Some people may be wondering that if Jesus (pbh) has the power to kill with his breath as far as his eyes can see as recorded in the hadith literature, then why can’t he go and defeat the Gog and Magog. That is a great question and the answer is a simple one!
The answer can be found in all of the Testaments. When Jesus (pbh) declared ‘of myself I can do {absolutely} nothing’ he really meant it! And when ALLAH declares to Jesus (pbh) that there is an enemy coming that no one can defeat, that is your answer right there!
Jesus is not going to proclaim that now he has power, he will do what he wants and GOD can go fry an oyster! ALL power and strength emanates from the LIVING GOD and not from HIS servants.
So, if ALLAH WILLS for HIS purposes that the Gog and Magog have a run for it, then that is what will happen. They will be allowed like locusts to clear the land with what ALLAH wants cleared and then will in one day be shown the exodus from planet Earth so that the promised Christ-kingdom (the paradise on Earth with Islam as its religion) can begin.
Take a look at the birds in the sky. Who holds them aloft? It is ALLAH! And if HE took away that order/command/rule of law, then the birds would fall like a stone. So, the birds in a basic understanding are allowed to fly ONLY by ALLAH’s Permission.
Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky? Nothing holds them up but (the power of) ALLAH. Verily in this are signs for those who believe. Quran (16:79)
O men! Here is a parable set forth! Listen to it! Those on whom, besides ALLAH, you call {worship or petition}, cannot create (even) a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! And if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition! Quran (22:73)
Jesus (pbh) is a created being whose existence and welfare is decided by ALLAH and ONLY by ALLAH. There is no, ‘let’s sit down and talk about it’! So, in understanding this reality, understand that the REVERENCE DUE TO OUR CREATOR LORD, as to being THE ONLY ONE WHO SHOULD OR COULD EVER BE WORSHIPED, IS THE RULE!
This explains why Jesus (pbh) is a very limited individual and he, himself, stated that fact! So, it is clear, without a doubt, for any normal human being with only average intelligence to understand this point!
A man or a GOD is only as good as his word. If we destroy the source (the author of the tale) and concentrate on the underlings (interpreters of the law (priests, ministers, preachers of all kinds), we may be blown this way or that way according to their own likes and affiliations!
TRUTH by its own nature has NO AFFILIATIONS!
There is no truth in radical Islam, radical Christianity or radical Judaism. There is only a type of ‘club membership’ with what one feels comfortable with. And this has occurred time and time again throughout history such as the Black Mass and the Kharijites as well as modern day ISSIS and Fundamentalist Christianity.
So, as Islam, Christianity or Judaism has claimed to be the truth, we test them not by their word but by the words of their chosen founder! Their supposed founder should be in a much better position to know the truth than any of their underlings!
Quite simply, when dealing with the supposed crucifixion of Jesus (pbh), Islam declares that Jesus (pbh) was NOT crucified while most Christians claim that he was!
To put it to the test, we should go back to the main character being discussed (Jesus) and see what he has to say! Or in the case of Islam what THE ONE GOD has to (supposedly) say. GOD and Jesus’ declaration should mean more to a believer than some mere doctrine scribbled down by a man. Or does it?
And whether you keep your talk secret or disclose it {concerning anything}, verily, HE is the All-Knower of what is in the breasts (of men).
Should not HE WHO has created know? And HE is The Subtle, The All-Aware (of everything). Quran (67:13-14)
Some also would declare that man ‘bested’ GOD when mankind was allowed to tamper with the so-called ‘Holy Writings’ we call scripture! Critical analysis of the Bible would, in some sense, tend to back this notion up.
However, when one takes a notion into the ‘shake and bake’ theory of mixing things up like a ‘jumble sale’ and compares this with the idea that, in reality, GOD is on top of things and in the know, then things look different.
Fly paper is there to catch the flies AND NOT THE BEES! So the trap is laid out as to what ‘you were want to do and planned somehow to get away with it’!
