What Is His Name
CHAPTER ONE - BELIEF IN GOD UNIVERSAL (What Is his Name - by Ahmed Deedat)
This primitive man is higher in his
Concept of God Almighty than the millions of civilized men and women, of both
East and West who strut the world today!
AN AUSTRALOID: the aborigine of South
Australia numbered about 300,000 when the Europeans first touched the shores of
Australia. Today, after 200 years, he has been reduced to half that number, and
only half of this "half" is pure-blooded.
What is
His Name?
By Ahmed Deedat
|
SAY: "CALL UPON OR CALL UPON BY WHATEVER NAME YE CALL UPON HIM FOR TO HIM BELONG THE MOST |
|
<ALIGN="CENTER">Holy Qur'aan
17:110
CHAPTER ONE
BELIEF IN GOD
UNIVERSAL
WHAT IS HIS NAME?
At the end of my public talk on
the subject - "MUHUMMED (p.b.u.h) the Natural Successor
to CHRIST (p.b.u.h.) at question time, a Christian Missionary posed the
question: "What is His Name?" Meaning thereby as to the name of
God. I stood up to answer. But before I opened my mouth, he spoke into the mike,
provided for questioning, that he would answer his own question. I said, "You
posed the question so the obligation is on me to reply to your question". He
said, "Yes, but I will answer the question." (Laughter in the audience). He was
actually begging for an opportunity to be heard. Where else on earth would he
get such a large audience, and that at the Muslim's expense, to preach. I said,
"Carry on!" (Give him enough rope to hang himself). After some rambling, he
concluded that the name of God was "JESUS CHRIST!"
It was
not the time, at that meeting; nor is it expedient here to discuss the subject
fully - "IS JESUS GOD?" It is enough, for the moment, to say that in the
language of Moses, Jesus and Muhummed (Peace be upon them all) the name of God
Almighty is ALLAH! Proof will be provided in Chapter 4.
Belief in God is ingrained in the nature of man. As long as man existed on
earth, the knowledge of God Almighty also co-existed. As Professor Max Fuller in
his Hibbert Lectures said:
"RELIGION IS NOT A NEW INVENTION. IT IS, IF NOT AS
OLD AS THE WORLD, AT LEAST AS OLD AS THE WORLD WE KNOW. THERE NEVER WAS A FALSE
GOD NOR WAS THERE EVER A FALSE RELIGION, UNLESS YOU CALL A CHILD A FALSE MAN.
ALL RELIGION, SO FAR AS I KNOW THEM, HAD THE SAME PURPOSE. ALL WERE LINKS IN A
CHAIN WHICH CONNECTS HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND WHICH HELD, AND ALWAYS WAS HELD, BY
ONE AND THE SAME HAND."
This is truly a very charitable attitude; truly Islamic.
Allah subha nahu wa ta-aala (God Almighty) tells us in the Holy Qur'aan:
| AND THERE NEVER WAS A PEOPLE WITHOUT A WARNER HAVING LIVED AMONG THEM (In the past). |
|
Sura Fatir
35:24
| AND TO EVERY NATION THERE WAS (sent) A GUIDE. |
|
Sura1 Ra'd
13:7
1. Sura in Arabic means
Chapter.
GOD NOT PARTIAL
If God Almighty is not partial to His creatures with
regard to material blessings like - fresh-air, rain, sun- shine etc., why should
He be partial in regard to His spiritual blessings (The Guidance of God)? He has
not been partial! There is no nation or language group on earth who does not
know God by some name. This knowledge was given by the Creator Himself through
the lips of His chosen messengers. The names of a very few of these messengers
we know, the rest have been lost or clouded in superstition.
Though all
theology (knowledge of God) originated with God, mankind played fast and loose
with those pure and holy concepts, adding frills and adornments where no
embellishments was needed - it despoiled the language. In the words of Mrs.
Ellen G. White, a "prophetess" of the 7th Day Adventist Movement, in her Bible
Commentary it is said:
"LEARNED MEN HAD IN
SOME INSTANCES CHANGED THE WORDS, THINKING THAT THEY WERE MAKING IT PLAIN, WHEN
IN REALITY THEY WERE MYSTIFYING THAT WHICH WAS PLAIN."1
In the Religious Annals of the world, the
Jewish and Christian Scriptures called the Holy Bible abound with graphic
examples of portraying God after man's own pattern:
1. For further
detailed references to Mrs. White, see my book - <!A href="http://www.jamaat.net/bible/BibleIntro.html">"Is the Bible God's
Word?"<!/A>. Available free online.
IMPERFECT DESCRIPTIONS OF
GOD
LIKE A MAN
(Genesis
11:5)
"And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which
the children of men builded."
MOSES SEES GOD'S BACK
PARTS?
(Exodus 33:23)
"And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen."
WRESTLES WITH JACOB
(Genesis 32:28)
"And He (God) said, thy name shall be called no
more lacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men,
and has prevailed."
LIKE ONE
DRUNK
(Psalm 78:65)
"Then the Lord awakened as one out
of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine."
REGRETS MAKING MAN
(Genesis 6:6)
"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on
the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
SMELLS SWEET FLAVOUR
(Genesis 8:21)
"And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the
Lord said in his heart..."
A CROUCHING LION
(Numbers 24:9)
"He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a
great lion: who shall stir him up?"
DEVOURING
FIRE
(Exodus 24:17)
"And the sight of the glory of the
Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children
of Israel."
RESTED AND
REFRESHED
(Exodus 31:17)
" ... in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested AND WAS
REFRESHED." 1
Out of the encyclopaedia of 73 Books of
the Roman Catholics and 66 Books of the Protestants called the
"BIBLE"2, endless
number of quotations can be culled to fill a book larger than this publication
to illustrate man's various imperfect descriptions of God. The above examples
will suffice, I hope.
In the realm of the spirit, no nation has had as
much opportunities as the children of Israel. And despite repeated warnings to
the effect that:'THY GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD, HE SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GOD
BEFORE HIM, NOT EVEN OF THE LIKENESS OF THE THINGS ON EARTH, OR IN THE HEAVENS
ABOVE, OR IN THE WATERS BENEATH THE SEA ... (Exodus 20:3-5), they took
the golden calf for worship, and again and again reverted into idolatry. Nor is
the bulk of Christendom any freer from this taint. Visit St. Paul's Cathedral in
London, or St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and you will have very little to
distinguish them from the Tempte of Somnath in India. It is a question of
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.3 You do not really have to go to England or Italy
to verify my statement. Why not an inspection in loco to an Anglican or a Roman
Catholic Cathedral in your own home town!
1.
"....and was refreshed": to commemorate the Sabbath because God Almighty
became tired and needed to be rejuvenated after His six days of hard labour - IS
A STANDING INSULT TO GOD. Says the Holy Qur'an:"...No slumber can seize Him
nor sleep...His Throne extends over the heavans and the earth, and He feeleth no
fatigue in guarding and preserving them..." (Sura
2:255)
2. Why
66 of the one and 73 of the other? The book - <!A href="http://www.jamaat.net/bible/BibleIntro.html">"Is the Bible God's
Word?"<!/A> explains.
3. Two
characters from English Fairy Tales, who were identical in
appearance.