Reflections

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Nazarenes received the precepts of their creed From the participants in the congregations: Ten congregations the Nazarene scholars held and during which each accused the other of disbelief, and each cursed the other. The story of the Messiah before his emergence and after it till his Ascension, and what his followers met from the Jews and the emperors.

In mentioning their predication in their religion on the convened of the councils who accused each others of disbelief, and the receiving of the precepts of their religion according to their authority we herein mention how it all started, how did it proceeded, and how it ended, as if you (the readers) are an eye witness.

On the tongues of His prophets, God, praised be He, gave the glad tidings of the coming of the Messiah through Moses till the time of David and the succeeding prophets . The prophet who foretold his coming the most was David, and the Jews were waiting for him to come, and they believed in him before his emergence. When he earn

they disbelieved him out of outrage and jealousy. They drove him away, a vagrant in the lands, expelled him , and attempted to kill him many a time till they conspired to capture him and to kill him one and for all. But God safeguarded him and rescued him from the hands . He forbade his humiliation on their hands, and it appeared to them that they captured him; but they did not as the Most High said:

“and for their denial and outrageous accusation against Mary, and for boasting, “We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.” But they neither killed nor crucified him—it was only made to appear so.1 Even those who argue for this ˹crucifixion˺ are in doubt. They have no knowledge whatsoever—only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him.” (al-Nisaa’ : 156- 157-)

There has been some differences in the interpretation of the meaning of His saying:

“So it was made to appear to them“ (al-Nasaa’: 157)

This verse- it is said – bears the meaning that his crucifiers mistook someone else to his likeness for him without realizing their mistake and without knowing (later on) that he was neither killed nor crucified. But when his enemies said that they killed him and crucified him, and their saying coincided with his Ascension from earth , the confusion held ground and the Nazarenes were duped into believing their enemies’ allegations. As such, they acquired another edge in ignominy. No matter what, the Messiah, praise of God and His peace be upon him, was neither killed nor crucified without any shadow of doubt.

After his Ascension, the disciples dispersed in the lands bent on his religion and teachings: calling upon the nations to believe in the Oneness of God, in His Messiah. Between an overt embracer and a covert believer, many people adopted his religion while the enemies of God- the Jews- were inflicting on his companions and followers

untold harm and mischief. At the hands of the Jews and the Romaeans, the disciples and the followers of the Messiah suffered enormously and excruciatingly from being killed and tortured, expelled and imprisoned , and from many other infliction. In the time of the Messiah, the Jews were under the protection of the Romaeans: their overlords . The King’s deputy in Jerusalem wrote to his king informing him about the Messiah and his disciples, about the many miracles he performs from curing the born-blind and the leper to calling the dead into life. He (the king) was on the verge of believing in him and of embracing his religion; but his companions disagreed with him . Then the king died and his successor fell hard on the disciples of the Messiah . Then he died and a success or followed. During his time, Mark wrote his Gospel in Hebrew and traveled to Alexandria calling upon the people to believe in the Messiah. He was the first person to be appointed a patriarch to Alexandria , and he brought around him twelve clergymen in the tradition of the twelve chieftains of the people of Israel during the time of Moses . He commanded them that when the patriarch dies to choose another

from among themselves, and they (the twelve of them) are to bless him by putting their hands on his head. Then they are to choose a righteous man, anoint him a priest, and keep their number to twelve.

This tradition was kept till the time of Constantine where it was stopped, and they agreed on appointing the patriarch from the clergymen of any country and on calling him the «pope» which means the ” father of the fathers “. Then Mark took the road to

Barqah preaching the religion of the Messiah. Then another king took over and waged an onslaught against the followers of the Messiah. He inflicted on them all sorts of pain and torture, and in his time, Peter, the head of the disciples, wrote Mark’s Gospel in Romaean on his authority and attributed it to Mark. During his time, Luke wrote his Gospel in Romaean to a great nobleman from Romaea . He wrote the «Eberaksis» for him which narrates the stories of the disciples, and in his time Peter was crucified. It is alleged that Peter asked him (the king):

«If you want to crucify me, crucify me lying down lest I would not be like my Master who was crucified in the upright position.»

Peter’s head was cut off from the neck twenty two years after the Ascension of the Messiah. Mark sojourned in Alexandria and Barqah for seven years calling upon the people to believe in the Messiah. He was killed in Alexandria and his body was burnt. In this manner, the emperors, the kings of the Romaeans continued (their onslaught against the Nazarenes) till the king of Egypt, called Titis, destroyed Jerusalem seventy years after the Messiah, after he surrounded it and inflicted a great famine on its people . He killed all males and females to the point that they (his soldiers) split-opened the bellies of pregnant women and bashed their children by tossing them against the rocks. He ransacked the city, put it on fire, and counted the dead afterward. They counted three thousands thousand (three million) . Other kings came to succeed. One of them was particularly stern with the Jews. They brought news for him that the Nazarenes are saying that the Messiah is their king and his king who will stay till the end of time. The king was enraged. He gave orders to kill all the Nazarenes to the last one of them in his kingdom . John, the writer of the Gospel by his name, was there : he ran away. Then the king had a change of heart. He ordered hospitable treatment for them and stopped standing in their way . Another king came to succeed . He inflicted great misery on the Nazarenes . He killed the patriarch of Antioch in Romaea. He also killed the bishop of Jerusalem who was a hundred and twenty years old, and he crucified him . He gave orders to crucify the Nazarenes and they suffered dearly till the Romaeans decided to have mercy on them . His ministers told him that the Nazarenes have a religion and a sharia and that it is unlawful to enslave them. They asked him to let them go. During the reign of this king, John wrote his Gospel in Romaean,and at that time the Jews returned to Jerusalem . When they became numerous and the city became overcrowded with them , they intended to install a king from among themselves. When the news

reached Caesar, he sent against them an army, and a countless number of them was killed. Then another king succeeded and the people reverted to idolatry . He killed many of the Nazarenes, then his son succeeded him and during whose time the Jews were massacred in Jerusalem, the city was destroyed, and the Jews ran away to Egypt, to al- Shaam (Syria), to the mountains, and to the Jordan valley . They dispersed on the surface of the earth . The king gave orders not to let a single Jew live in the city without being killed and eradicated, and to let the Greek inhabit the city. Jerusalem became full of Greek nationals and the Nazarenes living in their custody (Zimmah) . The Greek saw the Nazarenes frequenting a rubbish tip place in the city to pray in. They prohibited them and built a temple on the site which they called al-Zahra. Never again the Nazarenes were allowed to come close to this site. Then the king died and was succeeded by another who installed a Jew an archbishop of Jerusalem . Ibn al-Batreeq said:

« From Jacob , the first archbishop of Jerusalem, to Judas (Yehuda), the archbishop appointed by the king, all the archbishops of Jerusalem were circumcised.»

Then another king succeeded . He wreaked havoc and waged war against the Nazarenes . In his time, a severe drought struck the people and brought them to the verge of annihilation. They asked the Nazarenes to supplicate to their God, the Nazarenes did, and rain fell and the drought and the disease ceased. Ibn al-Batreeq said:

«And in his time, the patriarch of Alexandria wrote to the archbishop of Jerusalem , to the patriarch of Antioch, and to the patriarch of Romaea, a letter about the Easter (Passover) of the Nazarenes and their fasting and how it can be traced back to the Pass-over of the Jews.»

They wrote books about it which are still the same to the present time. He said:

«This is because , after the Ascension of the Messiah, when the nazarenes celebrate the fete of Epiphany (Eid al-Ghattas) , they next **missing text ** Messiah, because when he went to Jordan, he stayed in the wilderness forty days.»

The Nazarenes used to follow the Jews in celebrating the Passover. Those patriarchs took account of the Pass-over to be their fast breaking. The Messiah used to celebrate the occasion with the Jews, and his companions kept following his lead till they innovated a fasting change and they stopped fasting after the feast of Epiphany. They moved the day of their fasting in a way that their feast does not coincide with that of the Jews. Then this king died and was succeeded by another, and in his time was Julianus, and the Persians rose to power and conquered Babylon , Amid, and Faris (Persia) . And

Azdashir bin Babek ruled over Asdtakhar. He was the first king to rule over Faris (Persia) in the second period. Then Caesar died and another succeeded , then another who was heavy-handed on the Nazarenes . He inflicted great pain on them and killed many of them. He killed every scholar among them, then he expanded his killing campaign to the Nazarenes living in Egypt and Alexandria. He destroyed the churches and built in Alexandria a temple he named: «The Temple of the God» . Then another Caesar succeeded him, then another in whose time the Nazarenes lived quietly and in

peace. His mother used to love the Nazarenes. Then another succeeded him and inflicted on the Nazarenes untold calamities and killed many of them . And the people took up idolatry . He killed many of the bishops, and he killed the patriarch of Antioch. When the patriarch of Jerusalem heard about him being killed, he ran away, abandoned the chair, then died. Another king succeeded him, then another . In his time, Mani the liar appeared and claimed himself a prophet. He had many tricks and intrigues in his sleeve. Bihram, the king of the Persians, arrested him and split him into two halves. He

arrested two hundred o f his followers and infixed their heads in the mud till they died . Then Phillip succeeded him. He believed in the Messiah; but some of his army leaders jumped at him and killed him. Then Dariqios, also called Daqnianos, succeeded him . He inflicted on the Nazarenes untold calamities and killed a countless number. He killed the patriarch of Romaea, built a great temple, erected idols inside it, and commanded the people to prostrate before them and offer them sacrifices, and he who dared disobey was killed. As a result, many of the Nazarenes were killed and crucified at the temple. From among the children of the leaders of the city, he took seven lads and made them his own, and endeared them above all his household . They did not prostrate before the idols . When the news reached the king, he imprisoned them then he freed them . He visited one of his resorts and the lads took all of their money and gave it in charity. Then they went to a big cave in a mountain and hid inside it. God caused them to sleep, they slept like dead. The king commanded them to have the cave entrance blocked so that they would die inside it. One of the army leaders took a sheet of copper and engraved on it their names and their story with Daqianos, put the sheet in a copper box, buried it inside the cave and then blocked the cave entrance. Then the king died.

