.
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts

Tuesday 20 November 2018

Christian Concept of Vicarious Atonement and Islam


Since descent of Adam and Eve from heavens to the earth, Allah has sent thousands of prophets and messengers for the guidance of the mankind and make them realize that a day would come when everything visible to the naked eye of the man will be destroyed and all dead will be resurrected to answer for their deeds. No prophet or messenger ever proclaimed that his death will save their followers from their sins as they took upon them their sins.

But in Christianity, there exists a belief called Vicarious Atonement which contends that "Jesus Christ took the place of mankind, suffering the penalty for sin." Atonement is term meaning “reconciliation” or “amends.” Vicarious means “done in place of or instead of someone else.” So, in literal terms, the Christian concept of “vicarious atonement” is that Jesus was substituted for humanity and punished for our faults in order to pay for the sins we had committed and reconcile us to God. Vicarious atonement is also referred to as “substitutionary atonement” or “penal substitution.”

This concept only exists in Christianity and no other religion ratifies this belief.




In Islam the very concept of Vicarious Atonement is alien for it means that it is Jesus and not Allah who has the right to justice. It is something that is simply not palatable. Jesus like any other prophet or messenger was a messenger of Allah, chosen to show the righteous path to his people. We in Islam believe the innocence of Prophet Eesa (Jesus Christ) and are averse to the notion that a sinless person could have been punished by All on behalf of the sins of his people.
Sin is not a tangible matter nor is it a liquid that is injectable into the body. Sin is either a thought or an action. You can’t punish crime without punishing the criminal. Sin is what a sinner does and it is the sinner who deserves the punishment. Allah doesn't punish murder, theft and fornication, rather He punishes murderers, thieves and fornicators. We shouldn't be treating sin as some type of abstract thing.
If one wants to clarify “well what we mean is that all sin must be accounted for and it was accounted for in punishing Jesus”. But Jesus was innocent and sinless according to Christian theology, hence how could he be “punished”? How could an innocent person be “punished” when the very word “punished” itself denotes that one is suffering a penalty for an offense that he committed? Innocents are not “punished”, rather they are made to suffer at times, but never “punished”. [3]

Secondly the very concept of Vicarious Atonement nullifies the concept of repentance and forgiveness. In Islam we believe that if someone commits a crimes and repents with his heart and soul, he has been assured of forgiveness by the Allah Almighty.
“Say: ‘O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.’” (Surah Surah Az-Zumar, 39:53-54)
Holy Qur'an which is the last revealed Divine scripture from Allah, after the Psalms, Torah and Bible, makes it very clear almost throughout the 114 surahs / chapter that Day of Resurrection is a reality, a day when all lying in graves will be raised and they would run towards the point of assembly in waves as locust to be questioned for the deeds. 

The sole purpose of cautioning man of the Day of resurrection and presenting the concept of reward and punishment is that while one lives, one must adhere to commandments of Allah and follow the righteous path. and even if one is diverted from the path subscribed by someone, the door of repentance is always open and one must seek forgiveness of Allah. But despite all guidelines if one still persists and continues to sin and involves himself in pleasures and forgets the benevolence of Allah, then fro such people there will be a day when their deeds will be presented before them and justice will be done. 

Herein under are some of the excerpts from the Holy Qur'an:
They will come out of the graves with downcast eyes like an expanding swarm of locusts. (Surah Al Qamar 54:7) 
On that day all sovereignty will belong to Allah: He will judge between them; then those who have faith and do righteous deeds will be in gardens of bliss, (Surah Al Hajj chapter 22 , verse 56) 
And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah . Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly. ( Surah Al Baqarah, chapter 2, verse 281) 
Do not these think that they shall be raised again, for a mighty day, the day on which men shall stand before the Lord of the worlds? (Surah Al Mutaffifin 83:4-6)
Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record all that they send before and that they leave behind, and We have taken account of all things in a clear Book [of evidence]. (Surah Ya Seen, 36:12)
And to every soul will be paid in full of its deeds, and He knows best all that they do. (Surah Az Zumar 39:70)

The above four references amply make it clear that everyone who ever lived on this earth will be resurrected and questioned for one's deeds. And those whose deeds are heavier in good, will reside in Heavens forever. But those who lived their lives on earth in earthly leisure and pleasures and disregarded the message and commandments of Allah brought to them by their prophets, who were from among them, will be the losers for their final abode be the blazing fire of hell.

