Articles

The Holy Spirit: Is he Muhammad?

The Holy Spirit - As an Ahmadiyya Muslim and later as a Sunni Muslim, it was a subject I did not know much about. Though the word for Spirit, ruh, is used twenty-one times in the Qur’an, nowhere is it used so clearly as in the Bible and especially in the New Testament. When people asked Muhammad about the definition and the working of the Spirit, the only revelation he claimed to have received from God was: ‘They will question thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge, ye have been vouchsafed but little’ (Sura 17:85). The Qur’an speaks of the Holy Spirit, Ruh al-Quds also, but Muslims take it to be the title of angel Gabriel. Yet the Holy Spirit, as mentioned as the Comforter and advocate in the New Testament, is interpreted by them to be Muhammad. As a Muslim, I had a problem with such a claim. I wrongly believed that the Bible was corrupted like many other Muslims, so there was nothing to quote in favor of Muhammad.

What is Truth?

Today, it is popular to make statements such as, “Everything is relative” or “It is wrong to think that a person can know the absolute truth.” One does not need academic degrees in logic to recognize the self-contradictory nature of such a claim. If there is no absolute truth, how can those who hold such a view make assertions about “everything” or insist that anything is “wrong” or even “right”? Many of my Muslim friends have embraced such a mindset in the spiritual area as they engage in conversation with people of other faiths.

Did Paul corrupt Jesus' teaching?

Did Paul corrupt Jesus’ teaching? A response to Muslims’ objection

Many Muslims believe that the present teaching of Christianity is the work of the apostle Paul. They claim that it was Paul who created his own version of the Christian faith at the expense of those whom Jesus had chosen. They state that there was a struggle between Pauline and Judeo-Christianity and eventually Pauline Christianity triumphed. They speculate: perhaps it “won” because it was more “attractive” through incorporating some “pagan” ideas. According to this theory, the struggle started when Paul disagreed with Peter (Galatians 2:1-16) and then with Barnabas (Acts 21:17-20).

Happy Fathers Day

Islam has 99 names for Allah but not one of them is "Father." I still remember the day, at age 13, when I received the gospel account of John in the Urdu language. I liked reading and finished it in one day. I found that not only is Jesus different than what I was taught in Islam, but also God in his attributes is different. I knew God as our Rab, Lord, but not as Abba, Father. I didn’t come to accept what I learned in the Bible till later.

The Qur’an avoids the subject of the Passover

The Qur’an features Moses’ confrontations with Pharaoh 27 times in the first 89 of its 114 chapters. However, not even once in the exodus saga accounted in the Quran is there any mention of the Passover. Readers of both the Bible and the Qur’an soon find out that although there are passages in the Qur’an that refer to the laws of Moses (directly as well as indirectly), the subject of sacrificial law, the offerings, and their purpose has been avoided. The Qur’an completely ignored the tenth sign God gave Moses, stating that God “had certainly given Moses nine evident signs” and then, tongue in cheek and in the same breath, tells the reader to go and “ask the Children of Israel” (Sura 17:101).