Dr. Ijabla Raymond wrote an article in a response to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. In his article, he seized the opportunity to lambaste theists in general using Christianity and Islam as a case study.

Before going to tackle what Dr. Ijabla wrote, I will address Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s stance on the creation of women not forgetting to mention the story he narrated in his church whilst his members were laughing to his shenanigan.

A CHALLENGE TO PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME

Pastor Chris narrated his encounter with a Muslim who claimed Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was mentioned in the Bible. In a nutshell, he told his church members how he was able to make the man become a Christian that day. We at the Academy of Islamic propagation (ACADIP) promise to provide not less than 10,000 Muslims for him to Christianity if he would summon courage and agree to debate and prove to the chief lecturer of Academy of Islamic propagation, Ustadh Yusuf Adepoju that prophet Muhammad is not foretold in the Bible. Not only would he be doing a great service to his ministry, but also to Christiandom.

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IN THE BIBLE

Had Pastor Chris met the likes of Eneye Ahmad Jamiu Emma or someone like myself, it would take him a heart of stone to reject the fact that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was mentioned in the Bible. I will go further in this article to give some analysis.

In Deuteronomy 18:18, we read,
“Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”

The verse above is a prophecy. Christian apologists are quick to say this prophecy refers to Jesus Christ, yet the trinitarians amongst them forget it talks of a prophet not a God the son, while a Muslim like me will argue that it refers to prophet Muhammad (pbuh). However, to agree to disagree with them, we will compare prophet Moses (As), prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Jesus (As).

The prophet was said to be from among the brethren of the Jews. The three prophets were all from the same father. Moses and Jesus were Jews from Isaac, while Muhammad was Arab from Ishmael. Abraham fathered Isaac and Ishmael hence it is proper to say the three prophets were brethren.
The verse says, “A prophet like unto Moses”, let us see…

* Moses had a father, Muhammad had, Jesus had no father.

* Moses and Muhammad had natural birth, Jesus was conceived by a virgin.

* Moses and Muhammad married, Jesus didn’t.
* Moses and Muhammad had children, Jesus didn’t.

* Moses and Muhammad brought laws, Jesus didn’t.

* Moses and Muhammad had children, Jesus didn’t.

* Moses and Muhammad were rulers, Jesus wasn’t.

* Moses and Muhammad died natural deaths, Jesus didn’t.

There are so many similarities between Moses and Muhammad (pbuh) that I have decided not to write in this article but would graciously give them via phone call or messages.

We read in another book of the Bible, St. John

“1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

St. John 1:20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
St. John 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.”

The verses above talk about John’s encounter with the Jews. The Jews were expecting three prophets, Elijah, Jesus and Muhammad. They asked him if he was any of the three and he denied. After they asked if he was Jesus or Elijah, they asked, “are you the prophet?”. It is ridiculous when Christians argue that this prophet not mentioned by name is Jesus when it is apparent that they had asked him about Jesus. The unnamed prophet was the prophet prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:8 which is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

He was also prophesied in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 29:12 “And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”

In the cave of Hira, Angel Gabriel asked prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to read and he said, “I cannot read”.  In Qur’an chapter 96, it starts with a command, “Iqra” meaning “read”.
There are so many proofs to substantiate the claim that Prophet Muhammad is in the Qur’an which I will not mention as this topic is just an introduction to the article.

Anyone with questions on this topic should contact the author through the contact details attached to this article (at the end).

PASTOR CHRIS’ HYPOCRISY

5+1 does not equal 6 but 1+5 equals to 6 so far it is about misunderstanding Islam. When Islam says no to alcohol, nudity, charging of interest, Muslims making these claims are portrayed as archaic, extremists and terrorists but when they have a taste of the negative effect of vices of this regard e.g Alcohol, they begin to say the same thing with the Muslims though in a different way.

If his failed marriage is what taught Pastor Chris to write on women being obedient and respectful to their husband, we may question if there’s any sincerity of purpose in his writing. He quoted the Bible to support his claims but forgot to mention this verse to his wife before divorce,

“1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1 Corinthians 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

This is nothing but hypocrisy. His claim that Women were created as an afterthought is an insult to womanhood though not surprising as the Bible already degraded women from killing rape victims that do not shout while being raped to marrying off rape victims to their rapists for 50 shekels to blaming Eve for the supposed curse on humanity. Genesis 3:12&16.

THE INHERENCE OF DR. IJABLA RAYMOND

Atheists, freethinkers and others in the same circus are fond of looking on theists (those who believe in a God, deity). They see theists as retarded, brainwashed, mentally enslaved etc. Ironically, they who attach intelligence to themselves are fond of criticising all religions in light of Christianity. If the Bible says snakes eat dust, automatically, they criticise all religions with it. It is imminent that people like these should be taught that a single religion doesn’t represent every ‘Religions’.

