Judging your own Religion’s Tawhid as well as Other People’s Religions

The Qur’an itself reflects a consciousness of association with Jewish scriptures, thoughts, and practices. ‘Surely it [the Qur’an] is a communication sent down from the Lord of the worlds, which the trustworthy spirit [the angel Gabriel] brought down on your heart [Prophet Muḥammad] so you will be one of the warners in a clear Arabic tongue.

It [Tawhid] is most certainly in the scriptures [Hebrew Bible] of the ancients [Jews]. Is it not a sign for them that the learned among the Children of Israel know it?’ (Qur’an 26:192–7).

Why do these verses mention the Children of Israel and not the (Unitarian versions of the first three New Testament Gospels)? Perhaps it is due to the five different verses where the New Testament names James the Just, Joses, Simon, and Jude as the brothers (Greek adelphoi) of Jesus: (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55, John 7:3, Acts 1:13, 1 Corinthians 9:5).

Maybe this Qur’an verse was only stated for the Jews: “Say, ‘People of the Book, let us arrive at a statement that is common to us all: we worship God alone, we ascribe no partner to Him, and none of us takes others beside God as lords.” (3:64) The last part of that verse could be part of a reference to the way Orthodox Rabbis felt free to replace their interpretations of many Torah commandments in place of the literal text.

“Those who disbelieved from among the Children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of David and Isa, son of Mariam (Jesus); this was because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limit.” (Qur’an 5:78)

This is an example of Jesus opposing the expansion of the Jerusalem Temple’s purity laws: “So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled (un-ritually washed) hands.” (Mark 7:5)

Prophet Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes who had expanded the Torah’s Oral Laws: “Thus you nullify the word of God by your (own) tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” (Mark 7:13)

While Christians, Jews and Muslims should make no disrespectful distinction between any of their prophets or their sacred scriptures, we cannot help but notice that the circumstances and style of each of the three written revelations are very distinct.

The Hebrew Sacred Scriptures are a vast collection (305,358 Hebrew words) of Divinely inspired books written over a period of almost a thousand years, by 48 male prophets and 7 female prophetesses (Talmud Megillah 14a); plus more unnamed prophets and many more inspired by God Jewish Historians, Poets, and Philosophers.

The Greek New Testament is much shorter (a total of 138,162 Greek words); and was written over a period of less than 70 years, by four biographers plus maybe a half dozen other writers who all wrote in a language (Greek) that Prophet Jesus and Prophet John never spoke.

The Arabic Qur’an is still shorter (a total of only 77,934 Arabic words) recited only by one Prophet (Muhammad) during a period of less than two dozen years and written down by his own disciples.

While the Christian New Testament is an appendage to the Jewish Hebrew Bible and frequently quotes from Hebrew Bible; Psalms 37:29 contains the only explicit verbatim quotation from the Bible in the Qur’an (Q.21:105): “we have decreed in the Book of Psalms (zabūr)—after admonition (dhikr)—that the righteous shall inherit the earth.” The word dhikr is often translated as remembrance

Jesus is referred to as a carpenter, the son of Mary (Mark 6:3) a verse that also mentions his four brother’s names. Jesus said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)

I believe that Prophet Jesus, who said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24); instead became a Jewish Prophet for the non-Jewish world. And Prophet Muhammad, the unlettered prophet, was the one intentional non-Jewish Abrahamic Prophet for the non-Jewish polytheistic world.

As the Qur’an states: “Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong, and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil (things), and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him (even if they did not convert to Islam) it is those who will be successful.” (7:157)

The Qur’an refers to Moses 137 times, the Torah 18 times, and some 50 times, like the Jewish Prophets themselves, is often critical of some, or even on occasion most, of the Jews or the Children of Israel as not living up to the standards of their ongoing covenant with God. (for example Qur’an 2:47-52 and 10:93)

But we know that every religious community sometimes engages in wide spread corruption; and that all of the Abrahamic religions must be judged by the following verse: “Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (Quran 2:62)