بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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Estevanico, also known as Stephen the Moor, was born in Morocco around 1503 and raised as a Muslim. He was sold into slavery and in 1527 his owner, Andres de Dorantes, took him on an expedition to Florida, along with six hundred colonists and soldiers. During his time with Dorantes, Estevanico converted to Christianity. After encountering hostile Native Americans, the surviving contingent of colonists and soldiers escaped by barge, sailing toward Mexico, but ended up in Texas. After being enslaved by Indians, only four men survived — Estevanico, Dorantes, Cabeza de Vaca, and Alonso Castillo. These four traveled for eight years across northern New Spain (present-day U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico), reaching Spanish forces in Mexico City in 1536. He is said to have been the first African man in North America.
Omar ibn Sayyid was born around 1770 in what is present-day Senegal. He was an educated Muslim man who was kidnapped from his home at age 37, transported to South Carolina and sold into slavery, remaining enslaved until he died, in 1864. He converted to Christianity while a slave, but wrote heartfelt reminiscences of his early days as a Muslim and some scholars maintain that he stayed true to Islam throughout his life. He wrote 14 manuscripts, all in Arabic, including his autobiography which begins with verses from the Quran.
A man who spent 40 years as a slave in Natchez, Mississippi, Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, was born in 1762, a prince from the Kingdom of Futa Jallon, a territory in present-day Republic of Guinea. He was sold into slavery in 1788, at the age of 26. Upon being freed in 1829, he and his wife set sail for Timbuktu, his birthplace, but they made it only as far as the American colony in Monrovia, Liberia on the west coast of Africa. He died soon after arriving, while his nine children remained enslaved in America. His remarkable story is told in a 2008 film, “Prince Among Slaves” which includes the reunion of Abdul-Rahman’s descendants, from both Liberia and the U.S., in 2003.
From a family of learned and prosperous Muslims in Mandingo (now Ghana), Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq was taken as a prisoner of war at the age of 15, sold into slavery and sent to Jamaica in 1807 to work on a plantation. He was forced to change his name and convert to Christianity, but he always thought of himself as Abu Bakr, maintained his faith as a Muslim, and years later wrote a short autobiography in Arabic. Abu Bakr compiled detailed lists of trade routes in Western Africa, and some of his works were later translated into English.
Most of his life was spent as a slave on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, a long way from where Salih Bilali was born, in Massina (present-day Mali) in the 1770s. Then he was kidnapped and sold into slavery around 12 years old, ending up in the Bahamas where he worked as a slave until he was purchased by the Couper family of Georgia. Bilali was characterized by his owner’s son as the most religious man he had ever known, stating that Bilali’s last words before his death were “Allah is God and Mohammed his prophet.” (The above image is an artist’s rendering of a native of Hausa, said to resemble Salih Bilai. Image from African Muslims in Antebellum America.)
Bilali Mohamed was born in Timbo, Guinea around 1770. His family was Muslim and highly educated. He was enslaved as a teenager and taken to the Caribbean where he worked for 10 years, and then sold to a planter on Solepo Island, Georgia. Among the slaves, Bilali was seen as a leader and a teacher and some of his writings are preserved in the Georgia State Library in Atlanta. Upon his death in 1857, a 13-page Arabic manuscript was found and it has come to be called the Bilali Mohamed Document. It is a statement of Islamic beliefs. Bilali is also known for motivating his fellow slaves during the War of 1812 as they defended the island from the British. (Image of Bilali Mohamed descendant, Shad Hall of Sapelo. Photo circa 1930s, from African Muslims in Antebellum America.)
Ayuba bin Sulaiman, known in Europe and the U.S. as Job Ben Solomon, was born in 1701 of a religious Muslim family, was well-educated, and became a merchant. He was captured and sold into slavery in 1731 and sent to Annapolis, Maryland where he spent two years on a tobacco plantation. He was briefly imprisoned after attempting to escape from the plantation. He was later purchased by a British man and granted his freedom, and in 1734 he sailed back to Africa where he stayed until he died, in his seventies. He was known for his intelligence and conveyed a great pride in his African and Muslim identity.
