NEW CREATION BOOK FOR MUSLIMS

 



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   by Phil Goble and Salim Munayer

 

?(c) Copyright 1989 by Phil Goble and Salim Munayer

 

 

            Contents

 

          1.  Soiltesting

 

 

          2.  The Straight Path of the New Creation

 

 

 

          3.  The Prayer Life of a New Creation Muslim

 

 

 

          4.  The New Creation Confession

 

 

 

          5.  The New Creation Pilgrimage

 

 

 

          6.  How to Start a House Masjid and a Messianic

 

 

 

              Madrasa for New Creation Muslims

 

 

 

              Glossary

 

 

 

              Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

?OK 1?bsp;          SOILTESTING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOW WELCOME IS THE TRUTH IN YOUR HOUSE?

 

 

 

Are you like our father Ibrahim (Abraham)?

 

 

 

When three men came to his dwelling,

 

 

 

Ibrahim could see who they really were

 

 

 

--angels in disguise.

 

 

 

So even though his wife laughed like a kafir (dis-believer), our

 

 

 

father Ibrahim

 

 

 

opened his heart

 

 

 

to their message (1) [SEE END NOTE 1].

 

 

 

Ibrahim not only recognized the truth

 

 

 

but he also fearlessly welcomed it.

 

 

 

THE FARMER AND THE FOUR KINDS OF SOIL

 

 

 

Different people react in different ways to the truth,

 

 

 

just as, when a farmer plants his seed,

 

 

 

various kinds of soil react variously.

 

 

 

THE PARABLE (MATHAL) GIVEN

 

 

 

Imagine a farmer going out to plant seed.

 

 

 

As the farmer planted the seed,

 

 

 

some fell on the edge of the path,

 

 

 

and the birds came and ate those seeds up.

 

 

 

Others fell on rocky soil

 

 

 

where they sprang up quickly;

 

 

 

but as soon as the sun came up,

 

 

 

those that were rootless and shallow plantings

 

 

 

soon withered away.

 

 

 

Other seeds fell among thorns

 

 

 

which grew up and choked them.

 

 

 

Finally, there were seeds that fell on rich soil

 

 

 

and these seeds multiplied themselves

 

 

 

in the fruit they produced--

 

 

 

some a hundred times over,

 

 

 

some sixty times over,

 

 

 

some thirty.

 

 

 

THE PARABLE (MATHAL) EXPLAINED

 

 

 

The truth comes like seed from a farmer's hand.

 

 

 

The ears that hear the truth

 

 

 

are like different kinds of soil

 

 

 

receiving the farmer's seed.

 

 

 

Ears without understanding hear the truth

 

 

 

but Shaitan (Satan) comes

 

 

 

like the birds along the path

 

 

 

and carries the truth away

 

 

 

as soon as it is planted in the hearer's heart.

 

 

 

Ears with fickle attention hear the truth

 

 

 

and welcome it at first with joy;

 

 

 

but such a hearer has no unwavering root in himself

 

 

 

and he does not last;

 

 

 

when a crisis or a persecution comes

 

 

 

on account of the truth,

 

 

 

such a hearer falls away at once.

 

 

 

Ears with divided desires hear the word,

 

 

 

but the worries of this world,

 

 

 

and the lure of riches,

 

 

 

and the pleasures of life,

 

 

 

are like thorns that choke the truth

 

 

 

which produces in such a hearer absolutely nothing.

 

 

 

However, ears with understanding hear the word

 

 

 

like rich soil receiving seed.

 

 

 

Such a hearer yields a great harvest,

 

 

 

since a hundred or sixty or thirty times

 

 

 

as many hearers may receive the truth through him.

 

 

 

He who has ears to hear the truth

 

 

 

of the following mathal (parable), let him hear!

 

 

 

THE IBN DALL (SON OF ERROR)

 

 

 

There was once a hanif (one who desires true religion)

 

 

 

who had two sons.

 

 

 

The younger said to his father,

 

 

 

"Father, according to the wasiya (will),

 

 

 

let me have the fara'id (fixed share)

 

 

 

of the mirath (inheritance)

 

 

 

that is coming to me."

 

 

 

And the father divided his means and his property

 

 

 

between the younger and the elder son.

 

 

 

Now the elder son was a devout believer who prayed

 

 

 

regularly five times a day

 

 

 

and had made the Hajj (Pilgrimage) as many times.

 

 

 

No one was respected more among the townspeople

 

 

 

for his religious devotion than this elder son.

 

 

 

He was a man who performed his prayers

 

 

 

in the mosque with absolute perfection

 

 

 

and could read the Qur'an so well

 

 

 

that he would hold the audience spellbound.

