Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

I see. I still dont see why you made your original comment. I mean from what we know of Jesus from Quran and Hadith , he is going to do good for mankind. I think perhaps you need more info to decide for yourself.

When the angels said: “Mary, your Lord gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, of high esteem in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near [to God]. He will speak to people in the cradle, and also when fully grown, and will be one of the righteous.” She asked: “My Lord! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?” He said: “It will be so. God creates whatever He wills. When He decides on something, He just says to it: ‘Be!’ and it is. He will teach him the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel.” (Surah Al 'Imran, 3:45-48)

As we will see in greater detail later on, the Qur’an uses qataloohu (to kill), maata (to die), halaka (to perish), salaboohu (they crucified him), or some other special expressions to describe the death or murder of the Prophets. In the case of Jesus, the Qur’an clearly states that he was not killed in any of those ways, for: “They did not kill him [wa ma qataloohu] and did not crucify him [wa ma salaboohu].” God reveals that people were shown a look-alike and that Jesus was raised up to His presence, as follows:

When God said: “Jesus, I will take you back [mutawaffeeka] and raise you up [wa raafi`uka] to Me and purify you of those who are unbelievers. And I will place the people who follow you above those who are unbelievers until the Day of Rising…” (Surah Al 'Imran, 3: 55)

The subject of Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh) second coming is clearly proclaimed in the Qur’an and our Prophet’s (may God bless him and grant him peace) sayings. There are certain statements pertaining to this issue in many verses and hadiths.

Evidence from the Qur’an “… I will place the people who follow you above those who are unbelievers until the Day of Resurrection…”

When God said: "Jesus, I will take you back and raise you up to Me, and purify you of those who are unbelievers. And I will place the people who follow you above those who are unbelievers until the Day of Resurrection. Then you will all return to Me, and I will judge between you regarding the things about which you differed. (Surah Al 'Imran, 3:55)

When an example is made of the son of Mary [Jesus], your people laugh uproariously. They retort: “Who is better then, our gods or him?” They only say this to you for argument’s sake. They are indeed a disputatious people. He is only a servant on whom We bestowed Our blessing and whom We made an example for the tribe of Israel. If We willed, We could appoint angels in exchange for you to succeed you on Earth. (Surat Az-Zukhruf, 43:57-60)

He [Jesus] is a Sign of the Hour. Have no doubt about it. But follow me. This is a straight path. (Surat Az-Zukhruf, 43:61)

“What will you do when the son of Mary (pbuh) descends among you and leads as one amongst you?” (Sahih Muslim)

A section of my people will not cease fighting for the truth and will prevail until the Day of Resurrection. He said: “Jesus son of Mary will then descend and their [the Muslims’] commander will invite him to come and lead them in prayer. But he will say: ‘No, some among you are commanders over some [among you.]’” (Sahih Muslim)

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

I am talking about slaying things - the Biblical Jesus wasn’t violent.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh) coming to Earth before the Last Day, his struggle against Dajjal and his killing him, and the pervasion of the morality of true religion over the Earth.

As our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) relates in his hadith, “I swear by God that Jesus will most definitely return. And he will return as a just judge and as a fair ruler…” (Sahih Muslim)

Slaying Dajjal in this case? Do check the book I provided the link for. Its quite informative.

It has the Biblical perspective in there too.

nain....
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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Hello to all,

Saying that the "biblical Jesus" is non-violent is a bit evasive of the real issue, because it is well-known that almost all Prophets in the beginning of their mission, when they were in deep persecution, etc., could not have possibly been conquering any place at all...

The real issue is how did the Christian faith come to prominence, and how did it deal with those who did not hold its own values... After all, the Church as a whole is inspired by the Holy Ghost, not only Jesus

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Hello again.

Just to recap:

Saying that the "biblical Jesus" is non-violent is a bit evasive of the real issue, because it is well-known that almost all Prophets in the beginning of their mission, when they were in deep persecution, etc., could not have possibly been conquering any place at all...

The real issue is how did the Christian faith come to prominence, and how did it deal with those who did not hold its own values... After all, the Church as a whole is inspired by the Holy Ghost, not only Jesus.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

That’s not a recap, it’s a repost.

