A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel

A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel0%

A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel Author:
Publisher: www.alhassanain.org/english
Category: Quranic Sciences

A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

Author: Dar Rahe Haq Board of Writers
Publisher: www.alhassanain.org/english
Category: visits: 3658
Download: 2453

Comments:

search inside book
  • Start
  • Previous
  • 9 /
  • Next
  • End
  •  
  • Download HTML
  • Download Word
  • Download PDF
  • visits: 3658 / Download: 2453
Size Size Size
A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel

A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel

Author:
Publisher: www.alhassanain.org/english
English

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

A Comparative Glance at the Qur'an and the Gospel

Author: DarRahe Haq Board of Writers

www.alhassanain.org/english

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

The Holy Bible 3

The Structure of Christianity 4

The Main Rites of Christianity 4

The Exact Number of the Gospels 5

The Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) 5

The Church Viewpoint 5

Some Researchers' Viewpoints 6

Monotheism 8

The Origins of Polytheism and Heterogenity with Monotheism 8

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the Holy Quran 9

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the New Testament 9

The Common Points Regarding the Jesus (A.S)’s Nativity 10

The Prophetic Mission of Jesus (A.S) 11

The Miracles of Jesus (A.S) 12

Jesus (A.S) as Kalimat Allah (the Word of Allah) 12

The Disciples of Jesus (A.S) 13

Jesus (A.S)'s Confirmation of Legitimacy of The Torah 13

The Events of The Day of Judgement (Qiyamat) 15

Nature Changes While the Day of Judgement is Approaching 15

The Angels' Role in the Day of Judgement 15

The Knowledge of the Day of Reckoning in the Monoply of Allah 15

The Blowing of the Trumpet 15

Separating Good and Evil in the Day of Judgement 16

The People of Right Hand and The People of Left Hand 16

The Day of Judgement as the Day of Reckoning and Reward 16

The Length of the Day of Judgement 17

Worships 18

Supplication (Du’a) 18

Fasting 18

The Common Examples between the Quran and the Gospel 20

The Prophets in the Quran and the Gospel 20

Adam (A.S) 20

Noah (A.S) 21

Ibrahim(A.S) 21

Lot (A.S) 23

Jonah (A.S) 23

Joseph (A.S) 24

Moses (A.S) 25

John (A.S) 26

Epilogue 28

Introduction

TheAbrahamic religions believe that the source of the universe is the Only One Allah (SWT). He possesses all virtues and presents religions to man according to His own wisdom so that the religions, as a detached intelligence, can bring to perfection the man's thoughts, rational and theoretical perceptions. This is why we must consider theAbrahamic religions very syncretistic and consistent in principles, doctrines and beliefs that confirm one another. As the principles lay stress on realities and consistent bases of the world, these religions are consistent in themselves and do not contain any instability. For example, each of the following theories such as the source of the universe is either unique and needless or it is not self-existent; man is charged with a duty andresponsiblity or he is free and in suspense;judgement day is an absolute reality or... and other theories, they are consistent and invariable. However, the necessity of such insight is the consistency of the holy religions, at least, in the field of essential beliefs. In this article, we are going to manifest some of these consistencies and then show you howdifferenceshave been imposed on the Torah and the Gospel. We do thisresearsh according to the viewpoints of the Holy Quran.

The Holy Bible

All books which are considered holy according to the Christian Church constitute "The Holy Bible" which itself is divided into two parts: Old Testament and New Testament while the second one begins with four Gospels and contains the book "Acts" and some other compilations attributed to the Prophets(A.S) and finally it ends with the Apocalypse. The first part (i.e. Old Testament) is abbreviated by two letters of "O.T" and the New Testament by two letters of "I.M" The well-known Old Testament includes thirty-six books and compilations. Christians believe they have been written by the Jewish Prophets from Moses (A.S) to Jesus (A.S). The New Testament which is believed by the world famous Christians, includes twenty-seven books and short letters. According to Christians some of them have been written byJesus( A.S)'s students and the rest of them by the leaders of the first ages of Christianity. From one point, the New Testament has been divided into two parts:

1) Historical books such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts

2) Scholarly books including the letters of the leaders of the very beginning of Christianity

As the precepts (Ahkam ) of some parts of Christians' beliefs have been mentioned in these letters, they are called scholarly books which contain Paul's letters who is the founder of present day Christianity. The Christian Church calls the set of the compilations (i.e. Old and New Testaments) as "The Bible" which is derived from the Greek word "Biblous " meaning book. The Bible includes the Christians' beliefs and religious principles that are called "Canon" which means scale in Greek so it can be considered as the balance of the Christians'beliefs ... So the Bible that the Christians have consists of both theold Testament, including the Torah and some various compilations, and the New Testament including the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Acts, numerous letters and the Apocalypse. In this research, we will mostly focus on the New Testament especially the Christians' four Gospels.

The Structure of Christianity

Christianiny is divided into three greatreligions : Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant among which Catholic is the most important and other two religions are of lesser importance. In addition to the above mentioned religions, Christianity includes 150 other religions. Nowadays the largest Christian sect is Catholic (according to quantity and not quality) whose leader is the Pope II. "... Today, there are about 360 sects of Christianity and each of themhave specific beliefs and each are bigot toward other religions".

The Main Rites of Christianity

1-Babtism : It means the holy ceremonial washing in order to purify from sins that we call it " The water of repentance. " The ceremony is performed for a Christian person's readiness to have thehonour of entering the divine world.

2- Lord'sSupper : It is the most important rite of Christianity and includes eating bread and drinking wine to recall one's own promise with Jesus (A.S). It originates from the last night of Jesus (A.S)'s life when he ate bread and drank wine with his Disciples. This ceremony was always performed on Sundays but was stopped later on and now it is performed only once a year.

3- The ceremony of the young adults'enterance into the group of Christians and membership in thechurch.According to the ceremony, the young adults go near a priest and then ask forgiveness and also strengthen their promise and faith toward His way and teachings and as a result they have the right to attend in the ceremony of Lord's Supper.

4- Confessing sins formally to a priest and asking forgiveness (This ceremony is not common among Protestants).

5- The marriage contract which should be performed according to the church rules and ceremonies.

6-Chrismation :It is a ceremony in which a priest make a person in a dying state ready for the Day ofJudgement by saying special prayers and using the holy olive oil.

7- Believing in the ranks of the Christian clergymen and respecting theirpostions from the Pope to local priests is the basic necessity ofChristianity.About the confession ceremony, a researchersays : "In 1354 when I travelled to Italy , I stayed in Rome for three days and went to Peter's cathedral ...There,I saw priests who were purchasing the sins. In the main hall the believers had fallen on the priests' knees and were confessing their sins. At the same time, an old man came in along with his wife and sat beside the priest. To confess easily a curtain was put up and then they began to confess their sins slowly so that others could not hear them. After a while the old man and his wife came out while they were happy and smiling as though they had the paper of entering paradise in their hands."

The Exact Number of the Gospels

Mr. 'AbdulAhad (a Christian converted to Islam) says in his book "Al-Injill Wa Al-Salib " that: "A lot of people from different countries had gathered inNiqiah conference in 325 A.D. They were more than two thousand representatives of clergymen who had brought tens of the Gospels and hundreds of religious letters in order to survey them. They chose four Gospels from among more than forty Gospels and twenty-one letters among uncountable ones. At the end of the conference they decided to approve the available Gospels in the New Testament and rejected all otherGopels and ordered to burn them. In this regard one of the researcherssays : " Some of theGopels (the false ones) are still preserved intact (such as St. Thomas, St. Jack and twoFikorm ). However, some of the Gospels have partly become ruined and the whole book is not availabletoday , but, there are other Gospels which have completely become ruined and just their names have been mentioned in books contemporary to their time.