Born around 1830 in Djougou (now Benin in West Africa), Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was from a Muslim family of merchants. He was captured and shipped to Brazil as a slave in 1845. After two years, his owner, a ship captain, took him on a voyage to New York where abolitionists secured Baquaqua’s freedom. He made his way to Haiti and worked there for a time, converting to Christianity. He returned to New York in 1849, enrolled in college, but in 1853 he moved to Canada and collaborated with a local writer to produce his biography.
Mahammed Ali ben Said, later named Nicholas Said, was born in 1836 in northern Africa. When Said was around 15 years old, he was enslaved and transported across the desert, subsequently being owned by masters of various nationalities including Arab, Turk, and Russian. He was eventually hired as a valet to a European man and traveled with him to America. Said became a teacher in 1862 in Michigan and fought in the Civil War as part of the 55th Regiment of Massachusetts Colored Volunteers. His autobiography was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1867 in which several references to Allah are found. He died in 1882.
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Almost two-thirds of American Muslim adults are first-generation immigrants from at least 77 different countries
More than a third of Muslim American adults were born in the United States
The vast majority surveyed, more than three-quarters, report that they are U.S. Citizens
More than half of adult Muslims are between the ages of 18 and 39, compared with 40% of adults in the general public
Source: Pew Research Survey 2011
Dr. Talat Sultan, originally from Pakistan, immigrated to the U.S. in 1962. He earned his Master’s in Islamic history and culture from the University of Karachi and then a Doctorate of Education from UCLA. He has served as the principal of a number of Islamic fulltime schools in Memphis, Chicago, Phoenix, and Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Sultan taught and served as the chair of the Division of Education and Psychology at Barber-Scotia College in North Carolina for 14 years, and as a professor of research in Islamic education at Umm Al-Qura University, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. His further contributions include serving as the Director of Education for ISNA, the first President of ICNA from 1968 to 1975 and then again 2003-05, and president of AMSS (Association of Muslim Social Scientists).
In the 1950s, many Muslim youth started coming to the U.S. for higher education. When they arrived, they did not find very many organized Islamic groups here. The largest national organization of Muslims –Nation of Islam — was not an authentic Islamic organization. It was led by a self-proclaimed prophet, Elijah Muhammad, who had mixed some Islamic tenets with his own distorted beliefs. The only other national organization was the Federation of Islamic Associations (FIA). It was a loose association of a few Islamic centers that held an annual convention to provide an opportunity for Muslims, especially Muslim youth, to socialize. Many Islamic norms were violated in that process.
Muslim students started to form Islamic organizations on their campuses. Some efforts were made in 1950s to forge a union of all campus organizations on the national level, but financial considerations became the main obstacle. The second such known effort took place on January 1, 1963 when it was resolved that we would work hard for the sake of Allah SWT to overcome all difficulties and within a period of three months, we established a network of communication with 200 universities and colleges. Dr. Ahmad Sakr, who recently passed away, may Allah SWT have mercy on him, was a graduate student in Food Technology at the University of Illinois, Champaign – Urbana, and he hosted the first convention of the Muslim Student Association of U.S. and Canada in April, 1963. Five universities were represented, with 15 individuals in attendance. That convention heralded the coming of ISNA, the national organization that was officially founded in 1982.
MSA’s motto, “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together, and do not become divided…” (Quran 3:103), clearly reflects the very purpose of the organization, given that there was at that time no authentically Islamic national organization to unify Muslims. This was, indeed, the need of the hour and soon MSA became not only an association of chapters on almost all major campuses in the U.S. and Canada, but also an organization representing various Islamic centers. The MSA annual conventions soon became a gathering of people from around the world.
