Sam Shamoun’s Hilarious challenges

 

Shamoun has put forth some challenges to Muslims. Some of his challenges have already been met here.

 

In the response of mine, I would not be dealing with things, which are irrelevant to the challenges put by him.

 

These challenges do more harm to him and Christianity than any good.

 

Shamoun Wrote:

 

Muslims challenge believers in Christ to produce a verse in the New Testament, specifically the Four Gospels, in which Jesus says "I am God" or "worship me."

 

My Response:

 

Why do we ask Christians to bring a statement where Jesus (pbuh) says “I am God” or where he says “worship me” . I’ll quote my colleague Brother Sami Zaatari. He has responded to this in his articles and also in the article where he met Shamoun’s challenges to Muslim.

 

Christians claim that Jesus is the same God of the OT, yet when we read the OT God time and time again claims he is God, yet Jesus never says it once, is that a coincidence? Let us post some of the verses from the OT where God said he is God:

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel.

Isa 45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else; [I am] God, and [there is] none like me,

Jer 32:27 Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Eze 13:9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.

So in the OT God time and time again says he is God, yet Jesus never said it once, this itself proves that Jesus is not God.

Taken from:

 

 

Shamoun Wrote:

They further assert that the Holy Bible doesn’t present a list of the books which God inspired, but that the canonization of the Holy Scriptures was a process over time based on the decisions of Church councils and clergy, what they deemed was worthy for inclusion within the canon.

 

My Response:

 

I wonder which Muslim asked you this. In my experience, I have not come across a Muslim who asks the Christians to produce a list of all the books in the Bible. It would have been good if he had mentioned any Muslim who asks such a thing, especially if he is an author on Answering-Christianity.

 

Shamoun Wrote (His challenges):

 

 

• Please provide references from the Quran where Muhammad identifies himself as God’s prophet in those exact words. That is, cite verses where Muhammad says explicitly and specifically, "I am a prophet of Allah," or where he says, "Allah has made me a prophet."
• Please produce a Quranic text (or texts) which expressly mentions the exact length of the Quran, where it says that the Quran is composed of 114 Suras and that all of these chapters are revealed by Allah.
• Please produce a citation(s) where the names of all these Suras are mentioned and that Allah personally revealed the titles of these chapters.

My Response:

 

Meeting his first challenge. Where Muhammad (pbuh) says in the Quran “I am a Prophet of Allah” or “Allah has made me a Prophet”

 

 

First of all, Quran is not the word of Muhammad (pbuh). How can he say in the Quran that “I am a Prophet of God”. In the Quran God commands Muhammad (pbuh) to say anything. There are many hadith which say so. I’ll just quote one of them here.

 

Volume 4, Book 53, Number 406

 

“Allah's Apostle said, 'O Ibn Al-Khattab! I am the apostle of allah”

 

 

This Hadith is actually sufficient to meet his challenge. But I’ll go beyond that for what he asks.

 

He wants a Quranic quotation.

 

Shamoun Wrote:

There is one text, however, which a Muslim may wish to bring up:

Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Apostle of God, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in God and His Apostle, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in God and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided." S. 7:158

Some may think that this text has Muhammad identifying himself as a prophet. Yet this will not meet our challenge for the following reason. In the immediate context the messenger that is mentioned throughout is Moses:

Moses prayed: "O my Lord! forgive me and my brother! admit us to Thy mercy! for Thou art the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!" Those who took the calf (for worship) will indeed be overwhelmed with wrath from their Lord, and with shame in this life: thus do We recompense those who invent (falsehoods). But those who do wrong but repent thereafter and (truly) believe,- verily thy Lord is thereafter Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. When the anger of Moses was appeased, he took up the tablets: in the writing thereon was guidance and Mercy for such as fear their Lord. And Moses chose seventy of his people for Our place of meeting: when they were seized with violent quaking, he prayed: "O my Lord! if it had been Thy will Thou couldst have destroyed, long before, both them and me: wouldst Thou destroy us for the deeds of the foolish ones among us? this is no more than Thy trial: by it Thou causest whom Thou wilt to stray, and Thou leadest whom Thou wilt into the right path. Thou art our Protector: so forgive us and give us Thy mercy; for Thou art the best of those who forgive. And ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the Hereafter: for we have turned unto Thee." He said: "With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right, and practise regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs;-Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper." Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Apostle of God, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in God and His Apostle, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in God and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided." Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth. S. 7:150-159

