The Concept of Revelation in Christianity and Islam
The revelation in Christianity
The Holy Bible said:” For prophecy was not borne at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke being borne along by the Holy Spirit”(2Peter 1:21)
In Christianity God delivers the intended godly meaning when a spiritual contact occurs between the prophet or messenger and God.
The Holy Spirit, that’s the Spirit of God gives the meanings , thoughts and the essence of the issue to man’s spirit , then man contemplates it, unites with it and lives by it, then he expresses that , but those expressions are protected from mistakes as the Spirit of God is dominant over man’s life to ensure perfection of conveying the message of God.
So the revelation in Christianity is God’s words revealed by the Holy Spirit to the person or the prophet assigned by God who unites with God spiritually and exists in the presence of God, with his mind entirely surrendered to God, and His Spirit united with God, therefore he grasps the Godly thoughts.
Is there an intermediary in the revelation?
In Christianity there is no intermediary in man’s relation with God, as this relation is not an obligation or routine or commandments and forbiddances. It is a union between the Soul of man and God to convey the mind of God to man to be revealed in the Holy Bible
The Holy Bible includes two testaments; the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament: in which the ancient Jewish prophets before the coming of the Christ. Therein prophecies and symbols about the personage of the Christ who came and fulfilled them all in the New Testament.
The Old Testament includes also the psalms of Prophet David which are praises, prayers, invocations and hymns.
The concept of the whole Holy Bible is one from the first page to the last one all are centered on one target which is the annunciation of God’s love for mankind through the Christ who loved the mankind and redeemed them, expiating for their sins opening his bosoms to accept the worst sinners to give the mankind a better life , and eternal life.
That is the concept of the revelation, God reveals the sublimate basics and instructions to that one selected by Him as a prophet or messenger to convey his message to mankind.
The revelation in Islam
In Al-Azhar site over the internet, under the subject: Islamic concepts: Dr. Abdul latif Muhammad Al-Abed wrote complete and concise article about the revelation in Islam saying:” the revelation is the book and its assembly, to reveal to someone means to convey words to that man, that is pertained to him only and no one else.”
Religiously it is God’s revelation to his prophet either directly or through intermediary, so it is the transfer of what is within the Godly knowledge to the prophet through intermediary which is the angel.
In Christianity there is no intermediary but God reveals directly to man, while in Islam there is an intermediary.
Dr. Abdul latif continues saying: Knowing that God’s knowledge is in the conserved tablet, the quran in one verse pointed to the three ways of revelation saying:” It is not fitting for a man that God should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with God’s permission, what God wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise{ Consultation Chapter( Surat Ash-Shura) 51}
First: the direct revelation
(This is close to the Christian concept)
It is the insertion of a meaning into the heart of the prophet, so God inserts into the prophet something that he knows for sure that’s from Almighty God
– Narrated Ibn Masoud from Ibn Hayan: the prophet, said: the Holy Spirit inserted into me a converse:” No soul will die until it fulfils its sustenance”
Second: behind a veil
As God spoke to Moses when he heard God speaking to him from behind a veil saying
“O Moses! Verily I am God, the Lord of all that exists”
Third: the descend of revelation through the angel assigned for the revelation which is Gabriel peace upon him who revealed to the prophet Muhammad and the prophets before him.
-Narrated Al-Bokhary from Aeisha that Al-Hares Ibn Hashim asked the prophet Muhammad: How does the revelation come to you, he said: sometimes he speaks to me and I recognize him, another time the angel comes to me in a human form speaking to me and I recognize what he says.
So there are there forms of revelation:
1) Direct
2) From behind a veil
3) Through the angel Gabriel
– So the difference in the revelation between Christianity and Islam is great.
In Christianity ;The Christ who is the incarnated God gave his thoughts to his disciples to write them ” For prophecy was not borne at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke being borne along by the Holy Spirit”( 2 Peter 1:21)
So to understand the Holy Bible, man has to ask help from the Holy Spirit to teach him as He is the teacher who wrote the Holy Bible.