A number of projects were developed that focused on providing support and guidance to Muslims, including the establishing of congregational prayer on campuses, development of a network of Islamic centers, providing assistance in funeral services and burials, and other services. One initiative was North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), the financial arm of the MSA, focused on the financial and investment needs of Muslim individuals, organizations, and businesses. It set up a special fund to accept deposits from Islamic centers, then making interest-free investments and providing them with halal, profit-and-loss-sharing returns. NAIT also offered legal and arbitration services. Initially established in the early 1970s with Dr. Jamal Barzingi (M) as its first general manager, NAIT continues today to provide capital growth and investment services. Some of its other general managers have included Dr. Abu Saud (M), Br. Mohammad Badr, Dr. Yaqub Mirza, and Br. Mohammad Naziruddin Ali (M).
MSA also focused on dawah among Muslims, including arranging weekly meetings, regional conferences, and annual conventions. Their tarbiyah, or educational initiatives, focused mostly on organizing youth camps and an annual imam training program. MSA published a regular MSA Newsletter and later, since the 1970s, the ISNA magazine, Islamic Horizons, first on a monthly and now on a bi-monthly basis. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, an important scholarly journal, Al-Ittihad, was published annually. NAIT also established American Trust Publications (ATP), a publishing division, in 1976, which has published original books on Islam, as well as translating a number of important works into English.
There were another two marvelous divisions. One was the Audio-Visual Center which over the years produced cassette tapes of Quranic recitation for distribution around the world, as well as tapes of the proceedings of conferences and conventions held by MSA and then ISNA. The other important division was the Islamic Book Service (IBS) which distributed books and tapes in the U.S. and overseas. For a while, under the direction of another dedicated MSA leader, Br. Abdul Mateen Chida (M), a printing division, International Graphics, was also established, but it was later sold to a private Islamic enterprise.
When MSA’s permanent headquarters was established in 1974 at Indianapolis, an education committee was established. As chairman of the committee, my first responsibility was to conduct teacher training workshops. In 1982, we decided to establish two model fulltime Islamic schools. The first school was established in Toronto under the leadership of Br. Abdullah Idris Ali who served as its first principal. This effort became a stepping stone for the establishment of many excellent schools nationwide.
MSA also established a program to assist Islamic centers in their development of weekend Islamic schools. They published the “Manual for Weekend Islamic Schools” and it was widely distributed. The book, “A Guide for Muslim Parents & Teachers for Educating Muslim Children and Youth” was published in 1979 by Dr. Anis Ahmed, the second director of education. When I succeeded him, it was recognized that the need was not restricted to weekend schools as there were quite a few fulltime Islamic schools looking for similar guidance. So I started my work on “Curriculum Guide for Islamic Studies” that was published by Umm Al-Qura University in 1992, and distributed by ISNA to all fulltime and weekend Islamic schools. Another important educational activity was the annual meeting of fulltime Islamic school (FTIS) administrators. A comprehensive study of these schools was also conducted. These meetings were the predecessor of two ISNA educational activities that continue to this day: the Annual Education Forum and CISNA (Council for Islamic Schools of North America). The Council works to help FTIS to acquire accreditation.
One of the most important challenges MSA recognized from its inception was to bring the so-called Nation of Islam within the purview of authentic, mainstream Islam. Regular contact was established with the NOI leaders including Warith Deen Muhammad (M), the son of Elijah Muhammad, who succeeded him as the imam and leader of the group. MSA organized an Imam Training Camp for the Bilalians (the first alternative name to NOI). A stalwart of Islamic work in North America, Imam Siraj Wahaj, emerged from that process to influence and support NOI to move onto the path of mainstream Islam.
In order to further enhance dawah among new Muslims and non-Muslims, the Islamic Teaching Center (ITC) was established by the dynamic and enthusiastic efforts of Dr. Altijani Abu-Guderi (M), a former president of MSA and the first director of education. He became the first director-general of ITC. I was a member of the ITC Board of Trustees from the start. I later served as its acting director-general for a year.
