The Straight Way
(Sirat Al-Mustaqim)
Sirat al-Mustaqim is the
Arabic term for the straight way. In Islamic context, it has been
interpreted as the right path or the right way.
There are five obligatory daily prayers in Islam. Al-Fatihah is the prayer
where the believer requests Allah for guidance on the path of those upon whom
He has bestowed favors, not those upon whom wrath is brought down, nor those
who went astray. During each prayer is the following phrase included: “Ihdina s-siraata
l-mustaqeem, Siraata l-latheena anamta alaihim ghair al-mughdoobi
alaihim wa la daaleen”.
Means: “Guide us to the
Straight Way, The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not
(the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who
went astray (such as the Christians).” (Quran 1: 6,7)
- Guide us to the Straight Way, to The
Way of those on whom God have bestowed His Grace. What is the
Straight Way and who are those people that God bestowed His Grace on them?
- The Straight Way but not (the way) of those who earned His
Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such
as the Christians). Obviously the Quran says the Jews and the Christians
are not on the right Way. So, what is the way those people are walking in
and why the Jews earned God’s anger and how the Christians went astray?
Why the Jews earned
God’s anger?
God preferred them over all others at their time. God sent them prophet after prophet, and sent the Holy Scriptures.
Jesus is the reason for
everything given to the people of God in the Old Testament! The
entire Old Testament, with all its laws and traditions, is the story of God's
preparation of His people for the coming of Jesus Christ (the
Messiah). "So the law was put in charge to lead us to
Christ that we might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24. The
purpose of all the Old Testament Scriptures was to prepare God's people for
salvation through Jesus Christ! As we read and study the Old
Testament, we too are made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus, by all
the accounts of faith displayed by the great men and women of the Old Testament.
We also gain a better understanding of God the Father and the reason He sent
His Son to die in our place. "But as for you, continue in
what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from
whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
The Old Testament is
all about Jesus! Yet the
Jews rejected Him because He failed, in their eyes, to do what they expected their
Messiah to do—destroy evil and all their enemies and establish an eternal
kingdom with Israel as the preeminent nation in the world. The prophecies in
Isaiah and Psalm 22 described a suffering Messiah who would be persecuted and
died, but they chose to focus instead on those prophecies that discussed His
glorious victories, not His crucifixion.
Act 14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe
stirred up some people who were not Jewish and poisoned their minds against the
believers.
Act 13:45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they became
very jealous. They used insulting language to contradict whatever Paul said.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but
whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God's constant
anger."
Two thousand years after
He came to the nation of Israel as their Messiah, the Jews still reject Jesus
Christ. They do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and they still waiting
for the Messiah to come. John 3:36 says “but whoever rejects the Son will not
see life. Instead, he will see God's constant anger” They rejected the Son
of God they rejected the Messiah. Therefore the Jews “will see God's
constant anger” and their Way is NOT the right Way.
How the Christians
went astray?
The church was troubled
by heretics from the beginning. Before the end of the apostolic era, false
teachers were already introducing novel ideas.
“… and as ye have
heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; …” (1Jn
2:18)
“...there shall be
false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies”(2.Pet2:1)
The Church had been faced
with heretics and heresy throughout its existence. On the top of the list of
heresies and human traditions adopted and perpetuated by the Church are the
Trinity and worshiping Mary.
There is absolutely
NOTHING in the Bible leading Christians to recognize Mary, adore Mary, or talk
to Mary. The Bible declares that there is one mediator:
1 Timothy 2:5,6 For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a
ransom for all.
But most of the
Christians believe that Mary and the Saints are their mediators to God. Here
are a few excerpts from the book "The Glories of Mary" written by St.
Alphonsus Liguori. All quotations are taken from the chapter entitled
"Mary Our Mediatrix."
- Mary, the most faithful mediatrix of
salvation.
- She has been made the ladder to paradise, the
gate to heaven, the most true mediatrix between God and human beings.
- No creature has since received any grace from
God except through the hands of Mary.
- Are we then going to scruple to ask her to
save us when (as St. Germanus says) no one is saved except through her?
- St. Laurence Justinian asks, "How can
she be otherwise than full of grace, who has been made the ladder to
paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediatress between God and
man?"
- St. Anselm says, "that although God
could create the world out of nothing, yet, when it was lost by sin, he
would not repair the evil without the cooperation of Mary"
- St. Germanus had said the same thing,
speaking of Mary: "No one is saved but through thee"
- St. Antoninus says the same thing: "All
graces that have ever been bestowed on men, all came through Mary"
(P. 4, tit. 15, c. 20, #12).
- St. Bonaventure says, that "God will not
save us without the intercession of Mary"
Moreover, the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, paragraph 969, affirms that Mary is a mediatrix:
- “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside
this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us
the gifts of eternal salvation.... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked
in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and
Mediatrix.”
THE DOCTRINE OF THE
TRINITY
- The Illustrated Bible Dictionary records:
"The word Trinity is not found in the Bible… It did not find a place
formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion And Ethics
records: At first the Christian Faith was not Trinitarian. . . It was not
so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New
Testament and other early Christian writings."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion admits:
"Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not
contain a doctrine of the Trinity."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion says:
"Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an
explicit doctrine of the Trinity."
- The New Encyclopedia Britannica reports:
"Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the
New Testament."
- The New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology confirms: "The New Testament does not contain the
developed doctrine of the Trinity."
- Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins
affirms in the Origin and Evolution of Religion: "To Jesus and Paul
the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; … they say nothing
about it."
