Bilal Philips – The Best in Islam #11 – Christians & Jews

			Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh the Allah's peace and blessings beyond each and every one
of you. We'd like to welcome you to our series, the best in Islam. In this series, we're looking at
what Allah and His Messenger have defined or identified as being the best, the best in terms of our
behavior, the best in terms of locations, times, people, circumstances, etc. In this episode, we'll
be looking at the best with regards to the Christians and the Jews. What Allah has said, with
regards to them, they have been exposed to the message of Islam.
		

			And
		

			they have made their choices. So Allah has made certain recommendations to them. And that's what
we'll be looking at in this episode. The first is the statement of Allah in surah. Allah Imran
		

			that's the third chapter, verse 1101 10. Hello Amina al Kitab, Illa, Khanna, Hira Allah, whom men
whom will move me know in our act, federal human Facetune. If the People of the Scripture that is
the Christians and the Jews had believed, it would have been better for them, among them, as some
with faith, but most of them are corrupt. Allah here gives advice
		

			as to what was better for the Christians and the Jews, those who receive the revelation before the
Christians prior to Muslims,
		

			and the Jews prior to the Christians, revelation came
		

			through the Jewish line before them, Prophet Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian. And
		

			when that message became corrupted,
		

			Prophet Jesus was sent to them sent to the Jewish people.
		

			But they did not take that message of reformation and change. Instead, they rejected Prophet Jesus
and tried to kill him. The law lifted him up, they did not succeed. However, his message was also
distorted.
		

			And
		

			it was promoted
		

			in Western Europe, in this distorted form, mixed with idolatry. So, the
		

			Christians, as they came to be known, Paul of Tarsus had given them that title. They adopted many
practices which were in Greek idolatry, as well as in Roman idolatry. They change their main day of
worship from Saturday, the Sabbath to Sunday, to coincide with the popular worship of the sun god
Apollo, in Rome, and
		

			the Roman Empire. So the message was changed. With the changing of the message Allah sent the final
prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon all of the prophets of Allah. And he came to
bring the people back to the original and correct teaching. However, the Christians who had become
the majority at that point in time, they rejected the message, though many of them did accept,
because if we look at the early Muslims, people who converted to Islam when Islam left Arabia, and
it went north and west, the peoples who converted to Islam in the region of Palestine, in Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon, eventually into Turkey,
		

			all of these people were former Christians. They converted to Islam. When you went across North
Africa, Egypt, Libya,
		

			Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria. Again, this
		

			was originally a part of the Roman Empire. And as such, it was dominated by Roman Catholicism. And
this area also converted to Islam. So there were many, but the majority of people of Europe didn't
convert. Many of them didn't hear the message, you didn't hear it in its proper form. So those who
represented Christianity and Judaism,
		

			they spoke ill of the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may God's peace, blessings be upon him. And
so Allah here is pointing out that it would have been better for the Christians and the Jews had
they believed, or they accepted the reformed message, which was brought by Prophet Muhammad sallahu
wa sallam, as an extension of
		

			the same message which came to Prophet Jesus before that, Prophet Moses, etc.
		

			And at the same time, Allah points out that there are some, in spite of the fact that they're
following the deviated message. There are some who are believers who would become believers. And
that has been the history. In fact, the largest number of conversions tended to be from among the
Christians, who have accepted Islam, from the early days, till today.
		

			So Allah speaks about this better state, the state where they would have accepted Islam, it wouldn't
have been the true message, which their prophets that actually brought,
		

			because Prophet Jesus, His message was a message of Islam. He did not tell his people to worship him
self,
		

			that He was God incarnate. These are all ideas which were made up after his time, Justice Prophet
Moses and the others did not tell their people that paradise is only there's nobody else will be
entering it. The Jews didn't tell these things, they changed. Also the laws concerning whatever, you
know, taking of interest that it was okay to take interest from non Jews, but not from Jews. They
made many, many changes in the laws. Still, the laws have some resemblance to the laws of the final
message of Islam. And that's why they're called People of the Book, People of the Scripture. And we
as Muslims are allowed to marry them. Muslim males are allowed to marry Christian and Jewish females
		

			without them converting, of course, a Muslim female can only marry a muslim male. So if there was a
decision to marry a non Muslim, that person would have to convert in order for the marriage to be
considered valid Islamically. So Allah said it would have been better for them.
		

			If they had believed success in this life, and the next depends primarily on our belief, therefore,
		

			had they believed, as they should have believed, then they would attain success, just like anyone
who was a direct follower of Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him and those
who came after them. Because from the Islamic perspective, it's not only them, who will be eligible
for Paradise, it is whoever believed in the messages of the prophets, and the true messages, not
necessarily as they were distorted and conveyed to the people in ignorance.
		

