The true Christians, followers of Jesus 'And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), those who believe in Allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to Allah: they will not sell the Signs of Allah for a miserable gain! for them is a reward with their Lord, and Allah is swift in account.' (Quran:3/199) The Holy Quran, A Holy Book for all mankind 'O mankind! verily there hath come to you a convincing proof from your Lord: For We have sent unto you a light (that is) manifest.' (Quran:4/174) Prophet Mohammed, a Prophet for all mankind 'We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.' (Quran:21/107) Prophet Mohammed, a Prophet for all mankind 'Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari 'A Book of the Prophet's saying', Volume 1, Book 7, Number 331) 'It is a Revelation sent down by (Him), the Exalted in Might, Most Merciful' [Holy Quran 36:5] The word 'Muslim' means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Being a Muslim entails willful submission and active obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are there converts to Islam in every corner of the world, especially in England and America, but by taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to Nigeria, and from Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come from many various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also interesting to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Many people tell us 'but the Bible clearly says that Jesus is the Son of God. How can you say that Jesus is not God's only begotten son when Jesus says it so clearly in black and white in the Bible?' Well, first of all, as seen in the previous section, we first need to know the language of his people, the language of the Jews to whom he was speaking. Let us see how they understood this proclamation. Let us begin by asking: How many sons does the Bible tell us that God Almighty has? Jacob is God's son and firstborn: 'Israel is my son, even my firstborn' Exodus 4:22. Solomon is God's son 'He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son': 2 Samuel 7:13-14. Ephraim is God's firstborn: 'for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn' Jeremiah 31:9 (who is God's firstborn? Israel or Ephraim?). Adam is the son of God 'Adam, which was the son of God' Luke 3:38. Common people (you and me) are the sons of God: 'Ye are the children of the LORD your God' Deuteronomy 14:1. 'For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God' Romans 8:14. 'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name' John 1:12. 'That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;' Philippians 2:15. 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: ... now are we the sons of God' 1 John 3:1-2. 'When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?' Job 38:7. 'Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD,' Job 2:1. 'Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD,' Job 1:6. 'when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men,' Genesis 6:4. 'That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair' Genesis 6:2 As we can see, the use of the term 'son of God' when describing normal human beings was not at all an uncommon practice among Jesus' people. Well then, was Jesus the only begotten son of God? Read Psalms 2:7 : 'I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me (King David, King), Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee' Indeed, the Jews are even referred to as much more than this in the Bible, and this is indeed the very trait which Jesus (pbuh) held against them. When the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus (pbuh) he defended himself with the following words 'Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, 'I said, Ye are gods?' If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken...' John 10:34: (he was referring to Psalms 82:6 'I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High..') As we can see from these and many other verses like them, 'son of God' in the language of the Jews was a very innocent term used to describe a loyal servant of God. Whether the translators and editors chose to write it as 'Son of God' (with a capital S) in reference to Jesus and 'son of God' (with a small S) in reference to everyone else does not diminish the fact that in the original language, both cases are exactly the same. SON OF GOD" NO BLASPHEMY There was nothing blasphemous or treasonable in the simple avowal of Jesus (pbuh). "Christ" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah," which meant the ANOINTED ONE or the APOINTED ONE. 1 Nowhere was the word Christ equated with God. We must divorce this notion from the paganised Christian doctrine of the incarnation, wherein God becomes man. The Jewish expectation of a Messiah, did not identify the Messiah with God. Indeed, the nature of Jewish monotheism wholely excludes such pagan connotations. "Son of God" is also another harmless expression in Jewish theology. God seems to have sons by the tons in the Jewish Bible. But if you are looking for trouble, you do not have to go far. You will find it round the corner. The High Priest was exultant. He felt that his rapier thrust had ripped open the defence of Jesus. To dramatise his contrived victory, he began renting his clothes. "What need have we for any further witnesses? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death." (HOLY BIBLE) Mark 14:63-64 GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY "JESUS MUST DIE!" The Jews falsely charged that Jesus had blasphemed, which is like treason in the spiritual realm. The Christians are "ONE" with the Jews regarding this "blasphemy" of Jesus, but contend that he was not guilty, because as God, he was entitled to "blaspheme" it was no blasphemy. Between the two (Jews and Christians) they want poor Jesus to die. One for "GOOD RIDDANCE" and the other for "GOOD REDEMPTION". Grolier's encyclopedia, under the heading 'Jesus Christ,' says: 'During his earthly life Jesus was addressed as rabbi and was regarded as a prophet. Some of his words, too, place him in the category of sage. A title of respect for a rabbi would be 'my Lord.' Already before Easter his followers, impressed by his authority, would mean something more than usual when they addressed him as 'my Lord.'.... it is unlikely that the title 'Son of David' was ascribed to him or accepted by him during his earthly ministry. 'Son of God,' in former times a title of the Hebrew kings (Psalms 2:7), was first adopted in the post-Easter church as an equivalent of Messiah and had no metaphysical connotations (Romans 1:4). Jesus was conscious of a unique filial relationship with God, but it is uncertain whether the Father/Son language (Mark 18:32; Matt. 11:25-27 par.; John passim) goes back to Jesus himself' . There seems to be only two places in the Bible where Jesus (pbuh) refers to himself as 'son of God.' They are in John chapters 5 and 11. Hastings in 'The dictionary of the Bible' says: 'Whether Jesus used it of himself is doubtful.' Regardless, we have already seen what is meant by this innocent title. However, Jesus is referred to as the 'son of Man' (literally: 'Human being') 81 times in the books of the Bible. In the Gospel of Barnabas, we are told that Jesus (pbuh) knew that mankind would make him a god after his departure and severely cautioned his followers from having anything to do with such people. Jesus was not the son of a human man (according to both the Bible and the Qur'an). However, we find him constantly saying 'I am the son of man.' Why?. It was because in the language of the Jews, that is how you say 'I am a human being.' What was he trying to tell us by constantly repeating and emphasizing to us throughout the New Testament 'I am a human being,' 'I am a human being,' 'I am a human being'?. What had he foreseen? Think about it!. Do Christians emphasize this aspect of Jesus? The New Testament Greek word translated as 'son' are 'pias' and 'paida' which mean 'servant,' or 'son in the sense of servant.' These are translated to 'son' in reference to Jesus and 'servant' in reference to all others in some translations of the Bible (see below). As we are beginning to see, one of the most fundamental reasons why Jesus (pbuh) is considered God is due to extensive mistranslation. We shall see more and more examples of this throughout this book. Islam teaches that Jesus (pbuh) was a human being, not a God. Jesus (peace be upon him) continually emphasized this to his followers throughout his mission. The Gospel of Barnabas also affirms this fact. Once again, Grolier's encyclopedia says: '...Most problematical of all is the title 'Son of Man.' This is the only title used repeatedly by Jesus as a self-designation, and there is no clear evidence that it was used as a title of majesty by the post-Easter church. Hence it is held by many to be authentic, since it passes the criterion of dissimilarity.'