From: mughal@iago.caltech.edu (ASIM M MUGHAL)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: A lesson in history
Date: 8 Oct 1992 04:04 PDT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
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This is from Dr. Habib Siddiqui (RBNXHS@rohvm1.rohmhaas.com):

Subject: A lesson in history
>johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson) writes:

>Look at the histories of the peoples of interest here.

>1. The Torah was given through Moses to a people who, though often
>   disobedient, had a longstanding belief on the One God, back six or
>   seven hundred years to Abraham.

What a *selective* memory about the Bible| I often wonder if the
Christians ever read the Bible in the entirety even in the very language
they speak (I am not even asking about reading in Greek/Hebrew for the
New/Old Testament). It is obvious they don't. And that is why Erik comes
up with a distorted view of the Jewish (bani-Israel, the twelve tribes
that sprang from Yakub alaihe-was-salam - Jacob) history and their
experience. Or, is it a *selective* forgetfulness of the Biblical text?

Erik, you are wrong. The children of Israel not only disobeyed God by
not keeping His commandments, but they even worshipped idols (a total
abomination in the sight of God). After being rescued by Musa alaihewas-
salam (AWS) (Moses) from their slavery, they could not even wait until
Musa (AWS) had returned to them from Jabal al-Tur. They worshipped a
calf (Surah al-Baqarah gives a very detail account of this). How can
a monotheist do a thing like that? Is it possible that they were
influenced by the pagan life-styles of the Egyptians? Definitely, yes.
It is, therefore, very much possible that during the 430 years during
which the bani-Israel lived in Egypt that they shared in similar
evil practices (may not be by all, but definitely by a large segment of
the populace, otherwise it is impossible to imagine a God-abiding,
pure monotheist people to jump into idolatry, the very first chance
they got in freedom). God's curse, relating to their bondage, did
not come just for no reason. It came when they became arrogant and
thought themselves independent of God, as if they were self-sufficient.
Most Jewish scholars on Egyptology believe that Jews in Egypt did
absorb some of the pagan customs including respecting their gods.

To get a clear understanding about these abominable acts, including
worshipping pagan gods - Ashtoreth (goddess of the Zidonians),
Chemosh (the god of the Moabites), Milcom (the god of the children
of Ammon), Baal and a multitude of other lesser gods/goddesses,
I suggest that you read the Bible thoroughly. I shall give here
only a *small* list of references from the Books of Kings (which is
sufficient to prove you wrong):
I Kings: 11:4-9, 11:33, 12:28-30, 14:23-24, 15:34, 16:25, 22:53.
II Kings: 3:2-3, 8:18, 13:2, 14:24, 17:2, 21:2-3, 24:9, 24:19.

When Allah sent Prophets to correct them, they even slaughtered them.
(II Kings 9:7) They also got involved into sodomy (even after the
destruction of the cities during the time of Lut AWS, a contemporary
of Ibrahim AWS). (I Kings 14:24) There was hardly an evil act that
they did not do. As a punishment they were subdued by the Egyptians,
Assyrians and the Babylonians leading to the destruction of the
Temple in 586 B.C. During this process of doing sin continuously
they even altered their Books, defamed the characters of their
Prophets (including Sulayman AWS - whom they depicted as serving
pagan gods at his old age. Ref: I Kings 11:4-5) so that all the
evils can be practiced by nominal Jews. Had they not corrupted the
Taurat, it may not have been necessary for the revelation in Zabur
to Dawud AWS (David). And if they had kept God's commandments and
not corrupted the Zabur, then it was not necessry for Allah to reveal
the Injil (it is *not* the gospels used by Pauline Christians today)
to ^Isa (AWS). The teaching contained in each of them were sufficient
for them to lead a honorable life in harmony with himself, his
neighbors and Allah. They were continuously reminded by a multitude
of Prophets that came to them (Allah sent other prophets to rest of
the humanity, examples of which are found in the Qur'an, e.g., in
Saleh, Shuyaib, and others) to keep the commandments of Allah.

