esus Prophet of Islam Revised Edition Muhammad Ata'ur-Ramm L Ahmad Thomson and Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. 1 Wynne Road London SW9 aBB United Kingdom Contents Preface ta the Revised Edition v Preface ta the First Edition '" ix Introduction to the First Edition xi 1 The Unitarian View and Christianity 1 2 An Historical Account ofJesus 9 3 Barnabas and the Early Christians 49 4 EarlyUnitarians in Christianity 77 5 The Gospel of Barnabas 113 6 TheShepherd ofHermas 141 7 Trinitarian Christianity in Europe 147 8 Later Unitarîans in Chrîstianity 157 9 Christianity Today 249 10 Jesus in Hadith and Muslim Traditions 263 11 Jesus in Qur'an 279 ChapterNotes 321 Bibliography 327 Surelythe similarityofJesus withAllahislike the sinûlarity of Adam. - He created him from dust, and then said to him: 'Be!' and he is, This is the truth from your Lord, sa do not be one of those who doubt. <Qur'an: Surat Ali 'Imran - 3: 59-60) Preface tothe Revised Edition Jesus, Prophet ofIslam wasoriginally written between 1975and1977. After the death of his wife, Colonel Muhammad'Ata'ur-Rahim, alehi rahma, left everything in Pakistan behind him and came to London to complete his studies on the life of sayyedina 'Isa, peace be on him, and to write the book about him which he had always longed to write. Although Colonel Rahim had a good command of the English language and a wonderful sense of humour, his writ­ ten English was not always grammatically correct. Having been born into a Muslim family and having been brought up as a Mus­ lim, Colonel Rahim had no first-hand experience of what it is like to live and think like a Christian. Since English is my native tongue, and since 1had received a Christian education, I was in a position to be of assistance - and had the good fortune to be chosen to help Colonel Rahim with his book. The days that we spent working together on the growing book - not only structuring the material which Colonel Rahim had al­ ready gathered, but also conducting further research, prïncipally in the British Library - were precious days indeed, and we both learned a great deal from each other, not only about the nature and history of Christianity, but also about the nature and history of Islam - and of life itself. Almost every line that came to be written was a source ofdiscussionand argument, and while Colonel Rahim always welcomed my contributions and observations, and often agreed to incorporate theminto the text, it was also amicably agreed that he would always have the final say as to what should go and what should stay. Eventually the bookwas at last completed, painstakingly typed out by Maryam Toby, may she have peace in her grave, read and re-read for final corrections, finally typeset by Abdal-Hayy Moore and Abu'l-Qasim Spiker, and at last printed, published and dis­ tributed. Since that time, the book has rarely been out of print, al­ vi Jesus, Prophet ofIslam though the numerous typographical errors and a spurious alterna­ tive introduction which were introduced into subsequent editions greatly diminished the quality and content of the first edition. Although the first edition of the book was, on the whole, weIl received, one of the few criticisms which was levelled at it from time to time was that it was in places too detaiIed - and accord­ ingly a little boring - for the general reader, 1 also recall Colonel Rahim mentioning to me that as far as the chapter entitled Jesus in theQur'an was concerned, there are many more ayatin the Qur'an thatcouId havebeeninduded,especially those whichareaddressed directly towards the Christians and the 'People of the Book' - a term which refers generally to any group ôf people whose religion is based to a greater or lesser extent on a divine revelation revealed prior to the Qur'an, and which includes especially the Jews and the Christians. Itis with this criticism and with this comment of Colonel Rahim in rnind, that 1 have ventured to revise the first edition - not only by shortening sorne of the longer passages and by increasing the number of ayatwhich are quoted from the Qur'an,but also by in­ cluding additional material which has come to light during the last eighteen years. This has necessitated a partial re-structuring of the original material, with the addition of an additional chapter entitled Trinitarian Christianity in Europe. In drawing attention to the additional material which appears in this revised edition, 1wouId like to acknowledge with gratitude the excerpts which are quoted from Dr. Maurice Bucaille's book, The Bible, theQur'anandScience, which had not yet been published when the first edition ofJesus, Prophet ofIslam was originally printed. Dr. Bucaille's scrupulous and impartial consideration regarding the authenticity, accuraey and reliability of the contents of both the Bible and the Qur'an,together with his rational analysis of whether or not they correspond with the empirical evidence gathered by the practitioners of science, are both informative and illuminating - and anyone who has not read his book shouId do sol In presenting this revised edition to the general public, 1hope not only that Colonel Rahim would approve of these changes if he were here to see them, but also that whoever reads this book will learn something