Discussing Islam with a Pastor (Part 1)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Recently I have been discussing Islam with a Christian (Seventh-day Adventist) pastor. To protect his identity, I will call him Kris.

Our discussions started when I attended one night of a biblical prophecy seminar that he was conducting in a rented Church building. His discussion centered on the Sabbath and its importance in Christianity. He claimed that the Apostles of Christ (عليه السلام) kept the Sabbath just as the Jews before them did. After the presentation I approached him with some contradictory information. The Bible implies that the Sabbath is no longer obligatory.

One text that demonstrates this is the narration of the rich man. A rich man approaches Jesus (عليه السلام) and asks Him what must be done to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus (عليه السلام) replies that he must keep the commandments. The man asks which commandments Jesus (عليه السلام) is referring to. He lists off the commandments that are most important to keep and the Sabbath is not one of them. The rich man exclaims that he has kept all of the commandments and Jesus (عليه السلام) replies by saying that he should go and sell his possessions to give to the poor. The man is saddened and leaves. What is important from this narration is that the requirements for entering the kingdom of heaven are listed. They are to avoid murder, adultery, theft, giving false testimony, defrauding people, and dishonoring your father and mother. The last requirement is for the rich man to sell all of his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus (عليه السلام). It was this last requirement that the rich man lacked. Clearly Jesus (عليه السلام) never required an observance of the Sabbath for one to enter the kingdom of heaven. Additionally, there is evidence from the Acts of the Apostles that the Apostles of Christ (عليه السلام) themselves did not observe the Sabbath as strictly as the Kris would have us believe. Yes, there are narrations that state that such-and-such Apostles went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath, but such narration is always followed by “as was his custom”. Sabbatarian Christians like to overlook the fact that there is a discernible difference between doing something out of custom and a religious requirement to do something. Contrarily, there is a narration that speaks about the Apostles gathering and “breaking bread” (i.e. partaking of communion/Eucharist) on the first day of the week; Sunday.

Nonetheless, Kris expressed his desire to meet with me in private to discuss such things. I agreed and several weeks later he visited me at my residence. We talked a lot about what was going on in our lives, our recent experiences, and other things. However, we never once broached the subject of religion until it was nearly time for him to leave. The Sabbath was never brought up. Kris thought that it would be a good idea for him to return weekly and to discuss my religious beliefs; Islam. He believed that he could prove Islam to be false and Christianity to be true. Naturally, I cannot back away from such a challenge so I agreed. Our first topic would be the Qur’an and its reliability.

For this discussion I created a PowerPoint presentation (which can be viewed here — please forgive the bad formatting; it lost its formatting when I converted it to a web document) that I thought would be rather comprehensive. However, Kris attacked several points that I had tried to make. First were the scientific issues. For example, he does not believe that the universe will collapse in on itself and thus be recreated as the Qur’an (as well as modern day cosmologists) tells us. Rather he believes that God will end the world in a literal “Book of Revelation style” apocalypse. An additional point of contention was the prophecy about the coming of a servant that was described in Isaiah 42:1. He claimed that, despite the fact that Jesus (عليه السلام) did not match the description of the coming servant at all, Jesus (عليه السلام) was the one that was foretold. He showed me a narration from one of the Gospels where the author of that particular Gospel had connected this prophecy to Jesus (عليه السلام) due to some of His sayings. I tried to make the point that the Gospels were written several decades after the death and supposed resurrection of Jesus (عليه السلام) that fine details about the exact words that were used would have been impossible. Kris disagreed. Thirdly, he attacked the prophecy of a coming Prophet in Deuteronomy 18:18. Again, this prophecy was claimed to be about Jesus (عليه السلام). It was attempted to point out that “from among their brethren” could be interpreted as from the Israelites themselves. The other points were not particularly touched on apart from the fact that Kris does not believe that God’s own words were put into the mouth of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله). The final point that Kris attacked was my claim that there are zero contradictions in the Qur’an. He claimed that there were many.

The first contradiction he attempted to show was the creation of the earth in the Qur’an. In verses 7:54, 10:3, & 11:7 of the Qur’an, the creation of earth is described as taking place over a period of 6 days. However, in 41:9 it is claimed that the earth was created in 2 days. I saw no contradiction here because verse 10 of Surah 41 states that the mountains took 4 days to be created. If you add 2 and 4 together, you get a total of 6 days. Although I do not believe that the earth was created in 6 literal days (or that the mountains took 4/6ths of creation), the Qur’an is clearly not contradicting itself here. You merely needed to read to the next verse. Kris, however, saw it differently. He said that ayats 9 and 10 were totally unrelated and that by connecting them I was “stretching it”. I, to this day, disagree. Reading the verse immediately after isn’t “stretching it”. It is looking for context.

