come and see what everyone's talking
about there's only one and Jesus his
messenger alhamdulillah Alum we greet
you with the best of greetings that's
the greeting of peace peace be with you
and you are here to learn that's why you
turn on to the dean show or you were
just flickering through the channels and
you heard Islam and Muslims and you
thought something's about to blow up and
you got excited hold on that's not the
case we are here try to help you develop
a better understanding so sit tight
we're going to be right back with Dr
Gerald Dirks Christian scholar graduate
from the Harvard Divinity School and
we're going to be talking about Jesus
peace be upon him was Jesus a Christian
or was Jesus doing Islam as a Muslim
when we come back here on the dean show
don't go nowhere this is the
the this
the this is the is
the
the this is
the this is the
the this is
the this is the is the
this is
the this is
the this is thean show Salam alaykum
alaykum Salam peace be with you and with
you brother now you know I started off
the program I introduced you but before
that you know I mentioned things blowing
up you know there's some hype out there
people are trying to associate Islam
with terrorism and Islam terrifying
people it's like the boogeyman that's
coming to get you you as a Christian you
did your homework is this far from the
truth or did you or you missed something
here maybe you're going to have to
backtrack talk to us no it's obviously
far from the truth there are a few a
handful of um people who are
self-proclaimed Muslims yeah who um
offer up a violent ideology that is a
total perversion of Islam the same thing
however can be said for Judaism or for
Christianity or for any of the world's
religions they are always going to to be
people who try to cloak their own
geopolitical or nationalistic Ambitions
under a mantle of religion and they'll
grab whichever religion is Handy you
know whether it's Islam or Christianity
or Judaism or Hinduism or what have you
but no Islam is not a religion of
terrorism it's not a religion that
condones
terrorism some might say and you've
probably heard this that all terrorists
aren't Muslim but it seems like all
Muslims are
terrorists well first of all obviously
all Muslims are not terrorists but it's
also the case that not all terrorists
are Muslims yes um we had a case uh not
long ago in in witto Kansas where a uh a
doctor who was uh performing late term
abortions was murdered as he was
standing in his church yeah who murdered
him a u right-wing Christian ideologue
yeah who believed he was saving the
lives of unborn children and so he
murdered the doctor standing in his
church this would be an example of a
Christian terrorist yes now Christianity
certainly does not condone the sort of
behavior that this murderer engaged in
but this person claimed to be doing it
in the name of
Christianity a number of years ago in
heon uh in uh Palestine we had a Jew who
um went into to the mosque at Hebron and
started shooting Muslims as they
prayed um obviously this does not
represent Judaism yes but this person
was a Jew and what he was doing he was
doing in the name of Judaism yeah you
know but we're going to find these sorts
of things in every religion so it's not
fair that you want to single out a few
crackpots you know a few bad apples in
every bunch as they say there are you
had the unibomber if you look cine
shooting you know terrorists by the tons
out there but so we want to separate
Islam which is a perfect system from the
crater and what some you know crazy
people might do let's not put those
together that fair say yeah even even
though those crazy people may be trying
to justify what they're doing by some
perverted notion of Islam yeah you know
that's no more Islam than uh James Joan
or David Kesh a representative of
Christianity one more point before we
get into to it because they'll say and
I've heard this and it's a shame they
say well why aren't Muslims condemning
this and we're condemning it here on
this show we've done it so many times
because people want to revisit 9/11 and
we know Islam Muslims died in 911
absolutely in fact the
disproportionately large number of the
victims of the twin towers and I'm not
talking about the hijackers I'm talking
about people who worked in the Twin
Towers were Muslims you know it was a
higher percentage than there are Muslims
in the population of the United States
who worked in the T twin towers and were
killed there now you rais an interesting
point which is people say well why why
aren't you know mainstream Muslims
standing up and condemning these attacks
the answer is we are and we're doing it
consistently but the problem is that a
Muslim standing up and condemning
terrorism that doesn't sell a newspaper
yes that doesn't drive up the ratings
and some uh talk television it's not
good for business huhuh no it's not good
for business and and it's not going to
cover the media will not cover it yeah
you know but all of the major Muslim
organizations in this country of which
I'm aware have systematically condemned
terrorism systematically spoken out
against it you know whether it's the
Islamic Society of North America or the
Islamic circle of North America or the
Muslim American society you know
everyone uh has spoken up but the Press
doesn't cover it and we're doing it
again here on the dean show and you're
available for CNN Fox if anybody wants
to bring you on on their mainstream
channels i' be glad to condemn terrorism
definitely and we are doing it again so
but let's get in now to our main topic
