Gospel in Islam

وَإِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِيقًا يَلْوُونَ أَلْسِنَتَهُم بالْكِتَابِ لِتَحْسَبُوهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues; (as they read) so that you would think it is a part of the Book but it is no part of the Book; and they say “That is from Allah” but it is not from Allah: it is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it! (Surah 3 (Al-Imran) verse 78, Yusuf Ali Translation)

One time in the land of Egypt, 'Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas al-Ash'ari as 'Amir al-Jazirah ordered to Yuhana Abu Sedra II, Patriarch of the Church of Syria, to do the translation the gospel, into Arabic. Along with the translation command, the emir ordered the Patriarch to delete the entire paragraph that contains the teachings of Jesus' divinity (as Kalimatullah, the Word of God) and the paragraph describing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Patriarch of the refined sentence but firmly demand the Emir replied: "I will not be waived, even one letter, from the Gospel of my Lord, even though the whole arrow of Mr. Emir armies will penetrate my chest." The emir was stunned for a moment to hear the rejection of the Patriarch, and said: "Keep, and write as you know.”

The story above is only one of many examples of the encounter of Christians in the Middle East with Muslims. In the course of the spread of Islam in the Arab region, the Arab Prophet (Muhammad) meets and interacts with the various religious communities in his time. Muhammad interacted with Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, the Hunafa (who were seen to have rejected Shirk (polytheism) and retained some or all of the tenets of the monotheist religion of Ibrahim (Abraham), which is Islam in its purest form) and of course the Arab pagans.

In the encounter with Jews and Christians, Muhammad knew that the two communities have the Bible for guidance in their daily lives (though very doubtful about the existence of a complete Arabic translation of the Torah or the Gospel, at the time of Muhammad). When viewed more closely, it can be concluded shortly, that in theology, Muhammad received a very large influence of the Jews with some adjustments. Pure monotheistic Jewish teachings received and retained, thus rejected the teachings of the Christian Trinity. Unfortunately rejection of the Trinity doctrine is not based on complete and correct information. This can be seen from Sura 5 (Al-Ma'idah) paragraph 116, “And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden.” (Yusuf Ali Translation) In orthodox Christianity is certain that Mary mother of Jesus is not part of the Trinity, and even the Roman Catholic Church was not, although there is a tendency hyperdulia (excessive veneration) for the figure of Mary but not until towards Mariolatry (the worship of Mary).

One very controversial in the Islamic relations with the People of the Book (People of the Book: Jews and Christian) is the claim of Muhammad that he had been prophesied by the Torah and the Gospel. In the Quran Surah As-Saff verse 6 says,
وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنَّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدَّقًا لَّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشَّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُم بِالْبَيَّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِْرٌ مُّبِينٌ
“And remember Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah (sent) to you confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.” But when he came to them with Clear Signs they said, “This is evident sorcery!” (Yusuf Ali Translation)

The above verse comes from the Medina period, no doubt that the Arab prophet himself understood as news of his arrival. But in the course of "prophetic", the forecast was never again mentioned or contemplated in the Qur'an. The modern Muslim commentators associate this verse with the Paraclete in the Gospel of John, which they converted from Periklutos words (in Arabic called frqlyt without vowels, which can be fariqlyt which means: Ahmed or the Praised One, but we know that unlike the languages in the Semitic family, the Greek New Testament uses the vowels, so that the interpretation by tweaking vowels like that is not justified.) Ibn Ishaq in The Life of Muhammad (Guillaume's translation), stating that the word "comforter" in Syria called Munahhemana, that is Muhammad. Below is part of the quote from “The Life of Muhammad”, pages 103, 104:

Among the things which have reached me about what Jesus the Son of Mary stated in the Gospel which he received from God for the followers of the Gospel, in applying a term to describe the apostle of God, is the following. It is extracted from what John the Apostle set down for them when he wrote the Gospel for them from the Testament of Jesus Son of Mary: ...”But when the Comforter has come whom God will send to you from the Lord’s presence, and the spirit of truth which will have gone forth form the Lord’s presence he (shall bear) witness of me and ye also, because ye have been with me from the beginning. I have spoken unto you about this that ye should not be in doubt.” The Munahhemana (God bless and preserve him!) in Syriac is Muhammad: in Greek he is the paraclete.