My Response:

 

Verses 157-158 are referring to Muhammad (pbuh)

 

This story of Moses (pbuh) starts in this chapter from verse 103. Moses (pbuh) had already said to the Pharaoh that is is God’s apostle.

 

104. Moses said: "O Pharaoh! I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds,- (Quran 7:104)

 

Verse 157 says

Yusuf Ali:

[007:157]  "Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel

 

Pickthall:

[007:157]  Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with

them.

 

Was Moses (pbuh) unlettered? According to the Christians, he is the author of the Pentateuch i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

 

How can Moses (pbuh) be mentioned in the Gospel which according to the Christians came 1000 or so years later? Or how come Jews of that time are told that Moses (pbuh) is mentioned in the Gospel which was not even sent?

 

This is proof enough that this unlettered Prophet is Muhammad (pbuh). The Quran further testifies this.

 

Yusuf Ali:

[029:048]  And thou wast not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: In that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted.

 

Verse 158 reads

 

158. say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah,

 

If this is Moses (pbuh) who is he telling this to? To the Jews? Din’t the Jews already believe that Moses (pbuh) is God’s messenger? When God Almighty is saying in this verse “say” (In present tense) it is obviously God commanding Muhammad (pbuh) is to say to the Jews and others “I am a messenger of Allah”.

 

So this simply meets Shamoun’s challenge. But we have something better than that.

 

“Muhammad is the apostle of Allah.” (Quran 48:29)

We here have God testifying that Muhammad (pbuh) is the apostle of God. Whether you believe that, the author of the Quran is God or not is Irrelevant.

 

But even if you disagree that God is not the author of the Quran, the presumed author by the Christians and non-Muslims is Muhammad (pbuh). So he himself is testifying that he is the apostle of God. So we see this challenge has been met.

 

Shamoun Wrote:

Is a Messenger the same as a Prophet?

There is another verse where Muhammad says he is a mortal messenger:

"Or thou have a house adorned with gold, or thou mount a ladder right into the skies. No, we shall not even believe in thy mounting until thou send down to us a book that we could read." Say: "Glory to my Lord! Am I aught but a man,- an apostle?" S. 17:93

This will not suffice to meet our challenge for several reasons. First, the Quran distinguishes between a messenger and a prophet:

Never did We send an apostle OR a prophet before thee, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but God will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in, and God will confirm (and establish) His Signs: for God is full of Knowledge and Wisdom: S. 22:52

Second, prophets are given scriptures with the implication being that messengers do not receive them:

It is not (possible) that a man, to whom is given the Book, and Wisdom, and the prophetic office, should say to people: "Be ye my worshippers rather than God's": on the contrary (He would say) "Be ye worshippers of Him Who is truly the Cherisher of all: For ye have taught the Book and ye have studied it earnestly." Nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for Lords and patrons. What! would he bid you to unbelief after ye have bowed your will (To God in Islam)? Behold! God took the covenant of the prophets, saying: "I give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you an apostle, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render him help." God said: "Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses." S. 3:79-81

My Response:

 

I agree with you  that messenger and Prophet is not exactly the same. Shamoun said:

 

Second, prophets are given scriptures with the implication being that messengers do not receive them:

Hilarious indeed! Muhammad (pbuh) is a messenger of God as the Quran confirms and Quran was revealed to him. So according to your own standards Muhammad (pbuh) is a Prophet. (He was indeed a Prophet as well)

 

Difference between a Prophet (Nabi) and a Messenger (Rasool)

 

Rasool is a person to whom “risalat” is given i.e. Scripture, Laws etc. Rasool is an ordinary Prophet to whom these things are not given.

