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By Ijaz Chaudry

Introduction;

Islam is an Arabic word meaning Submission.   Therefore a Muslim is a Submitter.   The rites of Islam were brought down by Abraham. Abraham also built Kabaa in Mecca and named this religion Islam (22:78).  Before this happened, believing in God and leading righteous life was sufficient for salvation. Today since God is Fair who stipulated the religion for us the way He has done that is that some messengers like Noah who came before Abraham needed only believe in God to be Submitters, God has allowed todays believers to believe in such a way as a minimum requirement for Salvation (5:69).

Islam today is broken down into sects. The largest sect is called Sunni.  Sunni are followers of Muhammad.  They follow the sayings and actions of Muhammad.  The sayings and actions of Muhammad were written 200 years after Muhammad died.  There is no absolute verification of Hadith, one just have to rely on some names of people who no one of us knew (because it happened such a long time ago) who have verified the Hadith.  However, Quran clarifies how the verification process should work, and Quran has clarified what Hadith represent. Let’s look at these two points individually, first what does Quran say about verification;

 Crucial, Advice

[17:36]  You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.

Thus there is no way we can ourselves verify “Hadith”, we have to rely what other people have said about Hadith.  This, scenario directly contradict the Quran specifically 17:36 above.

Now let’s take Hadith and what Quran says about this;

Quran uses Arabic word Hadith in its verses despite the fact that there are other words in Arabic which could replace this word and mean the same. The logical explanation on why this word Hadith is used in the Quran would be that God new that people would use Hadith as a name of literature which they will then use for religious purpose.

Hadith basically mean “narration”, however, the traditional Muslims have given the so called actions and sayings of Muhammad the same name Hadith Quran is quite clear about Hadith and here is what it says;

     The Quran is All We Need

[12:111]  In their history, there is a lesson for those who possess intelligence. This is not fabricated Hadith; this (Quran) confirms all previous scriptures, provides the details of everything, and is a beacon and mercy for those who believe.

[31:6]  Among the people, there are those who uphold baseless Hadith, and thus divert others from the path of GOD without knowledge, and take it in vain. These have incurred a shameful retribution.

 [45:6]  These are GOD's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?

[52:34]  Let them produce a Hadith like this, if they are truthful.

[68:44]  Therefore, let Me deal with those who reject this Hadith; we will lead them on whence they never perceive.

[77:50]  Which Hadith, other than this, do they uphold?

So according to Quran, Hadith is rejected and we are asked to follow the Quran. However, is Quran enough to give all the details of rites of Islam, and our religious guidance?   In short it is, Quran with the help of Mathematical miracle of 19 (74:30-35) can do all these things, the Salat (five daily prayers) has been verified and affirmed in the Quran using this miracle, other day to day religious guidance has also been gathered and verified using mathematical Miracle of 19 and the Quran.  All these codes and verses from the Quran are verifiable as advised in the Quran 17:36 above.

In Respect to Muhammad and God;

Muhammad was the final prophet and a messenger (33:40).  Prophet is a person who receives a scripture in the instance of Muhammad it was the Quran the final testament.  It took Muhammad 23 years to be dictated the whole Quran which was released by Gabriel into his memory slowly (17:106).  During this time Muhammad was fighting war with the disbelievers, following, teaching, and applying Quran in his daily life i.e. spreading the message (his other role of messenger) to his followers.  Muhammad and his followers were categorically told by God only to follow the Quran, hence this article respects that and will be solely based on the Quran (5:48).

The First Muslim;

The first Submitter (Muslim) according to Quran was Adam.  Adam and Eve came to earth for their sin which they committed, i.e. approaching the accursed tree and for listening to Satan’s lies (7:19-24).  However, God the Most Merciful gave Adam another chance by sending him words to redeem him (2:37), whilst on earth hence he was redeemed to Paradise where he was evicted from in the first place. This also confirms that Adam was also a first prophet, because he received the revelations from God.

Generations after Adam;

Quran informs us in (4:164) that God has not told us of all the messengers who came to earth for a very good reason because in the Quran the identities of some of the messengers had to be kept secret until they arrived after Muhammad when the Quran was already revealed. The identities of these messengers names where coded mathematically in the Quran. Therefore based on this information that we do not know all the messengers who came after Adam the next messenger after Adam we assume was Noah who is mentioned in the Quran, who gave this message;

[7:59]  We sent Noah to his people, saying, "O my people, worship GOD; you have no other god beside Him. I fear for you the retribution of an awesome day." 

