One trend you’ll find among Muslims is pretending to be Christian, saying they “reverted” (converted) to Islam, in order to dupe people into believing in Islam. Once you start to examine if this is true you’ll soon realise that it’s a farce. Susie Brackenborough is one such person who’s written an article for Islamonline.net claiming to have been a follower of Christ only to leave and become a Muslim. Either she’s being deceptive or just really ignorant of what true Christianity is, you can be the judge.
I Couldn’t Actually Say Why I Was Christian?
Being a practicing Christian for almost 16 of my 22 years of life, it may seem strange as to why I have turned to Islam. Not so I say! I was asked one day to “prove Christianity and why you are a Christian and not a Muslim” by a Muslim friend at university. I thought that this was going to be an easy task, but I couldn’t actually say why I was Christian, only this is the way that I had been brought up by my family. My research needed extensive reading and questioning. I would say to everyone who reads this whether Muslim or not – ‘ASK YOURSELF WHY YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU DO.’
Why I Came To Islam?
There’s a huge red flag, Susie said she was a “Christian” for 16 years, yet she was only “Christian” by name being brought up by her family. This is not what constitutes being a Christian, being born into a family which professes to be Christian doesn’t make a person Christian. It’s like saying sleeping in an air hanger would make someone an aeroplane. It’s quite telling that someone who would make this statement knows absolutely nothing about Christianity.
To answer her question of why I believe what I do, is that the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best historically attested event which stands against every criticism. There’s no one who has been able to debunk the Death and Resurrection of Christ.
The next few quotes from Susie prove she has no idea what Christianity teaches about Jesus Christ or any of the fundamental doctrines we hold.
So why wasn’t I satisfied with Christianity? Anybody who is going to really believe in something must know something about it. If I said to someone that a Porsche could go faster than a Skoda, for them to accept that fully they must have knowledge of what a Porsche and a Skoda are, otherwise if they accept what I say without knowledge they are living a life of ignorance and/or arrogance. Anybody who wanted to know the truth and why they agree to or follow a particular way would seek out why. So for me to accept Christianity I needed the knowledge about the fundamentals – the belief that Jesus (AS) was the son of God and that the Trinity existed are two fundamental points. It is not good enough just to accept this, as you believe what has been taught to you. For someone without knowledge about cars, the Porsche may indeed go faster than the Skoda in reality, but if I was a so called knowledgeable and respected person and I taught them that the Skoda is faster than the Porsche, then I would be believed by people who have not questioned what these two cars are really like and they take my word as they think that I have knowledge. But they would not be believing the truth.
Why I Came To Islam?
She admits she lacks knowledge about the Lord Jesus or the Trinity, these are the 2 biggest points of contention when Christians engage with Muslims. The issue is that the Qur’ān gets both wrong here are past articles that explain how Islam gets it wrong.
The Poo Poo of Allah and Muhammad (Trinity)
Jesus is God According to Qur’ān
We’re going to clear up Susie’s confusion starting with her first question.
The Son Of God And The Trinity … Is It Not Made Explicitly Clear In The Bible?
I believe that religion is not here to confuse us in any way and the message of Allah (SWT) is very clear; so my first question is – if Jesus (AS) is the son of God and the Trinity was what Christian people believe it to be, why is it not made explicitly clear in the Bible?
Why I Came To Islam?
While the word Trinity is not in the Bible, the word Tawhid is not in the Qur’ān, but the teachings/concept of the Trinity is certainly in the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptist was asked by Jesus Christ to baptise Him. John shocked by the request immediately says “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14).
Jesus tells Him that it’s necessary to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15), John then baptises Him and we’re introduced to the Trinity.
Notice in one moment in time we have all 3 Persons of the Trinity present (1), Jesus Christ, in the water (2) the Spirit of God also known as the Holy Spirit (3) a voice from heaven which is God the Father. How can Susie claim to have been a Christian for 16 years have she never seen this passage before? There are others, but let’s go to the Qur’ān to further prove our point.