Paul was the first to innovate the Lahoot (divine nature) and the Nasoot (human nature) natures of the Messiah.

Then another Caesar succeeded him. In his time, he appointed a patriarch to Antioch called Paul the Damascene (al-Shami), and he is the first to have innovated the idea of the Lahoot (Divinity) and the Nasoot (human nature) of the Messiah . Before him, the Nazarenes unanimously believed that the Messiah was a servant of God , a messenger, created, made, and lorded. No two persons among them believed otherwise. Paul, the first to have corrupted the religion of the Nazarenes, said that:

«Our Master, the Messiah, is born from the Lahoot (Divine substance) as a human being like one o f us in his essence,» that the beginning of the son is from Mary, that he was chosen to be the most perfect example of the human essence, and that he was endowed by the company of the divine bliss, love dwelled in him as well as the will, and for this reason he was called «son of God». He also said that God is one essence and one person.

The First Council

Sa’eed bin al-Batreeq said:

«And after his death, thirteen bishops convened in the city of Antioch and looked into Paul’s statement. They necessitated damnation upon him. They damned him and damned everyone who adopted his novelty. Then they went off.»

Then another Caesar succeeded him, during whose time the Nazarenes prayed in mattamores (underground granaries) and indoors out of fear from the Romaeans. The patriarch of Alexandria showed no fear of being killed . He kept showing consideration to the Romaean’s till he built a church in Alexandria. Then Caesar succeeded, two of them ruled over the Romaeans for twenty one years. They inflicted great calamities and terrible pain and killing beyond description on the Nazarenes . They raped women, extorted money, and massacred many thousands of the Nazarenes. They tortured saint Gregori us (Girgis) with all kinds of torturing means and then killed him . In their time, the patriarch of Alexandria was beheaded. He had two disciples. In his time, Arius used to say:

«The Father is God alone , One and Eternal , and the son is created and made. The Father was existent when the son was not.»

Peter said to his two disciples :

«The Messiah damned Arius, beware of accepting his saying.

I saw the Messiah in my dream wearing a split gown. I said:

O Master ! Who split your gown!? . He said : Arius , beware of accepting him to enter the church with you.»

Five years after the killing of Peter, one of his two disciples became the patriarch of Alexandria . He dwelled therein for six months, then he died . After what happened to Arius, it seems that he changed his mind and this patriarch accepted him in the church and made him a bishop . Then another Caesar succeeded. He chased the Nazarenes and killed them . God poured vengeance on him and he perished ignominiously. Then two Caesars came after him. One of them was the king of al-Shaam (Syria) , the land of the Romaeans, and some of the East; and the other was the king of Romaea and its environs . They both were like two hungry lions against the Nazarenes. The extent of killing, capture, and expulsion they inflicted on them and never been committed by any king before. Constantine, (the father of Constantine) was a king with them. He was a religious man who hated idols and liked the Nazarenes. He took off to the side of the island of Rouha. He arrived in one of Rouha’s villages and saw a beautiful woman called Helena who had embraced the Nazarene religion at the hand of the bishop of Rouha, and learnt how to read the Books . He asked her father to give her in marriage to him and they got married . She bore Constantine who grew up in Rouha and learnt the wisdom of the Greeks. He had a nice looking face, was little inclined to evil doing, and was fond of learning and philosophy. At the time, Alianus, the king of the Romaeans, was a wicked man, merciless, an avowed abhorrer to the Nazarenes, a persistent killer to them, and a womaniser. He and his companions did not spare a beautiful girl without raping her. The Nazarenes were exerting strenuous efforts against him . The news about Constantine being a quiet lad , peace loving, fond of learning, reached him. The fortune tellers and the priests told him that he is going to be a great king. He plotted to kill him . Constantine fled away from Rouha and joined his father. The succession to the throne turned to him. Then his father died . God flooded Alianus with all kinds of afflictions to the point that the people were bamboozled by what befell him, and even his enemies empathised with him . Alianus returned to himself thinking: perhaps what befell me is because of my transgressions at the Nazarenes?!. He wrote to all of his deputies to release the Nazarenes from jails, treat them kindly and generously, and ask them to pray for him. God bestowed well-being upon him and he became in a position of health , vigour, and strength better than what he was before . When he regained his health and strength, he switched to worse than what he had been before . He wrote to his deputies to kill the Nazarenes and not let any of them live in any of his cities or villages. The dead were carried in a hurry and were thrown in the sea and in the deserts . As for the other Caesar who was with him, he too was heavy-handed on the Nazarenes. He enslaved those who were in Romaea, plundered their wealth and killed their men, women and boys.

Constantine: the first to have devised the sign of the Cross.

When the people of Romaea heard about Constantine being a hater to evil and a lover to good, and that the people of his kingdom were living with him in safety and peace, their leaders wrote to him asking him to deliver them from the slavery of their king . When he read their letters he was stricken with grief and sorrow, and felt hesitant about what to do. Sa’eed al-Batreeq said that according to the Nazarenes’ allegation, a cross from a planet appeared to him in the sky in the middle of daytime with a writing around it reading: «With this y o u conquer» . He asked his companions if they s a w what he saw. They replied, «yes» . Thereupon, he embraced the Nazarenes religion. He readied himself to fight the above-mentioned Caesar. He had a big cross made for him moulded of gold, and had it put in the front array of the army. Then he set out with his army and conquered Caesar. He killed a great number of Caesar’s soldiers, and Caesar

fled away with what was left of his companions. The people of Romaea received Constantine with a wreath made of gold and with all kinds of festivities, entertainment and play. They were very happy indeed . When he entered the city, he treated the

Nazarenes with generosity and dignity and had them return to their countries after having been exiled and banished . The people of Romaea held a seven-day long fete feasting for the king and the Cross. When the news reached Alianus, he mustered his soldiers and readied himself to fight Constantine. When the eye met the eye, they were defeated and their swords confiscated. Alianus escaped and kept running away, hiding himself from one village to the other till he reached his country. He summoned his magicians, priests, and fortune tellers whom he endeared and trusted and beheaded them lest they face captives in the hand of Constantine. He passed his orders to buy churches and set up a land tax office in every town to finance the building process. He embraced the Nazarene religion and built a reputation for his staunch religious zeal . Fifteen years later they disputed the matter of the Messiah with the Nazarenes; they were confused . He ordered a council to be held in the city of Nicea when the Trust (confession of faith) was held after this council – as I shall explain later on – . Arius wanted to participate but the patriarch. Alexandria forbade him saying that Peter told them that God damned Arius and enjoined them not to accept him in the church. There was in Asyoot a bishop who used to preach on the same line as Arius. The patriarch of Alexandria damned him too . And there was great temple in Alexandria named after Saturn, and inside it there was a copper statue called «Michael» and the people of Egypt used to hold a great fete for this statue on the twelfth of each month of Ha*(November) offering it many sacrifices . When the Nazarene religion gained supremacy in Alexandria, its patriarch wanted to break the statue and abolish the sacrifices; but the people of Alexandria stopped in his face. He came up with a subterfuge, he said :

«It would be worthier to make this feast for God , for this state cannot benefit or harm you . »

They responded to him . He broke the statue , made out of it the cross, and named the temple «the Church of Michael» . When the patriarch of Alexandria prohibited Arius from entering the church Arius and two bishops set out against him. He appealed to Constantine for help. Arius contended that he had aggressed against him and kicked him out of the church unjustly . The king summoned the patriarch of Alexandria to debate with Arius in front of him and Constantine sent a messenger to Alexandria who brought the patriarch with him, and both, the patriarch and Arius, held a debate and Constantine said to Arius:

* «Explain your point of view»

He created the son and he became a word to Him; but still made and create the heavens, the earth, and what is in between them, as he says in the Bible:

(He granted me authority over the heaven and the earth)

As such, he became their creator through the power granted to him. Then the word became incarnated from the Virgin Mary and from the Holy Spirit. Thus, this entity became a one Messiah. The Messiah now is two persons : a word and a body, both are totally created.»