Man should say: O spirit of God teach me your words
The phenomena accompanying the revelation of the angel to humans
In Christianity and Islam
In Christianity:
When the angel revealed to Saint Mary in Luke 1, he said:” Hail, one receiving grace, the Lord is with you. Then when she was worried he comforted her saying:” Do not fear”
In Christianity the revelation of the angel was giving peace, comfort and quietness.
But strangely in Islam that matter was very different as mentioned in the Islamic books
-In Meshkat Al-Masabih:” the mission and beginning of the revelation chapter” it was mentioned that” when Gabriel came to Muhammad in Hera’ Cave , he hurried up to Khadija shivering and saying cover me, cover me, and it seemed that he became unconscious as they put water onto him to let him regain consciousness , Khadija was skeptical about that thing revealed to Muhammad she wanted to test him as she thought that it might be Satan.
– It was said that when the revelation comes to him he had such horrible signs that all the attending people were waiting for a quran verse coming to him
– Narrated Aeisha: the messenger of God was asked how the revelation comes to you, he replied : sometimes it comes to me similar to the bell ringing in a loud voice , so I loose my consciousness , sometimes the angel comes to me in a human form
– Narrated Aeisha also that sometimes the revelation comes to him in a very cool day, and then he looses his consciousness and starts to perspire heavily
– Narrated Muslim: when the revelation comes on the prophet, he becomes in a horrible state and his face turns black.
– Narrated Ibn Ishak that they were exorcising Muhammad from the evil eye in Makkah before the descent of quran onto him, and when the quran descended onto him, he had attacks similar to those he had before.
– Narrated Al-Halaby in” the man of eye” book that Amnah exorcised him from the evil eye.
– The prophet said to Khadija :when I am alone I hear someone calling me: O Muhammad O Muhammad , and in another narration: I see a light and hear a voice , in a third narration : I fear that it was one of the Jinn and in a fourth narration: I am afraid that I have got madness.
-It was mentioned that at that time, he was loosing his consciousness, turning black and snoring like a camel
– Narrated Abu Hurairah: they were putting over his head the henna (traditional Arabic hair dye) as he had terrible headache.
– Narrated Zaied ibn Thabet in “the mirror of talking”: the prophet was getting heavier at that time, one time he put his thigh over mine, I swear by God that I had never seen something heavier than the thigh of the messenger of God, and when he was over a camel, the camel was mooning and knelling down from his heaviness, and when the revelation comes to him he was loosing his consciousness and became as a drunk man.
– He mentioned also that those phenomena started with him when he was young , with his foster mother Halima in the desert , Gabriel came to him while he was playing with the boys and he attacked him laying him down on the ground , he opened his chest and extracted a piece of flesh from it , and said that’s Satan’s part into you ,I had extracted it from you , then he washed his chest with zamzam water and sealed the stabbing site ,the boys came and saw him on that condition they thought that Muhammad was killed.
Anas said that I have seen the sutures over his chest
– in Meshkat Al-Masabih it mentioned that that stabbing happened to him several times while he was with Halima when he was 10 years old , in Hera’ cave and also in the night journey (Isra’)
– Narrated Ibn Hesham in the prophetical life history that the husband of Halima told his wife
I am afraid that this boy had been touched by Satan , return him back to his mother , then when his mother came back she said did you fear that there is demon on him , she said yes
– Those are the phenomena accompanying the revelation to Muhammad
– In Christianity , we saw the angel coming in peace and saying Hail, one receiving grace, the Lord is with you, and he appeared to Zachariah in the temple and gave him the glade tiding of the birth of John
– why then the angel appears like that in Christianity , while he appears in such terrifying way in Islam , that they were skeptical on him if he was an angel or Satan.
– it is the responsibility of each Muslim to use his mind and think about those things and he will be responsible for his choice as God will tell him where is your mind why you didn’t ask for guidance from me.
Is the Quran God’s words?
