Refutation of the Divinity of Christ

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Refutation of the Divinity of Christ

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اَم ُحْيِسَمْلا ُنْبا َمَيْرَم اَّلِا ٌلْوُسَر The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:76) Refutation of the Divinity of Christ (Ib ta l Ul u hiyyat-e-Mas ih ) Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen may Allah be pleased with him

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ISLAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS LTD Refutation of the Divinity of Christ ( Ib ta l Ul u hiyyat-e-Mas ih ) Written by Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra First Successor of the Promised Messiah as First Urdu edition published in Qadian, India Second Urdu edition published in Qadian, India, 1904 First English translation published in the UK, 2021 © Islam International Publications Ltd.Published by Islam International Publications Ltd.Unit 3, Bourne Mill Business Park, Guildford Road, Farnham, Surrey, UK GU9 9PS Printed at Raqeem Press Farnham, Surrey, UK For further information please visit www.alislam.org Cover design: Usman Nasir Choudhary ISBN: 978-1-84880-962-8 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents About the Author..............................................................ix Foreword.........................................................................xiii Refutation of the Doctrine that Jesus is God & the Son of God Preamble.......................................................................3 Another Quranic Argument— Refuting Jesus being the Son of God.....................12 Another Argument.....................................................13 Christian Arguments— for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity......................15 Their First Argument—Trinity.............................................16 Their Second Argument—Use of the Plural Forms for God..19 Their Third Argument—Use of the Term ‘Son of Allah’.......20 Their Fourth Argument—The Miracles and Marvels of Christ.............................................................................25

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Refutation of the divinity of Christ vi Their Fifth Argument— ‘Ye are from Beneath; I am from Above’............................30 Their Sixth Argument— ‘I and My Father are One’.................................................30 Their Seventh Argument— ‘He that hath seen me hath seen the Father’......................32 Their Eighth Argument— Fatherless Birth of Christ...................................................34 Three Quranic Verses Refuting Jesus’ Divinity..........35 Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity....36 Jesus called R uh u lla h (Spirit of God)....................................37 Actual Meanings of the Word R uh........................................40 Broad Application of R uh in Scriptures................................45 Most Egregious Argument—Jesus is Kalimah......................46 An Essential and Wonderful Reminder......................51 True Concept of ‘Unity in Trinity’ and ‘Trinity in Unity’....53 Publisher’s Note...............................................................55 Biblical and Quranic Names...........................................59 Glossary............................................................................61

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Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra First Successor of the Promised Messiah as

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About the Author Hadrat al- Ha j Maul a n a Ha fi z Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen (1841– 1914), may Allah be pleased with him, was the first Khalifah of the Promised Messiah— Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as.He was elected to this blessed office unanimously by the Community on 27 May 1908, shortly after the demise of the Promised Messiah as.Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra was born in Bhera, India and was the 34th direct male descendant of Hadrat ‘Umar ibn al-Kha tta b ra, the second Khalifah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.He started studying the Holy Quran at an early age and travelled far and wide in pursuit of knowledge, including Makkah and Madinah.He mastered Arabic and Hebrew, Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy, commentaries on the Holy Quran, and Persian poetry.In addition to his international renown as an Islamic scholar, he was an accomplished physician serving as the Royal Physician of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.Like so many renowned scholars of the time, he immediately recognized and accepted the Promised Messiah as, who wrote the following about him:

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x Ever since I have been commissioned by Allah the Exalted and have been revived by the Ever-Living, the Self- Subsisting One, I have been eager to meet distinguished helpers of the Faith, with an eagerness greater than that of a thirsty one seeking water.I supplicated day and night: ‘Lord, I am alone and helpless—who will be my helper and my assistant?’ When my hands rose repeatedly in supplication, and the atmosphere became charged with my prayer, Allah the Exalted hearkened my entreaty and the mercy of the Lord of the worlds was roused on my behalf and He bestowed upon me a sincere and faithful friend who is the very eye of my helpers and is the essence of those who are my faithful friends in the cause of the Faith.His name—like his shining qualities—is Noor- ud-Deen [Light of the Faith].( A ’ i na-e-Kam a l a t-e-Isl a m , R uha ni Khaz a ’in, vol.5, p.581–582) His profound insights of the Holy Quran have been compiled in a collection entitled H aq a’ iqul-Furq a n.His countless services in the cause of Islam Ahmadiyyat include overseeing the compila- tion of the English translation of the Holy Quran, establishing the Community’s first foreign mission in the United Kingdom, and authoring numerous publications.A significant aspect of his life was his endless dedication to edu- cating the youth.This was accomplished throughout his life, often at his own expense.The fruit of these efforts culminated in some of the most towering scholarly figures in the history of Ahmadiyyat, including: Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II ra; Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad ra; Ha d rat

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About the Author xi Mirza Sharif Ahmad ra; Hadrat Mir Muhammad Ishaq ra; Hadrat Ha fi z Roshan Ali ra; and Hadrat Sufi Ghulam Muhammad ra.The Promised Messiah as cherished his outstanding character and commitment, an expression of which is seen in the following Persian couplet: وبدے ن ی� � ک زِاتم ونر د ی ہچ وخش وبدے ارگ رہ � وبدے ن ی� �یق� ِ وبدے ارگ رہ دل رُپ از ونر ن ی� م� ہ � How excellent would it be if everyone of the Community were a Noor-ud-Deen— So would it be if every heart were filled with the light of the certainty of faith! Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I ra passed away in 1914 and was succeeded by Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II ra.

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Foreword ( Ib ta l Ul u hiyyat-e-Mas ih ) was originally penned in Urdu by Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor- ud-Deen, Khalifatul Masih I ra.This treatise was written at a time when the atmosphere in British India was dominated by highly charged religious polemics.Christian missionaries engaged in aggressive and well-funded campaigns to denigrate the Holy Founder of Islam s as and attack the integrity of Islam.They openly vowed to proselytize the Muslim masses and boasted of the considerable success they enjoyed.In this treatise, Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra, an internationally renowned Muslim scholar and devotee of the Promised Messiah as, evaluates the arguments put forth by the Christian missionaries to support the notion that Jesus is God and the Son of God.Using the Quran, the Bible, and rational analysis in his cross examination, he effectively rebuts these argu- ments from various angles.As a scholar of scripture and linguistics, the author analyses the philology, context, and precedents established in the previous

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xiv sacred scriptures which Muslims also revere—the Torah and the Gospel—albeit with the caveat that they have endured various degrees of manipulation and interpolation over time.In this way, the author respectfully refutes the arguments of his opponents by applying their own scriptures, standards, and criteria.He also clarifies the various misunderstandings and misinterpretations they attribute to selected verses of the Holy Quran.Readers will find this profound composition to be as inspiring as it is enlightening.al- Ha j Munir-ud-Din Shams Additional Wak i lut-Ta s n i f, London July 2021

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1 ِۡ ی ِۡبِس ِۡ الل ِّٰ الرَّحٰۡن ِ الرَّح�ِ ی بِس ِۡ الل ِّٰ الرَّحٰۡن ِ الرَّح�ِ 2 نَحۡمَدُہ ٗ وَنصَلِّی ۡ عَلٰی رَسُوۡله ِ اۡلكَرِیۡم ِ مع التسلیم Refutation of the doctrine that Our Esteemed Holiness Jesus the Messiah, peace and blessings be upon him, is God and the Son of God Preamble People have written at length on this topic and given expres- sion to arguments in support of the Messiah being a man and a Messenger.However, the Quran has adopted a most straightforward and clear path regarding this issue, stating: 1.In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[Publisher] 2.We praise Him and call down peace and blessings upon his Noble Messenger.[Publisher]

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4 اَم ُحْيِسَمْلا ُنْبا َمَيْرَم اَّلِا ٌلْوُسَر١ۚ ْدَق ْتَلَخ ْنِم ِهِلْبَق ُلُسُّرلا١ؕ َو ٗهُّمُا ٌةَقْيِّدِص١ؕ اَناَك ِنٰلُكْاَي — َماَعَّطلا١ؕ ْرُظْنُا َفْيَك ُنِّيَبُن ُمُهَل ِتٰيٰاْلا َّمُث ْرُظْنا ىّٰنَا َنْوُكَفْؤُي 1 Part 6, S u rah al-M a ’idah, Ruk u ‘ 10 The Messiah, son of Mary, is only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him have indeed passed away before him.And his mother is a truthful woman.They both used to eat food.See how We explain the Signs openly for the good of these people.Then see how they are turned away.The Quran, which is the Word of the Creator of human nature, draws the attention of man to the law of human nature not through some convoluted philosophical, intricately rational, and incomprehensible argument, but on the basis of daily witnessed proofs of the ways of God, awakening those with a perverted perception of the facts that the Messiah was a Messenger like the other Messengers who preceded him [and passed away].He had a mother.They both used to eat food.And these three various aspects are such that no Christian can even deny.It is clear that only mortals suffer from these afflictions and characteristics and it is indeed these afflictions and characteristics that compel man to pursue the acquisition and securing of the wherewithal and the necessities for our physical existence.It is ver- ily this poverty and penury that points to man being His creation, being in need of Him, and being His servant.How true it is that the one in need of food is in need of the whole of creation! And Allah is absolutely Self-Sufficient and Independent of every need 1.S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:76 [Publisher]

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Preamble 5 and far removed from every defect.Thus, one [i.e.man] is in a state of want and need, while the other [i.e.God] is Self-Sufficient and in need of nothing.And clearly it is on the basis of the differences in characteristics and obligations that one comes to understand the differences between the possessors of those characteristics and obligations.We come to believe a stone to be distinct from the plants on the basis of the essentials and characteristics of a stone; and consider the plants to be distinct from stones on the basis of their essentials and characteristics.The essentials and attributes of man being found in Christ, proved him to be a human being; and the essentials of being a Messenger—for example, being helped by Allah, being victorious, his enemies being unsuccessful—being found in him makes him a Messenger.The fact that the requisites of Divinity—for example, being Self-Sufficient and having no need, or being the Creator, etc.—are not found in Christ and so for this reason he cannot be God or the Son of God! From these statements it is manifestly clear that Christ is a human being and a creation.O ye who believe in the Messiah being God or the Son of God! From whence did you derive this ‘Divinity’ of Christ? If it is a concealed—hidden beyond hidden—mystery, then what greater weight can it carry beyond being a mere conjecture or whim? An overwhelming and convincingly irrefutable argument is imperative to transform him into God, for a conscientious man can never hold a strong and unshakeable belief of the principles of faith and salvation in the Hereafter, lest some illuminating argu- ment satisfy his heart.Moreover, should Divinity depend upon unseen and unspeakable means, then every individual can allege

