Since Muslims are fond of mocking the following passage from
Matthew,
“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up
the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top
to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after
his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Matthew 27:50-53
Blasphemously labeling it the zombie apocalypse (https://bloggingtheology.net/2018/01/08/zombie-apocalypse/),
I’ve decided to return the favor by showing these Muhammadans what happens when
we apply the same attitude to their respective scripture.
According to the Quran, Allah caused all the nation of Israel to
die in the wilderness at the time of Moses, and then raised them back to life:
And remember ye said: “O Moses! We shall never believe in thee
until we see God manifestly,” but ye were dazed with thunder and lighting even
as ye looked on. Then
We raised you up after your death: Ye had the chance to be
grateful. S. 2:55-56 Y. Ali
Here’s how the two Jalals interpreted this text:
And when you said having gone out with Moses to apologise before
God for your worship of the calf and having heard what he had said to you; ‘O
Moses we will not believe you till we see God openly’ with our own eyes; and
the thunderbolt the shout took you
and you died while you were beholding what was happening
to you. (Tafsir
al-Jalalayn https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=55&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
Then We raised you up brought you back to life after you were dead so
that you might be thankful for this favour of Ours. (Ibid. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=56&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
And according to a commentary attributed to Ibn Abbas, the
Israelites died because they were burned alive by the fire from the lightning!
(And when you said: O Moses! We will not believe in you) in what
you say (till we see Allah plainly) until we see Him plainly as you did; (and
even while you gazed the lightning seized you) the Fire burnt you while you were
looking at it. (Tanwîr
al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=55&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
(Then We revived you) We brought you back to life (after
your death) after
burning you, (that ye might give thanks) that you might give
thanks that I brought you back to life. (Ibid. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=56&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
Amazing! Allah burns an entire nation to a crisp and then raises
them to life again!
The natural question to ask is, were the Israelites raised in
charred bodies, or did Allah have to transform these charcoaled bodies? And did
Allah also burn infants and children, along with the women? Or did he only burn
the men to a crisp?
Allah also did something even more bizarre during Israel’s
sojourn in the desert. He actually lifted the mount above the entire nation and
threatened to smash it on top of them!
And remember We took your covenant and raised above you (the towering
height) of mount (Sinai): (Saying): “Hold firmly to what We
have given you and bring ever to remembrance what is therein: Perchance ye may
fear God.” S. 2:63 Y. Ali
And for their covenant we raised over them (the towering height) of Mount
(Sinai); and (on another occasion) we said: “Enter the gate
with humility”; and (once again) we commanded them: “Transgress not in the
matter of the sabbath.” And we took from them a solemn covenant. S. 4:154 Y.
Ali
When We shook the mount over them,
as if it had been a canopy, and
they thought it was going to fall on them (We said): “Hold
firmly to what We have given you, and bring ever to remembrance what is
therein: perchance ye may fear God.” S. 7:171 Y. Ali
This isn’t the only time that Allah killed a multitude of people
only to raise them to life again:
Didst thou not Turn by vision to those who abandoned their
homes, though
they were thousands (In number), for fear of death? God said to them: “Die”: Then He
restored them to life. For God is full of bounty to mankind,
but Most of them are ungrateful. S. 2:243 Y. Ali
Al-Jalalayn explain:
Have you not seen an interrogative to provoke amazement and a
longing to hear what will follow that is ‘Has your knowledge not
attained’ those
thousands four eight ten thirty forty or seventy thousand who went forth from
their habitations fearful of death? hadhara’l-mawt an
object denoting reason. These
were a people from among the Children of Israel who fled their homeland after
it was afflicted with plague. God said to them ‘Die!’ and they
did. Then He gave them life after eight days or more as a result of the
supplication of their prophet Ezekiel Hizqīl and they lived on for a
while with the
effects of death still upon them such that when they wore garments these turned
into shrouds for the deceased; and this phenomenon remained with their
descendants. Truly God is bounteous to people such as when He
gave life back to those just mentioned but most people that is disbelievers are
not thankful. The purpose of mentioning the story of these people is to encourage
believers to fight in the way of God which is why the following statement is
supplemented to it. (Tafsir
al-Jalalayn https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=243&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
And here’s what the tafsir ascribed
to Ibn Abbas says:
Then Allah mentioned the story of the fighters among the
Children of Israel, saying: (Bethink thee (O Muhammad)) have you not been
informed, O Muhammad, (of those of old, who went forth from their habitations)
to fight their enemies (in their thousands) eight thousand in total,
but they proved too cowardly to fight, (fearing death) out of fear of being
killed, (and Allah said unto them: Die) Allah killed them on the spot, (and
then He brought them back to life) after
eight days. (Lo! Allah is the Lord of Kindness to
mankind) to
these people for He brought them back to life, (but most of
mankind give not thanks) for life. (Tanwîr
al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=243&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
We again have to ask, seeing that these bodies would have
undergone serious decomposition by the eighth day, does this mean that Allah
raised up eight thousand zombies to run around to wreck fear and havoc upon the
people?
