Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter 17: The Prophecies of The Bible

Part One

Once in a while, God gives a certain proof to the people in order to leave them without any excuse. To this effect, He has risen up prophets and confirmed their missions through miracles.

The prophets before they passed away assigned certain tasks to people to carry out thereafter and prophesied the coming of a next prophet, specifying his identity. They also advised people to follow the next prophet so that the people might believe in him and take the right path.

According to this very principle, our Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, who would not be succeeded by any prophet to the end of the world, introduced Imam Ali, peace be upon him, as his successor and announced that the mission of divine prophecy had come to an end. He said to Imam Ali: "Your relationship to me is just like the relationship of Aaron to Moses, except for the fact that there will be no prophet after me."

In the heavenly Books, which God sent as revelations to prophets before Muhammad, He prophesied the coming of a final Prophet so that intelligent people might expect his coming.44 Moses, an authoritative prophet who has the divine Book of Torah, has prophesied in it the divine mission of the revered Prophet of Islam and has given signs describing him.

The existing Bibles, although subject to alterations, still contain passages suggesting the same allusions. In this treatise, we are going to give a summary quotation of them.

The First Prophesy

The Bible's book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verses 15-22, quote Moses as saying: "Jahova, thy Lord, will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

And the Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name;

I will require it of him. But the Prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word, which the Lord hath not spoken?

When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord; if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

In these phrases, Moses prophesies to the children of Israel the advent of a great prophet who has the following specifications:

1-He is among Moses' brothers and Israeli nation.

2-His position is like that of Moses himself.

3-He utters words of God.

4-He conveys whatever God commands him.

5-Whoever does not listen to his divinely inspired words, will be called to account by God.

6-He does not speak on his own behalf.

7-The proof of the truth of his words is his prophecies, which come true.

8-It is dangerous to oppose him. However, one should not be afraid of opposing a prophet who makes false assertions.

All these characteristics are contained in the above passage and all entirely correspond with those of the Prophet of Islam. Now we shall briefly explain each specification:

1-He is among Moses' brothers and Israeli nation. The Holy Qur'an, the Bible and the history testify that Abraham had two sons named Samuel, and Isaac.

Isaac, too, had a son called Jacob who was also called Israel. Jacob had twelve sons who are the forefathers of the children of Israel. Samuel had several children with whom he stayed in Arabian Peninsula and formed one of the important Arab tribes.

Ismaelites are considered the brethren of the children of Israel, because their common ancestor was Abraham who is one of the greatest men in history and equally respected by the Jews, Christians and Muslims. The two tribes in question have descended from his two sons, Samuel and Isaac. The glorious prophet of Islam is a descendant of Samuel and thus considered among the brothers of Israeli tribe.

2-His position is like that of Moses himself.

Like Moses, the respected Prophet of Islam had a divine Book and had worked miracles. He experienced stages in life similar to those of Moses: he rebelled by the sword, fought against the unbelievers and finally defeated them. 3-He utters words of God.

The greatest miracle of our Messenger of God is the Holy Qur'an, which is called "the everlasting miracle." No one has been and will be able to offer a book equal to it.

Although this Book is in Arabic and in Arabic alphabet and the Book itself invites all humanity to produce a book equal to it in eloquence, nobody has been able to do that and the opponents who, for centuries, have fought Islam by waging tremendous wars and spending large amounts of money, have never been able to produce something as valuable as the Qur'an. It is because the Holy Qur'an is the word of God and not human beings. As a result, a human being is unable to make something like it.

4-He conveys whatever God commands him. The Prophet of Islam conveyed to mankind whatever he heard from God. He showed to humanity all good and evil paths about which he was informed through revelations.

The Prophet delivered a sermon during the Welfare Pilgrimage saying: "O people! I enjoined you to do whatever drives you nearer to Heaven and whatever takes you away from the fire of Hell, and prevented you from doing anything which drives you towards Hell and away from Heaven."

The Holy Qur'an says: "The Messenger has no duty except conveying the message clearly."

The Prophet of Islam faced numerous difficulties and frustrations in preaching divine precepts and commandments and since his mission was a divine mission he feared nothing and resisted the tortures inflicted on him by Quraish (his own tribe) and finally decided to migrate from Mecca, his native town, to Medina.

