Deluge 2.

(71-1-29)(7-59)(11-25-27)(23-24)(107-108)(24-24)

     But the truth is a fact which exists independently, whether people recognize it or not.  The system of slavery is a glaring example of this fact.  For centuries this system prevailed in the universe.  The advocates of this system piled reason upon reason to justify it, but its intrinsic ugliness and its abhorrent consequences made it a failure.  In our modern time, the system of slavery is acknowledged as an abomination of the past and is condemned universally.

     Noah introduced a fundamental principle in his society: that all human beings are equal.  His society was based on the division of labor, leading to a rigid caste system.  All the working classes were exploited by the rich leaders, on pretexts such as birth in a high up family.   Their declaration was that since they were born in high-class families which belonged to gods, they incurred a right to rule or rather exploit the menial workers.

       Noah said that the entire universe is created by one sovereign God. Moreover, no man has the power to control into which family he or she is going to be born.  The accident of birth, over which humans have no control, should not determine anyone’s future.

       The society of Noah, which was based on the exploitation of laborers, was not ready for this radical change in its structure.  Many prophets before Noah came to this nation and raised their voices against the unjust and colossal waste of human resources, but their voices produced no tangible results.  Noah was the last in this chain of prophets to recast the forgotten message to this unruly and cruel nation.

            The first step taken by the leaders was to instigate mobs and make emotional appeals to their religious sentiments.  They said, “Noah has the effrontery to change our religious tradition.  He is saying there is only one God who is the creator of the entire universe.   Do not care for his sayings, and forsake not our gods Wadd, Suw’a, Yaghuth, Ya'uq and  Nasr.  Moreover, his teachings are against the sayings of our forefathers.”

The Deluge - 1.

(71:10)(26:105-106)(25:37)(53:52)

          The Quran starts with a short prayer to God, asking for a balanced way of life, which could save humanity from all the dangers, pitfalls, and hindrances in life.  The prayer further illustrates the balanced way of those people who were receiving His favors and blessings in the past.  The seeker does not want to tread the path of those who provoked His wrath, or were unable to find the right directions.  The story of the prophet Noah illustrates the crucial problem of people when they went astray and destroyed themselves.

 

The Deluge

Between approximately five or six thousand years ago, the human beings learned to live together.  It was the dawn of civilization; humans were settling in villages and towns to live together.  They had learned that their safety and security against the wild beasts of the jungles and many other hazards lay in living together.

          The Quran tells the story of one civilized community who lived in a lush green valley surrounded by lofty peaks of mountains; we can easily call this period the dawn of civilization. The Quran is not a book of geography; therefore, the exact location and place is not mentioned in the Quran.  The only thing which is told is that in a lush green valley lived a strong nation.  There was no means of modern transportation in that period of time; moving from one place to another was very slow and difficult. Every village and tribe was a self contained unit; therefore, the guidance given by God was not universal.  It was local and mostly discussed the problems concerning that community.

            The Prophet Noah was sent to a community which had divided its residents according to the work they performed.  It was a cruel and unjust social and cultural system which had no place for progress and improvement for common people.  Noah was a member of that society, but he revolted against the prevailing norms.  He was not the first person who had revolted against the social order; before him many messengers of God had come and unsuccessfully tried to change the system.  People did not try to see the truth behind the warnings and refused to acknowledge the truth.

Mary and Jesus 6

  (3:54)(4:157)(5:57)(21:7-8)       

      The present Bible consists of four Gospels, but there is another Gospel written by Barnabas, who was a disciple of Jesus Christ.  His Gospel was not included in the prevalent Bible because it gives a different picture of Jesus Christ.  This Gospel was discovered by some orientalists at the beginning of the 20^th century.

      Jesus Christ unfolded his mission to the common Jews and convinced them that his aim was to establish the kingdom of God: a system based on values given by God that would be very beneficial for the ordinary people.  A wave of terror ran through the religious ruling class; they could envisage the state of affairs which was waiting for them in the near future if Jesus was successful.  