The second contradiction brought up was who the first Muslim was. Was it Muhammad (6:14), Moses (7:143), Abraham (3:67), or Adam (2:37)? My answer would be that all of them were the first. Adam (عليه السلام) was the first Muslim on earth. However, after the truth of God’s religion had died out, Abraham (عليه السلام) was the first Muslim. After the truth died out again, Moses (عليه السلام) was the first. After the truth that Moses (عليه السلام) brought had died out, Jesus (عليه السلام) was the first Muslim. And yet again, after the truth that Jesus (عليه السلام) brought was removed from the earth, Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله) was the first to believe. Kris said that you can’t try to rationalize the contradiction that way because “comparing verse to verse without any context, it is a contradiction.” Personally, I find this ridiculous. There are thousands of contradictions in the Bible but a lot of them can be resolved by context. However, when I bring such a fact up, Kris repeats the same line that “we are not talking about the Bible right now; we are talking about the Qur’an.”

The third contradiction that Kris tried to show me was that the Qur’an is not clear on what humans are made from. One verse (I cannot recall which verses he used; if you know, please leave them in the comments below) stated that before humans were created, they were nothing. Another verse states that humans are made of water. A third verse states that God created humans from dust/clay. Another verse states that we are made from a drop of sperm. Yet another verse says that we were created from a clinging form like that of a leech. Kris believed that this was the nail in the coffin for the Qur’an. Clearly the contradictions could not be reconciled. However, I still do not see the contradiction. Before humans were created, we did not exist. Therefore we were nothing. That does not mean that we were created from nothing. The verse merely states that before we were created we were nothing. Secondly, when God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, he created them out of the dust or clay of the ground. Thirdly, humans apart from Adam and Eve are created through sexual reproduction of which we are familiar with. This starts with a drop of semen fertilizing an ovum. Therefore we are created from a drop of sperm. After the ovum is fertilized, the human embryo begins to develop. This embryo looks like a leech shape. Therefore, we grew into what we are today from a clinging form like that of a leech. Finally, our bodies are between 70-80% water so we are indeed made up of water. There is no contradiction. The Qur’an does not say that water magically created us, nor that nothingness randomly created us, nor that a clinging form magically created us, nor that dust/clay magically created us. Rather all of these statements are correct as long as they are placed within their own context. Kris, however, refused to see it my way. He believes that you can’t add context to anything and that “verse for verse” these are contradictions. He clearly does not understand that a book from God can contain facts from various stages of human development. <sarcasm> Clearly he believes that human development is monolithic and we are created from a single substance at a single moment and that is the end of it. </sarcasm>

After this point he devolved into attacking Muhammad’s (صلى الله عليه وآله) honor and that sanctity of Islam. He claimed that Islam is a religion of violence and that the Bible is free from violence. He claimed that the Qur’an contains a vast among of commands to kill disbelievers and, I’m nearly positive that, he won’t accept any sort of context. He said that he will bring ahadeeth that prove his point that the Qur’an is completely false and that the Qur’an we have today is not the Qur’an that Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله) “wrote down with his own hand/invented,” I told him to bring sources from Shi’i books such as al-Kafi and only bring narrations that have been graded as Saheeh (authentic) by the scholars of rijaal. He said that he would bring whatever source he can find and that I would have to accept it because scholars are wrong in determining what is authentic and what is not. Apparently anything that is against Islam is authentic and anything that isn’t against Islam is isn’t.

Needless to say I am rather annoyed with his methodology because he refuses to even have an open mind as we are doing this. If this discussion was about the Bible I can guarantee you that he would find ways to contextualize and explain every issue I had with it yet for some reason he refuses to grant me the courtesy to even use the very next verse in the Qur’an as a context.

Are all Christians this arrogant?

في أمان الله

Creation in Genesis

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This will deal with The Book of Genesis, chapters 1 and 2 إن شاء الله.

Summary of Creation

In the beginning: The heavens and the earth were created.

Day 1: Light was created. Day and night become two distinct periods of time.

