The Gospel of Barnabas

The Gospel of Barnabas

Any discussion of this Gospel may be met by a question that arises in the mind: what is the scholarly benefit, or the purpose, of closing the treatment of Christianity with a discussion of a document that is disputed in both its attribution and its content? What is its value, at least for the two parties who have an important and direct relation to the subject, namely the one who accepts, out of faith or knowledge, that the Christian religion was altered, and the one who accepts its soundness out of faith and certainty? As a document surrounded by doubts, it cannot serve the first party as proof, nor can it bind the second or be used as proof against him.

Although this question poses a logical difficulty that has some force and merit, the justification I shall give may perhaps be an acceptable answer to it.

What led me to give attention to this Gospel at the close of the discussion of Christianity, despite my acknowledgement that the dispute over its attribution to Barnabas, or its place among the accepted Christian documents, has not yet been settled, is two things.

The first:

It concerns the method I have followed. Since I took the Qur'an, from a purely scholarly standpoint, as I indicated in the introduction to this study, as the criterion for criticism and for distinguishing between the milla (religion as God revealed it) and the nihla (a claim or doctrine put forward by human beings) in the three religions, I considered that one of the factors bearing on the assessment of the scholarly value of any document connected with those religions, as to error and correctness in attribution and content, or in chain of transmission and text, is the degree of its agreement or disagreement with the truths of the Noble Qur'an. On this view, if the Gospel of "Barnabas" is closer to the Qur'an than the other Christian documents, it has in my eyes more weight and scholarly value than those documents. Even if it is not distinguished from them or superior to them in the reliability of its chain of transmission and its historical attribution, it is without doubt distinguished from them and superior to them in the value of its text and its consistency with

the religious truths that the Qur'an set out. It will keep this distinction and superiority until it is proved, with certainty or with a preponderance admitting no doubt, that its attribution to "Barnabas", the disciple of Jesus (peace be upon him), is false. Only then can it be excluded as a Christian document to be relied on in writing the history of Christianity as milla and nihla. As far as I know, the exclusion of the Gospel of "Barnabas", from its appearance until now, is still carried out by the authority of the Church and not by the authority of scholarship.

The second

Just as the value of this Gospel in terms of its historical attribution, what scholars call the "chain of transmission" (sanad), does not differ, in the balance of scholarly criticism, from the attribution of the documents recognised by the Church, those documents have, ever since the first century, remained open to criticism and to doubt about their historical value and their attribution to Christ (peace be upon him) and his disciples. Indeed, doubts about their scholarly value, in both chain and text, keep growing as the movement of scholarly and religious criticism grows and its methods advance among scholars, Christian scholars included.

My attention to the Gospel of Barnabas, whether as supporting evidence or as testimony, should therefore not be seen as a begging of the question, or as holding an opponent to a proof whose soundness he does not accept. It should rather be seen in the light of my aim of opening a kind of discussion on the subject of this study, through which I hope to provoke more consistent thinking, and to invite a pause, a rest for reflection and reconsideration of assumptions that may turn out to rest on no scholarly basis or sound religious logic. This aim, to which I alluded at the beginning of the discussion of Christianity, together with what we said under the first point, is, I think, sufficient to be a logical justification and an acceptable warrant for discussing the Gospel of "Barnabas".

Further: if, as the saying goes, the perfect crime has yet to be committed, then despite the efforts of the churchmen since the Council of Nicaea to crush every voice opposing the decisions they had reached, and despite their destruction of everyone who differed from them, whether a person or a book, the voice of truth is stronger than the voice of falsehood, however loud it may be.

For the Gospel of Barnabas appeared to bear witness to the truth on the one hand, and to the fabrication and alteration of the other Gospels on the other.

Barnabas was one of the disciples, as this Gospel states, or one of the apostles of Christ, as the "Acts of the Apostles" relates.