5-Whoever does not listen to his divinely - inspired words, will be called to account by God.

A divine religion requires that a wrongdoer should be punished. The religious law of the Prophet of Islam has appointed hard punishments for sinners and ordained that everybody should be rewarded or punished for what he has done.

The Qur'an says: "He who doeth wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against Allah any protecting friend or helper. And who so doeth good works, whether of male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter paradise." (Sura "Women" verses 123-124). Italso says: "And whosoever sins against God and His Messenger, he will be a prey to the fire of Hell in which he will stay permanently." (Sura "Jinn" verses 23).

6-He does not speak on his own behalf.

The Prophet of Islam never spoke words expressing his own opinion and when a question was asked from him, he waited until a revelation came to him and he received the correct answer from God. The Qur'an says: "He does not speak out of self-interest anything except it has been a revelation" (Sura "Star", verses 3-4)

7-the proof of the truth of his words is his prophecies, which come true. The respected Messenger of Islam made during 23 years of his divine mission numerous prophecies, which came true. The Qur'an, Sura "Rome", says:

"Rome, situated in the remotest part [of the world], after being defeated, will defer [the enemy]." Indeed, this prediction came true.

8-It is dangerous to oppose him.

When the Prophet of Islam made known his divine mission, he was faced with powerful opponents each of whom tried to stop his influence and progress. But he continued his invitation resolutely and feared nothing and God the Almighty brought contempt and disaster to his enemies. In the Battle of Badr alone, the first Islamic war, seventy senior people of the Quraish tribe, who had long been hostile to the Prophet, was killed. In the subsequent battles, too, the real advance was made by the Prophet who at last conquered Mecca and Islam continued to flourish.

These explanations make it clear that the Prophet of Islam possessed all the characteristics mentioned in Moses' Words. So it is certain that Muhammad was the same prophet whose advent had been promised in the Old Testament, for after Moses no prophet possessing all these characteristics has come except Muhammad, the Son of Abdullah.

Incorrect identifications

Some of Jewish theologists have thought that this prophecy is about Joshua, but the fact is that all these characteristics do not correspond with those of that prophet. For example, he is not among the brethren of the Israelites, but is among himself. Furthermore, Joshua is not like Moses in position, because at the end of Deuteronomy (10:34), after the allusion to his divine mission, we read: "No prophet like Moses has ever risen in Israel whom God has known face to face."

Christian's claim that the prophet named in the Old Testament is no one else but Jesus Christ. This assertion, too, is baseless, because not all the specifications of the promised messenger recorded in the Old Testament exist in Jesus Christ. For instance:

1-Jesus rose from among the Israelites and not from among their brethren.

2-Jesus did not fight against the enemies and did not make an armed uprising as did Moses.

3-In the existing Gospels we read that Jesus said: "And I have so many other things to tell you, but at present you cannot bear hearing them" (John, 16:12). Thus how can we say that he conveyed to people whatever was revealed to him?

4-The predictions recorded in the present Four Gospels do not correspond with one another, for the Gospel of Matthew (12:40) says that Christ predicted that he would stay for three days and nights in the heart of the earth (his grave). But the Gospel of Mark (the end of the chapter 15 and the beginning of the chapter 16) states that Jesus remained in the grave less than this period of time.

This Gospel says that Jesus was buried the evening before Saturday and on Sunday at sunrise his sepulchre was found empty.

From these points we conclude that the promised messenger mentioned in the Old Testament is somebody other than Jesus Christ. The Second Prophesy: Shining Forth from Mount Paran In Deuteronomy we read: "And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran" (33:1-2).

Here Moses mentions his advent and his divine mission on mount Sinai, the advent of another prophet from the mount Seir and a third prophet from the mount Paran. The mount Sinai is the place where Moses talked with God. Seir is situated in Judea where Jesus Christ received his divine mission and the mount Paran is in Mecca. In Genesis (21:21) we read that Samuel "dwelt in Paran desert", and we know for certain that Samuel did come to live in Mecca.

It is obvious, too, that the mount Paran is equivalent to the mount Hara where the Prophet of Islam worshipped God. It is in that place where for the first time the divine revelation was sent down to him in the form of the first verses of the Sura "The Clot" and thus he received his divine mission as the messenger of God.

