The Way Of The Prophets

The way of the prophets is the only way to God, because it was prescribed by God Himself and the purpose of the prophets was to convey Allaah’s instructions to mankind. Without prophets, people would not know how to worship Allaah. Consequently, all prophets informed their followers how to worship God. Conversely, adding anything to the religion brought by the prophets is incorrect.

Any changes made to the religion after the time of the prophets represents deviation inspired by Satan. In this regard, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was reported to have said:

“Whoever adds anything new to the religion of Islam, will have it rejected [by God].”

Sahih (authentic) Al-Bukhari, vol. 3, p. 535, no. 861, and Sahih (authentic) Muslim, vol. 3, p. 931, no. 4266.

Furthermore, anyone who worshipped god contrary to Jesus’ instructions, would have worshipped in vain.

First and foremost, it must be realized that Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, was the last in the line of Jewish prophets. He lived according to the Torah, the law of Moses, and taught his followers to do likewise. In Matthew, Jesus stated:

“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the [way of] the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Matthew 5:17-18

Unfortunately, about five years after the end of Jesus’ ministry, a young rabbi by the name of Saul of Tarsus, who claimed to have seen Jesus in a vision, began to change Jesus’ way. Paul (his Roman name) had considerable respect for Roman philosophy and he spoke proudly of his own Roman citizenship. His conviction was that non-Jews who became Christians should not be burdened with the Torah in any respect. The author of Acts 13:39 quotes Paul as saying:

“And by him every one that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

The following are some examples of teachings which Prophet Jesus followed and taught, but which were later abandoned by the Church. However, most of these teachings were revived in the final message of Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and remain a fundamental part of Muslim religious practices until today.

Circumcision

Jesus was circumcised. According to the Old Testament, this tradition began with Prophet Abraham, who was himself neither a Jew nor a Christian. In Genesis, it is written:

“(9) And God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. (10) This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. (11) You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. (12) He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, (13) both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.”

Genesis 17:10

In the Gospel according to Luke:

“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

Luke 2:21

However, today most Christians are not circumcised, because of a rationale introduced by Paul. He claimed that circumcision was the circumcision of the heart. In his letter to the Romans 2:29, he wrote:

“He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.”

In his letter to the Galatians 5:2, he wrote:

“Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.”

This was Paul’s false interpretation. On the other hand, Jesus was not circumcised by the heart nor did he say anything about circumcision of the heart; he kept the “everlasting covenant” and was circumcised in the flesh. Thus, an important part of following the way of Jesus is circumcision.

Pork

Jesus did not eat pork. He followed the laws of Moses and he did not eat pork.

“(7) And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. (8) Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.”

Leviticus 11:7-8

Jesus’ only dealing with pigs was his permission to the unclean spirits which were possessing a man to enter them. When they entered the herd of pigs, they ran into the water and drowned. However, most people who call themselves Christians today not only eat pork, they love it so much that they have made pigs the subject of nursery rhymes [ e.g. This little piggy went to market… ] and children’s stories [eg. The Three Little Pigs].

Porky Pig is a very popular cartoon character and recently a full-length feature movie was made about a pig called “Babe”. Thus, it may be said that those who call themselves followers of Christ are not in fact following the way of Christ.

In Islamic law, the prohibition of pork and its products has been strictly maintained from the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) until today. Jesus and his early followers observed the proper method of slaughter by mentioning God’s name and cutting the jugular veins of the animals while they were living to allow the heart to pump out the blood. However, Christians today do not attach much importance to proper slaughter methods, as prescribed by God.

Alcohol

Jesus consecrated himself to God and therefore abstained from alcoholic drinks according to the instructions recorded in Numbers 6:1-4:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of the Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.”