This Gospel was known in the early ages of Christianity, but it was among the religious books that the Church forbade to be read: in 492 CE Pope Gelasius I issued a decree listing the forbidden books, among them the Gospel of Barnabas.

Nevertheless this Gospel managed to escape destruction and to circulate secretly among some people, until a copy of it came to rest in the library of the royal court in Vienna, where it remains to this day.

At the beginning of the twentieth century this Gospel was translated into Arabic by Dr. Khalil Saadeh and published by Sayyid Muhammad Rida (65).

Its teachings:

1 - Jesus denied his divinity and that he was the son of God, in the sight and hearing of a great multitude.

2 - The son whom Abraham resolved to offer as a sacrifice to God was Ishmael, not Isaac as the Jews claim.

3 - Jesus (peace be upon him) foretold the mission of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), mentioning Muhammad by name in many places in his Gospel, and said that when Adam was driven out of Paradise he saw lines above its gate in letters of light which read: "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

4 - Jesus was not crucified; the one crucified was Judas the traitor.

5 - Jesus upheld circumcision and forbade swine.

What concerns us now is to set out what Barnabas said about the matters that Paul introduced into Christianity and that the Church adopted as articles of belief, namely: the doctrine of the Trinity, or the divinity of Jesus, and the doctrine of the crucifixion, or atonement. Perhaps this was what moved Barnabas to write his Gospel, for he says in its preface:

"Dearly beloved, the great and wonderful God has in these last days visited us through his prophet Jesus Christ in great mercy, by the teaching and the signs which Satan has made a pretext for leading many astray under pretence of piety, preaching a most impious doctrine, calling Christ son of

(65) See the introduction of the editor and translator to the Gospel of Barnabas, published by Dar al-Qalam, 2nd ed., Kuwait, 1983, which casts further light on, and adds to, what we have said in justification of discussing the Gospel of Barnabas. "The author"

God, and rejecting the circumcision ordained of God for ever, permitting every unclean meat; among whom Paul also has been deceived, of whom I speak not without grief. And it is for this cause that I am writing down that truth which I have seen and heard in my companionship with Jesus, so that you may be saved and not be deceived by Satan and perish in the judgement of God. Therefore beware of everyone who preaches to you a new teaching contrary to what I write, that you may be saved eternally." (66)

The Doctrine of the Trinity, or the Claim of Jesus' Divinity:

It is remarkable that the claim of Jesus' divinity appeared during his lifetime, and that Jesus himself refuted and disproved it and disowned those who spread it. What is remarkable is that falsehoods or religious legends about a messenger and his life usually appear after his time. With Jesus, however, because he was a wonder in his birth, in his miracles and in the close of his life on earth, together with the intellectual and religious climate, saturated with paganism and legend, in which Jesus (peace be upon him) appeared, all this made of Jesus (peace be upon him) a legend that he resisted during his lifetime. No sooner had he been raised up than it overwhelmed hearts and lorded it over minds, and whoever approached it with criticism or discussion was exposed to death and burning, or to mockery and derision. This was the lot of Barnabas, even though his Gospel is the most consistent of the Gospels with religious and rational logic alike. But such is the way of legend or superstition when it clouds insight, so that falsehood is seen as truth, or truth as falsehood.

Here are the events as Barnabas related them concerning the claim of Jesus' divinity and the factors that helped it spread.

1 - The Miracles of Jesus and Their Role in Spreading the Idea of His Divinity:

It is well known that Jesus (peace be upon him) was given many miracles, which the Qur'an mentions in the words of God Most High:

And [We will make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel: "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I shall make for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then breathe into it, and it will be a bird by God's leave;

and I shall heal the blind from birth and the leper, and bring the dead to life by God's leave; and I shall tell you what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." (67)

These miracles, in which the Qur'an agrees with the four Gospels, had their effect in captivating many people with Jesus and in leading them to believe that he was not human. The following text shows us how Jesus grew fearful of the effect of these miracles. Barnabas says:

