Ali Ataie – Jesus for Muslims
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Critique of Christianity
becomes superfluous,
becomes unnecessary.
Now, when we look at Thomistic and Vasiliian
virtue theory, in other words, Catholic
and Muslim virtue theory.
Yes, there are similarities and in fact,
total agreement in major areas.
But that's a true theory.
For example,
both Aquinas and Ghazali affirm the cardinal virtues
courage, justice,
temperance, and wisdom. Imam Ghazali calls these umaha'atul
fordai.
Both confirm Aristotle's method of habitus that one
can acquire
one or more of these virtues
by disciplining the self.
Many aspects of Muslim and Christian psychology are
also similar or the same. This idea of
emptying the soul or
the of advice,
adorning the soul with virtue,
via illuminativa.
There are clear parallels here.
However, both theologies
cannot be true
at the same time.
Principle of contradiction.
Is God
or he is not. It cannot be.
And the same,
or
it is raining
or it's not. There is no third option.
Principle of the excluded
Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, is either
God or he's not. No third option.
And Christians don't believe that he's a demigod
or half god. They believe that he's 100%
They believe that he's 100% -and
in light of the so called holiday season.
Christology. The term, Christology basically refers to what,
in this case,
term Christology comes from Christ and logos.
It is the study of the Messiah, study
of al. Messeer Ades, and when we see
study of
Ade Es Salaam.
And when we study Christology, there is what
I call positive Christology
positive Christology, which has two aspects
for the mental note takers in. You can
file this somewhere.
Deal with what he is. What is I
say that I'm referring to his very essence
or nature.
And then who he is
referring to his particular identity.
Therefore, there's also negative
are
things
that
the Christians got right. There are things that
that there are things that the Christians got
right.
There are also things that they got wrong.
Here's the key.
And
if our modern society considers it politically incorrect
or socially uncouth
to pass judgment on another person's religion or
world view. These woke sentiments do not change
the reality that there
woke sentiments do not change the reality
that there is truth and false.
And that the Quran purports to reveal
the truth.
Man is a man. It can never be
a woman,
no matter how much you want to be
a woman if you're a man. A woman
is a woman.
Truth is truth.
Falsehood is false.
The Quran says,
The truth has come.
You have to pardon my voice. I'm a
little bit ill.
The truth has come with a capital t,
not my truth or your truth.
The truth has
alaihi wasallam, he repeated this ayah when he
was smashing
the idols. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He repeated this
ayah when he was smashing the idols
at the Kaaba in imitation of his forefather,
the great iconoclast,
our master Ibrahim Mari, it's a
according to Imam Al Razi and Imam Al
Tabari. This eye, more generally refers to the
coming of the Quran. The more generally refers
to the coming of the Quran,
the coming of the final messenger Muhammad,
and the establishment of Al Islam
that it is the truth.
It is he who has sent his messenger
with guidance
and the religion of truth.
So let's begin with the first words of
Islam
according to the Quran.
We are told that when Mariam
brought the infant
carrying her carrying him in her arms
Now,
Now, think about it. What can she possibly
say to defend herself adequately?
How can she talk herself
out of this situation?
By the way, there are some popular Muslim
preachers and speakers
popular on the internet.
Don't even affirm
that
Risa Islam was born from a virgin birth.
This is something that the Quran clearly
affirms.
This is something that the, that Islam has
in common with Christianity.
This is something that the Quran has in
common with the new testament.
This explains the shock of her people
when they saw the little baby.
Oh, Mary, you've brought an amazing thing.
Because they knew that she was unmarried.
Elsewhere in the Quran, we are told that
when Jibid Alaihi Salam came to Maria Maria
Salam and gave her glad tidings,
She said, how shall how shall this thing
be when no man has touched me?
And Jabeena Salaam's answer wasn't, oh, in a
year or so,
you're going to conceive a child with your
husband.
Even so, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creates whatever
he wills.
Whenever he decrees a matter, he merely says
to it be and it is.
So Mariam Alaihi Salam, the Quran says,
that she merely pointed to
indeed I am the servant of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
He has given me the revelation and has
appointed me a prophet.
And he has made me blessed, wheresoever I
am. He has commanded me to pray and
charity as long as I. And he's made
me kind to my mother and not arrogant
and then blah. And he's made me kind
to my mother and not arrogant and then
blah. Well,
And it's made me kind to my mother
and not arrogant and unblushed.
