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5.5 Who bears the
sin?
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall
not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of
the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him."
Ezekiel 18:20
Remembering this, let us read:...
Noah curses Canaan:
"And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark,
were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of
Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was
the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an
husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the
wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his
father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and
Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their
shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of
their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw
not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine,
and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he
said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren."
Genesis 9:18-25
If for a moment we are to believe that this was
originally inspired by God and not a later insertion of
mankind, and we are to believe that Noah (pbuh) would drink
till he became falling-down drunk and naked. And we are to
somehow assign the blame for this to Ham. Then, why curse
Canaan (the son of Ham) why not curse Ham directly? Also,
why curse only one of the four sons of
Ham and not all of them (see Fig. 2)?
"And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
Canaan."
Genesis 10:6
Further, Ham did not uncover his father. He only happened
upon his father by chance. He could not have known that he
would find his father naked in the tent. His brothers Shem
and Japheth were told by Ham of their father's condition. So
they knew without having to actually see. If their roles
were reversed, and Shem or Japheth were to have been in
Ham's shoes, what would they have done differently? Is this
justice? If I burn my own house down, and you call the fire
department, shall I then randomly select one of your sons
and curse him? Why? What could possibly justify such an
action?
Fig. 2 The cursing of Canaan
One thing that people in Western countries today find
hard to comprehend is that in the past, and even today in
many Eastern countries, tribalism was a very strong force. A
scandal in one tribe or an indiscretion of their ancestors
would be powerful ammunition in the hands of their rivals.
To have such scandals stated publicly by God himself would
only strengthen the validity of that claim (please read
section 2.3). If I were a Jewish descendant of Shem or
Japhath and my neighbor were a son of Canaan, then I could
beat him over the head day and night with the fact that he
was a servant of my servants. God Himself said so.
"Verily, those who purchase a small gain at the cost
of Allah's covenant and their oaths, they shall have no
portion in the Hereafter. Neither will Allah speak to them,
nor (will He) look upon them on the Day of Resurrection, nor
will He purify them, and they shall have a painful torment."
The noble Qur'an, A'al-Umran(3):77
For a Muslim, many of the claims to be found in the Bible
with regard to the prophets of God, and even God himself,
are monstrous and preposterous. One is hard pressed to find
a single prophet or messenger who was not a drunkard, an
idolater, an adulterer, guilty of incest, a liar, and so
forth. The Bible practically overflows with such stories
from almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry. The messengers of
God are even made to be guilty of multiple cases of adultery
and worse. Abraham (pbuh) is alleged to be a liar and worse
(Genesis 12:13). Noah (pbuh) a drunkard (Genesis 9:21). Lot
(pbuh) a drunkard and guilty of incest (Genesis 19:30-38).
Solomon (pbuh) a worshipper of idols in his old age (1 Kings
4-9), King David (pbuh) commits adultery with Uriah's wife
and then murdered her husband (2 Samuel 11:3-4,15-18),
David's son Ammon is guilty of incest and the rape of his
half sister (2 Samuel 13:14). Aaron (pbuh) fashions an idol
(the golden calf) for the Jews to worship (Exodus 32:1-4),
to name but a very few of the many allegations to be found
in the current Bible. We have already seen in section 2.3
how such fabrications found their way into the book of God
(also see section 6.8) so we will not get into it here.
Muslims believe that God protects his messengers from
erring in matters of faith. They can only err in matters of
livelihood. For instance, a prophet can make a mistake in
selecting which season to plant crops but he can not make a
mistake in doctrine and worship. Why? Let us take the
example of the most benign of these allegations, that of
lying. When a prophet is sent by God to a group of people,
he can expect the deck to be stacked severely against him.
They will justly assume him to be a liar until proven,
beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be otherwise. They will call
him a liar even if they have no proof. A prophet's message
rests solely on his truthfulness. If he were ever to lie,
even to save his life, then this would prove that he is
capable of lying and that he has established for himself
guidelines under which it is permissible to lie. This would
undermine his whole message as no one could then be sure he
had not convinced himself that the end justifies the means,
and that in order to get them to become decent people he
might be willing to fabricate lies against God himself.
How much worse to drink oneself into a stupor. Alcohol is
the door to all evils. Once a person loses control of his
faculties he will be capable of anything. Just look at the
allegations presented against Lot* (pbuh). He who
is willing to drink in such a fashion must realize that he
will be accountable for his subsequent actions. It is not an
acceptable excuse to say "I was drunk, I didn't know what I
was doing." If your neighbor drinks himself into a stupor
and then runs down your mother with his car, will you say
"It's not your fault. You were drunk"? Think about the other
allegations for a while and you will understand what we
mean. Muslims believe that the prophets of God are above
such actions.