 

 

 

THE YOUNGER SON GOES ASTRAY

 

 

 

It wasn't long, however, until the younger son

 

 

 

got everything he owned together,

 

 

 

and left for a far country.

 

 

 

There he squandered his money

 

 

 

in a dissolute life of fisq (sinfulness)

 

 

 

and moral depravity.

 

 

 

And when he had spent his entire inheritance,

 

 

 

and had not one thing left to remind him of his wonderful father,

 

 

 

there arose a terrible famine in that land;

 

 

 

and the younger son began to feel his loss.

 

 

 

So he hired himself out to a harbi (2)

 

 

 

who put him on his farm to feed the pigs.

 

 

 

The younger son would willingly have filled his belly

 

 

 

with the husks the pigs were eating

 

 

 

but he was treated worse than the swine,

 

 

 

for no one offered him even pigs' food to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE YOUNGER SON FORSAKES ALL PRIDE AND

 

 

 

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

 

 

He finally came to himself

 

 

 

and started thinking like an 'aqli (rational) being,

 

 

 

like a true son having the disposition of his father.

 

 

 

He said, "How many hired servants of my father's household abound

 

 

 

in food and I perish with hunger!

 

 

 

I will arise and stop straying from fasaqa (the right course) and

 

 

 

go to my father,

 

 

 

and I will say to him,

 

 

 

"Father, I have sinned against heaven

 

 

 

and in the presence of you.

 

 

 

And I no longer think I am worthy to be called your son:

 

 

 

make me not like my elder brother who thinks himself worthy but

 

 

 

make me like one of your hired servants."

 

 

 

Then he arose and came to his father.

 

 

 

THE FATHER WHOSE LOVE MAKES THE UNRIGHTEOUS TO

 

 

 

BE RIGHTEOUS

 

 

 

Now it was the tenth day

 

 

 

of the month of Hajj (Pilgrimage),

 

 

 

but the elder son, having a self-satisfied heart,

 

 

 

had some time before decided to forego the trip.

 

 

 

But when the younger son was yet along way off,

 

 

 

his father saw him.

 

 

 

And greatly moved with love and compassion,

 

 

 

his father ran to the younger son

 

 

 

and clasped him in his arms

 

 

 

and kissed him with tenderness.

 

 

 

And the younger son said to him,

 

 

 

"Father, I have sinned against heaven

 

 

 

and in your sight,

 

 

 

and I am no longer worthy to be called your son."

 

 

 

But the father said to his hired servants,

 

 

 

"Bring forth the best robe

 

 

 

and put it on him;

 

 

 

and put a ring on his hand

 

 

 

and shoes on his feet;

 

 

 

and bring the calf we have been fattening and kill it;

 

 

 

we are going to have

 

 

 

a Qurban (Sacrifice) as on 'Id al-Adha (3)

 

 

 

such as has not been since the time Ibrahim

 

 

 

celebrated the redemption of his son.

 

 

 

Because this son of mine was dead

 

 

 

and has come back to life;

 

 

 

he was lost

 

 

 

and now he has been found."

 

 

 

And the great feast began.

 

 

 

THE ELDER SON REFUSES TO FORSAKE A

 

 

 

SELF-RIGHTEOUS AND PROUD RELIGIOUS SPIRT

 

 

 

Now the elder brother

 

 

 

had just returned from the mosque,

 

 

 

and, on his way back, as he drew near the house,

 

 

 

he could hear the sounds of the wisal (communion)

 

 

 

of the father and his younger son.

 

 

 

Calling one of the hired servants,

 

 

 

the elder brother asked what all this was about.

 

 

 

And the hired servant said to the elder son,

 

 

 

"Your brother has returned safe and salim (sound)

 

 

 

and your father has personally sent word

 

 

 

for the Qurban (sacrifice) and the festivities to begin."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the elder brother was furious

 

 

 

and refused to go in.

 

 

 

He would have nothing

 

 

 

to do with this sort of din (religious practice).

 

 

 

Would God act like his father? (4)

 

 

 

Would Allah bestow a matwaba (reward) on a son

 

 

 

with an innate qariha (disposition)

 

 

 

that was asin (rebellious)?

 

 

 

And not only that, one who had no tawab (merit)

 

 

 

because he had done absolutely no good deeds

 

 

 

or ihsan (right conduct)

 

 

 

--would Allah act like this sort of father?

 

 

 

The elder brother resolved to never be like such a one

 

 

 

and he sat down and brooded in the outer darkness.

 

 

 

FAILING TO RECOGNIZE THE WORD OF THE FATHER

 

 

 

Presently the elder brother

 

 

 

thought he saw another servant approaching.

