And welcome you once again to a salmon focus. Today’s program inshallah will be our 61st series, Jesus, the beloved messenger of Allah, our 28th on sin, atonement and sacrifice. finish our topic will be the Islamic perspective on the host the shouting mission here once again from St. Mary’s University with Dr. Jamal Badawi as always,
for the benefit of our viewers crew, please have a summary of last week’s program. Okay, last week, we concluded the discussion suggested by Francis young, about the origin of the idea of God incarnate, in which he discussed the high proselytization, or actualization of wisdom, and that this notion did have some roots in the Bible, specifically in the book of Proverbs, that this notion of wisdom was transformed by the Greek into the concept of logos, or the imminent Spirit of God, and basically says that the notion of God incarnate does not only come from Greek or Roman ideas, but also from various Jewish traditions, and that the impact of the figure of Jesus helped to
crystallize the elements that were already present. We discussed also some of the apologetic responses to this kind of analogies, like the ideas of Justin, the martyrs, Serbian, and some of the more recent ones, which basically blame the devil, by way of instigating people to claim to be sons of Gods prior to the coming of the real one.
We indicated that the impact of this mythological ideas was not only limited to the notion of God incarnate, but it did influence other beliefs also, and festivals were discussed, for example, Christmas, Easter in the Eucharist, the taking up the cross as a symbol, that it’s an exchange of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. And we concluded from an academic standpoint, when we discuss the issue of mythology,
that for the Muslim, he does not necessarily have to accept all conclusions 100%
of the myths that existed prior to Christianity, and that if the Quran for example, which is to the Muslim the Word of God indicated that Jesus had the virgin birth, the Muslim accepts that without any question, even though some people might say it’s a myth. So I’m just making this reservation. However, there seemed to be sufficient evidence that the notion of God incarnate God has been adopted from ideas prior to Christianity, which is, again, something that has been confirmed in the Koran. And hopefully, maybe to just give us some sort of indication of the purpose behind spending so much time in this series on these issues, is that perhaps a non dogmatic, honest and objective? a
trace of this idea of God is God incarnate, will hopefully bridge the gap that exists between the beliefs of our Christian Brethren, and what has been stated in the Quran the last revelation of God, that it has nothing to do with what Jesus Himself claimed or thoughts.
And in concluding this, this segment of our series, it may be useful to discuss the Islamic perspective on sin and atonement. Now, first of all, if Muslims do not accept the Pauline doctrine of substitutionary sacrifice, does that necessarily mean that they teach sin and rebellion against God? Less Seriously? Okay. I’m trying to hear God willing to give a brief answer that that is just for cross reference.
Yeah, but for cross reference, some aspects of that topic has been covered some years back in the series on moral teaching of Islam, about the nature of the human, the place of the human in the universe, and so on. But perhaps I think it’s also be fitting to relate it to the discussion of sin and atonement.
Start with the existence of sin and rebellion against God in this world is a matter that Muslims take no less seriously than their Christian brethren or any religious community for that matter.
In fact, the Quran indicates that one of the defining attributes of God is Alka Deuce, which means the Holy One. We find that, for example, in Surah, 59, verse 23, and Surah 62 verse one.
So we as humans, if we were to come close to God, we must try our best than to purify or sanctify ourselves out But above all, to seek the help and guidance of God in this process of purification. I’ll give you some evidence from the Quran itself.
We need for example, in Surah 53, verse 32. So that was a coup and push for Allah we managed to
justify not yourself. He that’s God knows best, who it is that guards against evil. In another verse, it shows that why and we as humans are responsible to do some effort to purify ourselves. But that after all, purification comes only from God.
as diverse in Surah, four, verse 49, says, that in there who used to manufacture me, but God sanctify whom he pleases, but never will they fail to receive justice in the least little thing.
It must be emphasized here that when we say that God’s purify
whomever he wishes, or forgives, whoever wishes or guides, whoever he wishes, that this should not be an indication of any arbitrary decision on the part of God because side by side, the Quran also indicates that God is merciful, that he is just that he is loving on the Arabic term were viewed, as translated full of loving kindness as we find them shorter 85 verse 14, and Surah 11 verse 89, which means that the will of God to guide or to purify is inseparable from His justice, and mercy, because all of these are interrelated, divine attributes.
