Because of Prevailing Issues in the Islamic Community At-Large, the Editorial Staff (ES) of Shahadah sees the need for these issues to be addressed through the U.S. National Amirate of Amir Abdallah Yasin,  Amir of The International Amirate of Masjid Baytul-Khaliq, Inc.  In each issue of Shahadah the ES intends to present a particular Prevailing Issue.  Inshaa’Allah.

“THE PASSION”

THE 2^nd GREATEST LIE EVER TOLD

 NOW PLAYING IN A THEATER NEAR YOU

We recommend that Muslims not increase the ranks of the non-believers by joining them in the movie theaters.

“He it is Who has sent His Apostle with the Guidance and the Deen (Religion/Faith) of Truth (wa deenil-Haqq) that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, even though the Polytheists (the Pagans) may detest (it).”  The Noble Qur’aan 61:9 (Also see Q9:33 & Q48:28)

Qur’aanic interpreter, Shaykh Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s commentary on this verse states:  “Over all religion: in the singular: not over all religions, in the plural.  (Because)There is really only one true religion, The Message of God, submission to the will of God:  this is called Islam.  It was the religion preached by Moses and Jesus; it was the religion of Abraham, Noah and all the prophets, by whatever name it may be called.  If people corrupt the pure light, and call their religions by different names, we must bear with them, and we may allow the names for convenience.  But Truth must prevail over all.” (ES: Our emphasis added)

When we read Suraatul-Fatiha, the last verse says:  “The path of those whom You have favored.  Not the path of those who earn your anger nor of those who go astray.”  

Those who have earned God’s anger are the Jews.  Those who go astray are the Trinitarian Christians who have

gone to extreme excess in their religion.  We realize that they will still be in manifest error upon the return of Jesus (PBUH).  Therefore, these words are not for them.  This article is written for the Muslims so that some Muslims do not get caught up into the magic of the current day surrealistic fantasy of the Christians in their continuing slide into the abyss of misguidance through such films as the Passion of the Christ.

Hollywood has the fascinating ability to twist fantasy into an accepted reality.  Especially in the instant case, upon an unsuspecting and gullible public whose general idea of religion is what fits their own immoral ideals.

Many Muslims will view this film of blasphemy and misguidance.  Therefore, we recommend that they do not increase the ranks of the non-believers by joining them in the movie theaters, but rather, wait until it is available on cassette or DVD for private home viewing.

Let us review what we should know: From Suratan-Nisa  4:156-166

There are a good number of Qu’aanic renderings into English, along with their respective tafseer/commentary.  However, I find that of Maulana Maududi to be most acceptable.  (See his accompanying numbered commentary, which follows his English rendering of the Qur’aanic Text of Suratan-Nisa  4:156-166)

“• • • • Then they went so far in their unbelief that they uttered a monstrous calumny against Mary¹⁹⁰ : they themselves bragged, “We have slain Jesus, son of Mary, a Messenger of Allah.”¹⁹¹ Whereas¹⁹² in fact they did not slay him nor did they crucify him but the matter was made dubious for them.¹⁹³ And those who have differed about this matter are also in doubt concerning it. They have no knowledge of it but follow mere conjectures,¹⁹⁴ for they were not sure that they had succeeded in killing Jesus. Nay, the fact is that Allah had raised him to Himself,¹⁹⁵  for Allah is All- Powerful, All-Wise.  There shall be none among the people of the Book but will believe in him before his death,¹⁹⁶ and he will be a witness against them on the Day of Resurrection.¹⁹⁷——In short,¹⁹⁸ it is because of these unjust things of those who became Jews and because they often stand in the way of Allah,¹⁹⁹ and because they take interest, which had been prohibited,²⁰⁰ and because they devour unlawfully the property of others—— it is because of all these transgressions that We made unlawful many clean and pure things which were formerly lawful for them.²⁰¹ We have prepared a painful torment for those among them who disbelieve ;²⁰² but most surely We will reward richly all those among them who have profound learning and who are honest and who believe in what has been sent down to you, and what was sent down before you,²⁰³ and who establish Salat, pay Zakat dues and believe sincerely in Allah and the Last Day.”

