Christ as the Just Ruler and Judge –
More Islamic Evidence that Jesus is like Allah
In some of our previous discussions (1, 2, 3) we saw how both the Quran and the Islamic sources ascribe to Jesus specific characteristics and functions which end up likening him to Allah, even going as far as to make him equal to the Muslim deity. There is another way in which the Islamic corpus does this.
The Quran teaches that all judgment belongs only to Allah,
And they [who have died] are thereupon brought before God, their true Lord Supreme. Oh, verily, His ALONE is all judgment: and He is the swiftest of all reckoners! S. 6:63 Muhammad Asad
(It will be said): "This is because, when Allah Alone was invoked (in worship, etc.) you disbelieved, but when partners were joined to Him, you believed! So the judgement is ONLY with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great!" S. 40:12 Hilali-Khan
And that he does not allow anyone to share in his judgment or rule over his creation:
And say: 'Praise belongs to God, who has not taken to Him a son, and who has not any associate in the Kingdom, nor any protector out of humbleness.' And magnify Him with repeated magnificats. S. 17:111 Arberry
He, Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Who did not take to Himself a son, and Who has no associate in the kingdom, and Who created everything, then ordained for it a measure. S. 25:2 Shakir
Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him is (the knowledge of) the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clearly He sees, and hears (everything)! They have no Wali (Helper, Disposer of affairs, Protector, etc.) other than Him, and He makes NONE to share in His Decision and His Rule." S. 18:26 Hilali-Khan
Here is another rendering of this text:
Say: Allah knows best how long they remained; to Him are (known) the unseen things of the heavens and the earth; how clear His sight and how clear His hearing! There is none to be a guardian for them besides Him, and He does not make any one His associate in His Judgment. Shakir
This is precisely why Muslims are commanded to have no other judge besides Allah:
Shall I seek other than Allah for judge, when He it is Who hath revealed unto you (this) Scripture, fully explained? Those unto whom We gave the Scripture (aforetime) know that it is revealed from thy Lord in truth. So be not thou (O Muhammad) of the waverers. S. 6:114 Pickthall
Moreover, Islamic tradition lists al-Adl (“the Just”) and al-Hakam (“the Judge”) as two of Allah’s names:
Al'Adl, Al-'Âdil: The Just
The Just and Equitable. He whom desire does not cause to incline or decline so that He should deviate from the right course in judgement…
Al-Hakam: The Judge
The Arbiter, Allah judges and there is no reversing His judgement.
Al-Hakam is one of the Ninety-Nine Names. (Aisha Bewley, Divine Names)
This is because Islam teaches that Allah is supposedly a righteous judge who never deals unjustly with his servants.
Here is where it gets rather interesting. Islamic tradition proclaims that Jesus shall physically descend from heaven to rule as a righteous Judge over all the earth. Christ is even described as a just Ruler and fair Judge!
(And he (`Isa) shall be a known sign for (the coming of) the Hour.) The correct view concerning this phrase is that it refers to his descent before the Day of Resurrection, as Allah says…
(And there is none of the People of the Scripture but must believe in him before his death) (4:159). -- meaning before the death of `Isa…
(And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them) (4:159). This meaning has the support from an alternate recitation of the Ayat… (And he shall be a known sign for (the coming of) the Hour.) means, evidence that the Hour will surely come. Mujahid said…
(And he shall be a sign for (the coming of) the Hour.) means, sign and "One of the signs of the Hour will be the appearance of `Isa son of Maryam before the Day of Resurrection.” Something similar was also narrated from Abu Hurayrah, Ibn `Abbas, `Abu Al-`Aliyah, Abu Malik, `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and others. Many Mutawatir Hadiths report that the Messenger of Allah said that `Isa will descend before the Day of Resurrection as A JUST RULER AND FAIR JUDGE…
(Therefore have no doubt concerning it.) means, do not doubt that it will surely come to pass. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 43:61; bold, capital and underline emphasis ours)
As a just Ruler, Jesus will destroy the disbelievers along with the antichrist by his breath and scent. He will also abolish the jizyah, the payment which Q. 9:29 imposes upon Jews and Christians who refuse to become Muslims:
Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus. He will descent [sic] (to the earth). When you see him, recognise him: a man of medium height, reddish fair, wearing two light yellow garments, looking as if drops were falling down from his head though it will not be wet. He will fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizyah. Allah will perish all religions except Islam. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him. (Sahih Muslim, Book 37, Number 4310)
And:
The Hadiths Regarding the Descent of `Isa Just Before the Day of Judgement, and his Mission
In the chapter about the Prophets in his Sahih, under, "The Descent of `Isa, Son of Maryam,” Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said…
<<By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the son of Maryam (`Isa) will shortly descend among you as A JUST RULER, and will break the cross, kill the pig and abolish the Jizyah. Then there will be an abundance of wealth and nobody will accept charitable gifts any more. At that time, one prostration will be better for them than this life and all that is in it.>> Abu Hurayrah then said, "Read if you will…
(And there is none of the People of the Scripture, but must believe in him, before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them.)” Muslim recorded this Hadith… (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 4:159; capital and underline emphasis ours)
Finally:
In the Hadith that An-Nawwas bin Sam`an narrated…
<<He will descend close to the white minaret to the east of Damascus. He will be wearing two garments lightly colored with saffron, having his hands on the wings of two angels. Whenever he lowers his head, drops will fall off of it. Whenever he raises his head, precious jewels like pearls will fall off of it. No disbeliever can survive `Isa's breath, and his breath reaches the distance of his sight.>>… (Ibid.; bold emphasis ours)
What makes this truly remarkable is that Jesus will not only reign over the earth as a righteous Judge and Ruler, but by eradicating the jizyah and all other religions Christ will also end up abolishing a great bulk of the Quran! This is because the Muslim scripture has a lot to say about how Muslims are to treat non-Muslims, all of which will become obsolete when Jesus returns to the earth.