Day 2: The firmament which separated the waters above from the waters below was created.

Day 3: The waters under the firmament were gathered together so that dry land could appear. Plant life is created.

Day 4: The sun, moon, and stars are created.

Day 5: Sea life and birds are created.

Day 6: Land animals were created. Man was created "in the image of God".

Day 7: Siesta.

The Number 7

וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה; וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ: כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת

"And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation." [Genesis 2:2-3]

الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرض وما بينهما في ستة أيام ثم استوى على العرش ما لكم من دونه من وليّ ولا شفيع أفلا تتذكرون

"God is He Who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods, and He mounted the throne (of authority); you have not besides Him any guardian or any intercessor, will you not then mind?" [Surat As-Sajdah 32:4]

إن ربكم الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرض في ستة أيام ثم استوى على العرش يدبر الأمر ما من شفيع إلا من بعد إذنه ذلكم الله ربكم فاعبدوه أفلا تذكرون

"Surely your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is firm in power, regulating the affair, there is no intercessor except with His permission; this is Allah, your Lord, therefore serve Him; will you not then mind?" [Surat Yunus 10:3]

The first noteworthy issue is the usage of the number 7 in the creation account as told in the Bible. According to the Bible, the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is, were created, by God, in 6 days and that he rested on the 7th day. Why is the number 7 significant? It is the basis of one form of how we keep track of time.

Day: One terrestrial cycle.

Month: One lunar cycle.

Year: One solar cycle.

Week: No astronomical significance.

Why, then, is a week defined as 7 days? Why do we even need weeks at all? There is no sufficient explanation apart from divine intervention. It might be a bit of a stretch to say that the 7 day week proves the existence of a deity, but if we can establish by other means that a deity exists, the 7 day week could serve as evidence for the correctness of an Abrahamic religion (Judaism, Christianity, or Islam). It is only in Abrahamic religions (and their derivatives) that the number 7 has any particular significance. For example in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) the numbers 6, 9, 11, 108, etc could all be viewed as sacred numbers depending on which deity you worship. It is much the same with other faiths. There are sacred numbers in most religions, but it is only in the Abrahamic traditions that the number 7 is particularly significant.

The Order of Creation

The second noteworthy aspect of this creation account is the order in which everything was created. Does this account contradict modern scientific findings? At first glance, it would appear so. After all, it is a known fact that all of the stars, including our own Sun, were in existence long before the earth was even created, yet according to Genesis 1:1; 14-18 the sun, moon, and stars were all created 3 days after the earth. However, if we view this from a different, slightly less literal angle, it can be noted that the creation account as presented in Genesis is perfectly inline with scientific discoveries. Imagine for a moment that you are able to stand on the earth and observe all of this occurring. You would have no idea what is going on in space. Your only frame of reference is looking up and around as the time passes. According to the creation account in Genesis, the earth was originally covered in water. This agrees with scientific findings that the earth was originally covered in a liquid primordial soup. The atmosphere had not yet developed and there was a lot of dust particles surrounding the earth so you could not see out into space. The first act of creation is the creation of a light and the separation of the light from the darkness (day and night). If you were standing on the earth and looked up, as the dust began to clear, you would be able to make out a light. This light would come and go every single day. You could not, however, determine a source for the light. With the dust slowly starting to settle and the light becoming visible, the earth inevitably begins to heat up on the surface. This heat causes a phenomenon known as evaporation. Liquid water turns into a gaseous water vapor which ascends into the sky to form clouds. When sufficient water vapor has accumulated in the clouds, it rains. This is consistent with the Genesis account that a firmament was made in the sky where water was above it (in the atmosphere) and also below it (on the earth). After the firmament was created, dry land appeared. According to Genesis, God did not create the dry land. God gathered the ocean water together and the dry land appeared. This is also consistent with a modern understanding of plate tectonics. As the molten core of the earth swirled around, the plates also moved around and eventually overlapped each other with the land pushing out of the oceans. Thus the water was gathered together and the dry land appeared. It is at this point that life begins to appear on earth. It is a scientifically accepted fact that basic, single celled organisms, existed before the dry land pushed up out of the oceans, but the first form of significant life, that which you can see with your own eyes, was the plants. To survive, plants perform photosynthesis, a process in which they absorb light and carbon dioxide to produce glucose, their food. Oxygen is a waste product from this process. Since plants require light to survive, it is only logical that plant life should appear around the same time as more and more dust clears from the sky and the sun appears in all of its glory. It is on "day 4" that the sun, moon, and stars are "created" (or appear for the first time from the perspective of someone on earth). After the celestial bodies appear, next to appear is the sea life and the birds. This is also consistent with the fossil records that scientists use to determine earth's history. After the sea life and birds appear, it is time for the land animals. This is a huge step forward and science has confirmed that land animals evolved from sea life that gradually moved onto dry land. The fine life form to be created, according to the Genesis narrative, is humankind. It is a known scientific fact that humans are among the newest species to live on earth, so it is only natural that the Bible should make note of this.

