He ordered us to speak nothing but the truth and to render back our trusts to those to whom they are due. Moreover, he ordered us to keep our ties of kinship intact, be good to our neighbours, and abstain from what is forbidden. He also ordered us not to commit evil, nor to say false statements, nor to eat up the property of orphans, nor to accuse chaste women of wrong-doing without proof or witness. He has commanded us to worship God alone and not to associate anything with Him and to pray, give charity and fast.
Hence, we believed in him and in God's message to him. We worshipped God alone. We rejected that which we used to associate with Him as His partners. We consider unlawful what he has told us is unlawful and lawful what he has told us is lawful. For this reason alone our people have attacked us, tortured us and forced us from our religion. They intend to make us revert to the worship of idols instead of praising God. They want us to consider lawful the evil actions which we used to do in the past. When they tortured us and hemmed us in, and came between us and our religion, we left for your kingdom, choosing you because we need your protection. We hope that we would be treated fairly while we are with you, O King!"
The King listened to this exchange with patience and attention, when both the Meccans and the Muslims had spoken he turned to Jafar and said, “Do you have with you anything sent down from God to your Prophet?”
Jafar recited the opening verses of chapter Maryam, named in honour of the mother of Jesus. The following is a small portion of Maryam:
(The angel) said: “I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.” She said: “How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?” He said: “So it will be, your Lord said: ‘That is easy for Me (God): And We wish to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (God), and it is a matter already decreed.’ “So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley).” (Quran 19:19-22)
The King and those with him were moved to tears. Silent tears rolled down their cheeks and soaked into their beards. The sublime words of Quran melted their hearts, as it had already begun to do in Mecca. Interestingly most of the people at the Ethiopian court would not have understood Arabic, yet the eloquence and subtlety of Quran moved them. The words were then translated for them. At this point in the story it is fascinating to realise that God described the Christians as those whose tears overflow when they hear the truth.
"And when they who call themselves Christians listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognised. They say: “Our Lord! We believe; so write us down among the witnesses”.(Quran 5:83)
The King was overcome, and exclaimed, “It appears that these words and those that were revealed to Jesus are from the same source.”
Turning to the Meccan envoys he said, “I will not hand these refugees over to you. They are free to live and worship as they please under my protection”.
This did not please or satisfy the Meccans. Their mission was to discredit the Muslims and thus the religion of Islam. The Meccans moved forward with another plan to destroy the fledging religion, in a pathetic attempt to influence the King. They declared that the Muslims spoke disrespectfully about Jesus!
After hearing Quran it is unlikely that the King gave their assertion very much credit, however he called the Muslims back into his presence and asked about their belief in Jesus.
Jafar answered truthfully and immediately: “Our belief in Jesus relies on what our prophet has told us about him; Jesus is God’s servant and messenger who was created by the command of God".
On hearing this, the King declared that this description of Jesus did not differ from their own Christian belief. The result was that the Meccans left Ethiopia in disgrace, while the Muslims lived in peace and security for several years before they returned to Mecca.
Several years later Prophet Muhammad wrote letters to different rulers throughout the world inviting them to accept Islam as their religion. He again wrote another letter to the King of Ethiopia. What follows is an approximate translation of that letter:
{I begin with the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious. From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to the King of Ethiopia.
Peace is for the one who follows the right guidance and believes in God and His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah. He is one and has no partners. He has neither mate nor child. And Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
I call you to accept Islam. I call both you and your army towards God, Who is worthy of all respect and esteem. I have thus discharged my duty of conveying His message and advice. You should accept it. May peace be upon the followers of the guidance.
“O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but God (alone), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides God.” (Quran 3:64)}
The king received the letter with great respect and he accepted Islam, despite the objection of his family and the Church. He replied to the letter saying, “O Prophet of God, I had the honour of seeing your esteemed letter. I swear by God, that Jesus is nothing more than what you have described. I bear evidence that you are a true Prophet of God and I have taken an oath of allegiance to God and His prophet. If you will so order, I will present myself to you. May peace and blessings of God be upon you”.
The proof of the King's conversion can be found in the story of Umm Habiba Ramla, may God be pleased with her. She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, who for some of his life was one of the most resolute enemies of the Prophet spending much of his great wealth in opposing the Muslims, and leading the armies of the non-believers against the Muslims in all the early major battles, including the battles of Badr, Uhud and al-Khandaq. Indeed it was not until the conquest of Mecca, when the Prophet generously pardoned him, that Abu Sufyan embraced Islam and began to fight with the Muslims instead of against them.
Umm Habiba and her first husband, who was called Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, the brother of Zaynab bint Jahsh, were among the first people to embrace Islam in Mecca, and they were among those early Muslims who emigrated to Ethiopia in order to be safe. Once in Ethiopia, however, Ubaydullah abandoned Islam and became a Christian. He tried to make Umm Habiba become Christian, but she stood fast. This put her in a difficult position, since a Muslim woman can only be married to a Muslim man. She could no longer live with her husband, and once they had been divorced, she could not return to her father, who was still busy fighting the Muslims. So she remained with her daughter in Abyssinia, living a very simple life in isolation, waiting to see what God would decree for her.
One day, as Umm Habiba sat in her solitary room, a stranger in a strange land far from her home, a maidservant knocked on her door and said that she had been sent by the Negus who had a message for her. The message was that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had asked for her hand in marriage, and that if she accepted this proposal that she was to name one of the Muslims in Ethiopia as her wakil, so that the marriage ceremony could take place in Ethiopia even though she was not in the same place as the Prophet. Naturally Umm Habiba was overjoyed and accepted immediately. "Allah has given you good news! Allah has given you good news!" she cried, pulling off what little jewelry she had and giving it to the smiling girl. She asked her to repeat the message three times since she could hardly believe her ears.
Soon after this, all the Muslims who had sought refuge in Ethiopia were summoned to the palace of the Negus to witness the simple marriage ceremony in which Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As, acted as the wakil on behalf of Umm Habiba. When the marriage was finalized, the Negus addressed the gathering with these words:
"I praise Allah, the Holy, and I declare that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger and that He gave the good news to Jesus the son of Mary.
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) requested me to conclude the marriage contract between him and Umm Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan. I agreed to do what he requested, and on his behalf I give her a dowry of four hundred gold dinars."
The Negus handed over the amount to Khalid ibn Sa'id who stood up and said:
"All praise is due to Allah. I praise Him and I seek His help and forgiveness and I turn to Him in repentance. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger whom He has sent with the religion of guidance and truth so that it may prevail over all other religions, however much those who reject dislike this. "I agreed to do what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) requested and acted as the wakil on behalf of Umm Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan. May Allah bless His Messenger and his wife. Congratulations to Umm Habiba for the goodness which Allah has decreed for her."
Khalid took the dowry and handed it over to Umm Habiba. Thus although she could not travel to Arabia straight away, she was provided for by the Prophet from the moment that they were married. The Muslims who had witnessed the marriage contract were just about to leave, when the Negus said to them, "Sit down, for it is the practice of the Prophets to serve food at marriages."
Joyfully everyone sat down again to eat and celebrate the happy occasion. Umm Habiba especially could hardly believe her good fortune, and she later described how eager she was to share her happiness, saying: "When I received the money as my dowry, I sent fifty mithqals of gold to the servant girl who had first brought me the good news, and I said to her, 'I gave you what I did when you gave me the good news because at that time I did not have any money at all.'
"Shortly afterwards, she came to me and returned the gold. She also produced a case which contained the necklace I had given to her and gave it to me, saying, 'The Negus has instructed me not to take anything from you, and he has commanded the women in his household to present you with gifts of perfume.'