In the Qur’ān we have a Trinity a false one but 3 nonetheless who are creators. Muslims agree that Allah is the creator, but what do they say to the fact that Allah admits he’s not the only creator.
This verse according to their own book claims that Allah is not the only creator, what do I mean by creator? Just to make it clear we’re not talking about someone making a painting or building a table etc. Muslims try to claim Allah is comparing himself to humans as “creators”. No! This is not what’s being spoken of here in this ayat. Allah is saying there are other creators (gods) but Allah is the best of all the other gods.
Additionally, the word l-khāliqīna as a genitive masculine noun showing possession. The genitive case focuses on the active participle “of” is what’s important, in this context Allah being the best of the creators.
So this means Susie’s god is not the only god according to the confession of Allah which makes Islam a polytheistic religion.
Was Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God?
Was Jesus (AS) the only begotten son of God? No, quite clearly not. Long before Jesus (AS) was born, David (AS) said in Psalm 2:7, ‘I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou are my Son; this day have I begotten thee.’ So, David (AS) is also God’s begotten son??!!!
Why I Came To Islam?
David is not “the only begotten son of God” and neither was anyone else called the Only begotten Son of God as Jesus Christ is. Just for your own perusal, these are some translations of Psalm 2:7 and in none of these translations will you see the word “only”.
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (KJV)
“I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. (NKJV)
The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. (NLT)
I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. (NIV)
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. (ESV)
I will declare the LORD’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son;[fn] today I have become your Father. (CSB)
Notice in none of the translations provided will you find the words “the only begotten son of God” in Psalm 2:7. But the Bible does say about Jesus Christ that He alone is the only begotten son of God. These are the relevant verses.
The Greek used for Jesus is τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ let’s break it down. The word τοῦ is a variation of the article and is a genitive singular masculine which means (of the) showing possession. The following word μονογενοῦς is also an adjective genitive singular masculine word which means (only begotten). We then have υἱοῦ a noun genitive singular masculine and means (Son), lastly, we have θεοῦ which is in the genitive case and means God.
The two following verses also say Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, so where is Susie getting her information from? It’s certainly not from the Bible.
Seems like Susie either never read the Bible or she lied claiming that there were others called the only begotten Son of God. But we’ve just proven that her statement is untrue.
He’s not the Son of God?
What is this?!! Jesus (AS) himself made clear that he is not the son of God. For example, Matthew 5:48, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.’ So God is everyone’s father. Luke 4:41, ‘And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered not to speak for they knew that he was Christ.’ Luke 9:20-21, Jesus (AS) said to his disciples, ‘But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, “The Christ of God! And he straightly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing.’ If Jesus (AS) was the son of God, then why should he tell his disciples not to tell anyone this if everyone is to know and learn and believe this? The only explanation is that they were wrong to call him this and he was telling them so.
Why I Came To Islam?
Seems like Susie is going against the Qur’ān using Matthew 5:48 to say that God is everyone’s Father. According to her Qur’ān, it says Allah is not the father of anyone, we can find this in Surah 19:88-93; 112:3
Why did she say Allah is everyone’s father when the Qur’ān says he’s not father to anyone is it out of ignorance or deception? Also, Jesus said He came down from heaven and He’s the Son which speaks of the deity of Christ.
Susie makes the claim that Jesus was telling the disciples not to tell people He’s the Son of God, but that’s not true. Jesus was saying not to let people know because it was not His time to come as King even though He already was. Jesus knew He had to come as the Lamb of God who would give His life on the cross for the sins of the world, that was His main purpose for His first advent.
If the people knew He was the Christ (Messiah) they wouldn’t have crucified Him. And if He was not crucified then there would be no salvation for anyone. The second point is that if the disciples were wrong according to Susie, then Allah’s message was corrupted. Let’s not forget the Qur’ān says the followers of Jesus would be superior until the day of judgement. If the message of Jesus was corrupted then Allah failed in making the believers of Jesus superior until the day of judgement as 3:52-55 says.
In the words of Jesus Christ, He said that He’s the Son of God, read and laugh Abdoola. Why did she not read this verse, I thought she was a Christian for 16 years and she never read these verses?