This is another way in which Jesus resembles the Islamic deity, since the Quran expressly teaches that it is Allah who blots out or abrogates whatever he so wishes from the book:
Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things? S. 2:106 Pickthall
Allah blots out what He wills and confirms (what He wills). And with Him is the Mother of the Book (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz). S. 13:39 Hilali-Khan
But that’s not all.
According to the ahadith, Jesus will descend with at least two angels:
“… and it would at this very time that Allah would send Christ, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damscus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two angels. When he would lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would scatter from it. Every non-believer who would smell the odour of his self would die and his breath would reach as far as he would be able to see. He would then search for him (Dajjal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him…” (Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 7015)
Once again, we have Muhammad ascribing to Jesus a function which the Muslim scripture attributes to Allah and his Holy Spirit!
For example, the Quran teaches that the Spirit descends with the angels to fulfill Allah’s wishes:
He sends down the angels with the Spirit by His command upon whom He wishes of His servants: "That you shall warn that there is no god but I, so be aware of Me." S. 16:2 Quran: A Reformist Translation (QRT)
The angels and the Spirit come down in it by their Lord's leave to carry out every matter. S. 97:4 QRT
It also claims that Allah will come in the clouds with his angels, some of whom will actually be carrying his throne on the day he descends to judge mankind:
Are they waiting for God to come to them shadowed in clouds with the angels? The matter would then be finished! To God all matters will return. S. 2:210 QRT
And when the trumpet shall sound one blast And the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash, Then, on that day will the Event befall. And the heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail. And the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the Throne of thy Lord that day, above them. On that day ye will be exposed; not a secret of you will be hidden. S. 69:13-18 Pickthall
No, when the earth is pounded into rubble. Your Lord comes with the angels row after row. Hell on that day is brought. On that day the human being will remember, but how will the remembrance now help him? S. 89:21-23 QRT
Here is a helpful summation of the main points raised in this article:
Like Allah, Jesus is a just Ruler and righteous Judge.
Like Allah, Jesus blots out commands and rulings from the Muslim book.
Like Allah, Jesus descends with angels in order to judge and rule the whole earth.
Now the problems that this raises for Muslims should be obvious to the readers. Just in case they aren’t, we will break them down for all to see.
A. The Quran emphatically teaches that Allah is the only just ruler and judge since he does not allow anyone to share in his judgment and kingship.
B. On the other hand, the Islamic tradition proclaims that Jesus shall descend to rule as the righteous Judge of all the earth.
C. The Muslim scripture states that Allah is the one who erases or removes verses from the Quran.
D. And yet the Islamic corpus indicates that Christ will make much of the Quran completely obsolete since he will abolish the jizyah and every other religion besides Islam. In so doing, Christ will have nullified all those Quranic texts which deal with the issue of non-Muslims and their treatment. This again makes Jesus comparable to Allah.
E. And yet since Q. 42:11 and 112:4 both claim that there is nothing comparable to Allah, Jesus must therefore be God and one with Allah in essence.
F. However, Q. 5:75 and 43:59 emphatically deny that Jesus was anything other than a servant and messenger of Allah.
H. This means that the Islamic sources are blatantly contradicting themselves regarding the Person and work of Christ.
We will leave it up to the Muslims to try and figure out how to reconcile these major blunders.
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