Beside imam training and scholarship programs, ITC’s major thrust was its dawah project for those who were incarcerated. Br. John Sullivan was our devoted director of correctional facilities and carried out a correspondence course for the new Muslim inmates. He and his team visited the correctional facilities regularly. It was around the same time that Muslim chaplains began being hired by the prisons as well as by the military, in no small way through the efforts of Br. John and his dedicated team.
One of the responsibilities of the director of education was to hold the Youth Committee meetings. I prepared a proposal for the organization of Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA), and it was approved by the Executive Council in 1983. It is still an active constituent of ISNA and its president sits on the Majlis Shura.
Another major MSA project was the initiation of three professional organizations. The first was the Islamic Medical Association, which is now IMANA, established in late 1960s. The Association of Muslim Scientists & Engineers (AMSE) was founded in the early 1970s. The third organization is the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). It was founded in 1972, an inspiration of the great scholar and professor, Ismail Faruqi (shaheed), who was its first president.
MSA was a student organization, but those of us who graduated from our respective universities and colleges continued to carry our MSA membership. By 1977, almost 70 percent of the membership was non-student. The same year, about fifteen years since MSA’s establishment, it was felt that there was a need to hold a meeting of all core members. Roughly 70 brothers and sisters assembled at the newly acquired headquarters in Plainfield, IN during the December holidays. They appointed an Future Vision Committee to review organizational progress. I served as a member of that committee.
The committee recommended that an umbrella organization, with the name Islamic Society of North America, be formed. All other organizations would become constituent parts of ISNA. The Council of Presidents (AMSS, AMSE, IMA, and MSA) approved the proposal and appointed a Steering Committee to work on the constitution of ISNA and outline a schedule of implementation. I was Chairman of the Council of Presidents, and after much hard work by the committee, I presented the resolution to establish ISNA and it was unanimously adopted during the 19th MSA convention. That was the last MSA convention, in May of 1981. After the constitution was approved by the membership, Br. Ilyas Ba-Unus was elected as its first president.
The primary focus of work under ISNA was the same as that of MSA. And in the same spirit as MSA’s mission, ISNA’s new motto was “Indeed, this community of yours is a single community and I am your Lord, so obey Me” (Quran 23:52). Muslim unity was the foremost concern, with education as the second highest priority on our agenda.
In the years leading up to the establishment of ISNA, many of us recognized the need for a grassroots dawah movement to invite non-Muslims to Islam and to educate Muslims about Islam as a way of life and daily dedication to Allah SWT. Those involved in this dawah work would need to be committed to developing their Islamic character, striving only for the sake of Allah SWT, and to utilizing all legal and peaceful means to accomplish this work. In September, 1968, the Halqa-e-Ahbab (Circle of Friends) was established. I was chosen as its first president. On January 1, 1970, during a special meeting in Northville, Michigan, the first constitution was adopted. The name was changed to Halqa Ahbab-e-Islami (Islamic Circle of Friends). Formal membership was introduced. I was re-elected as the president and, in 1974 at Columbia University, the first public event was held with Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi who was on a personal visit to the U.S. The regional meetings of Islamic Circle of Friends were held during the regional conferences of MSA. The first separate regional conference was organized by the Eastern Region that included our largest unit, New York, held in Sanford, Connecticut in 1974. By 1977, the work was expanded to 16 cities. The first national convention was held in 1976 in Chicago.
I served seven years as president and then Dr. Anis Ahmed was elected in 1975. But in 1977, I was again made acting President as Br. Anis had to complete his dissertation. During that time, I drafted the proposed new constitution and after a great deal of discussion, the draft was approved by the Shura. A special meeting of all the members was held on Thanksgiving weekend in November, 1977 at the Islamic Center in Jersey City. About 70 members attended. The debate continued for three days and nights! Finally the constitution of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) was adopted. ICNA now has chapters across the U.S. and focuses its work on education, outreach to the greater American community and interfaith cooperation, and social services.
