The following symbols { } are used to enhance the meanings given.
In part, this article as well as the previous 3 articles are in answer to the much confused Abdullah Sameer (doubter of ALLAH) who seems very unaware of Isam and Comparative religion!
Those {Various Peoples*} to whom WE have sent the BOOK study it as it should be studied {with meaning, intent, vocalization, as a Guide and as a Remembrance as they shall pass on knowledge to keep the flame of truth alive and interest in the future-life well-watered}: They are the ones that believe therein: Those who reject faith {and pay no heed to it – to these life giving spiritual waters} therein,- the loss is their own {by their own hands}. Q (2: 121)
*Those who believe (in the Quran) and those who follow {in earnest and NOT for show but in TRUTH} the Jewish (scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabians {and} any who believe in ALLAH and the Last Day and work righteousness shall have their reward with their LORD {and} on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. Q (2: 62)
The celebration of the Unity of the ONE GOD should be reason enough for the Jew, Christian and Muslim to celebrate and rejoice AND TO DO SO TOGETHER. Yet many are the ‘demons’ that plague those various religions because of the people who ‘claim’ they are of those particular persuasions. And how they slam each other in verbal contests and slander each other’s works – ABOUT WHICH THEY DO NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND!
Presented in these various articles has been a ‘new’ approach simply by looking at alternative meanings to the ones’ generally taught. It was hoped that people could ‘rise above‘ the occasion of petty squabbles and partisan bickering and see a more harmonious light within reason.
Truth is still truth and cannot, by the reasonable soul, be denied! Put things into context and put them in unity, harmony and oneness within the scope of the RECORDS given to mankind and one will see the harmony and even the legacy shown by the various Abrahamic Faiths!
In these articles, new ‘definitions’ were given to some peculiar sayings such that the end result was quite different in meaning than what was commonly thought and the bonus was that one could take this ‘new outlook’ and find something quite beautiful amongst the various Scriptures: HARMONY!!!
And to get this HARMONY ONE NEEDS TO:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under GOD’s MIGHTY hand, that HE may lift you up in due time. 1Peter (5:6)
By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire. (Muslim)
Some people may take this as aggressive nonsense but they fail in asking; “WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”
In short, and in all probability, it refers to the ‘Final Culmination’ of when Jesus (pbh) returns to rule that paradise on Earth with a no nonsense outlook (see the verse from Revelation below). And we can get a sense of this from the Book called Acts to mention one place!
Then HE {GOD} shall send Jesus Christ ,{ON his SECOND COMING}, who before was preached unto you,
whom Heaven must receive {now} until the times of restitution of all things, which GOD has spoken by the mouth of all HIS holy prophets since the world began {from the beginning}.
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, “A Prophet shall the LORD your GOD raise up unto you from your brethren, {NON-JEWS} like unto me {THE LAW GIVER}; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
And it shall come to pass that every soul who will NOT hear that Prophet {as to what he brought}, shall be destroyed from among the people.”
Yea, and ALL the prophets from Samuel and those who follow{ed} after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days {to come}.
You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which GOD made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, “And in your seed {of Isaac and Ishmael} shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed {if they adopt that WAY}.” Acts (3: 20-25)
With the Anti-christ dethroned and the Gog and Magog all dead, the surviving people must come to a unified consensus for worship! Not based on their whims or fancies but on what is guaranteed as being ironclad and irrevocable.
It stands to reason that the Christ-soul is 100% subservient to his GOD and according to hadiths and the Book of Revelation he has that ‘power’ given to him to vanquish any foe of his by what comes out of his mouth as far as his eyes can see!
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword with which he shall smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty GOD. {upon GOD’s enemies} Revelation (19: 15)
His foes would be the ones who deny GOD’s WILL and GOD’s WILL is that there shall be ONE FORM OF HARMONIZED AND DESIRED WORSHIP given as a gift to the Christ-soul for a job well done (Isaiah Chapter 53)! MANY HANDS WITH ONE PURPOSE, SERVING THE ONE GOD IN ONE RELIGION!
Hence the hadith found in Sahih Muslim concerning the return of the Messiah (pbh)!
But we can’t see that because we are mostly busy in our collective squabbles and mistrust of each other.
Now as to a few more comparative religious meanings taken from the extremely hard to understand and much maligned (by some Christian as well as Muslim groups) Gospel of John:
He that believeth on me {Jesus}, as the scripture has declared, out of his belly {abdomen} shall flow {as the sound of} rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, {Spirit of truth} which they that believe on him** should receive: for the Holy Ghost {Holy Spirit or Archangel Gabriel who is the Angel that brings REVELATION to the prophets} was not yet given THE UNDENIABLY PURE WORD TO BRING; because that Jesus was NOT yet glorified.) {as he must be with ALLAH’s PURE AND FINAL WORD, THE QURAN} John (7: 38-39)
**If the meaning of the word ‘him’ refers to Jesus (pbh) then it means that the ‘believers’ will receive that ‘guarded and guided’*** highway to the truth to the degree applicable and/or earned or needed by that soul. Hence, growth occurs!