 

 

 

But it was really his father

 

 

 

coming to give him a personal word (5)

 

 

 

in order that the elder son could start thinking

 

 

 

like an 'aqli(rational) being

 

 

 

and enter into the spirit ofthe whole jam'a'a (house).

 

 

 

So his father pleaded with him.

 

 

 

Finally the elder son answered the man:

 

 

 

"Look, all these years I have submitted (islam) (6)

 

 

 

to you as an abd (slave)

 

 

 

and I can boast without shame that

 

 

 

I have religiously obeyed all of the shari'a (laws)

 

 

 

of this whole jam'a'a (house).

 

 

 

Yet I return from the mosque

 

 

 

and I hear the sounds of the wisal (conununion)

 

 

 

between you and this mufarrit (prodigal)!

 

 

 

Am I now to humble myself

 

 

 

and enter a house with this sort of zamala (fellowship)?"

 

 

 

A COSTLY DEATH AND THE INHERITANCE OF

 

 

 

THE FATHER'S PERSONAL WORD TO HIS HEIRS

 

 

 

Then the father looked at him with anguished love

 

 

 

and said,

 

 

 

"You know the costly death a murith (testator)

 

 

 

must somehow undergo in order that his heirs

 

 

 

may receive all that he has.

 

 

 

And yet you seem to love me

 

 

 

more like a self-justifying slave

 

 

 

than a trusting and humble son."

 

 

 

The father put his arm around the man and said,

 

 

 

"Are you so far away from knowing me

 

 

 

that you cannot rejoice that the one

 

 

 

who strayed from the fasaqa (right course)

 

 

 

has found tajaddud (renewal)

 

 

 

and has been rashid (rightly guided)

 

 

 

to the marashid (salvation) of God?

 

 

 

For like you

 

 

 

your brother had a sajiya (natural disposition)

 

 

 

that was dead but now he has been jadda (restored)

 

 

 

to the abundant life of wisal (communion)

 

 

 

as an heir of his father's house." (7)

 

 

 

ARE YOU WILLING TO RECEIVE THE NEW CREATION HEART,

 

 

 

THE HEART OF A LITTLE CHILD,

 

 

 

THE HEART THAT RECOGNIZES THE TRUTH?

 

 

 

Have you not read what it says of Isa al-Masih

 

 

 

that he would "heal those born blind

 

 

 

and the lepers...and raise the dead?" (8)

 

 

 

Why did he do this for people?

 

 

 

Because it says in the Zabur (Psalms)

 

 

 

that God "would send his Word and heal them

 

 

 

and deliver them from the Pit of jahannam" (9)(hell fire). Have

 

 

 

you not read,

 

 

 

"The Messiah, Isa, Jesus son of Mary,

 

 

 

was the Rasul (Messenger) of God, and his Word" (10)?

 

 

 

God has always loved his Word

 

 

 

as a father loves his only son.

 

 

 

And his Word has always been

 

 

 

the sirr (secret) of the mind of Allah,

 

 

 

as a son is the likeness of his father.

 

 

 

What blasphemer would breathe the name of Mary here?

 

 

 

She was nothing but a loaner of flesh,

 

 

 

for Allah has no wife and no mother and no partner

 

 

 

nor did He need any human being at all

 

 

 

to be what He has always been,

 

 

 

the one and only God.

 

 

 

ONLY A CHILD-LIKE HEART RECOGNIZES THE TRUTH

 

 

 

Now the story goes that Isa who is Allah's Word

 

 

 

had been healing many people in Muqaddasa (the Holy Land). And

 

 

 

when he sat down,

 

 

 

each talib (seeker) also brought unto Isa

 

 

 

his walad (little child)

 

 

 

in order for him to pronounce the baraka (blessing).

 

 

 

And so, with tender love, Isa,

 

 

 

who reverberates the love of the heart of God,

 

 

 

picked each one up

 

 

 

and placed the walad (little child)

 

 

 

one at a time on his lap.

 

 

 

Just then his hawari (disciples)

 

 

 

impatiently interrupted him and told the parents

 

 

 

that they would have to leave.

 

 

 

But Isa loved little children who, as everyone knows,

 

 

 

humbly and whole-heartedly receive what is given to them.

 

 

 

Little children accept everything as a gift

 

 

 

with awestruck gratitude as if from the hand of God,

 

 

 

and not with any tendency

 

 

 

to think they deserve God's favor on the basis of merit,

 

 

 

since in their own small eyes

 

 

 

they wisely know themselves too little

 

 

 

to have done any good deeds.

 

 

 

Isa said,

 

 

 

"Allow the little children to come unto me

 

 

 

and forbid them not.