The Third Prophesy: The Donkey-rider and The Camel-rider Isaiah the Prophet recounts his dream, in which, "...he saw a couple of riders, one on a donkey, the other on a camel" (Isaiah, 21:7). This is a prophecy about "one on a donkey" and "the other on a camel" which Isaiah saw in his dream.

The analysis of the passage: As noted by the Gospel and judging from the history of Christianity, the sacredness of the shoe of Jesus' donkey, the Ahafer Church Building, and literature and the arts, we realize that Jesus Christ used to ride on an ass.

We also know that the Prophet of Islam usually rode on a camel, because there are a lot of camels in the Arabian desert, and horses and donkeys cannot be used to cross the dry and barren deserts of that territory. As a result, "One on a donkey", and "the other on a camel", seen by Isaiah the Prophet, correspond respectively with Jesus Christ and the Prophet of Islam.

The Fourth Prophesy: The Prophecy made by Habakkuk the Prophet In another part of the Old Testament we read: "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of praise" (Hab, 3:3).

As The Bible Dictionary puts it, "Teman" means "the Southern Desert" Obviously the Arabian Peninsula is situated to the north of Jerusalem. We previously made it clear that Paran is Mecca. Therefore, this prophecy indicates to the advent of the Prophet of Islam.

Part Two: Alterations of the Prophecies

Now we are going to explain the alterations made in these prophecies by the people of Scriptures (Jews and Christians) and uncover the truth in accordance with available documents.

These alterations have been made in order to prevent the Muslims from proving the fact that Muhammad is a true Prophet by referring to the prophecies included in the Old Testament. The Christians and the Jews saw that the Muslims used these prophecies to their own advantage. Therefore, instead of giving a clear answer to the Muslims -if they had such an answer at all- they began to make alterations in the Bible.

Deuteronomy (18:15-22) says: "Jahova, thy Lord, will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken". In the verse 18 of the same chapter God is quoted as saying: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee..." In the verse 15 there appears the words "midst of thee".

In the repetition of this statement in the verse 18, this phrase is omitted. The phrase "From the midst of thee" together with the words "of thy brethren" make the reader notice that an alteration has been made in these phrases, especially because other Hebrew versions of the Old Testament (the sources of our translation) are full of errors persisting to this day through centuries.

In the footnotes added to the Hebrew Bible some of these errors are indicated. The picture of a page from the Hebrew version of the Bible is printed here in which there are ten mistakes and are corrected in the footnotes. Significantly, each page of the Hebrew Bible contains several enormous errors.

It seems that the original phrase must have been "from the midst of their brethren",45 that is, in the form appearing in the verse 18, or "from the midst of thy relatives, thy brethren"46.

In the Latin version of the Bible, translated by St. Jerome in the fourth Century from the Hebrew and Greek texts, the phrase "from the midst of thy nation" is used instead of "from the midst of thee." In the English translation made by Knox from Latin the passage is as follows. "The Lord thy God will raise up for thee a prophet like myself, of thy own race, a brother of thy own.

It is to him thou must listen." This English translation which is made from the Latin version of St. Jerome substitutes the phrase "from the midst of thee" with "of thy own race", followed by the explanatory phrase "a brother of thy own", which suits the sentence quite beautifully and confirms our guess about the Hebrew phrase. As it is seen, this translation omits "from the midst."

This shows that the phrase "from the midst" was not recorded in the Hebrew and Greek versions of the time of St. Jerome in the Christian fourth Century. Only in the unauthorized versions of that time this phrase could be seen. We can realize the fact that the prophecy appearing in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, does not apply to Jesus Christ as we refer to the phrase in Gospel of John, Chapter 1:19-22, and the foot-note annexed to it. There, three persons have been named: Christ, Elias and "the Prophet."

The footnote indicates that "that Prophet" is the same Prophet whose advent has been predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy (18:15-19). Thus it becomes clear that the Prophet referred to in Deuteronomy is not Jesus Christ.

In the section dealing with the "Third Prophecy", we quoted from the dream of Isaiah the Prophet the following sentence: "He saw a couple of riders, one on a donkey, and the other on a camel."

As we said, by the "one on a donkey" it is meant Jesus who rode on an ass, and by the "other on a camel" it is meant the Prophet of Islam who rode on a camel, as the Arabian Desert life required it. However, in various Bible versions, this sentence has been altered into:

"…He saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels."