The Jewish scribes introduced the myth about the "chosen people", as if
God's mercy was "locked up" *only* with the bani-Israil, at the exclu-
sion of the rest of humanity. (Interpreter's Bible (1952), p. 575)
When they were told that the last mighty messenger of Allah is going
to be an Ishmaelite, and not from the bani-Israel, their jealousy
knew no bounds. (Remember, that Ismail AWS became a father of 12
Princes and his descendants became the rulers of the vast Arabian
territories, while the Jews had to wait until Dawud AWS to have any
such glory.) In their foolish attempts to expunge the name of
Ismail (AWS), the Scribes made a mess of their Books. Read the 21st
chapter of the book of Genesis where it suggest that a 17 year old
teenager "Ishmael" was put on the "shoulder" of his mother who "lifts
up" the lad, etc. How many of our ladies are strong enough to lift their
17 year-old sons? This is a total lie that the scribes manufactured so
that the right of first-born, Ishmael, can be demeaned. (Deut. 21:15-17)
That was the only way they knew in order to deny any important role
to the promised son of Ismail (AWS), who would be a blessing for all
humanity, who would be powerful like Musa (AWS). (Deut. 18:18)
They switched the name of the intended son for sacrifice (of
Ibrahim AWS) by suggesting that it was Ishaq (AWS) and not Ismail
(AWS), the first-born. (Gen. 17:21) A careful reading of the book
of Genesis would reveal that the 20th chapter was misplaced and
should have been placed before chapter 16 (Abraham was taken as
a captive along with his first wife, Sarah, before he met Hagar.
As a matter of fact, the king presented him with Hagar with whom
he got married. The whole event of his journey took place much
earlier than what the current format shows.)

Yaqub (AWS) told his children that Allah will bestow them with a
multitude of Prophets and His blessings would be with them provided
that they keep His commandments. At the end, however, this leader-
ship role among mankind would be transferred from them and would
be given to Shiluah:"to whom it truly belongs" (Shiluah, meaning
Messenger of Yah:- Rasulullah). He was talking about Muhammad Ahmad
(SAWS), the Elect of Allah, the Spirit of Truth, the Mercy for all
Mankind. He was the *Shalah* (the Trust-worthy: al-Amin). (Gen. 49:
10). (See, Muhammad in the Bible by Prof. Abdul-Ahad Dawud, formerly
a Roman Catholic priest of the Uniate-Chaldean order who accepted
Islam in 1904. May Allah be pleased with him. His former name was
Rev. David Benjamin Keldani.)

Dawud (AWS) told his people about the coming of this mighty messenger
of Allah, the Adon of the Prophets. (Psalm 110:1) No, it was not
Jesus, who was a son of Dawud. In that case, Dawud (AWS) could have
said, "Allah said unto my son (referring to ^Isa) ..." No, he did not.
Jesus was a Davidic Prophet. The verse was for Muhammad (SAWS).
The Jewish scribes distorted the understanding about this message.
The Prophet Isaiah told bani-Israil exactly where this mighty Prophet
would come from, e.g. in Arabia, and that he would flee from the
persecution of his own folk (the children of Kedar) and take refuge
among the people of Tema (of Madinah) and within a year of his
hijra the might of the people of Kedar would be diminished in the
battle of Badr. (Isa. 21:13-17) Even Musa (AWS) told them that this
great Prophet (who would be like him) would come from the Meccan valley
of Faran with  10,000 saints (sahabas) to sanctify the House of Glory
(rebuilt by their ancestor, Abraham) and with a fierce Islamic law
would chastise the heathens, polytheists (so that the entire territories
where Abraham once walked upon would never fall under the Mushreqs).
(Deut. 33:2) Even before that the Prophet Idris (AWS) (Enoch)
mentioned about the coming of Muhammad (SAWS) with 10,000 sahabas
to bring justice among the ungodly Mushreqs. (Jude :21) Every
student of history of the middle-east knows that when Rasulullah
conquered Makkah (Mecca), he was accompanied by 10,000 sahabas and
that he destroyed all the idols and sanctified the house of Allah
for posterity. His sahabas later wiped out idolatry from the
entire territory between the Nile and the Tigris rivers where their
ancestor, Ibrahim (AWS) once walked upon. No person in the entire
history of mankind fits into these descriptions depicted in the
above cited verses from the Bible, other than al-Mustafa, Muhammad
Ahmad Rasulullah (SAWS). Since that time, Muslims around the world
have performed the Hajj uninterrupted by making takbirs in the land
of Kedar (son of Ismail AWS, who settled in Makkah) and have praised
the name of Allah through the call of prayer around the globe.
(Isa. 42:10-13) If these powerful prophesies in the book of Isaiah
were not fulfilled through Muhammad (SAWS), then they still remain
unfulfilled.

