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Mohammad in Bible
Comforter: Spirit of Truth
Deuteronomy 18:18
Isaiah 42
Bishop Kildani
Islam in the Bible
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Prophet Mohammad is the Comforter or Spirit of Truth
mentioned in John 16:7-13
by Ramazan Zuberi
The
following letter was written by Mr. Ramazan Zuberi, a Muslim researcher,
as part of several exchanged letters between him and Mr. Robert Allen,
the former president of the Aramaic Bible Society. When Mr. Ramazan
Zuberi first met him, Mr. Robert Allen, was not very fond of Islam.
However, after years of dialogue, and prior to Robert Allen's
passing away, he wrote to Mr. Ramazan Zuberi a letter and in
which Robert Allen said "I now see myself as a Muslim at heart".
For
more information, visit his site:
http://home.comcast.net/~rzuberi/index_files/page0005.htm
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Why did Jesus use the word "Paraclete" when he predicted the coming of the
Comforter after him?
According to the Aramaic Bible Society, the word "Paraclete" back then
meant the "Praised One". Muhammad used to be mentioned in the original Aramaic
Bible as "Ahmed". Both Muhammad and Ahmed in Arabic mean "The Honored One" or
the "Praised One".
Why indeed are there any Greek words in the "Aramaic Scriptures?" The short
answer is that you were working with the "Peshitto" which is otherwise known as
the West Palestinian "Peshitta" that was made to conform to the pre-Christian
Septuagint of the Greek church. We know that Jesus did not speak Greek because
the Aramaic speaking people in the time of Jesus considered it sinful to speak
any other language. This had to be true because the Aramaic Estrangelo Script
was the lingua franca in Palestine at the time of Jesus. Aramaic in this script
is similar to Arabic and this was the language of commerce and industry. A
growing number of scholars now recognize that Jesus spoke this form of Aramaic,
not Greek. The square letter Aramaic in Hebraic characters came much later. (See
"Western Christian Scholars Awaken to Truth" in the Table of Contents on the
Aramaic Bible Society Website). See Eusebius' "Ecclesiastical History", first
published in 1928! Also, "The Age of Faith", Will and Ariel Durant's "The Story
of Civilization", Vol. 4.
Follow me as we trace the Biblical history of this Greek word "Paraclete".
Startling as it may seem, at one time, the word read "Periklytos" and "Paraklytos",
which is the name for "Muhammad" in Greek. Surprising? It should not be
because both words mean "Praised" or "Celebrate," the meaning and character of
the man "Muhammad." (1 Jesus in The Qur'an, One World Publications, (c)
Geoffrey Parrinder 1965, 1995, ISBN 1-85168-094-2. Knowing this, there is a
need for us to study the life of Prophet Muhammad in depth to see if it all
stands up. Surprisingly it does.
Of special interest always is what the name for Muhammad was in his mother
tongue, Palestinian Aramaic. For this, we have to look to the Hebrew and Aramaic
scriptures. According to the present day Aramaic scriptures, the word for
Muhammad would read "Paraqleyta" or "Paraklytos" in Greek and "Menahem"
in Hebrew!
In the ancient Aramaic scriptures, before these changes, it read
"Ahmad," then MunAhammana" which is the Aramaic/Syriac rendering for the name
"Muhammad." These are names, not simply words, and they mean "Comforter"
or "Muhammad" in Arabic.
There is no Aramaic dictionary where you'll find the word "Paraqleyta" because
there is no such word in that language. Therefore, two questions are asked:
1.Why was "Periklytos" changed to "Paraklytos"?
2.Why was Ahmad changed to "Munahammana" and then to "Paraqleyta?"
History tells us that Muhammad was the only prophet who came shortly after Jesus
and did everything Jesus said he would. But, you ask, what is the meaning of all
of this? The answer is given in Luke 6:40, "There is no disciple who is
more important than his teacher; for every man who is well developed will be
like his teacher" (Lamsa) or "The disciple is not above his master: but every
one that is perfect shall be as his master" (KJV).
Christians are often told that no one can go to heaven except by Jesus. This
tells us that the only way anyone can go to heaven is to be Christ-like.
Muhammad was such a man. Muslims make a stronger case. They say that Jesus says
the only way one can be with Jesus in Heaven is to be like Him, i.e., one who
submits to Alaha's Will (Aramaic), Allah's Will (Arabic). To do this is to be a
Muslim! But let us return to the study of the word "Comforter."
John 16:7-13 :
" But I tell you the truth, It is better for you that I should go away; for
if I do not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I should go,
I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will rebuke the world concerning
sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning Judgment. Concerning sin, because
they do not believe in me; Concerning righteousness, because I go to my Father,
and you will not see me again; Concerning judgment, because the leader of this
world has been judged. Again, I have many other things to tell you, but you
cannot grasp them now. But when the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all the truth: for he will not speak from himself, but what he
hears, that he will speak: and he will make known to you things which are to
come in the future. He will glorify me; because he will take of my own and show
to you. Everything that my Father has is mine; this is the reason why I told you
that he will take of my own and show to you." (Lamsa Bible translation from
Aramaic Manuscripts)
The difference between Muslims and Christians is that Muslims use the
original words that Jesus and all the prophets used. In speaking of John
16:7-13, most Christians will tell you that the "Comforter" Jesus will send is
the Holy Ghost. But keep in mind that the Holy Ghost was around before Jesus. In
the Aramaic, we see that the translation is "Spirit." Jesus, peace be upon him,
was talking about the one who would ONLY appear when "He joined His Father in
Heaven". The Muslim view of the phrase, "He joined His Father in Heaven," is
that Jesus never joined God, but is in the second heaven waiting until God to
send him on his "second coming". This Spirit of Truth (a man) was never around
before. The man that Jesus prophesied was Muhammad.
If this information is surprising to you, let me take it a step further.
Christians and Jews alike have forgotten the history of the Great Nation that
was to come out of Ishmael, and the 12 princes that came out of him. Where is
the conclusion of the story of Ishmael, and why was it unfinished? Was Ishmael
really a bastard, or was there jealousy involved? If Ishmael was a bastard,
Isaac was a greater bastard because he was born through incest; Abraham
and Sarah were brother and sister (Genesis 20:12). This is in the Christian
Bible and in the Torah! Muslims do not say this. Jealousy and hatred towards
anyone will always make one degrade the one that is hated.
Having cited the historical shortcomings of the Christian Bibles in matters
relevant to its own history and the great nation of Islam, it behooves us to
give a brief account of the latter. When God brought Islam, the Muslims won
remarkable victories, conquering the Byzantines as well as all other nations. As
time went on and the Muslim dynasty flourished, the Muslims developed an urban
culture for learning which surpassed that of all other nations.
When the Christians forced the Spanish Muslims to accept Christianity, the
Christians collected the works of the Muslim scientists and scholars and this
work spread all over Europe and falsely attributed them to Christians. It was
the Arab caliphs who had supported intercultural institutions like the
university at Jundishahpur and the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. It was Arab
medicine that had blossomed magnificently. It was the great physicians of the
Islamic world who illuminated Europe in the Dark Middle Ages with a
well-elaborated science whose outlines are still familiar today.
The story of the rise of the Muslim empire is not unlike that of Nestorius. When
Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, 428-431, was forced into exile, he and
some of his people took the enlightenment of math and the sciences into Persia
and even into China. Marco Polo discovered the ruins of the Church of the East
erected in the eighth century A.D., long after the death of Nestorius.
In Service To God,
Ramazan M. M. Zuberi
* The real message of the life and teachings of Jesus, Muhammad and Nestorius
can be likened to that of the Peshitta and the Qur'an. The Church of the East
claims that every copy of the Peshitta ever made was certified by every Bishop
to be a true and clean copy, the meaning of the word "Peshitta" itself. The
Qur'an is likened unto it.
The Peshitto or Peshitta of the West was changed, not so often as present day
Christian Bibles but changed in ancient times. The Torah was destroyed with the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and since then, it has suffered a worse
fate. There were only two such scrolls at the time. One was held by the priests,
the other by the King. In those times, families were charged with the memory of
whole books and what was created has been re-written many times to suit the
purpose of the writers as with the many versions of the Christian Bible.
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