Over the years, ICNA has launched many initiatives that have grown to national prominence, like ICNA Relief, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, 877-Why-Islam and GainPeace dawah projects, Muslim Alert Network, Sound Vision, Muslim Savings Investment, Muslim Children of North America, ICNA Sisters Wing, Young Muslims, The Message magazine, Council for Social Justice, Islamic Learning Foundation, Muslim Family Day, Muslim Family Services, among many others.
I have been blessed by Allah SWT to have been part of this movement and have the opportunity to continue on this path, fulfilling my dream of doing Islamic work and dawah in America. Alhamdulillah.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Sakr got his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He was a founding member and president of the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) as well as a founding member of the World Council of Mosques, Makkah. He was the first director and representative of the Muslim World League to the U.N.
Dr. Ahmad Sakr passed away on November 23, 2015. May Allah SWT have mercy on him and admit Him to Paradise. The path Dr. Sakr followed was one that faithfully emulated our Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. His dedication will always stand out in the beautiful memories we have of him, and will always remind us of the strengths and blessings of faith. He played an inspirational role in the founding of many Islamic institutions and centers, including the first Islamic college in the United States, the American Islamic College of Chicago. He was a founding member and president of the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), and a founding member of the World Council of Mosques in Makkah. Dr. Sakr was a staunch supporter of ICNA, active in interfaith activities, published more than fifty books, and was a board member of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America.
Dr. Sakr was a selfless community leader and tireless Islamic worker. He was regularly invited to fundraise for various community projects and he did so without compensation. He happily accepted his role in serving communities around the country and beyond. He also offered his guidance and wisdom to individuals facing personal problems, be they Muslim or non-Muslim, and he was always tried to make himself available to those in need.
One of the early Muslims hoping to build a strong community in America, Dr. Sakr collaborated with brothers and sisters from nations around the world who had settled in the U.S., helping to clear the path for the future Muslim generations in America. They prepared the foundation for the vibrant and active American Muslim spirit that we see around us today. They learned to adapt to a new culture, assimilating into the American fabric of life while holding strong to the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. Dr. Sakr’s confidence in meeting the challenges he and his contemporaries encountered set the bar high so that today’s generation can move forward armed with trust in Allah SWT, guided by His light and empowered through the knowledge of His deen. He was a father, an uncle, a teacher, and a counselor. He inspired in us the ability to channel the strength of Omar, the gentleness of Abu Bakr, the shyness of Othman, and the knowledge of Ali, may Allah bless them all.
Dr. Sakr once shared with me an issue that bothered him. He said, “Why do the obstructionists do what they do, despite having knowledge and understanding that what we are trying to do to build Islam [in America] is a good thing? They make us fail in endeavors again and again.” I pondered this question for many years since then, and I finally realized the obstructionists’ aim was to disrupt our unity. I would say to Dr. Sakr, my teacher, if he were still with us, a phrase uttered by the Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius: “What we do today echoes in eternity.” Thus, we must persevere to make today better.
I would also say to him, “My teacher, you have departed from us as we face challenges today that are unprecedented. We have met the challenge of absolving our faith from the deception enacted by people from our own creed. We must now carry the torch of faith and pass it on, uncorrupted, to the next generation. Then, insha’Allah, we will deliver the new generation to a safe ground so they can grow into faith with the clarity that the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, left us with.
“I say to you my teacher, we will, God willing, be the men and women who stand firm, carrying this generation on our shoulders and uplifting the spirit of the dejected. Allah only allows us to succeed when we care for the weak and empower the destitute. May Allah SWT allow us to meet on the Day of Judgment in the circle of the beloved Prophet and his companions. Ameen.”