      In the Gospel of Barnabas, a paragraph discusses the condition of the religious leaders.  They are portrayed in a desperate condition because they could not see any respectable place for them in that system.  They had learned no skills to earn their livelihood and were living luxuriously on the gifts which people had been bringing to the temple.  In the new order, there was no place for folks who live in the garb of piety and enjoy the fruits of hard labor done by others. 

      This realization made them desperate and they started plotting vehemently against him.  They could not bribe him; intimidation was out of the question.  The only option open for them was to remove him from the stage forever and maintain the status quo.  They viewed Jesus’ popularity with envy, jealousy, and burning hatred.  They were not happy only with the plan to kill him.  They wanted him to die disgracefully the death of a condemned man like a rebel or thief on the cross.

      The Quran says that the Jews were making a clandestine plan to kill Christ, whereas God was also making a plan to save Christ from a disgraceful death, which was not worthy of an illustrious prophet like Jesus Christ.  Jews claimed that they slew the Messiah, son of Mary, Allah’s messenger.  According to the Quran it is not true.  The Jews had no knowledge about what happened to Christ. The matter was doubtful.  They were only conjecturing about it.

      The Gospel of Barnabas gives a different description of this event in chapter 215.  According to the Gospel of Barnabas, when the soldiers in the company of Judas Iscariot came to capture Jesus, Jesus heard the noise of a great company marching towards him; he went in the house where his eleven followers were sleeping.  When God saw him in danger he ordered the mighty angels to take Jesus away from the world.   The angels came through a window, took him, and put him on the third sky in the company of angels who were worshipping God forever.

      A strange miracle took place; the face of the traitor changed and became like Jesus Christ.  He woke the followers of Christ and started inquiring about him.  The astonished followers said, “You are our teacher.  How can you forget us?”  During this period, the soldiers entered the room and caught him as Christ.  He made a violent protest that he was not Jesus, but it fell on the deaf ears of the soldiers.  The soldiers arrested him and he was crucified. While they were arresting him the followers ran away and saved themselves.

      The Quran categorically denies the crucifixion of Christ and declares that he died a normal death in advanced age.  Allah said that He has never sent a human being as a prophet with an eternal body which could exist without food and water.

     An American man, Joseph Smith, shocked the religious Christian community by declaring that he was a prophet.  According to his book “The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ,” he gave a long description of his vision in which he got a message from God to write the above-mentioned book.    “On the evening of the September 1823…I betook myself to praying …a personage appeared at my bedside… he called me by name and said unto me… he was a messenger sent from the presence of God … God had a work for me to do…He said there was a book deposited, written upon golden plates…He told me that when I got those plates… I should not show it to person.”

      Another way to narrate this story is that Joseph Smith was tilling his land when he discovered a stone box under the root of a tree.  He dug out the box and found some ancient documents in it, in an unfamiliar language.  These papers were about Jesus Christ and they proved that Jesus Christ migrated to America, lived and preached here.  This fact proved the Quranic Verse that says that Allah told Jesus that He would die a normal death in an advanced age.

      This proclamation of the discovery shook the very foundation of the established Christianity.  A campaign was lodged against Joseph Smith and his followers.  In it the houses were burned, the property was destroyed, and people were embarrassed to the extent that it became impossible to coexist with the Christians in the large cities.  Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1944; his followers migrated to Utah. Orthodox Christians do not recognize them as Christians.  They are known as Mormons.

    Under these circumstances no further research was possible.  Under this terrible pressure, the Mormons declared that the papers were taken back by God.  The Quran says that Jesus never claimed to be the son of God, nor a sacrifice for the sins of humanity.  He was a great prophet sent to Jews to bring them back to the right path.

        

Mary and Jesus 5

(55:46-48)(19:60-63)(38:54)(56:16-24)(13:35)(9:34)(70:17-18)(3:10)(104:2-7)

The Quran says that all those who work in accordance with the law of God, individually and collectively, and believe that they are answerable for their actions will have two Jannats, one in this life and the other in the life to come.  What will happen in the next life after death?  Nobody can know exactly in this life at the present state of consciousness.  Therefore, it is explained in similes and metaphors in the Quran.  All the examples are concrete, with the explanation that these are only analogies.   