The patriarch of Alexandria replied saying:

«tell us now who is the one we should worship in your opinion: the one who created us or the one who did not!?»

«The One who created us» said Arius.

«If your Creator is the son as you said , and the son is created, then worshipping the created is worthier than worshipping the Father who is the Creator. On the contrary, worshipping the Father who created the son becomes a disbelief and worshipping the created son becomes belief, and this is one of the most blasphemous sayings» said the patriarch.

The king and all the attendees appreciated the patriarch’s argument and abhorred Arius. Many other matters were also debated with them. Constantine ordered the patriarch to declare Arius and all who adhere to his viewpoints disbelievers. The  patriarch suggested this declaration to be delivered in the presence of the rest of the patriarchs and bishops in a council where a case can be made against Arius and where he would be declared a disbeliever and where the patriarch can explain the religion to the people and make it clear.

The Second Council

Where the wording of the Trust ( Confession of faith ) was formulated .

Constantine the king sent messengers to all the countries summoning the patriarchs and the bishops. After one year and two months, two thousand and eight hundred bishops gathered in the city of Nicea. They were of different opinions and denominations. some

of them were on the belief that the Messiah and Mary are two gods apart from God, and these are the «Meriamists» . Some were of the belief that the substance of the Messiah was from the same substance of God like a flame of fire hanging to a flame of fire where no diminution happens to the former because it is kindling the latter.

Some of them said that Mary did not conceive for nine months, but light passed inside her abdomen like water passes through a spool because the word of God entered her ear and went out from the place where a child is born, and he was born there and then , and this is the saying of al-Baad and his followers. Some were on the belief that the Messiah was a human being born from divine substance ( Lahoot) like one of the human race in his essence, and that the beginning of the son started from Mary, and that he was chosen to be sincere to the human essence accompanied by the divine blessing that dwelled in him through love and willingness, and that is why he was call

«the son of God» . They also said that God is one essence and one entity. They give Him three names , they do not believe in the «Worship» nor in the Holy Spirit, and this is the saying of Paul and his followers. Some of them were in the belief of three gods : good and bad, but just among each other , and this is the saying of Marqioon and His followers . Some said that the Messiah is «our Lord» and this was the belief of three hundred and eighteen bishops. Ibn al-Batreeq said:

«When Constantine heard their points of view he was quite bamboozled . He hosted them in a house and treated them with respect and generosity. He ordered them to discuss the matter among each other to see who among them is right so that he can adopt the viewpoint. »

Three hundreds and eighteen bishops among them agreed on other religions and one viewpoint, and they argued against the rest and were over them where the rest of the bishops were of different viewpoints and denominations . The king held a great council to the three hundred and eighteen bishops. He sat in the middle of the council, took off his ring, his sword, and his sceptre, and gave them to the Bishops. He said:

«Today I give you authority over the kingdom . Do whatever you think needs to be done for the cause of the religion and the uprightness of the nation .»

They blessed him, decorated him with his sword and said to him:

«Declare the Nazarenes religion and defend it.»

They prepared for him forty epistles containing precepts and legislation suitable for them and for the king to implement. The three leaders of the council were the patriarch of Alexandria, the patriarch of Antioch, and the bishop of Jerusalem . The patriarch of Romania sent two men- on his behalf and all agreed on damn-ing Arius and ** missing texts **  (the wording of the confession of the belief) and said that the son is born from the Father before the Creation had taken place and that the son is from the nature of Father that is not creaked and agreed on the Nazarene Easter to be on a Sunday after the Jewish Easter (Passover) and that the Jewish Easter is never to be on the same day as

theirs. They prohibited marriage for the bishops although, since the time of the disciples up to the «Three hundreds and eighteen bishops Council» all bishops had wives. The custom was that when a person was appointed a bishop and he was married , his wife had to stay married to him for good . The patriarchs were exceptions: they had no wives, and no married man could become a patriarch.

Then al-Batreeq continued- they (the Council participants) went off generously treated and well looked after. This took place when Constantine the king had already been on the throne for seventeen years . He ruled three years afterwards, and during the first of these years, he pulled down the idols, had them smashed , and killed the idolaters. In the second year he gave orders not to have in the dewan (service) any children other than the Nazarenes and princeship and leadership be given to them . In the third year he established the celebration of Easter Friday and made the following Friday a public

holiday during which war was forbidden . Constantine went before the bishop of Jerusalem to restore the site of the Tomb and the Cross, and to build churches . He started the building of the Church of Resurrection. Helena, his mother, said :

«I have vowed to walk to Jerusalem, reach the Holy Sites and build them.»

The king gave her a huge amount of money. She walked with the bishop of Jerusalem and built the Church of the Resurrection on the site of the Cross. She also built the church of Constantine.

After that, they held a great council in Jerusalem . With them there was a man whom the patriarch of Constantinople stealthily let in with a group of people to debate the patriarch of Alexandria . When this man returned to the king, he appeared to be on a different line to Arius where he used to be on the same opinion as Arius and a supporter of his saying. This man stood up and said that Arius did not say that the Messiah was a created man, but he said that through him things were created because he is the Word of God through which the heavens and the earth were created, and that God created all things through His Word and things did not create His Word as the Messiah said in the Bible:

«Through His hand everything was created, and without Him nothing can be.»

He also said that because of Him there was life, and life is the light of the people, and that because of Him the world existed, «He told us that because of Him things came to existence .»

lbn al-Batreeq said that this was the saying of Arius, but the three hundreds and eighteen bishops aggressed against him and altered his saying wrongfully and intentionally. The patriarch of Alexandria replied to him saying:

«The three hundred and eighteen bishops did not lie about Arius, neither did they wrong him, because he did say that the son was the Creator of all things without the Father. And if all things were created through the son without the Father being a creator, it means that He did not create a single thing, and this would be a falsification

to his saying:

The Father creates, and I create.

He also said:

If l do not do my Father’s doing, do not believe me.

He also said:

As the Father brings to life whom He wills or causes him to die, so does the son: he brings to life whom he wills and causes him to die.

This indicates that he does give life and cause to die.

This refutes the allegation that he is not a creator. As for your saying that things were made through him; since we said that the Messiah is undoubtedly alive and acting , and this is indicated through his saying: ” I make the creation and life, “your saying that through him things were made comes to mean that he created them and thus they were created through him . Had the matter been different, both sayings would be contradictory. As for the saying of some of Arius’ companions that the Father wills the things and the son creates them , and that the will is the Father’s and the act of creation is the son’s . This concept lends itself to contradiction if we still want to believe that the son is created be God . As such, the fortune of the created in the act of creation is more than the fortune of the Creator Himself, because one willed and the other executed His will, and the other willed but he did not execute his will; so the former is more fortunate than the latter . It becomes mandatory that the action of one of them is a response to the will of the other on the same line as every acting agent among the created people does what the Creator ordained him to do . And His judgement would be reflected in the way He judges the good and the choice . If he has a choice he could be obeyed or disobeyed, he could be rewarded or chastised, and this is more abominable when it is said.»

He also replied to him saying:

«If the Creator was to create His creation through a created agent, given that the created agent is without any shadow of doubt not the Creator, then you would have alleged that the Creator acts through an agent other than Himself, that is He needs someone else to complete His action, for He could not act without this agent, and the one needing the other is an indicator of imperfection; but the creator is High above all of that.»

He (al-Batreeq) said that when the patriarch of Alexandria refuted the arguments of the deviators and exposed their invalidity, they (the deviators) were embarrassed and ashamed . They conspired against the patriarch of Alexandria and beat him to the point that he almost lost his life. Constantine’s maternal nephew rescued him from their hands. The patriarch of Alexandria fled to Jerusalem accompanied by none of the bishops . He consecrated oil (chrism ) , and allowed the churches , and anointed them with the chrism . He then went to see the king and told him about what happened to him; but the king sent him back to Alexandria. Ibn al-Batreeq said:

«The king gave orders that no Jewis to live in Jerusalem, no inequity is to be tolerated , and he who does not embrace the Nazarenes religion is to be killed.»

The Nazarene religion flourished and some of the Jews converted to Christianity. It was said to the king that the Jews were converting out of fear of being killed , but at heart they were still on their religion. The king said:

* How can we make sure of that?

Paul the patriarch then said:

* The consumption of pork in the Torah is unlawful , and the jews do not eat pork. Give orders to have pigs slaughtered , their meat cooked and offered for food. Those who do not eat from it are then known to be still of the religion of the Jews.

The king said:

* If pork in the Torah is unlawful to eat how can we make it lawful for us to eat and give to others for food?

Paul said to him:

* Our Master the Messiah abolished all that the Torah contains ** missing text **

It is mentioned in the Bible that all that enters the abdomen is not unlawful nor it is unclean, for that which makes man unclean is that which comes out of his mouth.

And Younus narrated that:

«Paul, the head of the disciples, while he was praying for six hours during the day, he fell asleep . He saw the sky split open and provision fell down from it and reached the earth . It contained all four-legged creatures on earth, from wild beasts to cattle and birds of the sky. He heard a voice saying to him:

«O paul! wake up, slaughter and eat.»