       “0 Muhammad, We have sent Revelation to you just as We sent to Noah and other Prophets after him.²⁰⁴ We also sent Revelation to Abraham, and Isma’ii and Isaac and Jacob, and the descendants of Jacob, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and We gave the Psalms to David.²⁰⁵ We also sent Revelation to those Messengers whom We have already mentioned to you and to those Messengers whom We have not mentioned to you ;  and We spoke directly to Moses as in conversation.²⁰⁶ All these Messengers were sent as bearers of good tidings and warners²⁰⁷ so that, after their coming, people should have no excuse left to plead before Allah ;²⁰⁸ Allah is, indeed All-Powerful, All-Wise. (People may or may not believe it) but Allah bears witness that what He has sent down to you. He has sent that down with His knowledge and angels also bear witness to it, though Allah’s witness alone suffices.”

Maulana Maududi’s Tafseer/Commentary:

190. The calumny against Mary concerning the birth of Jesus Christ has been declared here as “disbelief because it was not directed against the person of innocent Mary or her son but against Jesus Christ, the Messenger of God. The Jews had absolutely no ground for suspicion about his miraculous birth without father, because God had caused the whole Community to stand as witness to the miracle. When Virgin Mary, who belonged to the noble and well-known religious family of the Israelites, came home with the new-born child, a large crowd gathered there and demanded an explanation from her. But she simply pointed to the child. The crowd could not understand how a child in the cradle could speak but to their utter astonishment, the child began to speak clearly and fluently and addressing the crowd, he declared, “I am Allah’s servant;

Allah has given me the Book and made me a Prophet.” (XIX : 30) Thus Allah cut at the very root of the slander about his birth. That is why none ever accused Mary of fornication or taunted Jesus with being an illegitimate son until he declared himself to be Prophet of Allah. As he started his mission to invite people to the way of God and rebuke the Jews for their evil deeds and expose the hypocrisies of their scholars and jurists and warn the whole community of the consequences of moral degradation, they turned against him. Instead of accepting his message and making sacrifices for the cause of God, and reforming their evil ways, these impudent and unscrupulous criminals resorted to all sorts of dirty tricks and devilish designs to suppress the voice of Truth. It was then that they made that monstrous calumny which they had never uttered before during the previous thirty years of his life, because they knew it for certain that Mary and her son were absolutely free from this taint.

191. The fact that they bragged of slaying Jesus, knowing him to be a Messenger of God, shows how audacious they had become in their crimes. We have shown in the previous Note that the miracle of his speech in the cradle had left no doubt what-so-ever in the minds of the Jews about his prophet-hood. Then they had witnessed clear signs shown by him (III : 49) which were a conclusive proof that he was really a Prophet of God. Therefore their cruel behavior towards him was not the result of any misunderstanding about his prophet-hood, but was an intentional crime against the one who had been appointed by Allah as Messenger.

       Though it appears very strange that any community should slay a person whom they know to be and acknowledge a Prophet of Allah, yet it is so, for the ways of wicked communities are strange. They cannot and do not tolerate that person who criticizes their evil ways and prohibits unlawful things. Such people, even though they be the Prophets of Allah, have always been persecuted, imprisoned and slain by their own wicked people.

As a proof thereof, the following is quoted from Talmud : “When the city had been captured, Nebuchadnezzar marched with the princes and officers of the Temple ...... On one of the walls he found the mark of an arrow’s head as though somebody had been killed or hit nearby, and he asked “Who was killed here?”

       “Zachariah, the son of Yehoyadah, the high priest,” answered the people. “He rebuked us incessantly on account of our transgressions and we were tired of his words and put him to death.”

