Why Islam Chose Muhammad

One Bridge Built By Two Courageous Prophets Links Three Great Faiths

In this essay I hope to make sense of what I consider to have been part of the Prophet’ Muhammad’s (May peace be upon him) initial perspective concerning the three great monotheistic religions. Of course I cannot be certain of my conclusions. Nevertheless, my thoughts are a sincere attempt to discover truth.

Though I attended five different schools for a total of about twenty years, I was never a top student. As school intelligence is measured, persons like Bill and Hilary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Al Jabor, Hanan Ishrawi, Bill Gates, Osama Bin Laden, Yassar Arafat, Dr. Martin Luther King, the late King Hussein, the Acting King of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince, Abdulla, Nelson Mandela, Condoleeza Rice, Professor Edward Said and countless others are so far ahead of me that it is like we were born on different planets. Rather, I seem to be somewhat slow like George W. Bush.

My point in drawing attention to my own natural lack of intelligence is this. If the following thoughts and observations do make sense, it is due to The Merciful ALLAH helping me and it is not because I am capable and intelligent.

You and I both have one life to live on this earth. No matter how many mistakes we make, we want to get the main direction of our lives correct sometime before we face our Day of Judgment. Another way of saying it is that we want to be on the Right Path. Though I personally fit into the broad category of “Christian,” I am meya fil meya (100%) convinced that the correct Straight Path is Islam – that is, sincere submission to ALLAH.

So I will begin my journey of trying to make sense of our three major monotheistic religions by my observations of a great man who may have considered himself intellectually limited if not being able to read and write actually served as a significant indication of being intellectually limited. But, since not being able to read and write in not an accurate measure of intelligence all indications are that this unique man possessed a very high level of intelligence. Yet, despite this natural intelligence, he was quite humble.

But this man possessed qualities far more important than stereotypical intelligence. He had both a strong sense of justice and a driving desire to know and faithfully serve ALLAH with a soft, tender conscience; a conscience which was deeply troubled by the suffering, injustice, greed, wickedness and idolatry which he constantly observed around him.

For instance, the cruel, inhumane practice of burying new born, unwanted female babies under the burning desert sand tore at his tender heart.

The whole idea of men believing that there is more than one ALLAH who determines what is truly right and wrong, caused him great anguish. That people thought that they could pick and choose which god they wished to obey, he knew was not right. This type of thinking left each person with no definite standard of right or wrong to which to be accountable.

But this sincere man was also exposed to two monotheistic religions which were clear alternatives to the worship of multiple idols and families of gods which were prevalent at Mecca. So these two alternative religions had more sensible moral codes than the idol worship religion which was represented by the Mecca of that time.

The first alternative religion was followed by a group known as Jews. They boasted of being descendents and followers of the great Prophet and Patriarch, Abraham,

through his second born son, Isaac. The Jews actually referred to Isaac as Abraham’s first born son because his true first born son was half Arab. Muhammad had great respect for the great Prophet, Abraham and his Arab son, Ishmael. So it was his first born son, Ishmael, who had a much deeper place in his heart than the entirely Hebrew second born son, Isaac. The moral code of these Jews also appealed a great deal to him. Additionally, the fact that this moral code was recorded in a book, the Torah or Torat was also very appealing.

There was one particular circumstance which set off at least a yellow caution light if not a red stop light about whether the Jews monotheistic religion was a worthy religion.

The Jews themselves had a long, consistent history of strongly rebelling against the teaching of their own moral code given them by ALLAH through the Prophet Moses. One aspect of the rebellion was to often stray from the worship of the One True ALLAH, and to degenerate into worshipping and serving a nature god known as “Baal”. When this occurred which it often did, it would sweep them into various wicked practices which even included the sacrificing of their own children.

To appeal to them to change from their wicked ways, ALLAH would send them strong clear warnings through messengers known as Prophets. They were always exceptionally courageous men (sometimes women prophetesses) with quite high moral standards. These prophets were absolutely convinced that ALLAH Himself was giving them specific messages to authoritatively proclaim to the Jewish people.

Their Scriptures usually do not clarify the precise process used by ALLAH to convey His usually precise message to His Prophets which they were then to relay to the people. Nevertheless, each Prophet always had a strong conviction that he was delivering to the people a definite message from ALLAH which the people could either obey or reject. Yet, it was made clear that if they chose to ignore or disobey the message, there would be serious negative consequences, either immediately or in the near future.

For example, when an arrogant Bethel Priest attempted to silence the warnings about the near future exile of the people of Israel spoken by the fearless Prophet Amos, he was immediately given a most shocking personal message. Amos informed the Priest that his own wife would become a city of Bethel prostitute and that both his daughters and his sons would be killed by the sword.

The Prophets usually spoke a graphic and concise message regarding Israel’s disobedience. The prophecy itself was often rooted in history and often quite specific. For instance their prophecy was before or after a certain well known earthquake etc; at a specific place; regarding a particular circumstance; with specific instructions of how to be obedient; sometimes describing the blessing which would accompany obedience; and many times describing the restoration which would finally occur under the just reign of a coming Messiah, despite the wickedness and rebellion of the Hebrew people at the time of the prophecy.

In other words, it was clear from the previous Scriptures that the messages of the ancient Prophets continued to push them to achieve a higher level of morality. Yet, they consistently came up with their own characteristic solution which would temporarily solve the problem about which they were being reminded that they would be punished, if they didn’t change their own low standard of behavior.    They would murder the messenger. This would force ALLAH to send them another Prophet Messenger who they would also finally murder.

The unchanged Hebrew Scriptures recorded that this bloody process repeatedly occurred through the reigns of many Hebrew Kings. Then, ALLAH allowed to occur what the Prophets and even the Prophet Moses had warned them would finally occur if they were continually disobedient. The unintended consequence of their consistent degenerate behavior was that ALLAH unceremoniously “vomited them” out of the land which they occupied after they came out of Egypt under Moses’ and Joshua’s leadership. This vomiting them out of the land occurred when ALLAH allowed and inspired Kings such as Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon to ruthlessly conquer their land and people.

For instance, when they resisted their opportunity to peacefully surrender to Babylon, every segment of society paid enormous consequences which the fearless Prophet Jeremiah repeatedly warned them would happen. King Zedekiah, his royal family, his court officials, the worthless of those who pretended to be prophets, corrupt religious leaders and most of the people were either killed, or were executed or were taken to Babylon (Iraq) into exile. Jerusalem as well as its temple were destroyed. This all occurred in order to vividly demonstrate to all people forever that when   ALLAH‘s standards are ignored and not taken seriously, severe Judgment will finally occur.

The second alternative religious group for this seeker of truth to consider was a direct off shoot of the Jewish group and were known as Christians. They also traced themselves back to the Prophet Abraham and claimed the same Hebrew Scriptures as their heritage. Additionally, however, they emphasized that they followed ALLAH through the spiritual guidance of a Prophet/Messiah who had been sent to all people, but whom most Jews had chosen to reject. Furthermore, they were absolutely convinced that ALLAH had raised him from the dead after the Jews had deceptively manipulated their Roman occupiers to viciously and illegally execute him. They were also 100% convinced that this now living Messiah/Prophet was now ALLAH’S anointed spiritual King whom the majority of the Jews had rejected because they considered him an imposter and a misguided revolutionary for consistently exposing their religious hypocrisy.