If this weren’t strange enough, we are further told that Allah
actually caused a man and his donkey to die for a hundred years and then
resurrected them both!
Or take the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in
ruins to its roofs. He said: “Oh! how shall God bring it ever to life, after
this its death?” But
God caused him to die for a hundred years; then raised him up again.
He said: “How long didst thou tarry thus?” He said: “(perhaps) a day or part of
a day.” He said: “Nay,
thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food
and thy drink they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey; and that We
may make of thee a Sign unto the people, look further at the bones, how We
bring them together and clothe them with flesh.” When this was shown clearly to
him, he said: “I know that God hath power over all things.” S. 2:259 Y. Ali
Here are Jalalayn and Ibn Abbas again:
Or did you see such as he Ezra ‘Uzayr who the kāf of ka’lladhī
‘such as he who’ is extra passed by a city namely the Holy House sc. Jerusalem
riding on an ass and carrying with him a basket of figs and a cup of juice a
city that was fallen down collapsed upon its turrets its roof tops after
Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it; he said ‘How annā means kayfa ‘how’ shall God
give life to this now that it is dead?’ challenging the power of the exalted
One so God made him die and remain dead for a hundred years then he raised him
up brought him back to life to show him how this could be done; He God said
‘How long have you tarried?’ been here?; he said ‘I have tarried a day or part
of a day’ because he fell asleep before noon and was made dead and then brought
back to life again at sunset and thus he thought it was a day’s sleep; He said
‘Nay; you have tarried a hundred years. Look at your food the figs and drink
the cup of juice it has not spoiled despite the length of time the final hā’ of
yatasannah ‘to spoil’ is said to belong to the original root s-n-h; but it is
also said to be silent in which case the root would be s-n-y; a variant reading
omits the final hā’; and
look at your ass how it is and he saw that it had died and all that remained
were its withered white bones. We did this so that you would
know and so that We would make you a sign of the truth of the Resurrection for
the people. And
look at the bones of the ass how We shall set them up how We shall raise them
back to life nunshiruhā or nanshiruhā derived from the two
expressions nashara and anshara; a variant reading has nunshizuhā meaning ‘How We shall move it and make it
stand’; and then clothe them with flesh’ and when he looked at it he saw that
the bones had been reconstituted and clothed with flesh and that the Spirit had
been breathed into it making it bray. So when it was made clear
to him as a result of witnessing it he said ‘I know a variant reading for a‘lam
‘I know’ has the imperative i‘lam ‘know!’ thus making it a command from God
with the knowledge of direct vision that God has power over all things’. (Tafsir Al-Jalalayn https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=259&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
(Or (bethink thee) the like of him who, passing by a township)
He says: do you not know about ‘Uzayr Ibn Shurahya who passed by the township
of Dayr Hiraql (which had fallen into utter ruin, exclaimed: How shall Allah
give this township life after its death) How can Allah bring the people of this
township back to life after their death? (So Allah made him die) right on the
spot (a hundred years, then brought him back to life) at the end of the day.
(He) Allah (said: How long hast thou tarried) O ‘Uzayr? (He said: I have
tarried for a day) and then looked at the sun still in the horizon and said (or
part of a day. He) Allah (said: Nay, but thou hast tarried) you were dead (for
a hundred years. Just look at thy food) figs and grapes (and drink) juice
(which have not rotted! Look at thine ass!) look at the bones of your ass how
white they look! (And, that We may make thee a token) a sign (to mankind)
regarding the matter of bringing the dead to life, that they will be
resurrected in the same state they died in, because ‘Uzayr died young and was
brought back to life as a young person. It is said that Allah made him a lesson
for people, for he died when he was 40 years old and was brought back to life
when his son was 120 years old, (look
at the bones) the bones of your ass, (how We adjust them and then cover them
with flesh!) after this. He then said: We will make grow on it nerves and
veins, flesh, skin and hair and put the spirit in it. (And when
(the matter) became clear unto him) how Allah gathers the bones, (he said: I
know) I had known (that Allah is Able to do all things) of life and death. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn
‘Abbâs https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=2&tAyahNo=259&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold emphasis ours)
But even this fable pales in comparison to what the late Dr.