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6 that he too is an embodiment of God.All the idol-worshipping nations of the world have forged the claim that their holy per- sonages were embodiments of God and that God Almighty had donned the mantle of humanity due to various reasons.It is worth impartially reflecting upon what distinctive superi- ority lies within the Messiah that should oblige us to believe that while Christ was an embodiment of God, the followers of other avatars were not true in their claims.The Quran says: اوُلاَق َذَخَّتا ُهّٰللا اًدَلَو ٗهَنٰحْبُس١ؕ َوُه ُّيِنَغْلا١ؕ ٗهَل اَم يِف ِتٰوٰمَّسلا َو اَم يِف ِضْرَاْلا١ؕ ْنِا ْمُكَدْنِع ْنِّم 1 Part 11, S u rah Y u nus, Ruk u ‘ 7 — ٍۭنٰطْلُس اَذٰهِب١ؕ َنْوُلْوُقَتَا ىَلَع ِهّٰللا اَم اَل َنْوُمَلْعَت They say, ‘Allah has taken unto Himself a son.’ Holy is He! He is Self-Sufficient.To Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth.You have no proof for saying such a thing.Do you say against Allah what you know not? Those who believe the Messiah, peace be upon him, is an embod- iment of God have postulated two claims.First, that the Messiah was God and second that the Messiah was a man.What does that mean? That [means] the Messiah combined in himself both Divinity and humanity.The Messiah being a human being is, of course, a confirmed fact according to the sign given in the first and the second verse above, for the Messiah was simply a Messenger from amongst the Messengers.If he showed miracles, then the same type of miracles were also shown by Moses, Elijah, 1.S u rah Y u nus , 10:69 [Publisher]

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Preamble 7 and Elisha, etc.The Messiah had a mother1 and they both used to eat and drink.But yes, an argument is needed for him being God.The Quran has also affirmed that you do not possess any proof in support of the Messiah being God, so why have you become the claimants of his Divinity and this is clear from the subject matter of the above verse.Just as the Divinity of Christ has been refuted, so has the repugnant belief been refuted that the Messiah, peace be upon him, was the Son of Allah, as follows: ُمُكِلٰذ اَل ُهُكِرْدُت ىّٰنَا ُنْوُكَي ٗهَل ٌدَلَو َّو ْمَل ْنُكَت ٗهَّل ٌةَبِحاَص١ؕ َو َقَلَخ َّلُك ٍءْيَش١ۚ َو َوُه ِّلُكِب ٍءْيَش ٌمْيِلَع۰۰ ُهّٰللا ْمُكُّبَر١ۚ ۤاَل َهٰلِا اَّلِا َوُه١ۚ ُقِلاَخ ِّلُك ٍءْيَش ُهْوُدُبْعاَف١ۚ َو َوُه ىٰلَع ِّلُك ٍءْيَش ٌلْيِكَّو۰۰ — ُراَصْبَاْلا١ٞ َو َوُه ُكِرْدُي َراَصْبَاْلا١ۚ َو َوُه ُفْيِطَّللا ُرْيِبَخْلا۰۰ 2 Part 7, S u rah al-An‘ a m, Ruk u ‘ 13 How can He have a son when He has no consort, and when He has created everything and has knowledge of all things? He indeed is your Lord.There is no one worthy of worship beside Him, the Creator of all things, so wor- ship Him.And He is the Guardian over everything.Eyes 1.Everyone’s renown is sometimes attributable to that of his father, or at times, to his mother’s eminence, and sometimes it is the result of his own individual accomplishments.The mother of our Esteemed Holiness the Messiah, peace be upon him, went to Jerusalem by way of an offering and was raised and reared there at the home of her maternal aunt, the wife of Zacharias.The entire Jewish nation would come to Jerusalem every year and would see the Ever-Truthful Mary, peace be upon her, there.For this reason, she was well-known to them and they would call our Esteemed Holiness the Messiah, peace be upon him, Ibn Maryam [the son of Mary].2.S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:102–104 [Publisher]

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8 cannot reach Him nor can eyes encompass Him, but He reaches the eyes or He encompasses the eyes.And He is the Incomprehensible, the All-Aware.In other words, the Noble Quran is questioning in what way the Messiah is the son of Allah.Is it in the apparent and literal sense of saying the Messiah, son of Allah , or is it in some other context? If it is in the apparent and literal sense, then it is wrong, because in that case Her Ladyship Mary, peace be upon her, must inescapably and inevitably be considered the wife of God and His consort.Further, all Christians and all intelligent people do not subscribe to the belief that Her Ladyship Mary as is the wife of Allah the Exalted.If you take son of Allah and progeny of Allah to be metaphoric and do not take the context to be the literal and apparent mean- ing, then of course the metaphoric meanings are unusually vast.It is totally and completely wrong to take the meaning of son of Allah to be in the sense of proposing a being which physically fuses with an embodied God; for, if you take this to be the mean- ing and call the Messiah Allah and the Son of Allah, then it is nec- essarily required that the Messiah be God in his being and in his attributes, the equal of God, and in the attribute of being worthy of worship, the attribute of being the Creator, and knowledge etc.—one who has attributes unlike those of a human body but one whose attributes are like those of God.It is clear, however, that these perfect attributes were not present in the Messiah, peace be upon him, like they are in God.So reflect!

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Preamble 9 The first attribute [of God] from among the perfect attributes is perfect knowledge.This attribute was similarly not present completely and perfectly in the Messiah, peace be upon him, as he himself says: ‘But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.’ (Mark 13:32, Matthew 24:36, Acts 1:7, Matthew 26:38) The second attribute [of God] is that of being worthy of worship.The Messiah, peace be upon him, used to offer prayers himself and would supplicate—what does that mean? That [means] he was a worshipper, not the One worthy of worship.The third attribute [of God] is that of being َقَلَخ َّلُك ٍءْيَش — He has created everything.The Messiah, peace be upon him, says: ‘To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.’ (Matthew 20:23) The fourth attribute [of God] is that of being اَل ُهُكِرْدُت ُراَصْبَاْلا —eyes cannot reach Him.The Messiah was a human being in the same visible and tangible form as other human beings.As a matter of fact, he was not handsome and attractive at all.Therefore, given that these perfect attributes—which are primarily not related to the physical body—were not possessed by the Messiah, peace be upon him, how could the Messiah be the son of God? A foolish Christian commentator, vainly ablaze in decep- tion and abuse, writes in his commentary that it appears from John 21:17 that Christ knew everything, except that where he

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10 said I do not know —he did so because he did not wish to disclose the matter at that particular time.However, I contend that if the intent was not to disclose the matter, what was the need to lie? Why not clearly articulate that it is unwise to disclose the matter at that particular time? The truth of the matter, in fact, is that the word everything in the idiom of the holy scriptures does not generally connote the meaning in an all-encompassing sense, as is clear from pages 172 and 182 of I z h a r ‘ I saw i.Thus, to say in John 21:17 that Christ knew everything does not necessarily mean that it carries the connotation in an all-encompassing sense.In Numbers 31:7 it is written that, ‘And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.’ Yet in Judges chapter 6 and chapter 2, it is stated that approximately 200 years after this event, the Midianites pre- vailed against all the Children of Israel for a period of seven years.An egregious contradiction exists between these two statements; for, if all the Midianites had been killed, where did they gain this strength from? Then, (in Exodus 9:6) it is written that all the cattle of the Egyptians died, yet in verse 20 it is written that everyone that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.Thus, the question arises that when all the cattle of the Egyptians had died, from whence did the cattle for the servants of Pharaoh come? In answer to both these questions, it is written by Padre Thakur Das in I z h a r ‘ I saw i that the word all does not generally connote the sense of all-encompassing; that is, despite saying ‘all’ it is not to be understood that not a single Midianite was left, and

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Preamble 11 no cattle were left at all, but the meaning is that most Midianites were killed and most cattle had died.Therefore, I contend that if this answer is correct, then similarly where John 1:3 and Matthew 11:27 say that the Messiah, peace be upon him, knew everything, it too means the same thing, that he knew most things and not that the meaning encompassed everything.Similarly, it is written in John 10:8, ‘All that ever came before me are thieves and rob- bers.’ Here also the word all does not connote all-encompassing because Moses, David, Abraham, and Job, peace be upon them all, were not thieves and robbers.There is another aspect that is well worth considering: some- thing can be from something in three possible ways: Firstly— For the creation to proceed from the Creator, as the Creator—employing His full capability and power—brought all manner of things into existence.Secondly— If something breaks into two or more pieces, we would say that these pieces came into being from that object.Thirdly— Through two items chemically combining to bring a third item into existence.Now, if we cast an eye on someone’s son to observe that by two coming together, a third is produced, then it becomes apparent that in the law of nature the son is born of the father in this way that two—meaning the male and the female—come together and the embryo comes into being.Now, after this preamble, it is requested to ponder over how the Noble Quran condemns calling the Messiah and other holy per- sonages the son of God:

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12 1 ىّٰنَا ُنْوُكَي ٗهَل ٌدَلَو َّو ْمَل ْنُكَت ٗهَّل ٌةَبِحاَص What does it mean? O Foolish ones! Ye who believe someone to be the son of God! If these people whom you call the son of God are the creation of God, then there is no reason to debate; however, if they are components of God, then this is something that you do not acknowledge [to begin with].The doctrine of begetting and calling someone the son of someone revolves, in the law of nature, around the fact that two bodies get together and from them a third comes into being.How have you come to accept Christ as the son of God from only Allah the Exalted, without first believing in a consort? The Christians accept that from the eternally alone Father came the eternal Son, Christ, and there was no consort, but with- out there being another entity, no begetting can take place, albeit creation can certainly occur [in this way].Another Quranic Argument— Refuting Jesus being the Son of God َو َقَلَخ َّلُك ٍءْيَش —[and He has created everything].Allah the Exalted 1.How can He have a son when He has no consort ( S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:102).[Publisher]