"On the following day, she brought me ambergris, saffron and aloes wood oil and said, 'I have a favor to ask of you.'
'"What is it?' I asked.
'"I have accepted Islam,' she replied, 'and now I follow the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Please convey my greetings of peace to him, and let him know that I believe in Allah and His Prophet. Please do not forget.'"
Therefore, we place great credence in this final chapter of the story of the King of Ethiopia. When it was revealed to the Prophet that the King, whom he had never met, had passed away, the Prophet offered the first funeral prayer in absentia for him.
The story of the King of Ethiopia is a small snapshot in time. It teaches us about the manners and diplomacy between Prophet Muhammad and the noble rulers of the time. It shines a light on the closeness of the two religions, Christianity and Islam. The truly humble Christians were, and still are, but a step away from the religion of Islam. The eloquence of Quran is able to penetrate the hearts of whomever God chooses to guide and the religion of Islam is open to all, king or commoner, rich or poor, black or white.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
In the early years of Islam the Muslims were persecuted and tortured by the ruling families of Mecca. There were even people who mistreated members of their own families. Among the new converts to Islam were the poor and the weak who were made to endure pain and hunger all because they believed in One God. In order to protect them and their new found religion Prophet Muhammad sent about 80 people, including one of his own daughters, to Ethiopia. This event is known as the first Hijrah (migration).
The King of Ethiopia, sometimes known as the Negus and possibly one of the last rulers of the Axum Empire was known as a just and truthful man. He was a Christian with deep religious convictions. Prophet Muhammad believed that his followers would be well looked after if they migrated to a country whose religion was based on the teachings of Prophet Jesus, son of Mary and that the King of Ethiopia, being a devout Christian, would give his people sanctuary and treat them with compassion. The migrants set off on their hazardous journey carrying with them a letter of introduction for the King. What follows is a translation of that letter:
{I begin with the Name of God, the Most Merciful, Most Gracious, From Muhammad, the Messenger of God to the Negus Al-Asham, king of Abyssinia.
Peace be upon you, I praise God and I bear witness that Jesus, son of Mary, is the slave of God. He was created by the command of God and Mary the virgin, the good, the pure, conceived Jesus. As God created Adam, He created Jesus. I call you to God, the Unique without partner, and to His obedience, and to follow me and believe in that which came to me, for I am the Messenger of God.
I send to you my cousin Jafar with a number of Muslims, and when they come, I ask you to entertain and receive them. Peace be upon all those who follow True Guidance.}
When the rulers of Mecca heard about the migration they hastened to send their own emissaries to the Ethiopian court. It was their fear that if such a ruler welcomed the Muslims it would give credence to the new religion and legitimize their beliefs. They planned to convince the King to expel the Muslims by giving him gifts, and by spreading gossip and slander about the new religion and the immigrants. However the King was a wise, noble and just man and was prepared to meet and hear both groups.
The two Meccan delegates reiterated their accusations. They said, “Your Majesty, you well know that a group of fools have turned renegade and have taken asylum in your country. They did not embrace your religion, but rather invented their own religion that neither of us knows. We are people of high rank who are related to their fathers, uncles, and tribes, and ask that you would surrender these wretched renegades to us”.
The King then asked the group of Muslims why they had chosen this new religion rather than adhere to the religion of their forefathers or embrace the established religion of Christianity. Jafar, the son of Abu Talib and thus Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, rose to speak on behalf of the immigrants and Islam. He said:
"O your Majesty, we used to be a people of ignorance. We worshipped idols, ate dead animals, committed great sins, severed family relations, and the strong among us abused the weak. We were like that until God sent from among us a Prophet who was known for his noble descent, honesty, trustworthiness, and decency. He invited us to worship God alone and abstain from worshipping stones and idols. He ordered us to speak nothing but the truth and to render back our trusts to those to whom they are due. Moreover, he ordered us to keep our ties of kinship intact, be good to our neighbours, and abstain from what is forbidden. He also ordered us not to commit evil, nor to say false statements, nor to eat up the property of orphans, nor to accuse chaste women of wrong-doing without proof or witness. He has commanded us to worship God alone and not to associate anything with Him and to pray, give charity and fast.
Hence, we believed in him and in God's message to him. We worshipped God alone. We rejected that which we used to associate with Him as His partners. We consider unlawful what he has told us is unlawful and lawful what he has told us is lawful. For this reason alone our people have attacked us, tortured us and forced us from our religion. They intend to make us revert to the worship of idols instead of praising God. They want us to consider lawful the evil actions which we used to do in the past. When they tortured us and hemmed us in, and came between us and our religion, we left for your kingdom, choosing you because we need your protection. We hope that we would be treated fairly while we are with you, O King!"
The King listened to this exchange with patience and attention, when both the Meccans and the Muslims had spoken he turned to Jafar and said, “Do you have with you anything sent down from God to your Prophet?”
Jafar recited the opening verses of chapter Maryam, named in honour of the mother of Jesus. The following is a small portion of Maryam:
(The angel) said: “I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.” She said: “How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?” He said: “So it will be, your Lord said: ‘That is easy for Me (God): And We wish to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (God), and it is a matter already decreed.’ “So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley).” (Quran 19:19-22)
The King and those with him were moved to tears. Silent tears rolled down their cheeks and soaked into their beards. The sublime words of Quran melted their hearts, as it had already begun to do in Mecca. Interestingly most of the people at the Ethiopian court would not have understood Arabic, yet the eloquence and subtlety of Quran moved them. The words were then translated for them. At this point in the story it is fascinating to realise that God described the Christians as those whose tears overflow when they hear the truth.
"And when they who call themselves Christians listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognised. They say: “Our Lord! We believe; so write us down among the witnesses”.(Quran 5:83)
Turning to the Meccan envoys he said, “I will not hand these refugees over to you. They are free to live and worship as they please under my protection”.
This did not please or satisfy the Meccans. Their mission was to discredit the Muslims and thus the religion of Islam. The Meccans moved forward with another plan to destroy the fledging religion, in a pathetic attempt to influence the King. They declared that the Muslims spoke disrespectfully about Jesus!
After hearing Quran it is unlikely that the King gave their assertion very much credit, however he called the Muslims back into his presence and asked about their belief in Jesus.
Jafar answered truthfully and immediately: “Our belief in Jesus relies on what our prophet has told us about him; Jesus is God’s servant and messenger who was created by the command of God".
On hearing this, the King declared that this description of Jesus did not differ from their own Christian belief. The result was that the Meccans left Ethiopia in disgrace, while the Muslims lived in peace and security for several years before they returned to Mecca.
Several years later Prophet Muhammad wrote letters to different rulers throughout the world inviting them to accept Islam as their religion. He again wrote another letter to the King of Ethiopia. What follows is an approximate translation of that letter:
{I begin with the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious. From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to the King of Ethiopia.
Peace is for the one who follows the right guidance and believes in God and His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah. He is one and has no partners. He has neither mate nor child. And Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
I call you to accept Islam. I call both you and your army towards God, Who is worthy of all respect and esteem. I have thus discharged my duty of conveying His message and advice. You should accept it. May peace be upon the followers of the guidance.
“O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but God (alone), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides God.” (Quran 3:64)}
The king received the letter with great respect and he accepted Islam, despite the objection of his family and the Church. He replied to the letter saying, “O Prophet of God, I had the honour of seeing your esteemed letter. I swear by God, that Jesus is nothing more than what you have described. I bear evidence that you are a true Prophet of God and I have taken an oath of allegiance to God and His prophet. If you will so order, I will present myself to you. May peace and blessings of God be upon you”.