So peace be upon me the day that
I was born, the day that I die,
and the day that I'm raised to life
again.
He says he points out 2 things here.
He says that number 1, that Isa alaihis
salaam was given the ability
to speak with intelligence,
with articulation as an infant
in order to defend the chastity
and honor of his mother.
This is his first miracle in the Quran.
His first miracle in the New Testament
is mentioned in John chapter 2
when
according to this source turns water into wine
at a wedding.
Allah
to
Allah in direct contradistinction
to the Christian position
that Jesus is a divine incarnation, meaning God
himself
in the
Quran continues.
That is Jesus, the son of Mary.
It is a statement of truth about which
they are vainly disputing.
Imam Al Furtubi here, he says,
depicting him as a human being, a Bashar,
in all respects,
yet endowed with revelation from Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. A human prophet. This is similar to
how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
commands the
prophet
to reveal about himself.
Say, I am only a man like yourselves,
but I receive revelation.
The same phraseology
is used for Isa Alaihi Salam.
Christ, the son of Mary was no more
than a messenger.
Many were the messengers who passed away before
him, and his mother was a truthful woman.
Very interesting statement
in the Quran.
They both ate food. What's the argument here?
That both of them, Aesalehi Salam and Mariam
Aesalehi Salam, they're both dependent
human beings.
But with respect to Allah,
well, who are you to earn more? What
are you to
He is the one who feeds
and is never fed because Allah is an
independent deity. Is an independent
deity.
It's a reality. Salaam is a human profit.
And this goes back to what I was
saying earlier about the what and the who
of Islamic Christology.
What is a Isal Alai Salam essentially?
A human being, a bashar.
Who is he in particular?
A prophet,
a Nabi, a Rasul, a messenger.
This is in direct opposition to the Christian
to the Jewish and Christian narratives
about Isa Alai Salam.
Divine
profit on the other.
The Quran affirms a middle position, if you
will.
He is a human prophet.
Oh, people in the book don't go to
extremes in your religion. And this eye is
revealed
specifically with regards to crystology.
Very interesting.
There's an apocryphal saying of the prophet, sallallahu
alaihi, sallam. Some of them is is a
lot of weakness in this in this hadith,
but, many of the ulama mentioned it. That
not only did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala compare
Musa, Alayhi, Salam would say,
but he compared to Isa, Alayhi, Salam, would
say,
Ali
is quoted to have said in
which again is a very weak source, but
very interesting. He says, 2 groups of people
will be led astray because of me.
The one who loves me so much
that he lets his feelings
get the better of his intellect.
And this is the way which he leaves
the truth.
And the one who hates me so much
that he lets his feelings get the better
of his intellect.
So he leaves the truth. Very interesting.
SubhanAllah.
So he is a human prophet, Isa Alaihi
Salam. Now, interestingly,
reads
with in the accusative,
while
reads
with Qul in the nominative, Marfur. Both readings
are authorized and authentic.
It's a function of the 7 Ahruf of
the Quran.
If the latter,
then Qulul Haq refers to Isa himself.
That he, Isa,
is the word of truth.
The word of Al Haqq.
Who is Al Haqq?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That is
the word of God. This title is honorific.
Since he was an infant.
Thus, he is the word of God in
this figurative and honorific sense. Just as the
Kaaba is Baytullah,
Not in a literal sense.
In its honorific and figurative sense. An idafa
of takrim
and tashrif.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created Isa alaihi salam,
and body and soul by willing his existence
through
the divine
and there he was.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says, It is
not befitting for Allah
to beget a son or take a son.
Glory to him.
Whoever degrees a matter, he merely says to
it be and it is. And then Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala quotes,
Inna Allahu Rabii wa raku fabuduhada Siratal Mustaqim.
Indeed Allah is my lord and your lord.
This is a straight path. The Surah al
Mustaqim according to Imam al Razi is between
the tashbir, the anthropomorphism of Christians who have
who have, made Allah a creature
and the and
the,
extreme
transcendence of the Jews who have who have
denied
the divine sifaat of Allah
This is a brilliant analysis
by Imam Arazi, Barham Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala did not beget a son.
That is to say, beget
a son, a wallah in the physical sense,
which is a Mormon belief,
nor did he beget a son in the
metaphysical sense.
