📖 Madhehebu Potofu na Dini za Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 6: Ufunuo Unaoendelea — Uislamu na Imani ya Kibahai (Bahá'í)📖 Cults & World Religions — Unit 6: Progressive Revelation — Islam and Bahá'í

Msingi: Waebrania 1:1-3; Yuda 3; Yohana 14:6; Wagalatia 1:8 (SUV)Anchor: Hebrews 1:1-3; Jude 3; John 14:6; Galatians 1:8 (NKJV)

Neno Kabla HatujaanzaA Word Before We Begin

Uislamu na Imani ya Kibahai (Bahá'í) zote mbili zinadai kumheshimu Yesu — na zote mbili zimejengwa juu ya dai ambalo Biblia inalikana kabisa: kwamba Mungu aliendelea kutuma manabii baada ya Kristo, hivyo kwamba Muhammad, na kisha Bahá'u'lláh, wanachukua nafasi yake na kumpita. Dai hilo moja ndilo bawaba ya sehemu hii, nalo haliwezi kubeba uzito huo. Uislamu unaipa dunia Kurani inayoipita Injili, Yesu ambaye ni nabii tu na hakufa msalabani, na wokovu unaopatikana kwa kujisalimisha na kwa matendo. Imani ya Kibahai inamweka Yesu ndani ya mnyororo wa "Madhihirisho" (Manifestations) na kisha kuukabidhi wakati wa sasa kwa mwingine mpya zaidi. Zote mbili zinamheshimu Kristo kwa midomo na kisha kumweka kando kwa ajili ya sauti ya baadaye. Tutaieleza kila imani kwa haki, kwa maneno yake yenyewe, na kisha kuipima kwa Neno la Mungu — kwa maana ukweli wenyewe kwamba wanamheshimu Yesu ndio mlango tunaopitia ili kuwaonyesha Yeye ni nani hasa.Islam and the Bahá'í Faith both claim to honor Jesus — and both are built on a claim the Bible flatly denies: that God kept sending prophets after Christ, so that Muhammad, and then Bahá'u'lláh, supersede Him. That single claim is the hinge of this unit, and it cannot bear the weight. Islam gives the world a Qur'an that overrides the Gospel, a Jesus who is only a prophet and did not die on the cross, and a salvation earned by submission and works. The Bahá'í Faith folds Jesus into a chain of "Manifestations" and then hands the present age to a newer one. Both honor Christ with the lips and then set Him aside for a later voice. We will state each faith fairly, in its own terms, and then test it by the Word of God — for the very fact that they revere Jesus is the door through which we walk to show them who He truly is.

Dai Wanaloshiriki: Nabii Mpya ZaidiThe Claim They Share: A Newer Prophet

Uislamu na Imani ya Kibahai zinatofautiana kwa njia nyingi, lakini katika mzizi zinashiriki wazo moja la kushangaza, nalo ndilo wazo tunalopaswa kulipima: kwamba Mungu anaendelea kutuma mjumbe mpya zaidi, na kwamba wa karibuni zaidi anawapita wale waliomtangulia. Kwa Uislamu, Mungu alituma mfululizo wa manabii — miongoni mwao Ibrahimu, Musa, na Yesu — na mwisho wa wote Muhammad, "Muhuri wa Manabii," ambaye ufunuo wake ni wa mwisho na unasahihisha yale yaliyotangulia. Kwa Imani ya Kibahai, Mungu ametuma mfuatano wa "Madhihirisho" — Ibrahimu, Musa, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroasta, Yesu, Muhammad, na mwishowe Bahá'u'lláh — kila mmoja kwa ajili ya wakati wake, kila mmoja akiipeleka dini mbele, huku Bahá'u'lláh akiwa mpya zaidi na ndiye wa leo. Katika zote mbili, Yesu anaheshimiwa — na kisha kuachwa nyuma, akipitwa na sauti ya baadaye. Kwa hiyo kila kitu kinategemea swali moja: je, Kristo ni nabii mmoja katika mfululizo unaoendelea, au Yeye ndiye Neno la Mungu la mwisho na kamili?Islam and the Bahá'í Faith differ in many ways, but at the root they share one striking idea, and it is the idea we must test: that God keeps sending a newer messenger, and that the latest one supersedes those before him. For Islam, God sent a line of prophets — among them Abraham, Moses, and Jesus — and last of all Muhammad, the "Seal of the Prophets," whose revelation is final and corrects what came before. For the Bahá'í Faith, God has sent a succession of "Manifestations" — Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, and finally Bahá'u'lláh — each for his own age, each advancing religion, with Bahá'u'lláh the newest and the one for today. In both, Jesus is honored — and then left behind, surpassed by a later voice. Everything, then, turns on a single question: is Christ one prophet in a continuing series, or is He God's final and complete Word?

