The promised land
Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Three world religions honor Abraham as their ancient patriarch and a model of faith in one God. In Judaism the 12 tribes of Israel trace their lineage to Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. In Christian scriptures he is a spiritual ancestor, "justified by faith." In Islam's Koran he and another son, Ishmael, build the sacred site at Mecca, which remains the holiest destination for the world's Muslims, by decree of Allah through Muhammad. The biblical book Genesis describes Abram's birth in Ur (near modern Nasiriyah, Iraq), his marriage to Sarai, and God's promise to make of him "a great nation." God sends them on a long, dramatic, Middle Eastern journey, eventually renaming them Abraham and Sarah and periodically giving Abraham guidance and commands. The hardest of these is to offer Isaac as a human sacrifice; an angel stops Abraham at the last minute.
In Genesis, Abraham is 86 when Ishmael is born to the young servant Hagar, given to him as a second wife by the childless Sarah. Abraham is 100 and Sarah over 90 when they miraculously give birth to Isaac; Hagar and Ishmael are then sent away. After Sarah's death, Abraham has six children by a third wife, Keturah. At age 175, he dies and is buried in Macpelah, near modern Hebron, West Bank.
God's Covenant with Abraham
(Genesis 15:18-21)
"On that day, God made a covenant with Abraham, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the Euphrates. The land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites; the Chitties, Perizzites, Refaim; the Emorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Yevusites."
(Genesis 17:8)
"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. "
Abraham's descendants in the scripture:
There are many contradictions about the real number of Abraham sons:
Abraham had only one son:
(Hebrews 11:17)"By faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac, ... his only begotten son. "
(Genesis 22:2)"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, ... and offer him there for a burnt offering."
Abraham had more than one son:
(Genesis 16:15)"And Hagar bare Abraham a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. "
(Genesis 21:2-3) "For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son is his old age .... And Abraham called him Isaac. "
(Genesis 25:1-2)"Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. "
(Galatians 4:22)Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-woman, and the other by a free woman.
Ishmael(The eldest son) :
(Genesis 17:20) "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
(Genesis 21:13) "And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant."
Isaaq:
(Genesis 26:3)" Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. "
Jacob(Son of Isaaq):
(Genesis 28:13) "The ground upon which you are lying I give to you and your descendants."
The promised land by Ahmed Dedat
The promised land and the chosen people
(Deuteronomy 7:6) "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
Chosen for what?
(Exodus 19:5-6) (5) 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
(6) and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."
Are the Jews chosen for their race? (The duties and responsibilities)
(Leviticus 26:18) "If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins."
(Leviticus 18:28) "so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you."
(Deuteronomy 28:68) "The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, 'You will never see it again!' And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."
Children of Israel, chosen for what by Ahmed Dedat
What Bible says about the Jews?
(Evils and transgressions of children of Israel and God's anger)
1. The first transgression of children of Israel (children of Jacob or Ya'qoob) was committed by the ten sons of Jacob against his eleventh son, Joseph or Yusuf. Due to their jealousy the ten half-brothers cast him into a dry pit so that he may die there or they may sell him in the hands of an Ishmaelite caravan (Gen 37:23-24).
2. Joseph's father, eleven brothers and their families entered Egypt and joined the aristocratic class of the people. Apparently, it was because of children of Israel's transgressions that God caused them to be sold into the slavery of the Egyptians where they remained for centuries until God sent Moses to free them.
3. Moses was sent by God to free the children of Israel from the Egyptians. He brought them to Sinai when God gave him commandments and the law but they disobeyed Moses (Ex 16:19-20, 20:11-26, chapters 21-23 and Deut 31:27).
4. When God called Moses to the mountain for giving him the law, children of Israel fell into the worship a golden calf (Ex chapter 32) and God called them "stiff-necked" (Ex 33:3-4). Even in our time we find Jews are worshippers of the golden calf in the form of the worship of money and wealth (crass materialism) rather than righteousness.
