A question from a Jeovah Witness

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A question from a Jeovah Witness
Anonymous

04/03/01 at 23:58:26

Aslaamu Alakum

I me and a friend got into a discussion about religion me being a
muslim her being a jeovah witness (0bviously) anyways we were talking about
jesus (prophet Isa) and she asked why we don't believe that he is the
son of god now don't get me wrong I know why but i didn't know how to
explain it to her. so i said i would get back to her and since your guys
are very knowledgeable im asking you. ok thats its for now
Salaam

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
haaris

04/04/01 at 06:01:46

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
"Qul huwa Allahu ahadun
Allahu alssamadu
Lam yalid walam yooladu
Walam yakun lahu kufuwan ahadun"

Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allāh, (the) One,
The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks
He begets not, nor was He begotten
And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."

(Translation and transliteration copied from the Noble Quran available on the Witness-Pioneer site).

The simple answer to your question is "because it says in the Holy Quran that 'He begets not' and therefore He has no offspring".

Tawheed is the essence of Islam. There is only one God. He creates and is not created. He is as indivisible as He is omnipotent. He has no partners and none is worthy of worship other than him. It was this pure, simple approach to the recognition of one God that was a big factor in my choice to become muslim.

I appreciate that this point of view may not be the best from a da'wah perspective, so I'll leave it to the more intelligent and knowledgeable citizens of this city to give you a different point of view.

And Allah knows best.

Salaam

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kathy

04/04/01 at 08:21:57

slm

What is her definition of "son"?

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
chachi

04/04/01 at 17:30:10

Good point kathy
ask her what she means by son?
because according to her bible god has many sons

and if she says 'only begotten' (astaghfirulla)
then ask her what precisely she means by that

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kashif

04/04/01 at 19:56:37

assalaamu alaikum

I think there are a number of ways one can approach this question. But before i get into those, i wonder what a Jehovah's witness would say if asked why can't Jesus just be a Messenger? And what objections do they have towards the claim of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to Prophethood?

The first thing you can discuss is why does one have children anyway? What are the reasons for having offspring? The two main ones are:
a) that one day you will get old and will need someone to look after you, or
b) one day you will die and will need someone to inherit from you.

Do either of these apply to God?

No.

God will not get old & weak which rules out (a), and neither does He need an inheritor because God will live forever which rules out (b).

Now the standard response i've received in face of this is "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son...." the implication being that God *needed* a son so that all humanity could be forgiven when he died.

But if a Christian is trying to say that the *only* way humanity can be forgiven is to believe that God wanted the life of an *innocent* human being sacrificed, it opens up a myriad of other doors with which to question and expose serious problems in the fundamental beliefs of the Christian religion, such as, why can't i call on God directly to forgive me? In Islam i can; all i have to say is: "O Allah forgive me" and Allah is ready to accept my repentance. And why did God want an *innocent* human being sacrificed? What kind of justice is this? And what kind of love is this?

Next.

We can discuss the 'nature' of the two beings: God, Most High & Jesus.

When one has children, you expect that there will be great similarity between the parent and child: a human having human qualities gives birth to a human having human qualities; a cat having cat qualities gives birth to a cat having cat qualities.

What are some of the essential qualities of God? The JW, indeed everyone, will agree that:
a) God lives forever,
b) that God is unchanging (e.g. His knowledge is infinite - He has always known everything and will always know everything, His knowledge doesn't increase),
c) that God is Self-Subsisting - He doesn't need to rely on anyone.

Does Jesus have any of these qualities? Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on the cross which rules out (a). We can discount (b) because Jesus was a 'changing' being: he was a little baby at one time knowing nothing, and then years later he became a strong man who knew various things (e.g. how to pray, how to fast, how to do carpentry). And also (c) is false because Jesus needed to eat and drink otherwise he would have died. In the Bible itself we read that Jesus used to say "I have no power of my own self," and also that he used to pray.. so he was relying on someone else.

So, the similarities that one finds between progeny and progenitor just do not exist if we are to claim that Jesus is the Son of God (ta'alallahu `an dhaalika `uluwwan kabeeran).

The last point i would make is that ascribing a son to God, Most Great & Most Glorious is an [color=red]immense[/color] insult to the Majesty of God.

Let me explain.

We know that Jesus as a human being had very human characteristics... he needed to go to the toilet, correct? In fact, when he was a baby, his blessed mother Mary had to change his nappy/diaper to keep him clean, agreed? And also, Jesus being a Jew had his foreskin circumcised.

Does not a human being feel any shame attributing such an IMPERFECT creature to Allah, Creator of the Heavens & Earth and Maintainer of everything therein?

You should make it a point after discussing with your JW friend to hand over a copy of the Qur'an. And also to recite to him/her the end verses of surah Maryam (Qur'an 19, verses 88-96):

[color=black]And they say: "The Most Beneficent (Allāh) has begotten a son."

Indeed you have brought forth (said) a terrible evil thing.

Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins.

That they ascribe a son to the Beneficent Allah.

But it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Beneficent (Allāh) that He should beget a son.

There is none in the heavens and the earth but will come to the Beneficent Allah as a servant.

Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting.

And every one of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.

Surely (as for) those who believe and do good deeds for them will Allah bring about love.
[/color]

Kashif
Wa Salaam

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kathy

04/06/01 at 10:33:09

slm
Jehovah Witnesses do not believe Jesus as is God- but a messanger.

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kashif

04/06/01 at 10:52:41

wa alaikum us-salaam

They believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Kashif
Wa Salaam
Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kathy

04/06/01 at 11:29:18

slm

From their pamphlet-
" this group came to understand that the doctrine of the Trinity is not Biblical but Jehovah alone is the almighty God and Creator: Jesus Christ is His first creation and only begotton Son;"

Re: A question from a Jeovah Witness
Kashif

04/06/01 at 11:34:56

[quote]Jesus Christ is His first creation and only begotton Son[/quote]
That is exactly what i'm saying, and a blasphemy that deserves to be equally refuted as those who claim that Jesus is God.

From their website(http://www.watchtower.org/library/br78/index.htm)
"Christ is God's Son and is inferior to him"

NS

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