of value from it and, above all, enjoy il. 1certainly enjoyed helping to write the first edition with Colonel Rahim, and it has been a pleasure to revise the original text after so many years, reminding me as it has of what a very human, human being Colo­ nel Rahim was. Preface vu Colonel Rahim's warmth and wisdom were extraordinary, and many of the long discussions which we shared and his sharp ob­ servations are still with me today. Anyone who ever had the good fortune to meet Colonel Rahim will remember him with deep af­ fection. He was what his name indicated - a gift from a Compas­ sionate Lord - and this revised edition is dedicated to his memory. May we meet again in the next world, in the Gardenl As with any book written by a human being, there are inevita­ bly shortcomings and deficiencies in this book. Thousands of pages have been read in erder that tens may be written. Hopefully this book will nevertheless complement the knowledge which the reader already possesses, giving fresh insight into what may have been unknown, or half-forgotten, or too readily assumed. It should perhaps be emphasised that the title of this book is not intended to be provocative. It has always been understood by the Muslims at least that the way of life which was embodied by all of the Prophets, may the blessings and peace of God be on them and on their families and companions and true followers, was es­ sentially one and the same life-transaction, grounded in the wor­ ship of the One Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that exists, both in the Seen and in the Unseen worlds - the way of an Islam. Like the Prophets before him, Jesus, peace be on him, confirmed the Prophets who had come before him - especially Moses, peace be on him - and foretold the coming of the Prophet who would come after him - Muhammad, may God bless him and an grant him peace - and as with of the Prophets, the simple way of life that Jesus followed was the way of total submission to his Lord, the way ofIslam. When the way of Islam is viewed from this perspective, then it is clear that not only Jesus, but indeed all the Prophets - andespecially Muhammad - were Prophets of Islam. It is, when understood in this sense, impossible to make any distinc­ tion between them. This prophetie way of life, the way of Islam, which has always been characterised by suppleness and by balance between outward form and inward content, has always been susceptible to being corrupted in two main ways: either people have made it too rigid, or they have made it too lax. Hit is made too rigid, people end up with a system of rules which they then often try to avoid. If it is made too lax, then there are hardly any rules to avoid - but instead there is a lack of clarity which leads inevitably to confusion. Going to either of these two extremes makes it impossible for a human being to fully understand the nature of existence. ----------~ viii Jesus, Prophet ofIslam Whenever the balance of the middle way that leads between these two extremes hasbeen lost, human society has tended to endlessly oscillate from one extreme to the other, from rigid ortho­ doxy to mushy liberalism, and back again- until, that is, Allah has sent another Prophet or Messenger to demonstrate what the mid­ dle way is and how its balance can be embodied and maintained. It is in the light of this pattern of behaviour that the history of what became of [esus's teaching in Europe can be understood, whether it be Paul's abandoning the Law which Jesus specifically said that he had come to uphold - not only the spirit of it, but also the letter of it - or the tyranny of the Mediaeval and Spanish Inqui­ sitions, or the impetusofwhat has been labelled 'theReformation', or the reaction to it - the Counter-Reformation, or the liberal all­ embracing approach of the present ecumenical movement, or the ruthless genocide of the current Serbian crusaders, to name but a few of the most significant developments that have occurred within the Paulinian Christian religion during the last nineteen centuries. It should also be emphasised that the underlying objective in writing Jesus, Prophet of Islam was always to inerease not only the reader's but also the authors' understanding of Jesus, peace be on him - and not merely to enter that arena of argument and debate, which measures 'success' in terms of numbers of converts con­ scripted, in order to score points against the opposition. If you, the reader, learn as much as the authors did when this book was being written, or even if you simply learn something, or even one thing, of value - then the purpose of this book hasbeen fulfilled. Finally, 1 would like to thank my guide and teacher, 5haykh Abdal-Qadir al-Murabit, for it was throughhim that 1 came to embraceIslam, and it wasthanksto himthat1cameto workwith Colonel Rahim, and if it had not been for him, 1 could not have completed what 1had started. Al-hamdulillahi wa shukrulillah wa la howla wa la quwwata ila bi'llah - Praise belongs to God and thanks belongs to God and there is no power and no strength except from God. And, as the Prophet Muhammad said, may God bless him and grant him peace, 'Ifyou do not thank people - then you have not thanked God.' Ahmad Thomson London 1416/1995 Preface tothe First