The fact that Jesus of the Bible is nonviolent and reduced to a small and relatively unimportant role in Islam is kinda the crux of the issue. If someone grew to love Jesus from reading the Bible, then there must be other reasons to convert to Islam. The Jesus of the Bible and the Quranic Jesus are not the same figure.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

On the contrary, it is Christianity that has elevated a pious (human) Prophet of God to the status of "god " himself. Why would a god prey to God when in need? This phenomenon is quite old and can be observed in many other religions. If it is your claim that Jesus(as) is the son of God, then how can you deny Hindus’ claim that Krishna(as) is god, or other religions of the world that have over time elevated their prophets to “super human” status? I can provide you with many other examples in this regard.

Let me pose to you a counter question, how come Bible does not speak about David(as) with the same fervor as Psalms? Or about Moses(as) with the same fervor as Jews? How come it does not even speak about pious men that were sent to other races/regions before Jesus(as)? Or would you want us to believe that no pious men were sent to other nations (eg. Chinese, Indians) before Jesus(as)?

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

trooper, are you saying muslims consider Krishna a prophet of Allah and show him love and respect? also, could you name a chinese prophet? thanks much.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Queer, AK47 thinks Kim Jong Il as prophet.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

If you don’t believe in the Quran, your questions may have some validity. But for a Muslim to question how one prophet can be put above all others or why there aren’t any prophets mentioned to other nations does not make sense as it the same way in Islam. Islam has its own super human, and it is not Moses, David or Jesus. Christianity makes no bones about all prophets being equal. They are not.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

^ raising a man to the status of God is hardly a question of "one prophet [being] put above all others"

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Why isn't it? What else could possbile be put someone above that?

Double Roti Khanum 1K!
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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

^ want to try that again?

Double Roti Khanum 1K!
Double Roti Khanum 1K!
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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

So you do believe that Jesus(as) was a messenger (human), and nothing more? Is it not a fact that you elevate him to status of god? How can you deny other religions who declared their holy men to hold godly powers? On what basis do you reject their claim?

I hope you were not referring to Muhammad(sa) when you referred to “super human” in Islam. If you were then you do not know Islam. Here is what Quran says about him(sa):

Chapter : 3 (Al-`Imran) Verse : 145

And Muhammad is but a messenger. Verily all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful.

Chapter : 2 (Al-Baqarah) Verse : 152

Even as We have sent to you a Messenger from among yourselves who recites Our Signs to you, and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and Wisdom, and teaches you that which you knew not.

Chapter : 2 (Al-Baqarah) Verse : 286

This Messenger of Ours believes in that which has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; all of them believe in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers, saying, ‘We make no distinction between any of His Messengers;’ and they say, ‘We have heard and we are obedient. Our Lord, we implore Thy forgiveness, and to Thee is the returning.’

Chapter : 4 (Al-Nisa’) Verse : 80

Whatever of good comes to thee is from Allah; and whatever of evil befalls thee is from thyself. And We have sent thee as a Messenger to all mankind. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness.

Chapter : 7 (Al-A`raf) Verse : 159

Say, ‘O mankind, truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah to Whom belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but He. He gives life and He causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Ummi Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words; and follow him that you may be rightly guided.’

**Chapter : 17 (Bani Isra’il) Verse : 94 [Short Commentary]

‘Or, thou have a house of gold or thou ascend up into heaven; and we will not believe in thy ascension until thou send down to us a Book that we can read.’ Say, ‘Holy is my Lord! I am but a mortal sent as a Messenger.’ **

When Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa) died Umar(ra) stood up in the Mosque with his sword drown and in his love for the Prophet(sa) said “Whoever will say that Prophet of God is dead, I will cut off his head. He is not dead but has gone to his Lord (ascended to heaven), even as Moses had gone to his Lord, and he would come back and punish the hypocrites”. Abu Bakr(ra) coming on the scene firmly told Umar(ra) to sit down and addressing the Muslims who had gathered in the Mosque, recited this very verse (first one) which convinced them that Prophet(sa) was really dead and so they were overwhelmed with grief. This is where Islam takes a different direction than most other religions. This is where followers of Jesus(as) went wrong. They went on creating story after story and attributed to him(sa) things he never claimed to be. Their love for him(as) was misguided (except for the ones who think he was only a messenger). The generations that followed were misguided by these myths and continued down the wrong track.

As for your other objection, I was merely trying to point out to you that it is not possible to talk about each and every prophet of God in great detail. Quran clearly stated that Messengers of God were sent to every nation, race, city, town, village. To talk about them all in great detail will require a huge scripture.