Even the Prophet Haggai mentioned the coming of Muhammad Ahmad (SAWS)
(Himada/Muhammad) and how the House of Makkah would become the center
of devotion to Allah. (Hagg. 2:7-9; Isa. 60:7)

When Jerusalem was seized by King Nebuchadnezzar, leading to the
destruction of the Temple in 586 B.C., not a single copy of the
Jewish scriptural Books were allowed to survive. (2 Esdras)
Emperor Cyrus of Persia (D'hul Qarnain) came as a *saviour* to the
bani-Israil and captured Jerusalem from the Babylonians/Chaldeans
in 538/539 B.C. He is mentioned as the *Messiah* in the book of
Isaiah 45:1. He allowed the bani-Israil to return to Jerusalem.
Much later, when Uzayer (Ezra) returned to Jerusalem, he rewrote the
books (ca. 458 B.C). (Ref: 2 Esdras) Ernst Renan remarked in his
scholarly research piece, "History of the People of Israel" that
the "definite constitution of Judaism" may be dated from the time of
Ezra. The period since then brought the Jewish scribes (organized
under - Sanhedrin) at the forefront of Jewish lifestyles.
The Pharisees and the Sadooquees started playing key roles in Jewish
affairs. And that is the period when the Jews stopped worshipping
idols or associating others with God.         =======

> Likewise, Jesus came to the Jewish people, who had at that time, beli eved
>   in the One God for nearly two millenia.

As I mentioned above, the period from which the Jewish people started
worshipping Allah, without any association, can only be traced back to
458 B.C. (Do not forget that that most of the *Diaspora* Jews did not
even return to Jerusalem even after the ban on their return was lifted.
Some even settled in Alexandria when the latter was totally Hellenized
after the conquest of Alexander the great in 333-330 B.C.) Even then
monotheism was not deep rooted in their personal and group experiences.
Whenever others had control over their territories, they thought that
Allah was not keeping His part of the bargain by giving them the upper-
hand. This longing for supremacy over others initiated the *Messianic*
expectations when the scribes promised that the kingdom was at hand and
a Davidic prophet was going to rescue them, he would be the Messiah whom
they had been seeking for. So when ^Isa (AWS) came as a Prophet (Matt.
21:11) and performed numerous miracles, the Jewish people asked him if
he was the one sought. Jesus asked his followers not to say that he was
the Messiah. (Luke 9:21) They even asked Yahya (AWS) - John the Baptist
beforehand, if he was the Messiah or that Prophet like Moses, or Isaiah/
Elias. He denied *all*. (Luke 9:21) The whole episode in John's gospel
suggesting that Yahya recognized Jesus as that Messiah, is a fabrication
and a clever attempt on the part of the Hellenized Jew(s) who
wrote the gospel *according to* John. The whole event contradicts with
the account of Synoptic gospels.(cf. John 1:22-33 with Matt. 11:2)
No, Yahya (AWS) was not the fore-runner of ^Isa (AWS) as expected
in Malachi 3:1. The verse in question deals with the Isra & Miraj of
Muhammad (SAWS), the Adon of the Prophets, from Makkah to Jerusalem
(to the temple of Sulayman AWS). (cf. The Qur'an: Surah bani-Israil:
1) Moreover, if Yahya (AWS) had recognized Isa (AWS) as the Adon
of the Prophets, the Shiluah, then he would not have continued the
process of baptism any longer, nor would his disciples have continued
the process of *mamuditha* for generations after Isa (AWS). The fact
of the matter is that they did continue the process of mamuditha in
the Middle east (e.g., in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere) until the coming of
the *real* Adon of the Prophets, Muhammad (SAWS). And almost all of
them accepted Islam as soon as Islam came to their territories.
(They were not forced to accept Islam, as the westerners are brain-
washed to believe.)