To study the reasons for choosing the four Gospels (Matthew, Luke, John and Mark) Instead of the other Gospels should be discussed in another place but here we will briefly refer to one sayingthat : "Religious disagreements have come to an end, the Bibles have now a distinct number, the kingKostantin who worshipped idols has converted to Christianity and he wants to unite Christians on the base of one belief and union (ie Bibles). In 325 A.D, he also organized a conference inNiqiah where the beliefs were approved by the majority of those present. Thus, the available Gospels in the New Testament were recognized officially but other Gospels were announced to be illegal. (The word "Gospel" has been borrowed from Greek. AsTolsto explains in the introduction of his Gospel, the word "Gospel" is derived from two words "EV" meaningGood , and "Angelion " which means news and therefore these two words beside each other mean good news).

The Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Wiliam Edi, the commentator of the Gospel, says in his commentary: "Certainly, Jesus (A.S) has not compiled theGospels, rather it is the history of his life that we study. At the beginning of the New Testament, language was the means of transferring the Gospels to the next generations and none of the Gospels were written until twenty years after Jesus (A.S)'s ascension and John wrote the fourth Gospel fifty years after Jesus (A.S)'s ascension." JohnNass , the author of "Jam'a Al-Adian " says:

" So much is certain that Jesus(A.S) has not compiled his teachings but he trusted his students and dispersed them all around the world in order to teach people of what they themselves have learnt from Jesus (A.S). One point agreed by all researchers and the men of church is that the present Gospels are neitherindited nor dictated by Jesus (A.S). Since the word here is about the accuracy of attributing the Gospels to their real owners, so we proceed to the viewpoints stated by the researchers and the church masters.

The Church Viewpoint

"... The church believes the authors of the Gospels are the Disciples or their relatives and tries to disseminate this belief that the real author of all books is Allah (SWT) who dictated his word to the authors by the Holy Spirit." "...The first books of the New Testament are called "Gospel" which means "good news" in Greek language. The books were written by four different authors and each of them is a separate book that explains about Jesus (A.S)'s life and teachings ....Christians know the books as the word of Allah (SWT) and they believe Allah (SWT) guided the authors of the Gospels by the Holy Spirit in such a way that their books are absolutely true!." Today Christianity of the world admits the holiness of the Bible and believe that its contents are Allah (SWT)'s commands that He dictated them to the authors by the HolySpirit ."

Some Researchers' Viewpoints

Many researchers are still in doubt about the accuracy of attributing the Gospels to the attributed persons (i.e.luke , Mark, John, Matthew). And on the basis of contradictions among the Gospels, some of them believe that their contents were collected by unknown people who published them under the patronage of some respected men among Christians and they hereby resorted to disseminate their own pre-made thoughts. "... The clergymen and leaders of the church collected the Gospels under the name of the respected men in order to validate them among the people, while there is no relationship between the real authors of the Gospels and the attributedauthors ....

According to some researches which are often confirmed directly or indirectly by the Church, the authors of the Gospels are not certainly known and the chosen names for the Gospels are imaginary andsymbolic ." In this regard, Mr. CarlKaotski says : "It is most certain that with the exception of a few books which belong to primitive Christianity the rest of the books were not written by those attributed people. The books were written much before the time that their authors have claimed and also in many cases the main texts have been impudently distorted in the next revisions by additions. The last point to be mentioned is that it is confirmed today that the Gospels and none of the books which belong to the earlier Christianity have not been written by the contemporary writers of Jesus (A.S). A Russian philosopher named "Tareof " who has taught in the religious academy of Moscow says in his book" The historical philosophy of the Gospel" published in 1903, that:" The Gospels are neither history nor historical documents theycan not be even considered as calendar ." Some researchers have hesitated about the existence of Jesus (A.S) himself.

They say: "There is no reliable historicalresource which confirm Jesus (A.S)'sexsitence ." It is now better to proceed to the historical background of theGospels : "The available manuscript of the New Testament is more ancient than that of the Old Testament. The oldest manuscript belongs to the fourthcentuty and is preserved In the Vatican. The most ancient translation which is inAramese language (spoken in Syria) belongs to the end of second century and is entitled "The Simple Translation." Two other translations in Egyptian which relate to the third and fourth centuries are available too. There is another translation in Latin which was finished in about 400 A.D." "... The only books trusted by the Christian researchers are those in Latin that were discovered by Mr.Terotri . The experts think they have been written in 180 A.D. In the discovered papers, the books of the New Testament have been attributed to the same present names of writers." The only evidences that Christians rely on them are the following manuscripts:

1. The available manuscript in the second Pope's library in the Vatican and experts believe it has been written in the fourthcentury .