Location of the Garden of Eden

וְנָהָר יֹצֵא מֵעֵדֶן, לְהַשְׁקוֹת אֶת-הַגָּן; וּמִשָּׁם, יִפָּרֵד, וְהָיָה, לְאַרְבָּעָה רָאשִׁים. שֵׁם הָאֶחָד, פִּישׁוֹן--הוּא הַסֹּבֵב, אֵת כָּל-אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה, אֲשֶׁר-שָׁם, הַזָּהָב. וּזְהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, טוֹב; שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח, וְאֶבֶן הַשֹּׁהַם. וְשֵׁם-הַנָּהָר הַשֵּׁנִי, גִּיחוֹן--הוּא הַסּוֹבֵב, אֵת כָּל-אֶרֶץ כּוּשׁ. וְשֵׁם הַנָּהָר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי חִדֶּקֶל, הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ קִדְמַת אַשּׁוּר; וְהַנָּהָר הָרְבִיעִי, הוּא פְרָת.

"A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Hav′ilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris (or Hiddekel), which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates." [Genesis 2:10-14]

Two of the four rivers are well known. The Tigris and the Euphrates both flow through the modern day countries of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They meet and combine into one river in Southern Iraq where it empties into the Persian Gulf. However, the Pishon and Gihon rivers are lost. Ancient scholars believed that the Pishon and Gihon rivers were different names for the Nile and the Ganges. However, this would be a direct contradiction of the Bible because the Nile, Ganges, the the Euphrates-Tigris do not intersect with each other. There is another possibility, however. Modern scholarship has identified the Pishon and Gihon as possibly being ancient names for the Wadi Batin and Karun river (respectively). Please note the following two maps.

As can be seen above, all four rivers intersect and then empty into the Persian Gulf. Is the Garden of Eden located in the Persian Gulf? Potentially.

וַיְגָרֶשׁ, אֶת-הָאָדָם; וַיַּשְׁכֵּן מִקֶּדֶם לְגַן-עֵדֶן אֶת-הַכְּרֻבִים, וְאֵת לַהַט הַחֶרֶב הַמִּתְהַפֶּכֶת, לִשְׁמֹר, אֶת-דֶּרֶךְ עֵץ הַחַיִּים.

"He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." [Genesis 3:24]

Have you ever seen a cherubim with a flaming sword? I know that I haven't. Have archaeologists ever found a garden with a cherubim and a flaming sword guarding it? Not that I know of. Considering the fact that nearly every possible location on earth (above the water) has been thoroughly explored, it is not completely unreasonable to suggest that the Garden of Eden is somewhere underwater. And where else on earth do the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates all meet and form a single river? Nowhere. It is for this reason that I conclude that the Garden of Eden is located underneath the water of the Persian Gulf. Naturally it will have gone to waste from being underwater for thousands of years, so even if the entire floor of the Persian Gulf is explored at some point, it would not be a surprise to discover that a mystical garden is not located there. But according to the Bible and archaeology, it might have been there at one point.

Conclusion

If one were to read the first two chapters of Genesis from the perspective, not of being in outer space and observing what is truly created in chronological order but, of someone that is observing all of this from earth, the creation narrative is not far fetched. Everything, from this perspective, is in its proper chronological order and fits with science quite nicely. The "days" are not literal. If they were, then somebody with an even rudimentary understanding of science would be able to reject the Biblical creation story. One thing that is interesting to note is that the Book of Genesis was written around 3,500 years ago at the time of Moses. This was thousands of years before scientists had discovered how the earth was formed and how life had evolved. The people of 3,500 years ago were very simple and probably did not have any words to describe billions of years. For this reason, it is written as days. A day is much more comprehensible to a person living in such a time. Another reason for the usage of the term day could be in relation to what God did on the seventh "day". He rested. Not only did he rest but he hallowed the 7th day of the week in honor of his rest. One of the big laws of Judaism is the command to keep the Sabbath (seventh day) holy and to abstain from all secular work on that day. Did God really need to rest? No, he did not. God is omnipotent and does not get tired. But he did want his followers to rest every 7 days so he gave them this summarized version of how the earth came to be. When God created human beings, he created a paradise on earth to house them. This paradise was known as the Garden of Eden. It is, thanks to modern archaeology and the records left in the Bible, possible to determine the rough location of this paradise on earth. It was located somewhere in the Persian Gulf.

