2001-November-9

The Muslim Journal

Your G-d And Our G-d Is One And The Same G-d: Part 1

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(These are excerpts from Imam W, Deen Mohammed's Public Address in Racine, Wise., on Oct. 6, 2001.)

I would like to begin with Muhammed (PBUH), himself, to show that Islam says "your G-d and our G-d is One and the Same G-d." It does not just say "one," it says "One and the Same G-d." We Christians, Muslims and Jews all know that there is but One G-d. It is the G-d that Solomon built the Temple for, peace be upon the Prophet Solomon. And Solomon said of G-d: "I know this house cannot hold You; not even the heavens can hold You." This is the G-d we believe in.

In our Holy Book, it is said that Prophet Muhammed is mentioned in the Torah, as you know is the Old Testament, and in the Injil, which is the New Testament or Gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn't say where it is mentioned in the Bible, but the language is so clear that I was able to recognize it as I became aware of the Bible reading, I have read the Bible from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation.

In the Qur'an, G-d said that Muhammed is the Unlettered Prophet, meaning he was never schooled or taught by any religious teachers. He was a businessman working for his wife, Lady Khadijah, may G-d be pleased with her. He was not acquainted with the Bible or any scriptures - unlettered or unlearned in scripture.

The unlettered prophet mentioned in the Torah and in the Injil is the one coming to "break the bonds of slavery and to lift from the backs of the people the heavy yoke that weighs them down." This is in the Qur'an.

The other connection I wanted to make with the Bible is that Islam is not a new religion. Islam simply means "desiring to live at peace with your Creator and with your fellow man and with creation made by G-d."

We believe that all prophets were Muslims, for Muslim means someone desiring to live at peace with his Creator, with the creation of G-d and with his fellow man. We know that Muslims are not always that, and Christians are not always Christ-like. But we want to be.

In this Qur'an, it says that what is revealed in the Qur'an is an explanation of what came before it and also a message for all the worlds and a conclusion of scripture. So we believe that no scripture will come from G-d after Qur'an. We don't say that G-d will not reveal things, but G-d will not give the world another Book.

We also believe that Muhammed is the Seal of the Prophets, which also means that he comes in the line of the prophets. And Prophet Muhammed said of himself in this regard: Prophets have come one following another, and they were building a house. There was one brick left in building a house, and G-d said to him to put that one brick in the house.

There is a history in the life of Muhammed the Prophet, peace be upon him, when he was not yet called by G-d. But he was a citizen well respected and belonged to the tribe of Quraysh, the largest and most respected tribe of idol worshippers of Mecca before Islam came. He was called by them "As-Saadiq" or the Truthful One, the one who would not lie. He was also called by them "EI-Amm," the Trustworthy One.

As a young man, one day he was in the holy precincts, and the chiefs were about to take the Black Stone that came down from the heavens and place it back to restore the Kaa’ba. The Kaa’ba had been damaged by heavy rains. They, said: "We see EI-Amin, so let's call him." They were having a dispute to see who would have the honor of taking the stone in his hand and placing it there in the Kaa’ba. So they called him and told him the situation.

He said: "Find me a cloth, and let's put the stone on the cloth. Now each of you take a part of the cloth and take the stone to its place." And they did. When they arrived at the place, then they asked him would he take his hands and take the stone out of the cloth and place it. And he did. We believe this all has connections with what came before in the
Bible.

Let me say this. Mohammed (PBUH) said many things. In his last sermon, he said: "Listen, you who are present, take this to those who are absent. And those who receive it from you, take it to others. Per chance the ones who receive it last will understand it best."

I can understand that. I can imagine pagans and idolaters coming into this religion; they were not Christians and were not Jews. They were not people of scripture and had not been raised to respect and understand scripture- It would take them sometime to understand the Prophet's Message. They could only understand so much in one generation. And each new generation would learn more and more.

That is not to say that he did not have bright minds grasping his knowledge of Qur'an and doing wonderful things with it. Yes, there were Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali. We all know these great men in Islam.

(To be continued)

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