The proof of the King's conversion can be found in the story of Umm Habiba Ramla, may God be pleased with her. She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, who for some of his life was one of the most resolute enemies of the Prophet spending much of his great wealth in opposing the Muslims, and leading the armies of the non-believers against the Muslims in all the early major battles, including the battles of Badr, Uhud and al-Khandaq. Indeed it was not until the conquest of Mecca, when the Prophet generously pardoned him, that Abu Sufyan embraced Islam and began to fight with the Muslims instead of against them.
Umm Habiba and her first husband, who was called Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, the brother of Zaynab bint Jahsh, were among the first people to embrace Islam in Mecca, and they were among those early Muslims who emigrated to Ethiopia in order to be safe. Once in Ethiopia, however, Ubaydullah abandoned Islam and became a Christian. He tried to make Umm Habiba become Christian, but she stood fast. This put her in a difficult position, since a Muslim woman can only be married to a Muslim man. She could no longer live with her husband, and once they had been divorced, she could not return to her father, who was still busy fighting the Muslims. So she remained with her daughter in Abyssinia, living a very simple life in isolation, waiting to see what God would decree for her.
One day, as Umm Habiba sat in her solitary room, a stranger in a strange land far from her home, a maidservant knocked on her door and said that she had been sent by the Negus who had a message for her. The message was that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had asked for her hand in marriage, and that if she accepted this proposal that she was to name one of the Muslims in Ethiopia as her wakil, so that the marriage ceremony could take place in Ethiopia even though she was not in the same place as the Prophet. Naturally Umm Habiba was overjoyed and accepted immediately. "Allah has given you good news! Allah has given you good news!" she cried, pulling off what little jewelry she had and giving it to the smiling girl. She asked her to repeat the message three times since she could hardly believe her ears.
Soon after this, all the Muslims who had sought refuge in Ethiopia were summoned to the palace of the Negus to witness the simple marriage ceremony in which Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As, acted as the wakil on behalf of Umm Habiba. When the marriage was finalized, the Negus addressed the gathering with these words:
"I praise Allah, the Holy, and I declare that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger and that He gave the good news to Jesus the son of Mary.
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) requested me to conclude the marriage contract between him and Umm Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan. I agreed to do what he requested, and on his behalf I give her a dowry of four hundred gold dinars."
The Negus handed over the amount to Khalid ibn Sa'id who stood up and said:
"All praise is due to Allah. I praise Him and I seek His help and forgiveness and I turn to Him in repentance. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger whom He has sent with the religion of guidance and truth so that it may prevail over all other religions, however much those who reject dislike this. "I agreed to do what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) requested and acted as the wakil on behalf of Umm Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan. May Allah bless His Messenger and his wife. Congratulations to Umm Habiba for the goodness which Allah has decreed for her."
Khalid took the dowry and handed it over to Umm Habiba. Thus although she could not travel to Arabia straight away, she was provided for by the Prophet from the moment that they were married. The Muslims who had witnessed the marriage contract were just about to leave, when the Negus said to them, "Sit down, for it is the practice of the Prophets to serve food at marriages."
Joyfully everyone sat down again to eat and celebrate the happy occasion. Umm Habiba especially could hardly believe her good fortune, and she later described how eager she was to share her happiness, saying: "When I received the money as my dowry, I sent fifty mithqals of gold to the servant girl who had first brought me the good news, and I said to her, 'I gave you what I did when you gave me the good news because at that time I did not have any money at all.'
"Shortly afterwards, she came to me and returned the gold. She also produced a case which contained the necklace I had given to her and gave it to me, saying, 'The Negus has instructed me not to take anything from you, and he has commanded the women in his household to present you with gifts of perfume.'
"On the following day, she brought me ambergris, saffron and aloes wood oil and said, 'I have a favor to ask of you.'
'"What is it?' I asked.
'"I have accepted Islam,' she replied, 'and now I follow the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Please convey my greetings of peace to him, and let him know that I believe in Allah and His Prophet. Please do not forget.'"
Therefore, we place great credence in this final chapter of the story of the King of Ethiopia. When it was revealed to the Prophet that the King, whom he had never met, had passed away, the Prophet offered the first funeral prayer in absentia for him.
The story of the King of Ethiopia is a small snapshot in time. It teaches us about the manners and diplomacy between Prophet Muhammad and the noble rulers of the time. It shines a light on the closeness of the two religions, Christianity and Islam. The truly humble Christians were, and still are, but a step away from the religion of Islam. The eloquence of Quran is able to penetrate the hearts of whomever God chooses to guide and the religion of Islam is open to all, king or commoner, rich or poor, black or white.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
Saturday 11 February 2017
RAPHAEL NARBAEZ, JR., JEHOVAH’S WITNESS MINISTER, USA
"I'm like a man without a religion. I was not a man without a God. But where could I go?"
A forty-two-year-old Latino, Raphael, is a Los Angeles-based comic and lecturer. He was born in Texas where he attended his first Jehovah’s Witness meeting at age six. He gave his first Bible sermon [soon after the age of thirteen], tended his own congregation at twenty, and was headed for a position of leadership among the 904,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States. But he traded in his Bible for a Quran after having braved a visit to a local mosque.
On November 1, 1991, he embraced Islam, bringing to the Muslim community the organizational and speaking skills he developed among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He speaks with the urgency of a new convert, but one who can make immigrant Muslims laugh at themselves.
He told his story mimicking a cast of characters.
I remember vividly being in a discussion where we were all sitting in my parents’ living room and there were some other Jehovah’s Witnesses there. They were talking about : “It’s Armageddon! The time of the end! And Christ is coming! And you know the hailstones are going to be out here as big as cars! God is going to use all kinds of things to destroy this wicked system and remove the governments! And the Bible talks about the earth opening up! It’s going to swallow whole city blocks!”
I’m scared to death! And then my mother turned around: “See what’s going to happen to you if you don’t get baptized, and if you don’t do God’s will? The earth is going to swallow you up, or one of these huge hailstones is going to hit you on the head [klonk], knock you out, and you will not exist ever again. I’ll have to make another child.”
I wasn’t going to take a chance of being hit by one of those big hailstones. So I got baptized. And of course Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in the sprinkling of the water. They submerge you completely, hold you there for a second, and then bring you back up.
I did that at the age of thirteen, September 7, 1963, in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl. It was a big international assembly. We had 100,000 people. We drove all the way from Lubbock, Texas.
Eventually I started giving bigger talks - ten minutes in front of the congregation. A circuit servant recommended me to give the hour lectures that are done on Sunday when they invite the general public. They usually reserved those [sermons] for the elders of the congregation.
[In an authoritarian voice:] “Sure he’s young. But he can handle it. He’s a good Christian boy. He has no vices, and he’s obedient to his parents and seems to have pretty good Bible knowledge.”
So at the age of sixteen I started giving hour lectures in front of whole congregations. I was assigned first to a group in Sweetwater, Texas, and then, eventually, in Brownfield, Texas, I got my first congregation. At age twenty, I had become what they call a pioneer minister.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a very sophisticated training program, and they also have kind of a quota system. You have to devote ten to twelve hours a month to door-to-door preaching. It’s like sales management. IBM has nothing on these guys.
So when I became a pioneer minister, I devoted most of my full time to doing the door-to-door ministry. I had to do like 100 hours a month, and I had to have seven Bible studies. I started lecturing other congregations. I began to get a lot of responsibility, and I was accepted at a school in Brooklyn, New York, a very elite school that Jehovah’s Witnesses have for the crème de la crème, the top one percent. But I didn’t go.