Guillaume provide notes on that matter,

“The passage quoted is John 15:23ff. It is interesting to note that the citation comes from the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary and not from the ordinary Bible of the Syriac-speaking Churches. …The most interesting word is that rendered “Comforter” which we find in the Palestinian Lectionary, but all other Syriac versions render “paraclete”, following the Greek. This word was well established in the Hebrew and Aramaic speaking world. The menahhemana in Syriac means the lifegiver and especially one who raises from the dead. Obviously such a meaning is out of place here and what is meant is one who consoles and comforts people for the loss of one dear to them. This is the meaning in the Talmud and Targum. It ought to be pointed out that by the omission of the words “that is written” before “in the law” quite another meaning is given to the prophecy. The natural rendering would be “the word that concerns the Namus must be fulfilled”.

As Guillaume pointed, Muhammad hardly fits the description of one who raises the dead, nor is he a life-giver. When the Syriac Christians applied that title to Jesus, it is perfectly within his authority to give life and raise the dead, as he had demonstrated. What we need to know is, that the Syriac Christians in general use the term ܦ݁ܰܪܰܩܠܺܛܳܐ Paraqlito which means "the Redeemer" or "One who ends the "curse", with an explanation: By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our fallen nature has been redeemed from the curse of Adam. In the understanding of Syriac Christianity, the word 'paraqlito' is not like the Greek word Paraclete, which originated from the word παρα ('to the side of') and καλεω ('to summon') which means the one who is called to another's side to aid him, as an advocate in a court of justice (it is to be noted that Jesus as well as the Holy Spirit is represented as Paraclete); but the Aramaic construct PRQL+A is derived from two Aramaic roots: PRQ (‘to end’, ‘to finish’ or ‘to save’) L+A (‘the curse’, cf. Mark 11:21, Matthew 5:44). It was recorded in the Peshitta / Peshitto who became their reference book, while Ibn Ishaq using Palestinian Syriac Lectionary. In the Gospel of Luke says that the angels give glad tidings to the shepherds in the field of Ephrata that the Messiah had just been born in the city of David. If we use the Peshitta as a reference then Luke 2:11 is as follows:
ܐܶܬ݂ܺܝܠܶܕ݂ ܠܟ݂ܽܘܢ ܓ݁ܶܝܪ ܝܰܘܡܳܢܳܐ ܦ݁ܳܪܽܘܩܳܐ ܕ݁ܺܐܝܬ݂ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܡܳܪܝܳܐ ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ ܒ݁ܰܡܕ݂ܺܝܢ݈ܬ݁ܶܗ ܕ݁ܕ݂ܰܘܺܝܕ݂ ܀
‘Itiled lekon ge’ir yaumana Paruqa, di tauhi Marya Mashiha ba m’dintah d’Dawid.
for there is born for you today the Redeemer, who is the Lord the Meshicha, in the city of David.
We can see that the Peshitta, used the word Paruqa, as a translation of the word σωτηρ Soter (the Redeemer), a word which became the root of the word 'Paraqlito'.

The apologetic Muslims in the later days, connecting the word 'Paraclete' with the word 'Periklutos', with the accusation that Christians have changed the Gospel. But it should be viewed carefully, even Ibn Ishaq was not linking the Paraclete in the Gospel of John with the word 'Ahmad' in Surat As-Saff verse 6. Ibn Ishaq does not say that the word "Paraclete" is "Periklutos". In fact, he confirmed that the word in Greek is Paraclete. He also used Comforter when translating that word. In order to apply the verse to Muhammad, Ibn Ishaq identifies the Syriac word Munahhemana to Muhammad.

Any effort to impose the Paraclete was Ahmad, it will make the position of the Arab Prophet to be down in rank. Example:
- John 14:16-17 (LITV)
And I will petition the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may remain with you to the age, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and shall be in you.
- John 14:26
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you.
- John 15:26
And when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, that One will witness concerning Me.
- John 16:14
That One will glorify Me, for He will receive from Mine and will announce to you.

Jesus never spoke about the coming of a man, anyone and from anywhere, as his successor in the future. All these prophetic verses, impede their fulfillment in the human body, except if the promised prophet, is a supernatural being. Don't we know that Prophet Muhammad is truly a man, even he is believed by Muslims as the most perfect man Allah ever created?. Anyway, Is a Muslim does not feel insulted if the great prophet, the Seal of the prophets, heavenly intercessors, only a prophet sent by Jesus (messenger of Jesus) and come in the name of Jesus? How can a Muslim is not offended if the Prophet of Seventh Heaven is just a prophet that would glorify Jesus, because he will preach to the people what he receives from Jesus, the Prophet of Third Heaven?