 

 

 

For it is to people with hearts like these

 

 

 

that the Malakut (Kingdom) of God belongs.

 

 

 

In very truth I say to you,

 

 

 

whosoever shall not welcome

 

 

 

the Malakut (Kingdom) of God

 

 

 

like a walad (little child)

 

 

 

will never enter it." (11)

 

 

 

THE TRUTH HAS NOT BEEN LOST IN TRANSCRIPTION SINCE

 

 

 

EVEN LITTLE CHILDREN CAN RECOGNIZE

 

 

 

THE FATHER'S PERSONAL WORD OF TRUTH

 

 

 

Isa had difficulty with his people,

 

 

 

because many suppressed the correct interpretation

 

 

 

of the Scriptures that spoke of his coming.

 

 

 

However, those who did attempt to "conceal

 

 

 

Allah's revelations in the Book" (12) did not succeed

 

 

 

as a Muslim child proved in 1947

 

 

 

when he discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls.

 

 

 

Extremely ancient parts of every book (but one)

 

 

 

of the Hebrew Bible were found there in manuscript form,

 

 

 

greatly discrediting the skeptical scholars

 

 

 

who had attacked its infallible

 

 

 

accuracy and reliability. (13)

 

 

 

ARE YOU WILLING TO READ THE ANCIENT PROPHETS WITH

 

 

 

THE HUMBLE HEART OF A LITTLE CHILD? (14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

?OK 2?bsp;   THE STRAIGHT PATH OF THE NEW CREATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALLAH KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE

 

 

 

and so do Shaitan and the evil jinn (demons).

 

 

 

This was proven to a man of God

 

 

 

in modern times.

 

 

 

This is a true story.

 

 

 

A PRAYER IS MIRACULOUSLY ANSWERED

 

 

 

The man of God was calling out to Allah one morning

 

 

 

to bring more people to the jami' (congregation).

 

 

 

He was on his face before Allah

 

 

 

and he was supplicating du'a (free-prayer) very loudly

 

 

 

alone in a tiny apartment.

 

 

 

This was the only masjid (place of prayer)

 

 

 

the people had for their meetings

 

 

 

because the godless leaders,

 

 

 

more sensitive to politics than to Allah,

 

 

 

had thrown the congregation

 

 

 

out of a public meeting hall.

 

 

 

But praise be to God who hears and answers

 

 

 

when we call on Him!

 

 

 

There is none like the Lord our God,

 

 

 

praise be unto Him.

 

 

 

He says somewhere,

 

 

 

"Before they call I will answer,

 

 

 

and while they are yet speaking I will hear."

 

 

 

In fact, the request of the man of God

 

 

 

had been answered weeks before he made his petition.

 

 

 

HOW GOD HAD BEEN PREPARING TO ANSWER PRAYER

 

 

 

Here is the true story:

 

 

 

A young man and his wife

 

 

 

had been travelling for several days

 

 

 

looking for the man of God.

 

 

 

Allah had led them on a spiritual pilgrimage,

 

 

 

for Allah foreknew both the prayer and its answer,

 

 

 

which He was now effecting.

 

 

 

We will call these two muridun (aspirants)

 

 

 

Isha and Ahmad.

 

 

 

They had long heard of the spiritual 'ilm (knowledge)

 

 

 

of the man of God,

 

 

 

though they had never met him personally.

 

 

 

And so they went out like Ibrahim (Abraham),

 

 

 

"who by faith obeyed

 

 

 

when he was called to go out to a place

 

 

 

which he was to receive as an inheritance;

 

 

 

and he went out,

 

 

 

not knowing where he was to go."

 

 

 

Like Ibrahim, the man and wife wanted to seek

 

 

 

the straight path,

 

 

 

the path of the just,

 

 

 

and they sought to do this under the huda (guidance)

 

 

 

of the man of God.

 

 

 

The man and woman wanted to submit their lives to Allah

 

 

 

and find the path of life in His Word,

 

 

 

as it says,

 

 

 

"Make me to go in the path of thy commandments,

 

 

 

for therein do I delight."

 

 

 

However, Isha and Ahmad did not know in which village

 

 

 

the man of God lived,

 

 

 

nor the street location of his dwelling.

 

 

 

But praise be to God

 

 

 

for it says,

 

 

 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

 

 

 

and a light unto my path."

 

 

 

THE MIRACLE OCCURS

 

 

 

On the very night before the miracle happened,

 

 

 

Ahmad and Isha happened to take a room in a hotel

 

 

 

a very short distance from the place

 

 

 

where the man of God dwelt.

 

 

 

On the very morning

 

 

 

when the man of God

 

 

 

was petitioning Allah so earnestly to send more people,

 

 

 

Isha had taken her baby for a walk

 

 

 

and she was going down the street.