 The society formed in accordance with the laws of God in this life is called Jannat in the Quran, and Jesus calls it the kingdom of God.  It is a society where all human beings will have their basic needs met.  No one will suffer from hunger, or worry about the change of weather.  It is a place with flowing springs of water, canals, and an abundance of provisions, such as fruits, the meat of birds and beverages etc. for everyone.  The residents of Jannat would sit on couches, facing each other, with pillows covered with exquisite material. All these bounties would be the result of their actions which created beauty and balance.

  In Matthew 13:24 Jesus narrates a parable: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.” In other words, he is saying that everyone has to work to enter into the kingdom of heaven, as a farmer works hard to get a good crop.  If a farmer does not work hard and pays no attention to his crop he cannot have a good yield; he may also waste his seed instead of having a bumper crop.  In another parable in the same chapter, Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”  The same metaphor of field and farmer is repeated in this analogy; the farmer has to focus on his crop and work hard for the good results.  The person desirous for the kingdom of heaven must change his/her behavior because the fundamental feeling for the kingdom of God is love for humanity and human dignity.  The famous saying of Christ “Love thy neighbor” is a clear manifestation of this feeling.

In the Quran the same sentiment is described in Surah Al-Imran in verse 103 where God points out His favor to the Muslims.  Before Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) Arabs were always fighting among themselves like enemies; after the revelation, they were like a cloud that merges into another and becomes one because their hearts were woven together and they had become brothers. The obvious reason for it was that values were changed.  Righteousness, and not money and power, was the criterion for greatness in this new society.       

The mentality of those who will enter the kingdom of God is described elaborately both in the Bible and the Quran.  Jesus in Matthew 19:21-24 said to a young man who had been obeying the commandments and wanted to be his follower, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.   Jesus said unto his disciples, “Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

In the Quran the same attitude is described in Surah  Al-Taubah: “They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah (for the betterment of humanity), unto them give the tiding of a painful doom.  On the day when their gold and silver will be heated in the fire of hell, their foreheads, flanks, and backs will be branded therewith and it will be said unto them: here is that which ye hoarded for yourselves.  Now taste what you have hoarded.”

The truth about an individual human life is that it is very short; to spend all this limited period in collecting money at the cost of human suffering is not wise. No one can use or take that money with himself after death. What the Quran and the Bible are advocating is the truth that since no one can use the hoarded money after death, the best thing is to share it with others.  In order to live happily with others, one cannot be completely indifferent to the needs and sufferings of fellow human beings.  A capitalistic society is based on the good of a few, but the kingdom of God and Jannat is formed for the good of all individuals.

 Those people who lust for money and power only cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven—only those who believe in a creator, who has given the free gift of life to all human beings and has scattered the provisions for the maintenance of life. He has given us the chance to improve our abilities to be good human beings and act harmoniously with his law. These individuals can build the kingdom of God.  The people with this mindset will be able to form a kingdom of God or Jannat. These individuals are convinced that every human action, big or small, has its consequences which will return back to the doer in the shape of punishment or pleasure in this and the coming life.  So they work hard to establish a society where values and not money bring respect and honor.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

The Quran and the Bible both are emphasizing the truth that money cannot be a guarantee for future better life. The Quran talks in surah 104:2-7 about the person who amasses enormous wealth and counts it.  The wealthy man thinks that his wealth will render him immortality.  It will not happen.  He will be thrown into the fire with flames that surround the heart.

In the past, the kingdom of heaven or Jannat, the ideal society without exploitation and suffering, was formed by Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).  We have no record of that society.  Although Christ and John the Baptist talked a lot about the kingdom of heaven, they were not able to form a society.  John the Baptist was assassinated and Christ had to migrate. In future, this society will be formed with the help of forces of nature guided by values given by revelation. 