Robert A. Morey called the Quran’s “Rip Van Winkle” story(1):
We relate to thee their story in truth: they were youths who
believed in their Lord, and We advanced them in guidance: We gave strength to
their hearts: Behold, they stood up and said: “Our Lord is the Lord of the
heavens and of the earth: never shall we call upon any god other than Him: if
we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity! These our people have taken
for worship gods other than Him: why do they not bring forward an authority
clear (and convincing) for what they do? Who doth more wrong than such as
invent a falsehood against God? When ye turn away from them and the things they
worship other than God, betake yourselves to the Cave: Your Lord will shower
His mercies on you and disposes of your affair towards comfort and ease.” Thou
wouldst have seen the sun, when it rose, declining to the right from their
Cave, and when it set, turning away from them to the left, while they lay in
the open space in the midst of the Cave. Such are among the Signs of God: He
whom God, guides is rightly guided; but he whom God leaves to stray, – for him
wilt thou find no protector to lead him to the Right Way. Thou wouldst have
deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their right
and on their left sides: their
dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold: if
thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from
them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of
them. Such
(being their state), we raised them up (from sleep), that they
might question each other. Said one of them, “How long have ye stayed (here)?”
They said, “We have stayed (perhaps) a day, or part of a day.” (At length) they
(all) said, “God (alone) knows best how long ye have stayed here…. Now send ye
then one of you with this money of yours to the town: let him find out which is
the best food (to be had) and bring some to you, that (ye may) satisfy your
hunger therewith: And let him behave with care and courtesy, and let him not
inform any one about you. For if they should come upon you, they would stone
you or force you to return to their cult, and in that case ye would never
attain prosperity.” Thus did We make their case known to the people, that they
might know that the promise of God is true, and that there can be no doubt
about the Hour of Judgment. Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their
affair. (Some) said, “Construct a building over them”: Their Lord knows best
about them: those who prevailed over their affair said, “Let us surely build a
place of worship over them.” (Some)
say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they
were five, the dog being the sixth, – doubtfully guessing at
the unknown; (yet
others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say
thou: “My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few that know their (real
case).” Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a
matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the
Sleepers. Nor say of anything, “I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow” –
Without adding, “So please God!” and call thy Lord to mind when thou
forgettest, and say, “I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than
this to the right road.” So
they stayed in their Cave three hundred years, and (some) add nine (more) Say:
“God knows best how long they stayed: with Him is (the
knowledge of) the secrets of the heavens and the earth: how clearly He sees,
how finely He hears (everything)! They have no protector other than Him; nor
does He share His Command with any person whatsoever. S. 18:13-26 Y. Ali
Muhammad reports a fiction of a group of men and their dog that
slept, i.e. died, for over three hundred years as a miracle of his lord!
However, Muhammad’s deity couldn’t tell his messenger the exact number of
people that died or how long they remained dead. The best that he could come up
with is that “Allah knows best”!
And yet Muhammadan polemicists have the audacity to mock
Matthew’s account of saints, who had recently died during the time of Jesus,
being revived the day Christ rose from the dead, as a sign that he is God’s
Messiah whose resurrection signals the inevitable destruction of death itself:
“And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all
people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this
mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
spread over all nations. He
will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he
take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be
said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save
us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in
his salvation.” Isaiah 25:6-9
“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they
arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19
“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, O my people, I
will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring
you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the
Lord, when I
have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in
your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed
it, saith the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:12-14
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that
time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in
the book. And
many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn
many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Daniel 12:1-3
With that said, I now have some questions for these Muhammadans
to answer.
