I was asked by a reader to explain the evolution of the sacrificial system and why it is not found in Islam. I found the question slightly puzzling, because sacrifice is found in Islam; however, sacrifice specifically for the purpose of atoning for sin is not.
There were several types of sacrifice mandated in the Jewish texts:
Burnt Offering:
This class of offering could be brought by anyone, and could be anything from cattle to birds depending on the person who brought the sacrifice's means. It was primarily to represent submission to God's will, but secondarily to expunge sin, because you could not enter the presence of God a sinner.
Peace Offering:
This class of offering was brought to show thankfulness to God for something that had happened in your life. This offering has nothing to do with sin.
Guilt Offering:
Brought by a person who was unsure whether or not they had committed a sin. If it later became known that the person had committed a sin, they brought a sin offering in addition to the guilt offering.
Food and Drink Offerings:
Represented the devotion of the fruits of man's labor to God.
The Red Heifer:
The red heifer was used to expunge ceremonial uncleanliness, such as the uncleanliness caused by being in contact with the dead.
Sin Offering:
This is the kind of offering best known to Christians; however, as I have demonstrated, it was by no means the only kind of offering in Judaism. The sin offering itself did not cleanse sin; instead, repentance, charity and prayer atoned for sin, and the sacrifice was a symbolic token of repentance. In Christianity, Jesus is considered to have been the final sin offering: By his blood, Christians believe, all sin has been cleansed for those who believe. However, this could not be further from Jewish and Islamic views about the nature and purpose of sacrifice. Not only does this approach to the forgiveness of sin ignore prayer, sincere repentance and charity--all of which are essential elements of true repentance--it ignores the simple fact that nowhere in the Bible does God demand human sacrifice to atone for sin. They also ignore the fact that God hates sacrifices that are not accompanied by these three tokens of true repentance, as per Malachi 1-2. Additionally, Christians ignore the fact that the Messiah will offer sacrifices during the Messianic Era, as per Ezekiel 46.
Jews no longer offer sacrifices because the temple is no longer standing. It was destroyed in 70 AD and was replaced by Al Aqsa. Jews can only offer sacrifices at that location, because it says so in Duet. 12:13-14.
In Islam, there is a day of sacrifice, Eid ul Adha. This day marks the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son to God, but God chose that a lamb be sacrificed in his place. This is not a sin offering; in the category of offerings, it fits best into a peace offering. In Islam there is no concept of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Prophecies Regarding Elijah the Prophet
Or, Mohammad (saws) in the Bible.
Many people make arguments for Mohammad (saws) in the Bible using words that sound similar to his name. Jews flatly reject these claims and point to similar verses describing fools and apostates. I believe there is a much simpler and less debateable relationship between a prophesied Biblical character and the Prophet: The Prophet Elijah (as).
First of all, it is important to acquaint the reader with the original Elijah (as), as many of my readers are Muslims and have little to no background in Biblical history. I have demonstrated here how Elijah was from Mecca, and was indisputably an Arab not of Jewish descent. What are the other important facts about his life?
He performed many miracles including the multiplication of food (1 Kings 17:8-16). This miracle was also performed by the Prophet Mohammad (saws):
Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 780:
Many people make arguments for Mohammad (saws) in the Bible using words that sound similar to his name. Jews flatly reject these claims and point to similar verses describing fools and apostates. I believe there is a much simpler and less debateable relationship between a prophesied Biblical character and the Prophet: The Prophet Elijah (as).
First of all, it is important to acquaint the reader with the original Elijah (as), as many of my readers are Muslims and have little to no background in Biblical history. I have demonstrated here how Elijah was from Mecca, and was indisputably an Arab not of Jewish descent. What are the other important facts about his life?
He performed many miracles including the multiplication of food (1 Kings 17:8-16). This miracle was also performed by the Prophet Mohammad (saws):
Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 780:
Narrated Jabir:
My father had died in debt. So I came to the Prophet and said, "My father (died) leaving unpaid debts, and I have nothing except the yield of his date palms; and their yield for many years will not cover his debts. So please come with me, so that the creditors may not misbehave with me." The Prophet went round one of the heaps of dates and invoked (Allah), and then did the same with another heap and sat on it and said, "Measure (for them)." He paid them their rights and what remained was as much as had been paid to them.
He preformed the miracle of supplication for rain after a long drought (1 Kings 18:41-46). This miracle was also preformed by the Prophet Mohammad (saws), again as narrated in Sahih Bukhari:
Volume 8, Book 73, Number 115:
Narrated Anas:
A man came to the Prophet on a Friday while he (the Prophet) was delivering a sermon at Medina, and said, "There is lack of rain, so please invoke your Lord to bless us with the rain." The Prophet looked at the sky when no cloud could be detected. Then he invoked Allah for rain. Clouds started gathering together and it rained till the Medina valleys started flowing with water. It continued raining till the next Friday. Then that man (or some other man) stood up while the Prophet was delivering the Friday sermon, and said, "We are drowned; Please invoke your Lord to withhold it (rain) from us" The Prophet smiled and said twice or thrice, "O Allah! Please let it rain round about us and not upon us." The clouds started dispersing over Medina to the right and to the left, and it rained round about Medina and not upon Medina. Allah showed them (the people) the miracle of His Prophet and His response to his invocation.
He saw angels, and was fed by them (1 Kings 19:5). The Prophet Mohammad (saws) also saw angels regularly, as has been narrated many times.
Also in 1 Kings 19, Elijah traveled forty days from Jerusalem into the mountains of Arabia, where God spoke to him in a still, small voice. It was in these same mountains that the Prophet Mohammad (saws) would receive his revelation from God.
Prophecy Concerning Elijah's Return
As I have mentioned before, Elijah's return is linked in Jewish tradition with the Messiah, although this link is not made in the scriptures. The verse that does promise the return of Elijah promises that he will do some specific things: namely, that he will turn the hearts of the fathers towards the children, and the children towards the fathers. How the Prophet Mohammad (saws) did so is written out beautifully here and I will not elucidate on it further. The other prophecy concerning the return of Elijah in Rabbinic literature states that he will restore the Torah, which was lost. You can read about how it was lost in this series of blog posts:
and how he was promised to restore it here.
Why Not John the Baptist?
Parts of the Christian Bible claim that John the Baptist was Elijah. I reject this notion on two grounds:
1. He did not fulfill the prophecy concerning Elijah.
2. He himself said that he was NOT Elijah: John 1:21.
In conclusion, I believe as I have written before, that Mohammad (peace be upon him) was the promised prophet, sent by God to restore the world to the teachings of monotheism, and sent to restore the family unit and bring peace to households that had never known it.
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