|
The Shi‘ahs have founded arguments in support of their own ideas upon a few passages in the Old
Testament. Although the Sunnis do not agree with them in this, yet it may be worth while to consider
their arguments, because they really have as solid or as unstable a foundation as those which we
have already dealt with.
18. The Shi‘ahs say that Gen. xvii. 20, "Twelve princes shall he beget," is a
prophecy of the twelve Imams, whom they hold to be the legitimate successors of Muhammad. In answer
to this we need do nothing but refer to Gen. xxv. 13-16, where we are told that the promise was
fulfilled in the twelve sons born to Ishmael, whose names are there given, and who are distinctly
called "twelve princes" in the end of ver. 16.
19. They also hold that Jer. xlvi. 10, "The Lord, the LORD of Hosts, hath a sacrifice in the
north country by the river Euphrates," is a prophecy of the murder of Husain at Karbala,
believing that in some way his death was a sacrifice for sin and an atonement. But the second verse
of this very same chapter states that the reference is to "the army of Pharaoh-neco king of
Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah", 606 B.C. It can hardly be
supposed by any Muslim that the slaughter of a host of Egyptians, who were then heathens, was
an atonement for sin. The word rendered "sacrifice" also means "slaughter" (as
is evident from such passages as Isa. xxxiv. 6-8; Ezek. xxxix. 17-21; Zeph. i. 7, 8). Besides all
this, Karbala could in no sense be said by Jeremiah to be "in the north country".
We now pass to the New Testament, in order to consider with due care and attention the passages
in it which Muslims claim as prophecies relating to Muhammad.
I. Matt. iii. 2, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." These words of John the Baptist,
repeated by
|
|
|
Jesus (Matt. iv. 17), are said by Muslims to be a prediction of the establishment of the power of
Islam (see also Matt. xiii. 31, 32), the Qur'an being the Law of the Kingdom. But, in order to
understand what is meant by "The Kingdom of Heaven", or, as it is also called, "The
Kingdom of God," we must consider all the passages in the New Testament in which the words
occur. One of these is Matt. xii. 28, where Christ says, "If I by the Spirit of God cast out
devils, then is the Kingdom of God come upon you." In Mark ix. 1, Christ tells His disciples
that some of those who stood there should not taste of death till they saw the Kingdom of God come
with power. In some verses this Kingdom is spoken of as already established in Christ's lifetime, in
others to be established after His death. It was begun before He was crucified, but its perfection
is to be when He comes again to judge the world (Dan. vii. 13, 14; Rev. xi. 15). Meanwhile it is
spreading daily through the preaching of the Gospel and the invitation being given to all men to
enter it (Matt. xxviii. 18-20). It is not a kingdom of this world (John xviii. 36); it does not come
with worldly pomp and show (Luke xvii. 20); it belongs to the humble-minded (Matt. v. 3), not to the
proud; men can enter it only through a new, spiritual birth (John iii. 3, 5); it is not possible for
the wicked to be in it (I Cor. vi. 9, 10; Gal. v. 21; Eph. v. 5). Hence it can hardly be identified
with the dominion founded by Muhammad and his successors.
2. Matt. xvii. 11. Some Muslims take the words "Elias (Elijah) indeed cometh" here as a
prediction of Muhammad's advent. But Christ goes on to say, "Elijah is come already, and they
knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they listed" (ver. 12). The next verse adds,
"Then understood the disciples that He spake unto them of John the Baptist" (ver. 13). Of
course John the Baptist was not Elijah in person, for transmigration of souls
(تناسُخ) is not taught in
the Bible; therefore he answered as he did (John i. 21)
|
|