the god that never was

"The God that never was".

Let me start by congratulating you for this well deserved honour you have done us by creating this medium of interactive and meaningful sharing of ideas and visions for our beloved country NIGERIA. I would like to acknowledge by way of appreciation the write-up by N.H. Ibanga in which he tried to "Proof Positive" the challenge by somebody whom he believes to be a Muslim of "The God that never was". In the first place I am a strong believer in the fact that whoever asks a question, honestly wants an answer. Not just an answer at that, but an honest one. That is why I am moved to contribute to this interesting debate and sharing.

It is not my intention here to go into what one may call Philosophical ontology or theological argumentations just for the sake of it, but to look at this from what has been the case from our historical backgrounds. I know that there is no amount of Biblical quotations or Qur'anic citations that would convince anyone from the other camp, since what is at play here is to water down as much as we can the other's defence mechanism and so put him/her to shame and disrepute. My approach would throw more light on our common story which is history and our faiths.

The issue of the Trinity from which our fellow believer seems to have pitched his tent is not just easy to proof to one who does not share the same understanding or discipline with one from across the divide. Infact the Muslims believe that the Trinity speaks of God, Mary as His wife and their son Jesus. This idea is strongly condemned by the Qur'an and by Christians also. However, in spite of their condemning attitude towards the Trinity, towards the idea that Jesus was cricified and other Christian beliefs, there are many attitudes common to both Christianity and Islam found both in the Bible and the Qur'an. The Qur'an has a two-sided vision of Christians.

In the early days of Islam, as the Prophet Muhammad was receiving his revelations through the Angel Jibril (Gabriel), Christians were viewed with special favour. Qur'an 112:1-4 states: "strongest among men in enmity to the believer will you find the Jews and Pagans; And nearest among them in love to the believers you will find those who say 'we are Christians'. Furthermore, Christians were called People of the Book (People of the Gospel) as a mark of respect.

However, as it became obvious that the Christians would not accept the teachings of Muhammad, verses were revealed which strongly condemned the beliefs of Christians, especially the belief in the Trinity and chapter 112 is completely dedicated to an anti-Trinitarian stand. Both the Qur'an (Q. 15: 7-8 and 2: 97) and the Bible (Galatians 3: 19 and Acts 7: 38) tell of having messages delivered through the Angel, from God. Gabriel plays a major role in the announcing of the Incarnation of Jesus.

In Islam it was through Gabriel that God's revelation (The Qur'an) was given to Muhammad and in the New Testament it was through Gabriel that God's revelation (Jesus) was announced to Mary. The Qur'an is seen by Muslims as the final and complete revelation of God, dictated to Muhammad, via Gabriel from God. Other scriptures given before that have been corrupted by the followers of the Prophets, they claim. St. Paul is credited in the Muslim tradition with the corruption of the "Injil" (Good news) given through Jesus. A Muslim will inform you that if you find any parts of the Injil similar to the Qur'an, then that is part of the Injil which has not been corrupted. This explains how the story of the Virgin birth of Jesus, as found in the Qur'an, chapter 3 and 19, is nearly the same , word for word as the account in Luke ch. 1. Muslims also believe that when the Christians of the early Church corrupted the Injil, they got rid of all references to the prophecies contained in it about the foretelling of the arrival of Muhammad.

The Qur'an, seen as the final and perfect uncorrupted book of revelation, tells how Jesus foretold the arrival of Muhammad; "And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: 'O children of Isreal! I am the apostle of God (sent) to you, confirming the law (which came) before me, and giving glad tidings of an apostle to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad"-Qur'an 61: 6. When Jesus told his apostles that he would send the spirit to help them (Luke 24: 29), it was due to a bad spelling error that the Apostles corrupted the word for Holy Spirit in Greek, according to Islamic tradition. The Greek word for Holy Spirit is "Parakletos" (comforter), but if you change the vowels you get the new word "Periklutos" which means "the praised one". The meaning of Ahmad in Arabic is "the praised one" and this Ahmad is a derivation of the name Muhammad. So by twisting the vowels of the Greek for comforter, you eventually get the name Muhammad.

If you ask a Muslim where the uncorrupted text of the Injil is today, he would refer to the book known as the "Gospel of Barnabas". This is a text more than likely written only four centuries ago by a Franciscan monk, Fra Marino. He had been forced to convert from Islam to Christianity in the 16th century Spain. Wishing to have his revenge on the Church, his "Gospel" tells the life of Jesus in almost the same way as the Qur'anic text. In spite of the fact that it actually contradicts the Qur'an in a few places, it is accepted by Muslim scholars as the original text of the Injil as handed down by Jesus. In this way they "Prove" that Jesus was not crucified and that the Christians corrupted their scripture so as not to accept the prophethood of Muhammad.

We have come a long way from fear and hate. Learning how these attitudes of mistrust and misunderstanding have developed might help us to understand how the Muslim sees the Christian and how the Christian should see the Muslim.

Wassalam!

The writer sent in this piece from London, UK