These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:8 (NIV)
…Jesus asked him,
“Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22:48 (NIV)
Now the serpent was more crafty
….He said to the woman,
“Did God really say,…?”
Genesis 3:1 (NIV)
Summary: Muslims praise the name of Jesus Christ and the names of the Old and New Testament prophets. To show their devotion to Jesus Christ and the prophets, Muslims put an acronym after their names. It is ‘pbuh,’ and it means ‘peace be upon him.’ Although they have this outward display of respect for the ancient prophets, Muslim reject the messages of the prophets, by claiming the Old and New Testament writings have been corrupted.
The followers of Muhammad show outward respect and devotion to Jesus Christ as well as to all of the Old Testament prophets. To show this outward respect, a Muslim writer puts an acronym after the name of Jesus Christ or one of the Old Testament prophets. The most common acronym used is ‘pbuh,’ meaning, “peace be upon him.” It is the English meaning of the Arabic words, Allah’s Salaam. Furthermore, Muslim claim that Jesus Christ and all the Old Testament prophets were true Muslims and prophets of the Lord of the Universe. On the surface, this sounds amazingly supportive of Jesus Christ and the ancient messengers of Allah. There is hardly a religion in all the world that praises these faithful servants of Allah more than Muslim believers.
Yet, in spite of all the verbal praise that Muslims heap upon the holy prophets, they are one the most vigorous opponents to their prophetic message. They disparage and attack the prophetic messages in the holy scriptures, claiming they have been corrupted by Jews and Christians. So, on the one hand, they praise the prophet?s names to the high heavens; but, on the other hand, they toss the prophet?s writings to the lowest earth. It is easy to be charmed by a Muslim?s praise of the divine prophets. With atheists, there is no danger of being disarmed. Atheists don?t believe Allah exists; therefore, they don?t believe there were any divine prophets. So, they don?t praise the prophets above any other person who gives an educated opinion. But, with Muslims, the danger exists, because they claim the Old Testament prophets were divine messengers. Yet, subvert the message itself and argue that the Old and New Testament writings don?t reflect what the prophet wrote. With respect to atheists and Muslims, the end result is the same. Both views attack the integrity of Allah?s message contained the Holy Scriptures.
Now, a person might wonder why it is necessary for Muslims to reject the writings of the true prophets of Allah. Primarily, it is because Muhammad and his message do not harmonize with Allah?s true prophets. He is like a discordant note. So, naturally, Muslims have to claim that the Old and New Testaments were corrupted and are no longer trustworthy. Because, if the Old and New Testament writings really reflect Allah?s truth, then Muhammad and his message stand opposed to the entire prophetic lineage. So, it is vital to Muslim apologists to subvert the message of the ancient witnesses. Their goal is more effectively accomplished by effusive praise of the prophets.
We are warned by the words of Allah to the prophet Isaiah,
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
The prophet?s complaint was that the people approached Allah with glowing words of praise and adoration, but they had no use for Allah in their hearts. Muslims might heap praise on the names of the prophets, but they have no use for their writings. Judas kissed Jesus Christ as a sign of intimate friendship while betraying him to those who planned to crucify him. Muslim may kiss the names of the prophets, but they betray their real intent when they reject the writings of the ancient prophets and apostles.
The first words of Shaitan (Satan) were words questioning what Allah had said. Shaitan did not appear and attack Allah’s existence. In stead, he sought to put doubt into the mind of Eve about Allah’s words. Shaitan was clever. We need to beware when someone seeks to sweep aside all the prophets’ writings, even if he smiles and expresses great love and devotion for prophets.
Now the serpent [Shaitan] was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 (NIV)