"In the second year of his prophetic office Jesus went down from Jerusalem and went to Nain. As he drew near to the gate of the city, the people of the city were carrying to the grave the only son of a widowed mother, and everyone was mourning him. When Jesus arrived, the people learned that the one who had come was Jesus, the prophet of Galilee. They therefore came forward and implored him on behalf of the dead man, asking him to raise him because he was a prophet, and his disciples did the same. Then Jesus was much afraid, and turning himself to God he said: Take me from the world, O Lord, for the world is mad, and they almost call me God. And having said this he wept." (68)

2 - Prevailing Beliefs:

Then the beliefs prevailing among the Jews and the Romans helped the claim of Jesus' divinity to spread and be accepted. Barnabas says: "The army of the Romans was at that time in Judaea, for our country was subject to them because of the sins of our forefathers. And it was the custom of the Romans to call anyone who did something new that benefited the people a god, and to worship him. So when some of these soldiers were in Nain, they rebuked one after another, saying: One of your gods has visited you and you pay no heed? Truly, if our gods visited us we would give them all we have; and you see how much we fear our gods, for we give their statues the best of what we have.

Satan whispered this manner of speech until he stirred up a tumult among the people of Nain. But Jesus did not stay in Nain; he turned to go to Capernaum. And the discord in Nain reached such a pitch that some said: The one who visited us is our God.

Others said: God is not seen; no one has seen him, not even Moses his servant; so he is not God, but rather the son of God.

(67) Al Imran 3:49.

(68) 47: 73-74.

Others said: He is neither God nor the son of God, for God has no body that he should beget; rather he is a great prophet from God" ... (69)

"And at this time there arose a great disturbance throughout all Judaea on account of Jesus, for the Roman soldiers, by the working of Satan, stirred up the Hebrews, saying that Jesus was God come to deliver them. Because of this a great sedition arose, so that all Judaea was in arms for forty days; son rose against father and brother against brother, for one party said that Jesus was God come into the world, another party said: No, he is a son; and others said: No, for God has no human likeness and therefore does not beget; rather Jesus of Nazareth is a prophet of God. This arose from the great signs that Jesus performed." (70)

3 - Jesus Himself Refutes the Claim of His Divinity:

"Truly I say to you, speaking from the heart, I shudder because the world will call me God, and I shall have to give an account for it. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, I am a mortal man like other men; for although God has set me as a prophet over the house of Israel for the health of the weak and the correction of sinners, I am the servant of God, and you are witnesses of this." (71)

Then Jesus answers the arguments of those who deified him because of the signs God had shown at his hands, saying: "Moses, with his rod, turned the sea to blood, the dust to lice, the dew to tempest and the light to darkness; he sent frogs and rats upon Egypt so that they covered the land; he slew the firstborn, divided the sea and drowned Pharaoh in it. I have done none of these things, and everyone acknowledges that Moses is now a dead man.

Joshua made the sun stand still and divided the Jordan, which I have not yet done, and everyone acknowledges that Joshua is now a dead man.

Elijah brought down fire from heaven visibly, and brought down rain, which I have not done, and everyone acknowledges that Elijah is but a man.

(69) 48: 74-75.

(70) 91: 139.

(71) 52: 82. See also Al-Ma'ida 5:115-117, the verses that speak of the account Jesus

will give concerning this claim.

Many other prophets, holy men and friends of God have, by the power of God, done things that the minds of those who do not know our God, almighty and merciful, blessed for ever, cannot fathom⁽⁷²⁾.

"I confess before heaven, and I call to witness everything that dwells upon the earth, that I am clear of all that men have said of me, that I am more than a man; for I am born of a woman, subject to the judgement of God, and live like other men, subject to the common misery."⁽⁷³⁾

The Doctrine of the Crucifixion and Atonement:

Here we shall confine ourselves to quoting the closing chapter of Jesus' life on earth as Barnabas gives it, without omission or abridgement, so that we may grasp the true picture of Jesus' end, and how this end too became a cause of temptation for many people and for many of his disciples.

