Saturday, November 21, 2020

Sam Shamoun "NOTES FOR TAUHID DEBATE WITH YAHYA PT. 2"


In the lifetime of the prophet, a blind Muslim man came to him to have his eyesight restaured. He begged him to supplicate God on his behalf, being the most righteous and closest to God from all people. The noble and humble prophet first told him the preferred course of action which is to bear the trials of life with patience 
"Can you not bear it?’ and the man replied, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I do not have anyone to lead me around, and it is a great hardship for me." 
Being full of empathy, one whom the Quran describes in many places as grieving for the fate even of the disbelievers, he could certainly not refuse a needy faithful's request to supplicating God for help. The prophet however did this on the condition that there be no ambiguity to pure monotheism. The prophet in fact stated that those who will earn his intercession wont be those that will call upon him, rather 
"The luckiest person who will have my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who said sincerely from the bottom of his heart "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah". 

The prophet thus proceeded by teaching the blind man the proper etiquette in doing so. The blind man was to first show spiritual submission to God alone 
"Go make ablution, perform two rak'as of prayer". 
This first step is aimed at dispelling any doubts as to God's unequivocal superiority and power over all things. Once that notion is firmly established, the person may introduce the prophet in the prayer but in a manner making it clear he is only a means by which the prayer to God is uplifted, on account of him being a most virtuous individual. This is no different than what is commonly done when someone invites honorable and righteous people to join in praying to God. The implicit notion is also that when righteous people join a person in prayer, it means this person must have some spiritual merit of his own. This is because the righteous and virtuous will certainly not assist a deviant sinful person in making a request to God 
"0 Allaah I ask You and turn to You by means of Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy". 
Now that God's superiority is established, that the prophet is introduced as a virtuous co-supplicant, with the assumption that the praying person has some spiritual merit of his own to be joined in prayer by a virtuous individual, a formal request is made to the prophet directly, inviting him to join in supplication to God 
"0 Muhammad I have turned by means of you (i. e. your du'aa) to my Lord in this need of mine, so that it may be fulfilled for me". 
The blind man was uttering this prayer in the prophet's presence, asking him to join. After that the prayer, as taught by the humble prophet refocuses on God, making sure that whoever the co-supplicant is, he has no power in and of himself, that no matter how virtuous the interceding person is, the acceptance of his prayer is God's decision ultimately 
"0 Allaah accept him as a supplicant on my behalf, and accept my supplication for him (to be accepted for me)."
 That portion is an authentic part of the hadith as reported by al Albany on behalf of Ahmad and al-Haakim, who authenticated it. Here it is literally the blind man who is interceding for the prophet, asking God to accept the prophet's prayer on his behalf.

Acceptance of prayer is thus completely in God's hands because although a virtuous might join others in prayer, it might well be that the person is undeserving of such honor and thus the intercession is cancelled. The noble prophet for instance, the "prophet of mercy" was told to desist from interceding on behalf of unworthy people 
9:80"Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them; even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them".
As can be seen the noble and humble prophet taught the man the correct etiquette of requesting another to join in prayer to God so as to dispel any ambiguity as to God's supreme authority. The blind man's and the prophet's combined prayers to God were realized and he was cured.

This story was reported by Uthman bin Hunaif. The story that after the prophet's death, the same Uthman bin Hunaif advised a man in need to seek the prophet's assistance in prayer to Allah is weak and rejected by al Albani due to the presence of Shabeeb bin Saeed who reported it.