A few things no longer made sense to me. For example, the quota system. It seemed like every time I wanted to turn a corner and get into another position of responsibility, I had to do these secular material things to prove my godliness. It’s like if you meet your quotas this month, God loves you. If you don’t meet your quotas next month, God doesn’t love you. That didn’t make very much sense. One month God loves me and one month He doesn’t?
We criticized the Catholic Church because they had a man, a priest, to whom they had to confess. And we’d say, “You shouldn’t have to go to a man to confess your sins! Your sin is against God!” And yet we went to a Body of Elders. You confessed your sins to them, and they put you on hold, and said [Elder as telephone operator:] “Hold on just a minute . . . What do you think, Lord? No? . . . Okay, I’m sorry, we tried our best but you’re not repentant enough. Your sin is too big, so you either lose your fellowship in the church or you’re going to be on probation.”
If the sin is against God, shouldn’t I directly go to God and beg for mercy?
Probably the nail that hit the coffin was that I noticed that they started reading their Bible less. Jehovah’s Witnesses have books for everything that is put out by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The only people on the entire planet who know how to interpret Bible Scripture correctly are that group of men, that committee in Brooklyn, who tell Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide how to dress, how to talk, what to say, what not to say, how to apply Scripture and what the future is going to be like. God told them, so they can tell us. I appreciated the books. But if the Bible is the book of knowledge, and if it’s God’s instructions, well, shouldn’t we get our answers out of the Bible? Paul himself said to find out for yourself what is a true and acceptable word of God. Don’t let men tickle your ears.
I started saying, “Don’t worry so much about what the Watchtower says - read the Bible for yourself.” Ears started to prick up.
[Old Southerner’s drawl:] “I think we got us an apostate here, Judge. Yup. I think this old boy’s one taco short of something.”
Even my father said, “You better watch it, young man, that’s the demons talking right there. That’s the demons trying to get in and cause division.”
I said, “Dad, it’s not the demons. People don’t need to read so much of these other publications. They can find their answers with prayer and in the Bible.”
Spiritually I no longer felt at ease. So in 1979, knowing that I could not make headway, I left, disgruntled and with a bad taste in my mouth, because all my life I had put my soul, my heart, my mind into the church. That was the problem. I didn’t put it in God. I put it in a man-made organization.
I can’t go to other religions. As a Jehovah’s Witness, I had been trained, through the Scriptures, to show that they are all wrong. That idolatry is bad. The Trinity doesn’t exist.
I’m like a man without a religion. I was not a man without a God. But where could I go?
In 1985, I decided to come to Los Angeles and get on the Johnny Carson show and make my mark as a great comedian and actor. I have always felt like I was born for something. I didn’t know whether it was going to be finding the cure to cancer or becoming an actor. I kept praying and it got frustrating after a while.
So I just went to the Catholic Church close to my house, and I tried it. I remember on Ash Wednesday, I had that ash cross on my forehead. I was trying anything I could. I went for about two or three months, and I just couldn’t do it anymore, man. It was:
Stand up. Sit down.
Stand up. Sit down.
Okay, stick your tongue out.
You got a lot of exercise. I think I lost about five pounds. But that’s about it. So now I’m more lost than ever.
But it never passed through my mind that there is not a Creator. I have His phone number, but the line’s always busy. I’m doing my little movie shots. A film called Deadly Intent. A telephone commercial in Chicago. An Exxon commercial. A couple of bank commercials. In the meantime I’m doing construction work on the side.
His First Encounters with Muslims and the Faith, and Finally His Acceptance of Islam:
We’re working on this mall. It’s the holiday season, and they put these extra booths in the hallways. There was a gal at one, and we had to pass right in front of her. I’d say, “Good morning, how are you?” If she said anything, it was “Hi.” And that was it.
Finally, I said, “Miss, you never say anything. I just wanted to apologize if there was something I said wrong.”
She said, “No, you see, I’m a Muslim.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m a Muslim, and Muslim women, we don’t talk to men unless we have something specific to talk about; otherwise we don’t have anything to do with men.”
“Ohhhhh. Muslim.”
She said, “Yes, we practice the religion of Islam.”
“Islam - how do you spell that?”
“I-s-l-a-m.”
At the time, I knew that Muslims were all terrorists. She doesn’t even have a beard. How could she possibly be Muslim?
“How did this religion get started?”
“Well, there was a prophet.”
“A prophet?”
“Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.”
I started some research. But I just came from one religion. I had no intention of becoming Muslim.
The holidays are over. The booth moves. She’s gone.
I continued to pray, and asked why my prayers weren’t being answered. In November of 1991, I was going to bring my uncle Rockie home from the hospital. I started to empty his drawers to pack his stuff and there was a Gideon Bible. I said, God has answered my prayers. This Gideon Bible. (Of course, they put it in every hotel room.) This is a sign from God that He’s ready to teach me. So I stole the Bible.
I went home and I started praying: O God, teach me to be a Christian. Don’t teach me the Jehovah’s Witness way. Don’t teach me the Catholic way. Teach me Your way! You would not have made this Bible so hard that ordinary people sincere in prayer could not understand it.
I got all the way through the New Testament. I started the Old Testament. Well, eventually there’s a part in the Bible about the prophets.
Bing!
I said, Wait a minute, that Muslim lady said they had a prophet. How come he’s not in here?
I started thinking, Muslims - one billion in the world. Man, one out of every five people on the street theoretically could be a Muslim. And I thought: One billion people! C’mon now, Satan is good. But he’s not that good.
So then I said, I’ll read their book, the Quran, and I’ll see what kind of pack of lies this thing is. It probably has an illustration on how to dissemble an AK-47. So I went to an Arabic bookstore.
They asked, “What can I help you with?”
“I’m looking for a Quran.”
“Okay, we have some over here.”
They had some very nice ones - thirty dollars, forty dollars.”
“Look, I just want to read it, I don’t want to become one, okay?”
“Okay, we have this little five-dollar paperback edition.”
I went home, and started reading my Quran from the beginning, with Al-Fatihah. And I could not get my eyes off of it.
Hey, look at this. It talks about a Noah in here. We have Noah in our Bible too. Hey, it talks about Lot and Abraham. I can’t believe it. I never knew Satan’s name was Iblees. Hey, how about that.
When you get that picture on your TV set and it’s got a little bit of static and you push that button [klop] - fine tune. That’s exactly what happened with the Quran.
I went through the whole thing. So I said, Okay, I’ve done this, now what’s the next thing you got to do? Well, you gotta go to their meeting place. I looked in the yellow pages, and I finally found it: Islamic Center of Southern California, on Vermont. I called and they said, “Come on Friday.”
Now I really start getting nervous, `cause now I know I’m going to have to confront Habib and his AK-47.
I want people to understand what it’s like for an American Christian coming into Islam. I’m kidding about the AK-47, but I don’t know if these guys have daggers under their coats, you know. So I come up to the front, and sure enough, there’s this six-foot-three, 240-pound brother, beard and everything, and I’m just in awe.
I walked up and said, “Excuse me, sir.”
[Arabic accent:] “Go to the back!”
He thought I was already a brother.
I said, “Yessir, yessir” [meekly].
I didn’t know what I was going back for, but I went back anyway. They had the tent and the rugs were out. I’m standing there, kind of shy, and people are sitting down listening to the lecture. And people are saying, Go ahead, brother, sit down. And I’m going, No, thanks, no, thanks, I’m just visiting.
So finally the lecture’s over. They’re all lined up for prayer and they go into sajdah. I was really taken aback.
It started making sense intellectually, in my muscles, in my bones, in my heart and my soul.
