Flip the Coin onto its Edge
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Flip the Coin onto its Edge
Exploring the Parallels: Jesus and Muhammad
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Flip the Coin: Religion on Its Edge
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to Flip the Coin onto its Edge. I'm your host, Michael Papa Newton. We work, we raise families, we may engage in marriage. We must have times of having our own fun and excitement. All these pull at us psychologically like four strong horses of responsibility, tethered to our limbs and pulling in four different directions. No wonder we don't have the opportunities to study the classics, the philosophy, spirituality, religion, and the holy books of other religions not dominant in our culture and regions. Fortunately, since college, I find these topics, plus science and mythology, fun and entertaining for my mind. For over 20 years, I have studied these topics and the various holy books of major religions to make myself a better person, not a better Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Taoist. In this episode, we explore the fascinating similarities between the teachings and mythology of Jesus and Muhammad. We delve into the beliefs Christianity and Islam hold for their leaders, highlighting both commonalities and differences between these central figures and their followers. Plus, we'll hear powerful insights from Jesus and Muhammad on love and sin that resonate across time. Just a reminder, tap the button to follow this podcast. Now into our show. This
Jesus and Muhammad
SPEAKER_00wisdom, taught in both the Bible and the Quran, is wisdom that all people should be eager to embrace. Like the New Testament, the Quran tells us that Jesus preached to Jews, taught a progressive version of Judaism based on reforming religious laws, recruited disciples to help him spread the word of God, and perform miracles. The Quran also attributes miracles to Jesus that are not recorded in the gospel. The Quran reports that Jesus molded clay into the shape of a bird and then breathed life into it. At the request of his doubting disciples, Jesus makes a table full of food appear. Neither story appears in the New Testament, but both affirm that the Quran holds Jesus in high regard as a messenger of God. Both the New Testament and the Quran also claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of the Jewish people. However, the Quran flatly rejects the notion that Jesus is the Son of God, calls the concept of the Trinity polytheistic, and denies that Jesus is a god or God himself. Islamic tradition traces Muhammad's lineage back to Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Sarah's maidservant Hagar. In Genesis, God says of Ishmael, I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. Genesis seventeen twenty. Abraham cast Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness. According to Islamic tradition, the mother and son settled in Mecca, where Abraham later visited and helped Ishmael build the Taba, the sacred cute shaped shrine that today sits in the center of the great mosque and is the focus of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Both Jesus and Muhammad faced rejection from their own people. When Jesus declared himself the Son of God before the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Jewish court ruled that he had blasphemy and, according to the New Testament, turned him over to the Romans. When Muhammad brought the monotheistic Islamic new religion to his fellow Arabs in Mecca and pronounced himself God's last prophet, the avowed polytheists ridiculed him and forced him to flee for his life to Medina. Despite strong opposition, both men stood up against the status quo, preached against social injustice, and struggled to bring people closer to God. Tradition holds that both leaders ascended to heaven, the New Testament, in the New Testament, Jesus dies on the cross, is resurrected three days later, teaches his disciples for forty days, and then rises to heaven. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad and the angel Gabriel ascended from the rock atop Mount Moriah in Jerusalem to heaven, where Muhammad spoke to God. He returned from his night journey to spread Islam, the new religion. Jews believe that on this rock Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command. Muslims believe that instead Abraham prepared his son Ishmael for the sacrifice. Today at that mountain, the spectacular dome of the rock, Islam's third holiest shrine, built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, encloses that rock. For all the striking similarities between Jesus and Muhammad, profound differences remain. Jesus never married. Muhammad took several wives. Jesus was a pacifist. Muhammad led Muslim soldiers into battle. The Romans killed Jesus around the age of thirty in the prime of his life. Muhammad died at the age of sixty-three from natural causes. The ultimate difference between Jesus and Muhammad is how they are revered by their followers. To Muslims, Muhammad remains a mortal man, not a deity to be worshipped. Unlike Jesus, he does not sit at the right hand of God. He does not met out Joseph. He is not a savior who will forgive the sins of mankind. Instead, Muhammad is a messenger of God, the seal of the prophets. Though divinely inspired, he was a man of this world, buried in a marked grave under the green dome of the prophet's mosque in Medina. Jesus, on the other hand, has no earthly resting place. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem houses the empty tomb from which Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead. Despite these deep differences, both the New Testament and the Quran state that Jesus will return to earth before the day of judgment, linking the two religions. And perhaps the most beautiful parallel between and how they, the two men, both Jesus and Muhammad insisted that their spiritually enriching messages were for all humanity. I have other sheep that are not of this pen, sheep pen, Jesus told his disciples at John 10, 16. He would have undoubtedly agreed wholeheartedly with the words recited by Muhammad in the Quran. All those who believe and the Jews and the Sabians and the Christians, anyone who believes in God and the last day and does good will have nothing to fear or regret. Christians ought to be amazed to discover how Muhammad's teachings echo the sayings of Jesus. Muslims need to be awed to discover how precisely many of Muhammad's teaching colleagues from the Quran and Hadith, these are reliable written testimonies of what Muhammad said and did, and match the values expressed by Jesus in the Gospels of the New Testament. I hope this podcast subject can bring some in these two groups closer together with the understanding that we all seek a world