Actually, like the Prophets before him, he had worked diligently to get his own Jewish people to clean up their bad behavior. But once again, their simple one track minds had the final solution to stopping his efforts. Murder!

Significantly, his murder was again their simplistic answer even though this Messiah/Prophet was given even more superior credentials from ALLAH than any previous Prophet. ALLAH gave him the ability to perform more miracles, heal more sick persons, etc., in order to remove any possibility that his own people could doubt that he had received his special authority directly from ALLAH. So his consistently healing sick persons, giving sight to those born blind and even raising to new life a few persons who had died; each such miraculous action substantiated the authority he had received from ALLAH. These all occurred in order that there would be no doubt about the authority of what he taught. But instead of his miraculous works assuring and convincing Jewish authorities that ALLAH was indeed the source of his ability to perform such wondrous healing, as ALLAH had intended that they would, this compassionate healing of suffering persons got on their nerves. In fact, a combination of his authoritative teaching his courageous, insightful exposure of their hypocrisy and his good works upset the religious establishment so much that they decided once again to revert to their usual modus operendi for silencing troublesome Prophets- Murder! So they arranged their final solution by convincing the Roman occupation force to nail him to a cross. It was one more despicable behavior especially related to the Jews’ hostile attitude toward one special woman, which finally and totally eliminated the Jewish religion as a viable option for this sincere seeker of truth.

The Jews had been so fiercely opposed to this Messiah/Prophet, that even centuries after they had manipulated his execution, the Jewish descendents of the perpetrators of the crime were still proudly and shamefully boasting about how their forefathers had been successful in murdering him. (This was later spoken of in the Holy Quran.) They persisted in wickedly boasting even though Allah’s only Messiah still had the same wonderful reputation for always having been kind, for miraculously healing many people of various diseases, and constantly fighting the injustice callously perpetrated by those Jewish leaders who were then in power.

In addition to their criminal behavior against ALLAH’s Messiah, this observant man was personally aware of the treacherous tendency of Jewish leaders to break treaties, thus undermining the very foundation of society. This was added to their consistent activity of murdering messengers sent by ALLAH to be critical of their aberrant behavior. But there was still one more particularly obnoxious crime which the soon to become Prophet observed about the depraved attitudes of certain Jews. It was probably this crime being committed by little men with dirty minds and dirtier mouths, which totally offended his sense of what any society should consider as the lowest level of indecency. Furthermore, he was fully certain that ALLAH also viewed this despicable, crude behavior as a serious breech of His own high value which He Himself placed on these valued human beings whom He had ordained to be the precious mothers of the human race. (Each of the aforementioned crimes were recorded later in the book An Nisa – Women in the Quran.)

So the final guarantee that this sensitive man would lose respect for the religion represented by the Jews was this: concerning that one dear, precious young woman, the one pure woman out of all the women in the entire world who ALLAH Himself had carefully chosen to be the precious mother of His own Messiah, these vile men had gone too far. About this pure woman, these obscene men were making dirty, contemptible, totally without merit, vicious innuendos.

They were shamefully implying or even claiming that the pure mother of ALLAH‘s own Messiah had not been a virgin when she had brought him into this world. They had the unmitigated audacity to hint that she had been hoping from one man’s bed to another. So they were implying that this type of promiscuous activity had prevented her from knowing the true identity of the Messiah’s father.   To them she was no virgin at all but was the lowest kind of unwed mother. They were actually implying that this woman, who had been uniquely chosen by ALLAH, was a virtual prostitute.

So a combination of malicious boasting about murdering ALLAH‘s own Messiah, maliciously attacking the reputation of his precious mother, murdering Prophets who were attempting to persuade them to change their behavior or undermining the foundations of society by treating treaties as garbage, each behavior forced this sensible man to reject the Judaism he observed as a viable, alternative belief system. But the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was their inexcusable, hostile attitude toward the Messiah’s own mother.

Yet, there were still more significant factors who caused this perceptive future Prophet to be skeptical of the way the Jews followed the same One ALLAH which the Prophet Abraham had worshipped. The Hebrew Prophets even spoke of their wicked acts of sacrificing their own children. So graphically was their pervasive wickedness described that they were spoken of as leaving behind footprints of blood and even swindling the most vulnerable members of society, widows and orphans. The Prophets even described Jewish Priests as moving about in bands committing murder on the open road and being involved in other shameful crimes. So great was the wickedness of those who boasted of worshipping and serving the One God of Abraham and who claimed to obey the law the Prophet Moses had been given on Mount Sinai, that ALLAH finally punished them by one particular great act of devastation. This one mighty culminating act of judgment would demonstrate to following generations the depth of His displeasure with their wickedness and rebellion.

He not only guided King Nebuchadnezzar to destroy their Holy City of Jerusalem but also to destroy their Holy Temple which was the ultimate sacred symbol of ALLAH’s Presence among them. So complete was the Almighty’s removal of any outward sign of His glorious presence among them that He permitted the Babylonian conquerors to even remove all of the sacred utensils used in temple worship and carry off these precious items representing the Jewish religious heritage, to Babylon along with the people who had not been killed in the battle or who had not died in the siege. Only a few of the poorest of the poor remained in a devastated, crushed, burned Jerusalem.

But what of the other monotheistic religion that was being practiced in the Arab Peninsula? What about the belief system of those who called themselves “Christians”? Why had not their belief been a viable alternative for this sincere seeker of truth? After all, the very foundation of their faith was not actually a set of beliefs nor was it dependent on a man-made temple composed of lifeless stones. Instead, the living foundation of their faith was an eternally living person who they were absolutely convinced had not only defeated the sicknesses and disabilities of others but had even defeated his own unjust, extra-judicial execution.    In fact, he had not only defeated the plans of Jewish leaders to end his life forever, but he had also defeated the mighty Roman occupying force who had been assigned the seemingly simple task of making certain that his dead body did not disappear from a sealed tomb.

Their spiritual Messiah had not only been born of a virgin. He had not only defeated injustice. He not only had been willing to be unjustly executed by a foreign occupying Army in his own land for obeying both ALLAH and his own conscience.

But through ALLAH’s Own matchless Wisdom and Might, he had been miraculously raised to new life and to ALLAH after three days of death.

Now this religion was a viable alternative for a truth seeking man, He also loved people like they did. They cared for widows and orphans like he did and they also had a deep desire to see justice prevail as he did. What seemed extra wonderful is that Christians did not seem exclusive like the other group but seemed to welcome others and to be exceptionally inclusive. The enthusiastic inclusiveness of Christians was much more appealing than the ethnocentric exclusiveness of the Jews.

But wait a minute! This unique group seemed to have made one glaring mistake which needed to be faced. This sensitive man could not just ignore it and bury it under the sand and forget that it existed. From everything that this seeker of truth could determine, it was not completely clear that they believed in only One ALLAH. One statement that they often repeated gave the appearance to an outsider that they could believe in a family of gods, consisting of a trinity of three potential gods. In other words it was possible that they were not as monotheistic as they thought that they were or as they claimed to be.

Those Christians had apparently gone to the opposite extreme of the Jews. Whereas the Jews had virtually labeled the pure mother of the Messiah, a virtual prostitute, the Christians reverently referred to her as the “Mother of God” and in Arabic as the “Mother of ALLAH”?