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Malcolm Little, born in 1925, became a drug addict and petty criminal. He converted to Islam while in prison, named himself Malcolm X, and began a quest for knowledge that continued throughout his life. Affiliated with the Nation of Islam, he became disillusioned with its teaching of black supremacy and after traveling in Africa and the Middle East, and making Hajj in 1964, he embraced the teachings of orthodox Islam and took the name Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz. In 1965 he was assassinated. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” is considered one of the most important nonfiction works of the 20th century.
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in 1942 in Kentucky, is a former professional boxer, generally considered one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport. Arguably the most recognized and loved sports figure of the past 100 years, he was crowned “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC. Ali is also known for his dedication to his faith, his principled stance against the Vietnam War, his humanitarian work, and his fundraising for research on Parkinson’s disease.
Olajuwon, a 12-time NBA All-Star, led the Houston Rockets to two NBA championships. After he retired in 2002, his #34 jersey was retired by the Rockets, and a monument honoring him is outside the Rockets’ arena. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 2006, Keith Ellison was the first American Muslim elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He is now in his fourth term representing a Minnesota district. In 2008, another Muslim, André Carson, won a congressional seat for Indiana.
Acclaimed as an engineer and architect, Khan designed systems for high-rise building construction. Two of his most notable achievements are Chicago’s John Hancock Center and the Sears Tower.
CNN talk show host and editor-at-large for TIME magazine
Surgeon and TV host
Owner of an NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars
Co-founder of YouTube
When many Jews and Christians view Islam from the outside, they find parallels to their own faiths that usually inspire a great deal of curiosity. These parallels are often doctrinal, sometimes regarding the biographies of Prophets shared between the three Abrahamic faiths like Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them). Yet, sometimes striking parallels are found by the more discerning eye. Deep inquests often reveal textual and lexical similarities that are difficult, if not impossible, to explain by mere theories of one tradition borrowing from another.
The book of Exodus contains the following verse in reference to a Hajj in the time of Moses: “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever” (Exodus 12:14).
As millions upon millions of Muslim devotees engage in the rites of the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, we can peer into the terms used in this age-old practice that lead us to a time long before the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was even born. Let us look at the word al-Hajj itself. Typically, the entire Arabic vocabulary, like its sisters in the Semitic linguistic group, consists of words structured from trilateral tri-consonantal roots. In this case the root is hajaj. According to the classical Arabic lexicon Lisan al-Arab it is defined as follows: “Purpose. As in, ‘So-and-so did hajj unto us,’ which means he presented himself before us.”
So the general lexical meaning of the word is “intended purpose.” In the context of the Hajj, the Ka`bah within the Meccan Sanctuary is the intended destination and purpose. To list usages of this word in an Islamic context would be, for most Muslims, an appeal to the very obvious as stories of its wonder and splendor that have been related to them since childhood. However, if we peer beyond the context of Islamic rites and deep into the past, do we find this word used in the previous traditions of the Old Testament? The answer is in the affirmative. The book of Exodus contains the following verse in reference to a Hajj in the time of Moses: “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever” (Exodus 12:14).
In this verse, the King James translators rendered the uninflected noun Khag as “feast.” This word Khag is wholly cognate to the Arabic Hajj. Elsewhere in the verse the word Khag is inflected as khagotem and takhaguhu. One must pay attention to the fact that the Hebrew phonetic “kh” is the pharyngeal fricative “h” in Arabic. Also, one must note that the phonetic “g” is cognate to the Arabic “j.” So for analytical purposes in this context the verse would be rendered: “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a Hajj to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a Hajj by an ordinance forever.” Another verse using this root is the following: “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, ‘Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1).
“This Qur’an could not have been authored by any other than God, as it rectifies what came before it and elucidates what was in the previous scriptures. Let there be no doubt that this is, indeed, from the Lord of all Worlds” (Qur’an 10:37).
