Re: Indian Catholic interested in Islam.

As-salam u alaikam wa rahmatullah-he Abd'Maseeh.

I like your name!

Muslims revere all the prophets and we don't make any distinction between them - indeed the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) commanded us not to laud one prophet over another. However the Prophet Muhammad is the seal of the Prophets - the final messenger sent to mankind and the greatest person who ever lived (or will live). When Allah sent down his beloved prophets to guide mankind He saved His best till last.

The prophet closest chronologically to the Prophet Mohammad is the Prophet Jesus. Their missions were only 600 years apart. But the closeness is not only chronological. Of all the prophets the Prophet Jesus (or Isa as he is more properly known in the semitic languages) has a special place in muslims hearts. The reason is that Jesus was given a choice between entering heaven as a prophet or as a follower of Muhammad (pbuh). And he chose to enter heaven as a follower of the Prophet Muhammad - i.e. as a muslim! Muslims (like Christians) believe that Isa/Jesus will return to earth to live the rest of his life. He will return to earth at a time of great tribulation when the masih-ad-dajal (literally the lying messiah) or anti-christ will be on earth. Isa will then lead the muslims against this impostor before killing him. He will then rule on earth for 40 years, and every man, woman and child will become muslim. Two things that Jesus will do is 1. Break the cross and 2. Kill the swine (i.e. pigs).

You see Jesus never ate pork. He was following Abrahamic law, and the commandments of Allah which prohibit the flesh of swine.

Did Jesus ever put a cross around his neck? Of course he didn't. Never in his life did he use the cross as a religious symbol. In fact muslims believe that he wasn't crucified - Allah protects his servants. Muslims believe that when the Romans came for Isa, Allah changed Isa to look like Judas, and changed Judas to look like Isa. So Isa was saved and Judas was crucified. Jesus never died, and he was never resurrected. Instead he ascended to heaven, where he awaits until it is time for him to return (more on that later).

2. The words and actions of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) are revered as much as the words of the Prophet Muhammad. One of the best books on hadith - the Muwatta of Imam Malik contains at least 2 hadith where the Prophet Muhammad directly quotes a saying of Isa. I can find them for you if you like. This shows the high regard and love which the Prophet Muhammad had for his brother Isa. The Prophet quotes no other human being in all his hadith apart from Isa/Jesus!

Look at the life example of the Prophet Muhammad and you will think that you are reading the life story of Jesus. Because they had one and the same mission, and served one and the same God. Both lived humble lives and chose poverty above material comforts. Both of them were surrounded by devoted disciples who would call them master.

You might ask why do we not revere the bible. We do in theory - we revere all the books of Allah. But unfortunately they have all been tampered with and no longer have any authenticity. The only exception is the Holy Quran, which is word-for-word, punctuation mark for punctuation mark the same as it was 1400 years ago. There is only one Quran in existence. Compare that with the bible where there are thousands of different versions. The prime mechanism of transmission is memorization, and the Quran has been memorized by countless millions of muslims over 1400 years. There are also written copies of the Quran going back to the time of the Caliph Uthmaan (r.a.), i.e. the very first written copies. The Quran (1400 years ago) contains a promise by Allah that he would safeguard its preservation. Who alone but the Lord of all the worlds could fulfill such a promise?

The hadith similarly have been scrupulously vetted. Each hadith is collected along with its chain of narration (its isnad). The character of each person along this chain is vetted, and even if one person along a chain is suspect, the hadith is discarded. In this way Imams Muslim and Bukhari (the 2 most popular books of hadith) managed to wittle away hundereds of thousands of hadith until only a few thousand remained. Each of those having multiple chains of narration of reliable witnesses.

All muslims love and revere Jesus as well as his Mother Mary/Maryam - who we regard as one of the perfect women.

One of the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad says: "How could a nation possibly fail with me at its beginning, the Mahdi in its middle, and Isa at its end?". Subhanallah - that is how much the prophet Muhammad loved and respected Isa!

Ask yourself who do Isa and Mary look like? Isa lived a humble life, would fast for a month every year, didn't eat pork, had a long beard and was devoted to prayer. Similarly his Mother, except she wore a hijab to preserve her modesty. Do you know a people like that? If Jesus and Mary were alive today who would they be taken for - Christians or Muslims?

If you truly love Jesus, then do as Jesus did. Worship the one true God. The God of Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad (and all the prophets in between). The God who can not be seen with the eye or conceived with the mind.

Allah Himself commands us in the Quran to look at creation. Do you see any rifts? No there is perfect continuity. How then could it be created by more than one hand? Where does the creation of one God end and another begin? Allah blessed us all with intellect, and commanded that we use that intellect.

If you become muslim all your sins will be forgiven. All of them - everything. Not only that but your good deeds which you did as a Christian will remain. Finally as one of the "people of the book" (i.e. Christians/Jews) if you become muslim you get a double reward!

May Allah guide us all to the truth,
Ameen.

Your brother,
Mureed.