Like all other prophets and messengers after him the message was the same “worship GOD”, however it was human tragedy that they would continue idol worship their idol’s.  In Noah’s time there were 5 idols (71:23).  And then God send floods to punish Noah’s people for their idol worship.  Quran is quite clear about the watercraft, which Noah made; it was the first boat as we know it today before that no one had built a boat before.  It was simple logs tied together by rope, hence the watercraft perceived by majority is not quite what it was.  This also means that because it was very basic, it could not have carried pair of all known animals in the craft.  This of course means that these were few animals, which were domesticated cattle and poultry, raised by Noah.  God saved Noah and the people who believed with him.

After Noah God send following messengers;

Shuab, Saaleh, Hood, and Lot (11:87 & 89).  Each one of them giving the same message Worship God Alone and lead a righteous life.  Roundabout at the time of Lot Abraham was sent as a prophet and a messenger.  Abraham and his son Ismail built the Kabaa a sacred Mosque in Mecca (where Muslims gather for Hajj or Pilgrimage every year since the time of Abraham), and God sent all the rites of Islam through Abraham, i.e. Fasting, Pilgrimage, Obligatory charity and Salat (daily five time prayers) (2:127) (22:78).  There are wonderful stories describing Abraham’s wisdom and devotion to God.  The stories include, when Abraham mistook his dream to be command from God to sacrifice his son Ismail.  However God does not advocate sin;

[7:28]  They commit a gross sin, then say, "We found our parents doing this, and GOD has commanded us to do it." Say, "GOD never advocates sin. Are you saying about GOD what you do not know?"

Hence the dream was just a dream.  However at the time of sacrifice God substituted animal sacrifice for Ismail, because God is kind towards believers (37:101-107).

This story of Abraham is quite brilliant, when he argued with a king;

     Abraham's Courageous Debate

[2:258]  Have you noted the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord, though GOD had given him kingship? Abraham said, "My Lord grants life and death." He said, "I grant life and death." Abraham said, "GOD brings the sun from the east, can you bring it from the west?" The disbeliever was stumped. GOD does not guide the wicked.

Also this story;

When Abraham broke all statues (idols) and left the big statue.  When his people summoned him, he said the big one did it, go ask the broken statues who broke them, if they can speak.  His people were taken aback (21:58-64).

God sets Abraham’s example for Christian, Jews and Moslem’s.  I think the following two verses should clear up what I mean;

[2:140]  Do you say that Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs were Jewish or Christian? Say, "Do you know better than GOD? Who is more evil than one who conceals a testimony he has learned from GOD? GOD is never unaware of anything you do."

[3:65]  O followers of the scripture, why do you argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Do you not understand?

After Abraham the other story, which is described in the Quran clearly is of Joseph.  Joseph was Jacob’s son and Jacob was Isaac’s son, and Isaac was Abraham’s son they were all prophets and messengers.

The story goes through Joseph having a dream at an early age of eleven planets, sun and moon prostrating before him which Jacob interpreted as a good omen for Joseph (12:4-6), the story goes on where his brothers due to jealousy threw him in the well and told Jacob that Joseph was devoured by a Wolfe (12:9-19).  Where he is picked up by a traveller and sold for few Dinars and then the wife of a man who bought Joseph nearly seduced him, even though he was innocent, he still went to prison, where he met king’s servants whose dream he interpreted.  Then later the King’s dream was interpreted (12:43-50), king then made him his treasurer, that’s how God established Joseph on earth.  Then is the story of stolen cup and reunion of his family.  The most important point of the whole story is that this story clearly illustrates that life is pre-determined (destiny) and what is going to happen is already written, and God controls that, Joseph who went through lots of trials and tribulations to become a messenger of God and wealthy kings employee knew what was going to happen to him in the end was already disclosed to him at start when he saw the eleven planets the sun and the moon prostrating before him.  If one preserve, pursue and lead a righteous life then God will reward him or her. 