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Another Argument 13 affirms—as is acknowledged by those who consider some holy personage to be the Son of God—that Allah the Exalted is the Creator of everything.Furthermore, the entity that is the Creator is not said to be the father, and the one who is the son is not said to be the creation of the father.This is because having a son is a natural affair and happens without power and will, whereas being the Creator affirms power and will, as the Christians them- selves acknowledge that the Son came for salvation and Allah the Exalted brought him forth so that salvation may take place.Another Argument َوَوُه ِّلُكِب ٍءْيَش ٌمْيِلَع [And He knows all things full well].Allah the Exalted says those people who consider some holy person to be the Son of God, believe that Allah the Exalted is the Knower of all things.Such perfect knowledge and such all-encompassing under- standing requires that such an operative be a Creator with will, because it is only discernment and knowledge that distinguishes between natural actions and acts of creation.Natural actions lack discernment and will.Collecting all these arguments in one place the Quran says:

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14 ُعْيِدَب ِتٰوٰمَّسلا َو ِضْرَاْلا١ؕ ىّٰنَا ُنْوُكَي ٗهَل ٌدَلَو َّو ْمَل ْنُكَت ٗهَّل ٌةَبِحاَص١ؕ َو َقَلَخ َّلُك ٍءْيَش١ۚ َو َوُه ِّلُكِب 1 ٍءْيَش ٌمْيِلَع And at another place the Noble Quran says: اوُلاَق َذَخَّتا ُهّٰللا اًدَلَو ٗهَنٰحْبُس١ؕ َوُه ُّيِنَغْلا١ؕ ٗهَل اَم يِف ِتٰوٰمَّسلا َو اَم يِف ِضْرَاْلا١ؕ ْنِا ْمُكَدْنِع ْنِّم 2 ٍۭنٰطْلُس اَذٰهِب١ؕ َنْوُلْوُقَتَا ىَلَع ِهّٰللا اَم اَل َنْوُمَلْعَت Here Allah the Exalted refutes the Messiah, peace be upon him— and any other holy person apart from him—being His son in the following manner: Allah the Exalted is Self-Sufficient and free of all needs.And for someone to be His son negates Allah the Exalted being Self-Sufficient and totally unconcerned with any need.This is because Allah the Exalted would have a son only when that Holy Being would become incapable Himself of doing some task.For example, due to His being Just, He cannot bestow sal- vation upon anyone.Therefore, He developed the need—as the Christians believe—that He should have a Son who could enable salvation to be granted.Or, He had a Son because He developed the need to satisfy His sensual desires or He had a Son for the reason that He developed the need to find an heir.1.The Originator of the heavens and the earth! How can He have a son when He has no consort, and when He has created everything and has knowledge of all things? ( S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:102) [Publisher] 2.They say, ‘Allah has taken unto Himself a son.’ Holy is He! He is Self- Sufficient.To Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatso- ever is in the earth.You have no authority for this.Do you say against Allah what you know not? ( S u rah Y u nus, 10:69) [Publisher]

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 15 And it is absolutely clear that the son is the equal of the father in what is essential, but because the son is in need of the father to be the son, so if the Messiah, peace be upon him, had been the Son of God Almighty—God forbid—then he would have been the equal of God in His Self-Sufficiency and total lack of any need, but being the Son, he cannot be considered as being free from needs.Then, the Being of the Exalted Maker is not composite because one who is composite is in need of the one who puts it together.And since He is not made up of various parts, how did the Son separate from Him? Then again, being a son calls for separation, whereas being an Eternal Son is opposed to separation.Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity All the arguments that the Christians have presented in support of the Divinity of Christ and the Trinity, which is the fountain- head of the Divinity of Christ, are in their entirety based simply on believing and are, thus, weak and worthless.I shall state these arguments and present a refutation of them with the help of God, who is free from all defects.These are the most potent arguments for the Divinity of Christ and for the Trinity, which is the origin for the Divinity of Christ.

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16 Their First Argument—Trinity Now, pay heed to the arguments for the Trinity and their refutation.THE FIRST ARGUMENT —The first sentence of the Holy Torah: Bara Elohim.Bara is a verb; its meaning is he created — Elohim [God] is its subject.The people belonging to the Christian faith ‘prove’ the Trinity from this sentence because bara is a singular verb whereas Elohim , its subject, is plural, and an indication of the Trinity is found in it.rebuttal of this Argument Elohim is derived from eloah, and eloah is used for both the true God and false deities.Elohim is the plural of eloah.Thus, its meaning will be false gods or true gods.The plural of eloah , elohim , has been used for judges, rulers, angels, and kings as well.The plural meaning of it is not obliga- tory and essential.Eloah is used in the sense of the true God in Nehemiah 9:17, and eloah is used in the meaning of a false god in Daniel 11:37, 38; 2 Chronicles 32:15; Habakkuk 1:11; and Job 12:6.▣ Elohim , which is the plural of eloah , has also been used for a single real person.In Exodus 7:1 and Exodus 4:16, Moses has been called elohim.God says I have made you, O Moses, elohim for the Pharaoh, and elohim for Aaron.▣ Elohim is used in the context of plural false gods in Deuteronomy 13:7, 32:39; Judges 5:8, 10:14; 1 Kings 9:6; 2 Kings 19:18; 1 Chronicles 5:25; 2 Chronicles 13:9, 25:14; Psalms 97:7; Psalms 136:2; and Jeremiah 10:11, 11:12, 16:20.

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 17 ▣ Elohim used in the meaning of kings, rulers, and judges: Exodus 22:28; Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 82:1, 138:1; Genesis 6:2, 4; and Exodus 21:6, 22:8, 22:9.▣ Elohim used in the meaning of angels: 1 Samuel 4:8, 28:13; 2 Samuel 7:23; and Psalms 82:6, 8:5.▣ Elohim used in the meaning of the One True God: Genesis 1:1; 1 Kings 18:24, 39.It appears frequently in the plural for false gods, kings, rulers, judges, and angels and sometimes in the meaning of one, and for the True God it is always used in the meaning of absolutely singular.Quite apart from all this—if the intent is [to prove the Divinity of Christ] only through allusions—then it would be bet- ter to first establish the Trinity through some other proofs and then strengthen it through allusions.(Indications) Unequivocal and explicit mention of the doc- trine of Trinity does not exist in the earlier holy scriptures.If believing in it on the basis of such conjectural indications can lead to salvation—as is the fanciful belief of the Christians—then let the Christians heed [what follows] justly and consider the Muslims to have attained salvation.In many places in the Quran, the Blessed Being of the Exalted Maker has been referred to in the plural form.See: 1 Part 14, S u rah al- H ijr, Ruk u ‘ 1— اَّنِا ُنْحَن اَنْلَّزَن َرْكِّذلا َو اَّنِا ٗهَل َنْوُظِفٰحَل Verily, We Ourself have sent down this Quran, and most surely We will be its Guardian.1.S u rah al- H ijr, 15:10 [Publisher]

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18 1 Part 27, S u rah al-W a qi‘ah, Ruk u ‘ 2— ُنْحَن ْمُكٰنْقَلَخ ْوَلَف اَل َنْوُقِّدَصُت We have Ourself created you.Why, then, do you not accept the truth ? 2 Part 27, S u rah al-W a qi‘ah, Ruk u ‘ 2 ۠ — ُنْحَن اَنْرَّدَق ُمُكَنْيَب َتْوَمْلا َو اَم ُنْحَن َنْيِقْوُبْسَمِب We have Ourself ordained death for all of you; and no one can prevail against Us.And the Muslims have faith in all the sentences of the Quran.Thus, if the Prophets Moses and Abraham etc., attained salvation by reciting the plural form Elohim in the phrase bara Elohim which is susceptible to interpretations, then why would the Muslims not attain salvation by reciting the plural forms of the Exalted Being of the Maker? What remains are the full particulars of faith and this, first of all, the Christians do not even avail of, because they believe that human intellect is incapable of understanding the Trinity and the mystery of Divinity.So how could those who preceded the Messiah attain it? Secondly, the details do not exist in the previous scriptures.So after producing all these facts, I submit to the Christians hum- bly: O Christians! What correlation exists between the essence of the Trinity and the use of plural forms? 1.S u rah al-W a qi‘ah, 56:58 [Publisher] 2.S u rah al-W a qi‘ah, 56:61 [Publisher]

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 19 Their Second Argument— Use of Plural Forms for God THE Second ARGUMENT — و یومر یھواہ الوھیم بن ھا آدم کا حد ممنو [way- yō-mer Yah-weh ’ĕ-lō-hîm, hên hā-’ ā -dām h ā -y ā h kə-’a- h ad mim- men-n ū ]1 Translation: ‘And God said, Behold the man is become as one of Us.’ The Trinity is corroborated by this verse.rebuttal— Here, the translation of kə-’a- h ad has been carried out on the style of ordinary translations otherwise its true mean- ing is that of unique.Job 23:13, Song of Solomon 4:9 And the word mim-men-n ū is a composite made up of من — man and ھو — hu.And when combining in Hebrew, just like in Arabic, there is a ه ی ن وقا —omitted ن.A ن — noon is brought to make من ھو man-hu into من نھو man-nahu and in Hebrew ha and noon interchange and so من ھو , after becoming من نھو comes to be من ننو.And upon three ن coming together the first ن — noon changes into a م — meem and the remaining two—yes, both of them—merge into each other.From the above investigation, it becomes clear that this [objec- tive pronoun] is the third person [singular] case and not the first person including others [i.e.plural] case, as the Christians sup- pose it to be.Thus, the meaning of mim-men-nū — ممنو becomes ‘from among him’ and not ‘from among us’.1.Genesis 3:22 [Publisher]

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20 Note the use of mim-men-n ū in the third person form [in the following examples]: ▣ Genesis 2:17; 3:3, 11, 17, 22; and 23:6; 26:16; 48:19.▣ Leviticus 2:11; 3:14; 4:19; 5:2, 3,4; 6:15; 7:3, 14, 15, 16, 18; 8:11; 15:16.▣ Exodus 1:9; 4:26; 5:8; 10:26; 12:9, 10; 14:12.Thus, the correct meaning of this verse is the following: Adam became unique from among them.What does that mean? That becoming distinguished from the animals, Adam became unique.Rabbi Shimon writes that God said, look, he is unique from those below like I am Unique from those above.(Talmud) Their Third Argument— Use of the Term ‘Son of Allah’ THE Third ARGUMENT— For the Messiah, peace be on him, being God, or the Son of God is the expression, son of Allah, that has been mentioned in Divine revelation with respect to Christ.The Christians say that the one who is the Son of Allah will neces- sarily be One in being with his Father.The Rebuttal— It is really very clear from the phrases given below that the expression son or son of Allah —as used in the Torah, the Gospels, and their supplements—connotes a rather

