Quote from: ilker on October 09, 2016, 12:42:24 AM
Salam.
Alhamdulillah it's nice to see your contribution Duster. Thanks. I wonder what Torah and Bible say about Ezra and Enoch and even Azarias though.
I also think that the relevant ayah 9:30 must be considered along with the next ayah following it:
"They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah , and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him." (9:31)
I think a few thinks I would add to this discussion....
a) It is good to remember that the term "son of god" originally (in Hebrew language) did not contradict monotheism (or the shahadah), it was synonymous with the "King or Messiah / Al Masih." It was used throughout the Torah in a number of ways, including God's agent, not indicating a diety. However over time, meanings changed, and by the time of Muhammad meant something quite different.
b) The verse above (9:31) is not referring to any issue with Jesus... It is scholars and monks who are lords..... in addition to the correct belief in Allah, and also the Messiah, the son of Mary. The following quote is helpful...
. In reality, there were two different Messiahs in these verses, one was just any "al- Masīḥ" of (9:30), and the other was "al-masīḥu ʿIsa ub'nu Maryama", namely Jesus, in (9:31). In other words the Messiah of 9:30, who is most probably is not Jesus, was conflated with the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary. Namely, those (the Naşārā) claiming that al-Messiah to be the son of God were not the Christians but another faith group that we will name them later.
We approach the Qur'an with many assumptions based upon tradition. One assumption is that Nasara refers to Christians. However in the Qur'an the Nashara are never associated with the People of the Book, but connected with Jews, ie.. a sect of Judaism.
Reading the Qur'an in how it was originally understood, not through the eyes of tradition, is not as easy as we think!