(Muhammad’s words/the angels/invocation /praising/blessing/thanking)
In the Quran there are verses telling that its words are the inspired God’s words like:
1) The Cattle chapter( Surat Al-An’am) 19:” this Quran has been revealed to me”
2) The Cave chapter (Surat Al-Kahf):” It has been inspired to me”
3) The Star chapter (Surat An-Najm) “it is only an Inspiration that is inspired.”
1) Muhammad’s words:
The Islamic encyclopaedia, part, page 8166, 8167 under the title (Muhammad and the quran): According to the Muslims Sunnah, there are quran verses telling that the wards of the quran are the inspired God’s words, where Al-mighty God is the speaker and Muhammad is the receiver, but there are other quran verses having another indications, In them it seems that Muhammad is the speaker: as the darkening chapter (Surat At-Takwir) 15-21 and The Splitting chapter (Surat Al-Inshiqaaq) 16
There are other verses like:
1) The Cattle chapter (Surat Al-An’am) 104:”I am not a watcher over you”
2) The Cattle chapter (Surat Al-An’am) 114: “Shall I seek a judge other than Allah”
3) Hud chapter (Surat Hud) 2:” worship none but Allah. Verily, I am unto you from him a Warner and a bringer of glad tidings. Then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day”
4) The ants chapter (Surat An-Naml) 91:” I have been commanded only to worship the Lord of this city… And I am commanded to be from among the Muslims”
5) The ants chapter (Surat An-Naml) 92:” I have been commanded to recite the Quran”
6) Consultation Chapter (Surat Ash-Shura) 10:” Such is Allah, my Lord in whom I put my trust,”
So if they were God’ words, he wouldn’t say the verses as if he is the speaker, it is Muhammad who is speaking words of his own.
Al-Tabry explained that saying, it seems that God is saying” O Muhammad say I am so and so” but that’s irrational as how could anyone dare to insert words not actually present in the text into the verses, and what about those words inserted, do they exist in the preserved tablet before the beginning of time ?
2) The angels’ words:
There are other verses uttered by the angels as:
1) Mary chapter (Surat Maryam) 64:”And we (angels) descend not except by the Command of your Lord”
The annotators said: narrated Ibn Abbas: Gabriel was delayed to come onto the messenger of God, so the messenger mourned, and then Gabriel came to Muhammad and told him “we descend not except by the Command of your Lord”(the verse)
Narrated Mugahed: the messengers (angels) was late to come onto the messenger of God, then Gabriel came to him lately, Muhammad asked him: why you are so late?, he replied how can we came while you are not trimming your nails and moustaches and cleaning your teeth using miswak (an old traditional Arabic way of teeth brushing using piece of wood used by Muhammad and the people of his time) and” we descend not except by the Command of your Lord” (the verse)
I am wondering why the angels couldn’t come to Muhammad, because he was not brushing his teeth and trimming his nails, were they disgusted? is that a reason for them to be late for him?
2) The Ranks chapter (Surat As-Saffaat) 164-166:” There is not one of us (angels), but has his known position, we stand in rows for the prayers. We are they who glorify”
Al-Galaleen said: Gabriel said to the prophet: we the angels have a certain dignified rank in heaven worshiping God within that and not exceeding it, so angels were speaking by themselves in those verses and they are not the inspired words of God ( that was also mentioned in ( the perfection in the quran sciences) by Al-Syouty).
Where all of those from the verse” it is only an Inspiration that is inspired.”
