The Antichrist in Muhammad: Introduction to the Series
We will compare the teachings of Muhammad and his Qur'an regarding Jesus to the Catholic Church's claims regarding Jesus
We have seen in our prior series entitled "The Heart's Witness Against Muhammad" how, in his moral fruits, Muhammad can be identified as a false prophet. We will see in this series entitled "The Antichrist in Muhammad" how, in his doctrinal fruits, Muhammad can also be identified as a false prophet twice over. This series is nothing less than an effort to be responsive to the Lord's warnings regarding false prophets..
PrintMuhammad's acts as contained in the earliest Muslim biographies of Muhammad were then compared to the natural moral law, a universal law of morality that binds all men, including supposed prophets. It was quite readily seen that the claim--supposedly to have been revealed--that Muhammad was the best of all mankind is unsupportable by reason. Reason alone should tell you that Muhammad's claims--and his supposed revelations in the Qur'an--are not reasonably trustworthy.
Indeed, I think we can reasonably take any Catholic saint at random, compare his or her life to Muhammad, and Muhammad would, in each and every instance, lose the test. Muhammad is morally inferior to any Catholic saint, and, what is more, morally inferior even to any reasonably pious and imperfect Catholic who has not yet escaped the tyranny of venial sins or lesser imperfections.
What is more striking is that each and every one of these Catholic saints or pious Catholics would immediately confess that their moral integrity pales next to the perfect integrity of the human nature of Jesus which was joined to God the Son. None--even St. Francis of Assisi--would claim to be the perfect exemplar of humanity, the best of all mankind, the perfect model of conduct.
Looked at in this manner, we see that Muhammad's claim is not only unsupportable, but unbelievably pretentious: indeed, even risible. It is perhaps for this reason that Muhammad found so many of his contemporaries lampooning him, and so many Jews and Christians rejecting him.
In his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:15-23), Jesus warned us of false prophets, and enjoined upon us the obligation to be vigilant.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them."
We have seen how, in his moral fruits, Muhammad can be identified as a false prophet. We will see in this series how, in his doctrinal fruits, Muhammad can also be identified as a false prophet twice over. This series is nothing less than an effort to be responsive to the Lord's warnings.
Therefore, in this next series of articles entitled "The Antichrist in Muhammad," we will look at Muhammad from the perspective of the Faith. In particular, we will compare the teachings of Muhammad and his Qur'an regarding Jesus to the Catholic Church's claims regarding Jesus.
Jesus (in Arabic, 'Isa) appears in the Qur'an and its supposed revelations, is referred to in generally positive terms, but the little that the Qur'an gives to Jesus with one hand pales compared to what it takes away from Jesus with the other hand.
It may be said that what a Catholic or any Christian holds to be the most significant about Jesus is denied of Jesus by Muhammad. The Jesus of the Qur'an is spiritually and doctrinally emasculated.
So much does the Qur'an detract from Jesus and the Catholic Church's understanding of Jesus, that, by the end of this series, it will be apparent to any reasonable inquirer that Muhammad's teachings contained in the Qur'an and the Sunna are deeply anti-Catholic, and, more broadly, deeply anti-Christian. Muhammad's teachings and the teachings in the Qur'an offend the understanding of Christ not only of the Catholic Church, but also the Orthodox Church and almost all mainline Protestant churches and ecclesial communions.
In this initial article, we ought to explain our title to the series, which some might consider a little offensive. The best place to begin in understanding the choice of title is with the Catholic understanding of the "Antichrist." Accordingly, we will begin this series with a short review of the Scriptural, Patristic, and traditional teachings on the Antichrist.
Christ comes from the Greek word, Christos, which is the equivalent to the Hebrew word Mashiach (usually transliterated as Messiah), meaning anointed one. In Arabic, the word for Messiah is Masih. Anti, in Greek, is a prefix meaning "against" or "opposed ...
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KarlVDH..who told you trying to convert muslims to Christ "doesn't achieve anything, anyway"?You are not a christian. I DID tried to convert them as they tried to convert me.In our exchange of ideas they were clearly the losers..after all , it's not easy to convert any rationhal, sane christian to a forgery invented by a false prophet called muhammad, who happenned to be not just a confessed liar, but also a terrorist, mass-murderer, rapist, thief,womaniser, warlord,warmonger, slave, trader, torturer, pedophile..amongst many other unflathering things.
Read or Listen to the false prophet's words:
Qur'an 8:12 "Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: 'I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes."
