Muslim - Christian

Dialogue

Acknowledgment

I am an American raised from
childhood in the Christian belief. Until I began my soul's quest for God, I had
taken many matters of importance for granted.

After discussions, reading, and
rereading the manuscript of the present Muslim Christian Dialogue, I have gone
over the quotations from the King James Version of the Holy Bible and the Holy
Qur'an.

I finally announce my shahadah
(testimony) publicly in English, then in Arabic: I bear witness that there is no
deity except Allah, Who has no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and
messenger (a shhadu an la illaha illa Allah, wahdahu la sharikah lahu wa ashhadu
anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasulahu).

Through this very basic and simple
testimony, I believe many people will submit to Allah in spirit and
truth.

I hope that this short and easy to
read booklet will be read worldwide and will attract many who are searching for
a true belief where their minds may find rest and
satisfaction.

Roy Earl
Johnson

Note from the
Author

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful.

This booklet has been written as the
result of dialogues that I had with members of the Christian clergy and laity.
The discussions were polite, pleasant, friendly, and constructive without the
slightest intention of hurting the religious feeling of any Christian. It is
provocative and a challenge to Christianity. It is indispensable for those
looking for the truth and those studying Comparative
religion.

C: Christian

M or m: Muslim

(pbuh): peace be upon
him

(pbut):
peace be upon them

(The latter two phrases are said by
all pious Muslims after mentioning the name of a prophet. They will be assumed
throughout this booklet).

H. M. Baagil, M.
D.

January 1
984

Introduction

In
the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.

I am grateful to Allah for the opportunity to read the
manuscript of Muslim Christian Dialogue and for being asked to write an
introduction to this remarkably eye opening booklet. Anyone interested in
comparative religion will find in this booklet many surprises that challenge
what many once believed to be absolute truths.

This work by Dr. Hasan M. Baagil reflects his meticulous and
painstaking effort to present his findings clearly, concisely, and thoroughly.
As a result of his study of Christianity and the Bible over a four year period,
Dr. Baagil, a dedicated Muslim, learned that Christians differ in their basic
beliefs (i.e., the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, etc.), that Church doctrine
contradicts the Bible numerous times, and that the Bible even contradicts
itself! His conversations with Christian clergy and laity during this period of
study have provided the impetus for the Muslim Christian Dialogue.

The reader will be surprised to learn that, in the Bible, Jesus
(pbuh) never claimed to be God; that he did not die on the cross; that the
miracles performed by him were also performed by many other prophets and even by
disbelievers; and that Jesus himself prophesied the advent of the Prophet
Muhammad, peace be upon both of them. All of this plus much more is detailed
from clear and concise passages of the Bible. The question that obviously must
be raised after witnessing such clear contradictions is: Is the Bible God's
Word? The effort here by Dr. Baagil is not intended to deride Christian people,
and certainly not to mock Jesus and his teachings, as Allah forbids such
activities. The intent is only to point out that false charges,
misrepresentations, and outright lies against Allah and His prophets are in
themselves both deriding and mocking in nature.

Muslim Christian Dialogue also makes clear the Islamic view and
shows how the Qur'an, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad some six hundred years
after Jesus, peace be upon both of them, corrects the errors that crept
(knowingly or unknowingly) into the message that Jesus brought. This booklet
should prove to be a very valuable asset to Muslims and Christians, particularly
given the interest in dialogues between the two faiths. God willing, it will be
an effective tool for Muslims in our efforts to invite Christians to Islam.
Conversely Christians should become more aware of what in fact the Bible says
and what Jesus (pbuh) actually taught as a result of studying this booklet.
Indeed, as a Muslim the hope is that non-Muslims will accept the truth and bear
witness to the oneness of Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and
messenger.

May Allah reward Dr. Baagil for his efforts to dispel darkness.
May Allah's peace be upon us all.

