Acknowledgements and Final word

Praise is to Allah who guided my steps to finish this modest work. I am much obliged to Brother Djaber , to whom I owe a deep respect and gratitude. I thank him endlessly for his help to publish this work. I am also indebted to the administration and the head of Veecos.net that honored my pen to write on their blessed and great website. I am particularly thankful to all who read this work. Finally, I acknowledge all who helped in producing and revealing The Path of the Beloved Teacher of Teachers Muhammad BPUH.

A Final word :

Never before in history had been there any great man like Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); a fact that all humankind bear witness. He brought illumination and reforms to the world, the reforms that freed men from their ancient fetters and awakened women to a realization of their equal position to men, in Islam .
So that to follow him, I tried, so far, to reveal the path of the Prophet . However, it is up to each one of us to find his own way according to his goals, needs, and the designed task. Still, it is hoped that the common target would be making a revival to our Islamic nation, and reforming on Earth for the sake of worshipping Allah, to realize His saying:" Say: truly, my prayers and my service of Sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for God, the Cherisher of the world. No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am, the first of those who bow to His will."(TMQ, 6:162-163)
In fact, the articles published so far can no way cover the present topic. Nevertheless, I wish that this modest work would be a simple beginning to other further studies to explore and develop such topics as relating our Islamic identity to the study of foreign languages and cultures.
I would like to bring this research to a close by these ayahs which carry a message to foreign languages learners and even teachers: first, about the importance of languages in Islam, and second about the aim behind studying them. Allah says what can be translated as:" And among His Signs in the creation of the heavens and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are signs for those who know."(TMQ, 30:12) and:"O mankind! We crated you from a single male and a single female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other(not that ye may despise each other)Verily the most honored of you in sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted with all things."(TMQ, 49:13)
Finally I ask all who benefit from these articles to pray to me and my parents. May God bless you all!

Your sister Tiaiba Imane

WHO MOVED THE STONE?

By Ahmed Deedat
part 5:

Q10: WHY WAS HE AFRAID OF THE JEWS?
Ans: Because he had not DIED and was not RESURRECTED. If he had DIED and if he was RESURRECTED he would not have any reason to be AFRAID. Why? Because the resurrected body can't DIE twice. Who says so? The Bible says so: ".... it is ordained unto all men ONCE to die, and after that the judgment." (Hebrew 9:27). The idea that the resurrected person cannot die TWICE is further supported by what Jesus Christ had most authoritatively pronounced regarding the resurrection.

The learned men of the Jews came to Jesus with a poser, a riddle. They said that there was a woman who had seven husbands in turn. "in the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her." (Matthew 22:28). Jesus could have brushed off the Jews with some curt retort because here was another of their tricks to catch him out. Instead, he has enshrined for us the dearest statement in the Bible regarding the resurrected soul. He said, "Neither shall they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and the children of God, for such are the children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:36).

"NEITHER SHALL THEY DIE ANYMORE" - that they will be immortalised. They will not be subjected to death a SECOND time. No more hunger and thirst. No more fatigue or physical dangers. Because the resurrected body will be 'angelised' - spiritualised - they will become like spirit creatures, they will become SPIRITS.

Mary Magdalene was not looking for a spirit. She, taking the disguised Jesus to be a gardener, says, "Sir, if you have taken HIM hence, tell me where have you LAID him..." (John 20:15). Note, she is searching for HIM and not IT - a dead body. Further, she wants to know as to where they had LAID him, not as to where they had BURIED him? So that, "I might take HIM away." (John 20:15).

Q11: WHAT DOES SHE WANT TO DO WITH A DECOMPOSING CORPSE?
Ans: She wants to put it under her bed? Absurd! She wants to embalm him? Nonsense! She wants to bury him? If so, who dug the grave? No! No! 'she wants to take him away'.

WHO MOVED THE STONE?

By Ahmed Deedat
part 4:

Jesus was watching his lady disciple out of whom he had cast out seven devils. He comes up to her. He finds her crying. He questions her, "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" (John 20:15).