Being a Muslim, I’ll refute Dr. Ijabla’s major arguments against Islam in this article.

This is the link to his article  http://saharareporters.com/2016/09/17/pastor-chris-oyakhilome-right-god-created-women-afterthought-dr-ijabla-raymond.

We cannot watch while someone conveniently fabricate lies without being challenged.

ISLAM; 500 YEARS AFTER CHRISTIANITY?

Dr. Ijabla Raymond erroneously claimed Islam came 500 years after Christianity. This is false. In Islam, all messengers of God were Muslims from the first man Adam(As) to Moses (As), to Jesus (As), to the last Prophet, Muhammad (As). Linguistically, Islam means total submission to the will of God while a Muslim is someone who submits to the will of God. Hence, these messengers were all Muslims. Islam is as old as Mankind. Hence, the claim that Islam came 500 years after Christianity is truthfully false.

ON ‘AISHA (RA)

The critics of Islam are quick to jump to the marriage between prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and ‘Aisha (RA). One thing to note is that those who hate and detest prophet Muhammad (pbuh) most lived during his time. They said he was mad, a sorcerer but none of them made mention of his marriage with ‘Aisha. Rubbishing a norm of 1,400 years ago with a 21st century phenomenon depicts absurdity on its own. Let us read on marriage age consent before the 21st century;

* Richard A. Posner is chief judge of the U.S court of appeals, Seventh Circuit Chicago. Katherine B. Silbaugh is associate Professor at Boston University School of Law, they say that before the 1900s age of consent was ten years old, “The law governing the age of consent has changed dramatically in the United States during this century. Most states codified a statutory age of consent during the nineteenth century, and the usual age was ten years.”

* Professor of Sociology Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese says that a 50 year old man being with a girl under 10 (being intimate) Under United States law was legal until the mid 1960s,

“In 1962, the American Law Institute recommended that the legal age of consent to sex- that is, the age below which sex is defined as statutory rape- be dropped in every state to age 10 (Katchadourian and Lund 1972: 439). In fact, until the mid 1960s, the legal age of consent in Delaware was 7 (Kling, 1965: 216). So a 50 year old man could legally have sexual intercourse with a 7 year old boy or girl.”

* The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example Mary Hathaway of Virginia, was only 9 when she was married to William Williams. Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Swiss canons, initially set the age of consent at 10-12 years and then raised it to between 13 and 16 years in the second half of the 19th century.
(Discover the truth).

So, anyone having issues with a marriage of 1,400 years ago when marriage age limit in Daleware, USA is 7 not up to 400 years ago, such person is nothing but a bigot. Such individual can do us a favour by telling us what age did his ancestors marry their wives.

WIFE BEATING IN ISLAM

In another fruitless effort, he claimed Islam oppress women became it supports wife  beating. One might wonder why Muslims all over the globe see not beating their wives if Islam teaches it. Let us read what the Qur’an says,

The Holy Qur’an states: “And as to  those on whose part you fear desertion (nushuz), admonish them, and leave them alone in the beds and chastise(wadribu-root dharaba)  them. So if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Surely, Allah is ever Exalted, Great.” Ch.4:34“
And If you fear a breach between the two, appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they both desire agreement, Allah will effect harmony between them. Surely Allah is ever Knowing, Aware.” Ch. 4:35

Obviously all the measures from admonishment to marriage counseling mentioned here are attempts to save a marriage that is in danger of dissolution. If the chastisement in this verse means beating one’s wife to an inch of her life, it is hard to see how that would contribute to rejuvenating the marriage. On the contrary, it probably would destroy the marriage, by making  the wife hate her husband. It could end, the husband as well as the marriage; more than one
abused wife has killed her husband, or mutilated him. This is very bad  advice and the  Qur’an does not give bad advice.

The word, ‘Dharaba’ (chastise), does not suggest repetitive or intense beating.
The word, “Dharaba”, translated as “chastise”, is in the singular, so only one strike is allowed. If (2 R’s or R’s rather than one) “Dharraba”, had been used, it would have meant to strike repeatedly on intensely. That word was not used in this verse. “Dharaba”, can mean also  “to set an example.”

Asma Barlas quotes Amina Wadud that this verse,” should be read as prohibiting unchecked violence against females. Thus this is not a permission, but a severe restriction of existing
practices.” (“Believing Women” in Islam’, Asma Barlas, . U. of Tx. Press, Austin, 2002.)The chastising mentioned in the verse apparently was symbolic, a way for the husband to express his displeasure for serious misconduct on the part of the wife.  Barlas writes that,
“Tradition holds that the gesture should not cause pain. Hence some exegetes favor using a folded handkerchief. She notes that ‘dharaba’ also means to prevent further gross misbehavior by making clear the husband’s unhappiness with his wife’s behavior.”( Page 188, Barlas).

