CHAPTER 2: 3. INFERRING FROM VERSES THAT RESEMBLE EACH OTHER
Allah, the Almighty says,
which means, “And in their footsteps, We sent ‘Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), confirming the Tawrah (Torah) that had come before him, and We gave him the InjiI (Gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Tawrat (Torah) that had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for Al-Muttaqun (the pious). Let the people of the Injil (Gospel) judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed (then) such (people) are the Fasiqun (the rebellious i.e. disobedient (of a lesser degree) to Allah.” (Al-Ma’idah, 5: 46-47)
The Answer:
In this verse Allah praises Christ and the Bible. It is also a command for the Christians to act and judge according to its teachings. Allah also praises Musa (Moses) and the Torah more than He praises Christ and the Bible, for He, the Almighty says,
which means, Verily, We did send down the Tawrah (Torah) (to Musa (Moses)), therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah’s Will, judged the Jews.” (Al-Ma’idah, 5: 44)
The fact that Allah praises Musa and the Torah does not mean that He praises the Jews who disbelieved in Christ and then in Muhammad (peace be upon him). It also does not express praise for the Jewish religion, which, according to the majority of Christians and Jews, is proven to have been changed and distorted. The same applies to the praise of Christ and the Bible. It does not include any praise for the Christians who have disbelieved in Muhammad (peace be upon him), changed the judgments of the Torah and the Bible, and who have followed a distorted abrogated religion.
The Jews agree with the Muslims that there is no praise for the Christians in the above verse, while the Christians agree with the Muslims that there is no praise for the Jews in the above verse because of all the change and distortion that has taken place in their Book.
Therefore, it is known among all three religions: the Muslim, the Christians and the Jews, that there is no verse in the Qur’an among those which mention the Torah, the Bible, ‘Isa (Jesus) and Musa (Moses) that praise the people of the Scripture who have disbelieved in Muhammad (peace be upon him), or their religion which was changed before he (peace be upon him) was sent. There is no praise for anyone who holds fast to a changed or distorted religion. So how about someone who holds fast to a changed and distorted religion?
Reasons Why the Christians Deviated
There are three reasons behind the deviation of Christians:
1. They replaced the words of the prophets, which are direct and clear having concise meanings, with unclear indirect words. Whenever they heard an unclear word, they adhered to it and made it a part of their doctrine even if there was no proof to support it. The direct words, which are contrary to their interests, were either replaced or interpreted wrongly, just like the people of deviation are in the habit of doing.
2. The occurrence of some abnormalities, which they wrongly thought were miracles from Allah while in fact they were works of Satan. These abnormal instances caused the deviation of the disbelievers and many others like them. Among these instances were the entrance of devils inside idols, their speech to people, and their false predictions of the unknown to priests. Even in these cases they tell lies.
3. Some news was conveyed to them in which they believed while it was absolutely false, for neither the Christians nor any of the people of deviation have evidence, whether clearly reasonable or rightly attributable to the Divine Books, to verify their claims, or even a miracle from any of the prophets. Whenever they explain their doctrine, they use ambiguous words, and if they are asked about their exact meanings and how one distinguishes right from wrong in them, the ambiguity and vagueness of their words become apparent.
When they refer to anything from the Divine Revelations, it is either truthful and does not support their falsity or it is uncertain or incorrect. They do the same with the abnormalities they mention: some are correct like those attributed to prophets like Christ and Musa (Moses), while some are attributed to righteous people, namely the Disciples. Even if the miracles ascribed to the Disciples are true, this does not mean that they are infallible like the prophets. The prophets are infallible in what they deliver to us; they cannot say anything but the truth about Allah. Nothing in their speech is deliberately or erroneously false.
In addition to this, what is narrated in the Bible is that a man was crucified and buried in a tomb and was later seen by some Disciples as well as by some other people after his burial. They say that he stood up twice or thrice from his grave, showed them the marks from the nails and said, “Do not think that I am a devil.” If this truly happened, it is definitely a devil that assumed the figure of Christ, and those who saw him were deluded. Similar instances occur to some people in our time as well as to some people in the past. It happened that some people in Tadmur (Tadmuriyah, a town in Syria) saw a huge person flying in the air. It appeared more than once wearing different attire and said to them, “I am Christ, son of Maryam (Mary)”, and then he ordered them to do some acts that are inappropriate to be ordered by Christ. However, the truth is that this was a devil attempting to lead them astray.
By: Sheikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah
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