Thus if someone believes that Prophet Eesa (Jesus, may peace be upon him) would take away their sins no matter what they do on this earth are certainly misled, for every person will have to appear before Allah and be presented with one's dossier as has been mentioned above, and rewarded or punished accordingly.
When the earth is shaken with her utmost shaking, and the earth casts out all the burdens from within her, and man says, "What has befallen her?" On that Day shall she relate whatever had happened (on her), for your Lord shall have commanded her (to do so). On that day, men shall turn up in sundry groups to be shown their deeds. Then, whoever has done an atom's weight of good, shall see it; and whoever has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (Surah Az Zalzala (The Earthquake) 
Therefore my brothers and sisters from all faiths, prepare yourself for the day when you will be standing all alone in front of the almighty Allah and listening to your deeds. Do good now and evade evil as best as you can to have a positive and righteous dossier that would not fail you. Remember, the clock is moving very fast and one may never know when angel of death will beget one.

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Sunday 13 May 2018

Bible and Quran: Contradictions - Crucification of Prophet Eesa (Jesus)


My childhood was the time of comics and classics. In the absence of TV or any visual entertainment except for the cinemas, most of our free time was spent in reading comics and classics. It was through classics, I came across narrations of the Great Flood and Prophet Nuh (Noah), the destruction of the people of Prophet Lut (Lot) and the story of Prophet Eesa (Jesus), may peace be upon them all.

While reading the tragedy described of the crucification of Prophet Eesa, I was really appalled at the pain endured by the prophet and his later elevation from his grave. Feeling rather uneasy about the whole episode, I went to my father who was a man of wisdom and intellect and esquired as to why Allah (God to other religions) had His prophet undergone such tragedy and pain when he was crucified. The simple answer my father gave me was "Christ was never crucified!!" Seeing me still puzzled, he asked me to bring the copy of the Holy Quran with translation and then made me read the relevant verses about how Allah describes the event.

But before I present the view point of Muslims as presented in the Holy Quran, I would like to present the same event presented in the other holy scriptures, specially the Bible, which runs tangent to our belief as Muslims.

The crucification of Jesus is described in Wikipedia as:
According to the canonical gospels, Jesus, the Christ, was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin, and then sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally crucified by the Romans. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with myrrh or gall to drink before being crucified. He was then hung between two convicted thieves and according to Mark's Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" which, according to the Gospel of John, was written in three languages. They then divided his garments among themselves and cast lots for his seamless robe, according to the Gospel of John. After Jesus' death, according to the Gospel of John one soldier pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died.
In Matthew 27:32-56 New International Version (NIV), the crucification is described as under:
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews.
45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At another place, it is quoted: Jesus cried, "Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit!" and He died (Luke 23:46) 


Now I come to the event of crucification as it appears in the Holy Quran:
"That they said [in boast], 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah'; but they killed him notnor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who  differ therein are full of doubts, with no [certain] knowledge, but only  conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not." (Surah An Nisah 4:157)
In view of the above reference, the Muslims believe that the Prophet Eesa was raised to Heaven without being put on the cross, and what onlookers saw on the cross was someone who resembled Prophet Eesa. Muslims thus believe that Prophet Eesa is alive up in the heavens and will descend to earth in final End Days to put the misled back on Allah's path before the world comes to an end.
"Behold! Allah said: 'O  Eesa! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee [of the  falsehoods] of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee  superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then  shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters  wherein ye dispute." (Surah 3:55) 
From the above two view points as mentioned in Bible and Quran, the followers of the Bible question Quran and object to the Quranic "conjectures": As per Christians claims the "death" of Jesus has not only been recorded in all four Gospels and  other New Testament books, but was mentioned in historical documents  from ancient times such as Josephus and Tacitus. In the presence of such credible documents, it is impossible for the mother and friends of Jesus to have not recognized To believe  Jesus was not the person on the cross is to suggest that His closest  followers and own mother did not recognize Him, nor did those who put  Jesus to death.

Just as thew birth of Prophet Eesa was a miracle, likewise it was not difficult for Allah to replicate his body with someone else looking exactly like him that even his own mother and friends had no iota of doubt that the man crucified was none other than Jesus. And his not being crucified is enough proof that Allah DID NOT FORSAKE HIM as has been mentioned in the Mathews referred above.

These are two views expressed in Bible and Quran about crucification or otherwise of Prophet Eesa (Jesus). It is only for the wise to interpret what has been the actual truth.

References: | Wikipedia | Bible Gateway |

If you like My Ultimate Decision, follow us on Facebook

Photo

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More