{"id":1187,"date":"2012-08-01T13:14:24","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T11:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/web\/?p=1187"},"modified":"2012-08-01T13:14:24","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T11:14:24","slug":"understanding-allah-jesus-and-the-holy-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/?p=1187","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Allah, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please explain clearly about these:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Who is Allah?
\n2. Who is God?
\n3. Who is Jesus?
\n4. Can I see all of them?
\n5. Whether they are all the same, since we say that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are the same.
\n6. Suppose I want to pray, how should I start praying?<\/p>\n

Answer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for your questions. I would like to start out by saying that Muslims believe that all prophets of God preached the same simple truth of the One Sovereign God.<\/p>\n

Who Is Allah? Who Is God?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Allah is God. The name Allah is the Arabic word for God. More precisely, it is\u00a0the One Eternal Creator, Lord of the whole universe. It is the same Arabic name for God that is used in the Arabic Bible.<\/p>\n

It is pronounced almost the same in other Semitic languages: \u201cEloha\u201d in Hebrew, and \u201cAllaha\u201d in Aramaic. According to Jesus (peace be upon him), God is One, with no partner whatsoever. I quote the following verses from the Bible:<\/p>\n

Jesus said to him, \u201cAway from me, Satan! For it is written: \u2018Worship the Lord your God, and him only.\u2019\u201d (Matthew 4:10)<\/p>\n

\u201cWell said, teacher,\u201d the man replied. \u201cYou are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.\u201d (Mark 12:32)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important one,\u201d answered Jesus, \u201cis this: \u2018Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.\u2019\u201d (Mark 12:29)<\/p>\n

Who Is Jesus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus is one of a long string of prophets of Allah sent to all nations throughout history, starting from Adam, who received the first guidance from Allah, to the final one, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to the Bible, Jesus was sent particularly to the Israelites, to set them back on the proper track of Moses. The Gospels record these words of Jesus:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d (Matthew 15:24)<\/p>\n

\u201cThink not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you: \u2018Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 5:17-18)<\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an, which Muslims consider the direct revelation says what means:<\/p>\n

*{The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden Paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers.}* (Al-Ma\u2019idah 5:72)<\/p>\n

Jesus was a full human Prophet of God, as he emphatically declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it is, you are determined to kill me,\u00a0a man<\/strong> who has told you the truth that I heard from God.\u201d (John 8:40)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat things?\u201d he asked. \u201cAbout Jesus of Nazareth,\u201d they replied. \u201cHe was\u00a0a prophet<\/strong>, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.\u201d (Luke 24:19)<\/p>\n

Again, the Qur\u2019an also affirms Jesus\u2019s prophethood:<\/p>\n

*{And when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah}* (As-Saff 61:6)<\/p>\n

In all aspects, the Gospels portray him as a human who was born and circumcised (Luke 2:5-7, 21, 40, 52, 11:27); who suffered hunger and thirst (Matthew 4:2, 11:19, 21:18); who got tired and slept like any human being (Matthew 8:20, 24-25, Luke 8:23, Mark 4:38, John 4:6); who was subject to human feelings of fear, astonishment, and sadness (Matthew 26:37, Mark 14:33-34, John 11:33, 35, 38); and who prayed to his Creator like any human believer does (Mark 1:35, 14:35, Luke 5:16, 6:12).<\/p>\n

Logically speaking, having no father does not mean he was the son of God. Adam had neither father nor mother, yet both Adam and Jesus are bondsmen of Allah created by His will and power, by His word \u201cBe\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Adam from earthly dust, and Jesus in the womb of Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

This is precisely and unequivocally defined in the Qur\u2019an as follows:<\/p>\n

*{The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: \u201cBe\u201d. And he was.}* (Aal `Imran 3:59)<\/p>\n

So neither Jesus nor Adam is a son of God. References to Jesus in the Bible as son of God should not be taken in the literal sense, rather in the metaphoric sense of affection and nearness to God.<\/p>\n

Jesus himself affirms that we are all \u201csons\u201d of God in this sense:<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.\u201d (Matthew 5:9)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.\u201d (Matthew 5:16)<\/p>\n

Similar references to human beings as \u201csons of God\u201d are also used in the Old Testament:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are the children of the Lord your God.\u201d (Deuteronomy 14:1)<\/p>\n

Finally, in his own words, Jesus declared himself as the Son of Man:<\/p>\n

Jesus replied, \u201cFoxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has\u00a0no place to lay his head.\u201d (Matthew 8:20)<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.\u201d (John 3:14)<\/p>\n

Can We See God?\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our human capabilities are limited by the nature of our senses: vision in a certain wavelength range (4 to 7 X10-7 <\/sup>meters), hearing in a certain frequency range (2.500 to 4,000 cycles per second). Even the power of our instruments, however advanced, is limited in two ways:<\/p>\n