hanan Dim Aoû 22, 2010 4:53 pmThe
greatest prophecy of the final Prophet (Muhammad, peace be upon him) in
the New Testament is Jesus' prophecy about the Paraclete. The book of
John mentions this prophecy, where he says to his followers: “If
you love me, you will obey what I command, and I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the
spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be
in you . . . If anyone loves me, he will obey my teachings. The Father
will love him, and will come to him and make our home with him. He who
does not love me will not obey my teachings. These words you hear are
not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have
spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom
the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will
remind you of everything I have said to you . . . I have told you now
before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will
not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.
He has no hold on me-“ John 14, 15-30
In the next chapter, Jesus asks his followers to sustain his commandments, and then says: “When
the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the
beginning” John 15, 26
“ All
this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you
out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills
you will think he is offering a service to God . . . Because I have
said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth:
it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not
believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the
Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment,
because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more
to say to you, more than you can bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on
his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is
yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and
making it known to you.” John 16, 1-14
In these lines, Jesus spoke of the characteristics of his successor. Who is that successor?
Christians and “the Paraclete”:
Based on the following verse, Christians say The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost: ” When
the day of Pentecost came; they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven
and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what
seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of
them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2, 1-4
The New Testament ’ s
chapters speak no more about what happened on the day of Pentecost
regarding the raising of the Christ. Father Athnasios in his
interpretation of John ’ s Bible states “Paraclete
is the Holy Spirit, the counselor. 'But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name' (John 14, 26) is the one who descended upon them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2, 1-4) so
they filled with him and went to spread the word, and he is with the
Church and within the believers. He is a gift with faith and baptism.”
Muslims and “ the Paraclete”:
Muslims
believe that what John mentioned about the Counselor is a foreseeing of
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, because of many indications, one
of which is the word “Counselor” which is a new replacement of the new
translations of the New Testament, where the old Arabic translations
(1820, 1831, 1844 AD) used the Latin word “Paraclete” as it is. The
same is done with many international translations.
In
explanation to the term “Paraclete”, it is a Latin originated word,
derived either from the word Paraclytos, which means Counselor, or
helper, or the word Peroclotos which is near the meaning of Muhammad
and Ahmad (to be thanked).
Father
Athnasios, Bishop of Bani-Sowaif, in his interpretation of the book of
John states “The term Paraclete if manipulated can be pronounced
Perclyte which means “Praise”, a meaning close to the meaning of Ahmad”
Mr.
Abdul-Wahab Al-Naggar asks Dr. Carlo Nilno (PhD of Ancient Jewish Greek
literature) about the meaning of the term “Perclotos”, who replies “it
means the one with lots of Praise”
Meanwhile,
what confirms the incorrectness of this translation is that the Greeks
were accustomed to add the letter “s” at the end of names not
adjectives.
Mr. Abdul-Ahad Dawod thinks that Church ’ s
interpretation of the term “Paraclete” (as a person whom is called to
help, an intercessor, an attorney, or a mediator) is incorrect. And
that the Greek word “Paraclete” has none of these meanings since
“Counselor” means “Paraclov” or “Paregoris” in Greek, whereas an
“Attorney” is an Arabic translation of the term “Sangers”.
“Intercessor” and “mediator” are “Meditia,”. Therefore, the Church ’ s refrain from the giving the meaning “Praise” to any the word is some kind a misinterpretation or alteration.
Dr. Simpson (Author of “The Holy Spirit, or a higher force”) states that “Counselor” is not a precise translation.
All
the above shows that there is a conflict between Muslims and Christians
as to the Latin origin of the term “Paraclete”, as Muslims believe that
its origin is the term “Perclotos”, and that Christians have
misinterpreted it in order to conceal its indication of the meaning of
the name “Ahmad” (the one with lots of Praise). Such misinterpretation
is not strange or awkward for their books. For example, “Parpas” in the protestant version is “Parpa” in the catholic version. The same with “Mesaia – Mashih” and “Shelon –
Sheloh” and so on. “Paraclete” is translated from Syriac, native
language of the Christ. Therefor similar alteration might have occurred.