Jesus tried to correct the Jewish understanding by saying that he was
not that Messiah (the kind of mighty Prophet like Moses) whom they were
expecting. The Synoptic gospel writers expunged the final saying
of Jesus as to the true identity of this person. It is inconceivable
that Jesus did not tell them who this person was meant. Read the
gospel account (Matt. 12:35-40, Luke 20:41-43) and notice how Jesus
left his questioners unanswered. Despite that it is clear  what he
meant by saying that if the Messiah were to be (as they had hoped) from
the children of David, then David himself would not have called him: my
Adon. It had to be someone different than a son  of David. Jesus being
a son of David, cannot be that person. It was Muhammad (SAWS) that
he was referring to. But the Jewish scribes would not like to listen
that their expected Messiah was not to be a bani-Israil, but a bani-
Ismail. Since Jesus was correcting the false understanding of Jews
about the matter, so they hated him and wanted to kill him. Jesus,
in his turn, ridiculed these scribes by calling them names, even to
the point of saying that they were indeed children of Devil and if
they were truly the sons of Abraham they would have listened to him
and corrected their beliefs. Jesus told them that if they reject
him then  a serious consequence was to fall upon them and they would
be chastised. The destruction of Jerusalem in subsequent Roman
conquests is a testament to that prophecy.

So, although Jesus came to a people who were monotheistic, they were
totally under the domination of a very powerful elite in the society,
who would not let anyone to follow this great Prophet of Allah. His
had a very small following. (Even the list of the 12 disciples in
the gospels doesn't match up.) The original followers were of Jewish
background (don't forget he was sent only to the 'lost sheep of the
house of Israel') and they tried to preserve his teachings and
carried them far away to North Africa and to other territories around
the Mediterranean coast. Paul (the self-claimed disciple) contaminated
his teachings and brought christianity at par with the Hellenistic
theology. So at the end, it was no longer, Jesus - the
propagator of christianity (if there was any term like that), but
it was Paul (Saul of Tarsus). With him, christianity saw a new figure
who had not known Jesus, who never met Jesus, who even persecuted his
disciples, in place of genuine disciples who had understood the
message firsthand from their teacher. It was no longer, Jerusalem
the focal point of Jewish or Judeo-christian aspirations, but Rome
(situated on 7 hills, representing the "Harlot" in the Bible), the very
center of the  empire, which became the new theatre of christian activi-
ties. The people who never knew about original sin, redemption, atone-
ment, etc., were told to believe in that. No, it did not succeed among
Jewish people. They rejected Pauline understanding about the teachings
of Jesus. So, it was the Gentiles (goyims) of Europe and Alexandria,
where there was already a tremendous influence of Hellenic civilization,
who absorbed Pauline version of christianity.

A small segment of followers of the original disciples (the Judeo-
christians) migrated out of the territories tightly controlled by
the Roman authorities, and practiced the true christianity. They
were always on the run, since with the adaptation of the Trinity
as the state religion in Byzantine empire, it became impossible for
them to hold on to their writings, Books. Some settled in the deserts
of Arabia, some went to the Berber territories of the northern Africa.
These people preserved their teachings and expected the coming of
the Prophet from Arabia - Muhammad Ahamd al-Mustafa (SAWS). This
identity of the Prophet was passed on from one generation to other
until the promised Prophet came and started preaching Islam in 610
C.E. These early truly guided, non-Trinitarian christians were very few
in Arabia by the time of Muhammad (SAWS). But all of them recognised
Muhammad as that expected Prophet, and accepted Islam.