So prayers are over. I say, hey, who’s going to recognize me? So I start to mingle like I’m one of the brothers, and I’m walking into the mosque and a brother says, “Assalaamu alaikum.” And I thought, Did he say “salt and bacon”?
“Assalaamu alaikum.”
There’s another guy who said “salt and bacon” to me.
I didn’t know what in the world they were saying, but they all smiled.
Before one of these guys noticed that I was not supposed to be there and took me to the torture chamber, or beheaded me, I wanted to see as much as I could. So eventually I went to the library, and there was a young Egyptian brother; his name was Omar. God sent him to me.
Omar comes up to me, and he says, “Excuse me. This is your first time here?” He has a real strong accent.
And I said, Yeah, it is.
“Oh, very good. You are Muslim?”
“No, I’m just reading a little.”
“Oh, you are studying? This is your first visit to a mosque?”
“Yes.”
“Come, let me show you around.” And he grabs me by the hand, and I’m walking with another man - holding hands. I said, these Muslims are friendly.
So he shows me around.
“First of all, this is our prayer hall, and you take your shoes off right here.”
“What are these things?”
“These are little cubicles. That’s where you put your shoes.”
“Why?”
“Well, because you’re approaching the prayer area, and it’s very holy. You don’t go in there with your shoes on; it’s kept real clean.”
So he takes me to the men’s room.
“And right here, this is where we do wudoo.”
“Voodoo! I didn’t read anything about voodoo!”
“No, not voodoo. Wudoo!”
“Okay, because I saw that stuff with the dolls and the pins, and I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment yet.”
He says, “No, wudoo, that’s when we clean ourselves.”
“Why do you do that?”
“Well, when you pray to God, you have to be clean, so we wash our hands and feet.”
So I learned all these things. He let me go, and said, “Come back again.”
I went back and asked the librarian for a booklet on prayer, and I went home and practiced. I felt that if I was trying to do it right, God would accept it. I just continued to read and read and visit the mosque.
I had a commitment to go on a tour of the Midwest on a comedy circuit. Well, I took a prayer rug with me. I knew that I was supposed to pray at certain times, but there are certain places where you are not supposed to pray, one of which is in the bathroom. I went into a men’s room on a tourist stop and I laid out my carpet and I started doing my prayers.
I came back, and when Ramadan was over, I started getting calls from different parts of the country to go and lecture as a Jehovah’s Witness minister who embraced Islam. People find me a novelty.
Peace be upon those who follow the guidance of God rather than the guidance of men.
A forty-two-year-old Latino, Raphael, is a Los Angeles-based comic and lecturer. He was born in Texas where he attended his first Jehovah’s Witness meeting at age six. He gave his first Bible sermon [soon after the age of thirteen], tended his own congregation at twenty, and was headed for a position of leadership among the 904,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States. But he traded in his Bible for a Quran after having braved a visit to a local mosque.
On November 1, 1991, he embraced Islam, bringing to the Muslim community the organizational and speaking skills he developed among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He speaks with the urgency of a new convert, but one who can make immigrant Muslims laugh at themselves.
He told his story mimicking a cast of characters.
I remember vividly being in a discussion where we were all sitting in my parents’ living room and there were some other Jehovah’s Witnesses there. They were talking about : “It’s Armageddon! The time of the end! And Christ is coming! And you know the hailstones are going to be out here as big as cars! God is going to use all kinds of things to destroy this wicked system and remove the governments! And the Bible talks about the earth opening up! It’s going to swallow whole city blocks!”
I’m scared to death! And then my mother turned around: “See what’s going to happen to you if you don’t get baptized, and if you don’t do God’s will? The earth is going to swallow you up, or one of these huge hailstones is going to hit you on the head [klonk], knock you out, and you will not exist ever again. I’ll have to make another child.”
I wasn’t going to take a chance of being hit by one of those big hailstones. So I got baptized. And of course Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in the sprinkling of the water. They submerge you completely, hold you there for a second, and then bring you back up.
I did that at the age of thirteen, September 7, 1963, in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl. It was a big international assembly. We had 100,000 people. We drove all the way from Lubbock, Texas.
Eventually I started giving bigger talks - ten minutes in front of the congregation. A circuit servant recommended me to give the hour lectures that are done on Sunday when they invite the general public. They usually reserved those [sermons] for the elders of the congregation.
[In an authoritarian voice:] “Sure he’s young. But he can handle it. He’s a good Christian boy. He has no vices, and he’s obedient to his parents and seems to have pretty good Bible knowledge.”
So at the age of sixteen I started giving hour lectures in front of whole congregations. I was assigned first to a group in Sweetwater, Texas, and then, eventually, in Brownfield, Texas, I got my first congregation. At age twenty, I had become what they call a pioneer minister.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a very sophisticated training program, and they also have kind of a quota system. You have to devote ten to twelve hours a month to door-to-door preaching. It’s like sales management. IBM has nothing on these guys.
So when I became a pioneer minister, I devoted most of my full time to doing the door-to-door ministry. I had to do like 100 hours a month, and I had to have seven Bible studies. I started lecturing other congregations. I began to get a lot of responsibility, and I was accepted at a school in Brooklyn, New York, a very elite school that Jehovah’s Witnesses have for the crème de la crème, the top one percent. But I didn’t go.
A few things no longer made sense to me. For example, the quota system. It seemed like every time I wanted to turn a corner and get into another position of responsibility, I had to do these secular material things to prove my godliness. It’s like if you meet your quotas this month, God loves you. If you don’t meet your quotas next month, God doesn’t love you. That didn’t make very much sense. One month God loves me and one month He doesn’t?
We criticized the Catholic Church because they had a man, a priest, to whom they had to confess. And we’d say, “You shouldn’t have to go to a man to confess your sins! Your sin is against God!” And yet we went to a Body of Elders. You confessed your sins to them, and they put you on hold, and said [Elder as telephone operator:] “Hold on just a minute . . . What do you think, Lord? No? . . . Okay, I’m sorry, we tried our best but you’re not repentant enough. Your sin is too big, so you either lose your fellowship in the church or you’re going to be on probation.”
If the sin is against God, shouldn’t I directly go to God and beg for mercy?
Probably the nail that hit the coffin was that I noticed that they started reading their Bible less. Jehovah’s Witnesses have books for everything that is put out by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The only people on the entire planet who know how to interpret Bible Scripture correctly are that group of men, that committee in Brooklyn, who tell Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide how to dress, how to talk, what to say, what not to say, how to apply Scripture and what the future is going to be like. God told them, so they can tell us. I appreciated the books. But if the Bible is the book of knowledge, and if it’s God’s instructions, well, shouldn’t we get our answers out of the Bible? Paul himself said to find out for yourself what is a true and acceptable word of God. Don’t let men tickle your ears.
I started saying, “Don’t worry so much about what the Watchtower says - read the Bible for yourself.” Ears started to prick up.
[Old Southerner’s drawl:] “I think we got us an apostate here, Judge. Yup. I think this old boy’s one taco short of something.”
Even my father said, “You better watch it, young man, that’s the demons talking right there. That’s the demons trying to get in and cause division.”
I said, “Dad, it’s not the demons. People don’t need to read so much of these other publications. They can find their answers with prayer and in the Bible.”
Spiritually I no longer felt at ease. So in 1979, knowing that I could not make headway, I left, disgruntled and with a bad taste in my mouth, because all my life I had put my soul, my heart, my mind into the church. That was the problem. I didn’t put it in God. I put it in a man-made organization.
I can’t go to other religions. As a Jehovah’s Witness, I had been trained, through the Scriptures, to show that they are all wrong. That idolatry is bad. The Trinity doesn’t exist.
