Question:
What was the need of Islam when everything including laws and spiritual methods to cleanse your souls were present in both Judaisim&Christianity together.Kindly read my premise below carefully and then give your answer.
“Well, we have to think about religions as a thing that nobody can dismiss. The pagans have their own gods, the Jews believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christians, of course, believe in the same God. The story is that when God wanted to reveal himself to men, he chose Abraham. And through Abraham he had Isaac; through Isaac he had Jacob; through Jacob he sent the people of Israel to Egypt. He brought them back by Moses, and Judaism started at that time. God gave the Jewish people His law, revealed Himself to them, and His revelation was magnificent, because He appeared to them in a pillar of fire at night, a pillar of cloud in the morning, and from there Judaism began. In that religion He gave them the offerings, He gave them the prophets and it was a preparation for the final religion that will come, which is Christianity. Because Christianity is based on Judaism. All the offerings in the Old Testament refer to Jesus Christ, the only offerings, the Lamb of God. He was the burned offering, He was the sin offering, He was the peace offering. He completed in Himself and in His death on the cross, all the offerings of the Old Testament. Prophets came, and they gave details about Jesus Christ, His blessed birth, His virgin birth, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension. Then religion was completed. Judaism is the foundation, Christianity is the building upon this foundation.
Now when we come to Islam, why for? For what reason? How could Islam say that it is a divine religion? There was no former preparation for Islam. God did not reveal any prophecies in the whole Bible concerning Mohammed or concerning Islam. And why Islam at all? If the building is complete, we have the foundation is Judaism, we have the building in Christianity, Jesus was the final revelation of God to mankind. And we read here, in the book of Hebrews, and I want to read it from here, in the book of Hebrews chapter 1, the words here are very clear about Jesus Christ as the final revelation of God to mankind. “God who at various times and in various ways spoke with us.The last he spoke with humans was through his Son.” So if God had spoken to us through His Son, why would He send a servant after that? Islam is not a divine religion. No foundation for it, no prophecies about it, it is not a divine religion”
Thanks for your help.
Reply
The explanation of the various revelations – through Abraham and his progeny – provided in your referred paragraph is an explanation given from the standpoint of Pauline Christianity. This explanation is neither clearly supported by the Bible nor by the sayings ascribed to the prophet Jesus (pbuh).
Parallel to this explanation, the explanation from the Muslim standpoint is as follows:
God revealed His guidance to Abraham (pbuh) and because of his sincerity and submission to the directives of God, God promised the continuation of His guidance among Abraham’s progeny.
First, this promise was fulfilled through the progeny of Jacob (pbuh). In the progeny of Jacob (pbuh), God sent His prophets and messengers, reminding people of God’s likes and dislikes and giving them His laws. The most significant revelation in this lineage was that granted to Moses (pbuh) – the Torah. The Torah comprised basically of God’s laws. Those, who obediently followed this law in letter and spirit, were promised the eternal bliss of Paradise, while those, who ignored these laws were warned of severe punishment in the hereafter. After this revelation God continually revealed His message among the progeny of Jacob (pbuh) which reminded the followers of their duty towards their Lord.
As time went by, the followers of these laws started ignoring the spirit entailed in these laws, even though, apparently, they remained obedient to it. At this time, God sent a revelation through one of His prophets – Jesus (pbuh) – reminding people of the spirit entailed in these laws. Through this revelation, the people were reminded that following the law without regard to the spirit entailed in them was, in effect, a rejection of the law itself. Thus, the Gospels concentrated on explaining the wisdom and the spirit entailed in the laws of Moses (pbuh). The Gospels were never meant to replace the laws of Moses (pbuh), but were, in fact, meant to supplement the laws with the explanation of their spirit. Thus, Jesus (pbuh) is reported to have said:
Let there be no thought that I have come to put an end to the law or the prophets. I have not come for destruction, but to make complete. (Matthew 5: 17, as translated in the ‘Bible in Basic English’)
Immediately following this declaration, Jesus (pbuh) is reported to have explained the real spirit of a number of directives of the Torah and the Laws.
However, disregarding the strong reminder of the Christ that his teachings should not be perceived as an abolition of the Laws and the Torah, but as their completion, his followers turned their backs on the directives of the Torah and gave up adherence to them. Consequently, what was revealed by God to complement the existing laws and to clarify the spirit entailed in these laws, started taking shape as an independent religion. Predictably, for all practical purposes, the followers of this religion renounced the validity of the laws entailed in the Torah and undermined their importance, by relegating them to the position of a ‘temporary phase’.
It was in this background that God revealed a comprehensive revelation, only this time through the lineage of Ishmael (pbuh) – the other son of Abraham (pbuh). In this revelation, God reinstated most of the original laws which were revealed to Moses (pbuh) supplemented them with the explanation of their spirit in the same revelation.
Thus, from a Muslim perspective, the need of the revelation to Muhammad (pbuh) lies in the fact that the respective followers of the previous revelations had broken down the unified ‘whole’ of God’s revelations into separate parts and a new revelation, which would once again present a comprehensive understanding of the unified ‘whole’ was required. The Qur’an, the revelation through Muhammad (pbuh) presented this unified view of God’s revelation.
