Islam Bears Witness: Christ is Superior to and Greater than the Baptist Pt. 1

In order to undermine the unambiguous Islamic witness to the incomparability of Christ, especially in respect to his absolute and essential purity and holiness, some Muslims like to bring up the fact that the Quran also describes John the Baptist as being pure or sinless:

“and grace from us, and purity (wazakatan); and he was pious.” S. 19:13 Palmer

Here is another rendering of this verse:

I gave him tenderness of heart and saved him from any sin and he responded to these blessings with righteousness. Bijan Moeinian http://islamawakened.com/quran/19/st11.htm

They assume that this somehow refutes the Christian attempt of using the Islamic sources to affirm the absolute transcendence and superiority of the Lord Jesus over all the prophets, especially Muhammad.

However, the appeal to John’s sinlessness doesn’t help the Muslims, but actually makes matters worse for them.

In the first place, just as we saw in the case of Christ and his blessed mother,

John’s sinless purity ends up contradicting the plain witness of the Quran and Sunna that there is no creature that is absolutely flawless:

And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He postpones them for an appointed term and when their term comes, neither can they delay nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment). S. 16:61 Hilali-Khan – cf. Q. 18:58; 35:45

Sunan Ibn Majah

The Chapters on Asceticism

It was narrated from Anas that the Messenger of Allah said:

“EVERY son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.’”

Grade: Hasan (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4251

Arabic reference: Book 37, Hadith 4392 (Sunna.com http://sunnah.com/urn/1293540; capital, italic and underline emphasis ours)

This now creates a major problem for Muslims since the only that the Baptist could be sinless is if he is a divine being. Logically, there is really no way around this:

1. There is no creature that is absolutely sinless.

2. John the Baptist is absolutely sinless.

3. Therefore, John is not a mere creature but one who is fully divine as well.

When we add the fact that the Islamic sources also confirm the absolute moral perfection of both Christ and his beloved mother, which therefore makes them uncreated as well,

The Prophet of Shirk Strikes Again Pt. 1 https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/the-prophet-of-shirk-strikes-again-pt-1/ 

Then the assertion that Allah is the only god that exists falls flat on its face, since the reality is that Islam posits at least six separate divine and uncreated beings/entities:

1. Jesus.

2. The Holy Spirit.

3. Mary.

4. John

5. The Quran

6. Allah.

The second problem which these polemicists encounter is that both the Quran and Sunna depict Christ as far surpassing the Baptism in terms of status and honor. Here is a list of those traits.

1. John sent as Christ’s forerunner to confirm that Jesus is the Word and Spirit of/from Allah.

When he was standing during prayer in his place of worship, the angels called him saying, “God gives you the glad news of the birth of your son, John who will be a confirmation of (Jesus) the Word of God (bikalimatin mina Allahi). He will become a chaste, noble leader and one of the righteous Prophets. S. 3:39 Muhammad Sarwar http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/3/st23.htm

Note how the following versions translate this text:

“… who shall confirm Allah’s Word (i.e., ‘Isa [Jesus])…” Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/3/st43.htm

“…confirming a word (B-kalimah) from Allah (Jesus, the word of Allah, the manifestation of specific forces)…” Ahmed Hulusi http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/3/st63.htm

That these translations are correct in seeing Jesus as the Word that John was sent to bear witness to, can be seen from what this same chapter goes on to say a few verses later:

When the angels said, ‘Mary, God gives thee good tidings of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary (bikalimatin minhu ismuhu al-Maseehu ‘Isa ibnu Maryama); high honoured shall he be in this world and the next, near stationed to God. S. 3:45 Arberry

“… God has given you the glad news of the coming birth of a son whom He calls His Word, whose name will be Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary…” Sarwar

Here we are expressly told that the name of the Word that the Baptist bore witness to is the Messiah Jesus, Son of Mary.

This explains why the Muslim commentators were virtually unanimous in identifying the Word whom John was sent to confirm as Jesus Christ:

(believing in the Word from Allah) Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said, and also Al-Hasan, Qatadah, `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Abu Ash-Sha`tha, As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, Ad-Dahhak, and several others said that the Ayah…

(believing in the Word from Allah) means, “Believing in `Isa, son of Maryam.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=543&Itemid=46; bold and underline emphasis ours)

And the angels, namely, Gabriel, called to him, standing in the sanctuary, in the temple, at worship that (anna, means bi-anna; a variant reading has inna, implying a direct speech statement) ‘God gives you good tidings (read yubashshiruka, or yubshiruka) of John, who shall confirm a Word, being, from God, namely, Jesus, that he is God’s Spirit; he is referred to as [God’s] ‘Word’, because he was created through the word kun, ‘Be’; a lord, with a following, and one chaste, forbidden from women, and a prophet of the righteous’: it is said that he never sinned and never so intended. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=39&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and italic emphasis ours)

(And the angels) i.e. the Angel Gabriel (called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary) in the mosque: (Allah giveth thee glad tidings of John) a son whose name is John, ((who cometh) to confirm a Word from Allah) Jesus son of Mary that he will be a word from Allah, created without a father, (lordly) who is clement when wronged, (chaste) has no desire for women, (a Prophet of the righteous) among the messengers. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=39&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and italic emphasis ours)

Astonishingly, some of these interpreters went as far as to say that John even bowed down in homage to Jesus while both of them were still in the wombs of their blessed mothers!