I’m like a man without a religion. I was not a man without a God. But where could I go?
In 1985, I decided to come to Los Angeles and get on the Johnny Carson show and make my mark as a great comedian and actor. I have always felt like I was born for something. I didn’t know whether it was going to be finding the cure to cancer or becoming an actor. I kept praying and it got frustrating after a while.
So I just went to the Catholic Church close to my house, and I tried it. I remember on Ash Wednesday, I had that ash cross on my forehead. I was trying anything I could. I went for about two or three months, and I just couldn’t do it anymore, man. It was:
Stand up. Sit down.
Stand up. Sit down.
Okay, stick your tongue out.
You got a lot of exercise. I think I lost about five pounds. But that’s about it. So now I’m more lost than ever.
But it never passed through my mind that there is not a Creator. I have His phone number, but the line’s always busy. I’m doing my little movie shots. A film called Deadly Intent. A telephone commercial in Chicago. An Exxon commercial. A couple of bank commercials. In the meantime I’m doing construction work on the side.
His First Encounters with Muslims and the Faith, and Finally His Acceptance of Islam:
We’re working on this mall. It’s the holiday season, and they put these extra booths in the hallways. There was a gal at one, and we had to pass right in front of her. I’d say, “Good morning, how are you?” If she said anything, it was “Hi.” And that was it.
Finally, I said, “Miss, you never say anything. I just wanted to apologize if there was something I said wrong.”
She said, “No, you see, I’m a Muslim.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m a Muslim, and Muslim women, we don’t talk to men unless we have something specific to talk about; otherwise we don’t have anything to do with men.”
“Ohhhhh. Muslim.”
She said, “Yes, we practice the religion of Islam.”
“Islam - how do you spell that?”
“I-s-l-a-m.”
At the time, I knew that Muslims were all terrorists. She doesn’t even have a beard. How could she possibly be Muslim?
“How did this religion get started?”
“Well, there was a prophet.”
“A prophet?”
“Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.”
I started some research. But I just came from one religion. I had no intention of becoming Muslim.
The holidays are over. The booth moves. She’s gone.
I continued to pray, and asked why my prayers weren’t being answered. In November of 1991, I was going to bring my uncle Rockie home from the hospital. I started to empty his drawers to pack his stuff and there was a Gideon Bible. I said, God has answered my prayers. This Gideon Bible. (Of course, they put it in every hotel room.) This is a sign from God that He’s ready to teach me. So I stole the Bible.
I went home and I started praying: O God, teach me to be a Christian. Don’t teach me the Jehovah’s Witness way. Don’t teach me the Catholic way. Teach me Your way! You would not have made this Bible so hard that ordinary people sincere in prayer could not understand it.
I got all the way through the New Testament. I started the Old Testament. Well, eventually there’s a part in the Bible about the prophets.
Bing!
I said, Wait a minute, that Muslim lady said they had a prophet. How come he’s not in here?
I started thinking, Muslims - one billion in the world. Man, one out of every five people on the street theoretically could be a Muslim. And I thought: One billion people! C’mon now, Satan is good. But he’s not that good.
So then I said, I’ll read their book, the Quran, and I’ll see what kind of pack of lies this thing is. It probably has an illustration on how to dissemble an AK-47. So I went to an Arabic bookstore.
They asked, “What can I help you with?”
“I’m looking for a Quran.”
“Okay, we have some over here.”
They had some very nice ones - thirty dollars, forty dollars.”
“Look, I just want to read it, I don’t want to become one, okay?”
“Okay, we have this little five-dollar paperback edition.”
I went home, and started reading my Quran from the beginning, with Al-Fatihah. And I could not get my eyes off of it.
Hey, look at this. It talks about a Noah in here. We have Noah in our Bible too. Hey, it talks about Lot and Abraham. I can’t believe it. I never knew Satan’s name was Iblees. Hey, how about that.
When you get that picture on your TV set and it’s got a little bit of static and you push that button [klop] - fine tune. That’s exactly what happened with the Quran.
I went through the whole thing. So I said, Okay, I’ve done this, now what’s the next thing you got to do? Well, you gotta go to their meeting place. I looked in the yellow pages, and I finally found it: Islamic Center of Southern California, on Vermont. I called and they said, “Come on Friday.”
Now I really start getting nervous, `cause now I know I’m going to have to confront Habib and his AK-47.
I want people to understand what it’s like for an American Christian coming into Islam. I’m kidding about the AK-47, but I don’t know if these guys have daggers under their coats, you know. So I come up to the front, and sure enough, there’s this six-foot-three, 240-pound brother, beard and everything, and I’m just in awe.
I walked up and said, “Excuse me, sir.”
[Arabic accent:] “Go to the back!”
He thought I was already a brother.
I said, “Yessir, yessir” [meekly].
I didn’t know what I was going back for, but I went back anyway. They had the tent and the rugs were out. I’m standing there, kind of shy, and people are sitting down listening to the lecture. And people are saying, Go ahead, brother, sit down. And I’m going, No, thanks, no, thanks, I’m just visiting.
So finally the lecture’s over. They’re all lined up for prayer and they go into sajdah. I was really taken aback.
It started making sense intellectually, in my muscles, in my bones, in my heart and my soul.
So prayers are over. I say, hey, who’s going to recognize me? So I start to mingle like I’m one of the brothers, and I’m walking into the mosque and a brother says, “Assalaamu alaikum.” And I thought, Did he say “salt and bacon”?
“Assalaamu alaikum.”
There’s another guy who said “salt and bacon” to me.
I didn’t know what in the world they were saying, but they all smiled.
Before one of these guys noticed that I was not supposed to be there and took me to the torture chamber, or beheaded me, I wanted to see as much as I could. So eventually I went to the library, and there was a young Egyptian brother; his name was Omar. God sent him to me.
Omar comes up to me, and he says, “Excuse me. This is your first time here?” He has a real strong accent.
And I said, Yeah, it is.
“Oh, very good. You are Muslim?”
“No, I’m just reading a little.”
“Oh, you are studying? This is your first visit to a mosque?”
“Yes.”
“Come, let me show you around.” And he grabs me by the hand, and I’m walking with another man - holding hands. I said, these Muslims are friendly.
So he shows me around.
“First of all, this is our prayer hall, and you take your shoes off right here.”
“What are these things?”
“These are little cubicles. That’s where you put your shoes.”
“Why?”
“Well, because you’re approaching the prayer area, and it’s very holy. You don’t go in there with your shoes on; it’s kept real clean.”
So he takes me to the men’s room.
“And right here, this is where we do wudoo.”
“Voodoo! I didn’t read anything about voodoo!”
“No, not voodoo. Wudoo!”
“Okay, because I saw that stuff with the dolls and the pins, and I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment yet.”
He says, “No, wudoo, that’s when we clean ourselves.”
“Why do you do that?”
“Well, when you pray to God, you have to be clean, so we wash our hands and feet.”
So I learned all these things. He let me go, and said, “Come back again.”
I went back and asked the librarian for a booklet on prayer, and I went home and practiced. I felt that if I was trying to do it right, God would accept it. I just continued to read and read and visit the mosque.
I had a commitment to go on a tour of the Midwest on a comedy circuit. Well, I took a prayer rug with me. I knew that I was supposed to pray at certain times, but there are certain places where you are not supposed to pray, one of which is in the bathroom. I went into a men’s room on a tourist stop and I laid out my carpet and I started doing my prayers.
I came back, and when Ramadan was over, I started getting calls from different parts of the country to go and lecture as a Jehovah’s Witness minister who embraced Islam. People find me a novelty.
