The use of the symbols { } is meant to bring clarity of thought to the writing
Man has long been enthralled by what lies beyond the physical realm and other titillating stories due to his ‘inner’ spiritual being (for good or bad)! We can put it to the test, not a hypothetical test but a real test, to find out why (believing and non-believing) men throughout the various ages have been engaged in a sort of spiritual quest. We can find the answers by looking at Islam!
One way to explain it, and this is found in hadith literature concerning when the ‘soul’ is placed in the womb, is that we are all from above! Therefore, we should have a common connection, no matter how slight, with that which has gone before. Not a knowing connection per say but a vague notion of something spiritual that has happened in the past to what is called the ‘human race’..
If I {Jesus} have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you {about} heavenly things?
No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the son of Man who is in {from} heaven. John (3:12-13); meaning quite plainly when one thinks about it that one’s soul travels up and down and up and down for presumably ‘lessons’ to be learned. This makes life sound like a marathon rather than a sprint and hence, here a little, there a little and stage by stage as Isaiah and the Quran speak.
Abdallah ibn Mas’ud said that the Messenger of ALLAH (pbh) said:
“Each one of you is constituted in the womb of the mother for forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then ALLAH sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him…” (Bukhari)
This notion gives us all a type of connection to some type of beautiful/ugly shadowy existence that is somewhere buried in man’s psyche and that feeds his psyche to approach what he believes is the way of reality around him. One can’t learn a specific lesson if one is not put in a specific ‘time, place, occurrence or activity.
We can’t plan such things and if we did, we would make such a hash of things that we would greedily destroy our own souls. So, we depend upon the MIGHT and WISDOM of the ONE GOD to set things right for each individual soul IF THAT SOUL IS JUDGED TO BE IN EARNEST!
From witch doctors to shamans from priests to philosophers, all have that inner consciousness to look at the spiritual realm but with certain fallible eyes. AND THAT IS PRECISELY THE PROBLEM!
If the man on the street is free to let his mind drift on these matters, then the philosophers of old were quite willing to ‘reach out’ and try and define the spiritual life using all sorts of invented logic to try and understand what they ‘saw’ or felt but did not, in their Earth-bound capacity, fully comprehend. Hence, their inventions of explanation to satisfy their need for a stable universe.
They passed down their guesses and assumptions to us so that we could say approximately, “I think, therefore; I am”. But a clarity of purpose can only come through a prophetic line as this is ‘spiritual stuff’ and not worldly stuff!
We can test the above theory with a high degree of accuracy and use its principles to show why the philosophers’ so-called visions have led certain people down a rather crooked path. The Quran gives us a help in that direction:
Blessed is HE in Whose Hand is the Dominion, and HE is Able to do all things.
WHO has created death and life {life activities}, that HE may test which of you is best in deed. And HE is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving;
{He it is} WHO has created the seven {layered} heavens one above another, you can see no fault in the creations of the Most Beneficent. Then look again: “Can you see any flaw {in this preplanned laid out pattern}?”
Again turn your vision a second time: your vision will come back to you dull and discomfited, in a state worn out.
And indeed WE have adorned the nearest {lowest} heaven with lamps, and WE have made such lamps (as) missiles to drive away the Shayatin (devils), and have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire. Quran (67:1-5)
Speaking about our philosopher-types: They got ahold of the New Testament and with their Greek background could envision certain images that would explain to them how the system, or whatever they were occupied with, actually worked or so these clever ‘thinkers’ presumed!
And some of the religious scholars, with a strong philosophical bent looked at, for example, the make-up of the New Testament and saw a relevancy between hypothetical, philosophical thinking of some sort and the way the New Testament was constructed. This is the key to the production of highly questionable doctrine!
In other words, they presumed to know how to fit a square peg into a round hole because of their brilliance and ‘higher’ education than the regular pedestrian. That in itself would prove to be disastrous for the New Testament thinkers.
Because a snake and a worm look familiar doesn’t mean that they are in the same class of animals. The notions garnered by early to mid-second century church fathers does explain why they ‘leaned toward’ a strange theory about the Christ-soul and away from looking at him as a blessed man sent by his Creator LORD.
