Muhammad in Bible

Qur'aanic Verse 61_6:

Transliteration:

6. Wa-ith qala AAeesa ibnu maryama ya banee isra-eela innee rasoolu Allahi ilaykum musaddiqan limabayna yadayya mina alttawrati wamubashshiran birasoolin ya/tee min baAAdee ismuhu ahmadu falamma jaahum bialbayyinati qaloo hatha sihrun mubeenun

Translation:

6. And when Jesus son of Mary said, “O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah to you confirming what was there in the Torah before me and giving good tidings of a Messenger to come after me. His name is to be Ahmed [Praised One].”² Yet when he has come to them with clear evidences, they say, “This is magic manifest!”

Study Note:

2. Watch this YouTube video.

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An extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

King Solomon

Qur'aanic Verse 38:34:

Transliteration:

34. Walaqad fatanna sulaymana waalqayna AAala kursiyyihi jasadan thumma anaba

Translation:

34. And We did certainly put Solomon on trial by placing upon his throne a [lifeless] body; and thereupon he turned in repentance to Us.⁶

Study Note:

6. Like King David, King Solomon too, it seems, had committed some unnamed impropriety. Books of Ahaadeeth do allude to some highly impossible and improbable acts attributed to the great King. But the Ahaadeeth are man-influenced and error-prone. And why should we go to those books when the Qur’aan gives us everything needed for our guidance? Allah Almighty has thought it fit not to specifically mention the impropriety done, so why should mankind be eager to find it out? This Qur’aanic Verse itself indicates that the impropriety was related to the succession to Solomon’s throne. We learn from Israelite history that the successor to Solomon was incompetent and that lead to the disintegration of the great Solomon Empire. What we should learn from these episodes concerning the two Prophet-kings is that (i) Prophets are after all human and (ii) hereditary succession to ruler-ship is not divinely sanctioned.

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The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VI.

Mohammad Shafi

King David

Translations of Qur'aanic Verses 38:21 to 39:24:

21. And has the information of the litigants come to your knowledge when they climbed over the walls of (King David’s) private chamber?

22. When they confronted David, he shrank back in fear of them. They said, “Fear not! We are two litigants. One of us has wronged the other. So judge between us with justice, and deviate not from what is right, and show both of us the right path.”

23. “This man here is my brother. He has ninety-nine ewes, whereas I have one ewe. And he asks me to hand over to him even the one I have. And he prevailed over me in the discourse we had.”

24. David said (to the complainant), “He has certainly wronged you by demanding that your ewe be added to his ewes! And indeed do many associates – except those who believe in Allah and do righteous deeds – wrong one another; but how few are those exceptions!” And David at once realized that We had tested him (by presenting to him the case of the ewes)! And so he asked his Lord to forgive him, and bowed down, and turned to Him in repentance.⁵

^{Study Note:}

5. In all probability the two litigants were angels sent by Allah Ta’ala to teach King David a lesson. Undoubtedly, the King had committed some unnamed impropriety, unbecoming of a Prophet King of his high stature. A safe bet is to assume that the King’s impropriety was of the nature of the impropriety involved in the litigants’ case. But since Allah almighty has thought it fit not to specifically name the King’s impropriety, we should better avoid echoing what Chritian scriptures (Old Testament) unabashedly accuse the King of committing an undoubtedly sinful act. The accusation has to be patently false since Allah Almighty could not have chosen a man committing such a heinous crime as His Prophet. The Christian scripture containing this accusation is not purely divine as the Qur’aan is. It is of the nature of the man-influenced and error-prone Ahaadeeth which too contain some unpalatable and unsavoury things about our own Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). What King David might have done could only be described as an impropriety not amounting to sin. And as the next Verse below informs us Allah forgave King David.

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The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VI.

Mohammad Shafi

Tooth for a Tooth

Islamic jurisprudence, as delineated in the Qur'aan, allows or permits retaliation by the a victim of any injustice done. But no excess of any kind is allowed. And the retaliation has strictly to be of the like kind and extent, as famously exemplified by the saying: 'a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye'.

Now take the case of an American Jew making a derogatory film against Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). Muslims are naturally offended. But the retaliation permitted to them has to be of the like kind and extent. So, the Muslims can at most make a film derogatory to Prophet Moses (peace on him). But can they do this? They can't! Their religion directs them to respect Prophet Moses as much as they respect their own Prophet Muhammad. Now, what can they do in these circumstances? They can of course denounce the Jew making the film and explain to the world at large why the film is based on falsehoods and canards. They can then patiently wait for Allah's decision in the matter. Although their religion allows retaliation, it prefers for them forgiveness and patience.

And what do the Muslims factually do? They indulge in mindless violence against parties not directly connected with the Jew in question and issue death threats to him! They thus go brazenly against the dictates of their own religion to incur divine wrath on themselves.