Q7: DOESN'T HE KNOW? WHY DOES HE ASK SUCH A SEEMINGLY SILLY QUESTION?
Ans: He knew why she was crying, and he knew who she was looking for and he was not asking any silly questions. Actually, he was pulling her leg, figuratively of course! He knew that she was looking for him in the tomb, and not finding him there, was crying in her disappointment. He also knew that she would not be able to see through his disguise. Though he had been through an ordeal, he still had that sense of humour to ask her, "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?
"SHE SUPPOSING HIM TO BE THE GARDENER, SAITH UNTO HIM" (John 20:15).

08: WHY DID SHE THINK THAT HE (JESUS) WAS A GARDENER? DO RESURRECTED BODIES LOOK LIKE GARDENERS?
Ans: Can you imagine the scene on the RESURRECTION DAY, that you, dear reader, will be made to look like a "gardener" and your father-in-law will also be transformed into a "gardener" and your son-in-law will also be made to look like a "gardener" and your beloved wife will be left in confusion to find her husband! Does this make sense? No! The resurrected body will be you, yourself! Everyone will readily recognize you. It will be the REAL you and not your camouflage. Never mind at what age or under what condition one dies, everyone will know one another. Then why did Mary think that Jesus was a "gardener"?
Ans: Because Jesus was DISGUISED as a gardener.

Q9: WHY WAS HE DISGUISED AS A GARDENER?
Ans: Because he was AFRAID of the Jews.

WHO MOVED THE STONE?

By Ahmed Deedat
part 3:

Q5: DOES IT MAKE SENSE THAT MARY MAGDALENE WANTS TO MASSAGE A ROTTING DEAD BODY AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: It makes no sense, unless we confess that she was looking for a L-I·V·E Jesus, not a dead one. You will recognise this fact for yourself on analysing her reactions towards Jesus when she eventually saw through his disguise. You see, she had seen signs of life in that limp body when it was taken down from the cross. She was about the only woman beside Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who had given the final (?) rites to the body of Jesus. This man NICODEMUS, somehow, has been deliberately blotted out by the synoptists. The Gospel writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke are totally ignorant of this devoted and self-sacrificing disciple of Jesus. His name is NOT even mentioned in the first three Gospels in ANY context. "it is difficult to avoid concluding that the omission in the synoptic tradition of the mysterious disciple was intentional", says Dr Hugh J Schonfield, one of the world's leading Biblical scholars.

When Mary of Magdala reached the tomb, she found that the stone had already been rolled away, and the winding sheets bundled on the ledge within the sepulcher. The question now arises:

Q6: WHY WAS THE STONE REMOVED, AND WHY WERE THE WINDING SHEETS FOUND UNWOUND?
Ans: Because it would be impossible for any tangible material body to come out with the stone blocking the opening, and the same physical body could not walk out with the winding sheets encasing the body. For a resurrected body, it would have been unnecessary to remove the stone or to unwind the winding sheets. Probably having the resurrected, immortalized body, or the spirit of man in mind, a poet said: "STONE WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE, NOR IRON BARS A CAGE".

While the poor, dejected Mary was investigating the sepulcher, Jesus was watching her from the vicinity. Not from heaven, but from terra firma, from mother earth. We must remember that this tomb was a privately owned property belonging to his "secret disciple" Joseph of Arimathea - who was a very rich, influential Jew, and one who could afford to have carved a big roomy chamber, out of a rock which according to Jim Bishop (a Christian scholar of note) was 5 feet wide by 7 feet high by 15 feet deep with a ledge or ledges inside. Around this tomb was this "secret disciple's" own vegetable garden. It is hardly expected of any Jew or Gentile to grow vegetables 5 miles out of town for other peoples' sheep and goats to graze upon! Surely, this husbandman must have provided his labourers with the gardeners' quarters to protect his own interests, and perhaps he also had his 'country home' around the place where he could relax with his family during the weekends.

WHO MOVED THE STONE?

By Ahmed Deedat
part 2:

It was Sunday morning, according to the Bible, the first day of the week, when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus (John 20:1). The first question that bedevils the mind is:-

Q1: WHY DID SHE GO TO THE TOMB?
Ans: The Gospel writers say that she went to "anoint" him. The Hebrew word for anoint is "masaha", which means - 'to rub', 'to massage', 'to anoint'. The word and its meaning are the same in the Arabic language also. From this root word "masaha" we get the Arabic word "MASEEH" and the Hebrew "MESSIAH" both meaning the same thing - "the anointed one" which is translated into Greek as "Christos" from which we derive the word Christ.