 

 

 

She was walking along,

 

 

 

and when she came to the building

 

 

 

where the man of God was on his face

 

 

 

crying out to God

 

 

 

(even though there was no sign on the building

 

 

 

nor any way in the world to know

 

 

 

the man of God was inside)

 

 

 

Isha stopped and asked a lady passer-by

 

 

 

if she knew of any jami' (gathering)

 

 

 

for du'a (free-prayer) in the area.

 

 

 

The lady passer-by happened to be a murid (novice believer) who

 

 

 

belonged to the persecuted flock of God

 

 

 

that met in the dwelling of the man of God.

 

 

 

Not only that,

 

 

 

the women happened,

 

 

 

in the providence of God,

 

 

 

to pass each other

 

 

 

right in front of this very house masjid (place of prayer)!

 

 

 

"The Lord orders the steps of a righteous person"

 

 

 

is the saying.

 

 

 

Many err with their doctrine

 

 

 

knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God,

 

 

 

nor the love of God, which passes all understanding.

 

 

 

What Allah foreknows He forewills

 

 

 

"to work together for good for those

 

 

 

who love Allah, who are called according to his purpose,"

 

 

 

who are blessed, because they "are not offended at His Word."

 

 

 

At this exact moment, then,

 

 

 

just as the man of God finished his petition

 

 

 

with the words, "Send us more people, Lord"

 

 

 

--there was a knock on the door!

 

 

 

The man of God had no idea who Isha was.

 

 

 

"Do you know where my husband and I

 

 

 

could find a congegation?" Isha asked.

 

 

 

"Yes," the man of God said, flabbergasted.

 

 

 

"Praise to Him," Isha said,

 

 

 

"because we've been seeking

 

 

 

to find a certain man of God,"

 

 

 

and then she gave his name.

 

 

 

"Do you know where I could find him?"

 

 

 

"I'm he," the man of God said.

 

 

 

"Oh..." Isha was shocked.

 

 

 

So the man of God saw his prayer

 

 

 

answered so suddenly and miraculously.

 

 

 

God had led the woman to the man of God.

 

 

 

Al-Hadi (The Guide) knew where he lived!

 

 

 

For Al-Hadi is Al-'Alim (The All-Knowing).

 

 

 

Right after that the congregation started to grow again,

 

 

 

despite the opposition of the godless.

 

 

 

And both Isha and her husband Ahmad

 

 

 

submitted to the death ghusl

 

 

 

of New Creation Islam in the ocean,

 

 

 

calling on Allah to cleanse their inner being

 

 

 

with "the wudu (washing) of tajaddud (regeneration)

 

 

 

and the renewing of the Eternal Spirit of Allah."

 

 

 

That was nearly ten years ago.

 

 

 

Then the man of God moved to another place.

 

 

 

YEARS LATER ANOTHER MIRACLE HAPPENS

 

 

 

Would it take a miracle

 

 

 

to show you the difference

 

 

 

between a true Islamic teacher

 

 

 

and a pseudo-Islamic teacher?

 

 

 

Very recently Ahmad called the man of God

 

 

 

long distance on the telephone to tell him

 

 

 

that Isha wanted a divorce.

 

 

 

They had been having marriage problems

 

 

 

and she had turned to a man for help,

 

 

 

a fraud who claimed to be a good murshid (spiritual guide) but

 

 

 

who was in reality

 

 

 

a pseudo-Islamic shaman

 

 

 

trafficking in the realm of spells

 

 

 

and charms and sorcery,

 

 

 

witchcraft, talismans and familiar spirits,

 

 

 

divining, saint worship, and demons,

 

 

 

fortune-telling, incantations and the evil eye.

 

 

 

It says somewhere,

 

 

 

"Acquaint now thyself with Him (God)

 

 

 

and be at peace;

 

 

 

thereby good shall come unto Thee."

 

 

 

But some people want to get more acquainted

 

 

 

with jinn or demons rather than the Word of Allah,

 

 

 

as it says,

 

 

 

"My people perish for lack of knowledge of Thy word,

 

 

 

for they have rejected the knowledge of thy Word."

 

 

 

The haram (forbidden) demon procurer

 

 

 

whom Isha consulted

 

 

 

promised her peace

 

 

 

and even dramatic out-of-the-body psychic experiences;

 

 

 

he claimed to offer her direct access

 

 

 

to "Spiritual Masters" who make their appearance

 

 

 

as "light-being entities."

 

 

 

Such counterfeit guides, as this man, are like

 

 

 

the devils with whom they commune.

 

 

 

They are unclean religious peddlers

 

 

 

disguised as servants of Allah.