Paul said :

O Lord! I have never eaten anything unclean or defiled before!

He heard a second voice saying to him:

Eat all that God had purified, it is not unclean».

In another version it reads:

«That which God purified does not make it unclean» he heard the voice saying this to him three times , then the provision was lifted to the sky. Paul was surprised and he felt

confused . The king gave orders for the pigs to be slaughtered, their meat cooked, cut into small pieces, and be served at the doors of churches on Easter Sunday all over the Kingdom, and where every person when coming out of the church be given a mouthful of the pig meat. He who refused to eat was killed, and many were killed.

Then Constantine died. His oldest son – also called Constantinesucceeded him . During his days the companions of Arius and their followers met with him. They made their beliefs and sayings sound acceptable. They said that the three hundreds and eighteen bishops who met in Nicea had erred and had deviated from the truth in their saying that the son and the Father are of the same essence. He gave orders that this statement is wrong and is never to be uttered again, and the king meant it. The bishop of Jerusalem wrote to the king not to accept the saying of Arius’ companions, because they are deviators from the truth and, disbelievers, and that three hundred and eighteen

bishops damned them and everyone who follows their lead. The king accepted the bishop’s saying. Ibn al-Batreeq said that at that time, Arius’ saying was carried over to Constantinople , Antioch , and Alexandria . In the second year of Constantine ‘s reign , an Ariusan became the patriarch of Antioch and was succeeded by another Ariusan .. He (ibn al-Batreeq) continued saying that as for the people of Egypt and Alexandria, who were in their majority Ariusan and Manian (Ma nicheans) , they overpowered the churches and took them. They pounced on the patriarch of Alexandria to kill him ; but he ran away and hid himself. Then a group of patriarchs and bishops from the Nazarene denominations mentioned to each other what happened to them, how each sect clung fanatically to its patriarch till they killed each other. The Nazarenes differed from each other to a great extent. Their disagreements increased so did their councils ,

where in each council they engaged in cursing each other . Here we mention some of their councils after the aforementioned two.

The Third Council

Fifty years after the date of the first council in Nicea, the ministers and the leaders convened with the king in a third council. They debated that the belief of the people has been corrupted and overcome by the teaching of Arius and Macedonius (Maqdonius) .

They asked the king to write to all the bishops and the patriarchs summoning them to convene and clarify the Nazarene Religion. The king wrote to all the concerned people in his kingdom, and a hundred and fifty bishops convened in Constantinople. They looked in depth into Arius saying and found out that it states that the Holy Spirit is

made and created and that the Messiah is not a god. The patriarch of Alexandria said :

«In our belief the Holy Spirit is not different from the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is but His life . If we say that the Spirit of God is created, it would be as if we say that His life is created . And if we say His life is created, we would have made Him not alive and this is a disbelief in Him . »

All the participants damned anyone who adopts Arius’ saying. They also damned some of their bishops and patriarchs who were propagating different concepts unacceptable to them . They pointed out that the Holy Spirit is a creator and not created, a god from a true god, from the nature of the Father and the son, one essence, and one nature . They added to the text of the Trust coined by the three hundreds and eighteen bishops the phrases that:

«We believe in the Holy Spirit, the life giving Lord , who is from the Father , who exists with the Father and the son , who is worshipped and adored.»

Where the original text of the Trust stated they Holy Spirit only. They pointed out that the son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are three persons, three faces, and three characteristics, and that they are one in a trinity and a trinity in one, and that the body of the Messiah i s a speaking, rational soul. This council was concluded after they

had damned many of their bishops and people.

The Fourth Council

Fifty one years later, they had another council about Nestorius. Nestorius taught that the Virgin is not the mother of God for real, and that is why they are two : one of them is God who exists from the Father, and the other is a human being and he exists from Mary. And this human being whom we call the Messiah is unified with the son of God and he is addressed as a god and as a son of God; but he is not so in reality; it is because of the talent and the agreement of both names on the line of ennoblement and respect. Nestorius’ viewpoint reached the patriarchs far and between. They corresponded among one another and agreed to refute his viewpoint. Two hundred bishops among them convened in the city of Ephsus and they invited him for a debate . He deferred three times . They agreed to damn him and damn him they did, and they expelled him . They pointed out that Mary gave birth to a god and that the Messiah is a true god from a true god , a human being with two natures . When they damned Nestorius, the patriarch of Antioch stood up for him . He summoned the bishops and kept debating with them in the presence of the king till he cornered them . The heated argument flared into a big fight. They damned each other and the situation culminated to a nefarious

quarrel. The king intervened and reconciled them . Then the bishops wrote an attestation that the saint Mary gave birth to a god who is: «our Lord Jesus the Messiah who is coexistent with God in nature ( Lahoot) as well as with the people in human nature (Nasoot) . They declared two natures , one entity and one unity, and persisted

adamantly in damning Nestorius , and he ended up being expelled (excommunicated). He took off to Egypt where he dwelled for seven years and where he died and was buried . His belief died with him till ibn Sarma, the archbishop of Nassibeen revired it and spread it in the lands of the East where most of the present Nazarenes of the East

and Iraq are Nestorians . This fourth council was concluded with an unabated damnation on Nestorius , his followers, and on anybody who believes in his teaching a propos.

The Fifth Council

Then they had a fifth council concerning the teaching of a physician and a monk in Constantinople called Otisus who said that the body of the Messiah is not the same as our bodies in nature, and that the Messiah is of two natures before the incarnation, and of one nature afterward. He was the first to have innovated this saying which the Jacobites believe in. One of the bishops visited him , debated with him , cut through his viewpoint and refuted his argument. He then went to see the patriarch of Constantinople and he told him about the debate and his refutation . The patriarch of Constantinople summoned Otisus and held a great assembly and debated with him. Otisus said:

«If we say that the Messiah is of two natures then we would have followed the saying of Nesto rius . I say that the Messiah is of one nature , one entity , because he was of two natures before the Incarnation; but when he accepted being incarnated, the two natures

were dissolved and he became of one nature and one entity.»

The patriarch of Alexandria said to him:

«If the Messiah was of one nature, then the old nature is the recent nature , and if the old is recent than the standing up in the sitting down and the hot is the cold.»

Otisus refused to change his argument; the assembly damned him. He appealed to the king and alleged that they treated him wrongfully , and he asked him to write to all the patriarchs summoning them for a debate. The king summoned the patriarchs and the bishops from every corner of the lands to convene in the city of Ephsus. The patriarch of Alexandria backed up the saying of Otisus and overcame the patriarch of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and the rest of the patriarchs and the bishops . He wrote to the patriarch of Romaea and to the assembly of the priests. He forbade them and prevented them from the sacrifice offering if they did not accept Otisus’ saying. The Trust (the text of confession of the faith) became marred and the saying of Otisus became the belief in Egypt and Alexandria which is the Jacobites creed-. The fifth council was dissolved with each group cursing the other, forbidding its teaching, and distancing themselves from it. 

The Sixth council:

Then they held a sixth council in the city of Halqadoon. When the king died Marqion succeeded him . Bishops from all over the land convened with him complaining about the wrong- doing and the injustice of the previous council, and that the teachings of Otsius had overcome the people and corrupted the Nazarene religion. The king

summoned all the patriarchs and the archbishops and the bishops of Halqadoon. Six hundred and thirty bishops convened and looked into the saying of Otsius and the patriarch of Alexandria who had overcome them (in the fifth council) . They unanimously invalidated the teachings of both of them and damned them . Then they confirmed their declaration that the Messiah is a god and a human being in place of God in Lahoot and in place of us in human nature ( Nasoot) . And that he is defined by two natures perfect in divinity ( Lahoot) and perfect in human nature ( Nasoot) , and that he is one Messiah . They confirmed the sayings of the three hundred and eighteen bishops and accepted their sayings that the son is with God in place, a light from the light of a true god, from a true god. They damned Arius and said that the Holy Spirit is a god, and that the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are one of one nature and three

persons. They confirmed the conclusion of the third council which was held in the city of Ephsus: I mean the council of the two hundred bishops against Nestorius. And they said that the Virgin Mary gave birth to a god who is our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who is with God in nature and with human beings in nature. They declare that the Messiah had two natures and one entity . They damned Nestorius, the patriarch of Alexandria , the council of Ephsus , and the third council , the council of the two hundreds bishops held in Ephsus the first time. They damned Nestorius, and between Nestorius and the

council of Halqadoon twenty one years had passed. This council was concluded with the damnation of those that we have mentioned of their bishops and predecessors. They declared them disbelievers and distanced themselves from them and their sayings.