Lord’s Prayer in Islam

أَبَانَا الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لِيَتَقَدَّسِ اسْمُكَ
لِيَأْتِ مَلَكُوتُكَ. لِتَكُنْ مَشِيئَتُكَ كَمَا فِي السَّمَاءِ كَذَلِكَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ
خُبْزَنَا كَفَافَنَا أَعْطِنَا الْيَوْمَ
وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا كَمَا نَغْفِرُ نَحْنُ أَيْضاً لِلْمُذْنِبِينَ إِلَيْنَا
وَلاَ تُدْخِلْنَا فِي تَجْرِبَةٍ لَكِنْ نَجِّنَا مِنَ الشِّرِّيرِ. لأَنَّ لَكَ الْمُلْكَ وَالْقُوَّةَ وَالْمَجْدَ إِلَى الأَبَدِ. آمِينَ

‘Abana –lladhi fi –ssamawati, liyataqaddasi –ismuka,
Liya’ti malakutuka, litakun masyi’atuka, kama fii –ssama’i kadhalika ‘ala –l’ardh.
Khubzana kafafana ‘a’tina –lyauma,
Wa-ghfir lana dhunubana kama naghfiru nahnu ‘aidan lilmudhnibina ‘ilaina;
Wa la tudkhilna fii tajribatin, lakin najjina mina –shshirriri. ‘Amin.
(Injil Mattay 6:9-13, Van Dyke)

Readings above is an Arabic translation of the Lord's Prayer. According to the official historical record, the Bible translated into Arabic only in the middle of the 7th century BC, contemporaneous with the emergence of Islam in South Arabia. Syrian Orthodox Church Patriarch, namely Yuhana Abu Sedra II (631-648), regarded as the first translator of the Gospels written in Arabic, although not in the form of a whole book but only certain parts of the whole book we now call the New Testament. Although no complete translation of the Gospel, at that time the Christian Arab tribes have been using the Liturgy of St. James in Arabic in the mid 6th century. Christian Arab tribes in the territory of Syria such as: Bani Aqula, Bani Tanukh and Bani Tayy already using Arabic language in the liturgy, about a century before the advent of Muhammad.

When Muhammad came, he interacts with the Christian Arab tribes as well as with the Jews in Arabia. From here, we can assume that Muhammad knew some of the teachings or rituals conducted by the Christian Arab tribes, or Jewish, although very little. Maybe Muhammad knew about the Lord's Prayer which were offered in the daily worship of Christians Arabs. In the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud and an-Nasa'i from Abu Darda radhiya-llahu 'anhu, said that Prophet Muhammad taught a prayer for healing the sick. What is unique is the similarity of the prayer with the Lord's Prayer in Arabic.

Rabbuna llah u lladhi fii as-sama’i, wa taqaddasa ismuka,
Amruka fii as-sama’i wa al-ardh, kama rahmatika fii as-sama’i, faj’al rahmatika fii al-ardh,
Waaghfirlana haubana wa khatayana, Anta Rabbu at-tayibin. Anthil rahmatan min rahmatik wa shifa’an min shifa’ika ‘ala hadha al-waji’.

Our Lord God who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom is in heaven and on earth, and even as Thy mercy is in heaven, so may Thy mercy also be upon earth. Forgive us our debts and our sins, for Thou art the Lord of the good. Thou art the God that the Supreme Good, derive the grace of Thy grace, and healing from your healing for this disease.

From the above similarities, of course, we can quickly see the difference of the two prayer. Muhammad taught prayer begins with the phrase "Rabbuna llah u lladhi fii as-sama’i" Our Lord God who is in heaven, so that the theological differences have started from the first sentence. Because Muhammad's struggle with the Infidel pre-Islamic period in Mecca, of course, the words "Our Father” in the Lord's Prayer into things that should be avoided or rejected because it would cause confusion with that term view of the infidels of Mecca who worships Goddesses Mecca as Banatullah (the daughters of God, where God as the supreme god really have a child physically, far different from the terms of the Father, which is understood by both Jews and Christians. The funny thing is that the Jews reject the Christian claim about Jesus is the Messiah but did not deny the title of the Messiah as "Son of God", on the other hand, Muslims reject the title "Son of God" for Jesus but do not reject the designation for Jesus the Messiah).