Ibn Abbas, a companion of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said that the chastisement could be with a toothbrush, or something similar. The Holy Prophet, according to Tirmidhi (10:11) said, “ You have a right in the matter of your wives that you do not allow anyone whom you not like to come in to your houses. If they do this, chastise them in such a manner that it should not leave an impression.”.

When some women complained of their husbands ill treating them, the Prophet, said, according to Abu Daud (12:42), “ You will not find these men as the best among you.”

John Esposito writes, “Muhammad’s wife Aisha narrated that, “Muhammad never physically struck anyone with his own hand. Neither the Qur’an nor the Hadith record Muhammad as ever mistreating or losing his temper with any of his wives, even when he was unhappy or
dissatisfied.” (Page 106, Esposito ‘What everyone needs to know about Islam’, 2002).

In the major hadith collections—hadith about striking, all emphasize that striking should be done in such a way as not to cause pain or harm.
The Founder of the Shafi Law School maintained that it is preferable to avoid striking altogether. Despite the fact that domestic violence continued to exist in male dominated cultures and to be legitimated in the name of religion, neither the majority of Quranic verse, nor the hadith support or permit it. (Page 107,
Esposito)(reference: Unveiling Islam)

WOMEN IN ISLAM

Islam as a religion raises the standard of women and gives no room for them to be oppressed. However, Islam teaches EQUITY while the so called humanists, feminists call for equality. Equity brings about fairness while equality does not. Not even nature gives equality. We have countries with different time. Some six hours head, some six hours behind, some one, some eight etc.
By nature, men and women are not equal. A woman cannot impregnate a man neither could a man breastfeed a baby. Shall we now cling unto nature and say, “How unfair have you treated men and women!!!“. Women are to respect and obey their husbands while it is the duty of the husband to protect and provide for his wife. The man and the woman have rights over one another and duties to one another. Thus, Equity is defined.

Equity is justice and fairness. In a house where we have three children. The eldest being 15yrs old, the second being 13yrs old, the third one being 8yrs old. Equity is that you give them food according to how much they can eat, equality is giving them the same amount of food which doesn’t define fairness.
In times of war, women and children are not to be killed according to Islam. should we call this oppression of women and children? Or should we say men are oppressed because they form the larger number of the military?
It is this equity that Islam teaches and should be embraced. There are many women in Islam that are renowned.

Aisha – The Founding Mother Scholar, Judge and Orator

There are many texts which unquestionably show that Aisha was a huge precedent for female scholarship. Trained for 9 years in the house of the Prophet, Abu Musa al-Ash’ari the great scholar of the companions is reported to have said about her,
“Sometimes we the companions of Muhammad (pbuh) would get confused about Islamic teachings. We would then go and ask Aisha about itand we found she always had the knowledge we were seeking in it.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 3883)

Other examples are examples are Zubayda bint Ja’far al-Mansur who pioneered a most ambitious project of digging wells and building service stations all along the pilgrimage route from Baghdad to Mecca, Sutayta who was a mathematician and an expert witness in the courts, Dhayfa Khatun who excelled in management and statesmanship, Fatima al-Fehri who founded the Qarawiyin mosque in Fez, Morocco, which became the first university in the world, and the engineer Al-‘Ijlia who made astrolabes in Aleppo.
Islam goes further to talk on marriage,
“They (your wives) are a clothing (covering) for you and you too are a clothing (covering) for them.” (Qur’an 2 Verse 187)
“And one of His signs is that He has created for you, spouses from amongst yourselves so that you might take comfort in them and He has placed between you, love and mercy. In this there is surely evidence (of the truth) for the people who carefully think.” (Qur’an 30 Verse 21)
Umar sums up the drastic change to Arabia regarding women,
“Back in the days of ignorance before Islam, we didn’t consider women of much significance at all. This all changed with the emergence of Islam in which God mentioned them with respect and gave them new rights then we realized their rights over us.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 5843)

WHO ARE THOSE THAT WILL MAKE PARADISE?