       We learn also from the Bible that, when Prophet Jeremiah rebuked the Jews on account of their transgressions, they sent him to the prison. Likewise John the Baptist was beheaded because he criticized them for their evil ways. (Please see also E. N. 79, Al-Baqarah).

       It is, therefore, obvious from their record that when they presumed that they had crucified Jesus Christ, they would have most surely bragged, “We have slain a Messenger of Allah.”

192. This is another parenthesis.

193. This verse is quite explicit on the point that Prophet Jesus Christ was rescued from crucifixion and that the Christians and the Jews are both wrong in believing that he expired on the cross. A comparative study of the Quran and the Bible shows that most probably it was Jesus himself who stood his trial in the court of Pilate, but they could not kill or crucify him, for Allah raised him to Himself.

       This is what happened. Pilate knew quite well that Christ was innocent and had been brought in his court out of jealousy. So he asked the crowd whether Jesus Christ should be released on the occasion of the Festival or Barabbas, a notorious robber. But the high priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas and for the crucifixion of Jesus. After this, God, Who can do any and everything He wills, raised Jesus to Himself and rescued him from crucifixion and the one who was crucified afterwards was somehow or other taken for Christ. Never-the-less, his miraculous escape does not lessen the wicked crime of the Jews, because they knew it well that the one, whom they crowned with a crown of thorns, and on whose face they spat and whom they crucified with disgrace was Christ, the son of Mary. As regards how “it was made doubtful for them” that they had crucified Jesus, we have no means of ascertaining this matter. Therefore it is not right to base on mere guesswork and rumors an answer to the question how the Jews were made to believe that they had crucified him, whereas in fact, Jesus the son of Mary had escaped from them.

194. “Those who have differed” are the Christians. They do not agree in their versions of the crucifixion. The very fact that they offer so many different accounts of the matter is in itself a clear proof that they possess no definite knowledge of it and are, therefore, in doubt about it. One version is that the person who was crucified was not Jesus but someone who bore his likeness, when, in fact, at that very time when the Jews and the Roman soldiers had disgracefully hanged him on the cross, Jesus was standing nearby and laughing at their folly. According to another version, the one who was nailed to the cross was Jesus, but he did not die on the cross and was alive when he was taken down from it. Some others believe that he died on the cross but came to life afterwards and met his disciples several times and talked to them. Others say that the Divine Spirit within him was taken away from it. There are still others who say that after his death Jesus came to life with his human body and was raised up with his human body. Thus it is obvious that the Christians have no real knowledge of this matter but base their various versions on mere conjectures.

INTERJECTION:  We must realize that all of what we perceive through our senses comes to “light” in the totally dark interior of our brains!  We live in a world of perceptions.  All of our ideas of reality are in our minds!   The only true reality is Allah, The Creator of everything, including our mental/physical instruments of perception.  All of this is told to us in the Noble Qur’aan.  Therefore, Allah’s words: “Whereas in fact they did not slay him nor did they crucify him but the matter was made dubious for them (Some translations say: But so it was made to appear to them.”  Believers understand, without doubt or question, that Allah controls everything in His universe: including what actually happens and how we perceive it.  It is the disbeliever who, in his arrogance before God, feels that he can only believe what he can explain, with his imperfect intellect.

195. Here Allah has told the fact of the matter. The Quran explicitly says that the Jews did not succeed in putting Jesus to death and that Allah raised him to Himself, but it is silent about the nature and the details of the matter and does neither say explicitly whether Allah raised him bodily from the earth to some place in the heaven, nor does it say that he died like other mortals and only his soul was raised to heaven. It has been coached in such a language that nothing can be said definitely about the incident except that it was uncommon and extraordinary. The following considerations lead to the conclusion that the incident was extraordinary: First, the Quran uses the word (raf``ahullahu alayhi ) and (raafi`uka ilyyaa) “Allah raised him to Himself” and “I will raise you up to Myself” (III : 55) for the incident and these words are liable to give support to the “Doctrine of Ascension”, one of the Christian beliefs which has misled them to attribute Divine qualities to Christ. Had it not factually been an extraordinary incident, the Quran would never have used such ambiguous words as helped support a doctrine of God-head of Christ, which the Quran refutes so strongly.