So being the words of God they should not be said by Muhammad or the angels
4) Words with no message:
The Islamic encyclopaedia mentioned in page 8166:’ the analysis of the quran ‘s text is showing that it is much more complicated in the oldest verses of the quran, as they show no minor evidence of any message from God to people as:
The sun chapter (Surat Ash-Shams)( 91):”(And by the sun and its brightness; And by the moon as it follows it , And by the day as it shows up brightness; And by the night as it conceals it , And by the heaven and him who built it; And by the earth and him who spread it, . And by Nafs
(soul), and him who perfected him”
The Striking Hour chapter (Surat Al-Qari’ah) (101):” Al-Qari’ah (the striking (Hour). What is Al-Qari’ah and what will make you know what Al-Qari’ah is? It is a Day whereon mankind will be like moths scattered about,. And the mountains will be like carded wool, Then as for him whose balance will be heavy, He will live a pleasant life , But as for him whose balance will be light, He will have his home in Hawiyah (Hell). And what will make you know what it is? It is a hot blazing Fire”
Afternoon chapter (Surat Al-Asr) (103):” Man is in loss, and recommends one another to the truth and recommends one another to patience”
Rivalry chapter (Surat At-Takaathur)(102):” Gross rivalry diverts you, even till you visit the graves. Nay! You shall come to know. Again, Nay! You shall come to know. Nay! If you knew with a sure knowledge. You shall see the blazing Fire, and again, you shall see it with certainty of sight! Then, on that Day, you shall be asked about the delight”
4) Invocation words:
The Islamic encyclopedia mentioned in page 8246:’ there are words in the Quran taking the pattern of invocation like:
The opening chapter (Surat Al-Fatihah):”In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allah, you we worship, and you we ask for help, guide us to the straight Way”
Could God say in the name of himself?
And could God say: “we worship” and ask for help and ask for guide to himself?
5) Praising words:
The Islamic encyclopedia mentioned also verses containing praising words
Friday chapter (Surat Al-Jumu’ah) 1:”Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah,”
The Narration chapter (Surat Al-Qasas):”And your Lord creates whatsoever He wills and chooses….Glorified be Allah, and exalted above all that they associate as partners”
The Ranks chapter (Surat As-Saffaat) 180:” Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Honor and Power”
Ya-Sin chapter (Surat Ya-Sin) 36:”Glory be to Him, Who has created all the pairs of that which the earth produces”
The Adornments chapter (Surat Az-Zukhruf) 82:”Glorified be the Lord of the heavens and the earth“
So does God glorify and praise himself? Those words are not definitely the words of God
And that was also mentioned in the Islamic encyclopedia.
6) Blessing words
The Islamic encyclopedia also mentioned in page 8247 some quran verses with blessing frame as “Blessed be Allah” as:
The Heights chapter (Surat Al-A’raf) 54:”Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (all that exists)”
The Believers chapter (Surat Al-Mu’minun) 14:” So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.”
The Dominion chapter (Surat Al-Mulk) 1:” Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion”
Also in the chapters of The Forgiver (Surat Ghafir) and The Criterion chapter (Surat Al-Furqan) it was mentioned” blessed be Allah“
So could the speaker in those verses be God himself and he is blessing himself??
Or it must be the words of human who is blessing God.
7) Thanking words
Also according to the Islamic encyclopedia there are verses with thanking frame as
The opening chapter (Surat Al-Fatihah):”All the praises and thanks be to Allah”
The Originator of Creation chapter (Surat Fatir) 1:” All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth”
Also in other chapters like the cattle chapter (Surat Al-An’am), the cave chapter (Surat Al-Kahf) and Saba’ chapter (Surat Saba’) there are verses with that thanking frame
And thanks can’t be the words of God as he couldn’t thank himself
So in conclusion, not all of the words of the quran are God’s words.