***This is not automatic salvation but as Isaiah (pbh) declared: ‘Precept upon precept and Line upon line’…
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: Isaiah (28: 10)
This sentiment is echoed by the Quranic verse:
You shall certainly travel from stage to stage. Q (84: 19)
If the word ‘him’ refers to Prophet Muhammad (pbh) then those who are marked off as believing souls will EVENTUALLY inherit that belief system known as Islam-now or in the future when the Christ returns and/or when born into that period of ‘redemption’ I have called the Fifth Age. Both meanings can be used as the records in truth are harmonious.
Was the universe created in one step? Then why should man be made any different?!!! That knowledge, however, resides with ALLAH Alone that we know of. So, there is no need to chase after mythical rainbows!
But there is a need to understand our Scriptures! The biggest problem with the Bible and more specifically the New Testament is that of imagery or concepts wrapped around colorful language. As an example, I will discuss a verse from the Old Testament featuring Isaiah (pbh) chapter 53 in which the Christ-soul (Jesus) is said to be buried with the RICH!
He was taken from prison and from judgment {as was Yusef – the Noblest of souls-hadith}; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked {lived in the flesh with the poor and downtrodden}, and with the rich in his {final} death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth {his soul was clean}.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; He has put him to grief. When YOU shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed {the faithful for in this ‘adam’ (Jesus), all that were to be saved found salvation}, He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand {in that kingdom (paradise on Earth) given to him and the Faithful}. Isaiah (53: 8-10)
Now, richness is not meaning gold, jewels, furs and tons of money but as I pointed out in another article, it meant something spiritual. And there is a hadith talking about ‘this richness’ concerning the last man to enter Paradise having ten times more ‘wealth’ than what the whole world contains!
So, the real meaning is that when Jesus (pbh) FINALLY DIES, he will be BURIED WITH THE RICH! In other words, he will be buried with Prophet Muhammad (pbh) who has been called the FOUNT OF ABUNDANCE!!!
The same mystical imagery can be found in the verses above- John (7: 38-39)- dealing with a person’s abdomen and what might appear to be gushing water. Is this about some deformed human who has a ‘raging river’ pouring out of his belly? Maybe this river will create a devastating flood or maybe this river has real live fish in it as well as other creepy, crawly things?
All kidding aside, the Dead Sea Scrolls talk about the Spirit of truth as a ‘CLEANSING SPIRIT’ and a cleansing spirit is one that ‘WASHES AWAY THE FILTH OF PREJUDICE, IGNORANCE AND LIES WHILE BRINGING THE CLEANLINESS OF FACTUAL TRUTH AND REALITY!
Missing in these biblical verses is the idea of the ‘sound of this cleansing water’ and there is a hadith whereby the sound of a pot boiling over could be heard from the Prophet’s abdomen due to his continuous fasting. As one can see, verses can make sense and do make sense when aided by a fair and balanced ‘comparative study of scripture’!
But now I go my way to HIM that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter {Spirit of truth} will not come unto you; but if I depart, I {GOD} will send him unto you {or he will be sent unto you}.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove THE WORLD of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe NOT on me; {believe NOT in me/as to who I truly am, my mission, my ‘basic’ purpose} John (16: 5-9)
HOWEVER, when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into ALL {the} truth; for he shall not speak from himself, but whatsoever he shall hear {as in Revelation}, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come {future events}. John (16: 13)
This ‘Spirit of truth’ has to be a person and a person who will speak in GOD’s NAME and, in line with the Dead Sea Scrolls, he should be a person who has a long lasting Testament that he will be responsible for in delivering that Testament to the people.
And he will deliver ALL the truth that is fit to be known and that is pertinent for SALVATION – especially spiritual stuff like the Hereafter, Paradise, Hell-fire etc. He will also denounce fraudulent practices and/or spiritual misconceptions.
Basically, this is on a ‘take it or leave it basis’ which means there will be no big, long, protracted, philosophical discussions to waste time and bog down the truth!
People that come and reinforce the truth and are directly appointed by GOD are called prophets and those who come with a ‘readable’ Testament or produceable Testament that can be put in ‘book form’ are considered the highest level of prophet sent by the ONE GOD called in Arabic, Rasul.
When Prophet Muhammad (pbh) stated that he was only a man like us, he gave vent to the idea that collective greatness of the souls of men were indeed a wondrous and glorious creation so much infinitely superior to the mortal ‘flesh’ that we inhabit which eventually decays and becomes mere dust.
However, all men including him (pbh) must enter into the flesh for trials, tests and duties owed to their CREATOR LORD as determined by HIM. So, no man including the Prophet (pbh) is given a free ride whereby any human being can ever claim that he was more than a man!
Yet man can be a devil inside his heart and because they understand not nor fear THE LORD, they make disunity and disharmony a pattern for their lives and a sewer-like trap for others to fall into.
On account of their arrogance in the land and their plotting of EVIL, but the plotting of EVIL will hem in only the authors thereof. Now, are they but looking for the way of how the ancients were dealt with? BUT NO CHANGE WILL YOU FIND IN ALLAH’s WAY (of dealing {with these situations)}. No turning off will you find in ALLAH’s WAY (of doing things). Q (35: 43):
For ALLAH is the AL-MATEEN – THE ALL-STRONG WHO IS STEADFAST AND FIRM IN HIS COMMAND AND NO CHANGE WILL YOU FIND IN ALLAH’s WAY!