       Second, had Allah meant by the words (in v. 158) used in the Text that (a) “Allah caused his death” or that {b} “Allah raised him in rank,” more explicit words would have been used.  In the case of (a) words to this effect would have been used : “No doubt they did not slay him nor did they crucify him but Allah rescued him alive from them and afterwards he died his natural death,” and in the case of (b) “They intended to dishonor him by crucifixion but God raised him very high in rank”, as in the case of Prophet Idris : ‘And We had raised him to a high position.’ (XIX : 57)

       Third, if the incident that has been related here meant merely the natural death of Christ, the use of words, “And Allah is All-Powerful and All-Wise in connection with it, would have been quite meaningless. These words can appropriately be used only in connection with some extraordinary manifestations of the power and wisdom of Allah. The only thing that can be cited in support of this interpretation of v. 158 that Jesus died a natural death is the use of the word (mutawafeeka) in v. 55, Al-i-‘Imran, in connection with this incident, but it has been made clear in E.N. 51 of Al-i-‘Imran that the word mutawaff does not literally mean “to seize the soul” but merely “to take and to receive” the body or the soul or both together. As there is a scope for both the interpretations in this word, its use cannot refute the above mentioned arguments against the meaning, “Allah caused his death.” Those who insist on this interpretation argue that there is no other instance, in which mutawaff has been used for the seizure of both body and soul together. This is meaningless, because this is the only incident of its kind in the whole of human history. The only thing to be considered is whether this word may lexically be used in this sense or not. If there is a scope in the lexical meaning of the word for such a use, as there is, we have to face the question :

       Why does the Quran not use a direct word for death, instead of such a word as this which is liable to support the doctrine of Ascension, which in its turn, has given rise to the Doctrine of the Divinity of Jesus ? The use of this word is a clear proof of the fact that there was something extraordinary about the incident. Above all, the doctrine of Ascension is further strengthened by the Traditions according to which Prophet Christ, son of Mary, will come again to the Earth and fight with Dajjal.” (These Traditions have been affixed as Appendix to the Commentary on Surah Al-Ahzab). These clearly and categorically prove the Second Coming of Christ to the Earth. Therefore it would be more rational to believe that he must be living somewhere in the universe before this Second Coming than that he might be lying dead somewhere.

196. This has been interpreted in two ways and both are likely. (Here by the people of the Book are meant the Jews and may be the Christians also). According to the first interpretation, as adopted in the Translation, it means : “All the people of the Book, alive at the time of the natural death of Christ, will have believed in him, that is, in his Prophet-hood.” The second interpretation of “There is none among the people of the Book but does believe in him before his death” is this: all the people of the Book before their death realize and believe that Christ is really a Messenger of God, though that belief will be of no avail at the time. Both these interpretations have been put forward by several Companions and their followers and renowned commentators, but its real meaning is known only to Allah.

197. That is, “In the court of God, Christ will give testimony against the Jews and the Christians that they rejected, neglected and distorted the Message brought by him.” Some details of the testimony are given in vv. 116-117 of Al-Ma-‘i-dah.

198. The main theme that was broken by the parenthesis, which ends here, has been resumed.

199. It is an irony that the Jews, who possessed a Book of God and the heritage of His Prophets, should have not only themselves discarded the way of God but also frequently stood in the way of God. It is a fact that they have always been opposing and placing obstacles-in the way of those movements that have ever been started for the promulgation of the Truth and have been starting or helping start movements against the way of God. Their latest crime in this connection is Communism which has for the first time in history based a system of life and a system of government on the deliberate and explicit denial of God, in open opposition to His Law for the eradication of God-worship as its declared aims. The author of another perverted doctrine of the modern age, Freudianism, which has helped mislead the people from the way of Allah, is also a Jew.

