Islam copied from Christian Sources??

[nobbyv]

Assalamualaikum Brothers & Sisters,

I was recently in a discussion with a christian theologian and he put forward certain statements about our prophet Mohammad (pbuh) copying from christian sources. These were the point:

1- Praying 5 times (copied from orthodox prayers of 7 times a day - But we have a reason for 7 - it stands for the completion - 7 colour/7 continents/7 seas.: 7 days makes a week and we have even 7 seasons in the liturgical calendar which makes up a year)

2- Facing Kaba and praying (Why do they give so much importance t Kabah if they submit totally to the only one God)? We face eastwards and pray because we believe that Jesus will come again(2nd coming) from East.

3-Fasting for a month - Fasting in the absolute sense is different from that during Ramadan - Our forefathers used to have one meal a day, ie, fasting for 24 hours and abstaining from certain food for the whole period - 40 days in old testament period and 50 days in the modern period)

4- Taking off footwear while entering the mosque - We do it since it was told to Moses that the place where he stands is holy

Dear brothers & sisters, please comment on the above statements, how to counter-argue these claims???

and May Allah reward you for your efforts...

Walaikum Assalam

 

[tarannumsamir]

walekomas salaam wa rehmatullah wa barakatuhu.
as to the points mentioned
point number 2. why do muslims face the kabaa ;

Question:
When Islam is against idol worship why do the Muslims worship, and bow down to the Kaaba in their prayer?
Answer:
Kaaba is the Qibla i.e. the direction Muslims face during their prayers. It is important to note that though Muslims face the Kaaba during prayers, they do not worship the Kaaba. Muslims worship and bow to none but Allah.
It is mentioned in Surah Baqarah:
"We see the turning of thy face (for guidance) to the heavens: now shall We turn thee to a Qiblah that shall please thee. Turn then thy face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction."
[Al-Qur’an 2:144]

Islam believes in fostering unity
For instance, if Muslims want to offer Salaah (Prayer), it is possible that some may wish to face north, while some may wish to face south. In order to unite Muslims in their worship of the One True God, Muslims, wherever they may be, are asked to face in only one direction i.e. towards the Kaaba. If some Muslims live towards the west of the Kaaba they face the east. Similarly if they live towards the east of the Kaaba they face the west.

Kaaba is at the Centre of the World Map
The Muslims were the first people to draw the map of the world. They drew the map with the south facing upwards and north downwards. The Kaaba was at the centre. Later, western cartographers drew the map upside down with the north facing upwards and south downwards. Yet, Alhamdullilah the Kaaba is at the centre of the world map.

Tawaaf around Kaaba for indicating one God
When the Muslims go to Masjid-e-Haram in Makkah, they perform tawaaf or circumambulation round the Kaaba. This act symbolizes the belief and worship of One God, since, just as every circle has one centre, so also there is only one Allah (swt) worthy of worship.

Hadith of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)
Regarding the black stone, hajr-e-aswad, there is a hadith (tradition), attributed to the illustrious companion of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
According to Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, book of Hajj, chapter 56, H.No. 675. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit nor harm. Had I not seen the Prophet (pbuh) touching (and kissing) you, I would never have touched (and kissed) you".

People stood on Kaaba and gave the adhaan
At the time of the Prophet, people even stood on the Kaaba and gave the ‘adhaan’ or the call to prayer. One may ask those who allege that Muslims worship the Kaaba; which idol worshipper stands on the idol he worships?

 

[tarannumsamir]

brother as u mentioned ur cristian friend put forward certain statements regarding our beloved prophet muhammad (pbuh) copiying from cristian source.the revelations revealed by god to prophet muhammad (pbuh)is THE QURAN.and
the CRISTIAN SOURCE MENTIONED MEANS THE BIBLE.
SIMILARITIES IN THE QUR’AN AND THE BIBLE DUE TO COMMON SOURCE
Similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible does not necessarily mean that the former has been copied from the latter. In fact it gives evidence that both of them are based on a common third source; all divine revelations came from the same source - the one universal God. No matter what human changes were introduced into some of these Judeo-Christian and other older religious scriptures that had distorted their originality, there are some areas that have remained free from distortion and thus are common to many religions.
It is true that there are some similar parallels between the Qur’an and the Bible but this is not sufficient to accuse Muhummad (pbuh) of compiling or copying from the Bible. The same logic would then also be applicable to teachings of Christianity and Judaism and thus one could wrongly claim that Jesus (pbuh) was not a genuine Prophet (God forbid) and that he simply copied from the Old Testament.
The similarities between the two signify a common source that is one true God and the continuation of the basic message of monotheism and not that the later prophets have plagiarised from the previous prophets.

 

[Almeftah]

brother as u mentioned ur cristian friend put forward certain statements regarding our beloved prophet muhammad (pbuh) copiying from cristian source.the revelations revealed by god to prophet muhammad (pbuh)is THE QURAN.and
the CRISTIAN SOURCE MENTIONED MEANS THE BIBLE.
SIMILARITIES IN THE QUR’AN AND THE BIBLE DUE TO COMMON SOURCE
Similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible does not necessarily mean that the former has been copied from the latter. In fact it gives evidence that both of them are based on a common third source; all divine revelations came from the same source - the one universal God. No matter what human changes were introduced into some of these Judeo-Christian and other older religious scriptures that had distorted their originality, there are some areas that have remained free from distortion and thus are common to many religions.
It is true that there are some similar parallels between the Qur’an and the Bible but this is not sufficient to accuse Muhummad (pbuh) of compiling or copying from the Bible. The same logic would then also be applicable to teachings of Christianity and Judaism and thus one could wrongly claim that Jesus (pbuh) was not a genuine Prophet (God forbid) and that he simply copied from the Old Testament.
The similarities between the two signify a common source that is one true God and the continuation of the basic message of monotheism and not that the later prophets have plagiarised from the previous prophets.