“Hold on” said his sensitive mind. “They have gone way too far. This is just too much, suggesting a sort of family of gods’ thing.” They appeared to imply that the pure ALLAH of the Universe had spiritual sexual reactions with a pure young virgin named Maryam” (Mary) (Because Maryam remained a virgin even though she conceived the Messiah, the implied sexual relations were only spiritual.)

They further claimed that the baby boy born of that spiritual union grew up to be a man who was later referred to as “Son of God” or as Lord. Because of the boy coming to be known as Son of God, the Christians wrongly concluded that this justified his mother being known as “Mother of God.”

Consequently, there was no way that this sincere of the One True ALLAH could be comfortable with embracing this complex system. He wanted there to be no possibility that those he might one day influence to be obedient to One ALLAH , to be even remotely associated with another family of god system To come out of one family of god system only to be potentially pulled into another family of god system would be a tragedy.

Hold everything! No matter how many fine qualities these Christians have; to be associated with their complicated belief is not worth the risk. In fact, no matter how many exemplary qualities their Risen Messiah has, no matter how many miracles ALLAH enabled him to perform, no matter how much he has been honored by ALLAH, this Christian belief system is definitely not right for no matter how pure his mother may be our Arab people. It is absolutely wrong and ludicrous to even suggest the possibility of ALLAH having a mother.”

As he further pondered all of the dangerous idolatry in his own city, the murderous boasting and shameful history of the Jews, the complicated and possibly twisted ideas of the Christians, he was 100% convinced that ALLAH began to speak to him a clear, uncomplicated message for a people who were to come out of idolatry. This message that he was receiving would help everyone find the true path – a straight path that would not murder Prophets: a straight path that would not have contempt for ALLAH’s Messiah nor would it slander his mother: a straight path that would not contain ideas that could potentially compromise the unity of ALLAH; a straight path that would indeed protect the rights of women and orphans and new born female babies.

Before moving on, there is another exceptionally relevant piece of Hebrew history recorded in the earlier Scriptures which seriously impacts our present considerations. Indeed, this reality may have had additional strong influence in moving this seeker of truth away from an exclusively Jewish dominated faith toward an Arab based faith. This perceptive, soon to be Prophet was probably quite aware that ALLAH had caused certain quite negative circumstances to turn out positive in order to use close descendents of the Arab first born son of the Prophet Abraham, named Ishmael (God hears), to save the entire Jewish religion from quite probable extinction. This potential extinction was due to a severe famine which would soon overwhelm the large extended family of the Patriarch Jacob, later named Israel, and force them to seek food from Egypt.

Consequently, because Ishmael’s close relatives were successful traders, they were used by ALLAH to safely transport one of the youngest brothers of the Jacob family, Yusef (Joseph) to Egypt. If this had not occurred there may have been no Jewish religion available for anyone to follow. At the precise moment that Ishmaelite traders encountered the Jacob brothers near a trading road to Egypt, nine of his devious and jealous brothers were in the process of murdering their own blood brother.

What appeared to be the chance arrival of the traders, was actually a circumstance arranged by ALLAH. Significantly, trading Yusef gave the brothers an opportunity to make some welcome money off of their despised brother. Instead of murdering him and making no money, they could accomplish their calloused goal of getting rid of him forever by selling him into servitude in Egypt. Besides receiving some unexpected money, this new option carried with it another welcome benefit. Selling him to the traders would not only get rid of him forever but it would also save them from the more severe guilt of having spilled the innocent blood of their own blood brother.

Shamefully, so great was their hate for this despised brother that they gave virtually no consideration for the effect their contemptible cruelty would have on the heart of their aged father. He would callously be told a savage lie that a wild animal had killed and devoured his favorite son. So they were quite prepared to not only cold bloodedly murder their own brother but also to be horribly cruel to their own elderly father. These notorious nine sons of Jacob/ Israel were neither devoted brothers nor were they caring sons.

Yusef’s unintended rescue by the Ishmaelite traders and their safely transporting him to Egypt was apparently accomplishing purposes of ALLAH that were far beyond the participants’ imagination. If this unlikely scenario had not occurred, this one despised brother could not later have been used by ALLAH to save his own extended family including his nine murderous brothers from potential starvation? According to the Merciful’s ability, He brought a double rescue out of a near family homicide. He used the Arab traders’ initial rescue of Yusef and Yusef’s subsequent rescue of his own extended family to enable that family to accomplish the improbable. That family which contained nine near murderers, developed into the foundation of a Jewish nation while it stayed for over four hundred years in Egypt.

For any one who might wish to blame the Ishmaelite traders for callously transporting Yusef to far away Egypt, please keep these two realities in mind. The murderous brothers undoubtedly contacted the traders and not the other way around. Also, if the traders had returned Yusef to his father, there was no guarantee that his life would not continue to be in serious danger.

Being aware of this unusual set of ALLAH allowed or ALLAH arranged circumstances, the perceptive Muhammad’s keen mind must have sought to answer a quite logical question. Since ALLAH, in His matchless wisdom had chosen to use Arab Ishmaelites to initially save the foundation of the Jewish religion, why should Arabs obligate themselves to follow this Jewish religion instead of having their own Arab based religion? For a faith with Arab roots would have obvious advantages over a faith with such unstable and unscrupulous Hebrew roots. As those kinds of thoughts swirled in his mind, this emerging Arab Prophet was certain he began to hear the voice of the angel Gabriel clearly speaking to him. The religion of Islam, submission to ALLAH, had chosen Muhammad to begin to proclaim its message of submission to the One True ALLAH?

Of course I do not know the precise thought process of the Prophet Muhammad, but the foregoing issues were most probably issues this man’s keen mind was dealing with. Most certainly I am leaving many things out and I will continue to only make the main points I consider necessary to demonstrate one main point. ALLAH uniquely used two great Prophets to demonstrate the trustworthy bridge which they have together created as two descendants of Abraham and as two faithful servants of ALLAH.

While this new Prophet of ALLAH continued to receive multiple messages about many issues, there seemed to be five main themes which he faithfully emphasized again and again.

The first was that ALLAH is One and has absolutely no partners.

The second was that man is totally accountable to ALLAH regarding both his good and his bad actions. This theme was mainly emphasized by this new Prophet by his repeatedly reminding others that there is a final day of judgment when man’s former actions will largely determine his eternal destiny. Acts pleasing to ALLAH will be rewarded. Acts which displease Him will bring eternal punishment which was often described with graphic, scary language. This vivid language, warning of the terrors of eternal punishment was considered a Mercy from ALLAH to help motivate the hearer to clean up his behavior in order to avoid the punishment. At its very bottom line, this eternal punishment at least implied the separation of the person from any more experiencing the Mercy of ALLAH. So severe eternal loneliness and eternal desperation would most likely characterize this new existence that the person would chose for himself by the way he lived.

The third theme which received great emphasis was that the Prophet Muhammad himself was ALLAH’s Messenger. This was an absolutely necessary emphasis. Without this emphasis, where was the authority that would give the message the vitality which it required to have the power and strength to pull people from the entanglements of idol worship to worship and serve the One and only True ALLAH?