في أمان الله

The Fate of Pharaoh

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

According to the Biblical account, Pharaoh personally pursued Moses and the Israelites and was drowned in the Red Sea with all of his military forces.

"When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to YHVH … The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; all of the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." [Exodus 14:10; 28-29]

The Qur'an also records that Pharaoh was swept into the red sea, but that his body was miraculously preserved (mummified) as a warning to future generations.

"We carried the Children of Israel across the sea, whereat Pharaoh and his troops pursued them out of defiance and aggression. When overtaken by drowning, he called out, 'I believe that there is no god except Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of those who submit [to Him]!' [He was told,] 'What! Now? When you have been disobedient heretofore and were among the agents of corruption?! So today We shall deliver your body so that you may be a sign for those who come after you.' Indeed many of the people are oblivious to Our signs." [Surat Yunus 10:90-92]

Current scholarship believes that Ramesses II is the most likely candidate for the Pharaoh of the Exodus. One thing to note is that Pharaoh is a title, similar to King; not a personal name. However, the Qur'an is very specific when it mentions Firaun (Pharaoh). In the Qur'an, Pharaoh is a title only applied to a single person. It is nearly unanimous that this person is Ramesses II. His mummy was discovered in the year 1898 and is currently on display at Cairo's Egyptian Museum.

What I find so fascinating about the parallel stories in the Bible and the Qur'an is that they both record the exact same event in much the exact same way. However, the Qur'an adds an additional tidbit of information. This information is something that could not have possibly appeared in anybody's most wild dreams in the 7th century Arabia. The only logical conclusion is that this event (the preservation of Pharaoh's body) is a divine event and that the revelation to Muhammad (sawa) was also a divine event. The odds of his prediction being correct are astronomically unlikely.

في أمان الله

Biblical Antisemitism

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This will serve as a rebuttal against Conservative Evangelical Christians that believe supporting Israel and the Jewish people is a religious obligation. The references used in this note are only a scratch on the surface of the antisemitism in the Bible and I encourage everyone to do their own research on this issue. I am in no way promoting violence towards any particular person, group of people, nationality, religion, etc. I am merely "preaching" what the Bible has to say on this issue, so, uh, religious freedom and freedom of speech ;)

Origins of the Jews

The Jews were originally known as Bani Israel in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). They were chosen by YHVH* to be his nation of people; a sort of blatant religious racism that only the Jews could have come up with. It all started with the promise made by YHVH to Abraham, "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee." [Genesis 17:7] This promise was repeated to Bani Israel with the words "Because thou art a holy people to YHVH thy God: and he chose thee to be his peculiar people of all nations that are upon the earth." [Deuteronomy 14:2] Unfortunately for Bani Israel, this promise was not unconditional; it came with some conditions, the biggest one being the requirement that they hear the voice of YHVH and keep his commandments. In the eloquent words of the Bible, "If therefore you will hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my peculiar possession above all people: for all the earth is mine." [Exodus 19:5] One of the ways that this would manifest itself is when Bani Israel would be a holy and priestly nation. "And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and an holy nation. Those are the words thou shalt speak to the children of Israel." [Exodus 19:6] Unfortunately for Bani Israel, there was the threat that if they did not keep the covenant, their status as chosen people would pass from them.