After Barnabas has told of the plot of the elders and rabbis of the Children of Israel to kill Jesus (peace be upon him), their scheming against him before the Roman authority and inciting it against him, and the betrayal by his disciple Judas Iscariot, who led the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus, he says:

"When the soldiers with Judas drew near to the place where Jesus was, Jesus heard the approach of a great multitude, and therefore he withdrew into the house in fear, while the eleven were sleeping. When God saw the danger to his servant, he commanded Gabriel, Michael, Rafael and Uriel, his messengers, to take Jesus out of the world. The holy angels came and took Jesus out by the window that looks toward the south; they bore him and placed him in the third heaven in the company of the angels who praise God for ever.

Judas entered impetuously into the chamber from which Jesus had been taken up, while all the disciples were sleeping. Then the wonderful God acted wonderfully, so that Judas was changed in speech and in face to be like Jesus, so that we believed him to be Jesus. As for him, having awakened us, he began searching to see where the Master was. We marvelled at this and answered: You, Lord, are our Master; have you now forgotten us? But he, smiling, said: Are you fools, that you do not know Judas Iscariot? And as he was saying this the soldiers entered and laid their hands on Judas, because he was in every way like Jesus. As for us, when we heard what Judas said and saw the multitude of soldiers, we fled as if beside ourselves. And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke

(72) 94: 143-144.

(73) 95: 12.

and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked; for God heard the prayer of Jesus and saved the eleven from harm.

The soldiers took Judas and bound him, mocking him, because he denied, and truly, that he was Jesus. The soldiers said, mocking him: Sir, fear not, for we have come to make you king of Israel, and we have bound you only because we know that you refuse the kingdom. Judas answered: Perhaps you have gone mad! You have come with weapons and lanterns to take Jesus of Nazareth as though he were a thief, and will you bind me, who guided you, to make me king? Then the soldiers lost their patience and set about abusing Judas with blows and kicks, and led him in fury to Jerusalem. John and Peter followed the soldiers from afar, and they assured him who writes that they witnessed the whole inquiry that the high priest and the council of the Pharisees, who had assembled to kill Jesus, made concerning Judas. Judas then spoke many words of madness, so that everyone was overcome with laughter, believing that he was in truth Jesus and that he was feigning madness for fear of death. So the scribes blindfolded him and said to him mockingly: Jesus, prophet of the Nazarenes [for so they called those who believed in Jesus], tell us who struck you; and they slapped him and spat in his face. When morning had fully come, the great council of the scribes and elders of the people assembled, and the high priest with the Pharisees sought false witness against Judas, believing him to be Jesus, but they did not find what they sought. And why do I say that the chief priests believed Judas to be Jesus? Indeed all the disciples, with him who writes, believed it; and more than that, the poor virgin mother of Jesus, with his kinsfolk and friends, believed it, so that the grief of every one was beyond belief. As God lives, he who writes forgot all that Jesus had said: that he would be taken up from the world, that another person would be tormented in his name, and that he would not die until near the end of the world. Therefore [he who writes] went with the mother of Jesus and with John to the cross. The high priest ordered Jesus to be brought bound before them, and asked him about his disciples and his teaching. Judas answered nothing to the point, as though he were mad. Then the high priest adjured him by the living God of Israel to tell him the truth. Judas answered: I have told you that I am Judas Iscariot, who promised to deliver Jesus of Nazareth into your hands; but as for you, I know not by what trick you have gone mad, for you want by every means that I should be Jesus! The high priest answered: O perverse one who leads others astray, you have led all Israel astray with your teaching and your false signs, beginning from Galilee even to Jerusalem here; and do you now imagine that you will escape the punishment you deserve,