Christianity Islam which of these ways
of life which of these religions did
Jesus Christ practice teach
preach well obviously it wasn't
Christianity because Christianity didn't
exist at least by name at the time of
Jesus we're told uh in the book of Acts
in the New Testament that uh the first
people to be called
Christians uh arose in Antioch some
years after the end of Jesus's uh
personal ministry here on
Earth um no Jesus was a Muslim we're
told oh hold on Muslim well now let's
look at what the word means first of all
let's look at what the word means Islam
means surrender and in any religious
context it means surrender or submission
to God to God to God to the one God
right okay Muslim is simply a variant on
the word Islam it means one who submits
or one who surrenders again used in a
religious context it's one who submits
to or surrenders to God that that's what
Muslim means now when we look at that
definition obviously starts to make
sense now yeah Jesus was a Muslim yeah
in that sense of the word he was a
submitter to God yes now what is Christ
when you take the do the same thing and
take if someone says well no no
Christianity means to submit to God can
they can that if you translate it what
does Christianity mean no well
Christianity doesn't uh you can't derive
that from the word Christianity no you
can give it some kind of interpretation
to say yeah that's what it mean by it
but that's not what it what it
translates to no it doesn't translate to
that Christianity obviously from the
word Christ Christ is is the Christos
the Greek form of uh the Hebrew word
mashia or Messiah which in English means
anointed yeah uh so I mean that's the
emology of the word okay so let's back
it up so it goes from the Hebrew Messiah
mhm Masia to Greek Christos Christos
translated so Messiah translated to
Greek Christos and then you got what
Christ Christ well you're cutting off
the stoes at the end yeah yeah you're
just shortening the word so you have
Christ and those who follow
Christ they came up with Christians the
Christ followers well in Antioch they
did in Antioch yeah okay so then how did
people well you know what we're going to
take a break and this is really getting
exciting I'll be right back with more of
Dr Gerald Dirks here on the dean
show I am not afraid stand Al
I am not afraid to stand alone if Li I
am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
it lies by I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Lies by I am not afraid to stand alone
back here on the dean show with Dr
Gerald Dirks you finished Seminary
school you have a Divinity degree from
the Harvard University so we're not
talking to as I always say just a car
mechanic we're talking to a Christian I
like to call you a Christian scholar
because we got to face it you know more
about the Bible than probably 95% of the
uh
Christian World well well let me let me
most people don't even read the Bible
well that's true okay so and most
Christians have never read the entire
Bible yes but uh no don't don't call me
a scholar call me a student I that's a
more accurate term okay now tell us Dr
JD Dirks we're going to back it up we'll
even go back to Moses's time because
many people and we are trying to really
Enlighten people to these facts this is
not fiction M so people attribute Moses
to being a a a follower of Judaism is
this true was he following the religion
of
Judaism well Mo Moses also was obviously
someone who submitted to God a Muslim
well in that sense of the word yes he
was a Muslim uh he was someone who
submitted to God now if we look at at
the origins of the word Judaism yes you
know really at the begins with Judah
Judah who was one of the uh 12 sons of
uh Jacob so Jacob that's one of his sons
Judah okay so I mean here here's the
origins of the word but really what we
call Judaism today yes doesn't really
begin
until uh around the year 400
BCE when Ezra and Men of the great
assembly Ezra returning from the
Babylonian in captivity returning to
Palestine when they began to put
together
um the great assembly and begin to write
apparently some of the Old Testament at
least according to the Jewish tment yes
and this is really the
origins of uh Judaism as we know it
today before that time we might talk
about the religion of the Israelites and
that might make more sense talk to us
about that please in terms of what now
of so the religion of the Israelites
were they ones that the children of
Israel yes of course so so that was
during the time of Moses then well this
was a Division I would make okay you
know that I I I see Judaism really
beginning at the time of Ezra and the
men of the great assembly but even then
we have different branches of Judaism
yeah that are going on and Judaism that
we have today rinic
Judaism really is something that begins
to take hold and develop after the
destruction of the temple in the year 70
CE mhm so this is around is this after
again the time of Mo this is definitely
after the time of Moses oh yes so if he
was to if you were to bring him back to
life right now would he be practicing
Judaism Christianity or Islam well
obviously as a Muslim going I say he's
going to practice Islam but by
definition if we had all these terms now
we you just described where Judaism come
from from from the tribe of from uh the
Judah you have Judaism and then you gave
the history then you have Christianity
from Christ this is named after a person
and then uh persons and then you have
Islam which calls a person to acquire
peace by submitting like you said