5. Moses conveyed the order of God to them to enter and take over Canaan (Ex 34:11-16) but children of Israel refused to obey him (Deut 9:21-24, Num 11:1-6, Num 14:1-4) and Moses complained to God (Num 11:12-15). Naturally, God's anger fell upon children of Israel (Num 12:9-10, Num 14:10-34).
6. God sent commands against nakedness, adultery and homosexuality but children of Israel disobeyed (Lev 18:6-23) and they continued to disobey even in our time in the name of freedom and sex between consenting adults.
7. God is just and He punishes all those tribes and towns who disobey His commands. We find that God punished Damascus (Amos 1:9-10), Edom (Amos 1:11-12), Ammonites (Amos 1:13-14) and Moab (Amos 2:1-3). God announced His punishment for Judah and Israel (Amos 2:4-8). God mentions His favor to Judah and Israel of taking them out of Egypt and taking them out of the desert after forty years of punishment (Amos 2:10-11) yet they disobeyed Him again and again.
8. Another crime mentioned was when the prophets warned the children of Israel and prophesied God's punishment, they warned the prophets and commanded them not to mention prophecies of doom: they threatened them (Amos 2:12). Finally God's decision came that children of Israel would be destroyed but not completely (Amos 9:9-10).In Amos 9:11-15 we find God's promise to children of Israel to raise them again, which was fulfilled in the 6th century BCE during the time of Cyrus. No one can present establishment of Israel as fulfilling of God's promise because the modern state is filled with racism, injustice and committing all the sins mentioned in the Bible for which these people were punished for three millennia.
9. We read: "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God, and serving the Ba'als and the Ash'roth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cu'shan-rishath'im king of Mesopota'mia; and the people of Israel served Cu'shan-rishath'im eight years" (Judges 3:7-8).
10. We find that Israel again did evil against the Lord and this time He sold them into the slavery of Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years (Judges 3:12-14).
11. The people of Israel again did evil against the Lord and this time He sold them into the slavery of Jabin king of Canaan, who oppressed them cruelly for twenty years (Judges 4:1-3).
12. We find that the people of Israel did evil again and this time the Lord sold them into the slavery of Mid'ian (Ishmaelites) for seven years (Judges 6:1-2).
13. The next time Israel did evil the Lord sold them into the slavery of Philistines and Ammonites for eighteen years (Judges 10:7-9).
14. The people of Israel did again what the Lord forbade them from doing, the Lord again gave them into the hands of Philistines for forty years (Judges 13:1).
15. God brought destruction upon children of Israel by the hands of Chaldeans and Prophet Habakkuk cried to the Lord (Hab 1:1-17). The God of children of Israel declared Himself to be a jealous God and wrathful (Nahum 1:2, 2:13 and 3:5).
16. When children of Israel performed the rituals, they were free of sincerity and they despised God-given food (Malachi 1:14, 2:2-3), God cursed them (Malachi 2:7-9) and declared that their offerings were not acceptable (Malachi 2:13 and chapter 4).
The fate of children of Israel is sealed
Finally, God's decision was announced in the Bible:
(Obadiah verses 2-4). "Behold, I will make you small among the nations, you will be utterly despised.The pride of your heart has deceived..." We find that in our time, Jews are only fifteen million out of the world population of over six billion. Also Jews are despised and no gentile likes to be called a Jew or Jew-like because he will take it as an insult.
(Obadiah verse 118)"The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau; for the Lord has spoken."