			So, it would have been better better from the perspective of success in the life to come
		

			remaining as they are, one might say it's better for them, because they are in a position of power
in the world. They control much of the world. So from a could say, materialist perspective, it's
better for them to have stayed as they are. However, the spiritual perspective is far superior, far
more important, and that's why a lot said it would have been better for them, better for them, had
they believed and followed the final message. The vital messengers message was brought to them
		

			is brought to the Jews of Medina was
		

			They are the ones who founded the city of Medina first. And it was brought eventually to the
Christians
		

			of Palestine, etc. And Alhamdulillah. Many of them, we said, accepted Islam. And it was, in fact
better for them. So, relative to Christians and Jews, it is better for them. The best
		

			would be for them to accept the message of Islam, because it is ultimately the message which all of
their profits brought. Islam is not something new. But it's not something made up by Prophet
Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him. He received the same revelation that Prophet
Jesus did, and the Prophet Moses. And that is why the message is similar. Some people say, well, oh,
Muhammad, he just took it from the Bible and from the Torah, and made up this Quran. That's not the
truth. There are many things in the Quran which are not mentioned in the Torah at all, or the Bible.
The Quran, is a unique book, in and of itself. The Torah and the Bible are handwritten
		

			texts, which have changed over time been modified, forgotten, many, many manuscripts, there are many
versions, whereas the Quran remains one.
		

			So the essential message of Islam has been preserved unchanged over the last 1400 years. Whereas in
the case of Christians and Jews, their messages of change changed so much, that they can no longer
recognize who Jesus was. They claimed that He was God incarnate. That's great delusion that has
taken place. So it would have been far better for them to have accepted Islam, and come to the
realization of who, in fact, is God. But with that, we're going to take a brief break before looking
at our final verse on the best in Islam, from the perspective of Christians and Jews, so that they
can work out. Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
		

			Alhamdulillah, you now have the opportunity to avail yourself
		

			of this treasure we call IRA to Corsi, this great Islamic treasure which Prophet Muhammad SAW Salam
		

			called the greatest verse in the Quran, based on revelation from Allah subhanaw taala.
		

			He told us this. Why? Because he wanted us to give special attention to AYATUL kursi.
		

			He told us that every night before we go to bed, we should recite it.
		

			It would protect us from satanic forces in our lives,
		

			even during the day after our daily prayers, reciting it would also benefit us
		

			in this life, as well as the next.
		

			So it's very important for us to know the meaning of this verse because the power of Ayato corsi is
not in the sounds. The Arabic recitation the parroting of the words. The power of Ayatollah corsi
lies in the depths of meaning
		

			that Allah has shared with us.
		

			It lies in understanding that meaning and living our lives, intending to live our lives in
accordance with its meanings.
		

			This is how it makes a difference. Otherwise, if it is just parroting, then know that it will not
benefit us at all.
		

			It will be useless.
		

			Ritual,
		

			practice a cultural habit, but for it to become a part of a Muslims life.
		

			To have meaning and have impact and change that individual. We do need to understand what is Allah's
saying, in this the greatest verse of the final revelation of Allah to humankind. I have two
courses.
		

			This course is a very critical
		

			An important course
		

			in the life of a Muslim
		

			to help him and her to understand this critical element of the religion.
		

			Very simple act with huge implications.
		

			May Allah bless you to benefit from the elucidation, the tafsir the commentary and discussion on
this verse, the 2/55 verse also Al Baqarah donors Iowa to Corsi,
		

			Baraka, Luffy, Coombs, said, I want a Goomba Rahmatullahi we're going to get
		

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu. Welcome back from the break. And we're gonna continue to
look at what Allah recommended, as best for the Christians and the Jews. In our previous segment of
this episode, Allah recommended that it would have been better for them to have believed, as the
Prophet Muhammad, Salah Salem came to them, and they disbelieved,
		

			as it was better for the Jews to have believed in Jesus. It was also better for the Christians to
have believed in Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him and upon all of the prophets of
Allah. So the acceptance of the message, it is always better when the truth comes, that we accept
it. And this is what Allah is pointing out for the Christians and the Jews that that would have been
better. Had they followed messengers, who obviously we're bringing the same essential message, but
we're correcting what corruption had developed.
		

			In the second verse we're looking at Allah focuses really on the Christians themselves in specific
because he has described elsewhere in the Quran that the closest to us or the Christians closest to
Muslims are the Christians. Though if we look at practice,
		

			the Jews are closer.
		

			They don't have intermediaries that the Christians have.
		

			They're free of the Trinitarian concepts, etc. And much of their practices are very similar to that
of Muslims because they're coming from the same source. However, with respect to conversion,
accepting the message and becoming a part of then Christians far closer than the Jews. So Allah
spends much more time in the Quran addressing what is better for the Christians. So we find in
Surah, An Nisa the fourth chapter, verse 171, Allah saying there yeah Halal Kitab lotta Luffy de
Unicam well atta Kulu Allah Allah He LoJack enamel Mercia who ASAP No, Mariam Rasul Allah, will
Kelly motto, I'll call her in Mariam. Orual her minnow for Avenue Billa. He works really well out of
		

			who knows Allah Azza tune into who hired en la co welcome. In Allahu Allahu wa hidden Subhana who
are people of the Scripture, do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say anything about Allah
accept the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary was a messenger of Allah, His Word, which he
bestowed on Mary, and the spirit created by him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. Do not say
three, to stop would be better for you. For Allah is only one God, and he is far exalted, above
having a son. So Allah here, pointing out what is better
		

			for Christians is to accept the truth about Jesus to accept who he really was.
		