- Historian Arthur Weigall records in The
Paganism in Our Christianity: "Jesus Christ never mentioned such a
phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word 'Trinity'
appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after
the death of our Lord."
Jesus, Himself, tells us
that there is only one God!
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him.
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first
of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God
is one Lord:
The great Apostle Paul
tells us this same truth:
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
What is the Apostle Paul
trying to reveal to us? First of all he states emphatically that there is one
God—the Father. He goes on to tell us that everything that exists comes
ultimately from this one God, the Father! This one God is the source
of all life and power. He further states that there is one Lord, Jesus
Christ, through whom He has done everything. This Jesus, is
the link between Heaven and earth—our mediator. It is through Jesus that God
and man are reunited.
Jesus also states this
emphatic truth that there is only one God—the Father—and that eternal life is
to know this God and Jesus whom He sent. In the famous prayer of John 17 we
read:
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
- Edward Gibbons's History of Christianity
notes: "If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true
that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism of the first
Christians . . . was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the
incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented
by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of
belief."
- Historian Will Durant observed:
"Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it… From Egypt
came the ideas of a divine trinity."
The Trinity did not find
a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century.
At first the Christian Faith was not Trinitarian. . . It was not so in the
apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other
early Christian writings.
But in the 4th century
the church adopted it and today the teaching of the Trinity is the foundational
teaching upon which almost all of professed Christianity rests. To be a member
of the World Council of Churches an organization must profess belief in this
doctrine.
The Bible clearly states
that there is One God; but most of the Christians believe in three in one god
called Trinity. And also Bible teaches that there is “… one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5) but most
of the Christians put Mary and the saints as their mediator. Therefore the
Christians went astray and their Way is NOT the right Way.
The Bible teaches that
the ONLY way to have eternal life is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
The Jews still reject
Jesus Christ. They do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah and they still
waiting for the Messiah to come. And the Christians rejected Jesus Christ as
the only Mediator and rejected Him as the Son of God, They believe in Mary and
the saints as their mediators and they believe that Jesus not really the son of
God but he is God by himself who play the role of the son. The Bible says there
is only one true God the Father (1Co 8:6) but the Christians believe in three
gods who plays the role of the Father and the Son!
1John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Jews do not believe that
Jesus was divine, the Son of God, or the Messiah prophesied in Jewish
scriptures. He is seen as a "false messiah." This is denying the
Father and the Son. This is antichrist. [1 John 2:22]
“The Christian doctrine
of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity,
and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine,
God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in
every way.”
This is denying the
Father and Son. This is antichrist doctrine [1 John 2:22].
"In order to
eradicate sin and rebellion from the universe and to restore harmony and peace,
one of the divine Beings accepted, and entered into, the role of the Father,
another the role of the Son. The remaining divine Being, the Holy Spirit,... By
accepting the roles that the plan entailed, the divine Beings lost none of the
powers of Deity.... The divine Beings entered into the roles they had agreed
upon before the foundations of the world were laid." (The Week of Prayer
issue of the Adventist Review, October 31, 1996)
This is called
pretending. This is denying the Father and Son. This is antichrist doctrine [1
John 2:22].
Jesus said:
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The Jews do not believe
in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And the Christians failed to follow His teachings.
Now let’s go back to the
Qur’an:
Guide us to the
Straight Way “… not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger
(such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians). The
Jews and the Christians are denying the Messiah Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
If you deny Jesus Christ you are denying “the way, the truth,
and the life”. When the Quran was given to man, it was already the
majority of Christians was led astray, just like the Bible itself predicted. “…and
as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; …”(1Jn 2:18) “...there shall be false teachers
among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies” (2.Pet2:1)
But still the Quran say
some of them are different as we read in chapter 3 verses 113 and 114:
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous.”Qur’an 3:113,114
And also we read in Quran
chapter 5 verse 68:
"Say: 'O People
of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by
the Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your
Lord...'" (Quran
5:68)
There are Of the
People of the Book who stand for the right. They do not believe in
role playing, pretending gods but they believe in One God the Father and in His
Son Jesus Christ as their only Mediator and Saviour. They strongly believe in
the infallibility of Scripture. They accept the Bible as their only creed and
hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.
They stand fast by the Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that
has come to them from their Lord. Therefore they are “the People of
the Book”.
The Quran calls all the
believers to study together:
“So if you are in
doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those
who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to
you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.” (Quran 10:94)
“… and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender.” (Quran 29:46)
“Allah! There is no Allah but He―the Living, the Self-Subsisting Eternal. It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Torah (Of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus)” (Quran 3:2,3)
To thee We sent the
Scripture in truth, CONFIRMING the scripture that came before it, and GUARDING
it in safety: … (Quran 5:48)
See also 2:41, 2:91,
2:101, 3:3, 5:48, 6:92, 10:37, 12:111, 16:102, 35:31, 46:12)
God says in these verses;
he sent Torah and Gospel and sent Quran to confirm the Scripture. TO CONFIRM
and GUARDING it in safety!
Confirm = Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts, Strengthen or make more firm, Support a person for a position.
Quran confirming Torah
and Gospel, what is the one red thread runs throughout the Torah and Gospel?
The answer is THE SALVATION.
Jesus said: John
14:6 “… I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father but through Me.”
The People of the Book are
strongly believe in the infallibility of Scripture. They accept the Bible as
their only creed. They stand fast by the Law, the Gospel and all the
revelation that has come to them from their Lord. Therefore they are “the
People of the Book thatGod have bestowed His Grace
on them. They believe in Jesus as “The Way, the truth, and the
life”. This is the straight Way…
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