Both the Quran and hadiths claim that the Torah given to Moses,
which the Jews still possessed at the time of Muhammad, was (still is) a
complete revelation that explains everything clearly:
Moreover, We gave Moses the Book, completing (Our favour) to
those who would do right, and
explaining all things in detail, – and a guide and a mercy,
that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord. S. 6:154 Y. Ali
“He said: O Moses! I have preferred thee above mankind by My
messages and by My speaking (unto thee). So hold that which I have given thee,
and be among the thankful. And We wrote for him, upon the tablets, the lesson
to be drawn from all things and
the explanation of all things, then (bade him): Hold it fast;
and command thy people (saying): Take the better (course made clear) therein. I
shall show thee the abode of evil-livers… Those who follow the messenger, the
Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which
are) WITH THEM…” S. 7:144-145, 157 Pickthall
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger as saying: There was an
argument between Adam and Moses in the presence of their Lord. Adam came the
better of Moses. Moses said: Are you that Adam whom Allah created with His Hand
and breathed into him His spirit, and commanded angels to fall in prostration
before him and He made you live in Paradise with comfort and ease. Then you
caused the people to get down to the earth because of your lapse. Adam said:
Are you that Moses whom Allah selected for His Messengership and for His
conversation with him and
conferred upon you THE TABLETS, IN WHICH EVERYTHING WAS CLEARLY EXPLAINED and granted
you the audience in order to have confidential talk with you. What is your
opinion, how long Torah would have been written before I was created? Moses
said: Forty years before. Adam said: Did you not see these words: Adam
committed an error and he was enticed to (do so). He (Moses) said: Yes.
Whereupon, he (Adam) said: Do you then blame me for an act which Allah had
ordained for me forty years before He created me? Allah’s Messenger said: This
is how Adam came the better of Moses. (Sahih
Muslim, Book 033, Number 6411 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=033&translator=2&start=0&number=6411)
36 Tribulations
(26) Chapter: The disappearance of the Quran and Knowledge
It was narrated that Ziyad bin Labid said:
“The Prophet mentioned something and said: ‘That will be at the
time when knowledge (of Qur’an) disappears.’ I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, how
will knowledge disappear when we read the Qur’an and teach it to our children,
until the Day of Resurrection?’ He said: ‘May your mother be bereft of you,
Ziyad! I thought that you were the wisest man in Al- Madinah. Is it not the
case that these Jews and Christians READ THE TAWRAH AND THE INJIL,
but they do not act upon anything of what is in them?’”
Grade: Da’if (Darussalam)
Reference: Sunan Ibn Majah 4048
In-book reference: Book 36, Hadith 123
English translation: Vol. 5, Book 36, Hadith 4048
(sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/36/123;
capital and underline emphasis ours)
41 Chapters on Knowledge
(5) Chapter: What Has Been Related About Knowledge Leaving
Narrated Jubair bin Nufair:
from Abu Ad-Darda who said: “We were with the Prophet when he
raised his sight to the sky, then he said: ‘This is the time when knowledge is
to be taken from the people, until what remains of it shall not amount to
anything.” So Ziyad bin Labid Al-Ansari said: ‘How will it be taken from us
while we recite the Qur’an. By Allah we recite it, and our women and children
recite it?’ He said: ‘May you be bereaved of your mother O Ziyad! I used to
consider you among the Fuqaha of the people of Al-Madinah. The Tawrah
and Injil ARE WITH THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS, but what do they avail of
them?‘” Jubair said: “So I met ‘Ubadah bin As-Samit and said to him: ‘Have you
not heard what your brother Abu Ad-Darda said?’ Then I informed him of what Abu
Ad-Darda said. He said: ‘Abu Ad-Darda spoke the truth. If you wish, we shall
narrated to you about the first knowledge to be removed from the people: It is
Khushu’, soon you will enter the congregational Masjid, but not see any man in
it with Khushu’.’”
Grade: SAHIH (Darussalam)
Reference: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2653
In Book Reference: Book 41, Hadith 9
English translation: Vol. 5, Book 39, Hadith 2653
(sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/41/9;
capital and underline emphasis ours)
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar: A group of Jews came and invited the
Apostle of Allah to Quff. So he visited them in their school.
They said: AbulQasim, one of our men has committed fornication
with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them. They placed a cushion for the
Apostle of Allah who sat on it and said: Bring the Torah. It was then brought.
He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him AND PLACED THE TORAH ON IT
saying: I BELIEVED IN THEE and in Him WHO REVEALED THEE.
He then said: Bring me one who is learned among you. Then a
young man was brought. The transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition
of stoning similar to the one transmitted by Malik from Nafi’ (No. 4431).”