Associating others with God
Secondly the concept of the Trinity. Associating others with God, i.e. to believe in the Trinity has no foundation whatsoever in Islam. In Mark 12:29 Jesus (AS) himself said, The first of all Commandments is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.’ 1 Corinthians 8:4 ‘there is none other God but one.’ The truth about this mater is that the word ‘Trinity’ is not Biblical at all. The Canon’s answer was as follows: ‘The New Testament writers did not create the doctrine of the Trinity. It is an attempt, admittedly human (how could it be otherwise?), to express in words something of the inexpressible.’ This just sums it up. A human attempt to describe something inexpressible because it doesn’t exist!! Perhaps the clearest indication we have that Jesus (AS) and God are not equal, and therefore not one and the same, comes from John 14:28 when Jesus (AS) is quoted as saying: “My Father is greater than I.” When someone referred to him as good master in Luke 18:19 Jesus (AS) responded, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God.” Furthermore, Jesus (AS) drew clear distinctions between himself and God when he is quoted to have said, John 8:42 “I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself but He sent me.’ Jesus (AS) gave clear evidence of his subordination to God, rather than his equality with God, when he said in Luke 22:42, “not my will but Thine be one” and in John 5:30, ” I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which has sent me.” That Jesus (AS) would admit that he did not come into the world on his own initiative but was directed to do so, that he would acknowledge another being as greater than himself, that he would negate his own will in deference to affirming the will of another gives clear proof that Jesus (AS) is not the Supreme One and therefore Jesus (AS) is not equal to or even God.
Why I Came To Islam?
It’s sad these arguments Brackenborough is spouting are the same weak arguments from dawah missionaries. Let us go through each to show how flawed Islam is.
Christians believe in 1 God (Deuteronomy 6:4) not 3 as Muslims set up Red Herrings and bring fallacious arguments, all Christians affirm belief in 1 God. All 3 Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are the 1 God as they are of the one essence of God. They are co-equal in Genesis the word Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) which is a plural word.
We’re in agreement that God created the world spoken of in the first verse of Genesis, in the second verse the Holy Spirit was also involved in the making of creation “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Lastly in John 1:1 the Word (Jesus Christ) also created the world, the proof is in verse 3 “All things were made by him” that is all things were made by Jesus Christ. All 3 were involved in the creation of the world.
We substantiate that Jesus is the Word of Allah in the Qur’ān [4:171] “The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word”.
There you go the Qur’ān says Jesus is the Word of Allah, Muhammad copied this from the Bible without knowing what the Word of God meant.
She mentioned 1 Corinthians 8:4, let’s point out her hypocrisy. This goes against the Muslim belief as they claim that Paul was a liar, saying he changed the teachings of Jesus Christ.[1] Yet here she’s taking one of Paul’s writings and saying she agrees with Paul that God is one. This is what Paul said, that is the height of hypocrisy.
Muslims say that Paul is the one who created Christianity and made up a lie about Jesus being God, but this Muslima is using Paul to claim what he’s teaching is correct.
John 14:28 “my Father is greater than I” Muslims love this quote but fail to understand it, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, He became a real Man who was surrounded by people who were trying to kill Him. This verse is not speaking of the deity of Christ as being “lesser” than the Father.
The Father was in heaven, therefore, technically speaking the Father was in a greater position than the Son as He (the Father) is untouchable in heaven. While Jesus was on Earth as a real Man surrounded by enimies and subjected Himself to everything humans would be subjected to.
She then assumes in Luke 18:19 that Jesus Christ is saying He’s not good? Talk about not knowing the scriptures, if you read again Christ is asking the rich young ruler a question. In essence He’s asking the rich young ruler a rhetorical question “are you calling me God because only God is good”[2]
This verse actually goes against the Islamic claim and rejection of the deity of Christ, even though in their own Qur’ān Jesus can do things only Allah can do. First, Jesus is called pure in other words he’s Holy, in the Arberry translation he translates it “a boy most pure”.