And (the unbelievers) plotted and planned, and ALLAH too Planned, and the Best of Planners is ALLAH. Quran (3:54)
Since the Quran is cyclical in nature, the above quote can be used in several places to show that ALLAH runs the universe according to HIS PLAN which, by definition, is not very understandable by the likes of men! HE catches them out wherever they may be and HE is Full Knowing, The Aware!
Do not be deceived, GOD is not mocked {though your highfalutin, pomposity makes you think that}; for whatever a man sows, {it is guaranteed} that he will also reap. Galatians (6:7)
That they {the Jews opposed to their prophet Jesus} said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of ALLAH”; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a truth, they killed him not:
Nay, ALLAH raised him up unto HIMSELF; and ALLAH is Exalted in Power, Wise;
And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death {before he dies upon his return to rule}; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them. Quran (4:157-159)
This is what Jesus (pbh) declared all by himself when one studies the New Testament! Did he know what he was talking about or was he just a pious fraud pulling peoples legs?
If we respect this man, we must ask if what he said is truthful. Another way of doing this is to ask, ‘Who killed Jesus and how did he die’? Jesus (pbh) already gave the answer to those questions!
“Therefore my FATHER loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it {up} Again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself {by my own choosing}. I have {been given the} power to lay it down, and I have {been given the} power to take it {up (resume it)} Again. This command {gift} I have received from my FATHER.” John (10:16-17)
If no one could kill him, then he couldn’t actually have died! And if he, as a sentient being, can take up his life again (obviously meaning to leave the Earth and come back (ANOTHER TIME FOR A GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE), then he either is saying that he has done this thing before and/or he will return someday and, according to Islam and Isaiah Chapter 53, will enter the Earth’s realm again and die as himself.
The reason that he would die as himself, that is to be placed in a grave ‘with {adjacent to} the RICH’, is to actually end his life force on planet Earth like what he really is and that is what we actually are and that is being a human being!
So in that sense, he is showing that he is judged and awarded as a soul in the capacity that he poured out, pure and simple. Yet, he must leave this kingdom like all humans must and await for the ‘greater glory’ that has been promised which is ETERNAL LIFE in supreme joy that will not end!
And if he is a SIGN or known as a PATTERN for mankind, he must do things as men do or else he can’t be a SIGN in its total sense. The notion of ‘Come follow me’ as Jesus (pbh) supposedly declared would ring hollow and false!
However, if he is a human being and only a human being like us, then his Message is quite clear, truthful and understandable! And things can now start to make some sense!
So, it is a simple process of looking at this Jesus angle, and acknowledging his lawful and dutiful right to rule in this kingdom when he will return and being set forth as a blessed reward to him for a job well done! And this is exactly expressed as the last part of Isaiah Chapter 53!
We can support these things from the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (pbh) about them rising up together from basically the same grave site in the same city (Medina).
And why is this so hard to believe? This is a great symbolic act of unity and truth which should not be missed by mankind even though his prejudices are great. Nevertheless, Jesus (pbh) said:
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold {Ummah}; them also I must bring {when I return as the ruling king (Islamic hadiths)}, and they will hear my voice; {for all will believe in me before my death (Quran)} and there will be {only} one flock and one shepherd {in this world, the paradise on Earth given to me by my LORD as a lofty reward for my services well done as is reported in Isaiah chapter 53 at the end}:
He shall see the labor of his soul {being equivalent to a lot more than 3 years of pious work!}, and be satisfied {that he overcame and conquered}. By his knowledge MY righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities {by going through the same temptations as they will and by conquering them one by one}.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great {such that he will be in the company of those nearest to ALLAH – Quran (3:45)}, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong {the faithful believers}; because {as their leader and example} he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many {by taking on those conditions and conquering them as a SIGN or representative man among men}, and made intercession for the transgressors {and thus took on the world as a sacrifice in his leadership role and with GOD’s PERMISSION OVERCAME SUCH}. Isaiah (53:11-12)
“Therefore my FATHER loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it {up} Again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself {by my own choosing}. I have {been given the} power to lay it down, and I have {been given the} power to take it {up (resume it)} Again. This command {gift} I have received from my FATHER.”
Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
And many of them said, “He has a demon and is {definitely} mad {as to his claim of having his GOD giving him {any} authority to come and go as he pleases}. Why do you listen to him {who must be insane}?”
Others said, “These are NOT the words of one who has a demon {or insane}. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind {in a spiritual sense}?” John (10:16-21)
According to these ‘direct’ definitions (Quranic and Biblical but mostly Biblical), Jesus (pbh) cannot be killed by any living being. Rather he picks a time to leave this world and picks a time when to RE-ENTER this world but ‘ONLY based upon his CREATOR’s WILL/GOOD PLEASURE’ and not based upon his own desires!
We have Christian doctrine that proclaims otherwise. They are not Jesus (pbh) and they have been known throughout the centuries to be quite tactless at times. And their Islamic counterparts cannot avoid this criticism either due to being afraid to actually think about things as well as to fall into the same traps that the other Ummahs fell into (hadith).
There is no new religion involved in this process! There is just a deeper understanding of what we can assail to find out the truth. GOD, as one of HIS NAMES suggests, is the ULTIMATE TRUTH (AL-HAQQ); men are not!
The conclusion is pure and simple when one goes to the source of truth. The source being Jesus (pbh) or in the case of the Quran, GOD HIMSELF.
According to the ONE GOD, as is claimed in the Quran, the logical claim is that Jesus (pbh) was NOT CRUCIFIED on a cross nor put to death. In fact, though he was not even put on the cross, it did appear to the human facilities of eyesight that he was and this was for the basic purpose of sorting things out which is known only by GOD for sure.
That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of ALLAH”; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a truth, they killed him not: Quran (4:157)
Has GOD failed us? Or is it that we have failed ourselves? Without GOD’s direct guarantee that the Bible is completely correct, unlike the Quran where THE GOD Guarantees that the Arabic Quran is completely correct (Zephaniah Chapter 3 verses 9 and 10 as well as Quranic verses), are we putting our own feelings into what we have declared as our own theological beliefs?
We can see this problem and people with the lack of knowledge concerning this problem should see the video featuring Peter J. Williams vs. Bart Ehrman “The Story of Jesus: Are the Gospels historically reliable”? The last ten minutes of this video is very telling.
What I want is two things:
- The promise of GOD that HIS particular WORD will, at some point, be protected and clean from error even though I might not understand it and therefore I may make wrong assumptions based on my own ignorance.
- The fundamental belief that GOD will not permit gross forgery to exist but that HE allows mistakes to be made as a lesson to mankind showing that fundamentally they should trust in a GOD and that fundamentally they should acknowledge man’s capability to deceive others to gain a particular advantage.
Point number 1 is found in Zephaniah 3(9-10) and in the Quran Q (40:75) and 2 Thessalonians (2: 10-12) from the New Testament.
Point number 2 is found in Jerimiah (8:8-9) and in the Gospel of Matthew where there is an admission of the skullduggery of mankind willing to produce either forgeries or strange doctrine that will turn out to be just a plain bald-faced lie and again in Q (40:75) and 2 Thessalonians (2: 10-12) from the New Testament.
“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the Word of the LORD; so what wisdom do they have? Jerimiah (8:8-9)
Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, declaring {about them}
‘These people draw near to me* with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
And in vain {do} they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments {the ways} of {ignorant} men {or disbelievers}.’ ” Matthew (15:7-9)
{*The ‘me’ here is primarily about GOD and how mankind, for his selfish reasons, twists the truth so as to be advantageous to his own making as in a class of people, generally called the ‘priest-class’ of any religion, to control people. Therefore, because of their faithless nature, GOD sends upon them strong delusions concerning what they have earned through their treachery.
Their followers, however, are in another class. They are the weak-willed individuals who blindly follow this corruption of faith and seek out this comfort zone so as to do as little soul-searching work as possible. Hence, they are visited with massive confusion, doubts and other ‘sicknesses’ causing them to stray further and further away from the TRUTH!