The Seventh council:

Then they held another council – the seventh council – during the reign of Anistas the king . It was that Saros the Constantinian adhered to the viewpoint of Otisus. He came to the king and said that the Halqadoonian council of the six hundred and thirty bishops had erred in damning otisus and the patriarch of Alexandria and that what these two had said is the true religion and that no religious teaching is accepted from anyone else. He asked the king to write to all of his deputies to damn the «six hundred and thirty» and to teach the people of the one nature, one will, and one entity belief. The king responded to his request. When the news reached Elia, the patriarch of Jerusalem, he gathered the monks and damned Anistas, the king, Saros, and all who adhere to their saying. The news reached the king; he expelled him to Aylat and appointed John a patriarch for Jerusalem , because John had guaranteed him to damn the Halqadoonian council of the six hundred and thirty. When he came to Jerusalem , the monks convened and admonished him not to accept Saros’ viewpoint and to defend the Halqadoonian council, and that they would stand by him. The news reached the king. He sent one of his leaders and commanded him to warn John to reject the account of the Halqadoonian council or else he will remove him from his seat. The leader ended up throwing John in jail. The monks visited him in jail and pointed out to him to accept the leader’s verdict; but when the leader came to visit him he damned those who damn the monks. Ten thousand monks convened with Madras, Saba and the heads of the monasteries. They damned otisus, Saros, Nestorius, and anyone who does not accept the conclusion of the Halqadoonian council. The king’s messenger got scared of the monks, and the news

reached the king. The king was on the verge of expelling John when the monks and the bishops convened and wrote to him that they do not accept neither Saros viewpoint nor anybody else ‘ s from among the deviators even if their blood was to be spilled. They asked him to hold back his harm to them . The patriarch of Romaea wrote to the king denigrating his deed and damning him . The council also dissolved with the participants cursing each other as we described.

Saros had a disciple called Jacob who believed in his mentor’s saying. He was called Jacob al-Baradee after whom the Jacobites are named. He corrupted the Trust of the Nazarenes. Then Anistas died and Constantine succeeded him. He gave amnesty to all the people Anistas the king had sent to exile. On the occasion, the monks gathered, showed the book of the king, and feasted sumptuously as they alleged. They backed up the Halqadoonian council of the six hundred and thirty bishops. Then another king succeeded where the Jacobites were the majority in Alexandria and had killed one of their patriarchs who was a Malakite. The king sent one of his leaders to Alexandria with a great army . He entered the church , disguised himself in the garment of the patriarch, and prayed . They threw stones at him to the point that he was about to die. He went away. After three days he told them that he had received the book of the king. He asked for the bells to toll, for the people to gather in the church on Sunday. No one in Alexandria stayed behind without coming over to hear the book (message) of the king. He arranged for a signal between him and his soldiers, when he makes it, they were to

turn their swords against the people. He went up to the pulpit and said :

« O people of Alexandria ! if you return to the truth and abandon the saying of the Jacobites, or think not that the king would not send to you agents to shed your blood.»

They threw stones at him and he feared for his life. He made the signal and his soldiers used their swords, killing everybody inside and outside the church . Countless numbers of people met a horrible death to the point that the soldiers floundered in the spilled blood. Many escaped, and the saying of the Malakite appeared.

The Eighth Council:

Afterward, they held the eighth council, one hundred and three years after the Halqadoonian council. It was held in Manbij , a town to the east of Halab (Aleppo) and close to it, to discuss the viewpoint of the bishop of Manj ab who believed in the transmigration of the souls: (Tanasukh), and disbelieved in the Resurrection. On the other hand, the bishop of Rooha, the bishop of al-Moosaysa, and another bishop were saying that the body of the Messiah is a phantom and it is not real . The king summoned them to Constantinople and its patriarch said to them:

«If his body is a phantom, then his deeds should be likewise, his sayings, and every seen body of anyone of the people: saying and deed, should be as such.»

He said to the bishop of Manbij :

«The Messiah has risen from the dead and told us that is how the people will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement. In his Bible he said:

«The Hour will not come to pass till all the people in the graves, when they hear the words of the son of God, answer to him.»

How could you say then that there is no Resurrection!»

He claimed him deserving disgrace and damnation, and the king assigned a council to keep on damning him . He summoned the patriarchs of the lands and one hundred and forty six bishops met. They condemned the bishop of M anbij and the bishop of Moosaysa and held onto the saying of the bishop of Rooha that the body of the Messiah is real and not a phantom, and that he is a perfect god and a perfect human being, known by two natures, two wills, two deeds , all in one entity. They backed up the previous four councils that were held after the Halqadoonian council and that the world is not lasting, the Resurrection will come to pass, the Messiah will bring about great glory , he will judge both the living and the dead as the three hundreds and eighteen bishops said.

Then Ninth council:

Then they held a ninth council during the days of Mou’a-weyah bin abi-Sufyan during which they threw mutual damnations at each other . It was held concerning a monk and a saint at the same time called Mooqasamas who had two disciples. He went to see Qasta the wali and he reprimanded him for the infamy, and the horridness of his belief. Qasta had Mooqaslamas’ hands and legs cut off and his tongue plucked out . He inflicted the same thing on one of his disciples and had the other one whipped and expelled . The news reached the king of Constantinople . He passed his concern to Qasta asking him to send him the most notable of his bishops to tell him about the argument and who started it so that he can dismantle all the saintly fathers and damn those who deserve damnation. He sent him one hundred and forty bishops and three deacons . When they arrived in Constantinople, the king joined them one hundred and sixty eight bishops o f his own, and the assembly added up to three hundred and eight. They exempted the three deacons from being present . The patriarch of Constantinople and the patriarch of Antioch headed this council where Jerusalem and Alexandria had no patriarchs . They damned the previous saints who differed in their viewpoints from them . They named them one by one and they were a group . They damned the believers in one will, then they sat together and recapitulated the straight Trust (as they alleged); they said:

«We believe that the One is from the Lahoot, the only son who is the Eternal and Everlasting word, equal to the Father the God in essence, who is our Lord Jesus the Messiah. He has two natures, two deeds, and two wills in one entity and one wholeness , defined as perfect in his divinity and perfect i n his human nature. I testify as the

Halqadoonian council testified before that in the last days, god the son was unified with the Virgin the lady Mary the Saint bodily, a human being with two souls, and this is done through the mercy of God Most High , Lover of the human race , and no mixing ,

corruption, disunity, or separation was incurred on him, but he is one acting like a human being acts in his nature and like God in His nature . He is the only son and the incarnate eternal word till it became in the flesh for real as the sacred Bible says, and without moving away from his place. It (the word) does not change, but it has two deeds, two wills, and two natures: divine and human in which the truth is manifested . And each one of these two natures works in partnership with the other as two non-antagonistic and independent wills. They work with human nature through the divine Omnipotent will.»

This is their testimony and the Trust o f the sixth council- the Halqadoonian council – . They confirmed what the previous five councils came up with, and they damned whom they damned. Between the fifth council and this council there passed one hundred years.

The Tenth Council:

Then they held a tenth council when the king died and his son succeeded him . The assembly of the sixth council met and alleged that their meeting was futile . The king summoned one hundred and thirty bishops who confirmed the conclusion statement of the sixth council and damned those who damned them and opposed them. They also confirmed the conclusion statements of the five councils, damned whom they damned, and then dispersed. These councils and their congregations became extinct, and these were the scholars of the Nazarenes and their predecessors, the transferors of the religion to the latter Nazarenes upon whose teachings the latter Nazarenes predicate . These ten famous councils comprised about fourteen thousand bishops, patriarchs, and monks, each accusing the other of disbelief, and each damning the other. Their religion was founded on damnation on the testimony of some of them, and each one of them is

a damner and a damned.

If the religion of the Nazarenes is exposed to a people Who had no previous knowledge of God, they would refuse To accept it.

This was the case of the predecessors with their closeness in time to the days of the Messiah, with the presence of their elite among them, with the state being theirs, the word being theirs, and where their scholars were in the best conditions they could be. This was the way they celebrated the foundation of their religion and reflected their concerns about it, as you (the reader) see. Then, with all of that, they were lost and disconcerted despite being divided between a damner and a damned, never sure of anything. No saying of theirs about their god can be taken for serious, for every one o f them adopted his whims as his god and voiced his damnation and self-acquittal against

those who followed a different opinion. What would one think about the scum of the predecessors, the trash of the bygone, the rubbish of the confused, and the off-spring of the Lost? The span of time they lived in as such is long and vast, and they diverted far away from the real religion. Their religion became the teachings of their monks (not

the teachings of God), and they became a people, if you go under the skin, you find them like livestocks, although they were in the shape of human beings. Rather they were as the Most High said, and who can ever be more truthful in his saying than God:

“Or thinkest thou that most of them listen or understand? they are only like cattle;- Nay, they are worse astray in path. “ (al-Foorqaan: 44)

These are the people whom God praised be He- meant in His saying:

“Say: O people of the Book!Exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by,- who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way.” (al-Ma’idah: 77)

By the testimony of God and His Messenger about them, they were the people of misguidance , and they were the people of damnation by their own testimony about themselves, damning one another?. God praised be He, damned them on the tongue of His Prophet in his saying (peace be upon him):

«Allah damned both the Jews and the Nazarenes , for they have taken the graves of their prophets’ worshipping places. Do not imitate them.»

