JOEL SMITH ANSWER A FRIEND

Dear ............. my new friend. Thank you for your very sincere email. I will try to answer your questions.

Your questions are written in blue. The answers are written in red.

Questions: "Our prophecies explicitly state that the real Messiah will be a king who sits upon the throne of David." "Our Messiah will destroy the enemies of Israel." "Our Messiah will restore prosperity to Israel."

Answers: Numbers 24:17--- "A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and crush Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth."

Jeremiah 23:5--- "'Behold the days are coming.' declares the Lord, ' when I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king....' "
"But as for you, Bethlehem... from you will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel."-Micah 5:2

Can you see the kingly theme that connects these prophecies? The Messiah "will reign as king" and he will "be ruler in Israel." Isaiah again:

"The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king."-Isaiah 33:22

Psalms 2:6--- "But as for me, I have installed my King upon Zion, My holy mountain." Zechariah 9:9--- "Shout in triumph, O daughter in Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming."

Psalms 110:1: "The Lord says to my Lord: 'sit at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.'" (p. 151)

These prophecies are extremely specific. The Messiah will "reign as king", "judge" and "lawgiver" of Israel. He will be seated both in "Jerusalem" and in "Zion, My holy mountain". He will "crush Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth" and he will "make Thine enemies a footstool for thy feet."

Did Jesus literally, visibly do any of these things? No. Was Jesus the Messiah who, as he said, spoke the words that God gave him to speak? Yes.

Question: "Our Messiah will abolish war forever."

Answers: Micah 4:1 says: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains... and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more."

Compare this Micah passage with Isaiah 2:4 where it says: "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord... and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths... and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Here's an article that I wrote about the Book of Isaiah >>> http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/isaiah.htm

Question: "And even more explicitly, the rabbis knew that the appearance of the real Messiah will be heralded by the return of the Prophet Elijah from heaven. The rabbis probably would have asked sarcastically... "has anyone here seen Elijah come sailing down from heaven in a chariot of fire yet?" No.

Answer: Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were expecting to see Elijah physically descend from heaven announcing the appearance of God's Messiah. This expectation comes from explicit statements made in the Bible. And Jesus explains how this prophecy actually was fulfilled.

Here's the story. According to the Old Testament account, about 850 BC Elijah the Prophet ascended "into heaven". (see: II Kings 2) Then, about four hundred years later, in 450 BC, the Prophet Malachi promised that Elijah will return from heaven before the Christ appears. This prophecy reads: "try me in this, says the Lord of Hosts: shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down a blessing upon you without measure... Lo, I will send you Elia (Elijah), the prophet before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day." -Malachi 3:10-24 (CATHOLIC DOUAY BIBLE)
The Jewish religious leaders were well aware of this prophecy. And they had asked the disciples to explain how Jesus could possibly have been the Messiah when it was obvious that Elijah had not yet returned from heaven. The Apostles couldn't answer their questions, so they asked Jesus: "Why do the Jewish leaders insist Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?" Jesus answered by first affirming that this question was valid and that this prophecy indeed actually was true. He said: "They are right. Elijah must come and set everything in order... ."

Then he surprised them. Jesus explained: "In fact, he [Elijah] already has come, but he wasn't recognized, and was badly mistreated by many... Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist." -Matthew 17:10-13 (LIVING BIBLE-CATHOLIC EDITION) (also see: Mark 9:11-13)

Jesus did not outwardly fulfill any of the rabbi's messianic expectations. That's why they would have had absolutely no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly have been the Messiah. They were wrong.

Here is a link to another article that I wrote about the return of Elijah >>> http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/elijah.htm

In conclusion:

When we compare the prophecies of the Bible with the life story of Baha'u'llah, we can see that Baha'u'llah clearly fulfills each and every one of them. And these are just a small fragment of the prophecies which were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah. Ask yourself, what are the mathematical odds that a man could appear at the exact time that was predicted, that he could literally fulfill dozens of specific prophecies concerning his life and his teachings and that he could give birth to a religion which today encompasses all the nations, races and tribes of the earth... what are the odds that Baha'u'llah could do all of these things and yet still be false? Almost none.

Could Baha'u'llah truly be the Promised One whose coming was foretold by Isaiah, Micah and the other Hebrew Prophets? Is he the One who, as Jesus said, was supposed to come unexpectedly as a "thief in the night"? This is a question that each individual needs to carefully consider and to answer for themselves. Keep in mind though that Micah prophesied that people would initially turn a deaf ear to the redeemer's message. Consider also Isaiah’s statement: "I will do a new thing... shall ye not know it?" -Isaiah 43 (KJV)

Dear Berthold - again I thank you for asking such pertinent questions. I hope I have answered some of them for you. The sheer volume of evidence to support Baha'u'llah's claim to be the Promised One whose coming was foretold in the Messianic prophecies of the world's great religions is overwhelming. No previous Manifestation or Prophet of God has come with more proof. Many of these proofs can be read on my webpage. Plus there are books and studt circles available.

Baha'u'llah truly was sent by God. From what you wrote in your email, I think you already know that. Since you already have caught the spark of Faith - I invite you to enroll as a Baha'i. Your friends and future family members can tell you how to do this.

Recognizing Baha'u'llah is exciting. Again, thank you for writing to me. Have fun learning more. -Joel in NW Florida USA

TO MY DEAR BROTHER ABDULLAH

Dear Abdullah

Thank you for your message. It was very kind of you to be concerned
about the spiritual welfare of the Baha'is.

YOU WROTE

> Dear Sir,
>
> I humbly invite you to embrace Islam and testify that there is no
> God worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is His final
> Prophet and Messenger.

MY ANSWER

We are very happy to assert that there is no God but God and that
Muhammad is His Messenger - but we will not insert non-Quranic words
such as "final" into this declaration.

YOU WROTE

> It is impossible to believe all religions are true, because they
> contradict each other. This is what Bahaullah failed to realize.
> Islam is the religion of all of the Prophets from Abraham to Moses

> to Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

MY ANSWER

If Muhammad taught Islam which is the religion of all of the Prophets
from Abraham to Muhammad, then Baha'u'llah teaches the religion of all
of the prophets from Abraham to Baha'u'llah. If it is not contradictory
for Muhammad then it is not contradictory for Baha'u'llah.

YOU WROTE

> The Bahai faith cannot be true because you claim that Allah can
> become manifest in His creation. You also claim that the Bab is the
> Mahdi and Bahaullah is Jesus, but this cannot be for the Mahdi will
> be a pure-blooded Arab and Jesus was a pure-blooded Israelite born
> from a virgin. Both Bab and Bahaullah were Persians and Bahaullah
> was not born from a virgin. Furthermore, they did not fulfill any
> of the prophecies that the Mahdi and Messiah will fulfill.

MY ANSWER

The Islamic Hadith say that the Mahdi will be a descendant of the
prophet Muhammad. The Bab came from a family which was well-known in
Shiraz for being descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

Baha'u'llah is the return not of Jesus the physical human being but of
Christ (Masih) the Spirit of God (Ruhullah) which descended upon Jesus.
This is how Christ is referred to in the Qur'an (21:91, 66:12, 4:171,
etc.). It was this spirit (Ruh) that descended upon Jesus and it has now
descended upon Baha'u'llah.

YOU WROTE

> Bahaullah wrote:
>
> "Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I
> am God", He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth
> thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through
> their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of
> God, His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the
> world..."
>
> This is blasphemy and shirk.

MY ANSWER

It is only blasphemy and shirk if you fail you read the whole passage
and understand the meaning that Baha'u'llah is trying to convey. If you
read the whole passage then you will see that Baha'u'llah asserts
Tawhid, the Oneness of God, but says that since human beings are
incapable of understanding God, he has sent to the world from time to
time these figures who are the founders of the major religions. These
individuals are the authority of God, the representatives of God on
earth. So in the Qur'an it says "Those who swear allegiance unto thee (O
Muhammad), in reality swear allegiance unto God" (Qur'an 48:10). They
are like a mirror reflecting the qualities of God to human beings. Thus
just as you might look in the mirror and say "There is the sun" - and
you would not be speaking a lie for what you see reflected in the mirror
exactly reflects the appearance and heat and light of the sun - and yet
at the same time you know that it is not the sun itself.

So when you look at these founders of the world religions, in one sense
they are the reflections of the qualities of God and it is not incorrect
for them to say "I am God".

Yet from another viewpoint the difference between these founders of the
religions and God is immense and immeasurable - as Baha'u'llah says in
the same passage as that from which the quotation that you have given
comes:

"Viewed in the light of their second station - the
station of distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations,
characteristics and standards - they manifest
absolute servitude, utter destitution, and complete
self-effacement. Even as He saith: "I am the servant
of God. I am but a man like you."..."

So you see that if you take the whole of the text into account and
strive to understand Baha'u'lah's meaning, there is no shirk involved.

YOU WROTE

> You also claim the both Bab and Bahaullah were new Messengers who
> received revelation from Allah and that you have new Holy Books.
> This cannot be, for Muhammad ibn Abdullah (saw) is the Seal of the
> Prophets. Not only this, you believe that the Prophet Jesus (as)
> died physically on the cross while the Qur'an says he was neither
> crucified nor killed.
>
> As for the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), here is the
> evidence:
>
> The word khatam/khatim means a seal of, the last part of, a
> completion of.
>
> So when Allah says in the Qur'an says "khatam an-nabiyyin" Seal of
> the Prophets, that literally and explicitly means the seal, the
> last part, the absolute completion of the Prophets.

MY ANSWER

Have you read in the Qur'an the statement: "Then is it only a part of
the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest?" (Qur'an 2:85)

The Qur'an tells us in two places that if all the oceans were ink and
all the trees were cut down to make pens, they would not be enough to
write down the words of God (18:109; 31:27) - so why do Muslims think
that the word of God is confined to the small single volume of the
Qur'an?

The Qur'an tells us that for every religious community (ummah) there is
a Messenger of God (10:57, cf 16:36) and for every ummah there is a
fixed term (ajal) (7:34). Thus the Islamic community will also have a
fixed term - indeed to stress this point it is clearly stated in the
Qur'an that the Muslims are a middle community (2:143) - i.e that there
was a community before it, the Christian community, and there will be a
community after it. Thus it follows that the fixed term for the Islamic
community will eventually come to an end and it will be replaced by
another community. It is stated that for each fixed term (ajal) there is
a Holy Book (13:38-9). Of course we know from the Qur'an that a Holy
Book is brought by a Messenger of God and indeed immediately after the
verse that says that for every religious community there is a fixed term
is the verse that says "Whenever there shall come to you Messengers from
among yourselves, rehearsing my signs to you . . ." Taking all this
into account, it is clear from the Qur'an that the dispensation of Islam
will come to an end and there will be another community and another
Messenger of God and another Holy Book will come.

The Qur'an clearly depicts the coming of a series of Messengers from
God, with Muhammad as the latest in this series after there had been a
break in the succession (Qur'an 5:19). The Qur'an tells of a series of
Messengers of God coming to the people of the world, each bringing a
holy book and establishing a religious community (ummah), and each
ending the religious dispensation of the previous Messenger. Baha'is
point out that this pattern is the established pattern of God as
described in the Qur'an. It is, however, a principle, stated again and
again in the Qur'an in relation to various matters, that whatever has
been established as the pattern of practice of God will not change:
"Such has been the practice of God already in the past: no change wilt
thou find in the practice of God" (48:23, cf 17:77, 30:35, 33:67,
35:45). If this Quranic principle, that the pattern established by God
in the past will not change, is applied, it means that there will come a
future Messenger of God after Muhammad in the same way as there has come
a Messenger after all preceding Messengers of God.

If we look at the Qur'an as a whole, we see that a very large proportion
of it is taken up with retelling stories of past prophets - of how God
sent prophets to the peoples of the world and how they rejected their
prophets and persecuted them. What is the point of such a large part of
the Revelation given to Muhammad being taken up with stories of the
past? When Muhammad revealed these stories of the Messengers of the past
in the verses of the Qur'an, the people mocked him and said that he was
merely repeating `fables of the ancients' (25:5). But Muhammad was not a
story-teller. Baha'is believe that every verse of the Qur'an is there
for a specific reason, to convey a message that God wanted to convey to
humanity. What then is the purpose of telling these stories of past
events? Baha'is believe that in repeating these stories, the purpose of
the Holy Qur'an was to be a `Warning' (25:1) to the Muslims about their
own conduct, lest they make the same mistakes as the people of former
times did. There are verses in the Qur'an that make it clear that the
telling of these stories of the peoples of the past in the Qur'an is
intended as a warning and an admonition to Muslims regarding the future:
"We have already sent down to you verses making things clear, and an
illustration from (the story of) people who passed away before you, and
an admonition for those who fear (God)." (24:34)

In the Surah of Hud, the story of one after another of the Messengers of
God is told, Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, Shu`ayb, and Moses, how they
came to the people with the message of God, how they were rejected and
how God's punishment fell upon the people as a consequence. Towards the
end of this chapter, it is specifically stated that these stories are
related here in order to be a Sign for that Day on which humankind will
be gathered together (i.e. the Day of Judgement) and it specifically
warns Muslims about the dangers, on that Day, of merely following what
their forefathers have believed. In other words, the Qur'an is here
prophesying that on the day of Judgement, another Messenger of God will
appear and Muslims will, on that Day, be in danger of repeating the
errors of the peoples of the past by rejecting him.

"These are some of the stories of communities which We relate unto thee:
of them some are standing and some have been mown down (by the sickle of
time). It was not We that wronged them: they wronged their own souls:
the deities other than God whom they invoked profited them no whit when
there issued the decree of thy Lord: nor did they add aught (to their
lot) but perdition!
Such is the chastisement of thy Lord when He chastises
communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous indeed and severe is
His chastisement. In that is a Sign for those who fear the Penalty of
the Hereafter: that is a Day for which mankind will be gathered
together: that will be a Day of Testimony. Nor shall We delay it but for
a term appointed. The day it arrives no soul shall speak except by His
leave: of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be
blessed. Those who are wretched shall be in the Fire: there will be for
them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs . . . And those
who are blessed shall be in the Garden: they will dwell therein for all
the time that the heavens and the earth endure . . . Be not then in
doubt as to what these men worship. They worship nothing but what their
fathers worshipped before (them): but verily We shall pay them back (in
full) their portion without (the least) abatement." (11:100-106, 108-9)


One could go on and on bringing proofs from the Qur'an for Muslims. If
Muslims reject these proofs and cling to their understanding of a single
verse of the Qur'an about the seal of the prophets (a verse which they
have misunderstood the meaning of - and there are numerous proofs for
this also), then they are in the same position as the Jews of Medina who
clung to certain verses of the Torah that state that the laws of the
Torah are for ever. Citing these verses, they said to the prophet
Muhammad "God cannot bring a new religion and a new Book" - "God's hands
are tied" by the words He has given in the Torah. This is exactly the
same as Muslims are now saying about Baha'u'llah and his claim to be
bringing a new Book and a new religion. Well the Qur'an gives God's
judgement upon such an assertion:
"The Jews say: `God's hand is tied up.' Be their hands tied up and be
they accursed for what they utter. Nay both His hands are widely
outstretched." (5:67)

Dearest brother in the LOVE OF GOD

MAY GOD GUIDE YOU ALWAYS AND BLESS YOU

PAPIJOON

http://bci.org/islam-bahai/SealProphets.htm


Seal of the Prophets
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but He is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets.- Qur'an 33:40

Disclaimer (on Interpretation): Beseech God, and let your prayerful attitude and a clean heart guide you to see the meanings in God's words.
The word "Seal" (kha'tam in Arabic), in the verse above, has been interpreted over the centuries to mean the: "Last", "Final", "Seal" (as in a stamp sealing closed a document), "Seal" (as in seal of authority, officiating a document), and a few other meanings along similar lines of interpretation. Baha'is don't object to these possible meanings, and readily believe in the more common interpretation of : (Seal meaning Last), as Muhammad (PBUH) is repeatedly referred to in the Baha'i Writings. This may at first appear contrary to believing that there is a new religion, but the visitor is invited to read further.

Followers of all past religions have believed, based on certain verses in their holy books, that their religion would not be followed by any other.

Verses such as this have prevented the Jews from accepting newer revelations:
"Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."- Daniel 12:9
Another verse in the Old Testament says that the law of the Sabbath shall not be broken.
* * * * *
For our Christian brothers and sisters, it was verses such as these below, which lead them to believe that there would not be any revelation after that of Christ:
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."- John 14:6

"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."- Luke 21:33
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. "- Hebrews 1:1
These and many other verses that talk about, how only through Jesus (PBUH) we can know the Father, and how His words will never be replaced, were the reason that Christians would not accept any Messenger after Christ.

Going back to the meaning of the "Seal of the Prophets", this verse, and other verses about the
completion of religion in Islam, have been interpreted by the majority of Muslims as indication of the finality, not only of Prophethood, but of all revelation. Other opinions and interpretations, including some by Muslim scholars, have argued that since there are many other verses in the Qur'an which explain the endless nature of the Words of God, in addition to other verses and Hadiths (traditions and sayings of the Prophet), which talk about the return of Jesus and the coming of the Mahdi, these opinions, have argued that there may be other interpretations for these verses. Some of these interpretations are mentioned here:
Oneness of the Prophets
Difference in Station between a Messenger (Rasool), and Prophet (Nabi)
Renewal of Creation necessitates Continuance of Revelation
Prophethood is not Inherited in Islam as was the case in Judaism
Passages from Baha'i Writings on the Subject
Copyright © 2004 Islam and the Baha'i Faith


==============

Dear Sir,
I humbly invite you to embrace Islam and testify that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is His final Prophet and Messenger.I
t is impossible to believe all religions are true, because they contradict each other. This is what Bahaullah failed to realize.
Islam is the religion of all of the Prophets from Abraham to Moses to Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them all).
The Bahai faith cannot be true because you claim that Allah can become manifest in His creation. You also claim that the Bab is the Mahdi and Bahaullah is Jesus, but this cannot be for the Mahdi will be a pure-blooded Arab and Jesus was a pure-blooded Israelite born from a virgin.
Both Bab and Bahaullah were Persians and Bahaullah was not born from a virgin.
Furthermore, they did not fulfill any of the prophecies that the Mahdi and Messiah will fulfill.

Bahaullah wrote:"Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God", He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world..."This is blasphemy and shirk.Surah al-Ikhlas, the 112th Chapter of the Qur'an, totally refutes this"Say! He is God, the One!The Eternally Besought of all!He does not beget, nor is He begotten.And there is nothing comparable to Him."You also claim the both Bab and Bahaullah were new Messengers who received revelation from Allah and that you have new Holy Books. This cannot be, for Muhammad ibn Abdullah (saw) is the Seal of the Prophets. Not only this, you believe that the Prophet Jesus (as) died physically on the cross while the Qur'an says he was neither crucified nor killed.As for the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), here is the evidence:The word khatam/khatim means a seal of, the last part of, a completion of.
So when Allah says in the Qur'an says "khatam an-nabiyyin" Seal of the Prophets, that literally and explicitly means the seal, the last part, the absolute completion of the Prophets.There are numerous, numerous ahadeeth where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) explicitly states that he is the last Prophet.I am Muhammad, I am Ahmad, I am the al-Mahi (the Effacer) in that through me infidelity shall be erased; I am the al-Hashir (Assembler) in that people shall be assembled after me. And I am al-Aqib (the Last)[Muwatta of Imam Malik]The Prophet Muhammad (saw) said in his Farewell Sermon:"O People, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray."Sincerely,Abdullah
Please watch this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A4pFWJXQ68And read this article:http://www.imranhosein.org/content/view/28/67