Jesus and Mohammed Two Great Holy Personalities - Essay Example

Jesus and Mohammed – Two Great Holy Personalities Abstract The present paper aims to throw light on the two holiest personalities of the entire globe, whose sacred life and teachings have left astounding impacts upon each and every stratum of the world without discrimination. Being the founders of the largest and second largest religious faiths of the contemporary world respectively, Holy Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon the both) are revered, admired and imitated by millions of people belonging to every racial, ethnic, regional, communal and age group for the last several centuries. Both these sacred personalities declare Abraham as their ancestor; it is therefore their noble teachings serve as the continuity of the Abrahamic faith. Both these holy personalities gave the message of love, kindness, charity, tolerance, meekness, piousness, pity and dignity, and condemned idolatry, wickedness, dishonesty, debauchery, falsehood, deceiving and hurting and harming others. The similarities of teachings of both the holy men could also be traced out by examining the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the Last Sermon delivered by the Holy Prophet Muhammad. The following line would discuss the similarities and dissimilarities in the life, teachings, messages and followers of both these holy men as well as influence they maintain on the culture, civilization, religion, society and everyday activities of the people of the world at large. The Holy Jesus Christ Holy Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity, which is not only the largest prevailing religion of the world, but has also been the official and majority faith of several American, European and Australian countries. Jesus was the born to Holy Virgin Mary, descendant of the House of Jacob in present day Palestine at about 1 BCE. There is very little historical proof of the life of Jesus outside of the Bible, but extensive scholarly research has turned up some shreds of evidence. The Jewish historian Josephus (born in approximately 37 CE), who was captured by the Romans and then defected to their side, wrote extensively about other details of Jewish history that have been confirmed by archaeological discoveries. (Fisher, 2005:285) The Biblical traditions, based on the records collected by four true followers of Christ, provide a detailed account of Christ’s birth and people’s reaction on the virgin birth. The Holy Torah had manifestly prophesized about the virgin birth of Messiah, as the Scripture predicts in these words: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah, 7:14) It is because of these predictions that the Magi travelled wide to see the holy child at the eve of his birth. However, an overwhelming majority of the Romans and Jews refused to acknowledge the holy birth of Holy Christ as virgin. Thus, the opposition of the Savior started from the very first day of the Holy Virgin Mary’s return to her city. Though little information is available about Christ’s childhood and early youth, yet the historians and theologians are of the opinion that Mary had taken him to Egypt in order to escape the wrath of his enemies. Hence, like his predecessor holy prophets, including Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Zachariah and others, Holy Christ also had to face opposition from the prosperous stratum of his society. Jesus preached and lived by truly radical ethics. In contrast to the prevailing patriarchal society and extensive proscriptions against impurity, he touched lepers and a bleeding woman to heal them; in his “table fellowship,” he ate with people of all classes. In a culture in which the woman’s role was strictly circumscribed, he welcomed women as his disciples. (Fisher, 2005: 293) The researches reveal the very fact that Jesus returned to his native land Jerusalem from Egypt at the age of thirty. It was the time when he started preaching the virtue and nobility to the people of Nazareth. Jesus was highly benevolent towards the poor and town-trodden people. He cured the sick, infused life in the dead and blessed eyesight to the stark blinds. He helped the needy and always displayed meekness, compassion and humility towards the deprived stratum of society. His growing popularity became challenge for the deviant Jewish population, and they spread the rumor that Jesus aimed to capture the power and government. The studies disclose a very controversial subject about the reverence of Jesus as human. Cadbury (1925:608) is of the opinion that Jesus Christ was regarded as one of the prophets of Hebrew line rather than the son of God by the Christians during the earlier centuries after his death. While drawing his analytical concentration as well as applying his critical thoughtfulness upon the noble personality and characteristics of head and heart of Jesus Christ, Cadbury links the relationship of Jesus Christ with the other holy prophets sent by Almighty Lord for the guidance, welfare and spiritual and moral uplift of the people. Kould (2005) also emphasizes upon the same notion that Jesus was respected, loved and admired as a holy prophet and the promised Messiah as well, whose arrival brought the glad tidings of spiritual guidance and uplift of the true believers. Thus, earliest Christians had unconditional belief in monotheism, as the Holy Bible submits: And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God. (Mark 10: 17-18: quoted in BBC, 2009) Hence, the notions of Trinity, salvation and original sin are the product of later Christian traditions of medieval times. In the same way, the author submits, that the genealogical origin of Jesus Christ is also one and the same, to which the other Hebrew prophets belonged. (1925: 607) Both Luke and