Jewishness of the Lord’s Prayer

ܗܳܟ݂ܰܢܳܐ ܗܳܟ݂ܺܝܠ ܨܰܠܰܘ ܐܰܢ݈ܬ݁ܽܘܢ ܐܰܒ݂ܽܘܢ ܕ݁ܒ݂ܰܫܡܰܝܳܐ ܢܶܬ݂ܩܰܕ݁ܰܫ ܫܡܳܟ݂ ܀
ܬ݁ܺܐܬ݂ܶܐ ܡܰܠܟ݁ܽܘܬ݂ܳܟ݂ ܢܶܗܘܶܐ ܨܶܒ݂ܝܳܢܳܟ݂ ܐܰܝܟ݁ܰܢܳܐ ܕ݁ܒ݂ܰܫܡܰܝܳܐ ܐܳܦ݂ ܒ݁ܰܐܪܥܳܐ ܀
ܗܰܒ݂ ܠܰܢ ܠܰܚܡܳܐ ܕ݁ܣܽܘܢܩܳܢܰܢ ܝܰܘܡܳܢܳܐ ܀
ܘܰܫܒ݂ܽܘܩ ܠܰܢ ܚܰܘܒ݁ܰܝܢ ܐܰܝܟ݁ܰܢܳܐ ܕ݁ܳܐܦ݂ ܚܢܰܢ ܫܒ݂ܰܩܢ ܠܚܰܝܳܒ݂ܰܝܢ ܀
ܘܠܳܐ ܬ݁ܰܥܠܰܢ ܠܢܶܣܝܽܘܢܳܐ ܐܶܠܳܐ ܦ݁ܰܨܳܢ ܡܶܢ ܒ݁ܺܝܫܳܐ ܡܶܛܽܠ ܕ݁ܕ݂ܺܝܠܳܟ݂ ܗ݈ܝ ܡܰܠܟ݁ܽܘܬ݂ܳܐ ܘܚܰܝܠܳܐ ܘܬ݂ܶܫܒ݁ܽܘܚܬ݁ܳܐ ܠܥܳܠܰܡ ܥܳܠܡܺܝܢ ܀

9Thus pray: Our Father who art in the heavens! Be sanctified thy Name. 10Come thy kingdom. Be done thy will, as in heaven, also in earth. 11Give to us the bread of our need to-day; 12and forgive us our debts, as also we forgive our debtors; 13and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory to the age of ages.
(Matthew 6:9-13)

The Lord's Prayer, the only prayer that was taught directly by Jesus to His disciples. This prayer taught by Jesus to warn His disciples not to pray in a long-winded or too long because the Almighty God as the destination in advance of prayer already know so no need to pray at length. "And when thou art praying, be not wordy, like the profane; for they think that in much speaking they are heard. Be you not like them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you before that you ask him."(Matthew 6:7-8) Some opinions state that the word “me battalogesete” μη βατταλογησητε, which is used in verse 7 of Matthew 6, defined as "use not vain repetitions", repetitions of the same words continuously spoken. Certainly Jesus does not mean to condemn all repetition in prayer since he himself prayed three times in Gethsemane “saying the same words again” (Matthew 26:44). What is forbidden is not much praying, nor praying in the same words (the Lord did both), but making the number of prayers, length of prayers, or time spent in praying, a point of observance and of merit.

The Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught basically has parallels with the Jewish Prayer Qaddish commonly used in Jewish synagogues. Qaddish prayer feels different from other Jewish prayers for not using vocalized Hebrew but in Aramaic, the language is also used of Jesus in their daily life.

יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא.
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ
וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ
וְיַצְמַח פֻּרְקָנֵהּ וִיקָרֵב(קיץ) מְשִׁיחֵהּ
בְּחַיֵּיכוֹן וּבְיוֹמֵיכוֹן
וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן

Yitgaddal veyitqaddash shmeh rabba. Beʻalma di vra khir'uteh veyamlikh malkhuteh [veyatzmaḥ purqaneh viqarev (qetz) meshiḥeh] beḥayekhon uvyomekhon uvḥaye dekhol bet yisrael beʻagala uvizman qariv veʼimru Amen

May His great name be glorified and hallowed, His name is glorious, in the world which He created according to His will!. May He establish His kingdom and may His salvation blossom and His anointed be near during your lifetime and during your days, and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel, speedily and very soon! And say, Amen.

If we see Qaddish Prayer in Aramaic, the same pattern of prayer used by Jesus when teaching the Lord's Prayer. It could be argued that the Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught is the refinement of Jewish Prayer Qaddish, with typical adjustments of Jesus who constantly call God as Father, not in the general form of the Jewish but the Father in the sense of a more personalized. Gospel of Luke presents this prayer as a personal prayer, although the Gospel of Matthew presents this prayer in the context of church worship. In the records of the church, an ancient documents, which is estimated to be written first in the 60's AD, the Didache, which means teaching, the oldest known liturgical manual for Christians, recommended disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day; this practice found its way into the canonical hours as well. The basis of prayer three times a day is the daily pattern of Jewish worship, which is still held by the apostles of Jesus Christ in Acts 3:1 and 10:9,30.

READING LIST
-A. Th. Philips, Sfer Tefilah makol hasanah. Daily Prayer with English Translation, New York: Hebrew Publishing Company)
-Joachim Jeremias, The Lord’s Prayer (Philadelphia, 1964)
-Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, To Be a Jew. A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life (New York: Basic Books, 1991)