In the translation of Walim Glen, which is known as Fazel Khani version, the phrase is "An ass load and a camel load."

Those who know Hebrew notice that these are wrong translations and the true translation is the one noted before. The early versions of the Bible are, of course, free from this error. For example an Arabic version published in Rome in 1671 has rendered it as "one riding on an ass, one riding on a camel."

Another Arabic version of the Old Testament, published in Mosul in 1875 is free from such an alteration. This translation, too, has it as "One riding on an ass, one riding on a camel."

The Latin version of St. Jerome has rendered the phrases correctly: "A chariot he saw, with two out-riders, one that rode on an ass, and one that rode on a camel; looked long at them, watching them eagerly."

As for the motive behind these alterations, the fact is that for years, Muslim theologists have been referring to this dream as one of the proofs of Muhammad being raised up as a Prophet of God. Late at the second century of Hejira Imam Reza, peace be upon him, argued for the first time in favor of this prophecy in a debate attended by Ma'amoun,

the Abbasid Caliph, who had arranged it for the Imam to discuss with various religious sects. At any rate, since this phrase of Old Testament has more than one thousand years been referred to by the Muslims, and since the Hebrew version has been repeatedly published for many years, the people of the Scriptures are unable to do anything at the moment except make hypocritical changes in current translations.

It is up to our dear reader to make his own judgment. If these translators believe that the book of Isaiah is a divine book, then why do they not fear God when they translate it incorrectly?

Not only in this case, but also in hundreds of other cases, they have been sticking, in respect of their own "Holy Bible", to an unfounded prejudice, the discussion about which would take a long chapter. Are the errors in the original texts not enough to prevent them from making further alterations in their translations?

Chapter 18: The Trinity or the Worship of Three Gods

There is an inherent need in human nature, which drives him towards theology. Such a need and natural inclination existing in human beings and other creatures are, in themselves, the clearest proof to the fact of the existence of a perfect and peerless God who has to be free from any deficiency and need.

Otherwise, it is essential that God, too, should be in need of and dependant on another God and is considered among the creatures. For this reason, the theologists declare God free from any property, which introduces Him as a dependent being.

For instance, they say that God is not a compound being, because every compound matter such as sun-light, which is composed of heat, light and chemical process, is dependent on its ingredients and on a factor which has mixed these ingredients in certain proportions and this is in disagreement with the real meaning of God who has to be independent of everything.47

They also say that God has to be only one, because if we imagine two or three Gods, this makes it essential to believe in "composition" as regards the divine being, because each God needs a different thing to be mixed with Him in order to be distinguished from another God, and composition, as we have just said, is in disagreement with needlessness.

Therefore, God is absolute and principally thinking in terms of polytheism and the worship of three beings (The Trinity) do not agree with belief in real God, the Creator of the universe.48 Despite this, unfortunately before the birth of Christ, a group of people began to believe in the concept of the trinity and polytheism.

Because of their narrow- mindedness and because of a series of manifestations of the power of God, these beliefs found adherents in India, Rome, Egypt and other regions.

The Influence of the Concept of the Trinity among the followers of Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, like other prophets persistently prohibited the people from believing in polytheism and atheism and warned: "O children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! Whose ascribeth partners unto Allah hath been forbidden paradise. His abode is the fire. For evildoers there will be no helpers." (The Holy Qur'an, verse72).

When the Christ's lifetime came to an end, there followed a series of bitter events in the early centuries of Christianity. As a result many of the pagan beliefs and traditions found their way into the Christian religion. Many followers of Christianity came to believe them as an integral part of their religion.

Dr. Gustave Le Bon, the well-known French sociologist, writes: "During the first five hundred years of its life, Christianity continued to evolve, assimilating the philosophical and religious aspects of Greek and Oriental culture,

and be- came a mixture of Oriental beliefs especially Egyptian and Persian beliefs which had spread about the first Christian century in the former pagan regions of Europe The people substituted the new concept of the Trinity (The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit) for the old system of the trinity (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) and continued their traditional rituals. The Christian saints replaced the old minor gods."