That’s where Joseph’s story ends there is no further story which links Virgin Mary with Joseph.  There is a big time difference between Joseph and Mary, at the time of Joseph the Torah was not yet revealed and Moses came after Joseph and then came Mary and probably other messengers in between as well.  Joseph was the first of Abraham’s family to enter Egypt later Moses leaves Egypt and comes back to the wholly land Mecca.

The next big story of a Muslim is of Moses.  Story starts with baby Moses and his mum was told to put the baby in the basket and put the basket in the river.  This was great test for his mum, and she almost disclosed his identity when Pharaoh and his wife found the baby Moses.  God then reassured her by making her milking maid to her son; God did this because He is Most Compassionate towards believers.

The story goes on when Moses grew up and one day in Market place probably in his full splendour as king’s son, saw one of his man (Hebrew) in fight with an Egyptian.  In order to help him he punched the Egyptian and killed him, Moses repented to God and promised God that he will not be party to guilty people again.  Next day in the market he saw the same man having a fight with another man seeking his help.  Moses said “you are a trouble maker”, before attempting to hit this common enemy, he said Moses do you want to be tyrant on earth, mean time a man warned Moses that people are plotting to kill you.  Moses thus leaves the security of his step father’s kingdom and runs away, and asking God’s help.

On the way he met an old man with two daughters trying to water from the well, but struggling he helped them and in return and some business proposition he got married to his daughter and once again got employment and security.  Thus God help him to regain his dignity once again, shows how forgiving God is to people.

Then the story continues when Moses and his brother Aaron return to Pharaoh as messenger of God to release Children of Israel from slavery and see if Pharaoh becomes righteous.  This was indeed courageous deed by Moses and God assured him that God and His Angels will be with him every inch of the way.  Before he spoke to God’s manifestation Burning Bush, received nine miracles which he could show Pharaoh and his people.  And as you know Pharaoh and his people were ignorant to their message, thus God sent disasters on him.  He would still not believe.  Moses showed signs (miracles) to Pharaoh to instil his reverence to God but failed.

After that Moses and The Children of Israel are pursued by Pharaoh and his army.  And the famous episode of parting the Sea happened where the sea parted and let through Moses and his people but drowned Pharaoh and his army. This left Moses and his people all the fortunes of Pharaoh.  Moses and his people then travelled towards Mecca.  Where on the way God spoke to Moses and commandments where written on tablets for him.  God send down food from heavens.  Still his people were ignorant and selfish, they asked for crops like lentil, cucumber, garlic and onions. The story depicts the nature of human being and that there are very few sincere people in the world who truly appreciate God.  The culmination of the story is when Moses and his people reach Mecca, and Moses asks his people to enter Mecca and be nice to everyone, they refused they said you and your God go and fight we are sitting here.  Thus Mecca was forbidden for forty years for these ungrateful people.

Before Moses and Aaron, Jonah, Job, David and Solomon are mentioned.  I would just like to touch Solomon’s history because he has rather bazaar stories of what powers he was endowed with from God, I just want to validate few of these empowerments.  Solomon was endowed with great wealth and power.  The winds and the devil were under his command.  God endowed him ability to understand the languages of birds and ant’s.  Despite him being so rich and powerful he was humble servant of God.  He is quoted in the Quran where he in response to an ant he prays to God to make him appreciate what he has got, these verses should illustrate what I mean;

[21:81]  For Solomon, we committed the wind gusting and blowing at his disposal. He could direct it as he wished, to whatever land he chose, and we blessed such land for him. We are fully aware of all things.

[21:82]  And of the devils there were those who would dive for him (to harvest the sea), or do whatever else he commanded them to do. We committed them in his service.

[27:15]  We endowed David and Solomon with knowledge, and they said, "Praise GOD for blessing us more than many of His believing servants."

[27:16]  Solomon was David's heir. He said, "O people, we have been endowed with understanding the language of the birds, and all kinds of things have been bestowed upon us. This is indeed a real blessing."

[27:18]  When they approached the valley of the ants, one ant said, "O you ants, go into your homes, lest you get crushed by Solomon and his soldiers, without perceiving."*

[27:19]  He smiled and laughed at her statement,* and said, "My Lord, direct me to be appreciative of the blessings You have bestowed upon me and my parents, and to do the righteous works that please You. Admit me by Your mercy into the company of Your righteous servants."