Mary and Jesus 4

(9:34-35)(69:34)(7:47-48)(39:49-50)(28:76-78)

Three enlightened individuals, Mary, John, and Jesus, were delivering the message of God to the enslaved population of the Jews; they were crippled by the subjugation of Romans and their religious leaders. Moreover, the Jews were divided into many groups and these groups were fighting among themselves.

One section of the religious leaders of the Jews had connived with the ruling Romans. They were enjoying many comforts and had the power to rule their own folks, but they could not pass the death sentence without the permission of Roman rulers.  Many taxes were levied on common people, and they were crushed under the burden, whereas the elite classes enjoyed luxury and wealth.

All the prophets of God, from Noah to Muhammad, peace be upon him, delivered one message to the human beings.  The basic message is permanent: there is only one God who is the creator of the universe, and the universe is functioning according to his laws.  Jesus Christ was a glittering pearl in this chain of prophets and he was putting forward the same idea.  Moreover, he and his mother were living like all normal human beings: eating, drinking, and sleeping etc. How can a being that is dependent on external means for existence claim to be an eternal God?

Mary was a courageous, fearless, and revolutionary woman.  She broke the rules of the temple and lived an exemplary, pious life; her son Jesus was a prophet, who was criticizing the society to bring the real mosaic spirit, which was not acceptable to the elite religious class.  As the common depressed people joined his party and saw hope and opportunities in his message, the ruling religious elite apprehended their disgrace and ultimate death in his teachings, so they opposed him relentlessly.

  The heart of his teaching centered on the concept of the kingdom of God; this expression is repeated constantly in the Synoptic Gospels.  Matthew refers to it as the kingdom of heaven; this expression is repeated in some other places, but the predominant name in the scripture is the kingdom of God.

John the Baptist also used this expression when he was preaching in the wilderness of Judaea.  According to Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The gospel means good news or “glad tiding” of the kingdom of God.  Jesus was preaching in an oppressed society of Jews that was crushed under the heavy yoke of servitude; the powerful Roman governors were dominating the common folks with the connivance of religious leaders.  John the Baptist and Jesus Christ both gave a message of hope to these people by declaring that a time of happiness would come for them in the kingdom of God.

There are many contradictory verses about the kingdom of God in the Bible.  Many Christian scholars have interpreted it in different ways; for some, it is literally here on earth via church; for others, it is figuratively in our hearts.  Some, recognizing that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” says it will come in the future with Jesus’ return.  I am interpreting it in the light of the Quran, keeping in mind the purpose of a prophet, and the similar descriptions of the kingdom of God given in the Bible and the Quran.

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17).  He was talking of a time where there would be no exploitation, misery, hunger or sickness among humans.  The ultimate aim of prophets is to create a society where human beings can live peacefully in accordance with the laws of God, both the laws for human society as well as the laws governing the universe.  In the words of the Bible, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us day by day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2-3).

In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus says, “Therefore I say unto you, ‘Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?’” In order to explain his point, Jesus gave the example of fowls of the air, and lilies of the fields.  He said, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Mary and Jesus 2

(3:30-33-42-47)(2:117)(19:16-28)(3:46)(21:19)(32:9-19)(17:3-44)

Mary was young and beautiful; she was in a period of life when she had to decide about her future.  She was so exasperated with her life in the temple that she left it and went to her village, Nazareth.  The time she had spent in the temple left such an unpleasant impression on her mind that she began to shun society and lived in seclusion, trying to find the solution to her problems.

“What am I going to do with myself?”  she thought. “Am I to marry a priest of the temple and live the rest of my life there, or lead a normal life like all ordinary human beings?”

 These questions appear very easy to answer; they were not easy for a nun to answer.   Many further questions were related to them, and without solving them no definitive answer was possible.  The first was about children, their mental and physical health, and their status in the society.   Moreover, the people were saying that if a woman consecrated to the temple would marry outside the temple priests she would have distorted children.  Sometimes the force of these unrealistic ideas had such a grip on the mind that these things really happened.  Mary was facing a dilemma between disobeying the laws of society or losing the normal life she wanted to live.