While the growing Islamic empire brought the Persian and the
Egyptian governments down by force, because of their refusal to
allow their people to accept Islam voluntarily (see the letters
written by Muhammad (SAWS) to all the kings of his time), there
were other territories (including Yemen, Oman, the entire Berber
territories), most of which were under *true* christianity, which
accepted Islam without any fight, and became the part of Islamic
world. The mere fact is that apart from the territories under the
control of the Byzantine empire or their client states, rest of
the Christian (non-Trinitarian) territories voluntarily accepted
the Prophethood of Muhammad and accepted him as the last Prophet,
Messenger from Allah.
(Read also, "Muhammad, his life based on the earliest sources" by
Martin Lings. He became a Muslim, too.)

>3 Muhammad, on the other hand, (if I remember my Islamic history ... if not
>  please accept my humble apologies and correct me) came to a people who
>   were largely pagan, worshiping a plethura of gods.

The Arabs during the time of Muhammad (SAWS) associated pagan gods
with Allah, a practice very similar to what happened to the bani-
Israil (see above) prior to 458 B.C. But it was a new phenomenon, not
very old, only a few generations old. Historically, the Arabs, the chil-
dren of Ismail (AWS), had kept the commandments of Allah, by following
their ancestors, Ibrahim and Ismail (AWS), both of whom were Prophets
of Allah. The House in Makkah, the Kabah, was a center of ancient
rites of Higga (Hajj) and was used by both Ishmaelites and the
Israelites. This ancient House became so important that it would
attract pilgrims from places far away and Mecca (Makkah) became a very
important place. The children of Kedar became the custodians of this
ancient house and several of them even became very famous as great
kings of Arabia (Qusay was one of them). The children of Ismail (AWS),
Kedar, Nebaioth, Tema and others (see Gen. 25:13, Haggai 2:7-9, Isa. 60:
7), did not require to come to the Temple built by Sulayman (AWS). For
them Kabah was more important.

However, the pure monotheistic practice, as required of Islam (the
religion with Allah had always been Islam, so the religions of other
Prophets were nothing but Islam) was later contaminated. This was
due in part to the interaction with pagan cultures. (There were lot
of caravans going in all possible directions through Mecca. And the
Ishmaelites were also travelling to other territories for trade and
commerce.) This, unfortunately, had a very bad effect, and slowly
shirk (association with others instead of Allah) penetrated in the
lifestyles of Ishmaelites. Those who were close to Makkah were more
into polytheism than others (e.g., those in Medina, mostly occupied
by the children of Tema). At one stage, just a few decades before the
birth of Muhammad (SAWS), the bani-Israilis stopped coming to Kabah,
because such an abominable act was totally distasteful to them.
By the time of the birth of Rasulullah, there were about one idol for
each day in the sanctuary (about 360 all together).

The Meccans, despite worshipping these idols, had a fair understanding
about the supremacy of Allah, the Creator of the universe. But to
them, it also became important to worship these other pagan gods so
that they could get some extra benefits (which they mistakenly thought).
There were still some Meccans who totally secluded themselves from
such evil acts, some still tried to hold on to the old Abrahimic way
and there were others who even held on to the *true* christianity.

Before his prophetic mission, Muhammad (SAWS), did never participate
in any of these pagan rites and secluded himself from the group and
instead would meditate to Allah. He was recognized as the promised
Prophet by several of the *true* Christian monks in the northern
Arabia. Salman al-Farisi, who had earlier converted to Christianity,
was told by his teacher to expect this great Prophet to come from
Arabia. And when he had the opportunity to meet the Prophet, he accepted
Islam. There were several others (both Christians and Jews) who
accepted Muhammad as the promised Prophet of God and accepted Islam.

