What will become of Paul?

[Eleve]

I apologize. I thought that was your signature but I see it was the OP’s. I wasn’t referring to the cross. I meant the gesture Jesus is making with his hand. It is in reference to the Holy Trinity.

It isn’t, though. The gesture he is making is symbolic of the abbreviation (Christogram) ΙΣ ΧΣ, for Jesus Christ. It does not indicate Trinitarianism or anything else inconsistent with Islam.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

…so I asked the messenger of Allah (pbuh&hf) about the 6 people from the earlier generation, while you were witnesses and he said, "the early ones are: 1. The son of Adam who killed his brother, 2. The Pharaoh, 3. The one who disputed with Abraham (as) about his lord. 4,5. and two men from the children of Israel who changed their books and ways, the first one Judified the Jews and the 2nd one Christianized the Christians. 6. And Iblis/Satan/Lucifer is the 6th…]

My commentary: the Pharaoh referred to is the one who persecuted Moses and the children of Isarel, Judify is not a word I know, but I couldn’t think of anything else to translate it to, and I don’t know who that person is. The one who Christanized the Christians is Paul. The 5 people of the scroll and book is a reference to Umar, Abu Bakr, Ma’az and 2 others who wrote a document agreeing with one another about their plans to remove Ali from any leadership role after the Prophet’s death. The two idols are a reference to Abu Bakr and Umar, in other traditions they are referred to as the two idols of Quraish.

Interesting hadith, that.

“Judify” probably refers to “Judaizing,” which was a reference to Jewish Christians who believed Gentiles entering the Church had to be bound by all Jewish customs and laws before becoming a real Christian. However, it says “Judify the Jews,” so I don’t know if it refers to a prophet of old or not.

If it refers to Christianinity, the identification of the person who was trying to “Judify” could refer to Peter: it is traditionally believed that Peter went to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles (Gal 2:7). I can only speculate at this point, although the “Judaizer” and “Christianizer” being compared together as if in one group would make sense if they were Peter and Paul.

In regards to Paul, I think it’s ironic to label him as the one who “Christianized” Christianity. Paul came from a strong Jewish background, and was often identified as a Jew (Acts 13:13-15) and sometimes participated in Jewish practices (Acts 21:26), and accusations at the time that he was trying to steer people away from the prophets and Moses is portrayed as false (Acts 21:21). Furthermore, Paul worked together with the other apostles, and at the council involving the Judaizers they came to one mind over the matter (Acts 15:24). Many of the earliest and most prominent Church Fathers - especially Polycarp and Ignatius - were students not of Paul but of the other apostles (in particular John, who lived longer than any other of the original disciples).

Actually I wonder if the one who Judified the Jews was Ezra (or Esdras), since he was held in high esteem by some Jews in Medina who inspired S. 9:30. Again, I don’t know, it is simply speculation.