 

Every Rasool (Messenger) is a Prophet (Nabi) whereas every Prophet(Nabi) is not a messenger. (Rasool)

 

If I say that this student has passed standard 5, it is understood that he has passed standard 3. Every one who has passed standard 5 has passed standard 3 but not the vice versa. Everyone who has passed standard 3 has not passed standard 5.

 

 

Shamoun Wrote:

 

Third, Jesus explicitly identifies himself as God’s Son:

"But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’" Mark 14:61-62

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Luke 10:22

 

My Response:

 

Does “Son of God” mean anything? Lets see the sons of God in the Bible.

 

According to the bible, God has got sons by tons. It’s mentioned in the bible:

 

“That the sons of God saw the daughters of men……” (Genesis 6:2)

 

“……when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men….”(Genesis 6:4)

 

“……Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:” (Exodus 4:22)

 

“…....for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:9)

 

“……..which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:38)

 

“ I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalms 2:7)

 

What does son of God really mean? It only means a righteous servant of God, a peacemaker, the one who obeys God, the one who is led by the spirit of God. Who says so? Jesus says so

 

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Mathew 5:9)

 

^“9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Mathew 5:9, NIV)

 

Paul testifies the same thing.

 

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

 

“Son of God” does not prove anything. It only means a righteous servant of God as Jesus (pbuh) and Paul both testify.

 

If Christians insist that Jesus (pbuh) is “begotten” of God then David (pbuh) too is begotten of God according to Psalms 2:7. So he qualifies to be God too and this blasphemous word has been thrown out of the KJV by the Christian scholars as a fabrication. The RSV,NIV and many other versions do not have this word “begotten” in John 3:16.

 

 

 

Shamoun Wrote (His other challenges):

 

• Please produce a Quranic text (or texts) which expressly mentions the exact length of the Quran, where it says that the Quran is composed of 114 Suras and that all of these chapters are revealed by Allah.
• Please produce a citation(s) where the names of all these Suras are mentioned and that Allah personally revealed the titles of these chapters.

 

My Response:

 

All you are doing here is expecting God to reveal the list of names of Surahs. Hilarious indeed ! If God had revealed such a thing, you would ask us to show the preface in the Holy Quran written by God himself and such things on and on.  

 

Quran is not like the Bible in which pages and pages are filled with names and genealogies.

 

Muslims can atleast tell that there are 114 Surahs in the Holy Quran as Shamoun also knows it.

But the Christians cannot even tell us for sure how many books are there in the Bible. This will result into a heated debate between the Protestants and the Catholics. Catholics believe in 73 books where as the Protestants in only 66!!

 

He is expecting us to tell the exact length of the Quran from the Quran itself. The length of the Quran is what we have today. God has promised us to preserve the Holy Quran.

 

“[015:009]  We have, without doubt, sent down the Message (i.e. the Quran); and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).”

 

If supposedly God Almighty had revealed the length of the Quran, then he may ask us to show in the Quran that how many words are there in the Quran, how many letters are there in the Quran, How many verses are there in the Quran and on and on.

 

 

Shamoun is expecting God to reveal the length of the Quran and the list of 114 chapters. The challenge itself makes me laugh.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

So wee see that his first challenge has been met. The other two are simply baseless. The Quran is the book of guidance to humanity. It is not a book of genealogies and all like the Bible. Now let me issue my challege to Shamoun. Show me where in the Bible Jesus Christ (pbuh) said

 

“God is a Trinity” or “I am God”

 

I think these challenges should not be very difficult for Shamoun or any Christian to meet. Since it’s the foundation of Christianity.