Showing posts with label Haji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haji. Show all posts

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Who Does God Swear By - Bible vs Koran

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
He replied, "Here I am."
Then he said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me." Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, "It will be provided on the Lord's mountain."
Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By myself I have sworn," this is the Lord's declaration: "Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command."
(Genesis 22:11-18 CSB)

After Abraham proved his faith in God by offering Isaac as a sacrifice, God replaced Isaac with a ram and swore to Abraham that He will multiply Abraham's descendants. This event is also celebrated by the Muslims in Eid al-Adha (Hari Raya Haji).

In the Bible, God can only swear by Himself because there is no one greater than Him.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. (Hebrews 6:13-16 CSB)

In the Quran, Allah swears by all kinds of stuff. Below is quoted from the WikiIslam article Swears and Oaths in the Qur'an and Hadith - WikiIslam:

QUOTE
The following are verses from the Qur'an, where we find Allah swearing oaths.
I swear by the Book that makes manifest (the truth). (Quran 44:2)
Qaf. I swear by the glorious Quran (that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) (Quran 50:1)
I swear by the wind that scatters far and wide, (Quran 51:1)
I swear by the Mountain, (Quran 52:1)
I swear by the star when it goes down. (Quran 53:1)
But nay! I swear by the falling of stars; (Quran 56:75)
Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, (Quran 68:1)
Nay; I swear by the moon, (Quran 74:32)
Nay! I swear by the day of resurrection. (Quran 75:1)
I swear by the emissary winds, sent one after another (for men's benefit), (Quran 77:1)
I swear by the angels who violently pull out the souls of the wicked, (Quran 79:1)
I swear by the mansions of the stars, (Quran 85:1)
I swear by the heaven and the comer by night; (Quran 86:1)
I swear by the daybreak, (Quran 89:1)
Nay! I swear by this city. (Quran 90:1)
I swear by the sun and its brilliance, (Quran 91:1)
I swear by the night when it draws a veil, (Quran 92:1)
I swear by the early hours of the day, (Quran 93:1)
I swear by the fig and the olive, (Quran 95:1)
I swear by the runners breathing pantingly, (Quran 100:1)
I swear by the time, (Quran 103:1)
UNQUOTE

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Jehovah Jireh - The LORD Will Provide

Today, Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Adha or Hari Raya Haji in Malay. This day commemorates the obedience of Abraham, was willing to obey God and sacrifice his son. In both the Bible and Quran, God intervened and supplied a ram instead. The events are recorded in the Bible in Genesis 22:1-14 and the Quran in Surat Aş-Şāffāt (Those who set the Ranks) 37:99-109.

The message in the Bible was one of atonement, of substitution. God had provided a ram to replace Isaac.

Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the LORD will provide"). To
this day, people still use that name as a proverb: "On the mountain of the LORD
it will be provided." (Genesis 22:14 NLT)

This is the theme of God's salvation, a message that was to be repeated again and again in the Bible. We come across this theme again in Exodus, when God had decreed that all the first born of Egypt must die.

On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the LORD! (Exodus 12:12 NLT, see also Exodus 11:4-6)

How shall a firstborn son escape death on this terrible night? A lamb shall be killed and its blood be smeared on the door posts. When God saw the blood, He will pass over the house and the firstborn son of that house will be spared. Whether the household is Hebrew or Egyptian, it did not matter. What mattered is that the blood must be at the door posts.

Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. (Exodus 12:6-7 NLT)

But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13 NLT)

This is the message of salvation by substitution again. The firstborn son is suppose to die, but the lamb died on his behalf, and when God sees the blood of the lamb, he pass over the household. Thus it is the Passover Lamb.

This message is summarized by John the Baptizer when he saw Jesus.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV)

Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. (Revelation 5:6 NLT)

Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered -
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing."
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever."
And the four living beings said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. (Revelation 5:11-14 NLT)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Eid al-Adha (Hari Raya Haji)

Today is Eid al-Adha or Hari Raya Haji in Malay. Eid al-Adha is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. We can find this event recorded in the Bible in Genesis 22:1-14.

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:9-14 NASB)

God had called Abraham to embark on a three day journey (Genesis 22:4) to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son. For three days, Abraham had reckoned his son Isaac as dead. Likewise, our Lord Jesus was dead for three days before He was resurrected on the third day.

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted." Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. (Hebrews 11:17-19 NLT)

Sometimes we expect God to perform miracles as in this case, when Abraham was thinking that God will resurrect Isaac. Instead, God provided a ram.

The following commentary on Genesis 22 is taken from Matthew Henry:
It was not God's intention that Isaac should actually be sacrificed, yet nobler blood than that of animals, in due time, was to be shed for sin, even the blood of the only begotten Son of God. But in the mean while God would not in any case have human sacrifices used. Another sacrifice is provided. Reference must be had to the promised Messiah, the blessed Seed. Christ was sacrificed in our stead, as this ram instead of Isaac, and his death was our discharge. And observe, that the temple, the place of sacrifice, was afterwards built upon this same mount Moriah; and Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was near. A new name was given to that place, for the encouragement of all believers, to the end of the world, cheerfully to trust in God, and obey him. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide; probably alluding to what Abraham had said, God will provide himself a lamb. The Lord will always have his eye upon his people, in their straits and distresses, that he may give them seasonable help. (Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 22:11-14)

For completeness, let us also have a version of the events from the Koran recorded in Surat Aş-Şāffāt (Those who set the Ranks) 37:99-109:
099 He said: "I will go to my Lord! He will surely guide me!
100 "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!"
101 So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
102 Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!"
103 So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
104 We called out to him "O Abraham!
105 "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
106 For this was obviously a trial-
107 And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
108 And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
109 "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"
Surah 37:99-109 Yusuf Ali Translation