 

 

 

There is nothing unexpected about such frauds

 

 

 

if, as it says,

 

 

 

"Shaitan himself goes disguised as an angel of light

 

 

 

seeking whom he may devour."

 

 

 

THE MAN OF GOD DECIDES TO TEACH ISHA AND AHMAD

 

 

 

ABOUT MARRIAGE IN TERMS OF THE KINGDOM

 

 

 

"Blessed be He in whose hands is the Kingdom......" (15)

 

 

 

And blessed indeed are the hands of Him

 

 

 

into whom all the power of the Kingdom

 

 

 

is given: the Word of Allah.

 

 

 

Yet the Kingdom of God

 

 

 

is not in word,

 

 

 

but in power

 

 

 

--not the words of dying men,

 

 

 

nor the might of fleeting worldly power.

 

 

 

Did not the living Word of Allah himself declare,

 

 

 

"My Kingdom is not of this world;

 

 

 

if my Kingdom were of this world,

 

 

 

then would my servants fight jihad." (16)

 

 

 

The Kingdom of God is in the power of His Word.

 

 

 

And what does His Word say?

 

 

 

The whole story swept through the mind of the man of God...

 

 

 

ALLAH HAS ACTED MIGHTILY TO BRING US TO HIS KINGDOM

 

 

 

From the good beginning

 

 

 

mankind has swerved

 

 

 

from the straight path

 

 

 

of Allah and his Word.

 

 

 

From the first commandment

 

 

 

given beneath the tree

 

 

 

of the knowledge of good and evil

 

 

 

mankind has acted shadily

 

 

 

toward Allah and his Glory.

 

 

 

And what is Allah's Glory

 

 

 

if not the Word of his Power?

 

 

 

And what is his glorious Power

 

 

 

if not the Word of his Presence?

 

 

 

One of your prophets has said rightly:

 

 

 

"The Messiah, Isa, Jesus son of Mary,

 

 

 

was the Messenger of Allah, and his Word

 

 

 

that he bestowed on Mary." (17)

 

 

 

But His Word that He bestowed on Mary

 

 

 

went forth from His mouth

 

 

 

at the creation of the world.

 

 

 

For in the beginning

 

 

 

was the Word

 

 

 

and the Word was with God

 

 

 

and the Word was God. (18)

 

 

 

The Power and the Presence was

 

 

 

Allah's Only Eternal Word;

 

 

 

and everything was made

 

 

 

by the Word,

 

 

 

and without the Word

 

 

 

was nothing made.

 

 

 

Then the Word

 

 

 

came on the scene

 

 

 

as a human being

 

 

 

who is true Man

 

 

 

on the straight path

 

 

 

to the tree of life.

 

 

 

And his disciples beheld his glory,

 

 

 

glory as of the only

 

 

 

personal and eternal Word of Allah,

 

 

 

full of grace and truth. (19)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What blasphemer would breathe the name of Mary here

 

 

 

as one of the "gods in derogation of God"? (20)

 

 

 

Are you so slow in understanding

 

 

 

that you think we believe Allah got married?

 

 

 

What blasphemy!

 

 

 

Who could believe that Allah would take a wife?

 

 

 

Do you think we mean that the Word of Allah

 

 

 

is His Son in that literal sense?

 

 

 

Not at all!

 

 

 

Mary was nothing but a loaner of flesh! (21)

 

 

 

For Allah has neither wife nor mother nor partner

 

 

 

nor did He ever need a human being at all

 

 

 

to be what He has always been--one!

 

 

 

God always existed with His Everlasting Word

 

 

 

and His Everlasting Spirit as tawhid (one).

 

 

 

What blasphemer would assert otherwise?

 

 

 

Would you be so foolish as to say

 

 

 

that Allah once existed without His Eternal and Living Word and

 

 

 

without His Everlasting Spirit?

 

 

 

Would you have Allah at one time mute

 

 

 

and unable to utter a living Word?

 

 

 

Would you have Him at one time Spiritless,

 

 

 

without His Eternal Spirit?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such blasphemers would do to the imaginary God they worship what

 

 

 

they would not dream of doing to themselves

 

 

 

--namely, cut out all living utterance and life

 

 

 

to be left with a mere speechless, lifeless being.

 

 

 

If only these dreamers would wake up from such nonsense

 

 

 

and shut their mouths to save their souls!

 

 

 

Instead they pride themselves

 

 

 

that their speechless, Spiritless deity has no 'partners'!

 

 

 

When Allah speaks His mind He speaks His Word,

 

 

 

for His Word is the revealed mind of Allah.

 

 

 

And we can have His mind in all things

 

 

 

if we die to our own way of thinking

 

 

 

and come alive to His living Word.