Why OH why would GOD do such a thing? It is stated in the Quran and by Paul the reasons for this as is shown by Q (40:75) and 2 Thessalonians (2: 10-12) from the New Testament!
In other words, it is not the ‘luck-of-the-draw’ taking place here but a fine-tuned system that allows man to turn his life around, BUT ONLY IF HE/SHE SO CHOOSES AND BY ALLAH’s PERMISSION! The ball has always been in man’s court!
So, man has to face the REALITY eventually and if he is a smart creature, he will seek out the truth (with GOD’s help). Always appeal to the ONE GOD! The opposite, however, is also true!
But man is mostly blind and doesn’t take GOD for HIS WORD but tries to find solace in an escape from reality by using any and all means (charms, bracelets, false beliefs, straight out denial, etc.) to ward off disaster and feign a kind of ignorance or policy of ignorance in a feeble attempt to escape a future accounting!}
MAN CANNOT ESCAPE THIS FUTURE ACCOUNTING! He must muster up the courage to face his inner-self and come to a reality as to WHOM he shall worship and how he shall worship! That is as simply stated as can possibly be.
Things like this often divide peoples and can cause them to ‘go off the rails’ on account of their soul-craving lusts which man is, being a high being or high creation, still responsible for:
A tradition of Ubayy-bin Ka’b – All of mankind was assembled in {to} separate groups giving them {the separate groups} the understanding that they were to be made vicegerents on Earth while imparting their wisdom and understanding, i.e. granting them power such that each individual (would be) completely and fully responsible for their actions.
That means that no individual can absolve him or herself from the responsibility of deviation from ALLAH’s WAY. Therefore, it became man‘s duty, if he so chose to make it, to make use of all of his facilities of the gifts given to them to discern truth from error in their respective journeys through life-giving experiences.
Earth is one laboratory (that we know of and the only one we should consider at this time because that is where we find ourselves) that tests us continuously. What for and why do we have to pursue this very laborious ‘from cradle adjustment to grave adjustment’ anyway?
When we took on the challenge as mentioned in the Quran, Quran (33:72), that even the mountains and the sky were afraid to take on, then we opened up the way for that which was to follow. High stakes of no pain and no gain!
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness {found} in them that perish {to the HELL-FIRE due to what is in the secret recesses of the heart or that seat of blessedness of the soul}; because they did NOT receive {believe in or fight for} the love of the truth that they might be saved.
And for this cause {contempt for GOD’s TRUTH so that they will be rejected by GOD} GOD shall send {upon} them STRONG DELUSION that they should believe {in} a lie {focus not on doing what is right – the real food for the soul}:
That they all might be damned {to the Hell-Fire} who didn’t believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness {took their comfort in doing other than the truthful WAY with the highest example of believing in joining partners with GOD}. 2 Thessalonians (2: 10-12) – words accredited to Paul.
“You have met this {particular} fate because you rejoiced on the earth in things OTHER THAN THE TRUTH, and then EXULTED {REVELED} in it.” Q (40:75)
If a person has striven by selfishness with all strivings beyond rhyme or reason for the lusting after false gods and false ideals, then he can be ‘rewarded’ by being held in the contemptable way he has so mightily chosen to hang onto and which he lusted after versus the ‘straight way’ he refused to partake of as he was pre-warned of this. Or he can be more or less protected by his LORD by refusing to be a fanatic bearer of falsehoods!
For WE assuredly sent amongst every People {without exception} a Messenger, (with the Command), “Serve ALLAH, and eschew Evil”: of the People were some whom ALLAH guided, and some on whom error became inevitably {due to their mindset} (established). So travel through the earth, and see what the end was of those who denied (the Truth). Quran (16:36)
Mankind is not tasked at finding how Quran (16:36) is precisely done but man is tasked with the belief in but ONE DIVINE BEING and the worship of that BEING WHO HAS NO PARTNERS! In addition to this, man is tasked with finding a true belief system that originated from HIM and not from the carnal recesses of man’s own corrupted mind.