Note, for example, what the following renowned Muslim authority wrote concerning this point:

Allah says: “Confirming a word from Allah.” (3:39)

Yahya confirmed ‘Isa when he was three years old. He testified that he was THE WORD OF ALLAH and HIS SPIRIT. It is said that he confirmed him when he was in his mother’s womb. Yahya’s mother said to Maryam, “I feel what is in my womb BOWING TO what is in your womb to greet him.” (Qadi ‘Iyad Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Kitab Ash-shifa bi ta’rif huquq al-Mustafa (Healing by the recognition of the Rights of the Chosen One), translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley [Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K.; third reprint 1991, paperback], p. 51; capital and underline emphasis ours)

The qadi wasn’t alone here, since this is what the Muslim exegete Al-Qurtubi wrote in regards to Elizabeth’s visiting Mary (said to be her sister) shortly after both women had conceived their sons:

“The sister visited Mary and said, ‘O Mary, do you perceive that I am with child?’ Mary answered, ‘Do you see that I am also with child?’ Her sister went on, ‘I feel the child in my womb bowing down to the child in your womb.’”

Al-Qurtubi further stated that:

“It is reported that she felt the fetus in her womb bow down with its head turned toward Mary’s womb.” (Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Qur’an and Its Interpreters, Volume II, The House of ‘Imran [State University of New York Press, Albany 1992], p. 108; bold and italic emphasis ours)

One main problem with this story is that it was Mary who visited Elizabeth, not the other way around.

Al-Tabari, another renowned Muslim scholar and expositor, wrote:

“She [Mary] came to her sister who was then pregnant and to whom the birth of the Baptist had been announced. When the two met, the Baptist’s mother felt that her child was bowing within her in recognition of Jesus…” (History of Al-Tabari: The Ancient Kingdoms, translated by Moshe Perlmann [State University of New York Press, Albany, 1987], Volume IV, p. 114; bold emphasis ours)

And:

“… Her sister, the wife of Zechariah, came to visit her at night. When Mary opened the door for her, the sister clung to her. The wife of Zechariah said, ‘Oh Mary, do you know I am with child?’ Mary replied, ‘Do you know, that I too am with child?’ Zechariah’s wife then said, ‘I felt that the child in me was bowing to the child in you,’ as it is written, ‘confirming the Word of God.’” (Ibid., p. 119; bold emphasis ours)

These scholars were simply regurgitating (albeit not in the most accurate manner) what is found in the Gospel of Luke:

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother OF MY LORD should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.’” Luke 1:41-44

God’s Holy Spirit, who was already filling him in the womb,

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” Luke 1:15

Caused the Baptist to leap in his mother’s belly in honor of Christ being his Sovereign Lord.

Now notice how Elizabeth’s proclamation to Mary, who had just conceived her glorious child, that her unborn Son was already her Lord from the womb, echoes what the angels would later announce at Christ’s birth:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

There are a lot of other ways where Islam presents Christ as outshining the Baptist, which we will highlight in the second part of our discussion https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/islam-bears-witness-christ-is-superior-to-and-greater-than-the-baptist-pt-2/.

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/islam-bears-witness-christ-is-superior-to-and-greater-than-the-baptist-pt-1/ 

IHS 

The Quran Confirms that Jude Identifies Jesus Christ as God in the Flesh!

The Quran proclaims that Allah does not allow his followers to serve any prophet as their Lord:

It belongs not to any mortal that God should give him the Book, the Judgment, the Prophethood, then he should say to men, ‘Be you servants to me apart from God.’ Rather, ‘Be you masters in that you know the Book, and in that you study.’ He would never order you to take the angels and the Prophets as Lords; what, would He order you to disbelieve, after you have surrendered? S. 3:79-80 Arberry

The Islamic scripture also claims that Allah is the Lord who comes with his angels to judge the earth:

No indeed! When the earth is ground to powder, and thy Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank, and Gehenna is brought out, upon that day man will remember; and how shall the Reminder be for him? S. 89:21-23 Arberry

This is where it gets quite interesting.

In the short of epistle of Jude, which only consists of twenty-five verses, the writer identifies himself as the servant of Jesus Christ, and describes Christ as the Lord who will come with his myriads of holy ones to judge the wicked and bestow his mercy upon his followers:

“Jude, the SERVANT OF Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called… And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him… But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 1:1, 14-15, 17-21

To say that this is shocking would be putting it mildly since, as a monotheistic Jew, Jude would know that he has no other Lord in heaven besides Jehovah:

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalm 73:25

“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.” Psalm 123:1-2

Moreover, heavenly angels are servants created to serve God and those who inherit salvation:

“And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire… Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Hebrews 1:7, 14

“And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” Revelation 22:8-9 – cf. 19:10

As such, no God-fearing Jew would ever look to an angelic creature as his lord whom he serves.