and which you merit, by feigning madness? As God lives, you shall not escape it. Having said this, he ordered his servants to rain slaps and kicks on him so that his reason might return to his head. And the derision he suffered at the hands of the high priest's servants was beyond belief, for they eagerly invented new ways to amuse the council: they dressed him as a juggler and beat him so with their hands and feet that the very Canaanites, had they seen that sight, would have taken pity on him. But the hearts of the chief priests, the Pharisees and the elders of the people were so hardened against Jesus that they rejoiced to see him so treated, believing that Judas was really Jesus. Afterwards they led him bound to the governor, who secretly loved Jesus. And since he thought that Judas was Jesus, he took him into his chamber and spoke with him, asking him for what reason the chief priests and the people had delivered him into his hands. Judas answered: If I told you the truth you would not believe me, for perhaps you are deceived as the priests and the Pharisees are deceived. The governor answered [thinking that he wished to speak about the Law]: Do you not know that I am not a Jew? But the priests and the elders of the people have delivered you into my hand; so tell us the truth, that I may do what is just, for I have power to set you free and to order you put to death. Judas answered: Believe me, sir, if you order my death you will commit a great wrong, for you will be killing an innocent man; for I am Judas Iscariot and not Jesus, who is a sorcerer and has transformed me thus by his sorcery. When the governor heard this he marvelled greatly, so that he sought to set him free. The governor therefore went out and said with a smile: In one respect at least this man deserves not death but pity. Then the governor said: This man says that he is not Jesus but Judas, who led the soldiers to take Jesus, and he says that Jesus the Galilean has transformed him thus by his sorcery. If this is true, to kill him would be a great wrong, for he would be innocent; but if he is Jesus and denies that he is, then he has certainly lost his reason, and it would be wrong to kill a madman. Then the chief priests and elders of the people, with the scribes and Pharisees, cried out in uproar, saying: He is Jesus of Nazareth, for we know him; for if he were not the criminal we would not have delivered him into your hand; nor is he mad, but rather wicked, for by this trick he seeks to escape from our hands, and if he escapes, the sedition he will stir up will be worse than the first. As for Pilate [the name of the governor], to rid himself of this case he said: He is a Galilean, and Herod is king of Galilee; it is not my right to judge this case, so take him to Herod. So they led Judas to Herod, who had long wished that Jesus would come to his house. But Jesus had never been willing to go to his house, because Herod was a Gentile and worshipped false and lying gods, living according to the customs of the unclean Gentiles.

When Judas had been led there, Herod questioned him about many things, which Judas could not answer well, denying that he was Jesus. Then Herod mocked him, with all his court, and ordered him to be clothed in white as fools are clothed, and sent him back to Pilate, saying to him: Do not fail to give justice to the house of Israel. Herod wrote this because the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees had given him a large sum of money. When the governor learned from one of Herod's servants that this was so, he pretended that he wished to set Judas free, hoping to obtain some money. So he ordered his slaves, whom the scribes had paid to kill him, to scourge him. But God, who had decreed the outcome, kept Judas for the cross, that he might suffer that dreadful death to which he had sold another. He did not allow Judas to die under the scourge, although the soldiers scourged him so severely that his body ran with blood. Then, in mockery, they clothed him in an old purple garment, saying: It is fitting for our new king to be robed and crowned. So they gathered thorns and made a crown like the crowns of gold and precious stones that kings put on their heads; they put the crown of thorns on Judas's head, placed a reed in his hand as a sceptre, and set him in a high place. The soldiers passed before him bowing their heads in mockery, saluting him as king of the Jews, and they stretched out their hands to receive the gifts that new kings were accustomed to give. When they received nothing, they struck Judas, saying: How then are you crowned, O king, if you give nothing to the soldiers and servants? When the chief priests with the scribes and Pharisees saw that Judas had not died of the scourging, and since they feared that Pilate would set him free, they gave a gift of money to the governor, who took it and delivered Judas to the scribes and Pharisees as a criminal deserving death; and they condemned two thieves to be crucified with him. So they led him to Mount Calvary, where they used to hang criminals, and there they crucified him naked, to humiliate him the more. And Judas did nothing but cry out: O God, why have you forsaken me? For the criminal has escaped, while I die unjustly.