Historical evidence that children of Israel were excluded from God's covenant with Abraham
Children of Israel Rule over Palestine. The Prophet Abraham perhaps lived around the 18th century BCE (before Christian era). The exodus under the leadership of Moses took place around 1290 BCE. Canaan (later to be known as Palestine) was conquered under Joshua around 1250 BCE. God appointed Saul (Talut) as the king of children of Israel around 1020 BCE who ruled for about twenty years. David succeeded Talut and ruled for 39 years until 961 BCE. Solomon succeeded his father and ruled for 36 years until 925 BCE. Shortly afterwards the Assyrians defeated Israel and occupied a part of the kingdom. The Babylonian king Nebuchednezar occupied Judah, independent kingdom in 586 BCE. He destroyed the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, and took thousand of children of Israel in chains as captives to Babylon. However, in 520 BCE King Cyrus allowed children of Israel to return to Palestine and he sponsored rebuilding of the Temple, which was completed in 515 BCE. Israel was never to become an independent state until 161 BCE. Around 330 BCE Israel came under the rule of the Greek kings. From 161 to 104 BCE for 57 years Maccabees, an Israeli freedom movement, made Israel a free and independent state. Maccabees were defeated by the Romans and entire Palestine and Syria came under their rule. In 70 CE (Christian era) Titus exiled Jews from Jerusalem and in 135 CE all Jews were either murdered or exiled from Palestine by the order of the Roman emperor with the decree never to enter Palestine again. Under the Roman rule and later in the Byzantine rule, Jews were barred from entering Palestine. Jews were allowed to enter Jerusalem again by the second caliph of Islam, Umar ibn al-Khattab in 638 CE. They began to trickle into Palestine and lived happily as a respected and protected minority under the Muslims until 1930s when they began terrorism to drive the Palestinians out of their homes and properties rendering almost 800,000 of them as refugees. Finally, the state of Israel was established by Arab and Muslim hating western powers under the cover of a U.N. resolution in 1948. From the beginning of time until 1948 children of Israel were able to rule Palestine for a total of only about 382 years out of 32 centuries of children of Israel (Jewish) existence, even that in broken periods. Does it look like God gave Palestine to the children of Israel or made them a great people? I don't think so. On the contrary the God of children of Israel made them a most despised people and kept them alive as a lesson to mankind. This is the fate of Jews collectively but among them there are numerous good, decent, justice and peace loving people. Muslims do not hold anything against the Jews; in fact, Muslims have been their best friends and protectors from 638 until the 1930s. However, Muslims are against the Zionist movement that exiled the natives of Palestine from their ancestral home, robbed them of their properties, killed them by the hundreds of thousands; murder and plunder of Palestinians by the hands of Jews using American money and armaments continues to date. This is the way the Jews have rewarded Muslims for their hospitality, good treatment with respect and allowing the return of the Jews to Palestine.
Muslim Rule over Palestine. In 638 CE Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam, conquered Jerusalem without a war and until 1918 Palestine remained under Muslim rule except for a period of 88 years (1099 to 1187 CE) of the rule of the Crusaders. From 1918 to 1948 Palestine came under the rule of the British and then it was divided between Israel and the Palestinians. Only after the 1967 war, initiated by Israel, did Jerusalem came under the rule of the Israelis. It is worth noting that the Muslim rule over Palestine for thirteen centuries was due to the power of Muslims themselves not by a proxy power; whereas, the rule of Israelis in Israel since 1948 is maintained not by the power of the Israelis but by the power of the Americans. If Americans withdraw their support, Israel may fall as a ripe fig into the hands of Muslims in a matter of days.
The historical evidence shows that the Jews were excluded from the covenant of God to Abraham because He did not allow them to have a hold over Palestine but for brief periods, whereas God gave the power to the Muslims to rule for the longest period of time in the history of the land. Evidently God's covenant to Abraham was meant to be for the Arabs, the children of Ishmael.
The God's prophecy (The holy trinity) in the Bible
(Muslims, Christians and Jews as one faith)
Muslims complete the prophecy
(Matt 11:43). Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it." Evidently, Muslims fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus Christ.
The Chosen people in Quran:
Quran (2:124): "Recall when Abraham's Lord tested him in certain matters and when he successfully stood the test He (God) said: 'Indeed I am going to appoint you a leader of humankind.' When Abraham asked: 'And is this covenant also for my descendants?' the Lord responded: 'My covenant does not embrace the evil doing transgressors.'"