Jazak Allahu khairan, well said.

 

[tarannumsamir]

answer to the point number 4.
. MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN THE TAURAH, ZABOOR, INJEEL AND QUR’AN
Four revelations of Allah (swt) are mentioned by name in the Qur’an: the Taurah, the Zaboor, the Injeel and the Qur’an.
Taurah, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Moosa (a. s.) i.e. Moses (pbuh).
Zaboor, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Dawood (a.s.) i.e. David (pbuh).
Injeel, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Isa (A.S.) ie. Jesus (pbuh).
‘Al-Qur’an’, the last and final Wahi i.e. revelation given to the last and final Messenger Muhammad (pbuh).
It is an article of faith for every Muslim to believe in all the Prophets of God and all revelations of God. However, the present day Bible has the first five books of the Old Testament attributed to Moses and the Psalms attributed to David. Moreover the New Testament or the four Gospels of the New Testament are not the Taurah, the Zaboor or the Injeel, which the Qur’an refers to. These books of the present day Bible may partly contain the word of God but these books are certainly not the exact, accurate and complete revelations given to the prophets.
The Qur’an presents all the different prophets of Allah as belonging to one single brotherhood; all had a similar prophetic mission and the same basic message. Because of this, the fundamental teachings of the major faiths cannot be contradictory, even if there has been a considerable passage of time between the different prophetic missions, because the source of these missions was one: Almighty God, Allah. This is why the Qur’an says that the differences which exist between various religions are not the responsibility of the prophets, but of the followers of these prophets who forgot part of what they had been taught, and furthermore, misinterpreted and changed the scriptures. The Qur’an cannot therefore be seen as a scripture which competes with the teachings of Moses, Jesus and the other prophets. On the contrary, it confirms, completes and perfects the messages that they brought to their people.
Another name for the Qur’an is the ‘The Furqan’ which means the criteria to judge the right from the wrong, and it is on the basis of the Qur’an that we can decipher which part of the previous scriptures can be considered to be the word of God.

 

[hayat_yahya]

it is known tht between islam n the previous religions sent also by Allah swt there r similarities as islam did not came as a new religion but 4 completing the others,,,due to rulings ( cuse this kind of islamic guidelines r discussed here ), when islam completes the other religions means tht it present a ruling more appropriate to the initial one, it doesn't change the entire ruling but add a new meaning, sense, feature proper than the previous one,,, and Allah swt knows best wht is better 4 us who have a limited knowledge!

 

[Imad]

Assalamoelaikoem warahmatullahi wbarakatuh,

This Questions and answers are directed to the christian theologian

If Allah commend us to do something we Obey.

1)
Answer:
In regard to the prayers, Allah gave the order to our prophet to inform and teach the muslims to pray 5 times, so we obey. See the word of pophet about prayer in this regard

Questions:
- If our prayer is copied from he Christians Orthodox, why is our way of praying differend from the orthodox?
- If the prayer was copied why 5 and not 7?
- What is your evidence that the muslims have copied the prayer Than?

2) Answer:

Like we have said, we obey Allah. He commended our prophet and the muslims to pray in the direction of the Kaba, so this means we submit totaly to the commendment of Allah. In the Quraan Allah mentioned clearly the commendment to face the Kabaa.

Question:

- Did your read the Quraan?

3) Yes we believe in the fact that people before us ( our forefahers) have done the fasting. This has been mentioned in the Quraan. Allah said clearly that he commended us to fast, like he commended the people before us to fast. So this means that people before us also fasted. The way of fasting can be differend.

Question:
Do you realy think this has to do with coping? Like i have mentioned before it has nothing to do with coping, it is the commendment of Allah

4) Answer:

No it's not true, because muslims are allowed to pray with their shoes on. And the holy place where Moses has been commended to take his footwear off is not the same as the mosque.

Question:

Let's say it's true, what's the problem in coping what a prophet has done? We believe in Moses and we love him more than christians do. Allah has ordered to do many things which prophets before us have done. We believe also in jesus and we love him. If we copy something from him, does that mean that we have copied something from christianity? Christianity and jesus are not the same. Christianity and the prophets are not the same

 

[nori suja'i]

wa alaikumsalam brother,

about your non muslim friend claimed, actually whose following who?
just tell him u need the daleel (proof). by saying verbally its hard to accept. his religion actually was polluted by the roman, that's why most of his religion's ceremony were the continuation of the roman festivals such as easter sunday. Furthermore his religious shd have based at jurusalem the birth place of Jesus but why is it in vertican city, italy?
and if we to follow his religion, sad to say that theirs have the law halfway but our religion has completed it.

wassalaam.

 

[hellbraker]

Since being a Christian since by birth and by choice..and since being interested in Islam,I had these sort of questions myself...Well,from my point of view,not everything is same or similar.Differences still exists and will exist as long as we hold two contradicting beliefs.
Thank you
Peace be with u all.