Peace be upon those who follow the guidance of God rather than the guidance of men.
Saturday 4 February 2017
WHO ARE THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES? PART 3
A FLAWED BASIC CONCEPT
A comparison of Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs and Islam.
Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) are a Christian denomination with many beliefs that stand out from mainstream Christianity. They are known for their potent evangelism, their preoccupation with the end of days and their unique translation of the Bible called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. In this conclusion to our study of the little understood religion known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses we will take a look at some beliefs that seem to be the same as Islam.
JESUS (peace and blessings of God be upon him)
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not God. This is a statement that infuriates most Christians and has led many to declare the Jehovah’s witnesses to be pseudo Christians. Muslims, as we know declare categorically that Jesus is not God, therefore just reading this one little statement may lead a Muslim to say, “Oh this is just the same as us”. But is it? Let us dig a little further into their belief about the role of Jesus.
JW’s condemn the Trinity as pagan idolatry and accordingly deny Jesus’ divinity. However they believe that although Jesus is God’s begotten son he is inferior to God. Thus the similarity to Islam ends abruptly. God says in one of the greatest verses of Quran that He begets not!
Say (O Muhammad): “He is God, (the) One. The Self-Sufficient Master. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.” (Quran 112)
Why do they call Jesus God's son?
Their answer is in the Bible, as they say:
{God does not have a literal wife with whom he fathered children. But he is the Creator of all life. (Revelation 4:11) Therefore, the first human that God created, Adam, is called a “son of God.” (Luke 3:38) Similarly, the Bible teaches that Jesus was created by God. So Jesus is also called a “Son of God.”—John 1:49.
God created Jesus before he created Adam. Regarding Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) Jesus’ life began long before he was born in a stable in Bethlehem. In fact, the Bible says that his “origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.” (Micah 5:2) As God’s firstborn Son, Jesus was a spirit creature in heaven before he was born as a human on earth. Jesus himself said: “I have come down from heaven.”—John 6:38; 8:23.}
The above is just an exaggeration of Jesus's virgin birth. The mere saying that 'God weeps', 'God walks on the earth', 'son of God', 'daughter of God', 'mother of God' are blasphemies all right but most people do not understand. God Himself says of these people:
"The Jews call 'Ezra a son of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" [Quran 9:30]
God also told Prophet Muhammad:
"God, the Mighty and Sublime, says: 'The son of Adam denied Me and he had no right to do so. And the son of Adam reviled Me and he had no right to do so. As for his denying Me, It is his saying that I will not resurrect him as I created him in the beginning, but resurrecting him is not more difficult for Me than creating him in the first place. And as for his reviling Me, it is his saying that God has taken a son, but I am God, the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, I beget not nor was I begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Me."'
Jesus was regarded by his disciples and other contemporaries as a prophet. They do not acclaim him as an incarnation of God or the Son of God.
One who has a pure and deep faith in God and in His Oneness does not do or even think of anything that would insult the Almighty. It is simply out of the question because He sees all and knows each of your thoughts and you do not want to fail to stand up to His standards by rejecting the truth conveyed to us by His messengers.
In addition to this flawed basic understanding of the nature of God, the JW’s also believe in other false claims:
1. They claim Jesus’ life, or what the JW’s call his sacrifice, became the “ransom” price to redeem mankind from sin and death.
The idea that Jesus was the ransom to save our souls or forgive our sins is a concept completely at loggerheads with Islamic belief.
"Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to God. Whether you divulge what is in yourselves or keep it hidden, God will still call you to account for it. He forgives whoever He wills and He punishes whoever He wills. God has power over all things." (Quran 2:284)
"It is He Who accepts repentence from His servants and pardons evil acts and knows what they do." (Quran 42:25)
"The Jews and Christians say, ‘We are God's children and His loved ones.’ Say: ‘Why, then, does He punish you for your wrong actions? No, you are merely human beings among those He has created. He forgives whoever He wills and He punishes whoever He wills. The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything between them belongs to God. He is our final destination.’" (Quran 5:18)
"God has promised those who believe and do right actions forgiveness and an immense reward." (Quran 5:9)
God is the Lord of Forgiveness and Retribution. His door to forgiveness is always open. He does not have to let someone be killed in order to forgive other people's faults. Those who submit their whole selves to God, develop personal relationships with Him, and communicate with Him freely day and night will not believe in such fallacies. A Muslim is answerable directly to God for everything he/she does.
2. God, the JW's say, created all in Heaven and on Earth through Christ, the “master worker,” God's servant. In their own literature the JW’s refer to Jesus as “His (God’s) first spirit creation, the master craftsman, the prehuman Jesus”. They go on to say that after Jesus’ resurrection by God, he was “exalted” to a level higher than an angel. The refutation of this is found in God’s own words in the Quran:
"Christ the son of Mary was no more than an apostle; many were the apostles that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how God does make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!" [Quran 5:75]
"They say: "(God) has begotten a son" :Glory be to Him.-Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him. To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decrees a matter, He says to it: "Be," and it is." [Quran 2:116-117]
"The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.The Truth (comes) from God alone; so be not of those who doubt." [Quran 3:59-60]
THE CHILDLIKE SPIRIT
The belief that original sin caused humans to inherit death is far from the teachings of Islam. Islam is the religion of the genuine childlike spirit and it teaches us that human beings are born without sin and are naturally inclined to worship God alone (without any intermediaries). To retain this state of sinlessness humankind needs to follow God’s commandments and strive to live a righteous life. If one falls into sin, all that is required is sincere repentance. When a person repents, God wipes out the sin as if it was never committed.
THE IMMORTAL SOUL
The Jehovah’s witnesses do not believe that the soul is immortal. They believe a soul is the entire living being and when separated from the life force originally given by God, the soul dies. Thus, no soul remains after death and that Jesus will return to resurrect the dead, restoring both soul and body. Those judged righteous will be given everlasting life on earth (which will become a paradise). Those judged unrighteous will not be tormented, but will die and cease to exist. What exactly does Islam say about this?
According to Islam, the soul is an immortal creation of God and life continues in the grave after the body is buried. The soul of a faithful person, is easily removed from the body, clothed in a heavenly and sweet smelling garment and taken through the seven heavens.The soul is ultimately returned to the grave, and a gate to Paradise is opened for the person, and its breezes come to him, and he smells its fragrance. He is given the glad tidings of Paradise and he longs for the Hour to begin. The soul of the unbelieving person, on the other hand, is removed from its body with a great deal of struggle but ultimately also returns to the body. The person is tormented in the grave until the Hour begins.
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception." [Quran 3:]
In the English language, the word 'soul' has many meanings. It can refer to the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. It can also refer to an individual person. No wonder the JW's took the language of the Bible as their religion rather than the message of Jesus.
To their credit the JW’s avoid behaviours that God dislikes, including celebration of birthdays and holidays originating from false religions. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate their own birthdays, because it is considered a glorification of the individual rather than the Creator. These statements certainly resonate with Islamic belief. However because the JW basic concept of the Oneness of God is flawed their moral behaviour and values mean very little. God tells us clearly about the greatest losers on the Day of Judgement.
“Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? (They are) those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. They are those who deny the proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc. of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them.” (Quran 18: 103-105)
Thus we find that even if at first glance the Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to have a belief system that resonates with Islamic beliefs, this is far from the truth. Careful consideration reveals defects and mistakes in their basic theories. It appears that the Jehovah’s witnesses have very little in common with either Islam or even early Christianity. Their theories of Heaven and Hell, the Oneness of God, and creation of the Universe are not acceptable to Muslims nor to the early followers of Christ. The JW, after all, is just another man-made religion.