Muhammad A. Nubee

The First Contact between a Christian and a
Muslim

C. Why have there been in the last
decade many discussions held between Christians and Muslims about their
beliefs?

M. I think because we both have several things in common. We
believe in the One Creator Who sent many Prophets and in Jesus as the Messiah as
well as the Word of God who was denied by the Jews.

Our Holy Qur'an mentions in Surah 3:45:
[Remember] when the angels said: 'O Mary! Verily
Allah gives you the glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name will be Messiah
Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and in the hereafter, and
of those who are near to Allah....'Dialogues
have been held everywhere in Europe, Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Even the Vatican has participated: discussions were held between Vatican
theologians and Egyptian Muslim scholars in Rome in 1970 and in Cairo in 1974
and 1978. Another series of discussions between Vatican theologians and Saudi
Arabian Muslim scholars was held in Rome in 1974. Muslims have also been invited
by many churches to present Islam.

C. If Christianity is nearly two thousand years old and Islam
more than fourteen hundred years old, why were these discussions not held
centuries ago?

M. For the last three to four centuries, many Asian and African
countries that had been ruled by Muslims were colonized by Britain France,
Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. Many Christian missionary and religious
colonists tried to convert as many Muslims as they could by whatever means they
had: giving medical treatment clothes, food, and jobs to the poor. However, only
a few converted. A small part of the elite was converted to Christianity because
of its belief that Christianity brought civilization and progress. They adopted
this mistaken idea because they believed that western style progress was
attained after the separation of church and state in Europe.

After the Second World War, many Muslims from Asian and African
countries emigrated to the West as workers and professionals. This brought them
into much closer contact with Christians. Also, students were active in
introducing Islam.

C. Do you see other reasons why many dialogues are held
nowadays even by their respective missions?

M. I think the gap between both is becoming smaller as each is
more tolerant, although both are still competing for converts. I still remember
my Christian teacher, who used to say: "Muhammad the imposter, the dreamer, the
epileptic." You now find fewer writers depicting Islam in such a manner.

We Muslims feel closer to the Christians than to the Jews and
disbelievers, as the Qur'an prophesied in Surah 5:82: You will find the most
vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the
idolaters. And you will find the nearest of them in affection to those who
believe (to be) those who say: 'Lo! We are Christians.' This is because there
are among them priests and monks (i.e., persons entirely devoted to the service
of God, as were the Muslims), and because they are not proud." Some Christian
denominations are making tremendous progress now by acknowledging for the first
time in history that Muhammad descended from Ishmael through his second son
Kedar. The Davis Dictionary of the Bible (1980), sponsored by the Board of
Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, writes under the word
"Kedar": "... A tribe descended from Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) ... The people of
Kedar were Pliny's Cedrai, and from their tribe Mohammed ultimately arose." The
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia quotes the following from A. S.
Fulton: "... Of the Ishmaelite tribes, Kedar must have been one of the most
important and thus in later times the name came to be applied to all the wild
tribes of the desert. It is through Kedar ("Keidar" in Arabic) that Muslim
genealogists trace the descent of Mohammed from Ishmael."

Also Smith's Bible Dictionary prints the following: "Kedar
(black). Second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) ... Mohammed traces his lineage to
Abraham through the celebrated Koreish tribe, which sprang from Kedar. The Arabs
in the Hejaz are called Beni Harb (men of war), and are Ishmaelites as of old,
from their beginning. Palgrave says their language is as pure now as when the
Koran was written (A.D. 610), having remained unchanged more than 1200 years; a
fine proof of the permanency of Eastern Institutions."

The biggest asset brought by Muslim immigrants to the West is
not their manpower but Islam, which is now taking root here. Many mosques and
Islamic centers have been established and many people have reverted to Islam. I
prefer the word "reverted" and not "converted," as everybody is born in
submission to Allah‹Islam‹and so being a Muslim is the nature of every single
individual. The parents or the community convert him to Judaism, Christianity,
other faiths, or atheism.

This is also a proof that Islam is not spreading by the sword
but simply by propagation on the part of Muslim individuals or groups. We don't
have special missions organized as in Christian missions.