Muhammad Asad (his original name was Leopold Weiss, Austrian-Polish by nationality), a convert to Islam from Judaism, wrote in his Message of the Quran, Translation and Commentary, commenting on this verse: "This passage, read in conjunction with the two preceding verses, refutes the contention of the children of Israel (modern day Jews) that by virtue of their descent from Abraham, whom God made 'a leader of men', they are 'God's chosen people'. The Qur'an makes it clear that the exalted status of Abraham was not something that would automatically confer a comparable status on his physical descendants, and certainly not on the sinners among them."
(The Qur'an 2:84-85) "And lo! We (God) accepted your solemn pledge that you would not shed one another's blood, and would not drive one another from your homeland – whereupon you acknowledged it; and thereto you bear witness [even now]. And yet, it is you who slay one another and drive some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them in sin and hatred; but if they come to you as captives, you ransom them – although the very [act of] driving them away has been made unlawful to you. (85) Do you, then, believe in some parts of the divine book and deny the truth of other parts [by ignoring some laws and commandments]? What, then, could be the reward of those among you who do such things except utter disgrace in the life of this world and, on the Day of Resurrection, commitment to most grievous punishment? For God is not unmindful of what you do."
This happened to Bani Israel after God delivered them after centuries of slavery under the Egyptians. It seems that the Bani Israel was stubbornly bent upon disobeying the Lord except for brief periods of good conduct. There had to be a time when God would turn away from them and never to deliver them from the slavery and torment under the gentile nations. In America today some states have laws of "three strikes, you are out" meaning that after three convictions of felonies there is mandatory life imprisonment. Why should God not pass such a judgment against Bani Israel after numerous crimes worse than felonies over a period of 1800 years? It is obvious that the God of Israel has removed them from inheriting the covenant of Abraham. If Jews want to live in Palestine, their only choice is to live there in peace as a respected minority as they have lived for almost thirteen centuries in the Muslim world.
The meaning of making Abraham's name great
(Gen. 12:1-2): "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.'"
Then God made the same promise to Ishmael:
(Gen 17:20)"As for Ish'mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation"
When God told Abraham that He will make his name great, what did God mean? It may mean that his true descendants will (a)promote his faith worldwide; (b) it may mean that they will be the largest single faith in the world; (c) it may mean that Abraham's faith will be the only faith remaining in the world and all other faiths and -isms will die out; (d) it may mean that Abraham's descendants will create a great civilization in the world; (e) it may mean that his true followers will fill the world with economic justice and equality of mankind removing all kind of prejudices and discrimination based on race, skin color, gender, origin of birth, social and economic status; (f) it may mean that the children of Abraham will multiply exceedingly, spread and rule the largest geographical area of the world, if not the whole earth.
This shows that Gods promise of making Abraham a great nation was to be realized through the descendants of Ishmael but only the righteous ones, which is the same promise appeared in the Qur'an 2:124 . Children of Israel themselves canceled out any covenant made to the children of Isaac and Jacob through their refusal to obey God's prophets, a few examples have already been given above. Let us look at the possibilities of the meaning of a "great nation".
(a) Promoting the faith of Abraham. Children of Israel became a racist people and refused to promote the faith of Abraham to mankind whereas Muslims did promote his faith worldwide providing the opportunity of accepting the faith of Abraham. Consequently, people of every nation, every race and color have come to Islam making it the most successfully proclaimed pluralistic faith in the world. Muslims today constitute 20-25% of the world (1.2 to 1.5 billion) spread over the entire globe and increasing. Jews are fewer than 15 million (and declining), that is 0.25% of the world population or 1% of the Muslim population. Naturally, Muslims make a much greater nation than the Jews.
(b) The largest homogenous single faith in the world. It is believed that Christians are the largest single faith in the world but this claim could easily be refuted. Christians are divided into three major sects, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. Each of the three claims that they are the only true Christians and the others are non-Christians or pagans. If we study these religions, we find that each one is a separate religion; therefore, Christianity is not a homogenous single faith; only Islam is. Some may argue that there are Shi'as and Sunnis but this objection is not true. Those who claim one or the other is out of Islam are a negligible minority; the fundamentals of Shi'ah and Sunni are one and the same. The Jews are only fifteen million worldwide making them a negligible minority and a cult-like group. Such a small group is further divided into three groups of Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed; Orthodox and Reformed are so far apart that they cannot see each other eye to eye. Sunni-Shi'ah conflict is endemic and local and limited to a few people.