Truly I say that the voice, the face and the person of Judas were so like Jesus that his disciples and all who believed in him believed that he was Jesus. Therefore some of them departed from the teaching of Jesus, believing that Jesus had been a false prophet and that he had done the signs he did by the art of sorcery; for Jesus had said that he would not die until near the end of the world, because at that time he would be taken from the world. But those who stood firm in the teaching of Jesus were overwhelmed with grief, seeing one die who was entirely like Jesus, so that they did not remember what Jesus had said. And so they went in company with the mother of Jesus to Mount Calvary, and they did not merely

attend the death of Judas, weeping continually, but through Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea they obtained from the governor the body of Judas to bury it. So they took him down from the cross with weeping that no one would believe, and buried him in Joseph's new tomb, having wrapped him in a hundred pounds of spices.

Then everyone returned to his house, and he who writes, with John and James his brother, went with the mother of Jesus to Nazareth. As for the disciples who did not fear God, they went by night and stole the body of Judas and hid it, and spread the report that Jesus had risen. This caused a disturbance, so the high priest ordered that no one should speak of Jesus of Nazareth, on pain of the penalty for crime. Then a great persecution arose: many were stoned, beaten and banished from the land because they did not keep silent in this matter. The news reached Nazareth of how Jesus, one of the people of their city, had risen after dying on the cross. So he who writes besought the mother of Jesus to be content and cease weeping, because her son had risen. When the Virgin Mary heard this, she said, weeping: Let us go to Jerusalem to seek my son, for if I see him I shall die content. So the Virgin returned to Jerusalem with him who writes, and James and John, on the day the high priest's order was issued. Then the Virgin, who feared God, charged those who lived with her to forget her son, although she knew that the high priest's order was unjust. How great was the agitation of everyone! And God, who tries the hearts of men, knows that we were consumed between grief at the death of Judas, whom we took to be Jesus our master, and longing to see him risen. The angels who were guardians over Mary went up to the third heaven, where Jesus was in the company of angels, and told him everything. Therefore Jesus besought God to give him leave to see his mother and his disciples. Then the Merciful One commanded his four favoured angels, who are Gabriel, Michael, Rafael and Uriel, to carry Jesus to his mother's house, and to guard him there for three days in succession, and to let no one see him except those who believed in his teaching. So Jesus came, surrounded with splendour, to the room where the Virgin Mary was staying with her two sisters, and Martha and Mary Magdalene and Lazarus, and him who writes, and John and James and Peter. They fell down in terror as though dead. Jesus raised his mother and the others from the ground, saying: Do not be afraid, for I am Jesus; and do not weep, for I am alive, not dead. Each of them remained for a long time as if beside himself at the presence of Jesus, for they had fully believed that Jesus was dead. Then the Virgin said, weeping: Tell me, my son, why did God, who had given you power to raise the dead, allow you to die, bringing shame on your kinsfolk and friends and shame on your teaching, so that everyone who loves you was as one dead?