submitting your will to the will of the
one God so I mean just as a Layman I
know that Moses he was calling people to
that and he was doing that yes so we had
a multiple choice I mean well I think if
we had a multiple choice what we'd have
to say is that Moses would probably
recognize elements in all three
religions uhhuh you know but there would
be elements within Judaism he certainly
wouldn't recognize okay that uh came
into being long after his time certainly
elements in in Christianity that he
would not recognize would he recognize
this uh God having a son or the Trinity
or any of these things did he preach
teacher or or or or give forewarning
about this coming no no no okay this is
very interesting it's enlightening and
that's what we're trying to do Enlighten
the hearts and minds of the people now
bringing it back to Jesus peace be upon
him so the the main question here is was
Jesus peace be upon him was he
practicing Christianity or Islam and if
you can just continue from where well
again Christianity didn't exist even by
name yeah at the time of Jesus um you
know there was uh if we want to look at
the origins of Christianity to a great
extent we have to look at Paul of Tarsus
yeah as as the person who originated
Christianity much more so than than one
would look at Jesus mhm so is it safe to
say okay in the Arabic it's Islam yes
but now if you were speaking Aramaic
just like you and correct me you're our
teacher here today the language of Jesus
was it Aramaic yes it would have been
Aramaic so when we look and we dig how
he called on God the Creator CU he
didn't speak English he would say Allah
and aric is this true well even even in
we look at Hebrew yes you know uh we
have uh in the Old Testament we have the
words Elohim and El Elohim these are the
words typically translated as God in
most English versions of the Old
Testament and these words are
linguistically similar comparable yeah
to the Arabic word Allah yes now Hebrew
and and Arabic are sister languages the
Semitic language group and we're told
that the word Allah by iban Abbas simply
means
Al in other words Allah is a contraction
for Al and Al literally translated is
the god the god the one God yeah
now El Elohim in Hebrew again the gods
plural but that's a plural of Reon
respect mhm now let's take it a little
deeper if I
spell
Al in Arabic letters it's Alf Lam Alf
Lam ha now people
listening uh remember these letters Alf
Lam Alf Lam ha MH that's Al now if I
spell l Elohim in Hebrew letters I spell
it
Alf L Alf
l y
me we have this yud and me at the end of
Elohim otherwise the spelling's
identical what about this
Yahweh Yahweh Yahweh yeah is this can we
could we say that this is the same Allah
or what would what would you give
and how would you translate this the
meaning of this Yahweh now biblical
Scholars have some debate amongst
themselves yeah as to the proper
translation of Yahweh um I've heard it
somehow translated as the ever living
God H I am that I am I cause to be what
I cause to be I mean these are all sort
of translations that have been offered
by one or another yeah biblical scholar
but certainly yeah Yahweh uh uh is the
is God yeah uh you know the Quran tells
us you know call upon Allah or call upon
arahman the compassionate by whatever
name you call upon him it is well you
know so yes Yahweh yeah
Elohim Allah God so as long as we're not
now mixing up the Creator with his
creation and forming a mental image a
picture having God turned into man and
then over here's a cattle and over
here's a monkey or anything in the
creation that is where we draw the line
say no that can't be the Creator
absolutely but we don't draw the line in
terms of language language okay you know
if if you're Greek you're going to say
Theos if you're Latin you're going to
say de yeah you know so it's the concept
here that we're really the attributes of
God and how he defines himself that we
go by tell tell her we we're going to
take a break and we right back with more
God willing we Dr Jo
coming to the truth requires two things
it requires deep thinking that you've
already done but it requires another
step and that's courage if you have the
truth but you don't have courage you
won't stand up for the truth and that's
as good as standing up for
falsehood I I would say this thing that
you just told me it's not in the
scripture and they would say a marginal
note added by a scribe yeah okay we know
that and I'd be thinking if you know
this is not the Bible why are you
preaching it as if it's gospel truth
I started out actually uh in high school
I was a born again Christian uh I
accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior as
we used to say and I I became very
committed as an Evangelical Christian
and I went off to Moody Bible Institute
for college which is a a fundamentalist
Bible College after that I went to
Wheaton College which is a liberal arts
college it's Billy Grahams Alma moer
it's an Evangelical school so I had very
solid Evangelical Christian commitments
and uh eventually uh I got a seminary
degree and I was a pastor of a Baptist
Church for for a year um but gradually
for a large number of reasons I started
to question some of the assumptions that
I had about the faith uh for a long time
I thought that the Bible was inspired
and inherent that there were no mistakes
in the Bible but as I engaged in
historical research on the Bible as I
was getting my PhD in New Testament
studies at Princeton Theological
Seminary I started finding mistakes in
the Bible and uh this this cut away at