Grade: Hasan (Al-Albani) (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book
38. Kitab al Hudud (“The Book of Prescribed Punishments”), Number 4434 https://sunnah.com/abudawud/40/99;
capital emphasis ours)
Now this means that these stories of Allah scorching the entire
nation of Israel in the wilderness, only to raise them back to life, and
threatening to smash the Israelites to death by the mount that he lodged from
its place and raised above them, would surely be found in the Torah if they
actually occurred. And yet the Torah is completely silent about these
mind-blowing events.
In fact, these episodes would have made headlines all over the
then known world. At the very least, we would expect the Egyptians and
Canaanites to have seen the mountain floating in the sky above, and heard
reports about how God torched the Israelites to death and then raised them to
life again.
After all, doesn’t the Holy Bible mention that the surrounding
nations heard of the miracles God had performed for Israel and became terrified
as a result?
“And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the
roof; and
she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the
land, and that
your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did
unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side
Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as
we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain
any more courage in any man, because of you: for
the Lord your God, he is God
in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray
you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye
will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: and that ye will save
alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that
they have, and deliver our lives from death. And
the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business.
And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will
deal kindly and truly with thee.” Joshua 2:8-14
However, there are no records from either the Egyptians or the
Canaanites that such stupendous miracles ever took place.(2)
What about Allah killing at least eight thousand Israelites whom
he then resurrected eight days later, or of the man and his donkey being raised
to life a hundred years after their deaths? Surely, one of the biblical
prophets would have reported these astonishing miracles, and yet not a single
word is said about them. This is especially the case with the man and his ass
seeing that some of the Muslim expositors identified him as the prophet
Ezekiel. If so then we would most certainly expect to find such a miracle
recorded by the prophet himself since we his inspired book preserved for us in
the Holy Bible.
And what do we say of Islam’s “Rip Van Winkle’ fable? Do these
Muhammadans really want us to believe that a group of men and their dog were
dead and subsequently resurrected over three centuries later, even though
neither Allah nor his messenger could tell us how many they were and the exact
number of years they remained asleep?
More importantly, if these Islamic polemicists have no problem
with an entire nation being burned to death and raised to life, or a man and
his ass being resurrected a hundred years after dying, or a number of
individuals and their dog coming to life over three centuries later, then on
what basis do they mock and object to what is reported in Matthew’s Gospel? In
light of such Quranic fairy tales, how dare they ridicule the story of God’s
having raised a group of believers, who had recently died, back to their
temporal, mortal existence on the same day that Jesus was raised to physical,
bodily immortality?
Hence, if these Muhammadans believe the fables of the Quran,
which speaks of hundreds of thousands dying and being resurrected, or of
individuals being raised to life centuries after their deaths, or of a mountain
floating in the air, then they have no grounds to object to the story of God
raising believers to life as a sign that the Messiah had not only arrived, but
that his resurrection to immortal life signifies that the life of the age to
come has begun:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them
that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s
at his coming… And so it is written, The first man Adam was
made a living soul; the
last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not
first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which
is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the
image of the earthy, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The
sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1
Corinthians 15:20-23, 45-58
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the
Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:8-12
With that said, here’s some advice for these inconsistent and
dishonest Muslim polemicists: people living in glass houses shouldn’t throw
stones. And Islam’s glass house has come crashing down on the heads of these
Muhammadans, by the power and grace of the risen Lord of glory, the Father’s
beloved Son, Jesus Christ our glorious Savior and King.
I would now like to end this by quoting the late Dr. William F.
Campbell’s monumental response to Dr. Maurice Bucaille’s sham of a book:
MATTHEW’S
“INCREDIBLE” DESCRIPTIONS
In his Chapter The
Four Gospels, Sources and History Dr. Bucaille writes as
follows on page 61,[9]
“He (Matthew) inserts into his book descriptions which are quite
literally incredible“.
Let us look then, at one of these passages which have been
called “incredible”. From the Gospel of Matthew 27:50-53 we read,
“And when Jesus (from his place on the cross) had cried out
again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. “At that moment the curtain of
the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks
split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died
were raised to life. They came out of the tombs and after Jesus’ resurrection
they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”
What are Dr. Bucaille’s complaints about this? First of all it
“has no corresponding passage in the other Gospels”, i.e. it is only found one
time. This is also true, of course, for the Quranic account saying that Jesus
didn’t die. It is found in only one Sura.
Secondly, he says, “It is difficult to see how the bodies of the
saints in question could have been raised from the dead at the time of Jesus’s death (on
Friday) and only emerge from their tombs after his resurrection (on Sunday).”