That does not mean, however, that the so-called original writers of the documents themselves were leaning in that direction. For example, the idea that the Gospel of John has definitely strong Hellenistic details in it may be quite wrong. Late first century and second century so-called interpreters may, however, thought so and reacted accordingly and, more importantly, thought accordingly. This then would lead to introducing false concepts into burgeoning Christianity.
Hence, their confusion and later struggles with the concept of the ‘nature of Jesus’. We can see that this at best would be a hit and miss type system without clearly defined details due to the ‘sensing’ of guessed ideals rather than actual observable facts.
What we have here is a system of various mediums or levels or states of reality or states of existence when such ‘spiritual ideas’ are discussed. We can understand that by going through different levels or mediums or strata and our earthly thoughts are bound to be stretched quite thin and mistaken notions and concepts are the result. Hence, the need for guidance most sure from Prophet Muhammad (pbh)!
{HE it is} WHO has created the seven {layered} heavens one above another, you can see no fault in the creations of the Most Beneficent. Then look again: “Can you see any flaw?”
Again turn your vision a second time: your vision will come back to you dull and discomfited, in a state worn out. Quran (67: 3-4)
Saying that the city of Makkah is located in the Middle East puts one in the stadium so to speak but not on the playing field of exactness. Therefore, mistakes can and do happen quite readily and a proper understanding from the data is quite skewed, filled with errors especially errors of assumption.
There are two practical and demonstrateable experiments that can prove the virtual untrustworthiness and incompleteness of the Greek-type philosophical logic applied to the New Testament as to its exactitude. The first experiment, since we are dealing with different levels or mediums of thought or existence, is to take a very straight stick and put part of it into some clear water while the other part remains in the air. This same, very straight stick that is partly in the water, now appears to be bent for some reason.
The reason is a simple one of physics. The stick is viewed under the condition of it being in two different mediums or levels of existence thereby causing it to appear to be bent in the water when we already know that, that is NOT possible!
Here we have two different mediums with one causing a refraction with light going through the medium of air and then going through the medium of water. Simple people, unable to understand the notion of various levels or strata, like the levels of the heavens cannot view these things with exactness UNLESS THE VISSION IS PROTECTED BY THE ONE GOD AND GIVEN TO A MAN WHOSE MAIN AND ONLY JOB IS TO BE OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE PROPHETS!
Councils like those of Nicea and Trent can’t give us much of anything except baffling concepts made by the hands of men:
Jesus said: “And in vain {do} they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men {and NOT of GOD}” Matthew (15:9)
This means that the ‘ways of corrupt men’ and their ways of doing things and their thinking will be twisted so that the truth shall be replaced by a formal type of invented worship similar to but vastly different than the real pathway!
Otherwise, without a prophet’s guidance, the view, the notion, the exactness of the medium and what it represents will be skewed and much error in our thinking will be the result. We find this in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation whereby the humans involved that were given certain visions needed to have their visions broken down and explained by some ‘higher’ power.
The other experiment has already been demonstrated by psychologists and it shows a variety of things including the powers of suggestion and manipulation. The experiment involves having three people view a short film of an actor robbing a store, for example.
One person we shall call X is in the room and acting as a stimulator to the action by offering certain misleading suggestions while the other viewer is completely in the dark about this. The point being is that one’s idea can be influenced by those around him and a false memory can be implanted such that viewer X will stimulate one of the participants when asked to give his or her account of what happened into recalling things that either never happened or are just plain false.
When we combine these two concepts together, we can have a deeper understanding of how the early church philosophical-leaning fathers of the second century could look at Testament writings and come up with paganist-like tendencies and wrap these tendencies around the Gospels into their own interpretations.
The only trustworthy source of information is from a true prophet and not a philosopher! This is due to the channel of vision being unfiltered and undefiled as it goes through the various mediums which tend to be out of sync or out of adjustment with one another.