2. TheSinaese manuscript that was preserved in Leningrad library forsometime and is probably written in fourth century. Some researchers guess that the above manuscript is the same one which Dr.Tishindorf discovered in St.Catrine and then sent it to the Leningrad library.

3. The manuscript in Alexandria which is still preserved in the treasury of England. It is estimated that it was written in 500 A.D. It is nowopprtune to proceed to the debate betweenIman Reza (A.s) and a Christian scholar:" When Jesus(A.S) ascended and his Gospel disappeared, thechristians went to their own scholars and asked them What are we to do now?Jesus( A.S) was killed and his onlyGopel was lost too. You are our scholars so you must think of a remedy." Luke and Mark answered:" The Gospel is in our hearts and every time we will present a part of it to you. Do not worry about it and do not leave the synagogues. When we write the Gospel, we will inform and recite it to you." Then luke , Mark, John and Matthew gathered and compiled the present Gospels while these four persons were not Jesus(A.s)'s students... ." Some researcher's viewpoints regarding the Gospels were mentioned above but studying them needs much more time.

Monotheism

The essential basis of the orders of the Holy Quran is Monotheism which is emphasized everywhere in the Holy Quran itself. The following verses are as examples:

1-Say: "He, God, isOne , ..., And there is none like unto Him." (Al-Ikhlas , 1 and 4)

2-“And commanded thy Lord hath that thoushalt worship not (any one) but Him ...”( Al-Asra , 23) and many other verses.

The above mentioned basis has also been emphasized in the Gospel and other parts of the New Testament including:

1- " And this is eternal life, to knowYou , the only true God, and Jesus Christ (A.S) whom you have sent." (John 17:3)

2-"... And one of the scribes... came forward to question him, "which is the chief commandment of all?" Jesus (A.S) answered him, "The chief one is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord... ." (Mark 12:29-30) .

3- "It iswritten , ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone'." (Luke 4:8)

4-" Nowconcernig food that has been dedicated to idols, we know that no idol reallyexsits , that there is no God but one. Even if there are so-called gods either in heaven or on earth, such as in-deed there are many gods and many lords, for us there is one God... ." (The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 8:5-7)

The Origins of Polytheism andHeterogenity with Monotheism

Despite the monotheistic definitions available in the Gospels, there are some heterogeneous words involved in polytheism in some Gospels that are as follows:

1-"... And we have believed and have grown certain that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:70)

2-" I and the Father areOne ... And understand that the Father is inMe and I am in the Father."( John 10: 31 and 39)

3-" She responded, "Yes,Lord, I have faith that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come in to the world." (John 11:27)

4-"... Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?... Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me." (John 14:10-11)

And such beliefs are numerous in the New Testament. This is the same issue of the Trinity and one of the basic principles of Christianity by which the masters of the Church are confused.In this contents , Garywolff says:" It must be said theuncomprehensive relations among the members of the Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit does not seem reasonable. This issue has always confused divine men (Illahiyon ). According to the teachings of the Church God is one but in spite ofthis,the above ‘three persons’ are inseparable because the Trinity is inseparable, however, each part of the Trinity is independent."

William M. Miller, achristian scholar, says in this regard: "... These Gospels are not inconsistent with each other!but are complementary. They are like four photographs of one person taken from four different sides. I know that you are going to asknow, If God is One then how it is possible for Jesus (A.S) to be the Son of God? To answer this question, it must be said that these two issues are secrets, which their understandingdose not seem reasonable, of course, in our limited intelligence.