200. Here is the Biblical law that clearly prohibits interest :

“If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”

“If thou at all take thy neighbors’ raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that time the sun goeth down :  For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin :  wherein shall he sleep ? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear : for I am gracious.” Exodus 22 : 25-27.

       Besides this, interest has been prohibited at some other places in the Torah also, but in spite of these prohibitive decrees, the Jews, who profess to believe in the same Torah, are the biggest usurers in the world and have become proverbially notorious for their narrow-mindedness and hard-heartedness.   End quote Of References from Malana Maududi (May Allah have mercy upon him.  Ameen.)

ALSO:  Chapter 21 of Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, verses 23 & 23 say: “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shall in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that your land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Cannot the Jews and Christians see from their own texts, the same book which they claim to read and follow, and from humanity’s definitive source, The Qu’aan, verse 4:158, which says:  “Nay, Allah exalted him in His Presence.  And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.”, that for Jesus (PBUH), being exalted in the divine Presence was opposed to being killed (hung) on the cross.  Their own text, Deuteronomy 21:22-23, clearly states to them that if Jesus (PBUH) had died on the cross he would have been accursed!  Therefore, Allah’s statement in Qur’aan 4:158  says that Jesus was not killed on the cross and accursed, but he was exalted into the Divine Presence.

CLOSING COMMENTS:

Most people of today do not know that at one time there were as many Unitarian Christians as there were Trinitarian Christians.

 [NOTE: A Unitarian (Christian) is  Member of a Protestant denomination which rejects the doctrine of the Trinity, but accepts the ethical teachings of Jesus and emphasizes complete freedom of religious opinion, the importance of personal character, and the independence of each local congregation. (Funk & Wagnall’s New International Dictionary of the  English :Language.)]

These Christians continually fought each other, alternating as victor.  Finally, through centuries of battling, the Unitarians were virtually killed off and or forced to convert to and adopt the Pauline (Trinitarian) philosophy of Christianity.  Actually, whenever the Unitarians had won previous battles, history shows them as being kinder than when the Trinitarians won.  As a matter of fact, the Trinitarians often purposely would give “bad” names to their opponent, or turn their opponent’s name into a derogatory epithet, such as “vandal”, which was the name of one such host of Unitarian Christians.  (Point of fact:  In Christianity’s early days, the names Christian & Christianity were extremely derisive terms.)

Following are excerpts from an excellent book entitled “Blood On The Cross” (Islam In Spain In The Light Of Christian Persecution Throughout The Ages), by Hajj Ahmad Thomson.  He begins Chapter IV, “The Vandals”, with:  “It is necessary at this point to examine the continued persecution of the Donatists (Unitarians) in North Africa and to discover in more detail how the Arian Vandals of Northern Europe (who had embraced Unitarian Christianity) came down through Spain, united with the Donatists and ruled North Africa virtually up until the spread of Islam to North Africa.”   This author also says:

     “The persecution of the Donatists, which was commenced by Constantine, was continued by Theodosius and Honorius…….”   ALSO:

     “By these measures, which were warmly approved by St. Augustine, great numbers of Donatists were forced to profess, at least outwardly, the religion of the Official Church.  Many, however, chose to fight to the last, and the country was filled with tumult and bloodshed.” 