The Christ crucifixion and the Godly plan
How did sin get into man’s life
Sin got into man’s life by the envy of Satan, and eating from the forbidden tree
Some are saying that it was an apple tree, others say that it was a mango tree, as the word mango is composed of two parts” man” and “go “anyhow that’s not important
Actually the tree was a symas a spiritual meaning
The tree is a tree but it hasbol of sin, as Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eyes, that h a spiritual symbol that was the obedience
And eating of it is breaching of that obedience and not the mere eating of the fruit itself
Adam and Eve ate of the tree and disobeyed the commandment, so sin get into their life and sin is a microbe that was transmitted to their offspring
Satan’s sin was the pride, so when Adam sinned, he had that pride microbe into him, and that sin microbe was in the blood of mankind
The Holy Bible said
“Therefore, as sin get into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned”
(Romans 5:12)
“They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, and there is none that does good, not one.” (Romans 3:12)
In the Quran
Joseph chapter (Surat Yusuf) 53: “Verily the human self is inclined to evil”
Imam Al–Razy said: the human self has an inclination to the ugly things, wishing the disobedience; the human nature is craving for the lusts (1)
Al- Tirmoudhi said: Adam repudiated therefore his offerings repudiated, Adam sinned therefore his offerings sinned”
The sin get into Adam and Eve and so sin passed into all generations
Even the prophets had sinned
In genesis 12, it was mentioned that Abraham had sinned twice, one time he lied on pharaoh of Egypt about his wife Sarah saying that she was his sister and he also lied on Malek his uncle”
Noah sinned, he drank of the wine and was uncovered (Genesis 9)
Prophet Moses also sinned and killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2)
So all the prophets had sinned, and Islam also admitted that the prophets had sinned
Abraham had sinned:
In Abraham chapter (Surat Abraham) 41” Abraham says:” Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and all the believers on the Day when the reckoning will be established.” so here Abraham is asking for the forgiveness, how could a man ask for the forgiveness unless he actually had sinned?
Moses had sinned:
In the story chapter (Surat Al-Qasas) 15, 16“And he entered the city at a time of unawareness of its people, and he found there two men fighting, – one of his party, and the other of his foes. The man of his own party asked him for help against his foe, so Moses struck him (kicked him) with his fist and killed him. He said: “This is of Satan’s doing, verily; he is a plain misleading enemy.” He said: “O My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.” Then He forgave him. Verily, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. “So Moses after he killed the man asked for forgiveness.
The Quran mentions about the prophet Mohammed the following:
Victory chapter (Surat Al-Fath) 2:“Allah may forgive you, your sins of the past and the future”
In Sahih Al-Bokhary:”The prophet peace upon him was invoking:”O God I see refuge by you from the grave torment & the fire torment” (2)
So saying that man is born without a sin is wrong
Also in Sahih Al-Bokhary:”The prophet peace upon him was saying: “no one will be admitted to the paradise except by the grace of almighty God, they said neither do you messenger of God? He replied neither do I unless I was involved by the mercy of God “
The messenger of God said: “I repent to God daily hundred times” (3)
The Sonnah people said: the prophets may do the great sins, before their mission, but the minor sins (as laying, hypocrisy, stealing etc) the prophets may do them before the beginning of their mission deliberately and after the beginning of their mission as oversight
The relation between sin and the redemption
God is a fair ruler, He said that the penalty of sin is death, and noting can change the words of God
Psalms 7:11:”God is a righteous judge”
The Bees chapter (Surat An-Nahl) 90:”Allâh enjoins justice’
Thunder chapter (Surat Ar-Ra’d) 41:” Allah judges, there is none to put back His Judgement”
God’s Judgement is an absolute Judgement, there was a penalty for Adam and his offspring as the penalty of sin is death ( the sinner must die) , So there was a sentence of Death on man
The sentence of death is of three types
The spiritual death
that is the most serious of all types of death; it is the separation from God, as when a child is with his father in the wealth of his loving father, if the child mistakes and tell his father: I don’t want to be with you, as the stray son when he said to his father, give me my share of the estate. And he took his share and went away and he wasted his possessions living dissolutely, so he was separated from his father, and no more relation connecting him to his father
The sinner refused the loving relation with God, he wanted to live according to his instincts and lusts, so he separated from God, went away from the presence of God, that’s the separation from God
God is a spirit, and whoever separates from the spirit and life will be in a state of death, the death went through all people, that’s the first death
The disgrace and mortification in life
Islam said in
Ta Ha Chapter (Surat Ta Ha) 123:” Get you down from it, together”
Al-Nasfy said: meaning both of them (Adam and Eve) and their offspring, that’s the second death, the disgrace of sin. As sin the disgrace of nations and Islam admits that disgrace
The company’s chapter (Surat Az-Zumar) 26:” So Allah made them to taste the disgrace in the present life, but greater is the torment of the Hereafter “
That’s concerning Adam and Eve and their offspring
Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf said:” the sin usually brings disgrace and mortification in life but the greatest punishment is in the afterlife”
The eternal torment in the everlasting fire
Matthew 13:42:” there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth”
The Jinn chapter (Surat Al-Jinn) 23:” Whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then verily, for him is the Fire of Hell, he shall dwell therein forever”
The cow chapter (Surat Al-Baqarah) 81:”Whosoever earns evil and his sin has surrounded him, they are dwellers of the Fire, they will dwell therein forever”
The hell ( Jouhanem) is a name derived from a valley, in Jerusalem behind the temple, in which they were casting the remnants of the sacrifices, and set fire into them, those sacrifices casted on the sea coast , worms will come and eat them, from that derived the name Jouhanem as , valley in Hebrew is ”jou” and the name of that valley was “hanem “
My prayer about you all who are reading it and about my brother Gamal, Nancy, Mona
and sister Dalia
I am gong to present now my prayer about my blood-my Arabs and about you all who will be reading my prayer.