The rationalistic inability is obvious in the above issue and thus we should discuss the issue of the Trinity in another place. Here, we just refer to aQuranic verse in this regard:" O’ People of the Book! overstep not in your religion, and say not upon God except the Truth; Verily; Verily, the Messiah Jesus(A.S), son of Mary, is only an apostle of God and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit (proceeding) from Him; Believe therefore in God, and His apostles, and say not (that there are) three (gods); Desist! It is good for you; Verily, Verily, God! (there is) only One God! Far be it from His (Absolute)-purity that there be for Him a son; His is whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is in the Earth; God is sufficient as a Protector.( An-Nisa , 171)

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the Holy Quran

A part ofSurah Maryam describes the Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity as follows:

"And mention in the Book (Quran) about Mary (also) when she withdrew herself from her family (in the house) eastward, then she took a veil (coverherself ) from them; then sent We unto Our Spirit, then he (the Spirit) appeared unto her a man sound (in form). Said she: " Verily I fly for refuge in The Beneficent (God) from thee, (be gone from me) if thou art God-fearing." Said he:" I am only a messenger (Angel) of thy Lord: so that I give to thee a son purified". Said she: " How can there be unto me a son while hath not touched me (any) man and nor was I unchaste!" Said he:" So shall it be; thy Lordsayeth , It is easy for Me, and that We will make him a sign (miracle)(of Ours) unto the people and a Mercy from Us; It is a matter (already) decreed." So she conceived him and retired with him (away from her people) to a remote place. And thethreos (of child birth) forced her to betake herself unto the trunk of a palm-tree. She said:" Oh ! Had I diedere this, and had been lost in oblivion totally forgotten!" Then (a voice) called out unto her from beneath her; "Grieve not thou, verily thy Lord hath caused from beneath thee (to follow) a stream!" And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop onthee dates fresh (and) ripe. Then eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if thonseest any man say: 'Verily I have vowed unto the Beneficent (God) a fast so never shall I speak today unto any man." And she came with him unto her people carrying him (with her). Said they:" O' Mary! Indeed thou hath come with an unusual thing!. "

" O' sister of Aaron!thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother an unchaste woman!" But she pointed out him. They said:" How can we speak unto one who is (yet) a child in the cradle." He (Jesus miraculously) said:" Verily I am a servant of God; He hath given me a book and made me a Prophet!" (Maryam,16 -30).

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the New Testament

"The birth of Jesus (A.S) came about thisway : when His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. But as Joseph, her finance, was fair-minded and did not want to disgrace her publicly, he planned tobreakwith her secretly. But while he was considering this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son ofDavid , be not afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to call Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."All this took place infulfilment of what the Lord had said through the prophet," Behold ! The virgin will be with child and shall bear a son, and they will name Him Immanuel," which means, God with us." (Matt. 1:18-35)

Luke narrates the birth of Jesus (A.S) as follows:

"... In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, to a virgin named Mary, who was engaged to Joseph,adescendant of David. The angel, as he approached her, said," Greetings,favoured one.The Lord is with you." But she was troubled at his message and reflected what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Have no fear, Mary, for you have foundfavour with God. And lo, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you will call Him Jesus. He shall be great and will be called son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David. He will be king over the house of Jacob for ever; there will be no end to His kingdom." Mary asked the angel," How will this be, since I have no husband?" The angel answered her," The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore that holy offspring will be called the son of God." (Luke 1:26-36)

The Common Points Regarding the Jesus (A.S)’s Nativity

As it is apparent by comparing the Holy Quran and the Gospel we see common points between them that some of them are as follows:

1- The appearance of the Angel Gabriel beforeMaryam and giving her good tidings about conceivingJesus( A.S)

2- Thevirgin Mary

3- Mary's fear while seeing the Angel

4-Jesus( A.S), a fatherless child

But the disagreements among them are as follows:

1- Mary s' engagement to Joseph

2-calling Jesus (A.S) as the son of God

The Holy Quran has referred to the above disagreements. TheQurun documentarily rejects existence of any husband for Mary and calling Jesus (A.S) as the son of God is one of the main differences between the Quran and the Gospels which has been repeatedly rejected by the Quran that saysJesua (A.S) is only a servant of God and also His prophet. It is now better to refer to some parts of the Gospel of “Barnabas” which has a great similarity with the word of the Holy Quran:" In these last year a virgin called Mary, of the lineage of David, of the tribe of Judah, was visited by the angel Gabriel from God.

