Hi,
Dear BGfromGB,
Your idea of setting an good example to others is very good and is well encouraged in Islam. We are always encouraged to be good example to others and all our prophets demonstrated it to us. God sent his Books on earth as guidance (manual for human) and the prophets showed it practically how to use this manual / implement it in our lives.
The holy Quran came in parts over a period of 23 years and prophet mohammed demonstrated its implementation practically to his companions. Imagine if a practical physics book is given to you and you are asked to select one of these options:
* to swallow whole book in one go or
* to conduct practicals one by one in your school lab over a period of one year, clarifying and understanding it from the teacher.
Naturally, second option is more practical. Allah did not wanted Prophet and his companion to overload and to let them loose patience.
17:106 [bearing] a discourse which We have gradually unfolded, so that thou might read it out to mankind by stages, seeing that We have bestowed it from on high step by step, as [one] revelation.
2:286 On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.
We all have one life (i hope you believe in only one life) and with in this time we have to pass our life exam in two steps:
1. Understand and feel the God
2. Follow God's commands / will
When we achieve first step we start experiencing inner peace, humbleness, non-selfishness etc. If we fail to do first step we automatically fail to qualify for the second step. However there are several examples where people have proved that they passed first step of understanding the God some way or other but failed to even understand the importance of second step.
The importance of second step in the mission of our life [i.e. to fulfill commands of God] is very well indicated by a famous Sufi named Rumi of medieval time. In one of the discourse he gave example something like this - Suppose if the king of one country send his minister to another country to carry out certain task and that person after reaching other country did lot of good things but did not do the task which king had asked him to do than for the king it will mean that he did nothing during his mission. (Because he did not followed his commands).
If purpose of our life was just to pass our life on earth and attain love, peace and humbleness etc only then step one was enough. But step two is also important since we have to appear before God on the Day of Final Judgement to give accounts of our deeds and then God will ask us if we followed his commands or not? A man may claim to achieve peace by listening to music, another by getting more money and another by going to forest but if he tells lies, do injustice or corruption or adultry etc do you think he followed the commands of God? Hence we see that in addition to step one, how important it is to achieve step two i.e. identify the true commandments of God and to follow them in our life.
I do not beleive in God takes human form. However, hindus beleive in it. They beleive that God incarnated more or less 32 million times. They have thousands of God and Godessess.
Furthermore, I need to ask you few question. Why did the God felt the need to come on earth billion years after creating the earth? Why just before 2000 years ago
Why? I cannot answer that. God did not give an explanation in the scriptures. So i do not wish to speculate. That would be false teaching?
Is this because of clearing off orignal sin you believe in?
If we were sinnless, even born sinnless, then we are comparable to YHWH and he would not have given a commandment because we would not know how to sin. But God DID give Adam a commandment. Why? Read Genesis 2: 17-19.
Now I know scriptures don't specifically say man is born sinnless, but you will see that because of the disobedience of Adam &Eve they were banished into a world of their own creation through their own disobedience.Genesis 3:16-19. It is this world where sin (disobedience) exists that we have inherited.
That is MY interpretation and how it is revealed through the scriptures. If yours is different, then I would like to know.
Did Prophet Adam ate the apples after asking any of us?
Don't ask me. I was not alive then. But if you read Genesis 2 you will read what happened and hopefully that will answer your question.
Why we have to be accountable for his actions?
Go to Genesis 2: 16-19 and your question will be answered.
Why God has to die on cross to save the mankind from this orignal sin? Why God can't pardon orignal sin without being dying? What happened to those earlier generations who died with that orignal sin? If concept of salvation is achived with the coming of Jesus (PBUH) what happen to those living before him?
You ask me those questions? Well I asked myself the same questions. Firstly, it was prophesied (Isiah 53) then it came to pass. There are dozens of verses in the new testament which explain and corroborate the prophesies. If you genuinely took the effort and time like I did, then I'm sure you will find the answers. If they don't answer your questions, then you will have to seek guidance and truth from the Almighty. I'm not here to prove anything. It is written.
What proof you can provide that Jesus (PBUH) was God? Probably miracles ! Show me miracle he did which other prophets did not performed. Show me in bible where trinity is mentioned?
Unfortunately, I have no proof that Jesus was God. The reason is that Islam rejects the scriptures as fabrication. Without the revelation from the scriptures, there is absolutely no other way that this can be proved. If, on the other hand you do accept what is written in the scriptures, then you have the proof.