In addition to these first three themes, a fourth was sprinkled like delicious seasoning throughout the pages of the Holy Quran. Concise stories of former prophets, many of them Hebrew Prophets had incidents from their lives used as mostly positive examples to inspire Muslims to lead lives dedicated to pleasing ALLAH.

In addition to stories of these Prophets and stories of Maryam and even mention of her mother, the Quran remained uniquely preoccupied with the Messiah/Prophet. Whether the Quran was discussing his unique status or was issuing precautions about how he was to be viewed, he was awarded a status that was unique. Although in the Quran he was only a Messiah/Prophet like others were only prophets without their simultaneously being ALLAH’s only Messiah. He was spoken of as not only healing the sick but as giving sight to those born blind. Significantly, although the Quran reserves for only ALLAH the power to give life, ALLAH’s unique Prophet was spoken of as raising the dead through ALLAH’s power.

The fifth main theme was prayer and praise. This prayer and praise was to be the breath of this new faith.

To give an accurate indication of how secure the Prophet Muhammad himself was in his service to ALLAH as a faithful Prophet, three times in the pages of the Quran there is minor mention of his own sin. It is significant that he could easily have chosen to cancel these particular verses in order to enhance his personal status with the people. Yet, one more example of his consistent integrity emerged. He faithfully recorded them. But, when the Quran speaks of ALLAH’s only Messiah, it speaks of only positive qualities and refers to him as “Faultless,” or being without fault.

Nevertheless, there are significant checks in the Quran which relate to the unique status of ALLAH’s Messiah. Even though the Quran emphasizes that his mother was still a virgin when she gave birth, these checks are there. They are there even though he is accorded a place of eminence in this life and in the life to come, far beyond that accorded to any other person, messenger or prophet. Even though the Quran teaches that he will return to this earth with the ultimate authority to carry out judgment for ALLAH, they are there. Even though when read today, the Quran is clear that the Messiah has remained alive in ALLAH’s Holy presence for almost twenty centuries, a few constraints remain on the pages of the Holy Quran regarding him to be read by all.

So we must answer this question. If the Quran so highly honors this born of a virgin Messiah, why are there a few implied limitations in the Quran regarding the authority he had been awarded by ALLAH? After all, the Quran is clear in Yunis (Jonah) 10:94 that the Scriptures which preceded the Quran are given the authority to determine the credibility and proper interpretations of its revelations and should influence the understanding of potentially confusing and obscure verses. Significantly, these previous authoritative Scriptures known to Muslins as the Injeel and to Christians as the New Testament, did not voice similar checks or boundaries regarding the authority ALLAH has given His Messiah.

So why then does the Quran appear to have limitations on the authority ALLAH

has awarded His only Messiah? As previously observed, the Quran recognizes the Oneness of ALLAH as deserving a unique emphasis and therefore the Oneness of ALLAH has a strong need to be protected. So the protection of the beliefs of those vulnerable Muslims, who had recently or were currently in the process of emerging from a belief system which honored multiple gods, was given total priority. So it was considered necessary to minimize the commonality of the Quran's Messiah with the greater authority of the Messiah of the Injeel by presenting the Messiah of the Quran with the maximum constraints that could be allowed under the circumstances. This was done with the realization that at the right time the balance would be recognized and the full authority of ALLAH’s Messiah would finally be fully appreciated and understood. But the timing of this was in ALLAH’s control because only He would know how to best prevent any partial absorption of Muslins into Christian oriented thinking. Thus, any potential to interpret verses in the Quran so they could conceivably put into question the absolute authority of the Only ALLAH, WAS IMMEDIATELY SILENCED. Interestingly, the Messiah himself had made it clear to his own disciples that there would be a time in the future that they would be ready for certain teachings about himself so those teachings would be revealed to them at a later time. So there was precedent from the Messiah himself regarding the appropriate timing for full or more complete revelation.

So sensitive was the issue of the Messiah’s great authority from ALLAH being a potential challenge to the strict interpretation of ALLAH’s Oneness, that even when his authority was actually not a threat, it was treated as a potential threat. Therefore, his unique authority was eliminated as a potential belief at that time, because it was considered to be a potential threat.

The legacy of multiple gods and idol worship which ALLAH’s courageous Prophet triumphed over at Islam’s inception justifiably was given absolutely no conceivable opportunity to again gain the upper hand. So there was developed in Islamic theology a sort of theological pre-emption. The notorious American, Paul Wolfowitz has made military pre-emption the center piece of aggressive American foreign policy where human beings who are thought to be possibly bad guys are killed so they have no chance to kill the good guys even though those who are thought to be the bad guys might not actually be bad guys but may actually be good guys.

Though theological pre-emption may be similar in theory to military pre-emption, it does not involve killing but it does involve wise precautions in protecting the innocent from beliefs that could conceivably do them harm under the circumstances although the belief itself may not be harmful, and may actually be true. It is the timing that may be inappropriate. So, if the goal of protecting new believers is of a very high priority, eliminating potential problems keeps real problems from developing.

But what were viable potential threats at Islam’s inception do not carry a similar threat today. At the time of Islam’s inception, even if the Messiah deserved a greater pre-eminence than the Quran appears to award him, such precaution was justified. This precaution insured that the new community would remain secure in continuing in its primary commitment to a very basic understanding of the concept of ALLAH being One (monotheism) because the foundation of all truth from ALLAH is this cornerstone reality that ALLAH is One. Significantly, the now Risen Messiah, when on this earth, emphatically proclaimed this same foundational truth; ALLAH is One!

Since it definitely appeared that Christian communities with which the Prophet had contact, had potentially distorted the concept of ALLAH’s Oneness, overwhelming priority had to be given to protect that Oneness. So the former polytheistic community which, through the Prophet’s courageous leadership, had now become an Islamic Monotheistic community was indeed protected. It was protected in the way a caring mother would protect her new born infant.

Therefore, one of the major manifestations of this justified protection has been this. Each verse in the Quran which contains even a hint of protecting the new Islamic community from potentially confusing Christian concepts inspire a magnified protective response from Muslims. Even modern day Muslims consistently interpret these verses so as to maximize the differences the Muslim community holds about the Messiah in contrast to the teaching contained in the Injeel concerning him.

It is my sense that Muslims continuing to emphasize the barriers to recognizing the authority of ALLAH’s Messiah which is even awarded him in the Quran, is understandable but no longer helpful or necessary and has now become counter productive,   But originally it was both a conscious and subconscious attempt to maintain a maximum prevention of ALLAH’s Risen Messiah from having too dominating an influence on Islam before Islam was ready for him to have a more prominent role in ALLAH’s ultimate plan for man.

The concern originally was due to the complicated manner in which many Christians presented their Messiah. The confusing presentation had the potential to undermine the strong commitment to ALLAH being One and only One which justifiably has dominated Islam. It must never be underestimated how great was the accomplishment of ALLAH’s courageous Prophet to have extricated an entire people from an aggressive commitment to worshipping and serving a variety of families of gods and various idols. So their transition to worshipping and serving the only One True ALLAH deserved to be aggressively protected.

While keeping in mind this important context of the strong need to protect the new Islamic community from the potential of the older Christian community to possibly mislead it concerning pure monotheism or to potentially absorb it, we will now consider an even more complicated phenomenon. We will examine how the strong need to maintain an easily understood monotheism coupled with a need to maintain maximum distance between the Christian belief that the Messiah rose from death and the Muslim belief that he did not die, impacted the Muslim understanding of the true meaning of two controversial verses in the Quran. In fact, it is my opinion that these two verses are two of the most profound verses found in any sacred Scriptures.