The world population has increased 136 percent from 1934
through 1984, Christianity with 47 percent and Islam with 235 percent. These
figures can be checked in The Plain Truth, February 1984, in its fiftieth
anniversary issue, quoting from The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1935, and
The Reader's Digest Almanac and Yearbook 1983.

C. If all three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
claim to emanate from the One and same Creator, why do they differ?

M. All prophets from Adam to Muhammad were sent with the same
message: man's total submission to Allah. In Arabic, this submission is called
"Islam," which also means peace, peace between the Creator and His creatures.
Unlike the names Judaism and Christianity, the name Islam was given by Allah
Himself, as mentioned in Surah 5:3: This day I have perfected your religion for
you and completed My favor on you, and have chosen for you Islam as your way of
life. Neither "Judaism" nor "Christianity" is found in the Bible or in a Bible
dictionary. No Israelite prophet said the word "Judaism." Jesus never claimed to
establish Christianity and never called himself a Christian. The word
"Christian" is mentioned only three times in the New Testament and first by
pagans and Jews in Antioch about 43 A.D., long after Jesus had left this earth.
Read in Acts 11:26: "... And the disciples were called Christians first in
Antioch."

Later by King Agrippa II to Paul in Acts 26:28: "Then Agrippa
said unto Paul" Almost thou persuades" me to be a Christian.' '

So the name Christian was first given by foes rather than
friends. And finally by Peter in his letter to comfort the faithful in I Peter
4: 16: "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed....
"

The first Muslim on earth was not Muhammad but Abraham, who
submitted totally to Allah. But Islam as a way of life had been revealed to
other prophets prior to Abraham, such as Adam and Noah. Then Islam follows as
the way of life for all humanity.

C. How could Abraham be a Muslim? It is known that he was a
Jew.

M. A Jew? Who told you that?

C. We are taught that, so it must be confirmed by the
Bible.

M. Can you show me where in the Bible it says that he was a
Jew? If you can't find it quickly, let me help you. Read Genesis 11:31.

C. "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his
son's son, and Sarai his daughter in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went
forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they
came unto Haran and dwelt there."

M. So Abraham who was born in Ur of Chaldees could not have
been a Jew. First because Ur of Chaldees was in Mesopotamia, which is now a part
of Iraq. He was then more an Arab than a Jew. Secondly the name "Jew" came after
the existence of Judah, the great grandson of Abraham (see chart on page 4).
Read further, Genesis 12:4 and 5.

C. " ... and Abram was seventy and five years old when he
departed out of Haran.... and into the land of Canaan they came.

M. So Abraham emigrated to Canaan at the age of seventy five
and the Bible clearly mentioned that he was there a stranger m Genesis 17:8:
"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou
art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I
will be their God." Read now Genesis 14:13.

C. "And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the
Hebrew.... " M. How can you call Abraham a Jew if the Bible itself calls him a
Hebrew which means a man from the other side of the Euphrates. It also means
pertaining to Eber, a descendant of Shem. Read now in Genesis 32:28 what
happened to the name of Jacob after wrestling with an angel.

C. "And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but
Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast
prevailed.'"

M. So Abraham was a Hebrew. The descendants of Jacob were
Israelites consisting of the twelve tribes. Judah was nicknamed "Jew" so that
only Judah's descendants were called Jews originally. To know who Moses really
was, read Exodus 6:16-20.

C. "And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to
their generations; Ghershon, and Kohath, and Merari.... And the sons of Kohath:
Amram.... And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bore
him Aaron and Moses."

M. So Moses was not a Jew, because he was not descended from
Judah, but a Levite. Moses was the "law giver" (Torah is law) to the children of
Israel.