To
clear the distortion from this point, Edwin Jones in his book (The
beginning of Christianity) admits that “Paraclete” is a sign of
Mohammad (may Allah exalt his mention), but then covers his confession
with a lame lie by saying that Christians — influenced by emerging Islam and Islamic culture — have inserted this term to John ’ s Bible.
The Paraclete is a human prophet not a Holy Spirit:
It makes no difference whether the meaning of Paraclete is “Ahmad” or “ Counselor”, Since, in the book of John, Jesus stipulated some characteristics that negate the meaning of “Holy Spirit”, and confirm that the Paraclete was a human being sent by Allah. It is very clear through deep analysis of John ’ s texts about “Paraclete”.
John used some verbal senses (talking, hearing, etc): “he will speak only what he hears”.
Those characteristics do not apply to the “tongues of fire” that came
to them on the day of Pentecost, since John never mentioned that the “tongues of fire” spoke that day. Besides, what the spirit does is heart inspiration while talking is a human characteristic not spiritual.
Early
Christians believed that John was talking about a human being, that in
the second century (187 A.D.) a “Montenos” claimed to be the Paraclete.
The same during the fourth century A.D. with “Many”, who chose twelve
students (like Jesus) in addition to seventy bishops whom he sent to
the eastern countries, in a clear indication that they didn ’ t believe that the third hypostasis (Holy Spirit) is the Paraclete.
Another
characteristic is that this messenger comes after Jesus departs from
earth, since Jesus and the counselor messenger would never be together
on earth, confirming once more that the counselor is not the Holy
Spirit who supported Jesus during his life. “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you”
The
Holy Spirit existed before Jesus, and was in the students before Jesus
left, since it witnessed the creation of heaven and earth (Genesis
1/2). It even played some role in the birth of Jesus, Since Jesus ’ mother “ was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1/18).
They gathered also on the day Jesus was baptized “and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove” (Luke 3/22). So, the Holy Spirit was with Jesus and even before. Therefore, the counselor —“ Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you” — is not the Holy Spirit.
Another indication that the Paraclete is human is that he is the same as Jesus, who was human: “I ask the Father to give you another counselor ” .
In the Greek text the word “allon” is used, which is used to indicate
“another of the same kind” while the word “Hetenos” is used when
referring to “another of another kind”. In this sense, it would be fair
to assume that the meaning is “another prophet ” since we can not presume the meaning “another Holy Spirit”, for there is only mention of one Holy Spirit.
Because
Jews and followers of Jesus will not believe the forthcoming prophet,
Jesus stresses that they must believe in the forthcoming prophet and
follow him. “If you love me, you will obey what I command”, “I have
told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will
believe” , and confirms his honesty by saying “ he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”.
All these commandments have no meaning if the forthcoming is the Holy
Spirit, who descended in the form of “tongues of fire” with the effect
of them knowing many languages. Such an entity needs no one to prove
its honesty.
According
to Christians, The Holy Spirit is equal to The Father in divinity.
Therefore, he can speak for himself, while the forthcoming spirit of
truth “will speak only what he hears”.
“ I
have much more to say to you, more than you can bear. But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”(John
16/12-13) This text indicates that the Paraclete will be coming in a later time, since he will tell them things they can ’ t
understand, for humanity is still immature to understand this complete
religion that includes different aspects of life. As well, it is
impossible for the students to have matured within ten days from Jesus ’
ascending to Heaven. No mention of such maturity was ever found in the
testaments. Moreover, Christians mention that after the Holy Spirit
descended, they abandoned many of their laws and commandments, which
was easier than having more commandments than what they bared at Jesus ’
time. Contrariwise, the Paraclete will bring more burdens to all weak,
oppressed subjects, as Allah said in Surat Al-Muzzamel, verse 5,
“Verily, We shall send down to you a weighty Word (i.e. obligations,
legal laws, etc).”
