Complimentary Story
In a Youtube video, a question was asked by a gentleman named Calvin to Dr. Zakir Abdul Karim Naik. Dr. Zakir is a famous Indian Islamic preacher and the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation. He is also the founder of the “Comparative Religion” Peace TV Channel through which he reaches a reported 100 million viewers. When I watched this video, I was led by the Holy Spirit to respond to it in this month’s article. The following are the transcribed words of Calvin and Dr. Zakir from this video.Calvin asked: “I have been listening to you before, and you said before and you preached that no way you can go to heaven without strictly abiding to the commandments that were given to Moses. In the present world there are challenges with the media and everything that comes along to our life in our present day. How do we abide to this law?”
Dr. Zakir answered: “I mentioned in my speech that Jesus Christ said that you have to follow the commandments of the Old Testament. I was quoting from the Bible in Matthew 5:17-20 where Jesus Christ says, ‘That unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, in no way shall you enter the kingdom of heaven.’ So if you have to be a good Christian at the time of Jesus Christ if you want to enter paradise, you have to follow all the commandments of the Old Testament. You cannot break a single jot or tittle. If you do that, you shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. So based on this verse of the Bible in Matthew 5:17-20, we have to follow each and every law of the Old Testament. Your question was very good and very logical. How can we, in this age, follow everything of the Old Testament which can be very difficult? I agree with you.”
“That’s the reason Jesus Christ also said in John 16:12-14: ‘He said I have many things to say to you, but He cannot bear them now. For even the spirit of truth He shall guide you unto all truth. He should not speak of himself all that He hears He shall speak. He shall glorify me.’ Your prophet Jesus is prophesying the coming of the last and final messenger, last and final prophet, prophet Mohammed. And he will come and he will guide you to all truth. That means that Jesus Christ knew that everything that was mentioned in the Bible could not be followed later on, maybe a few centuries later. That’s the reason He (Jesus) said that even in the spirit of the truth shall come he (Mohammed) guide you to all truth, talking about the prophet Mohammed. So at that time maybe it was possible to follow the rules and the regulations mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament. But Jesus Christ said in future when the last and the final messenger, prophet Mohammed, comes, you should follow him. So if you want to be a good Christian today, besides believing in one god, you should also believe in prophet Mohammed. Hope that answered the question, brother.”
In this article I would like to respond to the first part of Dr. Zakir’s answer concerning Matthew 5:17-20. I am amazed that he gave the right location for the passage, but when he quoted it, he cut it up in pieces creating a new teaching for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Here is the true writing of Matthew 5:17-20:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, ‘til heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, ‘til all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
In this passage, Jesus was not talking about how to get to heaven or the garden as Muslims claim, but He was simply talking about the law. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but He came to fulfil the law. That is to fulfill all that was written about Him in the law. Jesus assured His audience that heaven and earth will pass away but not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law.
I wonder if Dr. Zakir knows that the earth and heaven still exist. In his answer he claimed that the laws of the Bible were good to be fulfilled maybe in Jesus’ days or maybe one or two centuries later but not today. Dr. Zakir and Calvin claimed it is difficult to practice the laws of the Old Testament today.
But here is the fact: no one was able to fulfill the law, neither Moses nor anyone who lived after Moses except Christ alone for He is the perfect lamb of God. Another important fact is that Jesus Himself knew that by the law no one can be saved. The law is just like a mirror which shows us our shortcomings, but it cannot fix our status. That is why Christ came to die for the sins of the world.
The question we must ask here is: Did Christ really prophesy about the coming of Mohammed or, in other words, is Mohammed the Holy Spirit? Read the answer in next month’s article.
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