 

 

 

The man of God reflected on Isha and Ahmad

 

 

 

and how they must learn

 

 

 

to think the thoughts of the mind

 

 

 

revealed to us in the sacred pages of the Word.

 

 

 

For it was in His image that we were created

 

 

 

and it is from His glory that we have fallen,

 

 

 

having become futile in our thinking

 

 

 

and darkened in our senseless minds.

 

 

 

But if we are now more like brute beasts

 

 

 

(because of the ignorance that is in us

 

 

 

and the blindness of our hearts),

 

 

 

it is not because He made us so.

 

 

 

For God gave us not an animal mind

 

 

 

but a mind like His,

 

 

 

a rational and a creative mind

 

 

 

capable of communion with Him in Holiness.

 

 

 

OUR RELIGION CLOAKS OUR DARK GUILT

 

 

 

However, our sinful nature has separated us

 

 

 

from our Holy God

 

 

 

and, obeying the voice of the Evil One,

 

 

 

we ourselves have become evil,

 

 

 

though we love to hide our guilt

 

 

 

under the cloak of religion.

 

 

 

But Allah is not mocked.

 

 

 

All things are naked and opened

 

 

 

unto the eyes of Him

 

 

 

with whom we have to do.

 

 

 

He who made the eye,

 

 

 

can He not see?

 

 

 

And even the scoffers know

 

 

 

that we are of our father the devil

 

 

 

if the lusts of our father we do.

 

 

 

Only the Word of God

 

 

 

can speak into our hearts

 

 

 

a new creation nature!

 

 

 

As long as we place our trust

 

 

 

in anything apart from the living Word,

 

 

 

that "anything" becomes our real god

 

 

 

and we become its slaves.

 

 

 

No matter how religiously

 

 

 

we observe religious rules and laws,

 

 

 

that idol "anything" has usurped

 

 

 

the living Word's place in our hearts

 

 

 

and will lead us to corruption.

 

 

 

Now religious do's and don'ts

 

 

 

were the rudimentary guardians

 

 

 

of our spiritual childhood, it is true.

 

 

 

But the time has come

 

 

 

for us to outgrow the tutelage

 

 

 

of mere religious formalism

 

 

 

and to receive the spiritual adoption

 

 

 

of mature heirs.

 

 

 

When the living Word

 

 

 

takes up residence within us,

 

 

 

we receive a filial spirit of obedience;

 

 

 

we become the spiritual people of Ibrahim,

 

 

 

and God becomes our Father.

 

 

 

For God sent his living Word

 

 

 

into our hearts to restore us

 

 

 

in his likeness and for his fellowship,

 

 

 

that we might walk naturally with Him as our Father,

 

 

 

and not hobble like aliens under the cold prod of laws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MAN OF GOD THINKS ABOUT HOW TO SAVE ISHA'S

 

 

 

MARRIAGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The man of God thought about Isha

 

 

 

and how she must learn to understand God's forgiveness.

 

 

 

It is not that we love God and serve him with such grace

 

 

 

that we can be assured of forgiveness

 

 

 

based on what we have done for God.

 

 

 

No, it is that God loves us and has served us  with such grace

 

 

 

that the Judge of sin has taken the whole weight

 

 

 

of our guilt and condemnation upon Himself.

 

 

 

The Word of Allah's eternal Judgment became also

 

 

 

the Word of His eternal Mercy!

 

 

 

But how?

 

 

 

In the person of His Word, Isa al-Masih.

 

 

 

Thus it is that we can be assured of forgiveness,

 

 

 

based on what God has done for us

 

 

 

in giving us a new mind with His Word,

 

 

 

and a tender conscience with His Eternal Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allah has always reflected upon Himself with His wisdom,

 

 

 

and His wisdom is His Word. (22)

 

 

 

Isa al-Masih Himself is that Word!

 

 

 

He is the everlasting Word

 

 

 

whose words will stand forever. (23)

 

 

 

The Kitab (Book) of Isa is Genesis to Revelation,

 

 

 

infallibly accurate in its teaching about him,

 

 

 

and Isa is the hidden source and subject of each sura (chapter)

 

 

 

for those who can read with the eyes of the Eternal Spirit.

 

 

 

As a word reveals the hidden mind of a father,

 

 

 

so Allah intended this mind to be in us

 

 

 

that was also in his Word. (24)

 

 

 

But the mirror of our reflection of His holiness

 

 

 

has been shattered,

 

 

 

and the whole human race has distorted itself

 

 

 

in mocking pride and rebellion

 

 

 

against the humble and obedient Word.