Al Nisa- Women 4:157-158 “that they said (in boost), ‘We killed Christ Jesus , the son of Mary, the Messenger of ‘ALLAH’ – But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it appeared to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for a surety they killed him not – Nay ALLAH raised him up Unto Himself; and ALLAH is Mighty, Wise-”

In my mind I am convinced that these two verses from the Holy Quran are having a greater impact on the lives of at least one billion three hundred million persons in today’s world than any other verses in the Holy Quran. I am personally 100% convinced that the common misunderstanding of what these two verses actually teach is this. The Prophet himself was convinced that the new Muslims were not yet ready to believe in a stronger Messiah who had defeated death so he encouraged their belief in a less appealing, weaker Messiah who had avoided death. For a belief in the stronger Messiah at that time could have conceivably resulted in many Muslims being absorbed by the larger, more established Christian community and the theological confusion which went with it. Thus, the new, emerging Islamic community could easily have lost its distinctive strong, unequivocal, uncomplicated representation of ALLAH’s Oneness.

Since I myself am thoroughly convinced that the Prophet would now be ready for the Islamic community to have a more thorough understanding of an enlightened meaning of these two profound verses, I will not be shy about expressing my own convictions about what these two verses actually proclaim when examined closely and in relation to other verses in the Quran. Of course I am referring to an examination without biased religious leaders looking over our shoulders and telling us what we are supposed to decide is the true meaning of these two verses because Islam has already decided what their true meaning is.

If I am wrong or partially wrong in my conclusions, I sincerely request that both ALLAH and every Muslim forgive me for inserting myself uninvited into the sincere faith of Islam. Also, I hope and pray that I have harmed no one by my own sincere effort to seek truth.

However, if I am right or am mostly right in my understanding of the true meaning of these two profound verses, then the following 27 convictions may contain profound truth that is presently not being generally recognized or acknowledged by most Muslims. ALLAH may have chosen to demonstrate His own great resourcefulness by finding someone as weak and as intellectually limited as myself to accomplish one small part of His purpose and plan for all of us in these potentially “last days.”

100% Convinced

1.   Am 100% convinced that Women 4: 157 and 158 are two of the most profound and important verses in all of Sacred Scripture.

2.   Am 100% convinced that these two verses are two of the most misunderstood verses in all of Sacred Scripture.

3.   Am 100% convinced that it deeply grieves ALLAH that Muslims have remained so long in an attitude of being unable or unwilling to acknowledge the truth of the Messiah’s willingness to suffer a cruel death. Therefore, the most vivid demonstration of ALLAH’s great love to ever occur in human history is treated like garbage because of the way Muslim leaders have insisted on continuing to misunderstand the true intent of these two profound verses.

4.   Am 100% convinced that ALLAH is deeply grieved over the inability or unwillingness of especially Muslim leaders to seek ALLAH ‘s forgiveness for rejecting His great love for man by continuing to reject the Messiah’s courageous suffering and his unjust execution by certain Israeli leaders.

5.   Am 100% convinced that a few Muslim leaders are so arrogant and confused that they continue to insist that it is only they themselves who know what ALLAH has done or should do, rather than to allow ALLAH Himself to reveal what he has done and why He has done it.

6.   Am 99% convinced that the Prophet (may peace be upon him) was totally aware that Women 4:157,158, when understood correctly, emphatically proclaims that Allah’s Messiah triumphantly defeated the evil plans of Jews to forever end his life. Because ending his life forever is what they intended to accomplish when they manipulated the Roman occupiers to murder by crucifixion the totally innocent son of Maryam.

7.   Am 99% convinced that the Prophet Muhammad himself was totally convinced that shubiha lahum (it appeared so unto them) as used in this verse was intended to mean that it appeared to the Jews that they had accomplished their evil plan of forever ending the Messiah’s life.

8.   Am 100% convinced that the Prophet himself was totally aware that shubiha lahum did not mean that someone who appeared to be the Messiah but who was not the Messiah was on the cross instead of the Messiah.

9.   Am 99% convinced that the Prophet himself was thankful that this one verse was written in such a profound way that virtually all Muslims but himself originally did not understand the true meaning of these two verses. That is, he thought that until a coming time when it would serve ALLAH’s purposes the most, it was preferable that most Muslims should not yet realize that the Messiah had both been killed and had been raised up from death by ALLAH to be in His own wonderful presence.

10.   Am 99% convinced that the Prophet was thankful for this misunderstanding. He strongly believed that if the new Muslims knew the whole truth of the Messiah’s death and resurrection at that time, it could have easily resulted in the necessary new Muslim movement becoming absorbed by the more established Christian movement. This then would have introduced the dangerous potential of the Muslims not fulfilling their unique responsibility. That responsibility was to emphatically protect the important truth of the Oneness of ALLAH from the erroneous and ridiculous teaching that the Universal ALLAH had a mother. Of course, it would also overly expose the new Muslims to their confused idea that the Christians were sponsoring a sort of family trinity arrangement of ALLAH, Maryam and their child who grew up to be the Messiah.

11.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today that he would be convinced that certain strongly defensive postures needed in the earlier Muslim movement are not the perspectives that will help Muslims deal with the threatening realities Muslims are facing today. So he would be enthusiastically teaching that the Islamic movement now has a sufficiently stabilized identity and sufficient momentum to no longer be in danger of being absorbed or misled by certain unnecessarily complicated teachings in the Christian movement.

12.   Am 100% convinced that were the Prophet living today, he would help Muslims realize that no Christians had ever considered there to be a trinity which consisted of ALLAH ,Maryam and their son the Messiah.

13.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today that he would castigate Christian leaders for not correcting the unfortunate use of the word “person” in their futile, often counterproductive trinity formula. This is when they unwisely used the word “person” in their attempt to create a formula for explaining the unexplainable mystery of ALLAH which they describe as a God of Trinity but who remains One God.

14.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today he would be justified if he were to severely criticize the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. They continue to mislead millions by erroneously referring to the pure Maryam (Mary) as the “Mother of God” or “Mother of ALLAH”.

15.   Am 99% convinced that when the Prophet remained alive, that his hope and conviction was that at the proper future time, ALLAH would reveal to all Muslims that Women 4:157,158 does truly teach that the son of Maryam both died and rose from death. Therefore, I am convinced that he would agree that it is more than past the time for the Risen Messiah to have a more understood role in Islam and in the personal lives of Muslims everywhere than they were ready for when the Prophet remained alive.

16.   Am 100% convinced that the Prophet knew that Maryam 19:33, 34 was not teaching that the words “raised alive” as used in this verse meant that the Messiah would someday return to this earth so he would live here again so he would some day die here so that he could finally be raised alive here at the Final Resurrection. Rather, the Prophet realized that the Messiah was indeed “raised alive” from his borrowed Jerusalem tomb.

17.   Am 100% convinced that the Prophet knew that verse 19:33 and the one after it were indeed teaching the reality that the Messiah had a unique birth and a unique death, and a unique resurrection, each of which had already taken place at the time of the Quran, but that many doubted that the death and resurrection had already occurred.

