@Red Sky at Morning If you go back only a few decades Mohammed Ali thought gentiles were white people only.
It doesn't quite have the same weight when you consider how Jews were Hellenised so it's like comparing an Indian to an Arab ie both the same skintone and culturally similar.
Also in the context of that verse being a slave didn't refer to physical bondage but referred to the context of religious law ie the Jew was under the law and hence a slave whereas a gentile was free.
In another context Jesus compared gentiles to dogs and Jews to children.
I'm not at all claiming Christianity is racist because I get the message..but it's about how it's interpreted and applied historically and moreso than that it's about how your fellow Christians attempt to attack Islam. I'm countering those attacks with only a small number of hadiths.
It's shocking to me how Christians even compare Jesus with Mohammed considering the body of work contained in hadith collections is more than the entire bible X 5 if not more.
It's basically a case where you guys can quote the beatitudes and present Jesus as the most merciful person who ever existed even though half the time he was criticising /attacking people (not kind at all) and when he returns you believe he's going to destroy people in the billions literally.
His passive nature the first time round is the example of prophet Mohammed in Mecca. His active nature when he returns is the example of prophet Mohammad in Madina.
The hijra/migration story is a foreshadowing
going slightly offtopic (and entirely offtopic of the op) but still related to this theme (foreshadowing)
take a look at the context of Isaiah 40:3
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lorda]">
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
confirmed in John 1
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”d]">[d]
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
normally muslims quote this to suggest there was not only Jesus but 'the prophet' who was expected to come.
Makes obvious sense, since there's the messiah, elijah AND a prophet.
Yet Jesus confirmed that Elijah had already been (we usually assume this was John the Baptist himself).
John the Baptist confirms he is the one in the wilderness calling
????
but not really though, this is a poor translation.
Another translation from the Complete Jewish Bible
23 He answered in the words of Yesha‘yahu the prophet, “I am
The voice of someone crying out:
‘In the desert make the way of Adonai straight!’”
in otherwords, John the Baptist is the voice, the one calling
BUT what is he saying?
‘In the desert make the way of Adonai straight!’”
Islam IS the 'straight path' and we know in the bible the Wilderness was connected with the desert of Paran and Ismail.
Now look at the general themes in Isaiah 40 and compare them to Isaiah 42
The theme is about God's monothiestic nature
the same is true in the New Song prophecy in Isaiah 42 which i've stated many times is about the religion of islam
Isaiah 42
Let the desert and its cities raise their voices,
the villages where Kedar lives;
let those living in Sela shout for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops!
12 Let them give glory to Adonai
and proclaim his praise in the coastlands.
13 Adonai will go out like a soldier,
like a soldier roused to the fury of battle;
he will shout, yes, he raises the battle cry;
as he triumphs over his foes.
of course, this is strongly connected with the active aspect of Prophet Mohammad SAW when he went to Madina...and i've already covered that Sela is a reference to Madina.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sela_(Saudi_Arabia)
Isaiah 42
“For a long time I have held my peace,
I have been silent, restrained myself.
Now I will shriek like a woman in labor,
panting and gasping for air.
15 I will devastate mountains and hills,
wither all their vegetation,
turn the rivers into islands
and dry up the lakes.
16 The blind I will lead on a road they don’t know,
on roads they don’t know I will lead them;
I will turn darkness to light before them,
and straighten their twisted paths.
Isaiah 40
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
(1) Guide us to the straight Way.
(سورة الفاتحة, Al-Faatiha, Chapter #1, Verse #6)
(2) The fools among the people will say: "What hath turned them from the Qibla to which they were used?" Say: To Allah belong both east and West: He guideth whom He will to a Way that is straight.
(سورة البقرة, Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #142)
3) Mankind was one single nation, and Allah sent Messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed; but the People of the Book, after the clear Signs came to them, did not differ among themselves, except through selfish contumacy. Allah by His Grace Guided the believers to the Truth, concerning that wherein they differed. For Allah guided whom He will to a path that is straight.
(سورة البقرة, Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #213)
(8) Wherewith Allah guideth all who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,- guideth them to a path that is straight.