Jesus
foretold that before the coming of the Paraclete, “They will put you
out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills
you will think he is offering a service to God,” and that was exactly
what happened after the day of Pentecost, oppression of all followers
of Jesus continued until there were almost no believers by the time
Islam emerged.
John
mentioned that Jesus told his students about characteristics of the
Paraclete which never applied to the Holy Spirit that came upon the
students on the day of Pentecost. He reported Jesus as saying, “he will testify about me. And you also must testify”, So, where is the Holy Spirit ’ s testimony about Jesus? And what was it about?
Whereas, Muhammad (may Allah exalt his mention) testified about Jesus ’ innocence of claiming divinity, and also about his mother ’ s innocence of what Jews accused her with: “And because of their (Jews') disbelief and uttering against Maryam (Mary) a grave false charge “ (w:st="on" Surat An-Nisaa, Verse156)
“ He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you”
and no one has praised Jesus like Muhammad (may Allah exalt his
mention) did when he glorified him and stipulated his honor above all
creatures. Non of the new testiments chapters mentioned anything about
the Holy Spirit praising Jesus on the day of Pentecost when he
descended in the form of tongues of fire.
Jesus
said that the Paracelet will stay forever (his religion or
commandments) while all the powers given to the students on the day of
Pentecost — if true — vanished
with their deaths and never transferred to any of the church men.
Whereas, our prophet Muhammad (may Allah exalt his mention) stays
forever with his message and religion, and that there will be no
prophet or message after him.
And Jesus also mentioned that the Paraclete “. . . will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Such a reminder is not needed after ten days from Jesus ’
ascension. The New Testament never mentioned that the Holy Spirit
reminded them with anything. On the contrary, we find in lots of their
texts and messages many indications of prescription and forgetting some
of the details mentioned by others. Whereas Muhammad (peace be upon
him) mentioned everything humanity may have forgotten of Allah ’ s commands that ever descended upon his prophets, including Jesus (peace upon him).
The Paraclete has many tasks never achieved by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost: “ When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Holy Spirit never convicted anyone on the day of Pentecost, That ’ s what Mohammad, peace be upon him, has done regarding disbelievers and those rebellious to Allah.
Mr. Abdul-Ahad Dawood thinks that Jesus has interpreted “ reproving the world in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer. ” In other words, that he
will reprove those saying that Jesus was crucified, denying his
surviving his enemies' terror. Then he told them that they will ask for
him and will not find him, for he will ascend to heaven: “My
children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for
me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now; where I am going,
you cannot come.” (John 13/33). The forthcoming prophet will also reprove the devil and convict it with his inspiration and guidance: “and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Convicting and reproving don ’ t
go along with consolation; it was said that the counselor has come to
the students to console them on the loss of their master and prophet.
Consolation is due in crises, and Jesus was announcing his going and
the coming of the successor.
Consolation is also due on time of crises, not 10 days after (the time of Holy Spirit ’ s descending upon the students), and why didn ’ t this counselor offer condolences to Jesus's mother in the first place?
Considering
all the above, the Paraclete can never be the Holy Spirit. Since all
the characteristics of the Paraclete tell of a prophet that will come
after Jesus, the same prophet Moses once told of. Jesus mentioned about the Paraclete that “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears,” and Moses said the same, “I will put my words in his mouth, and will tell them everything I command” (Deuteronomy 18/18). This is a description of Muhammad (may Allah exalt his mention) as Allah said in Surat An-Najm, Verses 3-5, “ Nor
does he speak of (his own) desire (3) It is only an Inspiration that is
inspired (4) He has been taught (this Qur'ân) by one mighty in power
(Gabriel)(5).”
Furthermore,
everything mentioned about the Paraclete is also indicated in
al-Qur'aan and as-Sunnah, strongly pointing out Muhammad (may Allah
exalt his mention) as the one. He was the one testifying about Jesus,
he was the one who knew the unknown, and he was the last prophet. Allah
established his religion as the true religion till judgment day.
* Parts of “Have the Holy Bible foretold about Muhammad ( PBUH )? ” by Dr . Monqueth Mahmoud El - Saquar