Therefore, Jude would know better than to claim to be the servant of some heavenly creature, addressing that created being as his Lord and the Lord of all true believers.

Hence, the only way this inspired author could glorify Christ as his Lord from heaven, as well as the Lord of all true believers, and identify himself as Christ’s servant is if Jude believed that Jesus is God in the flesh, even though he is distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit.

That’s not all. Jude even went as far as to expressly call Christ our only Sovereign God and Lord! 

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the ONLY Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (ton monon despoten Theon kai Kyrion hemon ‘Iesoun Christon).” Jude 1:4 

The sentence in Greek is what is typically called a Granville Sharp construction, more specifically it fits within Sharp’s first rule of the use of the definite article (“the”) in New Testament Greek. According to this rule, when you have two or more personal nouns in the singular case, which are not proper names, and which happen to be connected by the Greek conjunction kai (“and”), with the definite article appearing only before the first noun, then they all refer to the same Person. This is precisely what we have here in Jude.

Here is a helpful note that brings this point out more clearly:

²¹tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they ALWAYS had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1. (New English Translation [NET] https://netbible.org/bible/Jude+1; capital and underline emphasis ours)

Even though it is referring to the shorter reading found in some of the early Greek witnesses, the rule still applies here nonetheless.

Therefore, the Greek construction employed here essentially means that Jude described the risen Christ as our only Sovereign (despotes) God and Lord, which is why the following translations render the text the way do:

“… and our only Master, God, and Lord — Jesus Christ — denying,” Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

“… our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.” World English Bible (WEB)

The verse that immediately follows provides further corroboration that Jude intended to identify Christ as the Lord God Almighty:

“… and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.” Jude 1:4-5

The context makes it clear that the Lord who saved the Israelites out of Egypt, and who subsequently destroyed them for their unbelief, was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence!

In fact, many of the earliest witnesses actually read “Jesus”, making the identity of the Lord here more explicit. As the NET explains:

sn The construction our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ in v. 4 follows Granville Sharp’s rule (see note on Lord). The construction STRONGLY implies the deity of Christ. This is followed by a statement that Jesus was involved in the salvation (and later judgment) of the Hebrews. He is thus to be identified with the Lord God, Yahweh. Verse 5, then, simply fleshes out what is implicit in v. 4.

tc ‡ The reading ᾿Ιησοῦς (Iēsous, “Jesus”) is deemed too hard by several scholars, since it involves the notion of Jesus acting in the early history of the nation Israel. However, not only does this reading enjoy the strongest support from a variety of early witnesses (e.g., A B 33 81 1241 1739 1881 2344 pc vg co Or), but the plethora of variants demonstrate that scribes were uncomfortable with it, for they seemed to exchange κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) or θεός (theos, “God”) for ᾿Ιησοῦς (though P has the intriguing reading θεὸς Χριστός [theos Christos, “God Christ”] for ᾿Ιησοῦς). In addition to the evidence supplied in NA for this reading, note also {88 322 323 424 665 915 2298 eth Cyr Hier Bede}. As difficult as the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is, in light of v. 4 and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one of the last books in the NT to be composed), it is wholly appropriate. (Ibid.; capital and underline emphasis ours)

Who would have imagined that such a short epistle would contain so much evidence for the eternal Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ?

To summarize our discussion, the inspired writer identified himself as the servant of the risen Jesus, and described the glorified Christ as the Lord of heaven who shall come with his heavenly hosts to judge the world.

According to the Quran, this basically proves that Jude worshiped Christ as God Almighty in the flesh since the Islamic scripture plainly testifies that the only heavenly Being one is to serve, and the only Lord who comes with his angels to judge, is Allah, who is supposed to be the true God of Abraham.

Therefore, what further proof do Muslims need that the inspired authors of the Holy Scriptures such as Jude truly believed and worshiped Jesus Christ as their God and Savior? And what else will it take to convince them that Muhammad was a false prophet who contradicted the teachings of the Lord Jesus and his blessed followers? 

Unless indicated otherwise, all scriptural citations taken from the Authorized King James Version (AV) of the Holy Bible.

Further Reading

Jesus Christ The Lord God Who Saved and Punished Israel During the Exodus https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/jesus-christ-the-lord-god-who-saved-and-punished-israel-during-the-exodus/

Revisiting the Issue of the Logical Coherence of the Trinity Pt. 2 https://answeringislam.net/Responses/Osama/zawadi_trinity_r2_2.htm

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/the-quran-confirms-that-jude-identifies-jesus-christ-as-god-in-the-flesh/ 

IHS