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 21 broad range of meanings.If you wish to see the phrases containing ‘son’, take note of: ▣ The Jews are the sons of Jerusalem—(Matthew 23:37); ▣ The Jews are the children of Jerusalem—(Luke 19:44); ▣ The people are the sons of the Resurrection—(Luke 20:36); ▣ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day— (1 Thessalonians 5:5); ▣ Ye are of your father the devil—( John 8:44); ▣ The son of perdition—( John 17:12); and ▣ The Jews are the sons of serpents—(Matthew 23:33).Given the manner in which the word son has been applied at these places with a specific meaning and context, why isn’t the expres- sion son of Allah understood in the same manner? Now I will document those phrases in which the specific expression son of Allah has been applied in a vast—yes, indeed, a tremendously vast—context within the holy scriptures: 1.Adam, peace be upon him, the son of God—(Luke 3:38) 2.Seth, peace be upon him, the son of God—(Genesis 6:2) 3.Israel, peace be upon him, the son of God—(Exodus 4:22) 4.Ephraim the firstborn of God—Jeremiah 31:9, 20; for him, the bowels of God were troubled 5.David, peace be upon him, the elder son of God— (Psalms 89:26, 27) 6.Solomon, peace be upon him, the son of God— (1 Chronicles 22:9, 10; 28:6)

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22 7.Judges and those who issue religious edicts, the sons of God—(Psalms 82:6) 8.All the Children of Israel, the sons of God—(Romans 9:4; Deuteronomy 14:1, 32:19) 9.All the disciples, the sons of God—(1 John 3:2) 10.All Christians, indeed, all believers, the sons of God— (1 John 3:9) 11.All orphans, the sons of God—(Psalms 68:5) 12.All distinguished and ordinary people, the sons of God— (Matthew 6:6, 18; 7:11; Genesis 6:4) 13.Nobles, the sons of God—(Genesis 6:2) 14.Rebellious children—(Isaiah 30:1) In all these places, the expression son of Allah has been spoken in regard to righteous and virtuous people, or regarding those for whom there are few means of training in the world, or regard- ing the noble and princely, or regarding all people—and in every one of these places, all the sons of Allah are simply the mere crea- tions of God.Not a single one of them is an embodiment of God.All are mere mortals and the progeny of mortals.1 Not one from among them is God.Accordingly, on account of these phrases and expressions, if 1.However, yes, in the commentary on Job 1:6 and 2:1 a British commenta- tor, Thomas Scott, has written that the prophets of Allah—meaning the sons of God—who are mentioned therein, refer to holy angels.Also at another place in Job 38:7, the reference to Prophets of Allah—meaning the sons of God—in the view of commentators means Prophets.This humble one has written this footnote for the sake of Syed Ghulab Shah for I had written in Fa s l al-Khi ta b that all Prophets and angels are sons of God on account of Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7.Written by N oo r-ud-D ee n.

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 23 Christ, the son of Allah, is also a mere mortal and not God, then what word or phrase obliges us to understand son of Allah to mean the embodiment of God when it comes to the case of Christ, yet when the same phrase son of Allah is applied to others, we take it to simply mean a human being or the son of a human being? No ‘son of Allah’ expression is unequivocally proven to signify an embodiment of God, whereas Christ being the son of a mortal is proven from the following expressions: ▣ Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham— (Matthew 1:1) ▣ Christ is the Son of man—(Matthew 8:20) ▣ He is the son of Adam, a man—(Matthew 9:6) ▣ Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?—(Matthew 16:13) ▣ The Son of man came eating and drinking and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners—(Matthew 11:19) ▣ Is not this the carpenter’s son?—(Matthew 13:55) And it is established from the Gospels that Christ was the son of man and, likewise, the Christians do not deny that Christ was the son of man, but they simultaneously claim this as well, that this son of man was in reality that very God.When he entered his physical body, that very individual was called the Son of Allah.From this much detail, it has at least become clear that to refer to Christ as son of Allah , the literal meaning of ‘son’ is not meant because in that case it becomes necessary that Christ should issue forth from the sperm of God, and that Mary the Ever Truthful become the wife of God.Otherwise, these meanings are incorrect

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24 and blatantly wrong.Neither the Muslims nor the Christians believe Mary to be the wife of God; indeed, no intelligent per- son would consider such a thing to be permissible and, thus, the literal meaning of son of Allah and its universally accepted mean- ing would not be intended.On the contrary, the meaning of this expression the son of Allah would be something else and beyond the universally accepted literal meaning.Mark 15:39 records that Christ was the Son of Allah, and in place of this verse, Luke 23:47 records that Christ was eminent and virtuous and righteous; that is to say, instead of ‘Son of Allah’, calls him eminent.Thus, I claim that wherever Christ referred to himself as the son of Allah, there he meant it in the sense of emi- nence and not in the sense of the embodiment of God.What argument exists on account of which we are obliged to concede that by ‘Christ, the son of Allah’ is meant the embod- iment of God? Quite the contrary, what does the phrase son of Allah have to do with righteousness and Divinity? It is not even necessary to apply the meaning of an ordinary believer for the rea- son that even evil-doers are the sons of God, Isaiah—30:1.In short, it is not proven that Christ was the embodiment of God through the phrase son of Allah.For further clarification, I advise pondering over these following verses: ▣ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God… Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him—(1 John 3:1–2)

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 25 ▣ And in 1 John 4:7 it is said: And every one that loveth is born of God.▣ And in 1 John 3:9 there is: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.▣ To Titus, mine own son after the common faith—(Titus 1:4) ▣ That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose— (Genesis 6:2) Ponder over these prominent verses—do any of them have the slightest indication that son of Allah gives the meaning of the embodiment of God? No, not at all.Their Fourth Argument— The Miracles and Marvels of Christ THE Fourth ARGUMENT— The fourth argument consists of those miracles and marvels which Christ demonstrated.Rebuttal—First Miracle—Raising of the dead Evidence of Divinity from those miracles and marvels is similarly invalid since the celebrated, supreme, and greatest miracle was his raising the dead to life, but in this too there was no distinction for Christ from which his Divinity could be proven:

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26 ▣ Elijah also raised the dead—(1 Kings 17:22) ▣ Elisha similarly raised the dead—(2 Kings 4:35) ▣ The dead body of Elisha also raised the dead—(2 Kings 13:21) ▣ Ezekiel raised thousands of the ancient dead—(Ezekiel 37:10) ▣ Moses and Aaron made a snake out of wood—(Exodus 7:10) ▣ Moses and Aaron transformed the dust and dirt into living lice—(Exodus 8:17) And for the reason that all these people are Israelites, all should, therefore, be affirmed in accord with the idiom and as attested to by: Exodus 4:22 and Deuteronomy 14:1, 32:19; to being the sons of God, nay even His firstborn.They also raised the dead to life.Thus, the situation demands that these people should also be deemed the embodiment of God without any discrimination.So given that they were not considered to be the embodiment ofGod—in spite of being called son of Allah and raising the dead to life—then how could the Messiah, peace be upon him, be accepted as the embodiment of God? Rebuttal— Second Miracle—Healing the Sick However, Elisha cured Naaman, the Commander, from leprosy—2 Kings 5:14.Joseph restored sight to his father; that is, Jacob—Genesis 46:4, 30.Rebuttal— Third Miracle—transforming paltry victuals and wine into plenitude Elijah transformed a handful of flour and a little oil into much more, so much so that it did not go short for an entire

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 27 year—1 Kings 17:12–16.Elisha also made a little oil much more through blessing—2 Kings 4:2–6.Rebuttal— Fourth Miracle—walking on the sea [of galilee] Without a Boat It should, however, be remembered that Moses so struck the sea that it became divided and the fast-flowing water remained stand- ing apart in such a way that it allowed thousands of the Children of Israel to cross over the dry seabed, but it overwhelmed Pharaoh the moment he entered—Exodus 14:21–22.Joshua did not just cross the Jordan [River] on foot, but also made the riverbed dry—Joshua 3:17.Elijah and Elisha also parted the river into two—2 Kings 2:8–15.In fact, Christ says: ‘Verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.’ Furthermore, he said that performing miracles shall be the sign of those who come to believe.Indeed, [he said] that if the Christians have faith as a grain of mustard seed, they shall be able to do greater miracles than Christ.Thus, if a believer can achieve far greater works than even Christ—the mediator of faith—then how can Christ be considered to be the embodiment of God on account of those very miracles? Miracles can be attained simply by faith—even if it be faith the size of a mustard seed—there being no need to becoming God, nor transforming a miracle maker into God.Respected priests of Christianity! Christ said that even false prophets and false messiahs will manifest marvels.Thus, given that even false prophets and false messiahs can show marvels,

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28 wonders, and miracles, how can Christ indisputably be deemed God on the basis of miracles and all these spectacles? Listen carefully— respected priests of Christianity! In the idiom of the Gospels, there is no miracle of Christ that stands proven from the Gospels since of all miracles, Christ’s foremost miracle is the raising of the dead to life.If we examine the raising of the dead to life in the idiom of the Gospels with due care and consideration, it does not appear to be anything extraordinary in the least.This is so because in Luke 10:27–28 it is stated: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself and then thou shalt live.In Luke 15:23–24 is mentioned the account of a man whose son had separated from him and had gone far away.When the son returned repentant, the father made merry and said that he [the son] had died and had now been restored to life—meaning that he had gotten lost and had now been found.In the Epistle to the Romans 6:10, it is stated: For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.In 1 Corinthians 15:31, Paul says I die every day.In John 8:52 and 6:47, it is written that if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.In Luke 4:4 it is written: That man shall not live by bread but by the word of God.It is very clear from this list of high- lighted verses that being dead in the idiom of the Gospels con- notes being sinful or separated, so isn’t it possible for us to con- clude that those to whom Christ gave life, he had made virtuous

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 29 through his holy teaching and those who had become separated were united? And such metaphor-filled and fictive language exists in all revealed books.The second miracle of restoring a blind man and a leper to health: John 9:39—‘[I am come into this world] that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.’ Here as well, being blind and seeing—how it has been spoken of in literal terms, yet by it is meant spiritual sight and blindness.Third — making food abundant: Food is also seen to be something else in the idiom of the Gospel.In John 4:34: ‘Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’ Then in John 6:48–51 Christ says: ‘I am that bread of life.Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ The phrase involving water is also worth pondering over.In John 4:10–11, Christ tells a woman that If you had asked me for water I would have given you living water.In John 7:37–38, he says: ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ The phrase involving stream and river —In Jeremiah 2:13, it is written: ‘They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters.’ In Jeremiah 17:13, it is written: ‘They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.’