(c) The only faith surviving in the world. We have not reached that stage yet. Judaism is shrinking whereas Christianity and Islam are still expanding. However, it is noteworthy that the rate of expansion of Islam is higher than Christianity. There are millions of Christians converting to Islam and the reverse flow is negligible.
(d) Creating a great civilization. Jews have not created any unique civilization in the world with any lasting impact. Western civilization is a mix of Greek-Roman-Christian-Islamic civilization with some impact of the Jews, Chinese, Indian and other nations. Muslims created a new civilization that is unique in art, architecture, education, philosophy, sciences and embracing every other area of human activity. The impact of Islam may been seen worldwide. Muslims truly became a great nation fulfilling God's covenant to Abraham. In Islam Arabs played an overwhelming role in developing "Islamic" civilization. Major impact is seen from the periods of the Umayyad and the Abbasid era, both belonged to the Quraysh, direct descendants of Abraham through his son Ishmael.
Jews Today from the religious view
(Revelation 3:9) "Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you."
(Revelation 2:9) "I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan."
According to Jennifer Miller's recent book - she is the daughter of a top Jewish-American peace process negotiator and a participant of the Seeds of Peace program - at least 80% of the nominally Jewish citizens of the Israeli republic are atheists or agnostics and their families have been for many generations; in other words, most Israeli nationals are not actually Jewish as the term is normally defined. Essentially if you have at least one grandparent who practiced Judaism the government considers you "Jewish". The remaining 20% are ultra-Orthodox Jews who obviously are Jewish but statistically about as unrepresentative of modern Jews as Mennonites are of contemporary Christians.
in the 11th century Ashkenazi Jews comprised only 3% of the world's Jewish population, Ashkenazi Jews accounted for (at their highest) 92% of the world's Jews in 1931 and today make up approximately 80% of Jews worldwide.
So who are they?
Who are Ashkenazi Jews? By Khalid Mansour
Conclusion
The claim of the Israelis, supported by the Christians of the West, that only the Jews are inheritors of God's covenant with Abraham has been examined above. The following is concluded:
1. In the light of the Bible and the Qur'an, God's covenant would not extend to the sinners and transgressors from Abraham's progeny.
2. In the light of the Bible, the Jews have proven themselves to be sinners and transgressors making them unworthy of inheriting God's covenant with Abraham.
3. God made an independent covenant with Ishmael to make him a great nation.
4. The political history of Palestine shows that children of Israel ruled the land for less than 400 years whereas Ishmaelites ruled it for 1280 years of the 3200 years of the existence of children of Israel. Ishmaelites got control over Palestine within 28 years of the rise of Islam whereas Bani Israel got power over it more than five centuries after the birth of the tribes of children of Israel. It shows that God's choice to pass on the inheritance of Abraham was for the people of his faith more than his descendants. Ishmaelites fit both criteria under Islam.
5. Making Abraham's name great or making him a great nation may have several meanings. Six criteria have been studied under this heading and found that only Arabs (Ishmaelites) and Muslims fulfill the criteria whereas the children of Israel are left behind and lost in the dust.After this study, it will take courage and neutrality to accept the Muslim's claims to Palestine. The prejudiced West, due to its hatred of Islam and Arabs, appears to be incapable of accepting the obvious. It will take only God's miracle to convince the West about the Truth. Obviously, the claim of the Jews to Palestine supported by the western Christians is absurd and laughable.
6. Today at least 80% of the nominally Jewish citizens of the Israeli republic are atheists or agnostics, the remaining 20% are ultra-Orthodox Jews who obviously are Jewish but statistically about as unrepresentative of modern Jews as Mennonites are of contemporary Christians. And 80% are Ashkenazi Jews who are convert Jews from Russia and Poland. Yet, they abuse God's words for political gains.