Now that the Brotherhood is taken seriously, how can salvation be obtained? First of all, the chrome used any other term
for being seized or fatality delivered? Yeah. Well, the there are some terms in Arabic that comes closest to the terms we hear from our Christian brother in light delivered, being delivered or being saved. And the closest term in Arabic, which appears in the Quran, by the way, is Naja Naja in a JWH measure. This word and its derivative appears in the Quran, I’ll just give you a couple of examples describing the Day of Judgment. In surah, 69. For example, verse 61, it says what unit gender who lives in a taco v Maharaja to him, Liam as to who’s who,
but God’s will deliver. The righteous are those who are mindful of God, to their place of salvation, no even shall touch them, nor shall they leave in another verse also describing the same scene in the Day of Judgment, to manual neji Latina taco, that is, then we that God deliver the righteous that appears in Surah 19, verse 72.
There are also
other uses of that, but again, to save time, and just to give the references in Surah 40, verse 41, and in sorta 61 verse 10. But in addition to the term nyjah, which again, might be like subdivision, and its deliberative. There are also other terms used in the Quran, which means the same thing.
Things like house and their derivatives. And this appears in more than 65 places. And so yes, the term and it’s a bit aggressive.
Does that.
Does that mean that Muslims believe that salvation can be achieved by good deeds?
There is a common notion that I found among many of my Christian brethren with whom I had discussions or biodomes, or dialogues for that matter, you
Among the very educated among them, theologians and clergy,
that they seem to believe that one difference between Islam and Christianity is that Christianity believes in salvation by grace, whereas Muslims believe in salvation by deeds.
Many of them get surprised when I tell them that this is an erroneous stereotype. But about this,
perhaps I could answer that best not by just giving an opinion or some apology made up in the 20th century, but by referring to the Quran revealed 1400 years ago, and to the same of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
In the Quran, we find that it is only through the grace of God that any person may be pre purified.
For example, in Surah, 24, verse 21, as part of our verse actually, whenever possible, Bharti alikum warahmatu Mazda can come in as in Canada, well, I can Allahu Jackie Misha, were it not for the grace and mercy of God on you? Not one of you, not one of you would have been cured, but God purify whom he pleases. And God is one who hears and knows of things. The same meaning has been echoed by Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in the sound, that’s an authentic had these are saying, as narrated in Sahih, Muslim, the new Climate Neutral agenda, I had an article
that’s part of the Hadith and just give the translation quickly. The Prophet was sitting and he was telling his companions, that none of you will enter Paradise, just because of his good deeds.
So the companions looked at the Prophet, Prophet Mohammed and said, even you called messenger of God. He said, Even me, has not been that God has shrouded me with his mercy.
So that seems to indicate quite clearly, that Muslims should be spiritually humble. Not to say I entered paradise because I deserve it. I earned it because of my deeds, obviously from the Quran and the saying of the Prophet, that’s not the case. But the Quran goes beyond
this to explain to us, what are the conditions to receive that grace from God and to attain that salvation or success? Basically, there are two conditions. The first condition is the correct belief in God and refraining from shift that is to refrain from associating any others with God in His divine attributes. In the Quran in surah, four verse 48, we read in the Lucha de offer English rockabilly while film as soon as le kalamunda. God forgives not that partners should be set up with him, but he forgives anything else to whom he pleases preset partners with God is to devise a sin, most heinous indeed, in another verse, along with the same meaning, and the same, chapter four,
verse 116. It says that anyone who journeys others with God he has strayed far away, that is from the right.
The Quran also refers to the teaching of Prophet Jesus peace be upon him and quotes him in Surah five verse 75
Mahajan in Abu Mahara
but said, the anointed, that Jesus peace be upon him, all children of Israel, worship God, minor, annually your Lord.
Whoever joins God’s with God or with Allah, God will forbid him the garden and the fire will be his abode for the wrongdoers, there will be no one to help. That’s the first condition correct belief.
The second condition to achieve salvation or to receive this mercy and grace of God is to try sincerely to translate that correct belief into action or good deeds. But when we fall short and all of us definitely will fall short. Or when we slip or miss commit mistakes and all of us commit mistakes. The means to correct that according to the Quran, is the sincere repentance, sincere and direct repentance to God without any need for any imperfect human in intermediary without need for confession without need for
absolution from another human being who himself needs absolution and forgiveness of God. And this principle of Toba or repentance is very much emphasized in the Quran, and repeatedly mentioned as inseparable from another divine attribute, love of God and His mercy, love and mercy means preparedness to forgive those who sin and repent.