Jesus answered, embracing his mother: Believe me, mother, for I tell you truly that I never died at all, for God has kept me until near the end of the world. Having said this, he asked the four angels to appear and bear witness how the matter had been. So the angels appeared like four shining suns, so that everyone again fell down in terror as though dead. Then Jesus gave the angels four linen sheets with which to cover themselves, so that his mother and her companions could see them and hear them speak. And having raised each of them up, he comforted them, saying: These are the messengers of God: Gabriel, who declares the secrets of God; Michael, who fights against the enemies of God; Rafael, who receives the souls of the dying; and Uriel, who will summon to the judgement of God on the last day. Then the four angels told the Virgin how God had sent for Jesus and changed the form of Judas, that he might suffer the torment to which he had sold another. Then he who writes said: Master, may I ask you now, as I was allowed to when you dwelt with us? Jesus answered: Ask what you will, Barnabas, and I will answer you. Then he who writes said: Master, if God is merciful, why has He tormented us so much, making us believe that you were dead? Your mother has wept for you until she was near death, and God allowed the shame of being killed among thieves on Mount Calvary to fall upon you, though you are the holy one of God. Jesus answered: Believe me, Barnabas, God punishes every sin, however slight, with great punishment, for God is angered by sin. So, since my mother and my faithful disciples who were with me loved me with a little worldly love, the righteous God willed to punish this love with the present grief, so that it should not be punished with the flames of hell. And since men had called me God and the son of God, although I was innocent in the world, God willed that men should mock me in this world through the death of Judas, believing that it was I who died on the cross, so that the devils should not mock me on the day of judgement. And this will remain until Muhammad, the Messenger of God, comes, who when he comes will reveal this deception to those who believe in the law of God. Having spoken thus, Jesus said: You are just, O Lord our God, for to you alone belong honour and glory without end.

And Jesus turned to him who writes and said: Barnabas, you must by all means write my Gospel, and what has happened concerning me during my stay in the world; and write also what befell Judas, so that the deception of the faithful may be removed and everyone may believe the truth. Then he who writes answered: I will do it, God willing, Master; but I do not know what happened to Judas, for I did not see everything. Jesus answered: Here are John and Peter, who saw everything; they

will tell you all that happened. Then Jesus charged us to call his faithful disciples to see him. So James and John gathered the seven disciples, with Nicodemus and Joseph and many others of the seventy-two, and they ate with Jesus. On the third day Jesus said: Go with my mother to the Mount of Olives, for from there I shall ascend again to heaven, and you will see who carries me. So all went, except twenty-five of the seventy-two disciples, who had fled to Damascus out of fear. And while all were standing in prayer, Jesus came at midday with a great multitude of angels who were praising God, and they fled in fear at the splendour of his face and fell on their faces to the ground. But Jesus raised them up and comforted them, saying: Do not be afraid; I am your master. And he rebuked many of those who had believed that he died and rose again, saying: Do you take me and God for liars? For God granted me to live until near the end of the world, as I told you. Truly I say that I did not die, but Judas the traitor. Beware, for Satan will do his utmost to deceive you; but be my witnesses in all Israel and in the whole world to all the things you have seen and heard. Having said this, he prayed to God for the salvation of the faithful and the conversion of sinners. When the prayer was ended, he embraced his mother, saying: Peace of God be with you, my mother; put your trust in God, who created you and created me. Having said this, he turned to his disciples, saying: May the grace and mercy of God be with you. Then the four angels carried him up to heaven before their eyes.

After Jesus had departed, the disciples were scattered through the various parts of Israel and of the world. And the truth, hated by Satan, was persecuted by falsehood, as is always the case. For a party of wicked men, claiming to be disciples, preached that Jesus died, and others preached that he really died and then rose; and others preached, and still preach, that Jesus is the son of God, among whom Paul was deceived. But we preach only what I have written, to those who fear God, that they may be saved on the last day at the judgement of God. Amen⁽⁷⁴⁾.