filled with peace, love, harmony, and mutual tolerance. Tradition holds that the Gospels were written by Matthew, one of the apostles, Mark, a disciple from Jerusalem, Luke, a former pagan who accompanied Paul on his missionary travels, and John, another apostle. Church scholars declared the present books of the New Testament as authoritative scripture by the year four hundred CE. No writings by Jesus himself are known to exist. Biblical scholars claim that the story of Jesus was transmitted orally for many years and the gospels were then written, rewritten, and revised by a number of writers. The New Testament remains the only source of the teachings of Jesus universally accepted by all Christian denominations. The quotes in this podcast attributed to Muhammad are taken from the Quran and the Hadith, which is oral reports. Muslims believe the Quran to be the Word of God as revealed through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, who recited the divine words to his followers, who collected them into a book, codifying the Quran around 652 CE. The Hadith are the words and deeds of Muhammad as recorded by his companions, including the words of God as spoken by Muhammad on love. Like Jesus before him, Muhammad taught that love for others is the ultimate expression of love for God. Oneness with God, he insisted, compels us to give unconditionally of ourselves through acts of loving kindness for other human beings. God has boundless love and infinite compassion for humanity, and he especially loves conscious beings who return his love by loving others. Both Jesus and Muhammad preach these ideas and emphasize the virtues of patience, kindness, generosity, respect, and compassion. Both men condemn cruelty, hypocrisy, and arrogance. Love of love one another, commands Jesus in the New Testament at John thirteen thirty four. Muhammad echoed this beautiful directive when he declared, You will see the faithful in their having mercy for one another, and in their love for one another, and in their kindness towards one. Hadith of Bukhari 7827. Just as Christians strive to emulate the compassionate and forgiving Jesus, Muslims look to the kind and loving Muhammad as a model for their own behavior. Consequently, the followers of both men share the common belief that dedicating yourself to God means sharing God's love with for all humanity. Jesus says on love, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. At Matthew five, forty four forty five. Muhammad says on love, do not hate one another, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not boycott one another, and be servants of God as brethren. Hadith of Bukari seventy eight fifty seven. Jesus exclaims, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth at Matthew five. Muhammad exclaims, The servants of the God of mercy are those who walk upon the earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them, they reply peace. Jesus expresses So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets Matthew seven twelve. Muhammad expresses None of you has faith unless he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. Jesus said, He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Muhammad said, We have shown man the right way, whether he be thankful or ungrateful. On
Jesus and Muhammad
SPEAKER_00sin, both Jesus and Muhammad taught that people have the free will to choose between good and evil. In other words, each of us has the freedom to obey or disobey God's will. We could comply with the moral code of the covenant or transgress it. Both men taught that one sin leads to another, preventing us from realizing our true inner nature and fully embracing our divine spark, distancing us from God. If you err or stray from the path of righteousness, God may forgive you if you ask for forgiveness with all your heart. Both Jesus and Muhammad taught that God is just and merciful and wishes for us to repent and atone for our sins, so we can enter paradise, returning to God after death. In the Quran, Muhammad urges believers to supplicate to God. Know then that there is no God but God. Implore him to forgive your sins and to forgive the believing men and believing women. God knows your activities and your resting places. Both Jesus and Muhammad would undoubtedly concur with the words of the Psalmist who beseech God to hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalms fifty one nine through ten. Jesus said, If any one of you is with is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Muhammad said, Happy is the person who finds fault with himself instead of finding fault with others. The Hadith one nineteen. Jesus expressed, Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Matthew seven fifteen. Muhammad expressed, in the last times men will come forth who will fraudulently use religion for worldly ends, and wear sheepskins in public to display meekness. Their tongues will be sweeter than sugar, and their hearts will be the hearts of wolves. Hadith of Termadi one twenty. Jesus exclaims, Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? Luke six thirty nine Muhammad exclaims, Who then is more wicked than he who, in his ignorance, invents a lie against God to mislead men? Surely God does not guide the wicked Quran six forty four. Jesus says Everyone who sins is a slave to sin John eight thirty four. Muhammad says surely God does not wrong anyone, they wrong themselves. Jesus continues stop sinning or something worse may happen to you John five fourteen Muhammad continues Let not those who disbelieve imagine that the length of days we give them is good for them. We only give them length of days that they may increase their sins, and they will have a shameful chastisement. That's all we have time for today, my friend. I appreciate you tuning into this episode. In this episode, we wrapped up our exploration of some of the similarities between Jesus' and Muhammad's sayings and ideas. I demonstrated that despite differences between the leaders and religions, the core concepts they teach are concise and originate from the same source. Next time we'll delve into Judaism and Christianity through the teachings of Moses and Jesus, something that may surprise you. Remember, I advise you not to accept everything you hear in this podcast without testing it yourself. It has to resonate with you personally. Believing often carries doubt. The real secret to success is to know the laws of life, not just believe in them. When you take the time to test these laws and principles, you'll truly come to understand. For your own good, keep an open mind for new ideas. This will help you better understand and evaluate what you're learning. And don't forget, if you found value here, click the button to follow this podcast. Remember, God woke you up this morning for a reason. Now go out and find out why.