Can you give some examples of these forgiveness from the Quran and the Hadith? Well, in the Quran, it’s too many earlier let me just refer to a few that might hopefully conveys the meaning
with it, for example, in Surah, 53, passage 32
in Arabic is not
very good lord is filled in forgiveness and forgiveness. Another one gets put in a moving verse also, woman Yama, Su and a lovely message from my staff. Yes, even
if anyone does evil, or runs his or her own soul, but afterwards, seeks God’s forgiveness, he will find God of forgiving, Most Merciful that’s in sort of for passage one.
Another one in Surah 39 verse 53, for the idea, Latina software unforeseen, lack of not only black metal, in the lie offered has been overturned. See that say all Mohammed to people to mankind, only servants, servants of God who have transgressed against their souls, despair, not of the mercy of God, for God forgives all sense, for he is of forgiving, Most Merciful in describing the true believers in the Quran.
In surah, three, verse 135. It describes them as one levena either follow fascism or rather more emphasis on the Kerala estafa live interview. And those who haven’t committed an abomination, or run their own souls, endlessly bring God to mind. Remember him, bring him out and ask for forgiveness for their sins. And who can forgive sins except God, and are never obstinate in resisting knowingly in the wrongs they have done. As far as the saying, of the Prophet, there are many I’ve just mentioned one because of the time limits. And this is known as a Huggy squishy or divine Hades, in which Prophet Mohammed says, Allah, the Almighty has said,
All child of Adam, so long as you call upon me, and asked of me, I shall forgive you for what you have done. And I shall not mind
outside of Adam, where your sins to reach the clouds of the sky. And when you come to ask forgiveness of me, I would forgive you,
or child of Adam, were you to come to me with sins as great as the earth? And where do you want them to face me? ascribing no partners? To me, I would bring you forgiveness, nearly as great as if that was narrated in academic
documentary, some, some Christian government may see that there was no disagreement whatsoever on God’s forgiving quality versus God is also just how can we then pay for sin also satisfy the requirements of justice? Okay. Again, for the sake of cross reference, some aspects of a full answer to that question perhaps, might relate to some earlier discussion of the concept of sin and atonement in the early part of the of the series in which it was indicated. According to the writing or even some Unitarian Christians, the idea of
shedding the blood of innocent person
does not achieve neither the requirement of justice or mercy for that matter, and God could forgive without resorting to this.
Furthermore, we also pay for our sins in this life in some form or the other. You look around you For example, and see the results of deviating in terms of sexual perversion or addiction to drugs and alcohol and others. Definitely we suffer from that in terms of venereal diseases, AIDS and accidents and destruction of organs.
In the body. In some cases, even we pay for small sins, like losing our temper or neglecting our deity. But the most important part really, with respect to the question of sin and atonement is the spiritual part of forgiveness. And as indicated earlier, forgiveness can be achieved through repentance, sincere repentance to God, there are basically three conditions for repentance. One is to stop the evil one is three, two is to regretted as a sign of humility, three is to have a determination not to repeated again. Firstly, a first condition may be added, if the sim that the person committed Jeannette to the rights of other people, that he should seek their forgiveness or
return the right to them. And let us remember that when we speak about God as the loving God, the Merciful God, and when we speak of him as one who created us, and he knows that he created us imperfect, then he should be ready then to forgive us if we need to try to make up with to make with him to make up with him. Now, if we say that the sacrifice of blood is an absolute necessity to satisfy justice, because we cannot enter into paradise, unless we are perfect, then it is not really just because God created us imperfect, and we can never be perfect. So perfection is is a method, which is relative, it just like a professor who says that unless you get 100, out of 100, in all of
your courses, you will not even pass
x that’s another possibility. Very rarely happens. But even some people may get the stick a bit, you know, to say that a minimum requirements for even passing for everyone, obviously will not be fair. And just that is why we find an Islamic teaching that if one does a one single good deeds, you can get at least 10 fold reward, it could be 700, it could be more than that. If one does one even did he gets only one.
So the Muslim here does not see an inherent contradiction like other brothers and see between justice and mercy, does not see any necessity for bloodshed. And maybe I can conclude with one divine Hadith, which is very interesting, the Prophet Muhammad peace for whom says that God said, in the last match eternal, My Mercy, God says, prevails over my wrath that was narrated in both Bukhari and Muslim.
Beautiful.
Is that explanation mean, the Muslims feel assured of salvation.