In case there’s any doubt that this is what the verse says here’s the word for word syntax of this particular verse. Notice it says speaking of Isa “a son pure”.
So Jesus is pure and Holy, additionally he was able to speak from the cradle in the Qur’ān, no one else was able to accomplish this, the verse I’m referring to is Chapter 3 sūrat āl ʿim’rān. Not only is he pure, Holy and will speak from the cradle but he’s also called righteous.
Unfortunately, Muhammad is never spoken of in the same way as Jesus even in the Qur’ān. Let’s not forget that Jesus in the Qur’ān is the word of Allah, a spirit from Allah, Muslims cannot give an answer for 4:171 as Jesus is a spirit from Allah and his word. There’s also a verse that says Jesus heals the blind and lepers and is raising people from the dead.
That’s not all he also knows the unseen and can tell you what you hide in your house. This means Jesus has the same ability as Allah as in verse 2:33 Allah sees the unseen.
How is it Isa knows the unseen just like Allah, Isa can create life like Allah, he’s a word and spirit from Allah, and has the ability to speak from the cradle and is called Holy. These are all traits or attrubutes of God.
In John 8:42 Jesus Christ says He came from God, meaning He (Jesus) came from heaven, this corresponds to 4:171 in the Qur’ān which says Jesus is a spirit from Allah. Even though we don’t believe Isa is the true Jesus but Muhammad didn’t know what he was saying.
The Qur’ān says Jesus is a spirit from Allah, and he is a word from Allah sent to Mary, some of the other Muslim translations read:
Sahih International “His word which He directed to Mary”
Pickthall “His word which He conveyed unto Mary”
Yusuf Ali “His Word, which He bestowed on Mary”
Shakir “His Word which He communicated to Marium”
Muhammad Sarwar “His Word, and a spirit from Him whom He conveyed to Mary.”
Mohsin Khan “His Word, which He bestowed on Maryam”
Arberry “His Word that He committed to Mary”
Here’s the verse in John where Christ says He came from God, providing evidence that Jesus Christ is eternal. No one else can make this same claim.
This ties in with another verses where the Lord Jesus said He came down from heaven. I wonder how Abdoools would respond to these words from Jesus Himself?
John 6:38 proves that Jesus preexisted His incarnation this is why He can say He existed before Abraham. It’s a hard pill for Muslims to swallow. She mentioned Luke 22:42 and misquoted it, the word is “done” not “one”. She assumes that because the Father sent the Son that this somehow discredits Jesus Christ being God.
Let’s think about this logically, if a father told his son to go to the store for him does this in anyway indicate that the son is no longer human because the father sent him? No! That would be insane and silly to claim such. This is what Muslims do, they think because Jesus was sent by the Father this means He’s not God. As we’ve just showed this has nothing to do with the deity of Christ.
She mentioned John 5:30 indicating that Christ sought the Father’s will. The will of the Father is not different from the will of the Son as they are the One God, they work in complete union together.
Therefore, it’s not strange for Christ to say He wants to do the will of the Father. Jesus Christ is not rebellious and never sinned and will do what He was sent to do. This verse corresponds with Luke 22:42.
The Bible is a collection of 66 Books
The Bible is a collection of 66 Books covering two thousand years of history written over nearly a thousand years. Inaccuracies and contradictions are likely to occur as it was not kept pure and the language changed. It could be said that the Bible is a book of ‘Chinese Whispers’ in that the message had been passed on, in some cases, from eyewitnesses to their associates. Original manuscripts can change as they are copied out. Existing original material is almost non-existent. No entire original documents have survived. The language is untranslatable as time has changed the language and so earlier languages of the Bible cannot fully be understood. All there are are copies of the Gospels written hundreds of years after the original writing.
It’s funny that Susie says the Bible has “inaccuracies and contradictions” yet her prophet said he believes in the Bible, which means Muhammad believes in the inaccuracies and contradictions according to her.
I would like her to answer when was the Bible corrupted, was it before Muhammad’s time or during his time? Her claim of corruption goes against Allah, as he said none can change his words, as the Torah and Injil according to the Qur’ān are Allah’s words.