 

 

 

As a sin-fallen race

 

 

 

we still possess a vestige of the mirror of conscience.

 

 

 

Like a looking-glass before the mind,

 

 

 

the conscience tells the human race

 

 

 

how good we might have been

 

 

 

had Man not warped himself

 

 

 

in the refractive beams of Man's proud self-love.

 

 

 

Therefore, we are without excuse when we reject

 

 

 

any measure of truth we receive.

 

 

 

Our sin-prone race is like someone

 

 

 

who once was commanded to peer

 

 

 

at his Ideal in a full-length mirror

 

 

 

and then disobediently walked away

 

 

 

and forgot what he looked like.

 

 

 

Isa the Word of Allah is that Ideal.

 

 

 

And the fatherly heart of Allah

 

 

 

out of whom the Word spoke in the beginning

 

 

 

has been stirred to speak again

 

 

 

to the lost family of Adam:

 

 

 

"I reared sons, I brought them up,

 

 

 

but they have rebelled against me."

 

 

 

For the Word became

 

 

 

the One who was to come,

 

 

 

the heavenly Son of Man,

 

 

 

the Bar Nasha (Aramaic for Son of Man). (25)

 

 

 

The prophet Daniel saw him

 

 

 

in the clouds of glory and wrote:

 

 

 

"After this I saw in the night visions

 

 

 

and, behold, one like the Son of Man

 

 

 

came with the clouds of heaven...

 

 

 

and he was given ... a kingdom...

 

 

 

that all people, nations, and languages

 

 

 

should serve him." (26)

 

 

 

The Word that was in the beginning with God,

 

 

 

the Word that was God,

 

 

 

this same Word was made flesh

 

 

 

and dwelt among us,

 

 

 

telling his disciples,

 

 

 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you,

 

 

 

Hereafter you shall see heaven open

 

 

 

and the angels of God

 

 

 

ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.,,(27)

 

 

 

For the Word of Allah had come

 

 

 

to speak into a new existence our dying humanity.

 

 

 

And just as Man had gone down to death

 

 

 

in the Garden of Eden

 

 

 

as one conquered by Satan and sin,

 

 

 

so now Man may ascend again to life from the empty Garden tomb

 

 

 

through One who overcame for us,

 

 

 

through One who conquered as our imam (leader),

 

 

 

our representative,

 

 

 

our exemplar,

 

 

 

-a human being who is that

 

 

 

and yet more than human,

 

 

 

sharing in the wholly other quality of God,

 

 

 

the eternal personal Word of Allah,

 

 

 

God the Word from God the Lord,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light from Light,

 

 

 

Very God from Very God.

 

 

 

Since this is true

 

 

 

-that the Word who is

 

 

 

 and was

 

 

 

 and is to come,

 

 

 

the Word who is

 

 

 

 the express thought of God,

 

 

 

 the perfect image of God,

 

 

 

 the creative voice of God

 

 

 

-since this very Word

 

 

 

descended so that He might dwell

 

 

 

in our hearts by faith

 

 

 

and make us like Him,

 

 

 

restoring us in the image of His Father

 

 

 

that we might call on His Father as sons,

 

 

 

that we might ascend with Him,

 

 

 

passing beyond the angels

 

 

 

(Do you not know that we shall judge angels?)

 

 

 

-since this is true,

 

 

 

should it not teach us that,

 

 

 

denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,

 

 

 

we should live sober,

 

 

 

righteous, and godly lives

 

 

 

in this present world?

 

 

 

Since the Word Himself revealed to us

 

 

 

perfect surrender to Allah and

 

 

 

total submission to His will,

 

 

 

only through Him and His iman (faith),

 

 

 

once for all delivered to the holy ones,

 

 

 

do we know what is possible to man

 

 

 

in the path of obedience to the one true God.

 

 

 

Thus the man of God reflected on the straight path

 

 

 

and on Isha and Ahmad and

 

 

 

on their battle against Shaitan.

 

 

 

ALLAH BOUND UP THE EVIL ONE

 

 

 

The man of God knew that the Kingdom of God

 

 

 

is an ummah, (community) (28)

 

 

 

a house to be entered

 

 

 

by the narrow gate and the narrow door,

 

 

 

But a "strong man" has usurped power in God's House.

 

 

 

Iblis (an evil prince) has held men captive

 

 

 

in the house of God,

 

 

 

and Iblis must have his goods plundered

 

 

 

before men can be set free from his sway.

 

 

 

The power of Iblis is death,

 

 

 

for all men who are tempted and sin

 

 

 

die as punishment.

 

 

 

Sin pays its fearful wage--death.

 

 

 

Death is the fearful wage of all those

 

 

 

whom Shaitan has led to work for him in sin.