18.   Am 100% convinced that the Prophet was quite aware of the subtle but important differences in the two similar verses about the birth, death and being raised alive of the Messiah and the birth, death, and being raised alive of Yahya (John the Baptist). He fully understood that though both had died, the Messiah had been raised alive but that Yahya was still awaiting the final resurrection.

19.   Am 100% convinced that the reasons the Prophet did not clarify the difference between the Messiah’s- birth, death and resurrection verses and the Yahya-birth, death and resurrection verses, were the same reasons previously discussed, that a clarification at that time could have caused unnecessary complications for the beliefs of the new Muslims.

20.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today, he would emphasize to Muslims everywhere the unique context in the Quran of the statement which appears to teach that the Messiah had neither been killed nor crucified. He would patiently explain that the previous verses reveal that the Jews had consistently done so many horrible, evil acts such as breaking treaties, murdering ALLAH’s own Messiah, and even maliciously speaking contemptible lies against the pure virgin ALLAH had chosen to be the mother of his own Messiah. Consequently, he would emphasize that the Holy Quran was totally justified in heaping ridicule on the Jews for being total failures in the one important thing that their evil minds planned to do well. They desperately wanted to forever end the life of the one courageous man who so effectively exposed the darkness of their own hearts by people being able to observe the vivid contrast between the religious leader’s evil intentions and the Messiah’s own innocence and pure motives. But these Jews were even failures at murder. So the Quran’s ridicule of them was complete when it exposed the reality that the man whom it appeared to them that they had successfully ended his life forever, was instead raised by ALLAH to new life. So they truly had neither killed nor crucified him.

21.   Am 100% convinced that were the Prophet living today, he would graciously help Muslims realize that the Quran truly does not literally teach that the Messiah was neither killed nor crucified. He would further reveal that those who insist that the Quran literally and definitely teaches that he was not historically executed by crucification are the ones who are guilty of the absurd conjective.    For to kill or crucify literally means to produce permanent death. But, because ALLAH did not allow his Messiah to remain permanently dead, it was totally appropriate for the Quran to state in a precise context which was ridiculing the failure of the Jews, that he had not been killed or crucified. This ridicule was appropriate because it appeared to the Jews that his life had been permanently ended but it had not been because ALLAH raised him up alive. So in a strict literal sense, when the true outcomes of kill and crucify are included, he had not been killed or crucified.

22.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today that he would graciously explain that to continue to believe that ALLAH arranged for someone to appear to be the Messiah on the cross who was not the Messiah, unintentionally cheapens both ALLAH and Islam. It is well known that both the American CIA and the treacherous Israeli Mossad (Gestapo) could pull off such clever deception. Therefore, to teach that the ALMIGHTY ALLAH would lower Himself to waste His Glorious Might and His Infinite Wisdom to accomplish an amateur impersonation which could easily be duplicated by either of these two notorious, nefarious organizations is to thoughtlessly drag the exalted reputation of ALLAH through the mud. In beautiful contrast to the alleged superficial substitution theory, for ALLAH to raise a totally deceased man to new life and then to transport him through the heavens without airplane or rocket assistance into ALLAH’s own majestic presence, that was absolutely fantastic. And that indeed required the Might and Wisdom of ALLAH. For this unprecedented, incomparable triumph over evil, there was absolutely no potential for duplication by the comparatively deceitful impotent CIA or Mossad.

23.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were here today he would gently point out to one billion, three hundred million Muslims that a careful reading of all of the verses in the Quran which in any way refer to the Messiah’s death, demands and dictates that women 4: 157 and 158 must be understood to teach that the Messiah did indeed die, but rose from death. Otherwise, women 4:157 contradicts other verses in the Quran which speak of his death or imminent death or of ALLAH causing him to die.

24.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were here today, he would help Muslims realize that the previous Books and Scriptures which the Quran instructs Muslims to believe in, have not been changed, altered, distorted or corrupted. Consequently, all Muslims should know that these previous Scriptures should all be treated as trustworthy books from ALLAH. He would help them know that where the Quran speaks of anything like distorting or corrupting the Scriptures, it is referring to a similar deceitful practice that is often employed by today’s Zionist’s leaders in Israel. These men do not sneak into locked rooms at night and use magic ink to change what they have agreed to in written peace accords, written treaties and written legal agreements. Rather, with their deceitful tongues, they distort, twist and corrupt what the partner in the agreement thought was the true intent of what was written. This is what the Quran is referring to when it speaks of the Jews changing, corrupting or distorting written Scriptures. It is what they accomplished with their forked tongues and not what they did with their ink pens.

25.   Am 100% convinced that if the Prophet were living today he would laugh and laugh about how Muslims claim that the Jews changed their own written Scriptures. He would point out to Muslims that the Jews, even though they have many faults, are a very clever people. Realizing their cleverness, if they had actually changed the Scriptures as Muslims claim that they did, then all Jews would have to be, not a clever people, but the most stupid people who ever lived. Because anyone who would take the trouble to read the history of the Jews which is recorded in their Old Testament would see that the Jews have great and wonderful integrity when it comes to preserving the reliability of their own Scripture. Because no people with any intelligence, if they were changing their Scriptures would ever leave in their Scriptures all of the horrible things that are said about the ancestors of today’s present Zionists. No a thousand times no, the Jews did not change their Scriptures and it is the Jews, not the Christians that the Quran mentions as distorting with their tongues the Scripture. Yes, there are many, many crimes of which certain Jews are guilty. But changing their written Scriptures is not one of them.

For Muslims to attempt to make the case that because one verb in the Quran was used one time implying that the previous Scriptures have been corrupted, puts Muslims in very bad company. It brings Muslims down to the level of George Bush. This crooked thinking man can take a few words and either make an international out cry out of them or even an excuse for a virtual unilateral invasion of a sovereign nation.

This President has made an art form out of believing that certain distorted information is the truth. Then his servile media spin machine convinces such a high percentage of Americans that a lie has become the truth, that those who attempt to stand up for the true truth are labeled as unpatriotic or are referred to on cable TV as despicable as the former President of the U.S., Jimmy Carter, was described again and again on the T.V. talk show of Somebody and Colmes on the Bush Administration’s Fox News Network.

It is somewhat similar in Islam. Many Muslim leaders and school teachers have repeated so many times that the Quran teaches that the unchangeable Scriptures in existence previous to the Quran have somehow been changed. So truth has been turned upside down by some leaders in Islam whom Muslims should expect to trust. Those who will dare to stand up for the validity of these Scriptures will be labeled as bad Muslims, traitors, unbelievers or liars. But judgment Day will reveal who possesses truth and who twists truth, whether they are Fox commentators or Al Jazeera commentators.

26.   Am 99% convinced that if the Prophet were living today, he would give this advice to those Muslims who have already embraced the courageous Messiah who did not deceptively avoid death but who encountered death and with ALLAH’s help, defeated it.

“If you have already taken the name Christian, you may remain with that name if you wish, so that you avoid bouncing back and forth between the terms Muslim and Christian. But please be aware that it is not the term you use which pleases ALLAH . Instead, it is a tender heart and a love for ALLAH, a love for His Messiah, a love for your family and friends, a love for widows and orphans and when ALLAH provides you the strength, even a love for your enemies, which pleases ALLAH.

