CHAPTER 1: THE CHRISTIAN CLAIM THAT THEY ARE NOT OBLIGED TO FOLLOW MUHAMMAD
because they have already received Messengers before him who addressed and warned them in their language, demonstrating to them this religion to which they are adhering until the present time. These Messengers handed down the Torah and the Gospel to them, which were written in their language, and that is stated in the Qur’an in the Chapter of Ibrahim,
which means, “And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people.” (Ibrahim, 14: 4)
And in the Chapter of An-Nahl we find this verse,
which means, “And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger.” (An-Nahl, 16- 36)
There are Several Points to Refute this Claim:
Point One:
The fact that a nation has received a Messenger does not necessarily mean that they should not receive another one. For example, the Children of Israel received Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), after which they followed the law of the Torah. Then, ‘Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him) was sent to them, so they were obliged to believe in him, and he who did not do so was regarded as a disbeliever, even if he claimed that he was adhering to the Book of Musa. Similarly, when Allah sent another Messenger after ‘Isa, all people must believe in him and whoever does not do so is regarded as a disbeliever.
Point Two:
Their claim that they are holding fast to the religion that was transmitted by the Disciples of Christ (peace be upon him) is simply a plain lie; for most of their conviction and laws were neither transmitted by the Disciples of Christ nor did they exist at all in the original Gospel. For example, it was not reported from the Disciples or Christ that they were ordered to utter these words in their prayers, “Let us prostrate ourselves before Christ, our Lord,” or say in their second and third prayer, “O Mother of God Virgin Mary! Open for us the gates of mercy.” Similarly, Christ did not order them to fast in spring, or to observe fast for fifty days, and so.
Point Three:
They say that the Torah and the Gospel was delivered to them in their own language, and that may be true concerning some of them, but it could not be applied to them all. The Arab Christians as well as some other Christians did not receive the Torah or the Gospel in their own language. This is a well known fact, as there was neither an Arabic Torah nor an Arabic Gospel during the lifetime of the Disciples; they were translated at later times. Therefore, if it was obligatory before Islam, for the Christians amongst the Arabs to believe in these Books, otherwise it would not have been acceptable that they say, “It is not obligatory for the Romans to believe in Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Qur’an, which is revealed in Arabic and translated into their language.”
Point Four:
If a nation altered the religion of the Prophet, who was sent to them, Allah would send another Prophet to them in order to revive the altered religion and call them to Allah and to the religion He ordained. This is what happened when the Children of Israel altered the religion of Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), so Allah sent Christ to them and for others with the religion He ordained. Similarly, when the Christians distorted the religion of Allah sent through Christ, Allah sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) for them with the religion He ordained.
Point Five:
They argue that their Messengers handed down the Torah and Gospel to them, which were written in their language, and that this is a fact stated in the Qur’an. It should be said to them, “There is no single verse in the Quran which states that the Torah and the Gospel were delivered to them in their own language. Their quoting from the Qur’an to prove this claim resembles their quoting to prove that their religion is true, it is also like their quoting to prove all their innovated matters in religion, such as trinity, unification and so on.
As for the verse,
which means, “And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people.” (Ibrahim, 14:
We say, “No doubt that the nation of MCisa (Moses, peace be upon him) was the Children of Israel and that the Torah was sent in their language. The Children of Israel are also the people of Christ (peace be upon him), and he spoke in their language. Neither of the two Prophets spoke to his people except in Hebrew; none of them conveyed his message in Roman, Syriac, Greek or Coptic. Similarly, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to his people and spoke in their language just as other prophets had done previously as Allah, Exalted be He, says,
which means, “And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger.” (An-Nahl, 16; 361)
He, the Almighty also says,
which means, “And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them.” (Fatir, 35: 24)
None of the above verses states that the Torah and the Gospel were sent to them in their language. Rather, they have a general meaning.
They say, “Allah is just and it is not becoming of His Justice to command a nation to follow a person (i.e., a Prophet) who was not sent to them, especially if the Book revealed to that person is in a language other than their language.” Our answer will be outlined in the following points:
Point One:
It is not convincing that the writers of this book (which we are exposing their falseness), who understand the Arabic language very well to the extent that they use it in their debates, to say that none of them knows Arabic. If they know languages other than Arabic, this will be something else taken against them, for they can understand Arabic and they convey what they understood to their people in their mother tongue.
Point Two:
They understand what is in their Books, which are written in Roman, Syriac, Coptic and other languages, and then they translate them into Arabic for the Arab Christians. Therefore, if there was no excuse for the Arab Christians to believe in the Gospel, though it was sent to them in a language other than Arabic, the Romans are more entitled to believe in the Qur’an, which was revealed in Arabic, for the Arabic language, after the spread of Islam, has become more wide spread than Roman. Moreover, those who spoke Arabic, after the islamic conquests and the spread of Islam, are greater in number than those who speak other languages. In addition, the Arabic language is more expressive and understandable than other languages.
Point Three:
Let us suppose that a king sent a letter to another king and that letter was written in a language other than that of the latter. The king who received it would undoubtedly summon someone to translate it for him. It would not be acceptable that this king would say that he would not accept the letter since it was not written in his language, for he can understand its content through translation. How can it be possible to say this to Allah, the Lord of the universe? Moreover, if a king orders some of his subjects and his soldiers in his language, while they are capable of comprehending his orders whether through learning his language or through translation, this will not be considered injustice. Thus, how can it be considered injustice from the Lord of the universe, while it is not so if done by His creatures?
If a subject oppresses another , it is an obligation on the ruler to help the oppressed and to send for the oppressor and command htm to do justice and to punish him if he does not. This is in the case when the oppressor is capable of understanding the command of the ruler whether by knowing his language or by translation, and that is justice. On the other hand, injustice is to leave people to do wrong and injustice to themselves and to others. Allah has sent His Messengers so that mankind may maintain justice. No one is exempted from following the revealed Law of Allah, as long as there is a messenger sent to him, while he is capable of understanding what this Messenger has been sent with whether directly or through translation.
In worldly affairs, a person seeks to know the intended meaning of the other through translation and so on, so that the two may conclude business transactions. Thus, two persons may require a translator who can convey their intended meanings to each other. People also interchange correspondence all over this world for the purpose of managing their diverse worldly affairs by using translators. It is an acknowledged fact that the matter of religion is much more important than that of this worldly life. So, how could it be acceptable to abstain from exchanging the knowledge of religion so that people may know the intended meanings of one another? How can anyone consider this life’s affairs to be greater than religion, except for him whose heart has been darkened because of not being conscious of Allah, who follows his own desires and fails to remember his Lord, and who seeks nothing but this worldly life?
By: Sheikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah
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