This virgin, living in all holiness without any offence, being blameless, and abiding in prayer withfastings , being one day alone, there entered into herchamper the angelGabriel, and he saluted her, saying: “God be with thee, O Mary.” The virgin was affrighted at the appearance of the angel; but the angel comforted her, saying "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast foundfavour with God, who hath chosen thee to be mother of a prophet, whom he will send to the people of Israel in order that they may walk in his laws with truth of heart.” The virgin Answered0:” Now how shall I bring forth sons, seeing I know not a man?“ The angel answered: “O Mary, God who made man without a man is able to generate in thee man without aman,because with him nothing is impossible.” Mary answered:” I know that God is almighty, therefore his will be done.” The angelanswereed :” Now be conceived in thee the prophet, whom thoushalt name Jesus ...”. (The Gospel of Barnabas 1:1-9) " Mary having known the will of God, fearing the people, lest they should take offence at her being great with child, and should stone her as guilty of fornication, chose a companion of her ownlinege , a man by name called Joseph, of blameless life ." (The Gospel of Barnabas 2:1)

According to the above mentioned Gospel, there is not obvious disagreementbeween this Gospel and the Holy Quran, and we do not see here any sign of two disagreements stated before; because firstly, the Gospel of Barnabas does not say that Jesus (A.S) is the son of God. And secondly, itponits out that Mary's engagement with Joseph wasafter( and not before) her pregnancy.

The Prophetic Mission of Jesus (A.S)

The Holy Quransays : "And (appoint him) an Apostle to the children of Israel (and who will declare) that now I have come unto you with a sign from your Lord ."( AL -e-Imran , 49) and or " He (Jesus miraculously) said :' Verily I am a servant of God; He hath given me a book (Evangel) and made me a prophet! "(Maryam , 30). Theprophethood of Jesus (A.S) has been referred in many verses of the Holy Quran. Jesus (A.S) has also been referred in the Gospel with the same title asfollows : " for the works which My father has given me to accomplish - the activities in which I am engaged - these are my evidence that the father has sent me And the father who sent Me has Himself testified on My behalf; only His voice you never yet heard, neither have you seen His form, nor do you even have His message living within you, because you do not believe the One whom He sent." (John 5:36-38)

" Jesus (A.S) replied, 'This is God'swork, that you believe in Him whom He sent." (Of course, there are also other verses regarding the Jesus (A.S)'sprophethood that we just mention their addresses in the Gospel of John as follows: "6:29; 7:17,29,34 ; 8:32,43; 9:4; 16:5").

The unity among God and Jesus has been repeatedly emphasized in different parts of the Gospel which refers to the belief of the trinity that is one of the basic principles of Christianity. Some of these verses are as follows:

"... I and the Father areOne ..." (John 10:30)

"... Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I give to you all, I do not speak just fromMyself ; the Father who dwells in Me carries on His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me... ." (John 14:10-11).

Now, the masters of the Church are responsible for finding the solution for the issue of the Jesus (A.S)s' prophethood and unity and also the issue of the Trinity. Perhaps they answer:" By the man's weak intelligence, it is much certain that the above issues do not seem reasonable for him."

The Miracles of Jesus (A.S)

In this regard, the Holy Quransays : "Out of clay will I make for you like the figure of a bird, and I will breathe into it, and it shall become a flying bird by God's permission; and I shall heal the blind and the leper and will raise the dead to life by God's permission."(Al-e-Imran , 49).

Like the Holy Quran, the four Gospels have also mentioned the miracles of Jesus (A.S)for many times that are almost the same as the Quran. Thefolliwing verses of the Gospels will elucidate Jesus (A.S)'s miracles: "... When He had come down from the hill, great crowds followed Him. And a leper came up and knelt before Him... Reaching out His hand He touched him saying, ‘I am willing. Be cleansed’. And instantly his leprosy was cleansed."( Matt.8 )

"... While Jesus was walking away, two blind men followed Him, crying out, 'Son of David, pity us!' Then when He had entered the house, the blind men came up to Him and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?' They answered Him, ‘Yes, Lord." He then touched their eyes and said, ‘According to the measure of your faith it shall be to you.' And their eyes were opened. "( Matt . 9) "... Jesus replied to them, "Go and report John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and... ." (Matt. 11) The main contradiction between the Quran and the Gospel is that according to the QuranJesus's miracle is due to God's permission, but, it is said in the Gospel thatJesus's miracle refers to His own power. So, it is much certain that the Quran lays too muchstrees on monotheism but the second seems to emphasize polytheism.