The inflected word that the King James translators rendered “feast” is yakhugg? which is cognate to the Arabic “yuhajju,” so for analytical purposes the verse would be rendered in this context as: “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a Hajj unto me in the wilderness.” This is not to suggest that Moses and Aaron went to Mecca and performed Hajj as Muslims know it today. It is merely to exemplify that a consecrated journey and pilgrimage unto God at His Temple did, indeed, precede the rise of Islam in the 7th Century CE. An additional and astonishing dimension to this that makes the concept of lexical borrowing between the Old Testament and the Qur’an improbable, if not outright impossible, is found in an alternate form of the root in Hebrew, Khug. Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (1846) defines this word: “To describe a circle, to draw a circle, as with compasses. Job 26:10…m. a circle, sphere, used of the arch or vault of the sky, Pro. 8:27; Job 22:14; of the world, Isa. 40:22.” Let us look at the verses he has cited:
“When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:27).
“Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven” (Job 22:14).
“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:22).
Thus, this word not only means sacred pilgrimage and feast unto God in the Bible, it also means to encircle. To any Muslim this will be a striking discovery.
Semitic languages have been, since time immemorial, broad and deep systems of expression where one word’s many variant, but supplementary, meanings all coalesce to a greater understanding of that lexeme. So in this case we have a root which has a form meaning a feast, also meaning a pilgrimage, and in one form meaning to encircle! The Hajj pilgrimage, which is at its core an encircling of the Ka`bah, called Tawaf, is concluded with none other than the Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son at God’s command. Borrowing all these meanings buried in lexica that did not even exist until hundreds of years after the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would require nothing short of a Semitic linguist and Biblical scholar. It should be noted that the Bible itself would not be available until 200-300 years after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, p. 982). Such lexical depth and lucidity is consistently found throughout the Qur’an as God has stated therein:
“This Qur’an could not have been authored by any other than God, as it rectifies what came before it and elucidates what was in the previous scriptures. Let there be no doubt that this is, indeed, from the Lord of all Worlds” (Qur’an 10:37).
—–Shibli Zaman—-
The response to this question could be found in the following Qur’anic verses: “At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!’ But she pointed to the babe. They said: ‘How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?’ He said: ‘I am indeed a servant of Allah. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; And He hath made me blessed wherever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!’ Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘be’, and it is. Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord; therefore serve Him: this is a Way that is straight. But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day! How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! But the unjust today are in error manifest! Warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe! It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon; to Us will they all be returned” (19:27-40).
Actually, the Quranic verses cited above point out that Jesus, himself, proclaimed his humanity and that he was a servant of Allah and a prophet, clearly not divine. He actually rebuked the people who would develop those philosophical ideas after he is gone. An example is when Satan came to Prophet Jesus and tried to tempt him as it appears in the book of Matthew (4:1-11). Now the question is how can Satan tempt God? This is only conceivable if the person who is subjected to temptation is a human being and that is what Jesus spoke of. Also, on many occasions Jesus had gone to the wilderness or mountains to pray. Now what does it mean that Jesus is praying? He is praying to someone who is greater than himself. He is praying to his God and Lord, and in accordance to the definition of the Trinity this doesn’t make sense. Nobody prays to himself; so why would Jesus pray to himself if he was God?
In the book of Matthew, Jesus denies any knowledge of the unseen or the last hour (24:36). Again the knowledge of the unseen is definitely one of the divine attributes and if somebody doesn’t know the future then he is not God – he is a human being. He may be pious, he may be a messenger, but he is not God. Additionally, the Gospel of Mark says that when someone ran after Jesus and said ‘Good Master’ Jesus would reply, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone” (10:17-18). Here this doesn’t mean that Jesus is not good but that goodness, in the absolute sense, is a divine attribute and that is not to be used as a description of him. In the Gospel of John, Jesus admits and says that “father is greater than I” (14:28), which is very clear evidence he never meant that he is divine and even denied it and clarified that he is simply a human and messenger of God. That is exactly what the Qur’an, 600 years later, confirms.