In one sense, yes. I know, it’s a very common question that some people keep asking. And you said, You know how, you know, answers are you said, I think we have to distinguish between two aspects here are things.
One is the necessity that a believer must be confident, spiritually, does not think that he earned salvation by whatever means, whether his deeds or others just to say, You’re right, you know, I achieved it, I don’t care. But to realize that his salvation is only by the will of God, and by the grace of God, because once the person says, All right, I have, I have the ticket to paradise right in my pocket here. There is no in our human nature, of course, a possibility of being a little lacks for getting our juices but even possibly, even slipping into evil. And we all know, as we indicated before, that the first condition for salvation is correct belief. So a person might be a believer, I
feel like I achieved salvation, but maybe at the end of his life, he might fall into this belief, he might associate others with God and His divine attribute and as such could be lost. So, a person cannot say yeah, you know, the ticket is here, it has to be always on guard. But there is also equally important necessity, that the person must be assured of the mercy of God and His justice, that he is saved on the basis of criteria certain criteria are not just an arbitrary matter. And we have already indicated before that these two important criteria include correct belief and right deeds are righteous deeds,
it is within this kind of framework, that the Muslim should not really feel undue uncertainty or anxiety except in the healthy degree, the hence the degree that next step has come till his death, and that it likes to come in from that because many psychologists today tell us
that even things like stress, any time
of stress or whether it’s anxiety of conflicts or
are not necessarily bad, that it’s a matter of degree, it’s not always just a straight line. It’s like a curve, that if you have too much anxiety,
it is is counterproductive. It’s dysfunctional, it’s not good. And if you have no pressure whatsoever, he has no anxiety whatsoever. You don’t have much motivation. But some degree of uncertainty in the healthy degree would be quite motivating. So the person remains on rather than just referring to some recent research on this area.
Indeed, we can say that within this basic qualifications, yes, there are ample assurances in the Koran and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, that is any person fulfill those conditions, which are not impossible to fulfill with the help of grad and remain steadfast paradise and Felicity and the life hereafter will be guaranteed to him, but he can say I guarantee it now because he doesn’t know what he’s going to do in the in the future, but in any respect. The assurances are definitely since give us a few examples of the assurances of salvation. Okay to start with. For the Muslim he has complete trust and confidence that God is just as the Quran says, for
example, in Surah 18, verse 49, and others, while
God will not be unjust to anyone, so he negated that nobody would be treated unjustly.
Secondly, the Quran indicates that God has no interest in punishing us or throwing us into the hellfire.
Unless of course we rebelled against him and chose evil instead of good. One beautiful verse in the Quran. Nine is our model, the other becomes in Chicago to Mohammed, what kind of man who Shakira Malema? surah four, verse 147. translation says, What can God gain by your punishment? If you are grateful, and you believe me, it is God that recognizes all good and knows all things. The mission of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him has been described as Bashir and one one idea and one who brings glad tidings and warning at the same time, as in Surah 11 verse two, that his mission is lost maternal alameen mercy unto the whole world in plural, as we find in Surah 21 there’s one or seven
in the Quran also. We read Belen, an espionage hula, hula what mustn’t adjuvant therapy. What a whole finale.
That’s in Surah two, verse 112. It says me, whoever submits his whole self to God, and is a delivery of goods, he or she will get his reward with his Lord, and on such shall be no fears, nor shall days greed. The Quran, like I said before, is replete with this kind of assurance, or assurances, I should say that a person who remembers God His heart would be at perfect peace and assurance as we find this sort of 1520 just one concluding remark on this. Some of my Christian Brothers used to tell me, all right, the idea of salvation is not just the forgiveness of sins, but rather the changing of attitudes, rebirth, rebirth, if you might say, and I say I have no problem in that
because the Quran also indicate that by strengthening our belief in God and relationship with him, loving him and obeying Him, we sensitize our unconscious, so that we resist the temptation to even and become more God fearing. For example, in Surah 64 verse 11, it says, woman you know, the law has a callback. If anyone believes in God, God guides his heart. Elsewhere also in the Quran, we find the Quran is guidance to those who are mindful of God. And finally, one very moving verse when levena says the dhammapada in Surah 47, verses 17 it says, but to those who receive guidance, God increase the light of guidance and bestow on them their piety, and just change from evil. Thank you
very much to activate only to conclude our review for series. And thank you all for joining us here in this hour and your comments and questions will be appreciated. Our phone number and address will be on your screen. From all of us. Focus us