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30 Their Fifth Argument— ‘ Ye are from Beneath; I am from Above’ THE Fifth ARGUMENT— In John 8:23, it is written: ‘Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.’ And, indeed, God alone is from above.Rebuttal— There is no distinctiveness in Christ on account of this.Every virtuous and righteous person who is oblivious to the world is from above.And the people from below are those who seek the world and the people of the world and wrongdoers.See John 15:19—‘If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world’, and John 17:14—‘because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’ Their Sixth Argument— ‘I and My Father are One’ THE Sixth ARGUMENT— I and [my] Father, both are one— John 10:30.Thus, having united with the Father, the being of Christ became one with God and, therefore, in his being he was God.Rebuttal— Absolute unity is also incorrect in the view of the Christians because the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are all three separate as well.Moreover, the unity that is recorded in

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 31 John 10:30 is nothing unique to Christ because in John 17:21 Christ submits before God, with respect to the Disciples and those who come to believe in him through their preaching: ‘That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.’ Further, it is written in John 17:11: ‘Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.’ And in the first Letter of John 1:5–7 it is written: ‘God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not follow the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship one with another.’ In the Gospel of John 10:34–37 , ‘Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.’ In John 12:44 we have: ‘Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.’ Ponder upon all these verses.Such unity and oneness—on account of which the Christians call Christ God—also exists in other believers apart from Christ, albeit this unity is present to a much higher degree in Christ as compared to other ordinary Christians and the Disciples.The essential point is that this unity and uniqueness exists only as the result of obedience and not due to the fact that there is literal [bodily] unity.This is clear from the words of the Apostle Paul himself.In 1 Corinthians 6:15–17 we have: ‘Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?

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32 shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the mem- bers of an harlot? God forbid.What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.’ Their Seventh Argument— ‘He that hath seen me hath seen the Father’ THE Seventh ARGUMENT— In John 14:9–11 we have: He that hath seen me hath seen the Father for I am in the Father, and the Father in me.Rebuttal—The First Response— Respected Christian Priests! In this also there is no distinctiveness of Christ because in this same Chapter 14 of John, verse 20, it is written: ‘At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.’ From verse 20 it becomes clear that just as Christ is in the Christians, and the Christians are in Christ, so similarly was Christ in God and God in Christ.Rebuttal—The Second Response— Additionally, the verses that form the basis of the Christian arguments, appear to prove that the receptacle is what it contains, and also that the con- tent of the receptacle is, for that very receptacle, a vessel.And on the basis of the tenets of the Christian faith there is, in Christ, between God and the physical body, no connection to the corre- spondence or entering into, of the vessel and its contents.

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Christian Arguments for the Divinity of Christ & Trinity 33 Rebuttal—The Third Response— The third reply is that Christ was seen in the world by way of his physical body and not from the point of view of the spirit and God is not seen in the world or in the Hereafter from the bodily point of view.Thus, it would not be correct to take Christ saying that whoever has seen me has seen the Father in the literal sense.Rebuttal—The Fourth Response— In John 17:21 it is written that the person who comes to believe may also be one in Christ and the Lord.Thus, according to this, every Christian should be an embodiment of God like Christ.Rebuttal—The Fifth Response— In 2 Corinthians 6:16 we have: ‘Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them.’ Now, respected Christian Priests! Ponder over this.All those addressed by Paul are the temple of God and God is in them, so they should all be the embodiment of God.Respected Christian Priests! The fact of the matter is that when someone is attributed to someone more eminent than him- self, then his respect and honour is meant to be conveyed thereby and this is what the meaning is of these expressions of the Gospels.For example, one may have a servant or representative, or pupil or disciple or relative or friend.Now, the respect, honour or disre- spect or love for this servant, one’s agent, pupil, disciple, relative or friend, would be attributed to his master, teacher, well-placed relative or friend.And this is precisely what the meaning is of the expression of the Gospel.

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34 Consider Matthew 10:40: ‘He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.’ And in Luke 9:48 we have: ‘Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me.’ And in Luke 10:16 we have: ‘He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.’ And in Matthew 25:35–36 we have: ‘For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.’ In verse 24 of Chapter 3 of the First Epistle of John, the matter of these equivocal verses has been resolved very well and those who call or consider Christ to be God have been reformed where it is said: ‘And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him.And hereby we know that he abideth in us.’ And in the First Epistle of John 4:13 we have: ‘We dwell in him, and he in us.’ Their Eighth Argument— Fatherless Birth of Christ THE Eighth ARGUMENT— In favour of the Divinity of Christ is his fatherless birth.Rebuttal— This argument is extremely weak and most certainly

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Three Quranic Verses Refuting Jesus’ Divinity 35 does not support the claim, since according to the genealogy presented by Luke, Adam is the son of God and he did not have a biological father, and Eve, too—according to the general Jews and Christians—was born without a mother and father; although there is the expression regarding bone and flesh according to the holy books, as exists in Genesis 29:14, that Laban said to Jacob, ‘Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.’ Further, look at Genesis 2:23; Judges 9:2; and 2 Samuel.And Melchisedec, according to the genealogy in Hebrews 7:3, was born without a father or mother.If Christ is considered to be the embodiment of God by virtue of being born without a father, then it is necessary that Adam and Eve and Melchisedec—all of them—should be the embodiment of God.Three Quranic Verses Refuting Jesus’ Divinity This humble one has seen that in some places, immensely foolish Christians have gone to such extremes and have been so misled as to try to prove from the Holy Quran, hundreds of verses of which deny that our Esteemed Holiness the Messiah, peace be upon him, was God—alas, yes from that very Holy Quran—they are engaged in trying to prove that the Messiah, peace be upon him, is Allah and God! Out of those verses in which the refutation and denial of the Divinity of the Messiah, peace be upon him, has been mentioned, here are three that must be heard:

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36 ْدَقَل َرَفَك َنْيِذَّلا اْۤوُلاَق َّنِا َهّٰللا ُثِلاَث 1 ْدَقَل َرَفَك َنْيِذَّلا اْۤوُلاَق َّنِا َهّٰللا َوُه ُحْيِسَمْلا ُنْبا َمَيْرَم 3 اَم ُحْيِسَمْلا ُنْبا َمَيْرَم اَّلِا ٌلْوُسَر 2 ٍةَثٰلَث Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity Yes, indeed, these Christians—possessed of strange and peculiar minds—have argued in favour of the Divinity of the Messiah, peace be upon him, on the basis of these verses mentioned below: First verse: — َو َمَيْرَم َتَنْبا َنٰرْمِع ْۤيِتَّلا ْتَنَصْحَا اَهَجْرَف اَنْخَفَنَف ِهْيِف ْنِم اَنِحْوُّر 4 S u rah at-Ta h r i m, 66:13 Second verse: — اَمَّنِا ُحْيِسَمْلا ىَسْيِع ُنْبا َمَيْرَم ُلْوُسَر ِهّٰللا َو ٗهُتَمِلَك١ۚ ۤاَهىٰقْلَا ىٰلِا َمَيْرَم َو ٌحْوُر ُهْنِّم 5 S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:172, Ruk u ‘ 23 1.They have indeed disbelieved who say, ‘Surely, Allah is none but the Messiah, son of Mary’ ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:18).[Publisher] 2.They are surely disbelievers who say, ‘Allah is one of the three’ ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:74).[Publisher] 3.The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger ( S u rah al- M a ’idah, 5:76).[Publisher] 4.And the example of Mary, the daughter of ‘ Imr a n, who guarded her private parts—so We breathed into him of Our Spirit ( S u rah at-Ta h r i m, 66:13).[Publisher] 5.Verily, the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah and a fulfilment of His word which He sent down to Mary, and a mercy from Him ( S u rah an-Nis a’ , 4:172).[Publisher]

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 37 The Proof of the Christians— In these verses, as acknowl- edged by Muslims, Allah the Exalted has declared the Messiah, peace be upon him, to be His spirit and the spirit of Allah is no less than Allah the Exalted; in fact, it is God Himself.Rebuttal— O ye Christians! If such proofs are to be consid- ered effective in advancing the argument, then you should, in fact, say that Gabriel, peace be upon him, is also God (God forbid!), because the Holy Quran has similarly used the word روحنا (Our spirit) concerning Gabriel as, in the same way that روحنا has been used in the first verse of the question regarding our Esteemed Holiness, the Messiah, peace be on him.Ponder over this verse: — ْتَذَخَّتاَف ْنِم ْمِهِنْوُد اًباَجِح١۪۫ ۤاَنْلَسْرَاَف اَهْيَلِا اَنَحْوُر َلَّثَمَتَف اَهَل اًرَشَب اًّيِوَس 1 Part 16, S u rah Maryam, Ruk u ‘ 2 Thus, Mary screened herself off from the people, then We sent (Allah says) Our spirit to her, and he appeared to her in the form of a perfect man.Lest someone fall in doubt that here too the Messiah is meant, they should read the accompanying two verses: َلاَق ۤاَمَّنِا اَنَا ُلْوُسَر ِكِّبَر١ۖۗ َبَهَاِل ِكَل اًمٰلُغ ْتَلاَق ْۤيِّنِا ُذْوُعَا ِنٰمْحَّرلاِب َكْنِم ْنِا َتْنُك اًّيِقَت ۰۰ 2 Part 16, S u rah Maryam, Ruk u ‘ 2— اًّيِكَز ۰۰ Thereupon Mary said, ‘I seek refuge with the Gracious God from thee if indeed thou dost fear Him.’ Said (the 1.S u rah Maryam, 19:18 [Publisher] 2.S u rah Maryam, 19:19–20 [Publisher]