Tabari VII:133
Ishaq:387 "When Muhammad saw Hamzah he said, 'If Allah gives me victory over the Quraysh at any time, I shall mutilate thirty of their men!' When the Muslims saw the rage of the Prophet they said, 'By Allah, if we are victorious over them, we shall mutilate them in a way which no Arab has ever mutilated anybody."
Qur'an 5:37 "The [Christian] disbelievers will long to get out of the Fire, but never will they get out there from; and theirs will be an enduring torture."
Jorge, a correction. I did not say anything about "ALL" Muslims. I did say I was talking about the vast majority, and I happen to be correct about it.
I did not say they didn't defend their faith. But they didn't proseletyze, either. In fact, the differences between us rarely came up. and when they did, it was an exchange of ideas, traditions and beliefs... not a debate. Such a conversation wouldn't have accomplished a thing anyway, on either side.
KarlVDH..I am astounded that you say you have lots of time and experience with "regular" muslims from many different coutries and have never, ever been subject to any form of islamic apologetics, dawah,or worse..taqyya(deception). I also have had contact with muslims and I can tell you that they obviously tried to deffend islam in a proletysing manner(dawah) and even tried to rape..yes..to rape my woman.Obvioulsy most of these nmusklimns I have had conhtact with also give contributions to islamic "charities" that basically are used to fund islamic terror worldwide, death, destruction..from mali to afghanistan but for you, because you beleive they are all "honest" and "regular" people..all is "OK". wake up and smell the smoke karl:
Bukhari:V4B52N220 "Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been made victorious with terror.'"
Qur'an:8:12 "I shall terrorize the infidels. So wound their bodies and incapacitate them because they oppose Allah and His Apostle."
Qur'an:8:57 "If you gain mastery over them in battle, inflict such a defeat as would terrorize them, so that they would learn a lesson and be warned."
Ishaq:326 "If you come upon them, deal so forcibly as to terrify those who would follow, that they may be warned. Make a severe example of them by terrorizing Allah's enemies."
Qur'an:8:67 "It is not fitting for any prophet to have prisoners until he has made a great slaughter in the land."
Tabari IX:113 "Allah permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain, they have the right to food and clothing. Treat women well for they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves. Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies lawful in his Qur'an."
You are inflicting self-deception(self-taqyya) without any doubt.
But Jorge, I'm not "wishing" anything... I know these people. I've BEEN t their countries, spent a lot of time there. I got to know Iraqi farmers, Kuwaiti businessmen, Saudis, Pakistanis, Indian Muslims, and you know what they all have in common? The desire to live in peace and make a living, feed their kids, succeed in their businesses... not one I ever spent time with, other than captured prisoners- the vast minority, and usually from elsewhere- wished me dead or embraced Jihadism. That's not "wishful thinking." That's the reality of experience, and the reality of these people. The TRUTH is that just like Westboro and the Klan aren't accurate representations of our faith, the Jihadists an terrorists arent representative of theirs; they're nothing but fundamentalist extremists and nothing more. They are an extreme but violent minority, and no matter how much you with it were otherwise, that's the plain truth. The rational, religious,observant peaceful Muslim going about his daily business wishing you no more harm than yoou do him... THAT, Jorge, is the average, majority Muslim... JUST LIKE those you've claimed to have met... and he nhas no more use or respect for the terrorist who has coopted his religion than you or I have.
KarlVDH..wishing that islam was the nice peaceful tolerant religion or faking andpretending it is, will not hide the truth. Comparing two completely different and opposite ideologies like christianity and islam is absurd, except if you highlight the obvious contradiction between the two: Christ preaches love, tolerance, peace and forgiveness; muhammad preaches hatred, war, violence and unforgiveness.the vast majorit of muslims DON'T read the quran; they learn it filtered via the imans, sheiks, or other indirect sources.they already receive a false version of islam, more acceptable , but the truth is here, clear and impossible to missisterpret the way you do:
Tabari IX:69 "Killing disbelievers is a small matter to us."
Tabari VIII:141 "The battle cry of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah that night was: 'Kill! Kill! Kill!'"
Bukhari:V5B59N512 "The Prophet had their men killed, their woman and children taken captive."
Ishaq:489 "Do the bastards think that we are not their equal in fighting? We are men who think that there is no shame in killing."
Qur'an 2:191 "And kill them wherever you find and catch them. Drive them out from where they have turned you out; for Al-Fitnah (polytheism, disbelief, oppression) is worse than slaughter."
Qur'an 33:60 "Truly, if the Hypocrites stir up sedition, if the agitators in the City do not desist, We shall urge you to go against them and set you over them. Then they will not be able to stay as your neighbors for any length of time. They shall have a curse on them. Whenever they are found, they shall be seized and slain without mercy - a fierce slaughter - murdered, a horrible murdering."