Dr. Ijabla turned Qur’an commentator overnight wrote, “From all indication, the only women in Allah’s heaven are the virgins whose sole purpose is to satisfy the sexual lusts of the men there”

It is ironic when a supposed humanist with morals can boldly tell a lie. One might wonder where his moral values are. Let us read verses of the Qur’an,

“Race each other to forgiveness from your Lord and to a Garden, whose breadth is like that of heaven and earth combined, made ready for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers. That is Allah’s favor, which He gives to those whom He wills. Allah’s Favor is indeed immense.” (Surat al- Hadid, 21)

“Gardens of Eden that the All-Merciful has promised to His servants in the Unseen. His promise is always kept.” (Surah Maryam, 61)

“Allah has promised the men and women of the believers Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, forever, and fine dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. And Allah’s good pleasure is even greater. That is the great victory. “(Surat at-Tawba, 72)

” O self at rest and at peace, return to your Lord, well-pleasing and well-pleased! Enter among My servants! Enter My Paradise!” (Surat al-Fajr, 27-30)

In other verses, the joy and happiness of the believers who enter Paradise, as well as their gratitude to Allah, is described as follows:

They will say: “Praise be to Allah, Who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us the inheritors of this land, letting us settle in Paradise wherever we want. How excellent is the wage of [righteous] workers!” You will see the angels circling round the Throne, glorifying their Lord with praise. It will be decided between them with truth. And it will be said: “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.” (Surat az-Zumar, 74-75)

These verses talk about the reward of Muslims and it doesn’t say male of female rather Men and Women.

RELYING ON THE QUR’AN FOR MORAL GUIDANCE

Dr. Ijabla is of the opinion that the Bible and Qur’an should not be used for moral guidance. We may ask him, “what then should be used?”. Being an advocate for Islam, the Qur’an is the only book on earth today that can provide the guidance mankind needs for bliss in this life and the Hereafter.

Of several verses that talk of morals in the Qur’an, I will mention just one as this article is turning into a book already.

“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people, judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.” Qur’an 4:58

This is the Qur’an enjoining justice to be granted in judgement not taking religious beliefs into cognizance, void of favouritism.

MIXING RELIGION WITH POLITICS

It is disappointing that Dr. Ijabla could think he was making criticising religion using politicians quoting religious scriptures as a case study.
The one with no hope of meeting God or going to paradise  live recklessly, Squanders wealth as he knows he is not going to take it anywhere while the one hoping to meet God and inherit paradise do more good deeds with his wealth.

Hopefulness and hopelessness differentiates a theist from an atheist. It is pathetic to see people ascribing religions to themselves live as though they do not have any religion. Hence it is not sufficient to say you belong to any religion but living it. If everyone practise their religion as they are, The world would be a better place most especially NIGERIA.

The problem is not religion, individuals are the problems. Atheists and freethinkers are quick to call for scrapping off religions because they think religion has caused harm than good to humanity which is false.
We have modern day Christians too teaching that they do not need a religion and Christianity isn’t a religion. These are people who claim for spirituality.
______________
In response to claims like these;
Religion is defined as the believe in and worship of a supernatural controlling power. Any practice that someone or some group is seriously devoted to.

How much one follows the tenets of a particular faith defines how spiritual one is. You cannot be spiritual without being devoted to some rules or have a concept of a supernatural force. Hence, One needs religion to be spiritual not the other way round. Worthy to note that without religion, there is no spirituality.
It is unfortunate that we have many in suits, Jalabias, Robes mounting the pulpit, mimbar etc today that do not live what they preach, leaders who ascribe religions to themselves just to seek the favour of the public.

You can only understand what I mean when you see the same court that authorizes charging of interest and requires that you use the Bible or Qur’an to swear yet both books stand against charging of interest.
I say again, that you see a president that swears by the bible yet legalizes gay marriage yet the pages of the Bible that include the destruction of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are not torn off. No blame is on religion.

Religion has only been a tool in the hands of people drunken with the opium of power, will to dominate and oppress to achieve their aim. The day is giving account is coming.
People should be taught to practise what they preach or claim to believe not calling for scrapping off religion.
Educate a child without religion, teaching no moral values and graduate an educated criminal.

WHERE LIES HUMANISM?
Dr. Ijabla portrays himself as a humanist but if asked what is the basis of his humanism, we might not get a response. If Humanism as defined, is an ethical system that centers on humans and their values, needs, interests, abilities, dignity and freedom (except rejecting the existence of God, then true humanism lies in Islam in light of these few verses,

“And what can make you know the path which is steep?
It is the freeing of a slave
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger

An orphan of near relationship

Or a needy person in misery

Then will he(man) be among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion” Qur’an 90:11-17

And emphasizing the need for good deeds,

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.” Qur’an 99:7

There are several other verses not mentioned. Indeed, we are in the age of reason. An age where people should live upholding the truth. We hope Pastor Chris Oyakhilome will accept this challenge of refuting the claim that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is in the Bible and also if Dr. Ijabla would prefer a live debate on what he has against Islam.
Permission to print and share this article for distribution is granted to everyone.

Written by Bashir LuCas Samson Lukman under the supervision of Ustadh Yusuf Adepoju (Chief lecturer, ACADIP NIGERIA)

WhatsApp: +2347015779491

Gmail: [email protected]