This claim that Allah generated or caused
a sun from its very essence in pre
eternality.
Trinitarians are Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant.
They claim that God is 3 distinct persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
who all share or participate in God's essence.
Three particulars. One universal,
co substantial.
The second person, they say,
incarnated into human flesh
Iisalei Salam is essentially God
yet in human appearance.
God became man, they say.
This is their belief.
That's not all. They believe that God, in
effect, killed himself
in order to save people
from his own
wrath.
This is why many Christians convert to Islam.
In my experience,
25 some odd years of interfaith work.
This is a major reason why Christians
become Muslim.
Conscious won't allow them
to
to believe that he's a
who became man and was put to death.
There's a tension internally they feel in their
fitra
about such things.
What is the Quran response to such things?
It is a statement of those who disbelieved,
who said, that indeed Allah is Christ,
the son of Mary.
But the Messiah
said,
Oh, children of Israel.
Whoever
in partners
with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
whoever says Allah shares his essence
or attributes with other
persons or hypostatic
entities,
however you want to frame it,
Allah has forbidden such a person Jannah.
And his final destination is the fire.
There's no one to help the unbelievers.
Now, we can't judge individuals
because we don't know their hearts. We don't
know their past trauma. We don't know their
ends. We don't know their
we don't know their ends, but we can
certainly judge beliefs
because we have ada foregone.
This is the name of the Quran.
Trinitarianism
or incarnationalist
Christology
is not even,
something that does not even agree with statements
in the Bible.
In Mark chapter 12, a man comes to
Isa alaihis salam. This is a Christian source.
He says, which is the greatest commandment?
Isa alaihis salam, he quotes the Torah.
Deuteronomy 64.
Musaddi kalimabayni yadayamina Torah. The Quran tells us,
Isa alaihis salam confirmed the theological aspects of
the Torah for the most part.
And Islam says,
in the Hebrew.
If I were to translate that to Arabic
word for word, Isma'a'
Israel.
He is Allah.
He
is and are exact cognates.
This is the word
describing
God
in a Christian, txtra.
Means 1.
1 means 1.
Man means man.
Moon means moon. Stars means stars.
Not 3 in 1.
1.
Don't say
3.
It is better for you.
Your God is
1.
And after 10, a Jewish lawyer comes to
and he says, Good master, what must I
do to gain eternal life?
That is
God.
Out of his out of his humility,
Isai Islam does not even accept the title
of good,
let alone God. And And then he says
to the man, follow the commandments,
and you shall enter the life. Salvation is
through following
the commandments.
This is very different than what you hear
from Paul
and for most Christians.
Christianity, by and large, is Pauline,
Greco, Roman, Christianity,
and Roman,
in order for you to be saved,
you must confess with your mouth
Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead. That's not what Eisai
Le Salaam says according to Mark Chapter 10.
's Christian. He says, follow the
commandments. And then 2 chapters later in Mark
chapter 12,
love
God with all my heart, soul, and strength.
And that's Islam. Imam Arasi said, what is
Islam?
And that's Islam.
Imam Arazi said, what is Islam?
Worshiping the creator and showing compassion and mercy
towards his towards his creation. People say God
in Islam is not loving.
People say God in Islam is not loving.
I don't know it or on their reading.
Ar Rahman Al Rahim.
You know what this means? The indiscriminately
compassionate
and the intimately loving.
And that translation doesn't begin to do it
justice.
This is mentioned
twice in the first three verses
of the
Quran.
3 ayats mentioned twice.
What do you want it to be in
every eye?
Also, in the total, numbers
23/19.
I teach this to my students. Three words,
in Hebrew.
God is not a man.
This is what it says.
God is not a man that you should
lie. The Christian response is, well, Jesus was
God, and he never lied. But that's not
the meaning of the verse.
According to Rabbi Abahu of Caesarea, the meaning
is whoever claims to be God,
whatever man claims to be God, he is
a liar.
Interestingly, there's no single statement in any canonical
gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John or
is reported to have said, I am God.
It doesn't exist.
Also, in Hosea 119, it says it says
that God said to the prophet Hosea,
in the Hebrew, indeed, I am Allah and
not a man.
These two entities,
God and man
are mutually
exclusive.
God is God and man is man. There's
so much more to say.
But I'll leave it here for the sake
of time and the sake of my voice.