     “While this persecution was at its height in North Africa, the Vandals, who were Arians, and the Suevi, swept down into northern Spain.  The Suevi remained in the north.  The Vandals, under the leadership of Gaiseric, continued to move south.  They defeated the Roman army in a decisive battle in mid-Spain.”  ALSO:

     “The Vandals reached Hippo, which is two hundred miles west of Carthage, a few months after St. Augustine died there.  His extensive writings were not destroyed by them despite the fact that he had always supported the persecution of the Arians and the Donatists, and was himself a Trinitarian.  It is significant that St. Augustine had no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew which, many people say, barred him from any true study of the gospels.  End Quote

It is worthy to note that Paul, who corrupted the  Pure Teachings of Jesus (PBUH), was greatly disliked by James and were it not for Barnabas, may have slain Paul, or certainly ostracized him from the Nazarene community.

In page three of the above quoted source, “Blood On The Cross”,  Hajj Ahmad Thomson says: 

     “It was Paul, once again, who played a large part in this process of compromise which inevitably blurred the purity of the way of life which Jesus had brought.  With dramatic suddenness he announced that he had seen Jesus in a vision and had decided to become a follower.  However, he waited three years in Arabia and Damascus before returning to Jerusalem to inform the Apostles of this miraculous occurrence.  They were now known as Nazarenes.  They had been closest to Jesus when he was on earth and were not convinced about the genuineness of Paul’s conversion.  Their skepticism increased when Paul, who had never sat with Jesus, began to preach a doctrine different from, and often contradicted, what they had heard from Jesus himself.  Paul later justified his position by saying: 

                  But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me

                  is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught

                  it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.  (1 Galatians: Chap. 1: 11-12)

     “However, the Nazarenes must have found it impossible to believe that Jesus, having trained his twelve Apostles to spread his teachings while on earth would then, from the Unseen, supercede their authority and change his original teaching without informing them, and by means of a man who had never even met him.  Paul’s argument carried little weight with James, the head of the Nazarenes in Jerusalem………”  End Quote

It is also worthy to note that Constantine, the shrewd politician, who amalgamated the Trinitarian Christian Philosophy into the belief system of the pagan Roman State, died confessing his faith to a Unitarian (Donatist) priest, while history records the unabated fact that it was Constantine who used the military power of Roman to Destroy the Unitarian Church!

Let me reiterate this point:  We know that the Christians are those who have gone astray and have gone to excess in their religion.  We realize that they will still be in manifest error upon the return of Jesus (PBUH).  Therefore, these words are not for them.  These words (this article) is for the Muslims so that some Muslims do not get caught up in the magic of the current day surrealistic fantasy of the Christians in their continuing slide into the abyss of misguidance through such films as the Passion of the Christ. 

Many Muslims will view this film of blasphemy and misguidance.  Therefore, we recommend that they not increase the ranks of the non-believers by joining them in the movie theaters, but rather, wait until it is available on cassette or DVD for home viewing. (Note: TV programs did not interview Muslims concerning this film.)

The #1 Greatest Lie ever told is that Allah has begotten children (sons and/or daughters).  Na`oothu bil-laah.

“..and that he should warn those people who say, `Allah has begotten a son. Neither had they any knowledge of this nor their forefathers; it is a monstrous word that comes out of their mouths: they utter a sheer lie.” Q 18:4-5

“The Jews say Ezra (`Uzair) is the son of Allah, and the Christians say the Messiah is the son of God.  Such are the baseless things they utter with their tongues, following in the footsteps of former unbelievers.  May Allah afflict them with chastisement!  Wherefrom are they being perverted?  They have made their scholarls and their monks As their Lords besides Allah, and likewise the Messiah, the son of Mary, although they were enjoined not to worship any other than the One Deity, besides Whom there is none worthy of worship.  He is absolutely pure and free from what they associate with Him…..” The Noble Qur’aan: 30-31 

“Say:  He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah is independent of all and all are dependent on Him. Neither has He an offspring nor is He the offspring of anyone; and there is none equal with Him in rank.” Qur’aan 112: 1-4

As-salaamu `alaykum wa raHmatullah:

AMIR  ABDALLAH  bin AKMAL  bin  MUBAARAK  YASIN

Amir of the National & International Amirate of Masjid Baytul-Khaliq

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