my assumptions that the Bible was
inherent and then I started questioning
other parts of my faith is Jesus really
Divine uh is a really a trinity today we
are talking about answering the question
Jesus peace be upon him who is beloved
to our hearts and we do this these type
of programs because we want to share
because we care and there's some
misinformation about many of God's
Messengers and God Almighty sent the
last and final Revelation the last
Testament the Quran the verbatim word of
God to clear these things up so we're
just trying to share and give a
different perspective and all we ask is
people that they have an open heart and
open mind and consider MH tell us now
this concept of acquiring peace of
submitting yourself to the one God so if
you would to take that into the Hebrew
language Aramaic language French
language it's that concept that's the
main thing that you submit and surrender
your will to the will of the Creator
yeah absolutely let's let's don't get
hung up on a word on a word people get
hung up on the Arabic and they just yeah
you know uh whether you say Allah or
whether you say God or whether you say
Yahweh you know we're talking about the
same
thing um you know if you're German you
say good instead of God same thing you
know and let's not let differences in
languages uh drive us apart what we are
talking about is the one and only deity
yes
so when we say the one and only deity
when we describe his attributes I feel
as most of us do that these connect with
the human being that he is without
beginning without end that he is not
like his creation that he is independent
of all but we're all dependent on him we
are all very dependent upon him yeah so
is this also something that all the
messengers that we see I mean you you
know the Bible you know back and forth
is this what we see if anyone who who is
sincerely looking to do God's will if
they even study as being a Christian or
a Jew and they study it will they come
to the same realization as most of us
have that you know Islam is definitely
indeed in the Bible and it's there as a
message was teached by all the prophets
taught by all the prophets sure I think
anyone who who reads the Bible with an
open
mind um and does a little digging
will'll find the the answer and the
answer is that there is one God uh and
that we as God's creation are called
upon to submit to him to surrender to
him um and that uh our one God is is a
very much a personal God yes as a God
who offers us love offers us compassion
offers us Mercy when we fail he offers
us forgiveness if we turn to him with
repentance in our heart and the effort
to to change our ways uh many attributes
of God and by the way another Pitfall of
language one that we we can't avoid we
both have here today referred to God
with the masculine pronoun yes and
obviously God you know we we can't
categorize according to masculine or
feminine pronouns Etc this is just
simply the convention of the English
language that we use the masculine
pronoun but the attributes of God some
are masculine in nature some are
feminine in nature M Dr Gerald dur thank
you very much if people want to invite
you to come and to give a talk a lecture
a seminar how can people get a hold of
you they can reach me at my uh website
which is Dirks online books.com that's
Dirks onlinebooks that's all one
word.com thank you very much may God
Almighty the Creator Allah reward you
for being with us thank you thank you
and we hope that you got to benefit from
another episode of the dean show the
question was raised and the question was
answered Jesus peace be upon him did
Islam Moses did Islam Abraham did Islam
what Islam yes they all sought peace
from the owner of peace they submitted
themselves humbly to the one God the one
who created you me who created man woman
but he's not a man or woman it's the one
God the one that has given us so much
the one that we should be G grateful for
thankful to and if you like what we had
to say here continue to tune in every
week you can also call the number on the
screen 1800 662 Islam to learn more and
we'll see you next time here on the dean
show until then peace be unto you main
one of the beautiful things about our
religion of Islam is the emphasis on
Direct ritual and prayer to God directly
there is no intermediary the lights will
go on after the party and the party will
end it's very simple and very clear
there are no superstitious rituals no
strange incantations time is running out
we might not make it till tomorrow and
this is something that we need to think
about no speech is better than to do to
call people to Allah and to do the work
no speech is better no nothing is better
than that is it true that if one person
on the Allah giving you the ability to
guide someone with Allah's permission
the Creator's permission that is better
than everything in this world better
than the whole world and everything
that's in it in in another narration is
better than the best of wealth but if we
really felt that Eddie Would we not be
out giving da and this is something and
we encourage all the msas all the da
organizations the mids to get this we
want to print more we give these to the
non-muslims for free for free for free
we want our brothers in humanity to
become our brothers in
FA it's cold it's
lame everybody
sleeping I
arise and ask a lot of forgive
May oh Allah you
see oh Allah you
know all the sin I
do I turn to you to forgive my sins in
my
heart I'm your sinful
slave you're my love and
Lord I'm the one who runs
away oh guide me