Think that it is much like a fine tuned piano versus one that has a harsh and unmelodious sound. Both instruments play ‘sounds’ but only one will be pleasing to the ear and soothing to the heart/mind. Therefore, only one of them (one of these sources) will be of any benefit to the listener while the other one will be out of sync, out of harmony and out of truth (true, harmonizing and relaxing sound)
We know this because the spiritual world or zones of influence or levels or stages compared with our physical world are not exactly alike as our personal three dimensional zone is like. They can be similar but they won’t be exactly alike!
Ask those who teach, “Is the existence in the ‘grave’ the same as when one was walking on the Earth?” For reference we have several hadiths discussing the meeting of the three Caliphs after their deaths with the Prophet (pbh). Practically speaking, that can’t be done while one is ‘locked up’ in a few meters of soil!
Amazingly, the Quran has such depth to it that it can answer any question in a very broad sense. And this Quran tells us that it is directly from our CREATOR and given to a Prophet most Trustworthy as well as being kept pure!
Therefore, instead of turning to questionable sources as to relying on them at full, face value which should never be done, it is better to invest one’s time with the Quran and see clearly and directly THE WAY OF TRUTH!
So, one of the points being discussed is that the New Testament need not be ‘interpreted’ from a philosopher’s point of view in trying to match pagan creeds with New Testament philosophy! We can also see on a very basic level that indeed there are mysteries but that practicality should trump theories.
In doing this, we might be able to ween ourselves away from the Hellenistic, philosophical, mumbo-jumbo of the supposed New Testament writers, which they have been labeled as having by certain scholars, and look at the writings in a more believable light.
In that way, certain statements made by Jesus (pbh) can be better understood to have come from a man, and only a human being, on a mission to serve his CREATOR LORD!
The moral of the story is, ‘Don’t put the cart before the horse’! It is a message to the scholars to be careful such that one does not get so far into the forest, he cannot see the trees. The Quran is truly the most amazing book the world has ever seen whose writings cover all things conceivable due to the fact, as I believe, that it is quite cyclical.
How can such things be? They are because they actually exist and this is yet further proof that GOD so loved the world that HE did not deny HIS creation the loving but often arduous pathway of finding one’s way back to their true home if they were to seek out HIS HELP in all sincerity!
It is a rare occurrence that I am asked about when the Anti-christ or Dajjal will come forth especially since my expertise is on the topic of the Non-crucifixion of Jesus (pbh). But to answer the question directly is to say that ALLAH ALONE KNOWS when that one-eyed miscreant will come forth.
However, if Daniel’s (11: 15) fortified city is Constantinople then like the hadith found in Sunnan Abu Dawood states that it will be 7 months or 7 years AFTER the walls of the city are breached by the sons of Isaac in an attempt at getting at the enemy inside will a false voice then go out saying that the Dajjal has taken a place amongst your families:
{Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city (is this the 7 months before the Dajjal comes or is it the 7 years (hadith found in Sunnan Abu Dawood)? And is this city Constantinople according to Sunnan Abu Dawood? {The walls were largely maintained intact during most of the Ottoman period until sections began to be dismantled in the 19th century, as the city outgrew its medieval boundaries. Despite lack of maintenance, many parts of the walls survived and are still standing today. A large-scale restoration program has been underway since the 1980s. The Turkish government has now placed the walls on its list of vulnerable historical monuments – will they be repaired? Wikipedia}
Also there is talk of a ‘holy covenant’ and that could refer to some Caliph-startup of which some idea has been floating around for a while for unifying Muslim lands. But this will not end in success and only after the return of Jesus (pbh) will a successful Caliphate be set up and that would feature the Madhi who will lead the governments.
Furthermore, according to Geneses in the Old Testament, Arabia is the ‘Beautiful Land’ while Palestine is the ‘Holy Land’. Take that for what it’s worth! Secondly, it is known that the evil Dajjal will rush out from Arabia due to his being forbidden to enter that CITY (MEDINA) and travel North until he arrives near the Gate of Lud (North from Medina) where Jesus (pbh) will kill him with his ‘spear’. The East is where, as ALLAH WILLS, an army will come to do battle against this miscreant after conquering the ‘walled city’.