			Allah calls them to avoid accessing religion. Because what took them to the point of believing that
Jesus was himself God is access where we give the attributes of God to His creation, we have gone to
access so Allah calls them to accept the truth about Jesus and in other
		

			verses he talks about them eating. Can I Kalani THON they used to Jesus and his mother Mary they
both used to eat Why did he mention that was natural they should be eating why because that is not a
function of a God. If we stop and think and and look at who Jesus was, he was a human being, no
doubt. So it is not acceptable. It doesn't make sense, even to claim that he was God. A God who eats
is a God didn't need a God didn't need is not God. One of the characteristics of God is that He is
free of need. So once you talk about God,
		

			having to eat, having to sleep, all these other types of things, though, you're not talking about
God anymore. So Allah told them, Don't be excessive in your religion, lotta graffiti, Nico. And that
warning, while focused on the Christians is also a warning to Muslims. Because as the Christians
went to access and elevated Jesus, from being a human being to being God, we can find amongst
Muslims, some groups who have gone through similar accesses with Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, some of
them claim that the Prophet SAW Salem is alive in his grave. And to say that he is dead is Cofer or
disbelief. Some of them claim that Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam was made from the light of
		

			Allah, the Mohammed and light, the light of Allah is divine. So it means He was divine.
		

			He walked the earth without a shadow stories made up, they celebrate his birthday. And in the praise
of the Prophet, they give the attributes of Allah to him, attributes of absolute knowledge, power,
etcetera, etcetera. So we can see Muslims engaging in similar excesses to the point where people
pray to Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam instead of praying to Allah, though Allah clearly tells
us in the Quran, are the only as the Gibler can call on me and I will answer your prayers. It is
only Allah who answers prayers.
		

			Well, I fear the nobody Lama only Allah is the One who forgive since ultimately it is him alone, no
one else can. So while Allah is telling us or telling the Christians, that they should not say
anything about Allah, except what is true, and that should not go to excesses. He's also telling
Muslims not to follow them. And he goes on to say that Jesus is the son of Mary. He stresses that he
is the son of Mary was the messenger of Allah is not the Son of God, as they claim, he was a
messenger of Allah.
		

			He was special, he was created. By Allah's word couldn't be any worse. Of course, all of us are
created by that same word. But the creation of Jesus was special, in that he had no earthly father.
		

			And he was a spirit created by Allah.
		

			Of course, all the spirits were created by Allah, but his creation, Allah calls it speaks of it in
special terms, because his birth without a father was miraculous. So then Allah goes on to say, do
not say three, do not say three, that is the Trinity, the basis of Christian faith today, which
claims that God is three in one, there is God the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.
These three gods are one, the father is the sun, the sun is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the
father. They are one. But it's confusion. If God is one, and Jesus is God, that is God became
incarnate, he became a human being. So Jesus who walked on the earth was God. But we know that Jesus
		

			prayed this confusion. Who was he praying to? Was he praying to himself? That's confusion. So any
thinking person who stops and thinks for a moment, has to conclude Jesus was not God? Even the
descriptions that they have of Jesus on the cross and we don't believe them, but they have him on
the cross, begging for his life, questioning why God has forsaken
		

			him, but we said Jesus was God. So who is he talking to? This is all confusion. And that's why the
whole Trinitarian concept is confusion for Christmas. This is the area that most Christians end up
leaving Christianity over. Because it cannot be explained. In goes against logic, it goes against
reason.
		

			So Allah says to them, it's better for you to stop talking about three gods, the son of a God is a
God. If you had God and he had a son, you now have two gods, that's the bottom line. Then you have a
Holy Spirit who is also God, you have three gods, there's no three in one, what you've done is gone
from Unitarianism the belief in one God to the belief in three gods while claiming you're believing
in one so Allah goes on to say For Allah is only one God
		

			and He's far exalted above having his son
		

			it is beneath him to have a son
		

			to have a son makes him like human beings and the creatures that he has created. And he is different
from his creation, LASIK um, if the shape is nothing similar to him. So that is the criteria that we
maintain for God, nothing is similar to him. Once you describe him, in human terms, you no longer
have God anymore. You have a human being who is given the attributes of God. So Allah points out
that it was better for them to have stopped at the message which Jesus himself brought. When Jesus
is recorded in the gospels. He's asked, what is the first commandment he said, Here, O Israel, the
LORD your God is one God, He alone shall you worship. He's the only one to be worshipped. One God,
		

			this is what Jesus taught. He taught his followers to worship only one God and we hope to see you in
the coming episodes. Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh