Successions are of many kinds like the birthright of the "first-born" as in Jewish law. Or the ascending of the eldest son or daughter to the kingly throne. Or by election, to select a candidate by the vote of the majority. Or Theologically, an appointment by Divine Decree of God's chosen Messengers. Like the call of Abraham, Moses, Jesus or Muhummed (May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon them all) who were appointed or "anointed"2 in consecration to their office.Muhummed's (pbuh) succession to Jesus Christ (pbuh) is multifaceted.1. Chronologically, in history as a sequence of event in time.2. By being Chosen3 by God.3. In the fulfilment of the prophecies of his predecessors, and but not in the least...4. By bringing the Guidance of God to perfection ' "For he will Guide you into all Truth." said. Jesus ChristHISTORICALLYThe Holy Prophet Moses preceded Jesus Christ (pbuh) by some 1300 years and Muhummed (pbuh) succeeded to that high office vacated by Jesus some six centuries later.It was the 12 of Rabi I., in the year of the Elephant, or the 29th of August 570 of the Christian Era1 that Muhummed the Praiseworthy, to whom all praise is due, was born in the sacred city of Makkah in pagan Arabia. His people the Quraish remembered the year of his birth as the "Era of the Elephant", because just two months before the birth of the child Abraha al-Ashram, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen had attacked the sacred sanctuary at Makkah at the head of his troops riding a huge African elephant. A terrifying sight never to be erased from their memory and a still more shocking end to the invasion — the miraculous destruction of Abraha and his army as recorded in Sura Fil or the Elephant —Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the Companions of the Elephant?Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray?And He sent against them flights of Birds,Striking them with stones of baked clay.Then did He make them like an empty field of stalks and straw,(of which the corn) has been eaten up(SURA FIL) Holy Quran 105:1-5GOD'S OWN STANDARDSGod Almighty chooses His Own Messengers, He uses His Own Standards although we may not always understand the wisdom of it. Paul cries the anomaly -For the Jews require a sign (miracles to convince) and the Greeks seek after wisdom:(HOLY BIBLE) I Corinthians 1: 22But worldly wise as Paul was, he found that his wisdom was "a stumbling-block" to the Jews and "foolishness" to the Greeks.God chose Moses (pbuh) a man who was a fugitive from justice and a stutterer. The Holy Bible calls him a man with "uncircumcised lips." (Exodus 6: 12).Despite his difficulties when commissioned to confront Pharaoh, the greatest tyrant of the age, Moses (pbuh) cries out to the God of Mercy —(Moses) said: "O my Lord! expand for me my breast;" 1Make my task easy for me;"And remove the impediment from my speech,"So that they may understand what I have to say:"And give me a Minister from my family,"Aaron, my brother; "Add to my strength through him, "And make him share my task:"That we may celebrate Thy praise without stint,"And remember Thee without stint:'For Thou art He that (ever) regardeth us. (God) said: "Granted is thy prayer, 0 Moses!"(SURA TA'HA) Holy Qur'an 20:25-561. Meaning – give me courage, make me bold.WHY "SUPPOSED"?Then comes Jesus (pbuh) who was chosen by God. According to Christian teachings, he was a carpenter and the son of a carpenter, with a dubious genealogy as recorded in the Gospels —And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed)1 the son of Joseph...(HOLY BIBLE) Luke 3: 25Acknowledged today by a thousand million Muslims that Jesus Christ (pbuh) was born miraculously — without any male intervention; the followers of Christ created two separate genealogies for a man who had no genealogy. Between the Gospels of Matthew and Luke they give this mighty Messenger of God sixty-six fathers and grandfathers. And of these two separate lists only one name is common to these two lists and that is of Joseph the Carpenter, who does not Fit in anywhere because, as Luke records above, he was only the "SUPPOSED" father of Jesus.EVEN BISHOPS DOUBTIn a "SHOCK SURVEY OF ANGLICAN BISHOPS" in June 1984 it was revealed that 31 of their 39 Bishops thought that "Christ's miracles, the virgin birth and the resurrection might not have happened exactly as described in the Bible."In deference to the Bishops of the Church of England (the "Anglicans") the Church of Scotland most respectfully omitted any reference to the "Virgin Birth" from its most recent publication "A STATEMENT OF FAITH." The topic of the miraculous conception of Jesus (pbuh) is getting increasingly hotter for Western Christianity to handle as you see here:AND GOD CHOSE JESUS (PBUH)Jesus Christ (pbuh) though spiritually rich in wisdom, light and truth; philosophised light-heartedly about the beggars of the world, when he said:There came unto him (Jesus) a woman having an albaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head...But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?For this ointment might have been sold For much, and given to the poor.... he (Jesus) said unto them ... For ye have the poor always with you, but (poor) me ye have not always.(HOLY BIBLE) Matthew 26: 7-11But when destitution stared him in the face. When poverty, penury and need touched his own dear self; he cried pathetically:And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man (referring to himself) hath not where to lay his head.(HOLY BIBLE) Matthew 8: 20 also repeated in Luke 9: 58And yet God chose him (Jesus pbuh): Unique and inscrutable are Thy ways O Lord!M-U-S-T-A-F-A THE CHOSEN ONEIt is He Who sent amongst the unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom, — although they had been, before, in manifest error;-(SURA JUMUA) Holy Qur'an 62: 2Amazing as it may seem, I am not amazed anymore! For this is His way — He chooses an Ummi 1 non-literate Prophet for an Ummi illiterate nation."a poor shepherd people, roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world: a hero-prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe: see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has grown world-great; within one century afterwards, arabia is at grenada (spain) on this hand, at delhi (india) on that; -glancing in valour and splendour and the light of genius, arabia shines through long ages over a great section of the world. belief is great, life-giving. the history of a nation becomes fruitful, soul elevating, great, so soon as it believes. these arabs, the man mahomet, and that one century, -is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what seemed black unnoticeable sand; but lo, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven high from delhi to grenada! i said, the great man was always as lightning out of heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would flame."Thus concluded the speech of Thomas Carlyle, one of the greatest thinkers of the past century. It was Friday, the 8th of May 1840. His theme — "The Hero as Prophet" His audience: were Anglicans — English Christians.1. UMMI: "Unlettered." "One other circumstance we must not forget: that he had no school-learning; of the thing we call school-learning; none at all." Thomas Carlyle in his "HEROES AND HERO-WORSHIP"THE CHOSEN PEOPLEGod chooses His Messengers and God chooses His People, In the realm of the Spirit no nation was as favoured as the Jews and yet Moses (pbuh) is made to bewail against his own people —Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you.(HOLY BIBLE) Deutronomy 9: 24In this last will and testament of Moses (pbuh) the Israelites frustrate their "meek and gentle" Messenger who is forced to rail against their continual stubborn resistance and arrogant attitudes to God's guidance —For I knew thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the lord; and how much more after my death?(HOLY BIBLE) Deutronomy 51:27Alas how true! I am not going to philosophise on God's choice. But in the very next chapter the fire of God's anger is kindled to a blaze and He decries the Jews -They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they (the Jews) have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are Not A People; I will provoke them to anger with a Foolish Nation.(HOLY BIBLE) Deutronomy 32:2111. Emphasis are mine.JEWS SUBSTITUTEDAnyone with a modicum of Scriptural knowledge will be able i guess who in the eyes of these arrogant, racist Jews is "not-a people" — a non-entity and "a foolish nation" if not the Ishmaelite cousins — the Arabs who in the words of Thomas Carlyle have been "ROAMING UNNOTICED IN ITS DESERT SINCE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD."!?THE ARABS. Alexander the Great passed them by: the Persian. passed them by; the Egyptians passed them by; and the Roman; passed them by. It would have been an absolute liability for any nation to conquer and colonise them. But the Creator did not pass them by. He picked them up from the depths of darkness and transformed them into torch-bearers of light and learning to the world. "I will move them "I will move them (the Jews) to Jealousy"1 This jealousy is a cultivated sickness. Remember, Sarah and Hagar the two wives of Abraham (pbuh) — the Friend of God. The jealousy of Sarah was bequeathed to her children and on to nations and tribes yet unborn.1. If the Romans or the Greeks had displaced the Jews as the "Chosen of God" then the envy would not have been as acute or as intolerable to the Jews.Not so long ago I read a book on the discovery of medicine written by a Jewish medical man. I can unfortunately not remember the name of the author and failed to retrace the book. However, the wordings of the tribute paid by this Jewish author to his Semetic (Arab) cousins have made an indelible impression on my mind. And I quote from memory:"GOATHERDS AND CAMEL DRIVERS SITTING ON THE THRONE OF THE CAESARS"Full of spite, venom and sarcasm, but how true! This is what God did and always does. He honours whom He wills. This is what He does to show His Mighty Hand (Power)?IT IS SURELY ONE OF THE GREATEST MIRACLES OF HISTORY THAT FROM THE BACKWATER OF ARABIA THERE SHOULD HAVE EXPLODED A GROUP OF MEN, COMPANIONS OF A PROPHET, WHO WITHIN THE SPACE OF A FEW BRIEF DECADES WERE ABLE TO CREATE A MAGNIFICENT CIVILISATION EXTENDING FROM THE PYRENEES TO THE GATES OF CHINAAbdul Wadod Shalabi in "Islam Religion of Life:"THE LAST WARNINGThe foregoing is the exact fulfilment of Jesus Christ's (pbuh), (the last of the great Jewish prophets) own prediction of the displacement of the Jewish race in the spiritual guidance of man. In the words of the Master himself —Therefore I say unto you (Jews), The Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you (Jews), and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.(HOLY BIBLE) Matthew 21: 45 11. "Kingdom of God:" The honour, the privilege of being God’s chosen people to guide mankind – "Ye (Jews) shall be unto me (God Almighty) a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:6) This grand commission ended with Jesus (pbuh).
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