William James Durant, the author of "The Story of Civilization", after describing John, his book of Revelations and the Gospel of John, writes: "Christianity has not abolished Polytheism, but has adopted it.

The moribund Hellenic spirit was revived by the traditions and theological principles of the Church… The doctrines of God's trinity... and the survival of the individual to be rewarded or punished came from Egypt. Christianity has been the last great creation of the ancient pagan world."

The followers of the Trinity constantly change their reasoning according to time and place in order not to be defeated by other doctrines.

Sometimes they say: "By the Trinity we do not mean that three different Gods exist, which contradicts with monotheism. But we mean that God, like the ray of sun which is composed of heat, light and chemical process, is composed of three essences: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

The people with such a concept, however, do not realize that, with this way of thinking and reasoning, they categorize God among material mixtures such as plant and animal genera which are always dependant on their components and extraneous factors.

Sometimes they admit that God is absolute, indivisible and not composite, but when the question of the Trinity is raised, they keep silent, because they see that if they say that there exist three Gods they will contradict monotheism and if they say that there is only one God, this contradicts their own view that God is composed of three elements.

Instead, they say: "This is a mystery which no one can understand by his human intelligence. In other words, this is a Church secret and nobody can understand it in near future..." They have heard that human beings, with their imperfect minds, cannot discover the truth of divine nature,

but they have not wanted to realize that everybody knows that the proposition "A is at one composite and not composite, and is at one solitary and not solitary" is contradictory in itself and one part of it negates the other part.

Recently, however, when the Christians have happened to debate face to face with some young intellectual Muslims they have often denied the idea of the Trinity and said:

"The statements 'Jesus is God' and 'Jesus is the Son of God' should not be taken at their face-values. These sentences only serve to respect and glorify the superb, heavenly personality of Jesus Christ. The fact is that He is only a great creature of God." By saying that, they reject on the surface the resolution of the Council of Nicea, which introduces Jesus Christ as an uncreated being. They also pretend not to have heard of such a resolution.

In any case, the Trinity is a superstitious belief, which Christianity has had to abandon in the course of several centuries. A day will come when Christianity will accept what the Holy Qur'an says on this subject: "They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary.

Say: Who then can do aught against Allah, if He had willed to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? Allah's is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He createth what He will. And Allah is able to do all things" (Sura: "The Table spread", verse 17).

"The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food." (Sura "The Table spread", verse 75).

Then how is it possible for a human being that, like other ordinary people, needs food and other requisites of everyday life, to be God? The Holy Qur'an addresses the Christians as follows: "O people of the Scriptures! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth.

The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word, which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" -Cease! (It is) better for you!- Allah is only One God. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth..." (Sura "Women", verse 171).

From what we have said in this section it becomes quite clear that the idea of God being composed of three elements (the Trinity) has no heavenly basis and does not consort with the belief in real One God. This concept is among the fabrications of the "holy Fathers."

We pray to Almighty God to guide all the Christians to the path of truth seeking and honesty.

Chapter 19: A Story from the Present Bible Versions

The Divine Men and Social Education

The human soul, which is a divine gift, constantly craves for perfection and understanding of the mysteries of the Creation. To achieve these supreme and sacred goals, there is no other way except follow divine men and godly saints,

for one can move along the path of God only under His guidance which lies in the promulgation, guidance and education offered by the Prophet and their successors.

For this reason, the wisdom requires human beings to follow the prophets and obey devoutly their commands and advice in order to educate their own personalities.

Of course, just as the words of the divine prophets are authenticated and guarantee the happiness of mankind, so it is right and fruitful to study their acts and imitate them.

Therefore, acquiring information about the biography of God's chosen people and perfect human beings, not only increases man's eagerness to move along the way to perfection, but also can teach him the secret of good conduct and right behavior, provided that the man who seeks to follow this course is sober in mind and heart, so that he may take lessons from the study of life of the great people.

Clearly, it is because of this instructive effects that the divine Scriptures are full of stories about the lives of the prophets, which remind the reader of the adventures and behaviors of God's chosen people and His pious servants. It is concerning this fact that God says in the Holy Qur'an: "Verily, there is a lesson in their stories to be taken by the wise people." (Sura "Joseph" verses 111).