Ablution before Prayer

Prior to making formal prayer, Jesus used to wash his limbs according to the teachings of the Torah. Moses and Aaron are recorded as doing the same in Exodus:

“And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet…. as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Exodus 40:30-31

Prostration in Prayer

Jesus is described in the Gospels as prostrating during prayer. In Matthew, the author describes an incident which took place when Jesus went with his disciples to Gethsemane:

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Matthew 26:39

Christians today kneel down, clasping their hands, in a posture which cannot be ascribed to Jesus. The method of prostration in prayer followed by Jesus was not of his own making. It was the mode of prayer of the prophets before him. In the Old  Testament, Genesis 17:3, Prophet Abraham is recorded to have fallen on his face in prayer; in Numbers 16:22 & 20:6, both Moses and Aaron are recorded to have fallen on their faces in worship; in Joshua 5:14 & 7:6, Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped; in I Kings 18:42, Elijah bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees.

This was the way of the prophets through whom God chose to convey His word to the world; and it is only by this way that those who claim to follow Jesus will gain the salvation which he preached in his Gospel.

Greetings

Jesus greeted his followers by saying “Peace be upon you”. In chapter 20:19, the anonymous author of the Gospel according to John wrote the following about Jesus after his supposed crucifixion:

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As  the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ ”

This greeting was according to that of the prophets, as mentioned in the books of the Old Testament. For example, in 1st Samuel 25:6, Prophet David instructed emissaries whom he sent to Nabal:

“And thus you shall salute him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.’ ”

The Qur’an instructs all who enter homes to give greetings of peace; and those entering paradise will be greeted similarly by the angels. Whenever Muslims  meet each other, they use this greeting.

Fasting

According to the Gospels, Jesus fasted for forty days.

“And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.”

Matthew 4:2. See also Matthew 6:16 and 17:21.

This was in accordance with the practice of the earlier prophets. Moses is also recorded in Exodus, to have fasted:

“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”

Exodus 34:28

The purpose of fasting is clearly defined in Qur’aan (2: 183) as being for the development of God-consciousness. Only God knows who is actually fasting and who is not. Consequently, one who is fasting refrains from eating and drinking based on an awareness of God. Regular fasting heightens that awareness, which subsequently leads to a greater inclination towards righteousness.

The believers are required to fast from dawn until dusk for the whole month of Ramadaan (the ninth month of the lunar calendar). Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also said:

“The best fast [outside of Ramadaan] is that of my brother [Prophet] David who used to fast every other day.”

Sahih (authentic) Al-Bukhari, vol.3, pp.113-4, no.200 and Sahih (authentic) Muslim, vol.2, p.565, no.2595.

Interest

By upholding the Law, Prophet Jesus also opposed the giving or taking of interest because the texts of the Torah expressly forbade interest. It is recorded in Deuteronomy:

“You shall not lend upon interest to your brother, interest on money, interest upon victuals,23 interest on anything that is lent for interest.”

Deuteronomy 23:19

Interest is also strictly forbidden in Chapter al-Baqarah (2):278 of the Qur’aan:

In order to fulfill this divine requirement, Muslims developed an alternative system of banking, commonly known as ‘Islamic Banking’, which is interest-free.

Polygamy

There is no record of Prophet Jesus opposing polygamy. If he did so, it would have meant that he condemned the practice of the prophets before him. There are a number of examples of polygamous marriages among the prophets recorded in the Torah.

Prophet Abraham had two wives, according to Genesis:

“So after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.”

Genesis 16:13

So did Prophet David, according to the first book of Samuel:

“And David dwelt with Achish at Gat, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahin’oam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.”

Samuel 27:3

In 1st Kings 11:3, Solomon is said to have “…had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.”

Solomon’s son, Rehobo’am, also had a number of wives, according to 2nd Chronicles 11:21:

“Rehobo’am loved Ma’acah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters).”

In fact, the Torah even specified laws regarding the division of inheritance in polygamous circumstances. In Deuteronomy, the law states:

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other disliked, and they have borne him children, both the loved and  the disliked, and if the first-born son is hers that is disliked, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the first-born in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the first-born.”

Deuteronomy 21:15-16

The only restriction on polygamy was the ban on taking a wife’s sister as a rival wife in Leviticus 18:18,

“And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is yet alive.”

Leviticus 18:18

The Talmud advises a maximum of four wives as was the practice of Prophet Jacob.