Mathew vehemently declare Jesus as the descendant of Abraham and David; both of them were highly revered personalities. Jews are the progeny of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, which had been ascribed as the Heaven’s favorite-most nation since their creation on earth. It is therefore, the Hebrews are not only called as the chosen seed, but also the Lord sent countless prophets from the same chosen seed. Milton quotes in his Paradise Lost: “Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire that Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed.” (Book I, lines 6-7). Jesus preached monotheism and warned the Children of Israel of the Day of Resurrection, which would make judgment on the basis of deeds or misdeeds of the people. Thus he conveyed to them the message regarding the arrival of the Day of Judgment: You have made up your minds that there is no resurrection, and you are wrong about that. Remember the story about Moses and the burning bush where God spoke to him. It proves there will be a resurrection, because Moses called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ (Anderson, 2005:275) Since Jesus openly censured the malpractices and dishonesty practiced by the Jews, they turned his enemies, and started the propaganda that Jesus longed for capturing the crown and throne from the Roman king. Consequently, he was tried, maltreated and tortured. It was decided that Jesus should have been crucified in order to continue malpractices after the death of this holiest man of his time. Thus, Jesus was crucified along with two wicked fellows on Friday April 6, 30 A.D. outside Jerusalem after inflicting several pains and humiliations upon him. Somehow, his enemies could neither eliminate his name from the minds of people as well as from the pages of history, nor could they eliminate his sacred teachings. It is therefore still the number of his followers is the largest in the world. Jesus is the Savior in the eyes of the Christians, who had happily tolerated all atrocities inflicted upon him by the Jewish rulers of his time just to save his nation from the wrath of God. “The Savior, the God-man, was the self revelation of God, making evident to sinful man what God really is. The Savior also gave himself as a ransom for the lost and by doing so conquered evil in the heart of the fallen and rebellions of the Lord.” (Winter, 1975:150-1) Though Jesus left this world at the age of thirty three only, and could not present complete code of life, yet his noble sayings serve as the guiding star for the future centuries to come. The Holy Prophet Muhammad The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the prophet of Islam belonged the Hashemite tribe, one of the noblest Arabian clans of Mecca, where he was born to very pious parents, Abdullah and Aamna, as a posthumous child by 571 A.D. The year is particularly famous in the history, because of the expedition of the south Arabian Aksumite Christian viceroy Abraha to Mecca and his fateful end because of the attack of flocks of tiny birds destroying his army and elephants. Each bird had three pebbles: two in its claws and one in its beak. A rain of the pebbles poured down from the birds, and in a few minutes, the whole army was destroyed. Abraha himself was seriously wounded; he fled towards Yemen but died on the way. (Al-islam.org) It was the time when his family was undergoing crisis; however, they gave the children to his foster-mother, Haleema, for brought up for two years, according to the traditions, so that the child could become strong and healthy in rural area. The Prophet lost his respected mother at the age of 6 years only and grandfather after two years of his mother’s death. Consequently, his paternal uncle, Abu Talib, patronized him like his real son, and took him during his trade tours to Syria. During such an excursion to Syria, a Christian monk predicted him as the future prophet and spiritual leader of his nation, who would have to undergo severe trials and tortures at the hands of his city fellows and community at large. The prophet Muhammad got involved in trade and commerce activities at young age under the supervision of his loving uncle Abu Talib, and learned the honest practices of barter from him. Since he had earned sound reputation as a vehemently honest and skilled trader, Khadija, the richest lady of the then Arab, hired his services to lead her trade caravan to Syria. Khadija’s servants were highly impressed by the truthfulness the Prophet displayed in his dealings, which had earned double profit for Khadija on return from the previous excursions. Consequently, the noble lady made offer of marriage to the prophet, which he accepted after consulting Abu Talib. Like his predecessor prophet and ancestor Abraham, the prophet Muhammad also maintained innate hatred and abhorrence for the idol-worship. As a result, he used to spend many hours time in loneliness in a cave near Mount Hira, outside the city of Mecca in meditation and contemplation. It was during the time when angel Gabriel visited him in the cave at night and disclosed that he had been chosen as the prophet by the Lord in order to guide the humanity to lead a pious and chaste life according to His commandments. Thus, it was the very first revelation to him sent by God through the arch-angel Gabriel; the Prophet was forty years old that time. When Muhammad was forty years old, he made a spiritual retreat during the month called Ramadan. An angel in human-like form, Gabriel, reportedly came to him and insisted that he recite the first verses of the Qur’an. (Fisher, 2005:365) Initially, the Prophet was commanded by God to start preaching secretly; and his very close persons including his wife Khadija, his dedicated cousin Ali son of Abu Talib and his adopted son Zaid embraced