|
A few words concerning the koran and the Mohammedans: When His Holiness Mohammed appeared he spoke of Moses as the great man of God. In the koran he refers to the sayings of Moses in seven different places, proclaims him a prophet and the possessor of a Book, the founder of the law, and the spirit of God. He said, "Whosoever believes in him is acceptable in the estimation of God and whosoever shuns him or any of the prophets is rejected of God." Even in conclusion he calls upon his own relatives, saying, "Why have ye shunned and not believed in Moses? Why have ye not acknowledged the torah? Why have ye not believed in the Jewish prophets?" In a certain surat of the koran he mentions the names of twenty- eight of the prophets of Israel, praising each and all of them. To this great extent he has ratified and commended the prophets and religion of Israel. The purport is this,-- that Mohammed praised and glorified His Holiness Moses and confirmed Judaism. He declared that whosoever denies Moses is contaminated and even if he repents, his repentance will not be accepted. He pronounced his own relatives infidels and impure because they had denied the prophets. He said, "Because you have not believed in Christ, because you have not believed in Moses, because you have not believed in the gospels you are infidels and contaminated." In this way Mohammed has praised the torah, Moses, Christ and the prophets of the past. He appeared amongst the Arabs who were a people nomadic and illiterate, barbarous in nature and blood- thirsty. He guided and trained them until they attained a high degree of development. Through his education and discipline they rose from the lowest levels of ignorance to the heights of knowledge, becoming masters of erudition and philosophy. We see therefore that the proofs applicable to one prophet are equally applicable to another.
(98:1)
|