May God guide these people to the truth and justice.
A comparison of Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs and Islam.
Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) are a Christian denomination with many beliefs that stand out from mainstream Christianity. They are known for their potent evangelism, their preoccupation with the end of days and their unique translation of the Bible called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. In this conclusion to our study of the little understood religion known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses we will take a look at some beliefs that seem to be the same as Islam.
JESUS (peace and blessings of God be upon him)
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not God. This is a statement that infuriates most Christians and has led many to declare the Jehovah’s witnesses to be pseudo Christians. Muslims, as we know declare categorically that Jesus is not God, therefore just reading this one little statement may lead a Muslim to say, “Oh this is just the same as us”. But is it? Let us dig a little further into their belief about the role of Jesus.
JW’s condemn the Trinity as pagan idolatry and accordingly deny Jesus’ divinity. However they believe that although Jesus is God’s begotten son he is inferior to God. Thus the similarity to Islam ends abruptly. God says in one of the greatest verses of Quran that He begets not!
Say (O Muhammad): “He is God, (the) One. The Self-Sufficient Master. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.” (Quran 112)
Why do they call Jesus God's son?
Their answer is in the Bible, as they say:
{God does not have a literal wife with whom he fathered children. But he is the Creator of all life. (Revelation 4:11) Therefore, the first human that God created, Adam, is called a “son of God.” (Luke 3:38) Similarly, the Bible teaches that Jesus was created by God. So Jesus is also called a “Son of God.”—John 1:49.
God created Jesus before he created Adam. Regarding Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) Jesus’ life began long before he was born in a stable in Bethlehem. In fact, the Bible says that his “origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.” (Micah 5:2) As God’s firstborn Son, Jesus was a spirit creature in heaven before he was born as a human on earth. Jesus himself said: “I have come down from heaven.”—John 6:38; 8:23.}
The above is just an exaggeration of Jesus's virgin birth. The mere saying that 'God weeps', 'God walks on the earth', 'son of God', 'daughter of God', 'mother of God' are blasphemies all right but most people do not understand. God Himself says of these people:
"The Jews call 'Ezra a son of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" [Quran 9:30]
God also told Prophet Muhammad:
"God, the Mighty and Sublime, says: 'The son of Adam denied Me and he had no right to do so. And the son of Adam reviled Me and he had no right to do so. As for his denying Me, It is his saying that I will not resurrect him as I created him in the beginning, but resurrecting him is not more difficult for Me than creating him in the first place. And as for his reviling Me, it is his saying that God has taken a son, but I am God, the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, I beget not nor was I begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Me."'
Jesus was regarded by his disciples and other contemporaries as a prophet. They do not acclaim him as an incarnation of God or the Son of God.
One who has a pure and deep faith in God and in His Oneness does not do or even think of anything that would insult the Almighty. It is simply out of the question because He sees all and knows each of your thoughts and you do not want to fail to stand up to His standards by rejecting the truth conveyed to us by His messengers.
In addition to this flawed basic understanding of the nature of God, the JW’s also believe in other false claims:
1. They claim Jesus’ life, or what the JW’s call his sacrifice, became the “ransom” price to redeem mankind from sin and death.
The idea that Jesus was the ransom to save our souls or forgive our sins is a concept completely at loggerheads with Islamic belief.
"Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to God. Whether you divulge what is in yourselves or keep it hidden, God will still call you to account for it. He forgives whoever He wills and He punishes whoever He wills. God has power over all things." (Quran 2:284)
"It is He Who accepts repentence from His servants and pardons evil acts and knows what they do." (Quran 42:25)
"The Jews and Christians say, ‘We are God's children and His loved ones.’ Say: ‘Why, then, does He punish you for your wrong actions? No, you are merely human beings among those He has created. He forgives whoever He wills and He punishes whoever He wills. The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything between them belongs to God. He is our final destination.’" (Quran 5:18)
"God has promised those who believe and do right actions forgiveness and an immense reward." (Quran 5:9)
God is the Lord of Forgiveness and Retribution. His door to forgiveness is always open. He does not have to let someone be killed in order to forgive other people's faults. Those who submit their whole selves to God, develop personal relationships with Him, and communicate with Him freely day and night will not believe in such fallacies. A Muslim is answerable directly to God for everything he/she does.
2. God, the JW's say, created all in Heaven and on Earth through Christ, the “master worker,” God's servant. In their own literature the JW’s refer to Jesus as “His (God’s) first spirit creation, the master craftsman, the prehuman Jesus”. They go on to say that after Jesus’ resurrection by God, he was “exalted” to a level higher than an angel. The refutation of this is found in God’s own words in the Quran:
"Christ the son of Mary was no more than an apostle; many were the apostles that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how God does make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!" [Quran 5:75]
"They say: "(God) has begotten a son" :Glory be to Him.-Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him. To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decrees a matter, He says to it: "Be," and it is." [Quran 2:116-117]
"The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.The Truth (comes) from God alone; so be not of those who doubt." [Quran 3:59-60]
THE CHILDLIKE SPIRIT
The belief that original sin caused humans to inherit death is far from the teachings of Islam. Islam is the religion of the genuine childlike spirit and it teaches us that human beings are born without sin and are naturally inclined to worship God alone (without any intermediaries). To retain this state of sinlessness humankind needs to follow God’s commandments and strive to live a righteous life. If one falls into sin, all that is required is sincere repentance. When a person repents, God wipes out the sin as if it was never committed.
THE IMMORTAL SOUL
The Jehovah’s witnesses do not believe that the soul is immortal. They believe a soul is the entire living being and when separated from the life force originally given by God, the soul dies. Thus, no soul remains after death and that Jesus will return to resurrect the dead, restoring both soul and body. Those judged righteous will be given everlasting life on earth (which will become a paradise). Those judged unrighteous will not be tormented, but will die and cease to exist. What exactly does Islam say about this?
According to Islam, the soul is an immortal creation of God and life continues in the grave after the body is buried. The soul of a faithful person, is easily removed from the body, clothed in a heavenly and sweet smelling garment and taken through the seven heavens.The soul is ultimately returned to the grave, and a gate to Paradise is opened for the person, and its breezes come to him, and he smells its fragrance. He is given the glad tidings of Paradise and he longs for the Hour to begin. The soul of the unbelieving person, on the other hand, is removed from its body with a great deal of struggle but ultimately also returns to the body. The person is tormented in the grave until the Hour begins.
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception." [Quran 3:]
In the English language, the word 'soul' has many meanings. It can refer to the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. It can also refer to an individual person. No wonder the JW's took the language of the Bible as their religion rather than the message of Jesus.
To their credit the JW’s avoid behaviours that God dislikes, including celebration of birthdays and holidays originating from false religions. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate their own birthdays, because it is considered a glorification of the individual rather than the Creator. These statements certainly resonate with Islamic belief. However because the JW basic concept of the Oneness of God is flawed their moral behaviour and values mean very little. God tells us clearly about the greatest losers on the Day of Judgement.
“Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? (They are) those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. They are those who deny the proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc. of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them.” (Quran 18: 103-105)
Thus we find that even if at first glance the Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to have a belief system that resonates with Islamic beliefs, this is far from the truth. Careful consideration reveals defects and mistakes in their basic theories. It appears that the Jehovah’s witnesses have very little in common with either Islam or even early Christianity. Their theories of Heaven and Hell, the Oneness of God, and creation of the Universe are not acceptable to Muslims nor to the early followers of Christ. The JW, after all, is just another man-made religion.
May God guide these people to the truth and justice.
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