What shall we say? I say that though the passage gives that
impression, we must give the author the benefit of the doubt. I am sure that he
did not intend us to understand that those raised from the dead sat in their
cold tombs, shivering from Friday until Sunday morning.
I am sure that he intended the reader to understand that the
tombs were split open on Friday, and that the bodies were raised from the
dead on Sunday morning at the same time that Christ was raised from the dead;
as part of his great victory over death.
In any case, compared to the account of Solomon with his talking
birds and `ifrits of the jinns; or the story about his dead body propped up on
a stick; this Biblical account
is a pearl of 20th century precision, and it was unworthy of Dr. Bucaille to
even mention it.
The truth is that although the revelation in the Torah-Old
Testament and Gospel-New Testament is in terms of the cultures of the people
who wrote and received it; Divine Inspiration by the Holy Spirit prevented the
Old Testament prophets and the disciples of Jesus from including the grotesque
mythological ideas and the polytheism of the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the
Romans. (The Qur’an and
the Bible in the light of History and Science [Middle East
Resources, Second Edition, 2002, ISBN 1-881085-03-01], SECTION FOUR: Science
and Revelation, II. No Scientific Problems (Errors?!?) in the Qu’ran, C.
Fables, Allegories and History; https://answeringislam.net/Campbell/s4c2c.html)
Further Reading
The Quran’s Fables, Myths and Conflicting Tales https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/rebuttals/williams/quran_fables.html
Jamal Badawi’s Misinformation and Misquotations Pt. 4 https://answeringislam.net/Shamoun/badawi_lies4.htm
Legends, Myths and Fables in the Quran and Islamic
Tradition https://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Sources/Legends/index.htm
Endnotes
(1) Here are Morey’s own words:
The Quran repeats fanciful Arabian fables as if they were true.
·
Arabic legends about the fabulous jinns
fill its pages.18
·
The story of the she-camel who leapt
out of a rock and became a prophet was known long before Muhammad (Suras
7:73–77, 85; 91:14; 54:29).
·
The story of an entire village of
people who were turned into apes because they broke the sabbath by fishing was
a popular legend in Muhammad’s day (Suras 2:65; 7:163–166).
·
The gushing 12 springs story found in
Sura 2:60 comes from pre-Islamic legends.
·
In what is called the “Rip Van Winkle”
story, seven men and their animals slept for 309 years in a cave and then woke
up perfectly fine (Sura 18:9–26)! This legend is found in Greek and
Christian fables as well as Arabian lore.
·
The fable of the pieces of four dead,
cut-up birds getting up and flying was well known in Muhammad’s time (Sura 2:260).
It is also clear that Muhammad used such pre-Islamic literature
as the Saba
Moallaqat of Imra’ul Cays in his composition of Suras 21:96;
29:31, 46; 37:59; 54:1, and 93:1. (Islamic
Invasion: Confronting the World’s Fastest Growing Religion [Christian
Scholar Press, revised edition 1992], pp. 169-170)
18 Dashti has an interesting discussion of the jinn on pp.
158ff. See also Rudolph Frieling, Christianity
and Islam: A Battle for the True Image of Man (Edinburgh:
Flores Books, 1980), p. 40ff. (Ibid., p. 169)
(2) Just to be clear, I’m aware that
a similar objection can be leveled against the Exodus in general, that there
are no records outside of the Bible that mention it. This is not entirely
correct since there is ample evidence from Egyptian sources for many of the
details found in the stories of Joseph and the Exodus if we were to date these
episodes to an earlier period. The problem is that most scholars place the
story of the Exodus around the 14th century, as opposed to the
16th century BC, due Rameses’ name being mentioned in both
Genesis and Exodus. For a detailed examination of the extra-biblical
archaeological and textual proofs supporting the historicity of the major
events recorded in the Pentateuch, we recommend the following resources:
Recent Research on the Date and Setting of the Exodus http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/10/19/Recent-Research-on-the-Date-and-Setting-of-the-Exodus.aspx#Article
Patterns of Evidence https://patternsofevidence.com/
With that said, my main reason for raising this as an argument
is because Muslim polemicists use a similar objection against Matthew. One will
find apologists such as the late Ahmed Deedat mocking Matthew’s account by
insinuating that this miracle would have made headlines all over the then known
world, and yet Matthew is the only writer who mentions it. Hence, the reason
why I even raised this as an argument.
Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/07/turning-the-tables-pt-8-islams-zombie-and-rip-van-winkle-stories-and-other-fantastic-fables/
IHS