This happened while the book was one, the Lord was one, the prophet was one, and the call was one. and all of them held tight to the Messiah, his Bible, and his disciples, and yet they differed about it in such an evident way. Some of them say he is a god, some say he is the son of God , some say he is one of three, some say he is but a servant of God, some say he is a divine person within the Trinity and that he is of the same nature, some say he is two elements within the Trinity, with two natures. And there are many other assumptions that their predecessors recounted. And everyone accuses his co-religionist o f disbelief. Had there been a people who never had a previous knowledge of a god and the Nazarenes showed them their religion as such, they would have held back and refused to accept it. Thus, when you compare between this and what the Seal of the Prophets and the messengers (peace be upon all of them) came with, you will know in a way beyond all doubt that the religion before God is Islam.

Faith in anyone of the prophets is not possible with the Repudiation of Muhammad’s prophet hood. The miracles of Muhammad are greater and more evincive.

It is not possible to believe in any of the prophets while repudiating the prophethood of Muhammad the Messenger of God (peace be upon him ). He who disbelieves the prophethood of Muhammad is even more disavowing to the prophethood of the other prophets, and this can be proved in more than one way:

The former prophets foretold his prophethood and ordained their peoples to believe in him . He who rejects his prophethood would have disbelieved the former prophets in their foretoken of his coming and would have disobeyed their ordainment and enjoinment to believe in him. And believing in him is one of the imperatives of

believing in them . When tμe imperative is rejected then the predicates connected to it are categorically rejected . But the validity of these predicates is manifest from the many proofs produced previously and which sustain totally and categorically that he (peace be upon him) is a prophet mentioned in the Divine Books on the tongues of the prophets. When the predicate is confirmed, one cannot invalidate the imperative without invalidating the predication.]

The call of Muhammad bin Abdullah (peace be upon him) is the same call of all the messengers before him, from the first to the last. The disbeliever in his call is a disbeliever in the call of all of his brethren (in prophethood), for all the messengers came with the same message he came with. When a disbeliever belies him, he would have alleged that what he came with is a falsehood and thus it is a disbelief in every messenger God had sent, and in every Book God had sent down. It is not possible to hold the belief that what he came with is true and , at the same time , alleging that he is an impostor prevaricating against God while the whole matter ( of his authentic prophethood) is crystal clear . This would be at the same level of a group of witnesses who had testified to the truth of a matter and their opponents believed them and testified to their truthfulness, and, when another group o f people confirmed their truthfulness, the opponents accuse them of falsehood and that what they had testified

to never existed. This would be an invalidation by the testimony of all the witnesses without any exception. The acknowledgement of the validity of the testimony and its truthfulness with the saying that the witness is lying does not acquit the sayer from prevarication. As the case would have been if Muhammad (peace be upon h im) had not emerged, then all the prophethoods and prophecies of the former prophets would have been null and void . Thus , if he is not believed in, then none of the former prophets is believed in.

The signs and the evidence that indicated the authenticity of his prophethood and his truthfulness are many times more than the signs of the former prophets . No prophet had a sing that necessitated the belief in him other than Muhammad (p eace b e up o n h im ) This includes any sign similar to his or similar in its indications to his, or of the same kind. The signs of his prophethood are greater, more overwhelming and more significant, and the description of his prophethood through a chain of many uninterrupted authorities , proximal in time , of different countries and periods, and the impossibility of their collusion to lie, provides a definitive proof. The ascriptive knowledge of the signs of his prophethood is as certain as the knowledge of his existence, emergence, and country, leaving no place for haughtiness to doubt it. And the haughty person against accepting it is indeed audacious and slanderous . It would be like a haughty person who refuses to believe what the majority of the people had seen of lands, provinces , mountains and rivers, because he had not seen them himself. If such an aspersion is permissible, then a similar aspersion in the existence o f Jesus, M o ses, and the signs of their prophethood is even more permissible. If such a slanderous discrediting of them and the signs of their prophethood is strictly intolerable, then non-tolerance against anyone discrediting Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the signs of his prophethood should be stricter. For this reason, when the people of the Book knew that faith in M oses can never be completed while discrediting Muhammad, they disbelieved the whole lot and said:

“No just estimate of God do they make when they say: nothing doth God send down to man (by way of revelation) say: who then sent down the Book which Moses brought?- A light and guidance to man, but ye make it into (Separate) sheets for show, while ye conceal much (of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye know not- neither ye nor your fathers, Say: God (sent it down) then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. “ (al-Anaam : 91 )

Sa’eed bin Jubayr said:

«A Jewish man called Malik bin Alsaif came arguing with the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him:

I adjure you by the One who sent down the Torah upon Moses, do not you find in the Torah that Allah dislikes a fat man of religion!

He was a fat rabbi. The enemy of Allah got angry, and he said:

By God! God did not send down anything upon anyone

His companions who were with him said:

Woe unto you! not even Moses!

He said:

By God ! God did not send down anything upon any human being.

Thereupon, Allah, Most Exalted in Power, Most Sublime, sent down the verses (above-mentioned).

The following is a statement from Ikrima:

«Muhammad bin Ka’b said :

Some people of the Jewish community came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) while he was sitting with his legs drawn up and wrapped in his garment. They said:

(O aba-1-Qasim ! would not you bring us a Book from heavens like the Book of Moses, tablets carried by agents from God Most Exalted Most Sublime?)

Thereupon, Allah Most Exalted Most Sublime sent down the following verses:

“The people of the Book ask thee to cause a book to descend to them from heaven: indeed they asked Moses for an even greater (Miracle)” (al-Nisaa’ : 153)

A man from the Jewish community came and said :

God did not send down anything neither upon you nor upon Moses or Jesus or anyone . God did not send down anything upon anyone. God did not send down anything upon a human being.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) changed his posture and said:

Upon no one?!»

Some of them said that this verse was sent down describing the disbelievers of Quraysh for it is they who repudiated the origin of the message and belied the messengers . The people of the Book repudiated neither the prophethood of Moses nor that of Jesus, and

this is the viewpoint of lbn Jaryr; he said:

«This saying is more deserving of correctness than any other, but because it is told in the course of telling about them, it looks as if it is describing them (the Jews) although there is no account that connects it with them . The content of this account including whom God intended to mention in this verse, or the actual identity of the person who denied that God had ever sent down a Book on a human being; it does not reflect what the Jews believe in . It is well known that Judaism upholds the Books of Abraham and Moses and the psalms of David . As such, the telling from the beginning of the verse to this point is a telling about the disbelieving pagans. As for His saying:

“No Just estimate of God do they make.” (al-An’aam: 91)

It is connected to it and not disconnected from it, confirming his saying. I said that this sura was sent down in Makkah and it describes the Arab unbelievers, the deniers to the very origin of the prophethood. However the question remains to be asked: how can one convince them with what they deny, namely the Book that was sent down on Moses? Also how could it be said to them:

“But ye make it into (Separate) sheets for show while ye conceal much (of its contents):” (al-An’aam: 91)

It sounds like this especially when it is read in the second person case. Could this be describing any people other than the Jews? They used to conceal anything in the Book that did not suit their whims and purposes, and disclose what is left. He protested at their partial revelation of the Book of Moses, then He reproached them for having betrayed God and His messengers in doing that . They concealed some of it and disclosed some, and this follows logically from mentioning their total repudiation to the prophethood, their concealment t o it with tight lips, to their repudiation to what they confirmed in their Book . This is a known and an undeniable disposition of theirs, for he who conceals some of the Book that he confirmed to be from God, it would not be hard for him to repudiate the root of the prophethood . Then he protested against them to have rejected that which they have known through revelation and that neither they nor their forefathers would have known otherwise through any means, other than the revelation that God sent down upon His prophets and messengers. He ( God ) ordained His messenger to answer to this question:

“Say: Who then sent down the Book which Moses brought?”(al-An’aam: 91)

He said: « God » that it is God who sent it down , that they disbelieved and repudiated it; believe you in it and attest to it, and:

“Then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifting. ”(al-An’aam: 91)

The best answer to this question would be as follows : that God praised be he-confuted them with what the people of both Books attest to considering the fact that they are the people of knowledge in religion before the nations who have no Book, that you (the deniers) have repudiated the origin of the prophethood by denying what God had sent down: that he did not send down anything upon a human being. Here is the Book of Moses which the people of the Book attest to and it is higher than you: ask them about it. Here is the Qur’an, it contains many similar accounts where God praised be He quotes the people of the Book as witnesses against the deniers of the prophet hoods and the partnerless Oneness of God (Tawheed) . The intended meaning is that if you deny that God had sent down upon a human being anything then who sent down the Book of Moses? If you do not know the answer, ask the people of the Book. As for His saying:

“But ye make it into (separate) sheets for show, while ye conceal much (of its contents):” (al-An’aam : 91)

When it is read in the third person case, it reflects a telling about the Jews in its absenteeistic connotation, and when it is read in the addressee mode, it would be addressing people of the same kind, and this is one of the landmarks of his prophethood: to have told the people of the Book of what they intended to do with their Books, and that they made them piles of papers, revealed some and concealed most of them . This can only be known, apart from themselves, by a revelation from God . And His saying : «but ye make it separate sheets» does not necessitate implying an address to those whom He gave an account about, those who said:

