Responses to Akbarally Meherally's site

Jesus and Muhammad

GOD'S FAVORS UPON THE PROPHET ABRAHAM

Meherally claims :

It was God's Master Plan that kept apart Ishmael and Isaac, the two sons of Abraham, and created two separate branches. The "Great Nation" that God had promised to make through Ishmael (Gen. 21:13/18), who had settled in the wilderness of Paran (the deserts of Arabia) (Gen. 21:21), has become the fastest growing Religion today. God revealed to Isaiah His Plan for creating a Religion with a New Scripture, to destroy the idolatry in Arabia.

God makes one significantly important promise to Abraham:

This portentous favor bestowed upon Abraham and his One Son, happens to be the key that unlocks the mystery of God's Master Plan. This eternal Divine Blessing for all the nations of the earth was through a seed of the son of Abraham, who had accompanied his father and passed God's test of Supreme Sacrifice. The event thus become a pivotal part of the human history for Jews, Christians and Muslims. The details of this exceptional Blessing were recorded in the Bible as under:

And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only {son}: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which {is} upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My Voice. Gen. 22:16/18

The Divine Blessing will come through Isaac (the child of promise), not Ishmael (the child of the flesh).

ISHMAEL OR ISAAC? (Peace be upon them)

When God decided to test the faith of Abraham, He said;

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only {son} _________, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of . Gen. 22:2

There happens to be an unresolved debate as to who accompanied the prophet Abraham and submitted himself to the will of God - the first born - Ishmael - the progenitor of the prophet Muhammad, or the second born - Isaac - the progenitor of Jesus Christ? The Bible writers had placed the name of Isaac in the blank space above. Muslims believe Ishmael was the one that was taken by Abraham for the `Supreme Sacrifice'.

The Qur'an DOES NOT say that Abraham was told to sacrifice Ishmael.

THE QURANIC NARRATION

A question is often asked: Does the name of Ishmael appear in the Quranic narration as the one that was offered for the Supreme Sacrifice? The answer is: No. The name of Ishmael does not appear in the text. However, the Quranic narration gives the sequence of events that happened before and after the sacrificial offering. These chronological events very precisely testify that Isaac was born after the event.

Does it really? In fact, most of the early Muslims believed that Isaac was the son of sacrifice.

PAUL POSTULATES "LIBERTY FROM THE LAW" USING THE EVENT OF THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

We saw in the earlier chapter that it was the tribal rivalry between the Jews and the Arabs that probably motivated the writers of the Book of Genesis to conceal the facts. Now let us examine what has motivated Christians to insist that Isaac was the one who accompanied his father for the Supreme Sacrifice.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say "and to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on Law, it is no longer based on promise; but God had granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. Galatians 3:16-19

Paul's teachings are perfectly consistent with the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Old Testament.

David said in Psalm 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

Luke said in Acts 13:38-39: Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

GOD'S MASTER PLAN SEPARATES THE TWO BRANCHES

The important question is why did God separate the two branches of Abraham and not let them grow together?

The short answer, according to Mr. Meherally, is that Muhammad can save us from the teachings of Paul.

GOD REVEALED HIS PLAN TO ISAIAH

In the Bible there is only one character that is named Kedar, the son of Ishmael. The Land where Kedarites had settled is called Arabia. In Isaiah chapter 42, the first seven verses prophecy the coming of Jesus. The prophecy for the coming of a new prophet in Arabia with a new scripture, begins with verse number eight. The text reads:

I {am} the Lord: that {is} my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and the new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. `Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth'. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voices, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the inlands." Isaiah 42:8-12.

Mr. Meherally did a bit of editing to avoid an important point:

8
"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
9
See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
10
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.
11
Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.
12
Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.

Reading the unedited verses, we find that the settlements of Kedar AND the people of Sela are mentioned. This passage DOES NOT say that any revelations would come from the people of Kedar or the people of Sela. These people, along with the rest of the world, would rejoice at the new song.

God did reveal in the Land of Kedar, to the prophet Muhammad - a descendant of Kedar - a "New Song", the Qur'an (Koran), in the language of the Kedarites.

This verse says a "new song", not a new revelation. The Hebrew word in this verse is "shiyr". This term is used 90 times in the Old Testament and, in every case, it means song - not revelation. This passage DOES NOT say that the "new song" will be in the language of the Kedarites or the langauge of Sela and DOES NOT say that a Prophet will arise from Kedar.

"The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies." Verse 13.

In the Old Testament, the God often speaks "I" will do this, or "I" have done this, whereas, "He has chosen human beings to do these jobs on his behalf." (e.g. 2 Samuel 12:7-12). Prophet Muhammad did go forth as a mighty prophet of Allah, did stir up jealousy among the most influential and dominating tribe of the pagan Arabs in Arabia. Finally with a war cry and roar, Muhammad did prevail upon the enemies of Lord - the idolaters.

WRONG! Verse 13 says that the LORD (not Muhammad) shall go forth. The Hebrew text calls the LORD Jehovah - or God in this verse

History records that Prophet Muhammad did put the pagan idolaters to great shame when he demolished their 365 idols that were installed in Ka'bah (Mecca), the most respected place of pilgrimage in the whole of Arabia in those days. Today the Ka'bah is the Grand Mosque of Islam where Muslims from all over the world go for their "Hajj" (Pilgrimage). Muslims face towards the Ka'bah while reciting their daily ritual prayers.

History also tells us that Muhammad, while in Medina, ordered his followers to pray facing the Ka'bah while it contained these idols! History also tells us that Muhammad sent his followers into Mecca on a pilgrimage to the Ka'bah it was a Pagan shrine.

REASONS WHY CHRISTIANITY IS PLUMMETING

Christianity is not "plummeting". In fact, according to Ted Haggard (Focus on the Family), Christianity (globally) is growing at approximately 9% while Islam is growing at 2.7%. In fact, more people have come to Jesus Christ between 1988 and 1998, than the entire time interval since the birth of Jesus to 1987! Many churches in the west (especially Europe and, to a somewhat lesser extent, America) have allowed modernism to destroy, or weaken, many of the orthodox beliefs of Christianity, and these churches have lost millions of members. However, there are many Bible centered churches and they are growing rapidly.

After reading the biblical prophecies, these bewildered Christians discover that Jesus Christ did speak of the coming of another "male" salvific figure like "himself". Jesus admitted: he was a Prophet like Moses (John 5:46). Apostle John acknowledged: Jesus was a Paraclete {Comforter, Advocate} (1 John 2:1). Concerning the coming of "another Paraclete", after the departure of Jesus and "into the age", apostle John writes: he (Paraclete - the Spirit of Truth) shall glorify Jesus, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:13/14)

Mr. Meherally has completely distorted the Bible! The Paraclete in the Gospel of John is the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said, and not Muhammad. Please read about the Paraclete!

Andrew Vargo


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