The Old and New Testaments and the Prophets

The lives of the old prophets have been narrated in detail in the Old and New Testaments. But since these books have been subject to many alterations and omissions, paying devoted attention to the stories of the Old Testament is not advisable, because, as a result of the changes made in it by the tyrants and others, facts and fictions, realities and fallacies are intermingled in that book.

Thus, at the moment, the Old Testament contains accounts of the Holy Prophets, which are inconsistent with their highly praised and exalted positions.

It is really strange, unreasonable, incredible and unacceptable to common sense that even honorable and wise people who are not among the prophets and apostles should be so much tainted with such evil acts and lives such corrupt life.

According to the existing old Testament stories, wicked characteristics and evil acts inconsistent with human nature and the thought and behavior of an average human being were prevalent among the early prophets and saints, who most of all, in accordance with these narratives, used to drink wine and lead a wicked life.

The Story of Lot's carousel

The Genesis, 19:30-38, relates in the story of Lot: "And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

And the first- born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father dank wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father, And they made their father dank wine that night: And the firstborn went in,

and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down and when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: Let us make him dank wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father dank wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

And the younger, she also bares a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of children of Ammon unto this day." In accordance with the present Old Testament versions, the prophet of God drank wine so excessively that lost his sense momentarily and committed adultery with his two daughters for two successive nights, without even being aware of this notorious act. How scandalous it is if a Messenger of God, who has been chosen by God to guide people to the right path and knowledge,

should be so much seized by sensual desires and ignorance and succumbs to drunkenness that he loses his soberity and commits such shameful deeds.

Is he who is to such an extent engulfed in lust and physical desires endowed with any wisdom to be in a position to guide other people? How is it possible for God to raise him up as a prophet and assign him with the difficult task of educating people?

The reality is not so, of course, and what exists in the present versions of the Old Testament concerning such matter is an alteration which has unfortunately been made by ignorant writers who have dishonored a great prophet.

The Story of Jacob's wrestling with God

Besides the story just quoted, another myth has been fabricated about Jacob: "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh.

And he said I would not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name.

And he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genssis, 32:24 - 30).

This passage shows that the God pictured by the Old Testament is a humble and powerless being. God who has to be pure from any weaknesses has taken the form of a man and has performed a game of wrestling. Most surprisingly, this incarnated God has failed to defeat his own creature servant and after nighttime of constant wrestling has bestowed the title of "Israel" on him.

It is astonishing and regrettable that such nonsense and meaningless sentences should be fabricated and be boldly offered, instead of reasonable contents of the real Bible, to the people of the world and such foolish words should be uttered about Almighty God and Jacob, His highly respected prophet.

Thus, every impartial sensible man would conclude that the true narration of the lives of the prophets are much preferable to incredible and loosely - woven myths fabricated by the imaginations of foolish people, for the narratives of the fools and ignorant people teach ignorance and misbehavior, but the accounts related by God teaches honesty, righteousness and morality.

The stories told in the Qur'an are the accounts of monotheism, justice, bravery and righteousness. We advise all people to read the Quranic stories, which are thoroughly based on realities.

Chapter 20: What Religion should be adopted?

Will man, who looks, most of all, for his own happiness, find it in other things except religion? We are going to discuss this question in the present chapter. In our opinion, a real religion has a comprehensive program for the fulfillment of this human desire, that is, happiness and aims to make human beings achieve perfect happiness.

Unlike people of the olden times when human beings followed blindly every religion because of prejudice or ignorance, the people of modern times adopt a religion which, instead of numerous useless strict rituals, offers a comprehen- sive program for all the aspects of their life and gives them material and spiritual benefits, enabling them to solve all problems of their life in the light of its practical and positive precepts.

Unfortunately, except Islam, all current religions which are the altered and distorted remnants of the divine religions or moral philosophies of several thousand years ago, not only are not equipped with a comprehensive and all- embracing programs, but also do not claim such a quality.

The precepts of Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, Judaism and Christianity, although imposed on many people throughout the world, even if they have any significance, at best do not teach more than a series of advice and counsels which, neither solves any social, economic and political problems, nor removes any difficulty from among the growing difficulties of the modern world.

It is unsuitable for us who are living in such a time and amid such ever- increasing difficulties, seeing on the one hand scientific advances of modern man, and, on the other, the superstition of the world's famous religions, to choose a religion blindly and ignorantly, without paying attention to our spiritual and material needs.