«God did not send down anything on a human being»£ but it is a logical consequence from the same thing to its equal, to its look alike, or to its attached aspect. The Quran contains many similar (linguistic) examples like:

“Man we did create from a quintessence (of clay); “(al-Muminoon: 12)

to the end of the verse. He goes on from the individual created from clay who is Adam- to the species created from the sperm- who are his off-spring . In one word, He used the pronoun to include all. Another example is His saying Most High:

“It is He who created you from a single person, and made his mate like nature, in order that he might dwell with her (in love). When they are united, she bears a light burden and carries it about (unnoticed). When she grows heavy, they both pray to God their Lord (saying): If thou givest us a goodly child. We know we shall (Ever) be grateful. * But when He giveth them a goodly child, they ascribe to others a share

in the gift they have received : but God is Exalted High above the partners they ascribe to Him. ,(al-A’raaf: 189- 190)

To the end of the verses. This is similar to His saying Most High:

“If thou wert to question them, who created the heavens and the earth? they would be sure to reply, they were created by (Him), the Exalted in Power, Full of Knowledge. * (Yea the same that) Has made for you the Earth (like a carpet Spread out, and has made for you roads (and channels) therein, in order that ye may find guidance (on the way); * That sends down (from time to time) rain from the sky in due measure; and we raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead) . * That has created pairs in all things, and has made for;you ships and cattle on which ye ride, * In order that ye may sit firm and square on their backs, and when so seated, ye may celebrate the (kind) favour of your Lord, and say, Glory to Him who has subjected these to our (use), for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves),” (al-Zakhruf: 9 – 13)

In both estimates, by denying the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and in their haughtiness against it, their repudiation and total denial became complete. They saw that if they attested to some of the prophet hoods and rejected his, their contradiction and separation between the analogous and the equal would show up, and that it would be impossible for them to believe in one prophethood and repudiate the prophethood of the Prophet which is more prominent and its verses are more in number and greater than the ones they attested to. God recounted that those who denied that he sent His Messenger and sent down His Books, did not give Him due reverence and that they undermined Him-praised be He Most Sublime. In doing so, there is a denial to His religion, His Godhood, His Dominion, His Wisdom, and His Mercy. Their belief that He created His creation in vain and to on avail is enough of a

wicked thought, and their allegation that He had left them ignored does not befit His Holy perfection, and He is above anything that does not befit His Absolute perfection. He who denies His words, His revelation, His sending of messengers to His creation, did not give Him His due veneration , did not know Him as He ought to be known, and did not glorify Him as He aught to be glorified . He who worships a partner besides Him did not give Him His due reverence, he is repudiating and undermining the attributes of His Absolute perfection and His Holy Names. He is repudiating His sending of His messengers, sending down His Books, and he is not glorifying Him as

He ought to be glorified.

Denying the prophet hood means the repudiation of the Creator, and an ignorance in knowing the facts. An account of what befell the philosophers, the Magians, The Nazarenes, and the Jews apropos.

For this reason, the repudiation of the prophethood of the Seal of His prophets and messengers, and of His sending down to His Books, and belying Him is actually a denial to the Lord Himself, Most High , and a rejection to His Existence, bearing testimony to His Lordship , Godhood, and Dominion cannot be while denying M uhammad bin Abdullah (peace be upon him ) . Even His very Existence cannot be

with the denial of Muhammad, and we have pointed out to that in the aforementioned debate . The disbelief in the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) contradicts the belief in the Lord Most High, as well as the belief in His attributed, as the disbelief i n the Day of Judgement with the belief in the existence of the Creator does not fit in together in the least . The Most Sublime did mention this in His Book in two places: in the surah «R’ad» He said:

“If thou dost marvel (At their want of faith), Strange is heir saying: When we are (actually) dust, shall we indeed then be in a creation renewed? They are those who deny their Lord!” (al-Ra’d: 5)

And in surah «Kahf» the Most High said:

“He went into his garden in a state (of mind) unjust to his soul: He said, «I deem not that this will ever perish, * Nor do I deem that the Hour (of Judgement) will (ever) come: Even if l am brought back to my Lord, I shall surely find (there) something better in exchange. * His companion said to him, in the course of the argument with him: Dost thou deny Him who created thee out of dust, then out of a sperm drop, then fashioned thee into a man? * But (I think) for my part that He is God, My Lord, and none shall I associate with My Lord. “ (al-Kahf:35 – 38).

And the Messenger, (peace be upon him ) came with the explication of the Lord Most High through His Names, Attributes, and Deeds. He explained His rights over His servants, and he who denies His messages would have denied the Lord and what He called for: His rights whic;h He commanded. We say it is impossible to bear testimony to the truthful facts as they are while denying His messenger, and this is quite obvious, for anyone who contemplates the sayings of the people of the earth and their religions.

Take the philosophers for example , they could not admit the existence of the angels, the jinn, the beginning (of creation) , the Day of Judgement, the details of the attributes o f the Lord Most High, and His deeds, while, at the same time, denying the prophet hoods. They could not even prove the undeniable visible realities as they are. They failed to prove one single reality as it is . Their failure is the consequence to their denial of the prophethoods. God deprived them from conceiving the truth which they alleged that their intellects are more than enough to conceive it . They did not conceive anything from the truth as it is, not even water, air, the sun, or anything else. He who contemplates their ideologies about the truth will know that they did not understand it although they may have known a little more than the rest.

The Magians are more and more misguided. As for the idolaters, they know neither the Creator nor the truth behind the Creation. They did not distinguish between the devils and the angels, the good spirits and the wicked spirits, and between the best of the best and the worst of the worst. They did not know the perfection of the soul and what makes it joyful and what it lacks and makes it miserable.

As for the Nazarenes , they know that they conceived of their worshipped God, what they described him with , and what they said about their prophet (Jesus). ;they did not understand his truth at all, and they described God by the most horrendous defects and

deficiencies. They imparted to His servant and messenger attributes he has not at all. They know neither God nor his Messenger, and the Day of Judgement they attest to, they conceived not its truth. And they did not understand the truth the messengers came with, for there is no food in paradise in their belief, no drink, no wives , no chaste

women for men to enjoy as they do on earth . They did not know the truth of the soul, what brings happiness and joy to it and what brings it misery . He who does not know these facts is ignorant to the truth behind anything at all. Neither themselves did they know nor the Creator of the soul and its Maker, nor whom God made him a means for its salvation and happiness, nor all things in existence which are all resourceless , lorded, and made : from the creature! communicating b y their own language, to the silent, to the human beings , to the jinns , to the angels . Everything in heavens is His servant and everyone is needy in every aspect and he who does not know that knows nothing.

The imprudence of the Jews, their breaking of pledges, Their alterations (of the scripture) , and their jealousy, which is the ultimate. The Jews: murderers of the prophets, usurers, they stand out alone in their ultimate maliciousness and false accusation.

As for the Jews , God recounted to you the ignorance of their predecessors, their foolishness and misguidance which point out to the darkness of the ignorance behind their deeds layers over layers Enough an example is their worshipping of the calf which their hands made out of gold, and out of their dubious piety they made their worshipped idol on the image of the most dull-willed of animals and the least intelligent, an animal which is often quoted as an example of doltishness. Look at this over-board ignorance and foolishness ! how they worshipped beside God another god after they had seen the signs of Tawheed (the Oneness of God), the greatness of the Lord and His Sublimity in a way nobody else did. And when they intended to worship another god before God, they executed their intention while their prophet was still living among them: they did not wait for him to pass away first ! . Having done that, they did not take for themselves the second god from the close angels , nor from living

human beings; but from an inanimate figure! Having done that, the) did not take him from the high planets like the moon or from the stars like the sun; but from an earthly material ! . In doing so they did not take him from the substances created higher than the earth like the mountains or from what is similar; but from substances which can only be found under the earth , covered by rocks and stones! Having done that, they did not take him from a substance not needed in craft, a substance that does not need to be put in fire and be turned in heat from one side to another , hammered by iron and poured in moulds; but from a substance beaten by the hands in different ways melted and purified by fire ! . Having done that, they did not mould in on the image of a noble king or a sent messenger or a statue of higher order untouchable by hands; but on the image of an earthly most doltish of animals and most prone to harm and humiliation,

where it is used in ploughing the earth, drawing water for irrigation, and labouring mill wheels with ultimate servitude. What knowledge do these people have of their worshipped being, their prophet, and the realities of things in existence?? ! ! . When a people ask their prophet about God, and after witnessing His glorious signs, they

worship instead a hand-made god, it is no wonder that these people know nothing about the truth of God, His names, His attributes, His qualities , and His religion . They do not know neither the truth behind the created beings, nor their neediness and poverty. Had these people really known their God and their messenger, they would have not said to their prophet:

«We would not believe till we see God face to face.»

They would have not said to him :

«You go with your God and fight.»

