Other teachings and Beliefs: The source of Religion

What the Bible Says..

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17).

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,: "…. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." (Acts 10:44-47).

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place .. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…
Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: … this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:1-17).

… Philip the evangelist, one of the seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (Acts 21: 8,9).



What the Qur'an Says…

And who can be more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah, or says: "a revelation has come to me" whereas no revelation has come to me" whereas no revelation has come to him in anything; and who says, "I will reveal the like of what Allah has revealed."  And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in agonies of death, while the angles are stretching forth their hands (saying): "Deliver your souls! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth. And you used to reject His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc) with disrespect. (Qur'an, 9: 31).



Commentary...

People cannot know Allah's Will and cannot know the right way of belief and workshop by their own means. Therefore, Allah has sent His messengers to all nations. Those Messengers were especially chosen and prepared by Allah Himself to convey His Divine Message and guide people to the right way. The Muslim believes in all the Prophets and makes no distinction between one another because the religion taught by all Prophets was pure Islam (the submission to the Will of Allah). 

When people deviate from teachings of the Prophets and depend on themselves and their limited knowledge, they stray from the right Path and sink into paganism and idol worship. Some people take the sun as their god, some worship idols and some worship a man as their god besides Allah, and all these people believe that they are right!

According to the Bible, Allah's revelation was not restricted to the Prophets only. The Holy Spirit guided and inspired the Church and its members because the promised gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the followers of Christ at Pentecost (Acts 2:1). 

Furthermore, the gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the apostles of Prophet Jesus Christ (pbuh), but was given to all the believers, men and women, young andy old, Israelites and non-Osraelites; and consequently people were able to prophesy and speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit was speaking though them. (Matthew 10:19,20; Acts 8: 14-17; Acts 10:44-47; Acts 11:1; Acts 2:1-41).

What are results of this loose concept of inspiration?

• Tens of gospels were written and preached. Each one of them contradicts the other (Galatians 1: 6; 2 Corinthians 11:4).
• Many people appointed themselves as apostles of Christ. Each one of them preached a different gospel and cursed other apostles and accused them of being false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13). 
• Christianity has been divided into hundreds of sects and denominations and every one of them claims to be implementing the Will of Allah through the Holy Spirit. 
• Many Christians overlooked the teachings of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and followed the teachings of Paul who never saw Jesus (pbuh) and never consulted the disciples of Prophet Jesus (pbuh), (Galatians 1:11-16). Paul wrote more Books of the Bible than any other author, while Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not write a single word. Paul's letters have no reference to the teachings of Prophet Jesus (pbuh). In fact, Paul's teaching contradict the teachings of Prophet Jesus (pbuh). 
• The teachings of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) have been replaced with what people saw in dreams. The Law of Allah which was revealed to Prophet Moses (pbuh) and approved by Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was replaced with dreams. The Law of Allah forbids the pig and other abominable things, (Leviticus 11:7,8; Isaiah 66:17). However, a dream of Peter cancelled this law and consequently all animals, reptiles and birds were allowed, (Acts 11:5-9). Furthermore, Paul described the "Law of Allah" as "the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2), and said: "Now the faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (Galatians 3:25).
• Prophet Jesus (pbuh) taught the Oneness of Allah and confirmed that he was just a Messenger, and the disciples followed his teachings. However, by the end of the first century and as a result of the alleged inspiration of the Holy Spirit , most Christians exalted Prophet Jesus (pbuh) into the divine sphere, and afterwards in the fourth century the doctrine of Trinity was invented and Prophet Jesus (pbuh) became their god besides Allah. 

The Muslim rejects this dogma for many reasons: 

• Muslims believe in Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and in the original Gospel revealed to him. They also believe that the true followers of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) were righteous people and are praised in the Qur'an in many Verses (5: 82; 57:27: 61:14 :3:82). However, those followers were not Prophets and did not have the authority to change the religion of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) or replace his Gospel with what their own hands wrote. 
• The books of the New Testament have many contradictions. If the Holy Spirit was inspiring the writers of these books, then the books should be consistent!
• If what people see in dreams represents the actual Will of Allah, then all people are Prophets because all people dream! If people could prophesy, make laws and change the Law of Allah according to their dreams and according to the alleged inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then why did Allah send His Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and reveal His Gospel to him? 
• The New Testament Books contain many mistakes such as the confirmation that the generation of disciples would not pass away until the kingdom of God comes (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30-35; Mark 9:1). This is incorrect prophecy proves that the Holy Spirit dud not inspire the writers. 
• In Islam, dreams and personal insight are not considered sources of legislation. The concept of revelation in Islam is different; the revelation which represents the Will of Allah is what Allah revealed in the Qur'an and what He revealed to His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh). Islamic Law is based on the Qur'an and on the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who was guided by inspiration from Allah. No one can change the Law of Allah and the teachings of His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Muslim scholars have no right either to change the Law of Allah or to make laws which Allah has not ordained. Their function is to inform people of what Allah and His Prophet said, explain the Law of Allah and guide people to the right path of Allah following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).