Obedience to God and appreciation of what we got is a prerequisite for a believer.

After Solomon and Moses, Jesus was the next prophet.  Whose, history I would also like to briefly encounter.

Let’s illuminate birth of Jesus, Quran details it in its verses as follows;

     Mary

[19:16]  Mention in the scripture Mary. She isolated herself from her family, into an eastern location.

[19:17]  While a barrier separated her from them, we sent to her our Spirit. He went to her in the form of a human being.

[19:18]  She said, "I seek refuge in the Most Gracious, that you may be righteous."

[19:19]  He said, "I am the messenger of your Lord, to grant you a pure son."

[19:20]  She said, "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me; I have never been unchaste."

[19:21]  He said, "Thus said your Lord, `It is easy for Me. We will render him a sign for the people, and mercy from us. This is a predestined matter.' "

     The Birth of Jesus

[19:22]  When she bore him, she isolated herself to a faraway place.

[19:23]  The birth process came to her by the trunk of a palm tree. She said, "(I am so ashamed;) I wish I were dead before this happened, and completely forgotten."

[19:24]  (The infant) called her from beneath her, saying, "Do not grieve. Your Lord has provided you with a stream.

[19:25]  "If you shake the trunk of this palm tree, it will drop ripe dates for you.*

[19:26]  "Eat and drink, and be happy. When you see anyone, say, `I have made a vow of silence; I am not talking today to anyone.' "

[19:27]  She came to her family, carrying him. They said, "O Mary, you have committed something that is totally unexpected.

[19:28]  "O descendant of Aaron, your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother unchaste."

     The Infant Makes a Statement

[19:29]  She pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk with an infant in the crib?"

[19:30]  (The infant spoke and) said, "I am a servant of GOD. He has given me the scripture, and has appointed me a prophet.

[19:31]  "He made me blessed wherever I go, and enjoined me to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat) for as long as I live.

[19:32]  "I am to honour my mother; He did not make me a disobedient rebel.

[19:33]  And peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I get resurrected."

     The Proven Truth

[19:34]  That was Jesus, the son of Mary, and this is the truth of this matter, about which they continue to doubt.

[19:35]  It does not befit GOD that He begets a son, be He glorified. To have anything done, He simply says to it, "Be," and it is.

Let’s put what we have learnt about Jesus birth in prospective after reading the above verses.  The Jewish tradition strongly condemned a birth of a baby without a father and there would have been a great punishment for Mary if Jesus did not speak (with God’s mercy).  And the birth of Jesus would have been a great shock for his family and others who knew Mary and would have met with apprehension and this is more realistic and truth then the tale made up three wise men etc.

Jesus was conceived in a form of Word from God;

[3:45]  The angels said, "O Mary, GOD gives you good news: a Word from Him whose name is `The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. He will be prominent in this life and in the Hereafter and one of those closest to Me.'

Jesus brought miracles with him as follows;

[5:110]  GOD will say, "O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My blessings upon you and your mother. I supported you with the Holy Spirit, to enable you to speak to the people from the crib, as well as an adult. I taught you the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel. Recall that you created from clay the shape of a bird by My leave, then blew into it, and it became a live bird by My leave. You healed the blind and the leprous by My leave, and revived the dead by My leave. Recall that I protected you from the Children of Israel who wanted to hurt you, despite the profound miracles you had shown them. The disbelievers among them said, `This is obviously magic.'

Jesus was not son of God;

     Trinity: A False Doctrine

[4:171]  O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion, and do not say about GOD except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was a messenger of GOD, and His word that He had sent to Mary, and a revelation from Him. Therefore, you shall believe in GOD and His messengers. You shall not say, "Trinity." You shall refrain from this for your own good. GOD is only one god. Be He glorified; He is much too glorious to have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth. GOD suffices as Lord and Master.

Jesus was not crucified;

[4:157]  And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him.

Jesus sustains equal respect from believer as any other messenger, no more or no less.

     No Distinction Among God's Messengers

[2:136]  Say, "We believe in GOD, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs; and in what was given to Moses and Jesus, and all the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters."