A Warning to the Jews

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the King shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah the King be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of thee war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." [Daniel 9:24-27]

To put it simply, the Book of Daniel is one of the main prophetic books in the Bible. The above text is a prophecy explaining what would happen if Bani Israel did not reform themselves. From the time that the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem goes out, they will have 70 weeks to set things straight. 70 weeks is 490 days which according to the Day-Year principle** would equal out to 490 years which is the time allotted to Bani Israel to reform and repent if they wished to remain the chosen people. Also contained within the above text is a second prophecy that discusses the coming of the Jewish Messiah. From the same starting point, the time that the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem goes out, there would be "seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks" before the coming of the Messiah. That is to say, seven weeks plus sixty weeks plus two weeks for a grand total of sixty-nine weeks which equals 483 days (or, in this case, years). Once the Jewish Messiah arrived, there would be a grand total of 1 week (7 years) left in the promise made to the Jews. Half way through this week (3 1/2 years), the Messiah would be "cut off" (killed) from (by) his people. After another half-week (3 1/2 years), the covenant that YHVH gave to the Jews would end.

A Prophecy Fulfilled

According to Ezra 7:7, 12-13 the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem went out in the 7th year of the reign of Artexerxes the King (457 BCE). If we take this year and add the 483 years until the arrival of the Jewish Messiah, we get to the year 27 CE. According to Biblical archaeologists and historians, it was in the year 27 CE that Jesus the Nazarene (Isa al-Masih) was baptized and his mission as the Jewish Messiah began. After 3 1/2 years (1/2 of the final week) spent proselytizing with his disciples, he was crucified to death. His disciples continued to proselytize to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" [Matthew 15:24] for the rest of the week (3 1/2 years). Unfortunately, the Jews did not fulfill their end of the original covenant and their status was removed from them. Jesus supposedly said, while speaking to the Jews, "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God*** will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom." [Matthew 21:43] This was the penalty for failing to uphold the racist covenant that began all of this.

Gentiles for the win!

"So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree." [Romans 11:11-24]

"And if you be Christ's (Messiah's), then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise." [Galatians 3:29]

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." [Galatians 3:28]

The above three quotes from the New Testament explain the result of the disobedience of the Jews so clearly that I barely feel the need to elaborate. The promise was stripped from the Jews and given to the followers of Jesus.

A Cursed People

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus cursed the Jews seven times for their transgression. These are known as the seven woes.

"But woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you cross the sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'Whoever swears by the alter is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.' How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the alter, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

Woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

Woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Jew! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean.

Woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Woe to you, Jews, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would have not taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the alter. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation." [Matthew 23:13-36]

A People to be Killed and Persecuted

The major fundamental belief of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene. It is well known that Jesus was executed by crucifixion; a Roman method. However, are the Romans the ones who are responsible for the death of Jesus? Rather, the Romans were merely carrying out the deed that the Jews had ordered. Pontius Pilate was clear that Jesus had committed no crime, rather, that the Jews could do with him what they wanted. So they got the Roman soldiers to execute him. This deed, the killing of Jesus, rests solely on the shoulders of the Jews as is evident by their own attitude towards the event. "Then the Jews as a whole answered, 'His (Jesus') blood be on us and on our children!'" [Matthew 27:25] Clearly, whether killing Jesus was right or not, all Jews are responsible for it. I doubt anybody would argue with me when I say that killing Jesus is a very bad thing, so I won't even go into why I believe so. Rather, I would like to focus on the punishment for murder. According to the Jews' own law "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death." [Exodus 21:12]. This is repeated later when it is said, even more clearly, that "Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death." [Leviticus 24:17] Since it is clear that the Jews as a whole are responsible for this crime, it is only moral of us to kill and persecute the Jewish people of today.

The Jews in the Qur'an

لتجدن أشد الناس عداوة للذين آمنوا اليهود والذين أشركوا ولتجدن أقربهم مودة للذين آمنوا الذين قالوا إنا نصارى ذلك بأن منهم قسيسين ورهبانا وأنهم لا يستكبرون

Surely You will find the most hostile of all people towards the faithful to be the Jews and the polytheists, and surely you will find the nearest of them in affection to the faithful to be those who say ‘We are Christians.’ That is because there are priests and monks among them, and because they are not arrogant. [Surat al-Ma'idah 5:82]

Notes

*The term YHVH refers to the tetragrammaton which are four hebrew letters that make up the name of God in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Usually transliterated as Yahweh or Jehovah, the tetragrammaton is nearly always translated as the Hebrew word adonai which is then translated into English as "Lord".

**The Day-Year principle is a method of understanding prophecy in the Bible whereby one day represents one year.

***The tetragrammaton is never used in the New Testament, rather the word here is the Greek κύριος which means Lord. It is commonly translated as God.