But news from the East and the North {from the city of Damascus} will alarm him {if he is outside Medina as hadiths say which he can’t enter, he then goes North searching to kill the Decended Jesus (pbh) which will place this wretched, evil man around the Gate of Lud in Palestine where he will be killed by the spear of Jesus -hadith}, and he will go out with great fury to destroy many and devote them to destruction.
He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him {now he is killed by the real Messiah} Daniel (11:44-45).Then the Gog and Magog, which have been shortly before this unleashed, will cause great devastation in the lands.
Explain Quranic Statement (5:64) in the Light of Paul’s Declaration in Galatians (3:16 and 29)
The Jews say: “ALLAH’s hand is tied up.” Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both HIS hands are widely outstretched: HE gives and spends (of HIS bounty) as HE pleases. But the revelation that comes to you from ALLAH increases in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy {against ALLAH}. Among them WE have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, ALLAH does extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And ALLAH does not love those who do mischief. Quran (5:64)
Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses. Quran (5:78)
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. HE does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one {unifying type of worship – Monotheism}, “And to your {particular} Seed {FOR THIS UMMAH},” who is Christ. Galatians (3:16)
And IF you belong to Christ {following after the truth in him as when he returns such that all {those who will reside in that state of blessedness} will believe in him before his deathas is recorded, for example, in the Quran and the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament}then you are {truly} Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise {given by the ONE GOD HIMSELF so put your trust in HIM!}. Galatians (3:29)
But because the LORD loved you {Children of Israel}, and because HE would keep the oath which HE swore unto your fathers, has the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh {a} king of Egypt. Deuteronomy (7:8)
So {this is contingent on the idea that you will abide by and faithfully} keep the Commandments and Statutes and Ordinances that I am giving you to follow this day.
“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them {faithfully}, that the LORD your GOD will {in turn} keep with you the Covenant and the mercy which HE swore to your fathers. Deuteronomy 7:11-12)
States Jesus {the last of the Jewish prophets and the anointed Messiah to the Believers}: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones {with impunity} those who are sent to her {to give guidance from above}! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing {to open your hearts to the truth}! Matthew (23:37)
States ALLAH: O Children of Israel! Call to mind the special favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all others {to start off the Pure Monotheistic Way as compared to what went on in the past religious pathways or expressions used by wayward men to worship ME} (for MY Message).
Then guard yourselves against a Day when no soul shall avail another, nor shall compensation be accepted from her nor shall intercession profit her nor shall anyone be helped (from outside).
And remember that Abraham was tried by his LORD with certain commands, which he fulfilled: HE {ALLAH} said: “I will make you an Imam {leader of the RIGHT WAY – PURE MONOTHEISM} to the Nations.” He pleaded: “And also (Imams {LEADERS IN THE CHARGE FOR YOUR WORSHIP IN A MONOTHEISTIC WAY}) from my offspring!” HE answered: “But MY Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers {those who would twist things to their advantage AND COMMIT A LIE AGAINST ME}.” Quran (2:122-124)
In answering the question from above it can be said that the whole idea runs like this:
IF GOD is TRUTHFUL and cannot lie or make a mistake due to HIS ABSOLUTE INFALIBILITY, then HE cannot go against HIS WORD. Therefore HIS HANDS MUST BE TIED because HE SUPPOSEDLY GAVE A BLANKET PROMISE TO THE JEWS AND IF HE BROKE THAT PROMISE HE WOULD NOT BE A PERFECT, UNEARING GOD. Hence, if we Jews fall or slip into error, they can claim that we Jews are still the best and most chosen of people and GOD can do nothing about it!!!!!!!!!!
WELL THAT IS JUST PLAIN NONSENSE!!! And one can readily see what the results of these ‘repugnant word games’ have done to the Jews throughout the centuries! In many cases, dogs were treated much better than them! So, this is the result of those who think that they can escape justice or those who think that GOD’s reach is restricted by either time or status!
