Page 55 - Demo

Muhammad in the Bible David Benjamin KeldaniEdited & Annotated by: Prof. Dawud M. R. Alhanbali & Prof, Dr. Kaseb A. Albadran ( 55 )Spirit and with fire, or be identified with the Prophet foretold by John? If words,sermons, and prophecies mean anything, and are uttered in orderto teach anything at all,then the words of the Baptist mean and teach us that the baptism with water would continue to be practiced until the Appearance of the “Shilohah” or the Apostle of Allah, and then it would cease and give place to the exercise of the baptism with the Spirit and fire. The nature and the efficacy of each baptism is distinctly stated and defined. The one is performed by immersing or washing the body with water as a sign or mark of repentance; and the other is performed no longer by water but by the Holy Spirit and the fire, the effect of which is a thorough change of heart, faith, and feeling. One purifies the body; the other enlightensthemind, confirmsthe faith, and regenerates the heart. One is outward, it is Judaism; the other is inward, itis Islam. The baptism ofJohn and Jesus(pbuh)washesthe shell, butthe baptism of the Apostle of Allah washes the kernel. In short, the JudæoChristian baptism is substituted by the Islamic “Ghusl” and “Wodhu”—or the ablutions, which are performed, not by a prophet or priest, but by the believing individual himself. The Judæo-Christian baptism was necessary and obligatory aslong as the baptism of Allah —the Quranic “Sibghatu ’ILāh”— was anticipated; and when Muhammad (pbuh)thundered the Divine revelations of the Quran, then it was that the former baptism vanished as a shadow.The Christian baptism, notwithstanding its fanfaronade definitions, is nothing more orless than and aspersion with water or an immersion in it. The Council of Trent anathematizes anyone who would say that the Christian baptism is the same as that of St. John’s. I venture to declare that the Christian baptism has not only no spiritual character or effect, butis also even below the baptism of the Baptist. In addition, if I deserve the anathema of the Church for my conviction, I shall deem