Confirming the Torah That Came Before

Wa muṣaddiqan limā bayna yadayya min al-tawrāh: and I have come confirming that which was before me of the Torah. This has not only been mentioned in the Qur'an; it's in the Bible too. ʿĪsā ibn Maryam himself says: I have come to confirm the law of the Torah — dot by dot, jot by jot, letter by letter. In the New Testament, in the Bible of today, ʿĪsā said: I have come to confirm the law of the Torah. And then Paul comes up and says: you do not have to follow the law; you do not have to keep up with the law of the Torah — in fact, you have to leave it behind, because that's not the religion. And they follow Paul, and they leave the word of ʿĪsā, which is in the Bible of today. Subḥān Allāh.

And that's why the true founder of the Christianity of today is Paul, and it's not ʿĪsā. This is not the religion of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (peace be upon him). Even Michael Hart, in his book The Hundred Greatest, has given Paul a higher status than ʿĪsā — than Jesus^*. He said it is because he has more influence on the religion of Christianity than Jesus does. The Christianity of today is influenced more by Paul than it is by ʿĪsā (peace be upon him). But the influence of ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) is not lost: the influence of ʿĪsā is on us. We are the inheritors of the message of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam.

Wa li-uḥilla lakum baʿḍa alladhī ḥurrima ʿalaykum: and to make lawful to you part of that which was forbidden to you. There were some laws that remained specifically as a punishment for Banū Isrāʾīl. Because Banū Isrāʾīl used to ask too many questions of their anbiyāʾ, and were very stubborn, Allah (swt) punished them with some laws. ʿĪsā ibn Maryam came to relieve them of these restrictions on them.

By the way, the message of ʿĪsā had a very strong spiritual dimension to it, because the Jews in the time of ʿĪsā had become very dry-hearted and rigid. They compiled lists of laws to follow: we have to do this, we have to do this, we have to do this; don't do this, don't do this. They made a list of 600 or 660 laws^**, and they would go through them. They would just follow the law blindly, but the heart was dead; there was no spirituality. So ʿĪsā ibn Maryam came to shake their hearts, and bring a revival to their hearts again.

And that's why you find that ʿĪsā ibn Maryam had a very strong position against dunyā: because they were attached to dunyā too much, they needed somebody to draw them out by presenting a very strong anti-dunyā message. ʿĪsā ibn Maryam led a very simple life; he never got married; he was a true representation of zuhd — because the people were so much attached to dunyā, he had to bring them back.

The message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is different. Muhammad (peace be upon him) came as an individual who has a little bit of everything, and has the best of everything. And this is the balanced message, and this is the religion of al-wasaṭ, the middle way. So the personality of Muhammad (peace be upon him) has the best of ʿĪsā, the best of Mūsā, the best of Yūsuf, the best of Nūḥ, the best of Ādam — the best of all of the anbiyāʾ was brought together in the personality of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

So the zuhd of ʿĪsā was in Muhammad (peace be upon him). The beauty of Yūsuf was in Muhammad (peace be upon him). The strength of Ādam was in Muhammad. The patience of Mūsā (peace be upon him) was in Muhammad (peace be upon him). The persistence of Nūḥ (peace be upon him) was in Muhammad (peace be upon him). So Allah brought the best of these qualities and put them in one man — and that is Muhammad (peace be upon him).

And then he told them: inna Allāha rabbī wa rabbukum fa-ʿbudūh, hādhā ṣirāṭun mustaqīm — Allah (swt) is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is the straight path.