Terry Sampson
Well-Known Member
Your position is clear: that Muhammed had high moral standards, represented HaShem fairly and accurately, and was a Prophet of God.
- Let’s say I meet this guy Joe from a church ...he rattles off a few well known biblical stories but they are considerably different from the ones written down in the Bible. Does that mean Joe believes in a different God than the one in the Bible? I personally don’t think it does, rather he has his own idiosyncratic take on it.
- How about someone whose behaviour is morally questionable. ... Does that mean he never believed in HaShem? I don’t think it does.
- Then there was this guy Simon bar Kokhba who the Jews regarded as their Messiah ... Did Simon believe in a different HaShem?
- Perhaps the issue with Muhammad isn’t whether or not He believed in the same HaShem as the Jews. Perhaps He does but the concern maybe:
- His portrayal of HaShem was inaccurate and distorted., even disturbing or heretical. But could He have believed in the same HaShem anyhow?
- His morals appear questionable given his multiple wives, alleged marriage to a child and allegedly violent conduct during wartime and beyond. Does that mean He believed in a different God?
- Perhaps He was wasn’t a Prophet at all and exaggerated or misunderstood His Station? Would that means He believed in a different God?
- I ask this because if these are the real issues at stake, there are better questions to be asking than whether or not Muhammad believed in the same God as HaShem. I would assume He does believe in HaShem but ask instead:
- Did Muhammad represent HaShem accurately and fairly?
- Was Muhammad a man of sound morals that we would expect from His Messenger of HaShem status and Founder of a religion followed by a quarter of the world’s population?
- Was Muhammad really a Prophet of HaShem?
- I personally believe:
- Muhammad represents HaShem fairly and accurately,
- he was a man of high moral standards and
- He was a Prophet of God.
- However are these the more relevant questions?
My response:
- For the record, I predict that this thread isn't going to end well.
- At best, I'll concede that Muhammed is Allah's prophet and may have represented Allah "fairly and accurately". But I won't concede that he is Ha-Shem's prophet and/or Messenger and that he represented Ha-Shem fairly and accurately.
- What makes this thread intriguing to me is that my beliefs, as a Gentile Christian, survive the absence of Allah, but your beliefs, as a Baha'i, depend on the interchangeability of the names for your god, Muhammed, and a non-trinitarian Jesus, because without them--if I'm not mistaken--your Baha'i beliefs cannot stand.
- There's a non-trinitarian Jesus that Jews might be able to recognize and make room for without worshiping him. But there's no room in Judaism or Christianity for Islam's non-trinitarian Jesus And I'd be closer to HaShem and Jesus than a Baha'i will ever be to Islam's Muhammed or a non-trinitarian Jesus.
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