It was beyond her power to reach a clear decision by thinking alone in a society where no data was available. At this point, God helped her.  A man appeared in Mary’s chamber where she was retiring alone.

“I will seek the protection of God,” declared a perplexed Mary, “if you have respect for the law of God.”

“Do not be afraid of me,” said the man.  “I am a messenger of God, sent to you to calm your doubts.  You are going to have an illustrious son.”

“How can I have a child?” replied Mary. “As long as I lived in the temple, I was a chaste nun; no man has touched me so far.  In my town, I have not transgressed any law.”

“What I have said,” replied the messenger of God, “will happen in accordance with the law of God. The child is not going to be like an ordinary child.  He is going to be very robust, healthy, and a blessing for people. God will make him a prophet and send him to the Israelites; he will be a sign to distinguish between right and wrong.  It is a decided matter that your child is going to be God’s messenger.”

The visit from God’s messenger calmed Mary’s disturbed mind and strengthened her courage.  Moreover, a poor but courageous man, Joseph, who was not intimidated by the threats and warnings of priests, agreed to marry her.  They quietly got married.   After a while Mary became pregnant.  When the time of delivery came Mary knew that nobody would help her in her time of distress, so husband and wife left for a new place where no one knew them.  The excruciating pain of childbirth led Mary to the trunk of a palm tree.  She was alone, without any help, away from the house, in a desert without a roof, delivering her first child; she became flummoxed and said, “It would have been much better if I had died long ago and people would have forgotten me.”

A voice from the slope came: “Do not lose courage, Mary. There is a stream of water nearby; the palm tree is full of ripe dates.  Shake the trunk of the tree so that the ripe dates may fall on you.  Eat the nourishing ripe dates, drink the water and look at your wonderful child.  Do not worry about the questions of people.  Just tell them that you are fasting and cannot answer them.”

There are some other places in the Quran where the birth of Christ is mentioned.  The one thing that is forcefully emphasized is the spotless character of Mary and the difference between the ideas of God and those of human beings.  For the Jews, Mary’s child was illegal because she had broken the laws of the temple, but according to the laws of God she was a truthful person who had the courage to act according to the dictates of the truth, and a childlike Christ was given to her.

Mary and Joseph found it impossible to live in their village.  The authorities of the temple with a great vengeance were criticizing their marriage.  After the birth of their first child, it was not safe to live among the Jews.  So they migrated to a safe place.  The Quran does not give details about the location.  It only says that God made Mary and Christ a portent of the truth and gave them a green fertile land to live in.  Some researchers think that Mary and Joseph migrated to Egypt and lived there until their son was old enough to travel back to the native land.

Mary’s child grew into an extraordinarily brilliant person.  From a very young age, he was wise like a seasoned sage or philosopher.  His remarks were precise and trenchant.  When Mary returned to her community, all the members of the community along with the priests of the temple came to see her.  They were astonished to observe that Mary had the courage to come back and face their criticism.

 Some of them said, “O sister of Aaron, your mother was such a devoted Jew that she gave you to the temple at a young age to serve. Moreover, she always obeyed all the rules of the temple along with your father. They were both obedient to the temple, and you, their daughter, broke all the traditions of the past, preferred a carpenter over a priest, went away to rear the objectionable child, and you are back with him without fear.  You are not a bit like your parents.”

Instead of answering them directly, Mary pointed towards her son and said, “Ask him; he will give you the answer.”

“What?” the head of the priests said in great anger. “We should discuss these matters of religious importance with a young man who was in a cradle a few years ago?”

“It is not fair that you don’t want to talk with me because I am young,” declared Jesus.  “Age is not the criterion of truth.  You cannot refuse to listen to me unless you know what I am going to say. The true fact is that I am a prophet of God.  He has given me the scripture and made me a messenger to preach and establish His laws. You are talking and criticizing her in a loose tongue whereas she has done nothing wrong by breaking the rules of asceticism.  I will always be affectionately caring for her. I am not going to be cruel to an innocent woman.  You are raising objections about my birth, but God made me blessed where so ever I may be. Peace on the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive.”