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Re: Great love for jesus led me to Islam

Q, our Holy Prophet(sa) is the seal of Prophets and it is through him that we recognize other Prophets and Messengers of God. A person who claims to be a Prophet MUST have similar traits to him(sa) or else we will reject him as prophet. He(sa) also told us that Messengers were sent to every city/town/village/nation/race in order to reveal God’s word. In Krishna(as) we find traits similar to other prophets of God (as do we in Buddha(as)) . In Gita, even in its current form with thousands of years of corruption, we find traces of message that seem Devine in origin and in many places similar to Quran (I have not read Gita myself yet though, only heard a few random quotes). You might find this interesting:

…
With a slight twist in the kaleidoscope, the perception changes dramatically. Enough evidence can be presented from the Mahabharat and Bhagavad Gita that Krishna(as) never claimed Godhead for himself, nor did he ever claim immortality. Krishna(as) can easily be identified as just another prophet of God, no different from those who appeared before or after him throughout the recorded history of religion.

As portrayed in his authentic biographies, Krishna(as) is known to have been born on earth, around 1458 BC, like any other human child, to Basudeba and his wife Deboki. They named him Kinai (Kinhai). The name “Krishna” was given to him later, meaning “the enlightened one”. He is known to have led an ordinary child’s life with an exceptional flare of the supernatural (which is also related concerning many other prophets of God by their followers). He lived like humans, acted like humans and attended the call of nature like humans. During his childhood, he occasionally took childish licences, like stealing a kilo or two of butter, or at least that is what is claimed by the Hindu analysts. We believe however that it was no crime on his part, children who are kind of heart do similar things in their own right for the sake of their poorer playmates. Such a child in the circumstances described generates love rather than abhorrence. All this is but human, in no way different from the birth and lifestyle of other prophets of God. He grew up to a strong adulthood and acquired and displayed outstanding qualities of leadership. In the battlefield he led great armies to epoch-making victories. In ordinary life, he rose to the exalted position of a great spiritual exemplar and performed his role as a reformer, the like of which had seldom been seen in India. He admonished people to become righteous and to eschew evil. To him it is important to destroy evil-minded people who want to wipe out religion and to promote Godlessness.

As far as his physical description goes, we do find some oddities. The image of Lord Krishna as portrayed by Hindu artists depicts him as having four arms instead of two and is also shown bearing wings. He is often portrayed standing with a flute pressed against his lips. Again, some comely maidens rather colourfully dressed are shown to throng around him. These are gopis. Gopi is a term applied to such womenfolk who tend the cows. It is a term similar to that of a shepherdess. It should be remembered here that the title of Krishna himself was that of Gao’pal which means “the tender of cows”. This, when read together with the Biblical accounts of Israelite prophets as shepherds tending the sheep of the house of Israel, makes the similarity between the two abundantly clear. As India was a country of cows instead of that of sheep, the common people are referred to as cows. Hence for Krishna to be entitled a tender of cows, is quite understandable. Likewise, reference to his disciples as gopis presents no mystery either.

Other episodes woven around the image of Krishna can also be read as parables and allegories rather than matter-of-fact statements. As regards the image of Krishna possessing four arms and wings, it can be symbolically interpreted to mean that highly ranked servants of God are gifted with extra faculties. The Holy Quran too, mentions wings in relation to the Holy Prophet(sa) of Islam. He is enjoined by God to lower his wing of mercy over the believers. Similarly, when angels are mentioned as bearing different numbers of wings, it is their attributes which are referred to, and not physical wings.

But it often happens that religious allegories and parables are taken too literally by the followers of religions and thus their underlying significance is altogether missed. The image of Lord Krishna and what is shown to be around him, is no exception.

Krishna is also called Murli Dhar which means a flute player. The flute here, is evidently a symbol of revelation because the tune that the flute emits is not emitted by the flute itself. It only transmits that which is being breathed into it. Hence, it was Lord Krishna himself who has been depicted as a flute played by God. Whatever tune God played into him he most faithfully transmitted to the world. Thus the reality of Krishna can be seen as no different from that of any other messenger of God who, as a faithful custodian of Divine messages, passes them on to the world unchanged. The flute thus becomes a most expressive symbol of the integrity of prophets assuring the world that they say nothing from themselves, other than what has been revealed to them from on high.

…
From Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth

Mirza Tahir Ahmad
http://alislam.org/library/books/revelation/part_2_section_1.html