Our wisdom does not let us do so and reason and logic require us to seek a religion sent down to fulfill all our material and spiritual needs and to insure human bliss, a religion which has the ability to realize them all. We distinguish such comprehensiveness only in Islam and therefore choose Islam.

We embrace Islam, because we have found the qualities of a correct and rightful religion -which our wisdom and every impartial man's wisdom confirm them- in Islam.

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We embrace Islam … because its law provides a comprehensive program for achieving a happy, ideal life and is based on the "aim of ensuring human happiness" and,

for this reason, has comprehensive and regular programs in all aspects ranging from the most important social problems of human life (including the guarantee of liberties, social justice and quality) to individual and private precepts (such as health, education, preventive medicine and regulations for travel, traffic, and even washing).

We embrace Islam because Islam is a rational religion based on logic and wisdom -not only on emotions- and is designed for every human being and comprehensible to all people.

Islam provides arguments and narratives consistent with all the people's power of understanding and does not resort, like Christianity, to excuses such as "secret" and "mystery" in debating with scholars who seek logic and reasoning. It does not avoid reasoning.

We believe in a God Whom Islam Introduces

God, the Creator of the universe, unlike in Christianity and other obsolete religions, is not at the mercy of every bishop and priest. In principal, theological statements in Islam, unlike in Christianity, do not oppose wisdom and logic, but are solely based on wisdom and logical reasoning.

Yes, we embrace Islam, because we find it in harmony with human natural inclinations rooted in nature. For this reason, Islam is perfect, simple and comprehensive and does not hinder the progress in life. Islam lacks laziness and pessimism. It is a positive and dynamic religion and has nothing to do with inactivity and stagnation. The most important issue in Islam is "work" and "inventiveness", which it has always encouraged, and considered the world without them "an impossible world."

We embrace Islam, because it is an enemy of superstition and does not try, like today's Christianity, to impose on people, under the name of religion, superstitious beliefs such as the Trinity or senseless rituals such as baptism, the Holy Communion, and "the purchase sins."

We embrace Islam, because, unlike Christianity and some other religions, it does not fight against science and physical laws. Islam has always glorified science and scientists whom it has introduced as superior to common people and has not allowed the inventors and discoverers to be tried and executed by being burned or hanged, on the charges of discovering physical laws.

We embrace Islam, because we find the glorification of the human personality solely in this religion. Islam is the only religion, which tolerates people with different opinions: "There is no obligation in religion." It neither forces anybody to follow it, nor establishes an Inquisition, but permits other people to spend their life, under the protection of the Islamic rule, in security and welfare, and enjoy social rights and advantages.

We embrace Islam, because we find it the "supporter of basic human rights." Islam, in every detail of its precepts, defends human rights and efforts made to achieve them and fights against oppression and exploitation.

It is, therefore, the only religion which has made "politics", in the real sense of the word, an integral part of itself, to supervise the policies of the nation's social affairs according to humanitarian regulations and not to leave these things to corrupt and hypocritical rulers.

We adhere Islam. Because Islamic laws, as confirmed by existing evidence and lawyers' admission, are superior to the national and international progressive laws.

Islam is the only religion which has paid special attention to major world problems including economic problems (the equal distribution of wealth, encouragement of labor and production, campaign against unemployment, social insurance, etc.,) political problems, peace, world security, morality, science, individual social and private issues, spiritual and physical education and intellectual growth. It has also offered practicable solutions to these problems.

We believe in the Holy Qur'an, because, unlike other divine Scriptures, it is free from contradictions and alterations and the more the fallacies of the sacred Jewish and Christian scriptures become clear by the researches of the scholars, the more we believe in the divinity of the Holy Qur'an.

Today, modern intellectual human beings will approve Islam and admire it, if they judge it impartially and scientifically and throw away their prejudices and narrow-minded-ness. It is in such a way that we realize that Islam is a perfect, natural religion which has been sent down in order to fulfill human spiritual and material needs in all times, and places, and so, unlike old religions, Islam is an immortal religion.

It is because of all these advantages, that we embrace Islam and we invite all our dear readers, if they are not Muslims, to make more researches about the truth of Islam in order to find the path of God.

We pray to Almighty God to guide us to the right path.

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