Jesus (A.S) asKalimat Allah (the Word of Allah)

The word of Allah is the title attributed to Jesus (A.S) by the Holy Quran in several verses that some are as follows:

"... Verily, Allahgiveth thee the glad tidings of a Word from Him; whose name shall be Messiah, Jesus, son ofMaryam ... ." (Al-e-Imran , 45)

"... Verily, Allahgiveth thee the glad tidings of (a son)Yahya (John)( who shall be) theconfimer of a word from Allah ." (Al-e-Imran , 39)

"... Verily, Verily, the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God and His Word... ." (An-Nisa , 171)

In this regard, we read the following verses in the Gospel of John:

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is the one who was in the beginning with God. Through Himevery thing came into being and without Him nothing thatexsits came into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men...And the Word became man and lived for a time among us, and we viewed His glory- such glory as the only-begotten Son receives from His Father- abounding in grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, ‘This was the One of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because He was before me.

' For from His abundance all of us have received more and more grace; for while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Inthis contents , there is a similarity between the Holy Quran and the Gospel because both of them have regarded Jesus (A.S) as the Word of Allah and have referred to John's testimony aboutJesus's legitimacy. But the contradiction between the two texts relates to the monotheistic aspects as the Quran knows Allah the unique power in the universe while the Gospel believes that Jesus is parallel to God and His son. In order to prove theJesus's greatness and holiness the Holy Quran has allocated different verses to Jesus (A.S) andabiut 175Quranic verses including 3163 words equal to %41 of the whole words of the Quran. But the secret of the Quran in calling Jesus the word of Allah itself is a discussion which needs to be commented, and in this regard the commentators have stated their opinions as the following is one of them:

" The Word refers to Jesus, the son ofMaryam . He has been referred by the Word to remember that He is an unusual creature and so deserves only to be attributed as the Word although all creatures are indeed the word of God.”

The Disciples of Jesus (A.S)

A group of people have been called "The Disciple" by the Holy Quran. As it is obvious from the contents of theQuranic verses, they were specific and directly instructed Jesus (A.S)’s students as if they accompanied Him while traveling or at home:

"... The Disciples said ‘We are the helpers towards God! We believe in God!" (Al-e-Imran , 52)

"... And when I, revealed unto the disciples, ‘Believe in Me and Mine Apostle (Jesus)' said they, We believe,... ." (Al-Maidah , 111)

"... As said Jesus, Son of Mary unto (his) disciples: ‘Who (among you) will be my helpers unto (the work) of God?' said the disciples (of Jesus):

‘We are the helpers (in the cause) of God!" (As-Saff , 14)

The Gospels have also mentioned thediciples in different verses for many times. The following verse is an example:

"... Calling His 12 disciples to Him He gave them power over depraved spirits to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every malady. Now these are the names of the 12 disciples: first, Simon, called peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son ofAlphaeus , andThaddaeus ; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. These 12 Jesus sent out with the charge: ‘Do not go to the Gentiles And as you go, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick; raise the dead; cleanselepers;expel demons ." (Matt. 10:1-9)

Jesus (A.S)'s Confirmation of Legitimacy ofThe Torah

In this regard, the Holy Quran says: "And We caused to follow in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the law (The Torah) whichwasbefore him, and We gave him the Evangel... ." (Al-Maidah , 46)

The same meaning can be found in the Gospel for example, "... Do not suppose that I came to annul the Law (The Torah) or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to complete them; for I assure you, while heaven and earth endure not one iota or one projection of a letter will be dropped from the Law until all isa accomplished. Whoever, therefore, abolishes the least significant of these commands and so teaches the people, he shall be of least significance... ." (Matt. 5:17-20)

"... But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter of the Law (The Torah) to become invalid... ." (Luke 16:17)

"...For if you believed Moses you would believeMe , since he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believeMy teachings?" (John 5:46)