“But also realize that it was unbelievers who originally called the Risen Messiah’s followers, Christians. Their intention was to ridicule them. So that name did not have ALLAH as its source like the name Ishmael, which means ‘God hears,’ had ALLAH as its source. Neither did the terms Christianity or Trinity ever appear in the Scriptures preceding the Quran and therefore the terms themselves have no binding authority on those who choose to recognize the authority ALLAH has bestowed on His Risen Messiah.

27.   If you continue to foolishly insist that the most outrageous, unjust crime to ever occur in the history of man, did not occur, you deeply offend ALLAH. By Islam unitedly denying that this horrible crime occurred, and by proudly proclaiming to all people everywhere that this shameful event cruelly perpetrated against the Messiah by his own people, did not occur, you do something terrible to yourselves. You actually beg ALLAH to imprison all Muslims in their own dark cages. You virtually plead with him to prevent you from making progress. For true progress is built on a sound foundation of justice and truth. So if you deny truth in something so significant to ALLAH as His own Messiah’s murder, you shout to Him an ugly message:

“Oh ALLAH, we find great satisfaction in worshipping along side of You a second god, our ugly idol of ignorance.”

To continue to cover up such a great crime for the sake of your pride and your tradition, gives a terrible message about Muslims, multitudes of whom are quite noble. But this stubborn unwillingness to acknowledge this ugly murder gives a horrible message about the nobility of Muslims. You are virtually telling the world that as long as the crime was committed against someone who is more revered by Christians than by Muslims, it is no big deal to claim that ALLAH’s only Messiah did not suffer brutality at the hands of hostile Jews.

And don’t hide behind that worn out excuse that you don’t believe that ALLAH would allow someone as good as the Messiah to suffer the indignity of dying on a cross. To supposedly protect him from that indignity, you turn him into a coward who allows some poor innocent person to suffer indignity and cruel torture instead of him. So you are quite comfortable with making ALLAH’s Messiah a coward rather than to allow him to be courageous. And you are even comfortable in making the pure ALLAH complicit in the despicable crime of putting some innocent bystander on the cross instead of the man who exposed the crimes of the Jewish establishment so much that they murdered him.

And if you think he cringed from the suffering on the cross when he prayed in the garden for not his own will to be done but for ALLAH’s will to be done, you are wrong. It was his being cut off from the precious spiritual presence of ALLAH, a union that he had continually experienced, which he dreaded. Being abruptly and totally cut off from that precious presence caused him to cry out in agony, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

If it was the physical suffering that he dreaded, he would not have turned down the strong sedative wine which the Romans offered him to relieve his severe pain. Please don’t think that he could just say to himself that he would only be cut off from ALLAH’s presence for only three days so that he could endure it. No, he was plunged into deplorable darkness and horrendous separation while he was temporarily being ALLAH’s Mighty Sacrifice, and any knowledge of a future in ALLAH’s glorious presence was almost totally blacked out.

“It is a shame for all of you to continue to tolerate such calloused criminal behavior as your denial of the day light, public murder of ALLAH’s own Messiah. If you don’t repent of your callousness, do you realize that you will be complicit in the Israelis’ crime when the awful day of judgment arrives?

For all of these twenty seven reasons I am now 100% convinced that millions of Muslims will very soon acknowledge that the Messiah did indeed die on the cruel Roman execution apparatus, but was triumphantly raised by ALLAH to be in His blessed presence until he returns to the earth to rule and to judge.

Because of ALLAH’s Greatness, what was once intended as a vicious murder, turned out for good not only for the Messiah who was the victim of that crime. All who are dispossessed were also victorious. For it is now the Risen Messiah who will vindicate the dispossessed when he will be ALLAH’s appointed Judge against those individuals and nations who ruthlessly exploit, torment and commit crimes against other less powerful people and nations. This will occur even though the perpetrators of these crimes may try to hide behind the name “Christian,” or behind the title, “ALLAH’s Chosen People.”

For those who desire a sign in order to help them believe the reasonableness of my awkward attempt to demonstrate that the Quran does indeed agree with the previous Scriptures, that the Messiah has indeed died and risen, this is the sign I believe ALLAH will provide

The Sign

President George W. Bush and what he represents regarding imposing himself in the straight Road of Islam, will soon be uprooted from the Muslim Middle East. As a strong gust of wind suddenly uproots a small bush, a mighty force will suddenly uproot the small Bush from the place he has planted himself in the edge of the Straight Path of Islam. Uninvited, Bush has chosen to unilaterally plant himself inside of the Straight Path and from this path he will soon be uprooted.

For those who do not need such a sign before they chose to believe the reasonableness of my own awkward attempt to explain the reality of our Messiah’s death and resurrection, I pray this for you. May ALLAH abundantly bless you as you enjoy the spiritual presence of your loving, victorious, Risen Messiah.

Finally, and how soon, I have no idea, but I am also convinced of this coming eventuality. A significant number of Jewish people, especially as a result of their Muslim brothers’ new commitment to ALLAH’s Risen Messiah, will one day follow Muslims in their faith in the man who is ALLAH’s choice to be the Judge of all people of the Middle East and of the entire world. So they also will finally experience the pervasive reign of the just King for which we all long. When that occurs, the Israelis who have new hearts will treat all Palestinians with true justice. On that future day we will enjoy a world not ruled by a democracy, not ruled by an arrogant United States or even a world ruled by an enlightened United Nations. Rather, ALLAH’s anointed King will rule with total justice and with no greed or favoritism over a world wide Kingdom of love, peace and justice. It is then that the words of the ancient Prophet Isaiah will be fulfilled; words spoken when he was announcing the birth of the coming Messiah.

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Isaiah 9

As for the U.S., which is still mighty today, (July 23,2003) many leaders in my nation have turned a once sincere faith in a living, Risen Messiah, into an excuse for international exploitation, into an unneeded use of killer weapons and into arrogance. Therefore, those who drag the name Christian into international disrepute will experience appalling, unexpected consequences, unless they sincerely and deeply repent of their wickedness. Their unwise arrogance will bring to them what arrogance brought to the first King of Israel. I refer to the always unstable, and finally partially insane, King Saul.

As King of the nation of Israel, he became so proud that he thought it was he, himself who had the final say on what was right and what was wrong in this world. Consequently, the wise Prophet Samuel abruptly informed him that such arrogance is like the evil of worshipping an idol. So he was firmly told by that Prophet who was speaking on the behalf of ALLAH , that as a direct result of his evil arrogance, his kingdom would soon be ripped away from him. His arrogance in thinking that it was himself, not ALLAH, who determines what is ultimately right and ultimately wrong had forced ALLAH to reject him from being king.

Similarly, the now mighty U.S. arrogantly concludes that it has the right to make its own rules so that it can use its own killer weapons for ruling the world. It has unwisely decided that it does not even need the input of other nations concerning what is right and what is wrong, what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, what benefits all people and what does not benefit all people.

Regretfully, it has become obvious to the entire world that the awesome power of the U.S. to arrogantly rule the world has become another god for the U.S. to enthusiastically worship. Yet, our ruler (President) ignores our obnoxious arrogance and proudly proclaims to the entire world that we are a nation filled with compassion.