As for the prophecies and predictions relating to Muhammad (pbuh), compiling all these prophecies requires a much more detailed work than can be afforded in response to a question. Nevertheless, we will consider one such prophecy in the following section.
According to the Torah, Moses (pbuh) had taken a pledge from his followers to believe in a prophet who was to be similar to him (Moses) and who was to be sent among their brethren. In Deuteronomy 18: 18, God declares:
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brothers, one like you, and will put My words in His mouth. And He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him.
Even though the Christian commentators of the Bible have generally interpreted this declaration to refer to the coming of Jesus (pbuh), yet the Muslim mind takes it to refer to the coming of Muhammad (pbuh). Some of the major reasons for interpreting this declaration to refer to Muhammad (pbuh) are summarized below:
There is clear evidence in the Gospels that the Prophet referred to in this declaration was separate from the Messiah. This fact is quite apparent from the following verses of the Gospel of John:
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” (John 1: 19 – 21)
Then again in John 1: 25, it is reported that the Jews said:
They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
Note that in the verse, when John the Baptist (pbuh) had denied his being the Messiah, the Jews went on to ask whether he was Elijah and then continued to ask him whether he was ‘the prophet’. This clearly implies that the awaited Messiah, Elijah and the Prophet were, in fact, three different personalities.
The Geneva Bible Notes, explaining this verse writes:
They are inquiring about some great prophet, and not about Christ, for John denied before that he is Christ, for they thought that some great prophet would be sent like Moses, using to support this position De 18:15
Albert Barnes, explaining the contents of this verse, in his commentary of the New Testament writes:
It is possible that the Jews supposed that not only Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, but also Jeremiah. See Barnes for Mt 16:14. Some have supposed, however, that this question has reference to the prediction of Moses in De 18:15.
In the Family Bible Notes, the verse is explained as:
That prophet; Jeremiah, or some distinguished prophet who they expected would appear.
In the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, the verse has been explained thus:
that prophet – announced in De 18:15, &c., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether he were the same with the Messiah or no.
The People’s New Testament Commentary explains the verse as:
Some conjectured that John was the expected Christ; others that he was Elijah who was first to come (Mal 4:5); others that he was “that prophet,” the one predicted by Moses (De 18:15); but he declared that he was none of these.
Matthew Henry in his commentary explains the verse thus:
John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him.
It is quite clear from the referred verse of the Gospel that the Prophet foretold by Moses (pbuh) was still awaited at the time of the advent of Jesus (pbuh). After Jesus (pbuh) there was no other prophet among the Israelites. Thus, according to the Muslim mind, the only person, who seems to fit the prediction of Moses (pbuh) is Muhammad (pbuh).
According to the words of the referred prediction of the Torah, the referred prophet was to come among the ‘brothers’ of the Israelites. History bears witness that the only prophet, who could be said to have come among the ‘brothers’ of the Israelites was Muhammad (pbuh). Besides Muhammad (pbuh), all the other prophets, including Jesus (pbuh), were sent among the Israelites themselves, not among their ‘brothers’. Muhammad (pbuh), on the other hand, was sent among the Ishmaelites – the ‘brothers’ of the Israelites.
Another attribute of the Prophet foretold by the Torah is that he would be ‘similar’ to Moses (pbuh). History bears witness that no other prophet was more similar to Moses (pbuh) than Muhammad (pbuh). The two ministries of Moses (pbuh) and Muhammad (pbuh) have such striking similarities with each other that the ministry of no other prophet even comes close to them. Consider the following points:
Muhammad (pbuh), like Moses (pbuh), began delivering the word of God in a polytheistic and an idolatrous people. Most of the prophets after Moses (pbuh), in contrast, were sent among a believing and a monotheistic people;
Muhammad (pbuh), like Moses (pbuh), had to migrate from the land in which he started his ministry, accompanied by his believers. Most of the prophets after Moses (pbuh), in contrast, stayed with the people among whom they were sent;
Muhammad (pbuh), like Moses (pbuh), established an independent state in the migrated land, there is hardly a prophet after Moses (pbuh), who is similar to him in this respect;
Muhammad (pbuh), like Moses (pbuh), became the ruler of the state formed after the migration of the believers. There is hardly a prophet after Moses (pbuh), who shares this quality with Moses (pbuh) and Muhammad (pbuh); Muhammad;
Muhammad (pbuh) like Moses (pbuh), implemented the Shari`ah (Ordinances of God) on the state that was formed after the migration of the believers and the subsequent establishment of the state under the rule of the respective prophet;
The revelation given to Muhammad (pbuh), like that given to Moses (pbuh), entailed the directive of Jihad – fighting – against the polytheists;
The followers of Muhammad (pbuh) after him, like those after Moses (pbuh), expanded the state of the believers to great lengths through their conquests.
The Muslims do not see any other prophet, who has such striking similarities with Moses (pbuh). The Qur’an at the beginning of Muhammad’s (pbuh) ministry, when the events were yet to unfold for the human eyes, unequivocally declared:
We have sent to you a messenger, as a witness [of God’s truth] upon you, just as we sent a messenger to the Pharaoh. (Al-Muzzammil 73: 15)
I hope this helps.
Regards,
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