They would have not killed a soul and denied their hideous crime where, at the same time, their prophet was living among them and was Receiving Revelation morning and evening; as if they thought they could conceal their crime from God as they concealed it from the people!. Had they really known their worshipped one, they would have not addressed Him in one of their pleas saying:

«O our Father! wake up from your slumber, how often you sleep! .»

Had they known Him, they would have not hurried to fight His prophets, kill them, jail them, and banish them. They would have not conspired to make lawful what He ordained as unlawful, and make His Commandments expedient using different kinds of subterfuge. The Torah testified to their doltishness and stupidity . Had they known Him , they would have not obdurately insisted on Him through their corrupt minds to ordain something when it suits them and to abolish it when they have no further use for it as one would see in the case of universal fatalism where the discipline of the world and its well-being cannot be completed without changing and diversifying it according to the situation, time and place . If a physician (as they assume ) does not change the medication and the nourishment according to the requirements of the situation, time and place , He would annihilate the land produce, and the procreation and would be

considered among the ignorant . How could the physician of the hearts and of the religion (God) be quarantined from having His tenets and precepts changed t o suit the different circumstances according to interests!?. Is this other than slandering His Wisdom, Mercy, Power, and His total and complete Dominion and His management to His creation? ! out of their ignorance of their worshipped One, His Messenger, and what He is about; when they were commanded to enter the door of the city He opened for them, prostrating with humility, to enter it humbling themselves to God pleading Him to forgive their sins; they entered it crawling on their rears instead of prostrating, saying:

«Hanta suqmana» that is : «brown wheat». This is how their prostration and humility are. This is their plea for forgiveness and repentance from their sins.

Out of their ignorance and stupidity, when God praised be He showed them some of the signs of His Omnipotence, Absolute Power, and the truthfulness of His Messenger with no need to elaborate more about it – , then He sent down His Book , commissioned them for its observance , and ordained them to worship Him with all that came in it as He delivered them from the slavery of Pharaoh and the Copts ; they refused to accept His ordainment and abstained from following it. Upon their refusal, the great mountain, topping over their heads, was lifted and it was said to them : if you do not comply I will topple it over your heads: they complied from beneath the mountain. To this account ibn Abbas said:

«Allah lifted the mountain over their heads, made a fire before their faces, and made the sea come closer underneath them . Then they were called:

«If you do not accept I will make you succumb by this, burn you by this, and drown you by this.»

They accepted and said:

* «We heard and we obey; but had it not been on the mountain,we would have not obeyed you.» When they believed, thereafter, they said:

«We heard but we disobeyed» .

And out of their ignorance, after they saw the signs and the miracles that some of which were enough to instil belief (in the hearts of the people), they said:

“We shall never believe in thee until we see God manifestly.”(al-Baqarah: 55)

God praised be He had ordained Moses to choose seventy of their best men to meet Him. Moses chose them and took them to the mountain. When Moses came close to the mountain, a pillar of fire fell on him and made the mountain tremble. He said to the people:

«Come closer»

They did, and they entered the veil. They fell down prostrating.

They heard the Lord talking to Moses and ordaining him, prohibiting him, and entrusting him . When the fog was unveiled they said:

“We shall never believe in thee until we see God manifestly. “(al-Baqarah : 55)

Out of their ignorance, when Aaron died and Moses buried him, the people of lsrael said to Moses:

«You killed him, you envied his good character, his leniency and love for the people of lsrael.»

They chose seventy men, stood at Aarons grave, and said:

«Did Moses kill you or did you die on your own?»

He said:

«I died on my own, nobody killed me. »

It is necessary to say nothing more about the ignorance of the people and their antipathy, a people who accused their prophet murdering his brother. When Moses said that he did not, they did not believe him till he made them hear his exoneration from his dead brother. And because of their ignorance in carrying the Torah without delving deep in its understanding and abiding by it, God praised be He likened then to donkeys carrying books. This allegation about their ignorance carries several aspects, one of them is that the donkey is one of the most block-headed of animals, and it is quoted

as an example of that all over the world . Another aspect is that if it was made to carry things other than books, like fodder, food, or water it would show other inclinations different from its inclination when carrying books. Another aspect: they carried the books not because they chose and volunteered to do so , but because they were commissioned to carry them , and they did not feel proud of that. Another aspect is that when they carried them after being commissioned and ordained , they refused the delegation, and they did not carry them out of choice and acceptance although they k11

their inevitable need for them . Had they carried them out of choice they would have gained both the bliss of this world and that of well-being of their sustenance, return (to God) , and good fortune both in this world and in the Hereafter. Their refusal to commit

themselves to what holds their good fortune and prosperity, and their choice to take the contrary steps is one of the most ignorant and foolish of acts . And because of their ignorance and dearth in knowledge, instead of asking for manna and quails, which are the most delicious and nourishing of food and most suitable for balanced nutriments, they asked for legumes, cucumber, garlic, lentil and onion. It would not be hard for anyone who accepts to exchange nutriments in the expense of manna and quails, to exchange belief for disbelief and guidance for misguidance, anger for contentment, and

mercy for punishment. This is the case of him who neither knew His Lord, His Books, His Messenger nor himself.

As for their forsaking their covenant, changing the statutes of the Torah, altering the positions of the words, engaging in usury though they were prohibited from practising it , accepting bribes , transgressing the laws of the Sabbath till they were transmuted to

monkeys, murdering the prophets unjustifyingly, belying Jesus the son of Mary and the Messenger of God, and slandering him and his mother with the most hideous accusations , and their adamant keenness to kill him, their matchless singularity before all nations in malice, slander, fierce doggedness over the life of this world, and their

covetousness to keep it, the cruelty of their hearts, their jealousy, and the large extent of their ridicule, so on and so forth, are well known attributes of theirs. This and many folds more of it, of ignorance and corrupted minds, is less in impact and description compared to the ignorance and corruption of him who belie God’s messenger and declares his enmity to him , His angels , His prophets , and His followers. What did he ever know he who did not know God and His prophets ! ? what truth does he understand he who failed to understand this truth?! what knowledge or deed he does achieve he who fell short of knowing about God, endeavoured to please Him, and knew the path that will lead to Him, and knew destiny after reaching Him?!.

The enlightenment of the earth is through the prophethood and its darkness is without it.

Who turns away from it is tossing in darkness, and the believer is in the light.

The people of the earth are all in the darkness of ignorance and sin except those upon whom the light of the prophethood shone . As in the Moosnad (Authoritative, traceable, uninterrupted tradition of ascription) and in others in the account of Abdullah bin Omar, on the authority of the Prophet (peace be upon him) , he said:

«Allah created His creation in darkness, then He threw upon them His light. He who was hit by that light followed guidance, and he who was not, followed misguidance. For this I say:

Then, pens had dried out before the Omniscience of God.»

That is why God sent His messengers to bring out people from the darkness to the light. He who responded to them , he went out to the vast expanse, to the light and the glow; he who did not, he stayed in the confinement and the darkness he was created in: the darkness of temperament, the darkness of ignorance, of whims and caprices, the darkness of being heedless to one’s self and its completeness, to what it matters to it in bringing well-being in its sustenance and return (to God). This is the general account of the self: the darkness the servant is created in, then God sent His messengers to bring out His servants to science, knowledge, faith, and true guidance, without which the soul experiences no true happiness and well-being. He whom the light had missed, his fortune, sense of completeness, and good luck had missed him too, and he would have ended up tossing in layers of darkness one on top of the other. And his entrance is darkness as well as his exit, his saying, his deed, and his intention. And he would be floundering in the darkness of his temperament, his whims, his ignorance. His heart is dark and his face is dark, because he dwelled on the original darkness, and out of the sayings, deeds, wills and beliefs, nothing suits him other than the dark side of them.

Had some o f the light of the prophethood shone o n him, it would have been like the shining of the sun on the sight of bats:

Sights, by daylight are dazzled,

Darkness of some portions of the night

Are to blame.

The light of the prophethood almost blinded those sights. Because of its intensity and their weakness, they ran away to the darkness because it suited them and agreed with them . The deed of the believer is light, his saying is light, his entrance is light, his exit is light, his intention is light, he is embraced by the light in all his affairs.

The Most High said:

“God is the Light of the heavens and the earth, the parable of His light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp: the lamp enclosed in glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star; lit from a blessed tree, an olive , neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil is well nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: light upon light! God doth guide whom He will to His light: God doth set forth parables for men: and God doth know all things.” (al-Noor: 35)

Then he mentioned the state of the disbelievers and their tossing in darkness. He said:

“But the Unbelievers, – their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts, which the man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when be comes up to it, He finds it to be nothing : but b e finds God (Ever) with him, and God will pay him bis account: and God is swift in taking account. * Or (the Unbelievers state) is like the depth of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hand, He can hardly see it! for any to whom God giveth not light, there is no light!.” (al-Noor: 39- 40-)

From the beginning to the end, praise be to God, inwardly and outwardly , and may the peace of God be upon our master Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets , and upon his household and Companions with all the wishes of peace till the Day of Judgement.

By Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziah

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John Doe

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John Doe

23/3/2019

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John Doe

23/3/2019

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