Identical Prophecies of the Bible and the Qur’án Concerning the Advent of the Bahá’í Faith The Remarkable Similarity Between Biblical and Quranic Prophecies Hushidar Hugh Motlagh, Ed.D. www.GlobalPerspective.org www.TheKnowledgeofGod.com www.Baha9.com Identical Prophecies of the Bible and the Qur’án Concerning the Advent of the Bahá’í Faith Copyright © 2016 by Hushidar Hugh Motlagh All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The New English Bible (NEB) Copyright © the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission. Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984. International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. The Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJ) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Amplified Bible (AB) Copyright © 1962, 1964, 1965 by Zondervan Publishing House The Remarkable Similarity Between Biblical and Quranic Prophecies The kingdom of heaven [the Second Advent] is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner…” But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. Christ (Matt. 22: 1 God’s Twin Languages Why do you not understand my language? Christ (John 8:43 NEB) Scholars often can tell the works of different authors simply by analyzing their style of writing. We can, in like manner, recognize God’s style of speaking simply by examining His ways of thinking and talking, which are distinctly different from ours. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 NIV Both the Bible and the Qur’án refer to God’s twofold languages—the literal and the spiritual: It is God who hath sent down to Thee “the Book.” Some of its verses are plain [literal]. These are the basis of the Book. Others are figurative. But those who are inclined toward error, derive from these verses that which their hearts desire. They distort their meaning to cause dissention and discord. Yet none knoweth the meaning of the figurative verses except God, and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge. Qur’án 3:7 Let us now see an example that demonstrates the use and the abuse of the twofold languages. When God commands the Muslims to pray, the directions are given in plain, literal language. What about the meaning of the title that he bestows on Muhammad: “The seal of the Prophets”? This  Some interpreters believe that the verse stops with “except God,” and that “those who are firmly grounded in knowledge” belongs to the next verse. title can be interpreted several ways, because the word “seal” as a noun is a metaphor. How can a person be a “seal”? The word “seal” as a noun, used in relation to people, conveys meanings such as ownership, authority, and approval. Muslim leaders and scholars have taken one step further. They have overstepped even the metaphoric meanings of the word “seal.” They claim that since a “seal” is usually used at the end of a document, it also means “the end.” Therefore, they conclude that Muhammad’s Advent ended a long-standing Sunna (the way God does things or accomplishes His Purpose) of sending new Messengers to humankind. This classic example demonstrates the potentials and the possibilities for abuse, which figurative language provides the human mind. As stated earlier, the figurative word that prevented the Jews from recognizing their Redeemer was “king.” Today for Christians, that word is “sky.” The following verses from the Qur’án and the Bible further confirm the use of the twin languages: I will open my mouth in parables. Psalms 78:2 God has revealed the most beautiful Book in parables [metaphoric language] consistent in meaning. Qur’án 39:23 This is a book with verses that convey “firm” [literal] meanings. Qur’án 11:1 And of a truth we have set out to men every kind of parable in this Koran, but most men have refused everything except unbelief. Qur’án 17:89 Also 30:58 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell the house of Israel a parable.” Ezekiel 17:1-2 NIV This is what we speak…expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. I Corinthians 2:13 NIV Note also this statement from Jesus: 4 Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. Christ (John 16:25 NIV) Why does God speak in symbolic language? For several reasons. Consider these statements from the Gospel and the Qur’án: This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. Christ (Matt. 13:13 NIV) Those are the parables We devise for mankind, and only the learned will grasp them. Qur’án 29:43 Many will He mislead by such parables and many guide: but none will He mislead thereby except the wicked. Qur’án 2:26 Consider also Bahá’u’lláh’s response: Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God’s holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books.1 As a Christian author notes: “Jesus’ parables paradoxically conceal and elucidate, depending on the recipient’s capabilities for thoughtful and spiritual reflection.”2 Almost all the criticism aimed against religion relates to a literal interpretation of the symbolic words of the sacred Scriptures. To see an evidence for this statement, review Why I am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell. This chapter offers many examples to demonstrate that a “literal mind” is in total disharmony with the Word of God. 5 What would you think if you read about a Redeemer who made the following declaration? I have come to set fire to the earth. Christ (Luke 12:49 NEB) Would you take the following verse literally? And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will…drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all… Christ (Mark 16:17-18 NIV) Many wonderful believers have enjoyed only a short lifespan, and yet the Bible teaches that: And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life. I Kings 3:14 NIV What would you think if you heard a public speaker make the following announcement? Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Christ (John 6:54-55 NIV) Would you not think that the speaker is either joking or is insane? Yet that is what Jesus said, that is how he spoke, and we read it and think nothing of it. Why? Because we know instinctively that God often speaks in spiritual language, unlike ours. At a time when Jesus had only a few followers, He declared: I have conquered the world. John 16:33 NEB By God’s standard, the statement is true; by human standards, it is not. Consider the following verses from the Qur’án and the Gospel: From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a Covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent them, so We stirred up enmity 6 and hatred between them till the Day of Judgment [the time of the Advent of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh]. Qur’án 5:14 Y For I have come to turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” Matthew 10:35-36 Note how an atheist has interpreted the preceding statement from Jesus: On yet another public occasion he makes an even more astonishing statement. He says, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—even life itself—cannot be my disciple.” It seems clear in the above examples (and others) that…Jesus felt little or no affection for—and, it would seem, considerable animosity toward—his family. What could have been the reason? Might it not be that he knew he was a child born out of wedlock (a so-called illegitimate child) and learning of it in his childhood and perhaps being taunted about it by his siblings or playmates or by some caustic adult…would have come to resent his mother and circumstance of his birth?3 What the preceding statement from the Bible and the Qur’án mean is this: When a new religion appears, it divides people, but later it unites them. Now is the Day of Judgment. Bahá’u’lláh has come to unite the Jews, Christians, Muslims, and the rest of humankind: We desire but the good of the world and happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this?...Yet so it shall be; 7 these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the “Most Great Peace” shall come…Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind...4 Bahá’u’lláh Everywhere in the Scriptures, we are encouraged to read and understand the Word of God with a spiritual perspective, yet most believers continue to ignore the divine directives. Jesus was misunderstood by the Pharisees and by the literal-minded—both believers and nonbelievers—who have lived since His time. The same holds true with Muhammad. Jesus told the Pharisees: Ye judge after the flesh. John 8:15 The flesh counts for nothing. John 6:63 NIV What is the opposite of “the flesh”? The spirit! The flesh, like the letter, is visible, the spirit invisible. How should we approach the Word of God? With a literal or a spiritual mind? The following verse clearly gives us the guideline: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2:14 NIV Many of the objections raised by Christian theologians against the Qur’án result from a literal interpretation of that book. The critics adopt and apply double standards—one for the Bible, the other for the Qur’án. If they find a seemingly unreasonable statement in the Bible, they assume a spiritual perspective, when they find a similar statement in the Qur’án they shift to a literal view. Let us now consider some examples. To show that the Qur’án is out of touch with the design of creation, noted Christian scholar Dr. Norman Geisler quotes this verse: 8