After the fateh-Makkah (the conquest of Mecca) he wiped out idolatry,
and brought the law of Islam as enunciated in the Qur'an. Within a
short period, these Arabs, created a civilization which is unparallel
in the entire history of mankind, an empire that was unmatched
any time before. And the people (the Arabs) never went back to
idolatry. (Read, Thomas Carlyle's Hero and Hero-worship)

>So in this sense,the fact that Muhammad came later chronologically does not
>necessarily imply a superiority of teaching that abrogates the(chronologically)
>earlier teachings.

The teachings of Islam supersedes all man-made and corrupted teachings
perpetrated by *altered* Books because its Book- Qur'an, as revealed to
Muhammad Ahmad Mustafa (SAWS), is the only heavenly Book which maintain-
ed its textual purity and remained unadulterated or unmolested. The text
of Qur'an we have today is traceable back to Muhammad SAWS through Isnad
(the science of tracing information back to its relator through documen-
tary evidences) while the same cannot be said for *any* other religious
Book (including the so-called Old and New Testament Books). We, the
Muslims, do not have to brag about the purity of the Glorious Qur'an,
because the non-Muslim scholars themselves have testified to this fact.
(The reason why some of these non-Muslim scholars, despite that underst-
anding, did not accept Islam is merely due to their belief that Muhammad
(SAWS) was the real *author* of the Qur'an and not Allah who revealed
it through angel Jibrail AWS.) (Read, Michael Hart's History's The
Greatest 100; Thomas Carlyle's The Hero as Prophet (from his selected
speeches), May 8, 1940; A.J. Arberry's preface to the translation of the
Qur'an.)

As to the alteration within the Bible, let a Christian scholar speak for
it (we, as Muslims, already know about it through the Qur'an:
"Therefore, woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands,
and then say, "This is from Allah", that they may purchase a small gain
therewith. Woe unto them for that what their hands have written, and woe
unto them for that they earn thereby." Surah al-Baqarah : 79) E.G. White
writes, "The Bible we read today is the work of many copyists who have
in most instances done their work with marvellous accuracy. But copyists
have *not* been infallible, and God most evidently has *not* seen fit to
preserve them altogether from *error* in transcribing. .. Yet when
copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances *changed* the
words, thinking that they were making it plain, when in reality they
were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to *lean* to their
established views, which were governed by *tradition*." (Bible
Commentary, vol. 1) It is, therefore, no wonder that we find so many
anomalies within the Bible. (Read, Izharul Haq by Rahmatullah Kiranwi,
for a list of discrepancies within the so-called New Testament.)

The teachings of Isa, Musa (AWS) and other Prophets of Allah were all
Islamic and in conformity with God's laws, which were upgraded from
time to time. (Read, G. Housieni's postings on "^Isa, the Muslim Prophet
of Allah", "Basic points of Islamic belief", "Al-Islam: the religion of
all Prophets" - in the soc.religion.islam; Ataur Rahim's "Jesus:
the Prophet of Islam") The Qur'an being the last revelation to mankind,
as brought by Muhammad (SAWS) - the last nabi and rasul, is the clearest
teaching of Allah and supersedes teachings of all other Books. The
sooner the non-believers believe in it, the better it is for their own
souls. The Qur'an has always illuminated the lives of those living in
the darkest ignorance of the truth. Its teachings are noble and full of
wisdom. Its precepts are tools for guidance of humanity. Falsehood
cannot approach it from either above it or beneath it. Islam is the only
deen acceptable unto Allah subhana wa 'ta'ala, and nothing else. If you
do not accept this then let us challenge you with a verse from the
Qur'an, "Come, let us gather together our sons and your sons, our women
and your women, oureselves and yourselves; then let us earnestly pray
and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie."

May Allah guide all to follow the truth and nothing but the truth.
=================================================================
H. Siddiqui.