Further articles answering Sam Shamoun "NOTES FOR TAUHID DEBATE WITH YAHYA PT. 2"
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Sam Shamoun "Does the Quran Reject Christ’s Eternal Generation? Pt. 3"



These articles answer Sam Shamoun "Does the Quran Reject Christ’s Eternal Generation? Pt. 3"

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Sam Shamoun "Messianic Prophecy and the Quran: Another Muhammadan Dilemma""



2:113"And the Jews say: The Christians do not follow anything (good) and the Christians say: The Jews do not follow anything (good) while they recite the (same) Book. Even thus say those who have no knowledge, like to what they say".
The verse concisely reflects the overall state of confusion and disunity among those claiming to adhere to the same Books. It does not specify the topics of disagreement as these are endless among Jews and Christians; ranging from the most fundamental like God's essence, to the trivial like the genealogical requirements of the end times king messiah, whose nature itself they disagree upon, whether it will be a man or a god-man.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Messianic Prophecy and the Quran: Another Muhammadan Dilemma""


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Sam Shamoun "Forbidden to Eat from the Tree of Life? Another Quranic Blunder Exposed"


Within the HB account itself, just as is made clear in the Quran 2:30, the primary purpose for which Adam and Eve were created, was to fill the earth and rule over the living creatures Gen1:28-29,2:5. They were created from the ground of the earth (not heaven) Gen2:7-8. Adam and Eve's "immortality" was tied to eating from the Tree of Life, which they could freely access as the Garden of Eden's caretakers Gen2:15-17. Since their "immortality" was conditioned on their staying in the Garden of Eden, it means that they were actually mortal human beings who were able to benefit from the privilege of eating the fruit of the Tree of Life to stay alive indefinitely. 

Their transgression, marked by the eating from another tree, the tree of knowledge, which imbued them with consciousness of both good and evil resulted in their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. With that expulsion, their ability to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life stopped. Had they kept eating from the tree of life, now that they are aware of not only good, but also evil, the result could have been that spiritually degenerate people and criminals might live forever. That is why they were only forbidden from the Tree of Life after their transgression Gen3. A type of angel, an angel of destruction, the cherubim was tasked with guarding the garden's entrance to prevent that eventuality.

Thus the result of their expulsion is that they eventually died. 

Despite certain important variations, many fundamental aspects remain in the HB and parallel with the Quranic account, including the fact that it must have been God's plan from the beginning to ultimately place mankind on the earth, as His vicegerents. The main areas where the Quran disagrees with the Torah is that in the latter, the knowledge of good and evil were concealed from man in a "tree of knowledge" whereas the Quran clearly states that this spiritual feature is ingrained and hardwired in man. Mankind was meant to live on the earth, was put in a situation of potential transgression in the garden, given commands to abide by, what sense does it then make for him to be ignorant of good and evil?

According to the interpolated HB, when man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil, man "became like one of us", against God's will and desire. According to the Quran, which by the way omits the idea of a "tree of knowledge", that inner distinction of good and evil was already ingrained in mankind's spiritual fabric when Allah "breathed into man of his spirit". Allah in sura Shams, defines it as "He inspired the soul with the knowledge of evil and good", meaning Adam was meant to "become like us" even before he was introduced to the garden and its trials. The HB still contains elements of this reality when it states that man was created in the "image of God".

We thus see the Quran giving a consistent, comprehensive picture of creation from the beginning. Mankind were made mortals from the start 2:30 so as to allow them to be tested in their spiritual resolve and ultimately held accountable in the afterlife 
67:1-2"Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent - who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving". 
All tools are put at man's disposal to pass this test; both inner and outward. Senses of spiritual perception to derive the higher meaning from the constant processes of this universe, and direct guidance through chosen individuals who communicate the will of the Creator. All these arrangements do not necessitate that man will succeed, or else there would be no test. Rather man was created as a volitional creature, with a neutral spiritual nature 30:30 that is shaped and developed according to one's moral choices throughout life 91:7-10. Death is therefore not an accident, nor is mankind of flawed spiritual disposition. In the Christian model, the purpose of man was redefined in the course of history. Although he was first made to live forever in heaven, man's disobedience sent him to this world and caused him to wander aimlessly as all his thoughts and deeds became stained with sin. At one point God created a device to compensate for that inherent human flaw, which is a divine sacrifice, thereby giving man a new purpose; accepting Jesus' sacrifice.


Further articles answering Sam Shamoun "Forbidden to Eat from the Tree of Life? Another Quranic Blunder Exposed"


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