Other verses which speak no one being able to change Allah’s words are surah 6:115, 10:64, which means Allah is incapable and not powerful enough to protect his books. Let’s not forget all of the contradictions found in the Qur’ān, I’ll link to some articles which lays this argument.
Qur’ān Contradiction How many Angels Appeared to Mary?(Q19:17, 3:42)
Comparing Arabic Qur’ān Versions Verse 9:66 (Hafs, Qaloon, Al-Bazzi)
Allah doesn’t know what he created first (Quran contradictions)
Just like every other Muslim Susie speaks of something she has no knowledge of, in order to change an ancient manuscript the process would be impossible as we would be able to detect where those “changes occurred”.
In order for this to happen they would have to gather all existing manuscripts in the entire world. Not an easy task as they were distributed to different churches (Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Rome, Colosse) not to mention any other place not recorded.
We’re talking about thousands upon thousands of manuscripts. Then in order to change the text, a pumice stone would be used. Using a pumice stone would cause damage to the manuscript itself. Lastly, we would be able to make out what text was laid down before the pumice stone was used. It’s just not physically possible.[3]
The nail in the coffin is that the Qur’ān was the book not preserved, we have up to 40 different Arabic Qur’āns with different words and meanings. Plus there are missing verses in the Qur’ān like the breastfeeding verse eaten by a goat. Here’s the article speaking of the unpreserved Qur’ān.
The Qur’ān is Not Preserved According To The Qur’ān!
Conclusion
Here’s the sum Susie Brackenborough has no clue what she’s talking about just like every Muslim. She has learned these nonsensical arguments and is parroting them. According to what we learned she was never a born-again Christian. While the word Trinity is not found in the bible the teaching is, but the word Tawhid is not found in the Qur’an.
The Lord Jesus is the ONLY Begotten Son of God and He is the Son of God. He’s called the Word of God found in both the Bible and Qur’an meaning He’s eternal. And the Bible has been preserved as we have plenty of manuscript evidence while the Qur’an has none! We’re calling Susie to come to Jesus Christ for salvation as He is the Living Word of God.
Footnotes
[1] Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The first one to introduce the innovated view that ‘Ali was infallible and that he should have been the caliph on the basis of religious texts was the leader of these hypocrites, ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’, who was originally Jewish, then pretended to be Muslim and aimed to corrupt the Islamic religion as Paul had corrupted the Christian religion.
[2] Ironically, Jesus withholds the anticipated answer. Does Jesus sense that the questioner, like the Pharisee in the previous parable (18:11-12), is overconfident or disingenuous? “Why do you call me good?” responds Jesus. “No one is good — except God alone.” The Greek me (v. 19, “me”) in the rhetorical question is positioned emphatically at the front of the sentence, “Why do you call me good?” Plummer calls the ruler’s address of Jesus “extraordinary,” for in Judaism God or Torah are rightly called good, but not rabbis. Jesus does not affirm his goodness but implies that his goodness is the goodness of God, the source of all goodness, working in him: “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). Given Jesus’ servant posture and reticence regarding his messianic status, he directs the ruler unambiguously to God. “No one is good — except God alone” could also be translated “except the one God,” thus directing the ruler to the Shema (Deut 6:4). Edwards, James R. The Gospel According to Luke. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company/Apollos, 2015.
[3] To begin, we must emphasize that out of these 150,000 variants, 99 percent hold virtually no significance whatsoever. Many of these variants simply involve a missing letter in a word; some involve reversing the order of two words (such as “Christ Jesus” instead of “Jesus Christ”); some may involve the absence of one or more insignificant words. Really, when all the facts are put on the table, only about 50 of the variants have any real significance– and even then, no doctrine of the Christian faith or any moral commandment is effected by them. For more than ninety-nine percent of the cases the original text can be reconstructed to a practical certainty. Ron Rhodes (2022). Manuscript Evidence for the Bible’s Reliability. Retrieved from https://www.ronrhodes.org/manuscript-support-for-the-bible-s-relia
Whatsoever Things Are True 