The Straight Way
(Sirat Al-Mustaqim)
Sirat al-Mustaqim is the Arabic term for the straight way. In Islamic context, it has been interpreted as the right path or the right way. There are five obligatory daily prayers in Islam. Al-Fatihah is the prayer where the believer requests Allah for guidance on the path of those upon whom He has bestowed favors, not those upon whom wrath is brought down, nor those who went astray. During each prayer is the following phrase included: “Ihdina s-siraata l-mustaqeem, Siraata l-latheena anamta alaihim ghair al-mughdoobi alaihim wa la daaleen”.
Means: “Guide us to the Straight Way, The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).” (Quran 1: 6,7)
- Guide us to the Straight Way, to The Way of those on whom God have bestowed His Grace. What is the Straight Way and who are those people that God bestowed His Grace on them?
- The Straight Way but not (the way) of those who earned His Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians). Obviously the Quran says the Jews and the Christians are not on the right Way. What is the way that they are walking in and why the Jews earned God’s anger and how the Christians went astray?
Why the Jews earned God’s anger?
God preferred them over all others at their time. God sent them prophet after prophet, and sent the Holy Scriptures.
Jesus is the reason for everything given to the people of God in the Old Testament! The entire Old Testament, with all its laws and traditions, is the story of God's preparation of His people for the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24. The purpose of all the Old Testament Scriptures was to prepare God's people for salvation through Jesus Christ! As we read and study the Old Testament, we too are made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus, by all the accounts of faith displayed by the great men and women of the Old Testament. We also gain a better understanding of God the Father and the reason He sent His Son to die in our place. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
The Old Testament is all about Jesus! Yet the Jews rejected Him because He failed, in their eyes, to do what they expected their Messiah to do—destroy evil and all their enemies and establish an eternal kingdom with Israel as the preeminent nation in the world. The prophecies in Isaiah and Psalm 22 described a suffering Messiah who would be persecuted and died, but they chose to focus instead on those prophecies that discussed His glorious victories, not His crucifixion.
Act 14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up some people who were not Jewish and poisoned their minds against the believers.
Act 13:45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they became very jealous. They used insulting language to contradict whatever Paul said.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God's constant anger."
Two thousand years after He came to the nation of Israel as their Messiah, the Jews still reject Jesus Christ. They do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and they still waiting for the Messiah to come. John 3:36 says “but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God's constant anger” They rejected the Son of God they rejected the Messiah. Therefore the Jews “will see God's constant anger” and their Way is NOT the right Way.
How the Christians went astray?
The church was troubled by heretics from the beginning. Before the end of the apostolic era, false teachers were already introducing novel ideas.
“… and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; …” (1Jn 2:18)
“...there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies” (2.Pet2:1)
The Church had been faced with heretics and heresy throughout its existence. On the top of the list of heresies and human traditions adopted and perpetuated by the Church are the Trinity and worshiping Mary.
There is absolutely NOTHING in the Bible leading Christians to recognize Mary, adore Mary, or talk to Mary. The Bible declares that there is one mediator:
1 Timothy 2:5,6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all.
But most of the Christians believe that Mary and the Saints are their mediators to God. Here are a few excerpts from the book "The Glories of Mary" written by St. Alphonsus Liguori. All quotations are taken from the chapter entitled "Mary Our Mediatrix."
- Mary, the most faithful mediatrix of salvation.
- She has been made the ladder to paradise, the gate to heaven, the most true mediatrix between God and human beings.
- No creature has since received any grace from God except through the hands of Mary.
- Are we then going to scruple to ask her to save us when (as St. Germanus says) no one is saved except through her?
- St. Laurence Justinian asks, "How can she be otherwise than full of grace, who has been made the ladder to paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediatress between God and man?"
- St. Anselm says, "that although God could create the world out of nothing, yet, when it was lost by sin, he would not repair the evil without the cooperation of Mary"
- St. Germanus had said the same thing, speaking of Mary: "No one is saved but through thee"
- St. Antoninus says the same thing: "All graces that have ever been bestowed on men, all came through Mary" (P. 4, tit. 15, c. 20, #12).
- St. Bonaventure says, that "God will not save us without the intercession of Mary"
Moreover, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 969, affirms that Mary is a mediatrix:
- “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
- The Illustrated Bible Dictionary records: "The word Trinity is not found in the Bible… It did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion And Ethics records: At first the Christian Faith was not Trinitarian. . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion admits: "Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity."
- The Encyclopedia of Religion says: "Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity."
- The New Encyclopedia Britannica reports: "Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament."