And WE send not the Messengers except as givers of glad tidings and warners. But those who disbelieve, dispute with false argument, in order to refute the truth thereby. And they treat My Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations), and that with which they are warned, as jest and mockery!
And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations) of his LORD, but turns away from them forgetting what (deeds) his {own} hands have sent forth. Truly, WE have set veils over their hearts lest they should understand this (the Qur’an), and in their ears, deafness. And if you (O Muhammad) call them to guidance, even then they will never be guided. Quran (18:56-57)
Do not be deceived, GOD is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians (6:7) – New Testament
As I {Job} have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble {shall} reap the same {upon their heads}. Job (4:8) – Old Testament
Explain the idea behind Paul’s reference: “HE {GOD} does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one {unifying type of worship – Monotheism} Galatians (3:16)
Man has a tendency to look at himself as he is in the present but as was described before, the souls of men existed in the now forgotten past. Because life is a marathon and not a sprint and due to the fact that the ancient souls became disunited and non-harmonized, they could be likened to many small tributaries trying to come together in a large river, seeking out that which could save them, but faced many difficulties on the way:
And they {mankind} became divided only after Knowledge reached them, through selfish envy as between themselves {typical of human beings of different philosophies}. Had it not been for a Word that went forth before from YOUR LORD, (tending) to a Term appointed, the matter would have been settled between them: But truly those who have inherited the Book after them are in suspicious (disquieting) doubt concerning it.
Now then, for that (reason), call (them to the {reality and truthfulness of} Faith), and stand steadfast as you are commanded, and do not follow their vain desires; but say: “I believe in the Book which ALLAH has sent down; and I am commanded to judge justly between you. ALLAH is our LORD and your LORD: for us (is the responsibility for) our deeds, and for you for your deeds. There is no contention between us and you. ALLAH will bring us together, and to HIM is (our) Final Goal. Quran (42:14-15)
Such is the development of mankind after he fell from Grace and Purity – not instant success as we find from understanding of an important Quranic verse Quran (33:72). And also:
So, what became of them as they faced the many uphill battles of realization as to WHOM they should faithfully serve (for they had to make a choice)? They began to congregate in groups moving slowly but surely to accept or reject the Reality of Truth honed throughout the Ages: Islam:
You shall surely travel from stage to stage.
What then is the matter with them that they believe not? Quran (84:19-20)
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)
The end result was that the multitude of streams became smaller and the ways or religions became more concrete finally leading to an evolved structure as can be shown in Galatians (3:16) which became the pattern for salvation and that is known today as The Monotheistic Religions.
Therefore, it is NOT SEEDS or various extinct pathways but SEED that has been adapted for the purpose of bringing in Salvation. Hence, we call Abraham (pbh) Father Abraham and we say by way of hadith that THAT PROPHET (Muhammad-pbh) is the one prophet who most closely resembles Abraham (pbh) in appearance.
They say: “Become Jews or Christians if you would be {rightly} guided (To salvation).” Say to them: “Nay! (I would rather) the Religion of Abraham the True, and he joined not gods with ALLAH.” Quran (2:135)
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall THE LORD your GOD raise up unto you of {from amongst} your {Semitic} brethren, like unto me {the Law Giver}; him shall you hear in {be obedient to} all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear {adhere to in being obedient to}that prophet {and what he came with}, shall be destroyed from among the people. Acts (3:22-23)
And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him {Jesus} before his death {upon his Second Coming when he shall enter Earth’s Sphere of Influence as that Prince of Peace in all of his glory given to him by ALLAH for being that faithful servant}; and on the Day of Judgment he {Jesus} will be a witness against them. Quran (4:159)
So, until the ‘curtain is withdrawn and Judgment is past’ and the ‘drama’ is played out while the Rewards are being built for some and the Doom is brought forth for others, each in its due season; life continues until:
And they {human beings} will be marshalled before your LORD in ranks (with the announcement) “Now {all of} you have come to US (bare) as WE created you {at} FIRST: aye, you thought that WE shall not fulfil the appointment made to you {all} to meet US {for Judgment}!” Quran (18:48)