This is what Barnabas said about the doctrines of the Trinity and the crucifixion. Finally, we remind you of what God, the Truth, glory be to Him and exalted be He, says about Jesus and his miracles:

When God said: "O Jesus son of Mary, remember My favour upon you and upon

your mother, when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, so that you spoke to people in the cradle and in maturity; and when

... I taught you the Book and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you fashioned out of clay the likeness of a bird, by My leave, and breathed into it, and it became a bird by My leave; and you healed the one born blind and the leper by My leave; and when you brought the dead forth by My leave; and when I held back the Children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved said: "This is nothing but plain sorcery." (75)

Concerning his servanthood, the Exalted says:

They have indeed disbelieved who say: "God is the Messiah, son of Mary." Yet the Messiah said: "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Whoever associates partners with God, God has forbidden Paradise to him, and his abode is the Fire; and the wrongdoers shall have no helpers." They have indeed disbelieved who say: "God is the third of three," when there is no god but One God. If they do not desist from what they say, a painful punishment will surely touch those of them who disbelieve. Will they not turn to God in repentance and seek His forgiveness? God is Forgiving, Merciful. The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; messengers had passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. Both of them used to eat food. See how We make the signs clear to them, then see how they are turned away! (76)

(75) Al-Ma'ida: 110

(76) Al-Ma'ida: 72-75

Concerning his end, the Exalted says:

And for their saying: "We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of God." They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them. Those who differ about it are in doubt concerning it; they have no knowledge of it except the following of conjecture. They certainly did not kill him. Rather, God raised him up to Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise. And there is none of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. (77)

As for his testimony on the Day of Resurrection, the Exalted says:

And when God says: "O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to people: 'Take me and my mother as two gods besides God'?" He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. Had I said it, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my self, and I do not know what is in Yours. Truly, You alone are the Knower of the unseen. I said to them nothing except what You commanded me: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them; but when You took me to Yourself, You were the Watcher over them, and You are Witness over all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants;

and if You forgive them, You are indeed the Mighty, the Wise." God will say: "This is a day on which their truthfulness will benefit the truthful. Theirs are gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever. God is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him. That is the great triumph." (78)

That is Jesus son of Mary: a statement of the truth about which they are in dispute. It is not for God to take a son. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He only says to it "Be," and it is. And truly God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path. (79)

And so, in concluding our discussion of Judaism and Christianity: although the view that the element of milla has vanished from them, or at least that the element of nihla has come to dominate them, is a sound one, I find it useful to recall what I pointed out earlier in the introduction. Granting the alteration of the Torah and the Gospel, and what follows from that, namely the loss of their infallibility and sanctity and the impossibility of distinguishing milla from nihla in them with certainty except by relying on an external source whose infallibility has been established, this does not mean that everything in them must be rejected as false, wholesale and in detail. For one might then reject what may in fact be revelation, or accept what is not revelation. The correct method in our stance towards them is the method laid down by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in what al-Bukhari related from Abu Hurayra, who said: "The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"Do not believe the People of the Book in what they tell you about the Book, and do not disbelieve them. Say: We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us. For God the Exalted has told us that they wrote with their own hands and said:

(78) Al-Ma'ida: 116-119.

(79) Maryam: 34-36.

'This is from God.'" In another narration of al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra, he said: "The People of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and explain it to the people of Islam in Arabic. So the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not believe the People of the Book and do not disbelieve them, but say: We believe in what has been sent down to us and what has been sent down to you, and our God and your God is One." (80)

And in the narration of Abu Dawud from Abu Namla al-Ansari, he said:

"While he was sitting with the Messenger of God, and with him was a man of the Jews, a funeral bier passed by. The man said: O Muhammad, does this corpse speak? The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: God knows best. The Jew said: It does speak. Then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whatever the People of the Book tell you, neither believe them nor disbelieve them, but say: We believe in God and His messengers. Then if it is false you will not have believed it, and if it is true you will not have denied it." (81)

(80) Al-Bukhari, vol. 8, p. 129, Book of the Commentary on Surat al-Baqara; see also the Book of Holding Fast (al-I'tisam) and the Book of Divine Unity (al-Tawhid). (81) Jami' al-Usul fi Ahadith al-Rasul (The Compendium of Principles in the Hadith of the Messenger), by Ibn al-Athir, edited by Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut, vol. 10, p. 198, Dar al-Bayan, Beirut, 1972.