Why would God make a revelation that is, in some of the most basic ways, contradictory to the revelation of Jesus?
This doesn’t make any sense, especially considering that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us before Islam came about.
Sometimes the answer to the question lies within the question itself. First, there is a natural tendency to assume that the question itself is valid and true. That then defines the only acceptable answers to assume the validity of the question.
Clarification. Approach the subject from another perspective and consider that they are not contradictory. This requires us to examine what we mean by “the Revelation of Jesus”, as well as what is meant by “the Revelation of Muhammad”, ie, the Quran.
The assumption common to both Christians and Muslims is that both Muhammad and Jesus were Revealers of God’s Word. Where the difficulty arises then remains in the field of the accuracy of the recording of the Revelations themselves.
While most Christians assume the authenticity of the Biblical texts, and Muslims assume the authenticity of the verses of the Quran, there remains the reality that the Bible is a collection of “Gospels according to…”, etc, written down several decades after the events.
Likewise, as several “versions” of the Quran were burned by Uthman, leaving only the one that he agreed to, there may be some question as to what those differences were and why they were rejected in favor of what he favored.
So what it comes down to is whether or not “God made a Revelation” that was portrayed with perfect accuracy in either the Bible or the Quran. We can never fully answer how accurate either is, but that may not be the point.
What is important is whether or not the “Essence of the Gospel” is true, and whether or not the “Essence of the Quran” is true, in that the spiritual teachings of God were contained in them sufficiently for anyone who is truly turning to God and seeking the truth.
Then, of course, there are those essential differences of understanding, such as the crucifixion issue, which can be explained quite easily, such as that it was Jesus’ body which was killed, not His Spirit, which existed prior to Abraham, and therefore prior to Jesus (His physical, biological self by which people are accustomed to identifying His Spirit)
Hence, when understood from a different perspective than that which appears on the surface, there are not necessarily "contradictions’ involved, rather it comes down to interpretations, as well as traditional understandings, and positions held by the Institutions which consider themselves to be correct in their assumptions, and those who follow their lead.
. "Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins of authority in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership, others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice… "
reference.bahai.org/en/t/bic/SB/sb-12.html
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