30. THE DIFFERING OF THE COMPANIONS OF AL-MASEEH (PEACE BE UPON HIM) (THE MESSIAH)
The companions of Maseeh (the Messiah) disagreed after he had been raised up to the heaven, holding a number of divergent opinions, according to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) and others among the Imams of the Salaf, as we have related in the explanation of the Words of Allah, Most High: {So We gave power to those who believed against their enemies, and they became the uppermost.} (Soorah As-Saff 61:14). ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) and others said that some of them said, “His slave and His Messenger was among us, then Allah raised him up to the heaven.” Others said, “He is Allah.” Still others said, “He is the son of Allah.” But it is the first that is the truth, and the other two sayings are terrible disbelief, as He, Most High, says, {Then the sects differed (i.e. the Christians about ‘Eesa), so woe unto the disbelievers (those who gave false witness by saying that ‘Eesa is the son of Allah) from the meeting of a great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection, when they will be thrown in the blazing Fire).} (Soorah Maryam 19:37). They also disagreed regarding the transmission of the Gospels, holding four conflicting views in the matter, ranging from exaggeration to understatement and from distortion to alteration. Then three hundred years after Maseeh (Peace be upon him), the Great Calamity occurred and the four Patriarchs and all of the bishops, the priests, the deacons and the monks differed regarding the Maseeh (Peace be upon him), holding opinions too numerous to be defined and determined. They held a council and sought judgment from Emperor Constantine, the founder of Constantinople. This was the first council, and the emperor supported the view of the largest sect, who were agreed on one of those opinions. They were known as Melkites. The emperor also refuted the opinions of others and declared them to be apostates. Those who claimed that ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) was a slave from among the slaves of Allah and a Messenger from among His Messengers were isolated and so they settled in the deserts and wildernesses. There they built hermitages, monasteries and religious retreats. They contented themselves with abstemious lives and they did not mix with those other sects. The Melkites built huge churches. They took the buildings erected by the Greeks and altered their mahareeb from their original direction, which was toward the North Star, so that they faced toward the east.
Description of the Building of Baitlaham (Bethlehem) and Al-Qumamah
Emperor Constantine built Bethlehem at the location of the birth of the Maseeh and his mother made Hailanah Al-Qumamah, that is, over the grave of the crucified one, and they accepted the claim of the Jews, that it was the Maseeh (Peace be upon him). In fact, both of them were guilty of disbelief. They fabricated laws and religious rulings, including some that contradicted the Tawrah, and they declared lawful things that were unlawful, according to the text of the Tawrah, such as swine flesh. They prayed toward the east, though the Maseeh (Peace be upon him) did not pray toward anything except the rock of Bait Al-Maqdis, and all of the Prophets after Moosa (Peace be upon him) did likewise. Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), the Seal of the Prophets prayed toward it after his migration to Al-Madinah, for sixteen or seventeen months. Then he changed the direction of his prayer toward the Ka‘bah, which was built by Ibraheem, Al-Khaleel (Peace be upon him). They put images in the churches, and there had been no images in them prior to that. They corrupted the beliefs which are maintained by their children and their men and their womenfolk, and they call this a trust, but in fact, it is the greatest disbelief and betrayal. All of the Melkites and Nestorians are the followers of Nestorius, the organizers of the second council. The Jacobites are the followers of Jacob Baradaeus, the organizers of the third council. They share the same creed, but they differ in their elucidation of it. Here I will describe it – and the one who describes disbelief is not a disbeliever – in order to reveal the weakness of their arguments, the depth of their disbelief and the stupidity which leads the one who proclaims it to the blazing Fire; and they say, “We believe in One God, the Master of all, the Creator of the heavens and the earth – all that is seen and all that is unseen – and (we believe) in one Lord, ‘Eesa, the Maseeh, the only begotten son of God, born of the Father, before time, light of light, the God of Truth, from the God of Truth, born not created, equal to the Father in essence, who existed for the sake of us, mankind and in order to save us, he descended from the heaven and took on human form from the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin Maryam, the God Incarnate, who was crucified during the reign of Mulatis, the Nabatean. He suffered and was buried and then he arose on the third day, as is reported in the Scriptures. Then he ascended to the heaven and sat on the right of the Lord. And also he will come in his physical body to order the affairs of the living and the dead. His Kingdom is eternal. And (we believe in) the Holy Spirit, the Life-giving Lord, who proceeded from the Father, with the Father. And (we believe in) the son, before whom all prostrate. And he acknowledged his right to be worshipped, due to his having died for our sins, according to People of the Scriptures.
By Ibn Katheer
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