Q2: DO JEWS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"

Q3: DO MUSLIMS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"

Q4: DO CHRISTIANS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"

It is common knowledge that within three hours after death, rigor mortis sets in - the breaking up of the body cells - the hardening of the body. In three days the corpse starts rotting from within. If we massage such a rotting body, it will fall to pieces.

WHO MOVED THE STONE?

By Ahmed Deedat
Part 1:

"WHO MOVED THE STONE?" or "who ROLLED away the stone?" (Mark 16:3) is a question which has worried theologians for the past two thousand years. Mr Frank Morison, a prominent Bible scholar, tried to nail down this ghost(s) in a book bearing the same title as this tract. Between 1930 and 1975 his book has gone through ELEVEN editions. Through all his 192 pages of conjectures he failed to answer ,"WHO MOVED THE STONE?" (Faber and Faber, London). On page 89 of his book, he writes, "We are left, therefore, with the problem of the vacant tomb unsolved" and proceeds to advance SIX hypotheses, very nearly knocking the proverbial nail on the head with his FIRST supposition, i.e. "THAT JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA SECRETLY REMOVED THE BODY TO A MORE SUITABLE RESTING PLACE". After confessing that this Joseph "might himself have removed it for private reasons to another place, is one which seems to carry considerable weight" (italics mine), he hurriedly disposes this hypothesis on the flimsiest ground. As you read on, dear reader, I trust that you as well as Mr Morison will have a satisfactory answer to this problem. Let us begin at the beginning of this problem.

A Message to the Nation of “Read!”

sister TIAIBA IMANE //

Believing in Allah's own words that can be translated as: " Most certainly , you have in the messenger of Allah an excellent pattern ( of behaviors ) " (TMQ 33 / 21), let us reveal the path of the beloved which any learner in general , and teacher in particular are asked to follow in order to take part in the revival of our Ummah.
The pith of argument, in all my work, is a message called "Learn from the Teacher" which consists of the following points:
A) Our Prophet (PBUH) said: " I have left with you something which you will hold fast to, you will never fall into error; the book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet ". So, we should appreciate this heritage if we want to succeed in any field. Thus, learning a foreign language and culture implies that we should first stick to our identity and take what fits us as Muslims.
B) The use of faith as a stimulus : it is the faith in Allah which makes the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) succeed in their lives. Faith is the pillar of religion. Through out our studies of civilizations and literature, we have learnt that people and nations are always dragged by religious ideology. The best example to give here, is the way the USA came to existence. We all know that it was due to the faith of the pioneer pilgrims in "The Promised Land". Our turn came now to make a revival with faith, and to use it even in our teaching to realize Allah’s saying that can translated as : " you have been the most charitable nation brought out to mankind : you command beneficence , and forbade malfeasance, and believe in Allah …" (TMQ,3 : 110 )
C) The good word : Allah says what can be translated as " seets thou not how Allah coineth a similitude : a goodly saying , as a good tree , its roots set firm , its branches reaching into heaven. Giving its fruits every season by permission of Its Lord? Allah coineth the similitude for mankind in order that they may reflect. And the similitude of a bad saying is as a bad tree, uprooted from upon the earth, possessing no stability "(TMQ 24-25/13). In fact, this ayah is the heart of the message which we address to teachers: you are responsible for the word which is of a great importance in the task of teaching. The word can either build or destruct. So, teachers should select what to say in order to plant the idea of revival in the minds of the coming generations. It is the strength and purity of a good word that would have the snowball effect in our revival.
D) Teachers are asked to encourage creativity and innovation in order to create the art and literature that fits our identity and serve our revival.
E) The last point is to follow the path of the Beloved (PBUH) in every thing and mainly in the way he dealt with situations i.e. to change the opportunities into points of strength. A teacher might ask how? It is then by :
- Making students feel proud to be the grand sons of the great companions and to be Muslims when studying civilization, for example.
- Relating modern theories and studies to our culture ( as we tried to do in this work )
- Presenting the lessons in a way that fits our identity.
- Benefiting from the study of history in order to learn how nations stand and fall, baring in mind that the civilization that never falls is that inspired from the Holy Book”Quran” and the tradition of the Prophet(P.B.U.H)