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38 spirit of God, Gabriel, to her), ‘I am only the angel sent by thy Lord and I have come so that I may bestow on thee a righteous son (the glad tiding of it is meant).’ In fact, what is required is that even the breath of our Esteemed Holiness Adam, peace be upon him, concerning which God has used the word ی روح — R uhi [My Spirit], should be God: — اَذِاَف ٗهُتْيَّوَس َو ُتْخَفَن ِهْيِف ْنِم ْيِحْوُّر اْوُعَقَف ٗهَل َنْيِدِجٰس 1 Part 14, S u rah al- H ijr, Ruk u ‘ 3 So when I have fashioned him (Adam) in perfection and have breathed into him of My Spirit (breath), fall ye down in submis- sion to him.Indeed, the spirits of all men should be God, since in the Holy Quran it is stated regarding the human species that their spirit is the spirit of God: — َّمُث ُهىّٰوَس َو َخَفَن ِهْيِف ْنِم ٖهِحْوُّر َّمُث َلَعَج ٗهَلْسَن ْنِم ٍةَلٰلُس ْنِّم ٍءٓاَّم ٍنْيِهَّم۰۰ S u rah as-Sajdah, 32:9–10, Ruk u ‘ 1 Then He made the progeny of Adam from an extract of an insignificant fluid.Then He fashioned him aright and breathed into him a spirit that came from Allah.The fact of the matter is that when any word issues forth from someone’s mouth with the intent of being heard by another, then at that point in time, there is a person who is there to say the words 1.S u rah al- H ijr, 15:30 [Publisher]

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 39 and there is a second who is there to hear the words.The speaker has a meaning of the words he speaks and in that speech of his there is a specific objective.He speaks those words for that very meaning and purpose, but the one who hears those words, likely understands those words and meanings in the light of a particular bent of mind and belief, and renders their meaning inconsistent with the bent of mind and mission of the speaker of those words.It is for this reason that the speaker of the words has to explain the meaning of his words or the competent and just-minded listeners need to understand the words of the speaker keeping in mind the mission and manner of the speaker.For example, when our Master, the Arab Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke the word هللا — Allah in الاله االهللا — L a il a ha illall a h or بسم هللا — Bismill a h, Allah the Exalted, Himself, through Whose revelation he had proclaimed this word of Tauh i d [the Oneness of Allah] to the people, informed him that your addressees are Christians who believe the Messiah to be the Son of God or they are the idolaters of Arabia who call the angels the daughters of Allah the Exalted.By the word هللا — Allah they will certainly understand such an allah who is a father, a son, and who has daughters.Or it could be that those who hear your message are Zoroastrians who hold the belief that there is a part- ner of the Yazdan God who is the creator of evil and who is called Ahriman.And Yazdan is such under whom thousands of bright heavenly stars, the lords of species are working.So, you say to them that by the word هللا — Allah, I do not mean that thing which you call allah but it is something else.As stated,

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40 — َوُه ُهّٰللا ٌدَحَا۰۰ُۚهّٰللَا ُدَمَّصلا۰۰ْۚمَل ْدِلَي١ۙ۬ َو ْمَل ْدَلْوُي۰۰َۙو ْمَل ْنُكَي ٗهَّل اًوُفُك ٌدَحَا۰۰ 1 ْلُق S u rah al-Ikhl as, 112:2–5 Readers! Such exactly was the case with the word روح — r uh.When the Christians heard this word, they immediately began inter- preting it according to their bent of mind and beliefs.However, it would have been appropriate for them to look at the tenor and the mission of the Quran and they should have interpreted the meaning of r uh on that same tenor and in accord with it.If they could not do this, then at the very least, they should have taken the meanings of the Quranic word r uh in accord with the Arabic language since the Noble Quran was revealed in the Arabic lan- guage.So, let me inform them in what context the Quranic word r uh has been employed and then I will explain the other mean- ings of this word in the Arabic language.Many will be shocked by these statements to see what egregious errors people are engrossed in as they research this word r uh whereas the issue is very clear.Hearken! First the word r uh has been spoken in the meaning 1.O Reader! You should proclaim! The fact of the matter is that the Being that exists on His Own, whose name is Allah, who is worthy of being worshipped and obeyed, is One in His Being and Incomparable in His attributes.He is not a composite of multiple things and is free from plu- rality of any sort.He is the real objective and sought by all.His Being is worthy of being relied upon and excels in every excellence.Nothing goes into Him that He should be in need of eating or drinking nor does anything come out of Him so that He should become the father of any- one.He is not the father of anyone nor anyone's son.There is none His like nor partner in His Existence, His permanence, His attributes, or His Being.

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 41 of the Word of Allah and it is for this reason that the Holy Quran has been called r uh.Proof: 1.— َو َكِلٰذَك ۤاَنْيَحْوَا َكْيَلِا اًحْوُر ْنِّم اَنِرْمَا١ؕ اَم َتْنُك ْيِرْدَت اَم ُبٰتِكْلا َو اَل ُناَمْيِاْلا 1 Part 25, S u rah ash-Sh u r a , Ruk u ‘ 5 And thus have We revealed to thee a روح — r uh (the Quran) by Our command.Thou didst not know what the Book was, nor the faith.2.ُلِّزَنُي َةَكِٕىٰٓلَمْلا ِحْوُّرلاِب ْنِم ٖهِرْمَا ىٰلَع ْنَم ُءٓاَشَّي ْنِم ٖۤهِداَبِع ْنَا اْۤوُرِذْنَا ٗهَّنَا ۤاَل َهٰلِا ۤاَّلِا اَنَا ِنْوُقَّتاَف 2 Part No.14, S u rah an-Na h l, Ruk u ‘ 1— He sends down the angels with the r uh (Divine Word) by His command on whomsoever of His servants He pleases, and in this Word He commands, ‘Tell these idolaters that there is no one beside Allah, Who is endowed with the perfect attributes and free of all defects and worthy of being obeyed.So, remain obedient to Him.’ 3.َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِحْوُّرلا١ؕ ِلُق ُحْوُّرلا ْنِم ِرْمَا ْيِّبَر َو ۤاَم ْمُتْيِتْوُا َنِّم ِمْلِعْلا اَّلِا اًلْيِلَق 3 Part 15, S u rah Ban i Isr a ‘ i l, Ruk u ‘ 10— People ask you as to what this Quran is.Say , ‘The Quran is the r uh by the command of my Lord; and you lack knowledge (so that you do not understand such a clear statement).’ 1.S u rah ash-Sh u r a , 42:53 [Publisher] 2.S u rah an-Na h l, 16:3 [Publisher] 3.S u rah Ban i Isr a ‘ i l, 17:86 [Publisher]

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42 second use is to refer to Gabriel as r uh because he is the one to bring the Divine Word, as is said: 1.ىٰلَع َكِبْلَق َنْوُكَتِل َنِم َنْيِرِذْنُمْلا۰۰ َلَزَن ِهِب ُحْوُّرلا ُنْيِمَاْلا۰۰ۙ 1 Part 19 S u rah ash Shu‘a ra’ , Ruk u ‘ 11— The Spirit (Gabriel), Faithful to the Trust, has brought down this Quran upon your heart so that you may warn the disobedient ones regarding their disobedience.2.ْتَلاَق ْۤيِّنِا ْتَذَخَّتاَف ْنِم ْمِهِنْوُد اًباَجِح١۪۫ ۤاَنْلَسْرَاَف اَهْيَلِا اَنَحْوُر َلَّثَمَتَف اَهَل اًرَشَب اًّيِوَس۰۰ ُذْوُعَا ِنٰمْحَّرلاِب َكْنِم ْنِا َتْنُك اًّيِقَت۰۰ َلاَق ۤاَمَّنِا اَنَا ُلْوُسَر ِكِّبَر١ۖۗ َبَهَاِل ِكَل اًمٰلُغ اًّيِكَز۰۰ 2 Part 16 S u rah Maryam, Ruk u ‘ 2— Thus, Mary put up a screen between herself and the peo- ple.Then We sent (Allah says) Our r uh to her, and the r uh appeared to her in the form of a perfect man.Thereupon Mary said, ‘I seek refuge with the Gracious God from thee if indeed thou dost fear God.’ (The r uh of God, Gabriel, said to her) ‘I am only a Messenger sent by thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a righteous son.’ (This angel had come to convey the glad tiding.) 3 Part 14, S u rah an-Na h l, Ruk u ‘ 14— ْلُق ٗهَلَّزَن ُحْوُر ِسُدُقْلا ْنِم َكِّبَّر ِّقَحْلاِب You say to them, ‘The Spirit of holiness (Gabriel) has brought it (this Quran) down from thy Lord step by step gradually and this Quran is accompanied with perfect 1.S u rah ash-Shu‘ar a ’, 26:194–195 [Publisher] 2.S u rah Maryam, 19:18–20 [Publisher] 3.S u rah an-Na h l, 16:103 [Publisher]

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 43 truth.And since the Messiah, peace be upon him, was one who brought the Divine Word and came to make people understand the Divine Word, he too was called r uh as is said: 1 َو ٗهُتَمِلَك١ۚ ۤاَهىٰقْلَا ىٰلِا َمَيْرَم َو ٌحْوُر ُهْنِّم And the Messiah is a divine word (is a manifestation of this holy Divine Word and glad tiding of God which Gabriel had brought) which He sent down to Mary, and he is a r uh from Him.The human breath has also been called r uh in the Noble Quran, as is said: 3.2 َّمُث ُهىّٰوَس َو َخَفَن ِهْيِف ْنِم ٖهِحْوُّر َّمُث َلَعَج ٗهَلْسَن ْنِم ٍةَلٰلُس ْنِّم ٍءٓاَّم ٍنْيِهَّم۰۰ۚ Then He made the progeny of Adam from an extract of an insignificant fluid.Then He fashioned him aright and breathed into him a r uh which came from Allah.And He says: 3 اَذِاَف ٗهُتْيَّوَس َو ُتْخَفَن ِهْيِف ْنِم ْيِحْوُّر اْوُعَقَف ٗهَل َنْيِدِجٰس So when I have fashioned him in perfection and have breathed into him My r uh , fall down in submission to him.1.S u rah an-Nis a’ , 4:172 [Publisher] 2.S u rah as-Sajdah, 32:9–10 [Publisher] 3.S u rah al- H ijr, 15:30 [Publisher]

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44 This very breath and soul is called r uh in the Arabic language as well.Take note of Zur Rummah whose ancient poetic expression is: فَقُلۡت ُ لَه ُ ارۡفَعۡهَا اِلَیۡك َ و َ اَحۡیِهَا بِرُوۡحِك َ وَاجۡعَلۡہ ُ لَهَا قِیۡتَۃ ً قِدۡرًا Thus, I said to him (to the companion by my side), ‘Lift up this fire to your mouth and make it glow bright and give it life with your blowing, and make your blowing firewood for this fire for the sake of the cooking pot.’ This couplet of Zur Rummah is present in T a jul-‘Ur u s Shara h Q a m u sul-Lughah.Look under the root روح — r uh where, after writing the meaning of this very r uh as being the Divine Word etc.etc., it is stated: سمعت ابا الھیثم یقول الروح انما ھو النفس الذی یتنفسہ االنسان وھو جار فی جمیع الجسد فاذا خرج لم یتنفس بعد خروجہ فاذا تم خروجہ بقی بصرہ ٗ شاخصًا نحوہ حتی یغمض وھو بالفارسیۃ جَان یذکر (ویؤنث) انتهٰی I heard from Abul-Hathim—he said r uh is in fact the breath of man and it flows through the whole body of man and when it leaves, the man can no longer breathe, and when it departs totally, the eyes remain opened whence they were [looking] until they are closed.It is this very thing that in the Persian language is called r uh — j a n [life].The word is masculine (and is spoken in the feminine form as well).It is likely that ordinary living things are called الروح for this very reason, where it is said:

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 45 1 ال تتخذوا شیئًا فیہ الروح غرضًا Indeed, the word r uh has a very broad range of meanings in the holy books as well.Yes, divine r uh connotes a very wide range of meanings in the holy scriptures.Here are a few such meanings that are appropriate for this discussion: ▣ In the meaning of the air that blows over water: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.—Genesis 1:2 ▣ In the meaning of the breath by which man is said to be alive: When I shall open your graves and shall bring you out of your graves, then shall you know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My spirit in you and ye shall live.—Ezekiel 37:12–14 ▣ In the meaning of the Divine Word: And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.—1 Samuel 16:13 ▣ Indeed evil spirits have also been referred to as the spirit of God, as is written: But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.—1 Samuel 16:14 Now remains the thing that Allah the Exalted or—it should be said—the Quran has called the Messiah, peace be upon him, its spirit.So, as previously stated, just this much cannot prove that the 1.In some a ha d i th it is stated that living things should not be made a target.

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46 Messiah is God because Allah the Exalted in the Holy Quran has also declared Gabriel, peace be upon him, and the breath of man to be His Spirit as well.The fact of the matter is that all creations are indeed the creations of Allah the Exalted.Since the Messiah, peace be upon him, was His elect servant and one charged with the duty of delivering His Word, it is for this reason he was called r uh —spirit.In every language such annexations are for the pur- pose of respect and honour, as for example the she-camel of Sa le h is referred to in the Noble Quran as ِهّٰللا ُۃَقاَن — the she-camel of Allah , and Allah calls the virtuous people as عبادهللا meaning His servants.Most egregious Argument—Jesus is kalimah— Of all the arguments that I have heard in support of the Divinity of Christ, the most astonishing argument is that which the Christians have derived from the term کَلِمَۃ — kalimah [word].The Christians claim that since the Messiah, peace be upon him, is the word of Allah, he must be God.Rebuttal— If in the idiom of the Holy Quran something being called the کَلِمَۃ هللا — kalimatull a h, ‘the word of Allah’ is an argu- ment in support of that thing being God, then all the words of Allah would have to be God.For example, it is stated in the Holy Quran that: 1 َو ْدَقَل ْتَقَبَس اَنُتَمِلَك اَنِداَبِعِل َنْيِلَسْرُمْلا And surely Our word has gone forth respecting Our servants, the Messengers.1.S u rah a s - Sa ff a t, 37:172 [Publisher]

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 47 Now, hear the commentary on this as to what kind of a کَلِمَۃ — kalimah [word] that was: 1 ْمُهَّنِا ُمُهَل َنْوُرْوُصْنَمْلا۰۰َ۪و َّنِا اَنَدْنُج ُمُهَل َنْوُبِلٰغْلا۰۰ Verily, they (those very Messengers of Allah) who would be helped by Allah the Exalted; And verily it is Our host (Messengers and their followers) who would certainly be victorious.And He said: َو َنْيِذَّلا ُمُهٰنْيَتٰا َبٰتِكْلا َنْوُمَلْعَي ٗهَّنَا ٌلَّزَنُم ْنِّم َكِّبَّر ِّقَحْلاِب اَلَف َّنَنْوُكَت َنِم َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا۰۰ — َو ْتَّمَت ُتَمِلَك َكِّبَر اًقْدِص َّو اًلْدَع١ؕ اَل َلِّدَبُم ٖهِتٰمِلَكِل١ۚ َو َوُه ُعْيِمَّسلا ُمْيِلَعْلا۰۰ 2 Part 8, Ruk u ‘ 14 And those to whom We gave the Book know that this Quran has been sent down from thy Lord with perfect truth and wisdom; so be thou not, or become thou not, of those who doubt.And the word of thy Lord has been ful- filled in truth and justice.There is none who can change His words; and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.And He said: 3 َو َلَعَج َةَمِلَك َنْيِذَّلا اوُرَفَك ىٰلْفُّسلا ١ؕ َو ُةَمِلَك ِهّٰللا َيِه اَيْلُعْلا And Allah humbled the word of those who disbelieved, and it is the word of Allah alone which is firm and supreme.1.S u rah a s - Sa ff a t, 37:173–174 [Publisher] 2.S u rah al-An ‘ a m , 6:115–116 [Publisher] 3.S u rah at-Taubah 9:40 [Publisher]

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48 In the Old and the New Testaments as well, the کَلِمَۃ هللا — kalima- tull a h [word of Allah] has been used in the meaning of word of God and the command of God.Hearken! ا ھ ع جنود ی ه جم ی بكلمة الرب ثبت السموات وبروح ف By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.—Psalms 33:6 ی ناثان النب ی لمة هللا عل ک لة حلت ی تلك ال ی ان ف ک فلما And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to N a th a n, the Prophet—1 Akhb a r al-Ayy a m 17:3 [1 Chronicles 17:3] ة ی ا في البر ی ر ک وحنا بن ز ی ی لمة الرب عل ک حلت The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.—Luke 3:2 There are many other such expressions in the previous holy scrip- tures.If something could be Allah precisely by virtue of being کَلِمَۃ هللا — kalimatull a h, then all those complete sentences that came to the Prophets, peace be upon them all, and their holy follow- ers by way of Divine discourse and communications from their Lord, should all be God.May Allah protect us! The reality is that before the birth of the Messiah, peace be upon him, Allah the Exalted communicated a word of glad tiding concerning him to his mother, the Ever Truthful Mary, peace be upon her, and told her about his birth, or it was for the reason that he was bestowed

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Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity 49 upon Mary the Truthful by special Divine command, that he was called kalimah —the word.Now, I wish to conclude this discussion with this passage of the Holy Quran: اَّمَاَف َنْيِذَّلا اْوُرَفَك ْمُهُبِّذَعُاَف اًباَذَع اًدْيِدَش يِف اَيْنُّدلا َو ِةَرِخٰاْلا١ٞ َو َكْوُعَبَّتا َقْوَف َنْيِذَّلا اْۤوُرَفَك ىٰلِا ِمْوَي ِةَمٰيِقْلا١ۚ َّمُث َّيَلِا ْمُكُعِجْرَم ُمُكْحَاَف ْمُكَنْيَب اَمْيِف ْمُتْنُك ْذِا َلاَق ُهّٰللا ىٰۤسْيِعٰي ْيِّنِا َكْيِّفَوَتُم َو َكُعِفاَر َّيَلِا َو َكُرِّهَطُم َنِم َنْيِذَّلا اْوُرَفَك َو ُلِعاَج َنْيِذَّلا َو اَّمَا َنْيِذَّلا اْوُنَمٰا َو اوُلِمَع ِتٰحِلّٰصلا ْمِهْيِّفَوُيَف ْمُهَرْوُجُا١ؕ َو ُهّٰللا ِهْيِف َنْوُفِلَتْخَت۰۰ َّنِا َلَثَم ىٰسْيِع َدْنِع اَم ْمُهَل ْنِّم َنْيِرِصّٰن۰۰ َكِلٰذ ُهْوُلْتَن َكْيَلَع َنِم ِتٰيٰاْلا َو ِرْكِّذلا ِمْيِكَحْلا۰۰ ُّقَحْلَا ْنِم َكِّبَّر اَلَف ْنُكَت َنِّم اَل ُّبِحُي َنْيِمِلّٰظلا۰۰ ْنَمَف َكَّجٓاَح ِهْيِف ْۢنِم ِدْعَب اَم َكَءٓاَج َنِم ِمْلِعْلا ْلُقَف اْوَلاَعَت ُعْدَن اَنَءٓاَنْبَا َو ِهّٰللا ِلَثَمَك َمَدٰا١ؕ ٗهَقَلَخ ْنِم ٍباَرُت َّمُث َلاَق ٗهَل ْنُك ُنْوُكَيَف۰۰ َّنِا اَذٰه َوُهَل ُصَصَقْلا ُّقَحْلا١ۚ َو اَم ْنِم ٍهٰلِا اَّلِا ُهّٰللا١ؕ َو َّنِا َهّٰللا َوُهَل ُزْيِزَعْلا ْمُكَءٓاَنْبَا َو اَنَءٓاَسِن َو ْمُكَءٓاَسِن َو اَنَسُفْنَا َو ْمُكَسُفْنَا١۫ َّمُث ْلِهَتْبَن ْلَعْجَنَف َتَنْعَّل ِهّٰللا ىَلَع َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا۰۰ ْلُق َلْهَاٰۤي ِبٰتِكْلا اْوَلاَعَت ىٰلِا ٍةَمِلَك ٍۭءٓاَوَس َنْيِبِذٰكْلا۰۰ اًضْعَب اًباَبْرَا ْنِّم ِنْوُد ُمْيِكَحْلا۰۰ ْنِاَف اْوَّلَوَت َّنِاَف َهّٰللا ٌۢمْيِلَع َنْيِدِسْفُمْلاِب۰۰ؒ بَعْضُنَا اَنَنْيَب َو ْمُكَنْيَب اَّلَا َدُبْعَن اَّلِا َهّٰللا َو اَل َكِرْشُن ٖهِب أًـْيَش َّو اَل َذِخَّتَي 1 ِهّٰللا١ؕ ْنِاَف اْوَّلَوَت اوُلْوُقَف اْوُدَهْشا اَّنَاِب َنْوُمِلْسُم۰۰ When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I will surely give you the full reward or cause you to die and will raise you to Myself, and will clear you from the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who dis- believe until the Day of Resurrection.Then—O ye who claim to be the followers!—to Me shall be presented the case of you all, and I will judge between you concerning that wherein you differ.’ 1.S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n, 3:56–65 [Publisher]