(سورة المائدة, Al-Maaida, Chapter #5, Verse #16)
^^
Isaiah 42
The blind I will lead on a road they don’t know,
on roads they don’t know I will lead them;
I will turn darkness to light before them,
and straighten their twisted paths.
these are strongly connected with
Psalm 84
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
in the true context, the reason David wrote this was because at the time there was no Jewish temple. He was referring on one hand to the israelite's journey where they went into the wilderness with Moses (according to one jewish historian they spent 38 years in MECCA!) and it culminates after him when Solomon built the jewish temple. This presents a journey that is then repeated on a bigger scale through islam and the second coming of Jesus.
'Bakkah' is another name for Mecca. Even if you explore the etymology where it refers to 'weeping' it is symbolic of Hagar's weeping when she held Ismael and then the miracle of the zamzam water/well took place.
Genesis 21
6 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
What is this whole journey symbolising?
Habakkuk 3
God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
Teman is a symbolic reference to 'south' ie that God would come from the south...and the holy one from Mt Paran!!1
could it be any more clear?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Paran
Deuteronomy 33
He said: "The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.
the context, Jude 1 explains
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
again the theme of 'ungodly' springs up just like in Isaiah 42, but in the context Jude's warning was of the ungodly was referring to fake Christians.
Even deeper in the context
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
isn't that like all the christians here claiming to have this special relationship with God via the holy spirit whilst they go on astral projecting out of their backside claiming to see false angels and then use their own experience to attack the prophet of islam? This is dangerous territory.
the extent of attacks against Prophet Mohammad SAW is on a different level esp with the christian online presence where they are all over the search rankings, forums, youtube (esp the comments) constantly attacking the prophet himself...
But going back the prophecies.
it's just like Jesus said in John 16
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
this is an on going prophecy before the second coming and it is finally fullfilled when the Mahdi comes but was a reference to Mohammad SAW first and foremost.
The Mahdi as the 12 caliph of Quraysh is the final of the 12 princes promised to Hagar in Genesis.
The reason im presenting all of this is because each time prophet Mohammad/islam is attacked by christians on here, it opens up a lot of arguments on my side.
I guess the truth really is too much to bear for you people and it's no wonder
2 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
actually
@Red Sky at Morning you've been more than respectful, i'm not referring to you in this post but christians in general because ive spoken to so many and each time i discussed theology it reached a point where they began attacking prophet Mohammad directly. There have been, maybe 4-5 in total christians who have behaved really well,.but even so everything above still has to be acknowledged with clear arguments for/against so if you have a response to this i'd appreciate it. i realised ive made a fairly long post but the theme in itself is not a lengthy one.
You have to join the dots, show me how christianity/Jesus or anyone else that isn't Mohammed fulfills these propheciesreferring to Mt Paran, the wilderness etc. Who was that 'prophet' the jews referred to in john 1 for example?
i've obv already presented other arguments about this whole theme surrounding the appearance of prophet Mohammad ie as a gentile/ismaelite and another lawbringer preceding the second coming of Jesus, so my argument overall is pretty solid and rooted in
one of the major points to appreciate all of these texts IS the hajj season.
if you reasd the new song prophecy in Isaiah 42, you compare it to Psalm 84 as an example..you want to look at what the hajj is.
There is nothing like it in the world...and knowing all of this is a pilgrimage for God...that obv adds a lot of weight to those prophecies.
If you look at all human history and then read these prophecies/texts, i don't think you'll find anything close what islam and the hajj represents FOR the monotheistic belief (which is afterall the central theme in isaiah 42).
Keep in mind also that the Hajj is strongly connected with the story of Abraham and Hagar/Ismael ie the walking from safah/marwah symbolises her struggle before the zamzam miracle.
Final point
how would all of this come together ie where does islam and jerusalem 'meet'? it's with the second coming of Jesus ultimate, i believe but it is even deeper.
if you go Read Revelation 12 and the prophecy of the woman..it talks about the woman going into the wilderness to escape from the dragon who makes war against her..again this is strongly connected with islam.
it ends with
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stoodc]">[c] on the sand of the sea.
in the context
-wilderness
-commandments
-Jesus
this cannot refer to Christians who do not follow commandments like the mosaic law or shariah law. Actually keeping with the earlier prophecies i've highlighted, Teman is actually Yemen too or maybe it just generally meant 'south' ie arabia. I do not truely know what this means in the context but like all of these, the relevance to islam is too strong for you to consciously ignore.