A Muslim believes that when God selects a messenger, He
chooses the best of the best. He chooses men who will be an
inspiration and a good example for their followers. Why the
insistence in the Bible that God has such poor judgment? If
my prophets, which God sent to guide and teach me, are
sinful people, can I not say "What is good enough for my
prophet is good enough for me"?
The claim that God wanted to prove the fallibility of
humans is quite flimsy. When we elect a congressman, do we
look for a man of weak character who we know will use his
position to steal and then say: "we did this to prove that
thieves are people too," or do we look for the man with the
most impeccable character? If this man then steals, do we
say "he is only human, don't worry, we might have done the
same," or do we say "Kick the son of a gun out of office and
throw him in jail!"? When a government sends an ambassador
to another country to represent them, do they select a man
who they know will bring their country disgrace and
dishonor? Since God knows what is in our hearts (Deuteronomy
8:2), does this not make him the supreme judge of character?
God's prophets are human, and thus, imperfect. However, they
are not this low.
Even in this age of indulgence, we can find individuals
of sterling character who rise above allowing themselves to
become falling-down drunk. There are monks who spend their
whole life without a mate much less committing adultery.
Incest is such a filthy word that even the most brazen
criminal would be disgusted at such a thought. Are our
highest examples of humankind less than these men?
Let us now look at another allegation against Jesus
(pbuh). In John 2:1-10 we read about Jesus' (pbuh) alleged
treatment of his mother. In these verses, Jesus (pbuh) is
alleged to have said to his mother John 2:4
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with
thee? mine hour is not yet come."
"Woman, what have I to do with thee?" Is this how a good
Christian talks to his mother? The same mother who carried
him in her womb for nine months and endured the pains of
labor and birth for him. The same mother who endured the
lies, accusations, and injuries of many with regard to her
chastity because of him? The same mother who suckled him and
raised him? Is this how the meek lamb of God is alleged to
have responded to his mother's question? Can he find no
better manner to address her than that which he used to
address the adulteress in John 8:10: "...Woman, where
are those thine accusers?"?
In the Qur'an we read the story of the miraculous birth
of Jesus (pbuh) wherein we find a defense of Jesus (pbuh)
against such claims:
"Then she (Mary pbuh) brought him (Jesus pbuh) to her
own folk carrying him. They said: 'O Mary, you have truly
come with a most wicked innovation. O sister of Aaron, your
father was not a wicked man nor was your mother a harlot'.
Then she pointed to him. They said: 'How can we speak to one
who is in the cradle, a young child?'. He spoke: 'Lo! I am
the servant of God, He has given me the Scripture and
appointed me a prophet. And has made me blessed wheresoever
I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and charity so
long as I live. And (has made me) dutiful toward my mother
and not overbearing or miserable. So peace upon me the day I
was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised
alive(the hereafter)"
The noble Qur'an, Maryam(19):27-33.
For the Islamic perspective on the prophets, read the
following:
Jesus: Maryam(19).
Moses: Al-Aaraf(7):103-171, Yunus(10:75-93,
Al-Bakarah(2):47-101, Al-Nisa (4):162,
Al-Maidah(5):20-26.
Noah: Aal-Umran(3):33, Nooh(71):1-28, Al-Qamar(59):9-16,
Yunus(10):71-75, Hood(11):36-49
Solomon: Al-Anbia(21):80-82, Al-Namil(27):15-44,
Sad(38):30-40
Abraham: Al-Anaam(6):83-90, Al-Bakarah(2):124,
Al-Bakarah(2):130-132, Al-Bakarah(2):135, Al-Bakarah(2):140,
Al-Bakarah(2):258, Al-Bakarah(2):260, Aal-Umran(3):33, ,
Aal-Umran(3):67, Hood(11):75
David: Al-Anbia(21):79-80, Al-Namil(27):15-16,
Al-Bakarah(2):251, Saba(34):10-11, Saad(38):17-26,
Hood(11):69-76
Lot: Al-Aaaraf(7):80-84, Hood(11):77-83,
Al-Hijir(15):59-75, Al-Sharaa(26):160-175,
Al-Namil(27):54-58, Al-Ankaboot(29):28-30
Aaron: Al-Aaraf(7):150, Al-Kassas(28):34,
Al-Anbia(21):48, Taha(20):80-101, Maryam(19):53,
Al-Aaraf(7):142-154
For the Islamic viewpoint on God's elect in the face of
adversity read the chapter of Yusuf(12) where we find the
story of Joseph and of his chastity and fear of God. Also,
see Al-Anaam(6):84-90.
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