After Jesus came the final prophet and a messenger;

     Not The Final Messenger

[33:40]  Muhammad was not the father of any man among you. He was a messenger of GOD and the final prophet. GOD is fully aware of all things.

Muhammad’s biggest achievement was person who received the revelations of the Quran the Final Testament.   Other achievements were, reading the Quran, to his people, preaching the Quran and explaining it.  Fighting battles with the disbelievers and eventually winning the war and conquering Mecca and setting example for others by following the Quran.  It’s a misconceived idea that Muhammad never made a mistake, however, Quran deliberately illustrates two errors which he made in his life time which are documented in the Quran and we do not know about the one’s which have not been documented.  He was a human being and prone to mistakes.

The errors were;

[33:37]  Recall that you said to the one who was blessed by GOD, and blessed by you, "Keep your wife and reverence GOD," and you hid inside yourself what GOD wished to proclaim. Thus, you feared the people, when you were supposed to fear only GOD. When Zeid was completely through with his wife, we had you marry her, in order to establish the precedent that a man may marry the divorced wife of his adopted son. GOD's commands shall be done.

[80:1]  He (Muhammad) frowned and turned away.

[80:2]  When the blind man came to him.

[80:3]  How do you know? He may purify himself.

[80:4]  Or he may take heed, and benefit from the message.

[80:5]  As for the rich man.

[80:6]  You gave him your attention.

[80:7]  Even though you could not guarantee his salvation.

[80:8]  The one who came to you eagerly.

[80:9]  And is really reverent.

[80:10]  You ignored him.

[80:11]  Indeed, this is a reminder.

[80:12]  Whoever wills shall take heed.

It is shame that the majority of Muslims by name and not by deeds have idolised Muhammad to the extent that they believe that Muhammad is alive and can listen to them, they devote their prayers through Muhammad to God.  This is utter blasphemy and this concept is totally against the Quran and teachings of Muhammad.

Quran is clear that Muhammad will die;

[3:144]  Muhammad was no more than a messenger like the messengers before him. Should he die or get killed, would you turn back on your heels? Anyone who turns back on his heels does not hurt GOD in the least. GOD rewards those who are appreciative.

[39:30]  You (Muhammad) will surely die, just like they will die.

The believers prayers should only be addressed to the Most Gracious the All Power full the All Merciful.

Messengers after Muhammad;

We have been fortunate to witness a messenger after Muhammad in 20th Century.  Late 20th Century was advent of the Messenger of the Covenant Dr Rashad Khalifa an Arab Egyptian, a Bio-Chemist who worked and lived in America.  His advent is prophesised in the Quran as follows;

     Major Prophecy Fulfilled

     God's Messenger of the Covenant

[3:81]  GOD took a covenant from the prophets, saying, "I will give you the scripture and wisdom. Afterwards, a messenger will come to confirm all existing scriptures. You shall believe in him and support him." He said, "Do you agree with this, and pledge to fulfil this covenant?" They said, "We agree." He said, "You have thus borne witness, and I bear witness along with you."

Due to his advent we have mathematical proof that Quran is the only true un-altered word of God on earth today.  Dr Rashad Khalifa was revealed the 19 based structure of the Quran, which validates Quran’s authenticity.  There are books written about this structure and it is out of scope to address this structure in this article.

Main duties of Rashad were;

1)            Purify Islam, by advocating total devotion to God and Quran the only source of religious guidance for the true believer.

2)            Purify and re-establish idol free (Muhammad) the rites of Islam.

3)            Predict the time of end of the world.

4)            Remove 2 verses from chapter 9 of the Quran to Purify and bring Quran to its un-altered form.  These verses were injected few years after Muhammad’s death by some idolaters.

5)            Bring out the miracle of 19 to us, as mentioned in 74:30-35.

6)            Denounce Hadith as fabrications made by disbelievers, and only source of religious guidance should be Quran

Due to above stated actions most of the Muslim population were outraged and Arab’s put a fatwa on him and in Jan 1990, at fairly young age he was murdered, in his own Mosque by two disbelievers.

There is advent of another (final) messenger prophesised in the Quran after him and a whole chapter is addressed to him his name is Al-Muzzammil or The Cloaked One.