But what I can say is this. This is what I believe.I believe the Qur'an does unknowingly and (possibly covertly) state that Jesus IS God. My reason is this. The Qur'an stated that Jesus was like his human mother Mary, He had to sleep, drink etc like any other human being. It is not possible for a human being to survive otherwise. Yet when Jesus was taken up and survives to this very day, then the same criteria must still apply. Also if God cannot be seen and if Jesus cannot be God, then surely by that same logic, he must be able to be seen some where in heaven. From what I've read so far in the Qur'an, no mention of this is made. There are no specifics as to how Jesus is still alive. All it says is that he was taken up. The rest can be regarded as speculation.
The question now is this. If the Qur'an dismisses the deity of Jesus based on what it reveals as regards the limitations of humanness and logic above, then by that same logic, on what basis does Islam make the same assumptions, (given that there are no records in the Qur'an), to suggest that Jesus the prophet is still alive in heaven in human form?
purpose of writing above question is not to hurt you but to make you think that being humble and kind does not necessarily gurantee you that you are 100% on right path.
Why would God do "some acts" and ask humans to do the same thing. God is all powerful and he can do anything but human can't immitate him as they are much weaker. A goat can not run as fast as tiger. How can a tiger ask a goat to run as fast as himself. Actually, this another proof that God sent humand as his messengers, so that messengers can say, hey look, We all are humans, i cant do it, why cant you?
I can't answer that. You'll have to seek guidance from God on that one.
Now if you suggest me that one object can be silver and gold both at a time, it does'nt work logically. Fortunately, we have faith and logic both. 'The Message of Jesus', is perhaps the most important point to consider. For, if Jesus was not God incarnate, but a prophet of God, the message which he brought from God is the essence of his mission.
SUBMISSION
The foundation of Jesus' message was submission to the will of God. In the Gospel according to Matthew 7:22, Jesus is quoted as saying: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." In this statement, Jesus places emphasis on "the will of the Father", submission of the human will to the will of God. In John 5:30, it is narrated that Jesus also said: "I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me."
TO FOLLOW DEVINE LAW
: "16 Now behold, one came and said to him,"Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" 17So he said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." Also in Matthew 5:19, Jesus Christ was reported to have insisted on strict obedience to the commandments saying, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Divine law represents guidance for humankind in all walks of life. It defines right and wrong for them and offers human beings a complete system governing all of their affairs. The Creator alone knows best what is beneficial for His creation and what is not. Thus, the divine laws command and prohibit various acts and substances to protect the human spirit, the human body, and human society from harm. In order for human beings to fulfil their potential by living righteous lives, they need to worship God through obedience to His commandments. [51]
This was the religion conveyed in the message of Jesus; submission to the will of the one true God by obedience to His commandments. Jesus stressed to his followers that his mission did not cancel the laws received by Prophet Moses
Chapter al-Maa'idah, verse 46 of the Qur'aan indicates that Jesus confirmed the Laws of the Torah in his message. "And in their footsteps, I sent Jesus, son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him, and I gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Torah that had come before it,"
In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus stated: "17 Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the [way of] the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." However, Paul, who claimed to be a disciple of Jesus, systematically cancelled the laws. In his letter to the Romans, chapter 7:6, he stated, "But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit."
UNITARIANISM
Jesus came as a prophet calling people to worship God alone, as the prophets before him did. God says in chapter an-Nahl (16):36, of the Qur'aan:
"Surely, I have sent to every nation a messenger (saying): 'Worship Allaah and avoid false gods."
In Luke 3:8, the Devil asks Jesus to worship him, promising him the authority and glory of all of the kingdoms of this world, "And Jesus answered him, 'It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. " Thus, the essence of the message of Jesus was that only God deserves to be worshipped and that the worship of anyone or anything besides God or along with God is false. Jesus not only called people to this message but he also practically demonstrated it for them by bowing down in prayer and worshipping God himself. In Mark 14:32, it states: "And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he [Jesus] said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I pray.' " And in Luke 5:16, "But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed."
Jesus called them to worship the one true God who is unique in His qualities. God does not have the attributes of His creation, nor does any creature share any of His attributes. In Matthew 19:16-17, when the man called Prophet Jesus 'good', saying, "Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Prophet Jesus replied, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." He denied the attribution of 'infinite goodness' or 'perfect goodness' to himself, and affirmed that this attribute belongs to God alone.
Worshipping 'saints' contradicts and corrupts the worship of One God; and it is in vain, because neither the living nor the dead can answer the prayers of mankind. The worship of God should not be shared with His creation in any way, shape or form. In this regard, Allaah said the following in Chapter al-A 'raaf (7):194:
"Surely, those whom you call on in prayer besides Allaah are slaves like yourselves."
This was the message of Jesus Christ and all the prophets before him. It was also the message of the last prophet, Muhammad [may peace and blessings be upon all of them]. Thus, if a Muslim or a person who calls himself a Muslim prays to a saint, he has stepped out of the bounds of Islaam.
Kind Regards