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50 Commentary: The followers of the Messiah, peace be upon him, are either the people of Islam or the Christians and from among those who disbelieved in him, those who are of the first rank are the Jews whose real land is Canaan and whose ka‘bah [the direc- tion they face during prayers] is Jerusalem.Of the second grade are the Zoroastrians—the fire-worshippers, and of the third grade are the Zoroastrians of India.The higher grade followers are gov- erning over the higher grade disbelievers and the lower grade followers are governing over the lower grade disbelievers.‘Then as for those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe punishment in this world and in the next, and no ruling power shall help them; in fact, no one shall help them.And as for those who believe and do good works, He will pay them their full rewards.And Allah loves not the wrongdoers.’ That is what We recite unto thee of the Signs of your Prophethood and the Reminder, full of wisdom.Now Allah gives the verdict regarding the difference between the followers which was promised.Surely, Jesus is like a human being.The human being was cre- ated by Allah the exalted from dust, then in his second, third birth selected him for a new life as a Prophet and he became such.This is the truth from thy Lord (the Messiah was nothing more than just a human being; miracles, wonders, excellent teachings—all these things are found among Prophets even though they are mortals), so be thou not, or become thou not, ever of those who doubt.And if some foolish one, despite this proof, even now disputes with thee, you should deal with such foolish ones by calling them to engage in a prayer duel and say, ‘Come, let us call our children and your children, and our women and your women, and our men

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An Essential and Wonderful Reminder 51 and your men; then let us pray humbly and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie.’ This certainly is a clear, excellent and true account.There is none worthy of obedience save Allah; and surely, it is Allah Who is the Mighty, the Wise.But if they turn away, then remember that Allah knows the mischief-makers well.Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you—that we obey none but Allah the Exalted, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they do not even agree to what is acceptable by both sides, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to Allah and we are Muslims.’ An Essential and Wonderful Reminder A general and universally accepted rule is that the degree to which something that is able to accept the influence of another, estab- lishes a bond and unity with some powerful entity that can cast an influence, is the very degree to which the thing that is being influ- enced and can take the impress, begins to acquire and become dyed in the colours and attributes of the entity casting its influ- ence.Who does not know that when iron is placed in an intensely hot fire, it begins to be affected by the impact of the fire and its properties? I am certain that if the iron was given the ability to speak at that moment, it would say ُ اَنَاالنَّار (‘I am fire’).Alternatively, consider the case of the employment of an

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52 honest, active, and clever servant of a fair-minded and just ruler.At the time of governing, such an individual is an example of a sort of reflection of his government.Indeed, I believe that to diso- bey such a subordinate and to rebel against him is, in fact, to diso- bey the government.Thus, in the same way, if someone succeeds in establishing a bond with the Holy Being of Allah the Exalted, the All-Powerful, and if some fortunate individual manages to develop a relationship with the Holy Being of Allah the Exalted through his strength of faith and virtuous acts; then such a one receives bounties and rewards from the munificence of his Lord in proportion to his level of faith and good deeds, and he becomes a manifestation of the light and blessings of Allah.The beloved personages of the Prophets, peace be upon them all, enjoy such proximity and affiliation with the lofty court of the True, Holy, and Exalted Being that if they love someone it is only for the sake of the pleasure of Allah the Exalted.And if they become upset with someone it is only on the account of Allah the Exalted being upset.Their bow is so perfectly aligned with the bow of Allah that instead of there being two chords of two bows, they appear to be one [chord for the two bows].And because the manifestation of Divine munificence demands perfect servitude and the highest degree of humility and lowliness, it is the fruit of unshakeable sincerity, perseverance, and resolve.And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Holy Noble Prophets and their great holy, saintly successors till the Day of Judgment.They are distinguished from the ordinary creatures of God in their servitude to God, sincerity, and perse- verance etc.etc.and enjoy a bond with God that far surpasses all

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An Essential and Wonderful Reminder 53 humanity.It is for this reason that they become the recipients of special Divine favours such that it is proclaimed concerning them: 1 َّنِا َنْيِذَّلا َكَنْوُعِياَبُي اَمَّنِا َنْوُعِياَبُي َهّٰللا Verily, those who pledge to obey and follow you, make a pledge with Allah the Exalted and upon them descends the discourse and communication from Allah to the degree of their servitude, and it is this which is referred to in Divine revelations as the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost, as is stated in the Noble Quran: 2 َو َكِلٰذَك ۤاَنْيَحْوَا َكْيَلِا اًحْوُر ْنِّم اَنِرْمَا And this is indeed the topic of unity in trinity and trinity in unity—three in one and one in three—which the Christians, failing to understand, fell into the trap of associating partners with Allah.And they failed to understand that when Allah the Exalted raises His holy ones—the Prophets, peace be upon them all—for the guidance of the world, then all that they say is, in fact, the word of Allah.To follow them and their word is pre- cisely to follow Allah the Exalted.To believe them and their word is precisely to believe in Allah the Exalted.It is as if they, Allah the Exalted, and the Divine Word are three yet they are one.And whenever any fortunate soul develops the capacity for the descent of the Holy Spirit by following them [i.e.the Prophets] to the full 1.S u rah al-Fat’ h , 48:11 [Publisher] 2.And thus have We revealed to thee the Word by Our command ( S u rah ash-Sh u r a , 42:53).[Publisher]

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54 extent of his ability through complete submission in the Court of Almighty Allah with steadfastness and sincerity, then the Perfect Divine Being bestows the beneficence of the Holy Spirit upon the devotion of this servant.اللّٰھُم ّ اجعلنی من الملھمین الصّادقین [O our Allah, bless me to be among the recipients of revelation and the Truthful].

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Publisher’s Note Please note that, in the translation given herein, words given in parentheses ( ) are the words of the author.If any explanatory words or phrases are added by the translators for the purpose of clarification, they are put in square brackets [ ].Footnotes given by the publisher are marked ‘[Publisher]’.References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the s u rah [i.e.chapter] followed by a chapter:verse citation, e.g.S u rah al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4, and count Bismill a hir-Ra h m a nir-Ra hi m [‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’] as the first verse in every chapter that begins with it.All Biblical references have also been updated.The following abbreviations have been used: s as s allall a hu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’, is written after the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.as ‘alaihis-sal a m, meaning ‘peace be on him’, is written after the names of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.

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56 ra ra d iyall a hu ‘anhu/‘anh a /‘anhum, meaning ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her/them’, is written after the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as or of the Promised Messiah as.rta ra h matull a h ‘alaih/‘alaih a /‘alaihim, meaning ‘may Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them’, is written after the names of those deceased pious Muslims who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as or of the Promised Messiah as.aba ayyadahull a hu Ta‘ a la bina s rihil-‘Az i z, meaning ‘may Allah the Almighty help him with His pow- erful support’, is written after the name of the pres- ent head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad aba, Khal i fatul- Mas ih V.Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when reading the book.In general, we have adopted the following system estab- lished by the Royal Asiatic Society for our transliteration.ا at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word honour.ث th – pronounced like th in the English word thing.ح h – a guttural aspirate, stronger than h.خ kh – pronounced like the Scottish ch in loch.ذ dh – pronounced like the English th in that.

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Publisher’s Note 57 ص s – strongly articulated s.ض d – similar to the English th in this.ط t – strongly articulated palatal t.ظ z – strongly articulated z.ع ‘ – a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear.غ gh – a sound similar to the French r in grasseye, and to the German r.It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position to pronounce it.ق q – a deep guttural k sound.ء ’ – a sort of catch in the voice.Long vowels by: a for __ ٰ ___ or آ (like a in father ).i for ی __ ِ ___ or __ ٖ ___ (like ee in deep ).u for و __ ُ ___ (like oo in root ).Other vowels by: ai for ی __ َ ___ (like i in site ).au for و __ َ ___ (resembling ou in sound ).The consonants not included in the above list have the same pho- netic value as in the principal languages of Europe.As noted above, the single quotation mark ‘ is used for transliterating ع which is distinct from the apostrophe ’ used for ء.Terms which may not be familiar to the Western reader are italicized in the text and defined in the Glossary.We have not

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58 transliterated some Arabic words which have become part of the English language, e.g.Islam, Quran, Mahdi, jihad, Ramadan, and ummah.The Royal Asiatic Society’s rules of transliteration for names of persons, places, and other terms, are not followed throughout the book as many of the names contain non-Arabic characters and carry a local transliteration and pronunciation style.It should be noted that wherever the author had not given the translation of a verse of the Holy Quran, we have generally taken the translation from Hadrat Khalifatul Masih IV rta or Hadrat Maulaw i Sher Ali ra, but have changed ‘Thou’ and ‘Thee’ to ‘You’, and ‘Thy’ and ‘Thine’ to ‘Your(s)’, etc.Acknowledgements Waseem Ahmad Sayed translated the Urdu manuscript into English.Naser-ud-Din Shams, Bushra Shahid, Nasira Naseem, Faizan Mughni Khan, Abdul-Wahab Mirza, and others helped finalize the publication.May Almighty Allah reward them all.( A m i n )

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Biblical and Quranic Names N a m e s o f P r o p h e t s Adam A dam David D a w u d Abraham Ibr a h i m Son of Mary (Jesus) Ibn-e-Maryam Elijah Ily a s Jesus ‘I s a Messiah Mas ih Muhammad Muhammad Moses M u s a Solomon Sulaim a n Jacob Ya‘q u b Christ Yas u ‘ Joshua [son of N u n] Y u sha‘ Joseph Y u suf

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Glossary A ha d i th Plural of H ad i th.Reported statements of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.A m i n A term which literally means, ‘so let it be’ and is used at the end of a supplication to pray that God may accept it.It is similar in mean- ing to ‘amen’.Hadrat A term of respect used to show honour and reverence for a person of established righteous- ness and piety.The literal mean- ing is: His/Her Holiness, Worship, Eminence, etc.It is also used for God in the superlative sense.Holy Prophet s as A title used exclu- sively for the Founder of Islam, Hadrat Mu h ammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Holy Quran The final and per- fect Scripture revealed by Allah for the guidance of mankind for all times to come.It was revealed word by word to the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as over a period of twenty-three years.Khalifah Caliph/Successor.In Is- lamic terminology, the term Right- eous Khalifah is applied to one of the four Khulaf a ’ who continued the mission of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.Khalifatul Masih Ahmadi Mus- lims refer to a successor of the Promised Messiah as as Khal i fatul- Mas ih.Khulaf a ’ is the plural of Khalifah.Maulaw i A Muslim religious cleric.S u rah A chapter of the Holy Quran.

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