Significantly, though the U.S. President proclaimed to the world that they should recognize our nation as being compassionate, two weeks after I wrote the words about the U.S. seeing its awesome power to rule the world as another god to worship, the Japanese Mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, was quoted in the Jordan Times voicing similar sentiments about the U.S. viewing its world power as a god to worship. He said:

“The nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty, the central international agreement guiding the elimination of nuclear weapons is on the verge of collapse. The chief cause is U.S. nuclear policy. By openly declaring the possibility of preemptive nuclear first strike and calling for resumed research into mini nukes and other so called fusible nuclear weapons, the U.S. appears to worship nuclear weapons as God.”

But, according to a Heritage Foundation Expert, because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor over sixty-two years ago, Japan has virtually disqualified itself from being able to criticize the U.S. about its nuclear weapons policy. What arrogance! Does this supposed expert from the Heritage Foundation actually take his own words seriously?

As much as it will surprise the simplistic U. S. President, there is a contradiction between the U. S. being a nation of compassion and its manipulating nations into proliferating the world with nation destroying nuclear weapons. But this kind of confused thinking becomes acceptable when the worship of the One and only ALLAH is replaced with the worship of weapons, and especially with the worship of nuclear weapons, as the Hiroshima Mayor suggested.

But as ALLAH’s Scriptures clearly reveal and as the first King of Israel suddenly experienced, ALLAH does not allow any king of any kingdom to make an idol of either its own wealth or its own power. Kings, Royal Families and Kingdoms may temporarily assume that they have privilege and power and entitlement that they do not have. But when ALLAH decides that their game of corruption is over, He will bring their assumed privilege of entitlement to a sudden halt like contaminated water quickly disappearing down a sewer drain.

Nor, does ALLAH continue to allow any nation, no matter how strong and unchallengeable that nation considers itself to be, to continue to practice arrogance, exploitation and military idolatry, thinking that itself, not ALLAH determines what is right and wrong. In the absence of deep, pervasive, immediate repentance, which results in practical changes in international policies, all indicators point to one shocking reality. The mighty supremacy of the United States of America will soon experience what King Saul of Israel experienced. Our superior empire will be rudely ripped away and our own great nation will experience great loss.

Yes, as the ancient Prophet Isaiah predicted, “of the Messiah’s government, there will be no end.” But, as the British writer William Shakespeare once observed, “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip”

So, according to the ancient Prophets, and according to the Messiah himself, before world peace becomes pervasive, before the peaceful reign of the Messiah will rule over the whole earth, humanity will continue to slip into wars and chaos. So there will be various catastrophic events from both nature and from man, before peace will reign.

Amazingly , there are students of the Bible who presume to know where and when sweeping catastrophic political events and catastrophic events of nature will occur. I personally am quite skeptical from my own reading of the Prophets that such a precise road map can be ascertained.

But of one thing I am personally convinced. There are multiple indications that the time for the nations of the world to continue to be forced to dance only to the music played by the now powerful U. S. is rapidly drawing to a close. Indeed, history may look back and say that the last great victory attained by the U.S. for which the whole world could applaud, was neither the quick U.S. victory over the Taliban, nor was it the smashing victory over Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Rather, it was the courageous victory of the one time cancer victim, Lance Armstrong, in the demanding Tour de France bicycle race. Yet, it may be fitting that an American professional bicyclist would receive some of the world’s final applause for the U.S. For it was two American bicycle mechanic brothers who helped introduce to the world the modern era of horrific warfare with their first airplane flight.

In the September 4, 2003 issue of the highly respected Christian Science Monitor, no less an authority than the former CIA director, Admiral Stansfield Turner, has identified arrogance as the main factor that has led to the chaotic circumstances for the U.S. in Iraq.

But the significant aspect of this authority’s article is that he introduces the subject of U.S. hubris/arrogance by a long introduction which reveals how it was only nine years after arrogantly entering an unneeded war that the thriving Empire of Athens had lost their empire. They foolishly entered the war on the basis of false assumptions about an easy military victory. But the whole war was arrogantly built on fallacious logic of why Athens went to an unneeded war in the first place.

The parallels with the U.S. situation in Iraq are both undeniable and ominous. The main question is, due to the horrible devastation that this shoot from the lip President has brought to the U.S. economy when much of this money should have been spent on the U.S. infrastructure, the nine years that Athens continued to endure after their ridiculous choice to go to a quicksand war, sounds overly optimistic for the battered, bruised, and bleeding U.S. Empire.

Using Common Sense

On a recent visit to my dentist who has his office in a Seattle suburb, due to much less traffic than I expected, I arrived at his office much earlier than my appointment. Therefore, I decided to go for a prayer walk. (I find that if I walk while I am praying there is no chance of falling asleep.)

As I was walking in an area that was totally new to me, I received an unexpected lesson in common sense. As I was walking by the side of the road, part of the road curved to the right while part of it continued straight.

As I decided to follow the curve to the right I was immediately confronted with a quite large red sign that I had previously not noticed as I had been looking down.

It said in large letters:

DO NOT ENTER!

Then in much smaller letters: “Buses Only”

When I was caught by surprise by the Do Not Enter!, I immediately started to turn around, not wanting to go to an area where I was forbidden to go. Then I thought, how can they tell people not to enter here when this leads to a public playground area where people are welcome?

It was then that I noticed the much smaller words: “Buses only.” below the “Do Not Enter.” So I had to read the “Buses Only" before the “Do Not Enter” made sense. Though the sign definitely, literally and 100% said that no one was to enter unless the person were a bus, those exact, precise words were not the message which the sign intended to send. The person who made the sign made a realistic assumption about people’s common sense. That is, the sign assumed that people who were walking and not driving could figure out that the literal, exact wording of the “Do Not Enter” sign was only intended for persons who were driving a motor vehicle. Therefore, though the very clear sign which emphatically was telling me not to enter when I read its exact words was not really telling me not to enter though that is what the exact words were saying.

It then suddenly struck me that this same common sense approach about not taking all words literally must be used by Muslims in the verse which at first appears to give the message that the Messiah was not killed or crucified. Common sense and reflection changes the message of this amazing verse when combined with the verse after it, to something wonderful and positive. The two verses when combined are intended to send the message that certain hostile Jews were total failure at murder because ALALH used His Wisdom and Might to raise His Messiah up alive. Is that conclusion not common sense when all factors are taken into consideration?

The large red sign reading, “Do Not Enter” truly did not mean to not enter. But I did not realize that until I read the next words which were easy to miss because of how strong the “Do Not Enter” words impacted my mind.

In a similar manner, the strong, clear, victorious words of “They killed him not nor crucified him,” strongly impact our minds. But it is not until we force ourselves to focus on the wonderful proclamation stated so eloquently in the following verse that we can fully grasp the full dimensions of the victory being proclaimed in the previous verse.

“They killed him not, nor crucified him, “do not actually mean that he was not cruelly nailed to a Roman cross. They do not truly mean that ALLAH’s Messiah was not dead for almost three days. But only the following verse enables us to understand that through ALLAH’s Might and Wisdom, the ALMIGHTY totally cancelled the evil action of the Jews because “ALLAH raised him up.” ALLAH raised him up alive! “ALLAH raised him up unto Himself. “ “ALLAH IS EVER Mighty, Wise” “ALLAH is ever Mighty, Wise!”