Edition An eminent scholar of Christian history admits that present-day Christianity is a 'mask' on the face of Jesus, peace be on him, but goes on to say that a rnask wom for a long time acquires a life of its own and it has to be accepted as such. The Muslim believes in the Jesus of history and refuses to accept the 'mask'. This, in a nut­ shell, has been the point of difference betweenIslamandtheChurch for the last fourteen hundred years. Even before the ad vent of Is­ lam, the Arians, the Paulicians, and the Goths, to mention only a few, accepted Jesus, but rejected the 'mask', The Holy Roman Em­ perors forced Christians to think alike. To achieve this impossible goal, millions of Christians were killed. Castillo, an admirer of Servetus, said that 'to kill a man is not to prove a doctrine.' Con­ viction cannot be forced with a dagger. It is suggested in sorne quarters that, to achieve integration in England, the Muslims should change their two festivals to syn­ chronise with Christmas and Easter. Those who say this forget that these are pre-Christian pagan festivals. One is the ancient birthday of the sun-god and the other is a sacred festival for the old Anglo­ Saxon goddess of fertility. In this situation, one begins to wonder who in reality is 'anti-Christ'. In this book an attempt is made, perhaps for the first time, to study the sacred life of Jesus, using all available sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Christian Scrlpture, modem research, Qur'an and Hadith. Christian scholars who attempt to write the history of Jesus never completely free themselves of the idea of his divinity. When they fail to prove his divinity, they sometimes conclude that he did not exist at all, or that he is 'everything to everybody'. An objective study is impossible for anyone with this frame of mind. This book starts with the conviction that Jesus did exist. He was a man and a prophet of God. x Jesus, Prophet of Islam This work is the result of thirty years of study. My thanks are due to Amat'ur-Rashid who went to the trouble of searching for out-of-print books sold on the streets of many cities in the USA. These books were unavailable in the libraries of Karachi, so the help she gave me was of vital importance. His Excellency Mr. Ahmad Jamjoom of [eddah visited me in Karachi, and his encouragement and support were always avail­ able to me whenever 1was facing any difficulty. Thanks are also due to His Eminence Shaykh Mahmoud Subhi of [amiat Dawa Islamia in Tripoli for making it possible for me to come to London in order to undertake the study of this subject in depth. ln London, 1met His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir as-Sufi. At every step, he extended his helping hand to me. This resulted in the collaboration of Mr. Ahmad Thomson with me. He helped me to structure the collected material and without him work would have been painfully slow. Hajj 'Abd al-Haqq Bewley was always ready with useful suggestions and advice, The affection and heart-warming friendship 1received from Dr. Ali Aneizi cannot be described, only deeply felt. Lastly, in the words of Qur'an, Nothing from me except with the help of Allah o..-u\.. . ~.1. I'---.:)i-.d.-JY .. L. J Muhammad 'Ata'ur-Rahim London 7 Juma'dah al-I Awal1397 AlI Introduction tothe First Edition To the Muslims, Christianity is a historical reality based on a meta­ physical fiction. Because its foundations are mythical and invented, as opposed to existential and revealed, it appears to us as a locked system of negation. Declaring a doctrine of love, it establishes in­ quisition. Preaching pacifism, it enacts the crusades. Calling to poverty, it constructs the vast edifice of wealth called the Church. Declaring 'mysteries', it involves itself in politics. Reformation, far from resolving the contradictions, revealed them further. Declar­ ing the priesthood of all believers, they established a priesthood, but with a shift of focus by which the inherent insanity in the Chris­ tian fiction began to emerge. The qualifications for priesthood in thereformed churches werepurely 'academie', while before a man could win a place in the hierarchy through piety and withdrawal from the world. This was the beginning of the concept of the secu­ lar - now there was a zone of 'religion' and a zone of politics, Church and state are held to be separate. What we discover is that in fact they have been one, as our author reveals in this fascinating study, from the beginning of the Church's bloody history. Today Christianity as a body of metaphysics is frankly non-ex­ istent. No one is more aware of this than the Vatican. Their desper­ ate attempts to co-opt every and any intel1ectual movement into the Christian thesis have gone beyond the bounds of satire. The most significant sign of their intellectual fraudulence has been the a1most complete defection of the Christian intelligentsia into the Marxist and post-Marxist socialist camp. To unbelievers and to people of other religions, it always appeared baffling how the Chris­ tians could accommodate themselves to every power-nexus that appeared, right or Ieft wing. From this work, it is clear that there is no longer any such thing as the Christian religion. Christianity is over. The myth has finally exploded,