God, Jesus, no one deserves to enter into Your Kingdom. You are holy. Only holy and cleansed people will be there.
God please close this door for me because I am going to give this ticket to Paradise to my Arabs. God please open door of salvation for them, for my Gamal, Nancy, my Mona and Dalia, please save all who are reading this prayer. Supernaturally come to them, Holy Spirit. Let Your POWER will be recognised by my Arabs and let Your freedom will be in their bodies and lifes! Holy Spirit please come right now to my Mona. Save her. Live Holy Spirit in Her. Be her God and be her salvation. God please give everything what you have to my Arabs, my brothers, you are great nation! God You called them -GREAT NATION-but what is the reason to leave them that they would enter the hell??!!! God please keep them in Your strong hands and dont allow to steal them from YOU. God supernaturally I am asking You come to them in dreams and visions, come to them through miracles and personally! Jesus, please, lsten to me. I dont need Your Kingdom without them! God, save them! God, come to them and FREE them from their sins. Cleanse their heart by water of LOVE and FORGIVENESS. Dont let them escape Your grace! Make them the greatest priests in Your Kingdom. Make them YOUR Children. Live in them and they will live with YOU! Jesus, my Freedom, free them please! Dont allow them to enter the hell fire. God let Your Water of LIFE- Holy Spirit wash away their sins! Let them be perfect for You! For Your Holy NAME I am praying! For YOU and Your great Kingdom I am praying! God extend Your Kingdom on our planet. Let every Arab bow down in Front of YOU. Let them worship Your name! Your name Father is GREAT! Your MERCY is in forgiveness of all our sins through God Jesus Christ and His sufferings and You give us Kingdom of Heaven already now during our life!
God please come to my brother to prison. Save my Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Nashiri. God Jesus, please come to him to prison. Comfort him and say about Your LOVE to him deep to his heart. God please open doors to Your Kingdom to my brother Abdul. God please keep his hand in Your loving hands and dont allow him to die in madness and deception which he calles Islam. God show him who You ARE-MY PERFECT LORD! God please dont allow Abdul to die without involving him in construction of Your Holy Kingdom of hearts of my Arabs already here on the earth. Let’s river of blood which he shed will be replaced by river of tears about my Arabs, YOUR Arabs, let him praise YOUR name already here on the earth. Let him worship You in his life and buid temple to You of hearts of my Arab people and live, God, among them! God my Leader, please forgive HIM and LEAD Him to YOU! Open door of salvation for him and dont close it until he will not enter place where You are living! I am asking You about YOUR Grace and mercy for HIM. Because I know Your deep LOVE to him.
Thank You that You listen to me. Thank You for the greatest priviledge to tell You a few words about my Arabs, my brother Abdul and all who will read my prayer. Anyone who are listening now to my words please save them, Holy Spirit! Amen. Thank YOU!
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Kingdom of Heaven for Arabs 