- The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology confirms: "The New Testament does not contain the developed doctrine of the Trinity."
- Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirms in the Origin and Evolution of Religion: "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; … they say nothing about it."
- Historian Arthur Weigall records in The Paganism in Our Christianity: "Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word 'Trinity' appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord."
Jesus, Himself, tells us that there is only one God! The great Apostle Paul tells us this same truth:
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
What is the Apostle Paul trying to reveal to us? First of all he states emphatically that there is one God—the Father. He goes on to tell us that everything that exists comes ultimately from this one God, the Father! This one God is the source of all life and power. He further states that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom He has done everything. This Jesus, is the link between Heaven and earth—our mediator. It is through Jesus that God and man are reunited.
Jesus also states this emphatic truth that there is only one God—the Father—and that eternal life is to know this God and Jesus whom He sent. In the famous prayer of John 17 we read:
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
- Edward Gibbons's History of Christianity notes: "If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism of the first Christians . . . was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief."
- Historian Will Durant observed: "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it… From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity."
The Trinity did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century. At first the Christian Faith was not Trinitarian. . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings.
But in the 4th century the church adopted it and today the teaching of the Trinity is the foundational teaching upon which almost all of professed Christianity rests. To be a member of the World Council of Churches an organization must profess belief in this doctrine.
The Bible clearly states that there is One God; but most of the Christians believe in three in one god called Trinity. And also Bible teaches that there is “… one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5) but most of the Christians put Mary and the saints as their mediator. Therefore the Christians went astray and their Way is NOT the right Way.
The Bible teaches that the ONLY way to have eternal life is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
The Jews still reject Jesus Christ. They do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah and they still waiting for the Messiah to come. And the Christians rejected Jesus Christ as the only Mediator and rejected Him as the Son of God, They believe in Mary and the saints as their mediators and they believe that Jesus not really the son of God but he is God by himself who play the role of the son. The Bible says there is only one true God the Father (1Co 8:6) but the Christians believe in three gods who plays the role of the Father and the Son!
1John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Jews do not believe that Jesus was divine, the Son of God, or the Messiah prophesied in Jewish scriptures. He is seen as a "false messiah." This is denying the Father and the Son. This is antichrist. [1 John 2:22]
“The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine, God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in every way.”
This is denying the Father and Son. This is antichrist doctrine [1 John 2:22].
"In order to eradicate sin and rebellion from the universe and to restore harmony and peace, one of the divine Beings accepted, and entered into, the role of the Father, another the role of the Son. The remaining divine Being, the Holy Spirit,... By accepting the roles that the plan entailed, the divine Beings lost none of the powers of Deity.... The divine Beings entered into the roles they had agreed upon before the foundations of the world were laid." (The Week of Prayer issue of the Adventist Review, October 31, 1996)
This is called pretending. This is denying the Father and Son. This is antichrist doctrine [1 John 2:22].
Jesus said:
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The Jews do not believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And the Christians failed to follow His teachings:
Now let’s go back to the Qur’an:
Guide us to the Straight Way the way, the truth, and the life”.
"Say: 'O People of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord...'" (Quran 5:68)
Of the People of the Book who stand for the right. They do not believe in role playing, pretending gods but they believe in One God the Father and in His Son Jesus Christ as their only Mediator and Saviour. They strongly believe in the infallibility of Scripture. They accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. They stand fast by the Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to them from their Lord. Therefore they are “
The Quran calls all the believers to study together:
“So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.” (Quran 10:94)
“… and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender.” (Quran 29:46)
“Allah! There is no Allah but He―the Living, the Self-Subsisting Eternal. It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Torah (Of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus)” (Quran 3:2,3)
To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, CONFIRMING the scripture that came before it, and GUARDING it in safety: … (Quran 5:48)
See also 2:41, 2:91, 2:101, 3:3, 5:48, 6:92, 10:37, 12:111, 16:102, 35:31, 46:12)
God say in these verses; he sent Torah and Gospel and sent Quran to confirm the Scripture. TO CONFIRM and GUARDING it in safety!
Confirm = Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts, Strengthen or make more firm, Support a person for a position.
Quran confirming Torah and Gospel, what is the one red thread runs throughout the Torah and Gospel? The answer is THE SALVATION.
Jesus said:
John 14:6 “… I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
John 14:6 “… I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Tstrongly believe in the infallibility of Scripture. They accept the Bible as their only creed. They stand fast by the Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to them from their Lord. Therefore they are “ have bestowed His Grace on them. They believe in Jesus as “The Way, the truth, and the life”. This is the straight Way…
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