C. How can you explain that?

M. Because we are using the Holy Qur'an as standard. You can
explain the Bible and correct the Jewish and Christian prejudice with the
context of the Qur'an. It is the last revealed book and has never been corrupted
or adulterated. Its contents has been guaranteed by Allah in Surah 2:2: This is
the Scripture whereof there is no doubt... and also in Surah 15:9: No doubt We
have sent down the Qur'an and surely We will guard it (from corruption). This
verse is a challenge to mankind. It is a clear fact that more than fourteen
hundred years have passed and not a single word of this Qur'an has been changed
although disbelievers tried their utmost to change it, but they failed miserably
in their efforts. As it is mentioned in this Holy Verse: "We will guard this
Book" by Allah, He has guarded it.

On the contrary, all the other holy books (Torah, Psalms,
Gospels etc.) have been adulterated in the form of additions, deletions or
alterations from the original.

C. What does the Qur'an say about Abraham and Moses that you
can deduce from the Bible?

M. In Surah 3:65:

O people of the Scripture [Jews and Christians]! Why do you
dispute about Abraham, while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till
after him? Have you then no sense?

And in Surah 3:67:

Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true
Muslim (worshiper of none but Allah alone) and he joined none in worship with
Allah.

In Surah 2:140:
Or say you that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and
the twelve sons of Jacob were Jews or Christians? Say (of Muhammad), 'Do you
know better or does Allah? And who is more unjust than he who conceals the
testimony he has from Allah?' And Allah is not unaware of what you do. Of
course they were not Jews or Christians, as the name "Jews" came after Judah
and the name "Christians" came long after Jesus had
left.C. It feels strange to hear the name
Allah. Why don't you say "God" if you speak English?

M. Yes, indeed, the name "Allah" seems to be strange to
non-Muslims, but this name has been used by all prophets since Adam until
Muhammad. It is a contraction of the two Arabic words AIlah, i.e., The God. By
dropping the letter "I," you will find the word Allah. According to its position
in an Arabic sentence, it can have the form "Allaha," which is close to the
Hebrew name of the Creator, i.e. "Eloha." But the Jews are using wrongly the
plural form "Elohim," which denotes more than one God. The word "Allaha" sounds
closer to the Aramaic word for God used by Jesus, namely, "Alaha" (see
Encyclopedia Britannica 1980 under "Allah" and "Elohim"). So while the name
"Allah" is strange to non-Muslims, it is not strange to all prophets from Adam
to Muhammad, as they propagated in principle the same Islam‹total submission‹and
the word "Allah" denotes the personal name of the Supreme Being. It is not
subject to plurality or gender, so there is no such thing as "Allahs," or a male
or female "Allah," as is the case with Gods or God and Goddess. It is confusing
to use the word God, as many English speaking Christians consider Jesus as God.
Even the word "Creator" is also confusing, as many Christians maintain that
Jesus created the world. Not only the name "Allah" is strange, but also the way
Muslims worship Allah with ablution, bowing, kneeling, prostration and fasting
is strange to non-Muslims, but not strange to all of the prophets. While
ablution (washing of face, arms, feet, and moistening of the hair) prior to
worship is not done by modern Christians, it is required of Muslims and previous
prophets, as seen in the following biblical passages: Exodus 40:31-32: "And
Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; When
they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the
altar, they washed; as the Lord commanded Moses." Although Paul made many
changes in Jesus' teaching, he was faithful in respect to ablution, as seen in
Acts 21:26: "Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with
them entered into the temple'..." Muslim women perform their prayer with their
head covered, as in I Corinthians 11:5-6, 13: "But every woman that prayeth or
prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonourerh her head: for that is even all
one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be
shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be
covered.... Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God
uncovered" Muslims worship with bowing, kneeling, prostration, and without shoes
1 , as was done by previous prophets: Psalms 95:6: "O come, let us worship and
bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker"; Joshua 5: 14: "And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and did worship''; I Kings 18:42: "And Elijah
went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put
his face between his knees"; Numbers 20:6: "... and they [Moses and Aaron] fell
upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared upon them"; Genesis 17:3:
"And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying ...", and Exodus
3:5 and Acts 7:33: "And he [God] said [to Moses], 'Draw not nigh hither: put off
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground."'