Islam. Later, he was commanded by the lord to announce new religion to his tribe after three years of his receiving the first verses of the Holy Qur’an in the form of revelation. As soon as he conveyed the sacred message of Allah to his tribesmen, an overwhelming majority of them immediately turned against him. The Holy Prophet was pelted with stone and garbage, and thorns used to be spread on his way. He was tortured, rebuked and every type of pains and sufferings was inflicted upon him and his true followers. But he remained as firm as rock in the face of the mountains of hardships, and continued preaching the noble teachings. There were only handful of companions to stand by the Holy Prophet at this precarious state of affairs in Mecca, which included his uncle Abu Talib, his son Ali, the prophet’s devoted wife Khadija, Yasir, his wife Sammayya, son Ammar, the negro slave Bilal and few other followers only, who tolerated every infliction without wavering their feet altogether. While Muhammad gained several followers in Mecca, the wealthiest and most powerful clans bitterly opposed the new religion. (Hooker, 1996:2) Hence, like Jesus Christ, the majority of his supporters also belonged to lower stratum of his contemporary society. The Prophet Muhammad had to face trials on daily basis in Mecca. Somehow, he got encouragement and support from the city of Yathreb after almost eleven years of announcing his religious belief. Eventually, he migrated to Yathreb, present day Medina, after thirteen years of the advent of Islam. However, the pluralist Meccan infidels persecuted him and his companions in medina too, and imposed three wars on him. The members of his family, including Ali, Hamza and Abu Ubaidah were the arch supporters of the Prophet and won battles against the Meccan invaders. The Prophet conquered Mecca after eight years of his migration, and forgave even his bitterest enemies. He ordered Ali to purify the Holy Ka’aba from idols, and subsequently banned the entry of the infidels in the Holy Mosque. The Prophet performed Hajj, the holy pilgrimage, in Mecca after two years of the conquest of the city, in the company of thousands of companions. The historians aptly state that Muhammad did not nominate anyone as the heir of his faith (Hooker, 1996). However, it does not maintain validity in it. Actually, the Prophet had announced Ali as his vicegerent as well as spiritual and political heir near the Pond of Khumm at the eve of the revelation of the following verse of the Holy Qur’an. “O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people ...” (Qur’an 5:67) However, the political opportunists and hypocrites did not let Ali to be at the helm of the government after the demise of the holy Prophet, who died at 632 A.D., twenty three years after the advent of Islam. The Ali’s opposition by hypocrites was actually because of the grudge of the affluent infidel tribes for the poor and down trodden companions of Muhammad and Ali, which had been granted the respectable social status equivalent to that of the privileged infidels. It is therefore they opposed Muhammad and Ali, because they had raised war against racial, ethnic and class discrimination. However, Islam flourished and expanded in all corners of the world. It is therefore, it is the state religion of several Asian and African countries of the world. To conclude, it becomes crystal clear that Jesus was believed to be holy prophet of Hebrew lineage in the initial years of the advent of Christianity, and he never claimed to be the Son of God. However, people crossed all limits out of sheer love for him and started worshiping him as one among the Holy Trinity, as well as the Son of God. However, Islamic Prophet was never worshipped by his followers, even after inclusion of many inventions in the religion, which were strictly against the true spirit of Islam. Both Jesus and Muhammad were the rebels of the prevailing social norms, values, mores and traditions, and looked for the revival of Abrahamic teachings in their society. Both these holy men declared Abraham as their ancestor, father and Abba in Hebrew and Arabic languages. Both these personalities strived for the eradication of class discrimination and laid stress upon social justice and equality. Both these personalities were maltreated and tortured by the powerful and affluent stratum, and were supported by the weakest and poorest subjects. Both the personalities left indelible impact of their teachings upon their followers as well as the world in general. It is therefore their popularity and reverence witnessed no decrease even several centuries of their departure from this mortal world. REFERENCES: Anderson, Leith. (2005) Jesus: An Intimate Portrait Bethany House Minneapolis Minnesota Cadbury, Henry J. (1925) Jesus and the Prophets The Journal of Religion Volume 5 No. 6 The University of Chicago Press 607-622 Fisher, Mary Pat. (2005) Living Religions Sixth Edition Prentice-Hall. Hooker, Richard (1996) Muhammad: Messenger of God World Cultures Kould, Gregory (2006) Was Jesus Worshipped? Stand to Reason Milton, John. (1667) Paradise Lost. Verses 1- 9 http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=MilPL67.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 Winter, Ralph D. (1975) A History of Christianity: Beginning to 1500 Harper Publishers San Francisco The Year of the Elephant Retrieved from http://www.al-islam.org/lifeprophet/4.htm Isaiah Chapter 7 King James Version Retrieved from http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Isa&c=7 The Gospel according to Luke Quoted in http://www.mystae.com/restricted/reflections/messiah/luke.html Event of Ghadir Khumm The Holy Qur’an Chapter 5, Verse 67 Retrieved from http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir/incident.htm BBC Read More