Bukhari:V4B52N270 "Allah's Messenger said, 'Who is ready to kill Ashraf? He has said injurious things about Allah and His Apostle.' Maslama got up saying, 'Would you like me to kill him?' The Prophet proclaimed, 'Yes.' Maslama said, 'Then allow me to lie so that I will be able to deceive him.' Muhammad said, 'You may do so.'"
Ishaq:368 "Ka'b's body was left prostrate [humbled in submission]. After his fall, all of the Nadir Jews were brought low. Sword in hand we cut him down. By Muhammad's order we were sent secretly by night. Brother killing brother. We lured him to his death with guile [cunning or deviousness]. Traveling by night, bold as lions, we went into his home. We made him taste death with our deadly swords. We sought victory for the religion of the Prophet."
Tabari VII:97
Ishaq:368 "We carried Ka'b's head and brought it to Muhammad during the night. We saluted him as he stood praying and told him that we had slain Allah's enemy. When he came out to us we cast Ashraf's head before his feet. The Prophet praised Allah that the poet had been assassinated and complimented us on the good work we had done in Allah's Cause. Our attack upon Allah's enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life.'"
Tabari VII:97 "The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, 'Kill any Jew who falls under your power.'"
Ishaq:369 "Thereupon Mas'ud leapt upon Sunayna, one of the Jewish merchants with whom his family had social and commercial relations and killed him. The Muslim's brother complained, saying, 'Why did you kill him? You have much fat in you belly from his charity.' Mas'ud answered, 'By Allah, had Muhammad ordered me to murder you, my brother, I would have cut off your head.' Wherein the brother said, 'Any religion that can bring you to this is indeed wonderful!' And he accepted Islam."
Bukhari:V1B1N6 "Just issue orders to kill every Jew in the country."
Jorge, once again... you can look at a verse in which God commands the wholesale slaughter of every man, woman and child in a city, and realize that it's not a literal command for us today... but you're utterly unwilling, for whatever reason, to acknowledge that the vast majority of Muslims read the Koran with the same filter of rational intellect and context. Jihadism is NOT "The" valid expression of Islam, any more than the Klan or Westboro Baptist- despite their literalistic use of the scriptures- represent us as Christians.
KArlVDH..that is true..partially. The rest of the reason is that all muslim moderates know very well islam is uterly violent, intolerant, as I've showed you in actual valid quranic commands from their false god "allah", who is nothing more than a figment of muhammad's own inflated ego and evil character.
Read Karl..read..this is DEFINITELY islam:
Qur'an:9:5 "Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war."
Qur'an:8:39 "So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world)."
Ishaq:324 "He said, 'Fight them so that there is no more rebellion, and religion, all of it, is for Allah only. Allah must have no rivals.'"
Muslim:C9B1N31 "I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and believe in me (that) I am the Messenger and in all that I have brought."
Bukhari:V4B51N73 "Allah's Apostle said, 'Know that Paradise is under the shade of swords.'"
JORGE:
"My version os islam is the ONLY vaqlid version of islam; why do you think "moderate" muslims never move a finger to oppose jihadists? because they know the jihadists are right and are indeed practicing pure islam!"
Jorge, that is patently ridiculous. The reason mideastern moderates don't stand against Jihadism is that the Jihadists have a long, colorful history of torturing, maiming and slaughtering those who oppose them. It's intimidation, pure and simple. Jihadism doesn't represent Islam, and it's not aquiesence or acceptance of their views; it's fear of violent repercussion. You REALLY haven't spent any time among thee people. They're terrified. It's that simple.
Jorge... let's try this one more time. I am not presenting these ideas as being what I believe; they are not. And I've been clear about it. What I have said, very cleaarly and in short sentences, is that a person looking at our history and using the same singular, literalistic approach to our scriptures that you're pretending is the only possible way to read the Koran could come up with the same conclusions about us as you're presenting about Islam, when in fact you yourself admit to having met Muslims who believe differently. Your answer to such an incongruity is... bafflingly... that those Muslims aren't observing their own faith correctly. You have categorized me as a Muslim, a liar, and all manner of evil for saying what I am saying, and tried to engage in the most blatant twisting of my words and attempted traps to prove a point that is demonstrably false... and I think you even know it, deep down.
Get it yet, or do you need to engage in more dishonest personal attack while your inaccurate point of view falls apart?
Jorge, why are you so desperate to justify your hate? I haven't lied, I proved nothing but the statement I actually made no matter how you try to twit it, and if all you've got is personal attack, my point is made pretty well.