Uislamu: Waislamu Wanachofundisha, kwa Maneno Yao WenyeweIslam: What Muslims Teach, in Their Own Terms

Waislamu wanakiri Mungu mmoja, Allah, na wanashika umoja wake (tawhid) kwa ukali mno kiasi kwamba kumshirikisha Mungu na mshirika yeyote ni, kwao, dhambi kubwa kuliko zote. Kwa msingi huu wanaukataa Utatu na Uungu wa Kristo, na maandiko yao yanasema juu ya Mungu kwamba "Hakuzaa wala hakuzaliwa." Wanamheshimu Yesu — Isa — sana: alizaliwa na bikira Mariamu, nabii mkuu, Masihi, mtenda miujiza, neno kutoka kwa Mungu. Lakini kwao Yeye ni nabii wa kibinadamu aliyeumbwa tu, si Mwana wa Mungu na hapaswi kuabudiwa. Wanaamini kwamba Kurani ni neno la Mungu la mwisho na kamilifu, lililotolewa kwa Muhammad kupitia malaika Jibrili, na kwamba linayapita Maandiko ya awali — Torati na Injili — ambayo wanashika kwamba yalipotoshwa kadiri muda ulivyopita. Jambo la kushangaza ni kwamba wanakana kwamba Yesu alisulibiwa, wakifundisha badala yake kwamba ilionekana tu hivyo na kwamba Mungu alimchukua kwake. Wokovu ni kwa kujisalimisha kwa Mungu na kwa matendo ya imani — kukiri imani, sala, kutoa zaka, kufunga, na hija, vinavyojulikana kama Nguzo Tano — huku matendo ya mtu yakipimwa Siku ya Hukumu, bila uhakika wowote wa matokeo.Muslims confess one God, Allah, and hold His oneness (tawhid) so strictly that to associate any partner with God is, for them, the gravest of sins. On this ground they reject the Trinity and the deity of Christ, and their scripture says of God that "He begets not, nor is He begotten." They honor Jesus — Isa — highly: born of the virgin Mary, a great prophet, the Messiah, a worker of miracles, a word from God. But He is, to them, only a created human prophet, not the Son of God and not to be worshiped. They believe the Qur'an is the final, perfect word of God, given to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, and that it supersedes the earlier Scriptures — the Law and the Gospel — which they hold to have been corrupted over time. Strikingly, they deny that Jesus was crucified, teaching instead that it only appeared so and that God took Him up to Himself. Salvation is by submission to God and by the works of faith — the confession, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage known as the Five Pillars — with one's deeds weighed at the Day of Judgment, and no certainty of the outcome.

Imani ya Kibahai: Wabahai Wanachofundisha, kwa Maneno Yao WenyeweBahá'í: What Bahá'ís Teach, in Their Own Terms

Imani ya Kibahai ilizuka katika Uajemi wa karne ya kumi na tisa kupitia Bahá'u'lláh, aliyemfuata mtangulizi wake Báb. Inafundisha umoja mkuu wa aina tatu: umoja wa Mungu, umoja wa dini, na umoja wa wanadamu. Wazo lake kuu ni "ufunuo unaoendelea": Mungu, asiyejulikana katika nafsi yake, anatuma mfululizo wa Madhihirisho ambao kila mmoja analeta kweli inayofaa wakati wake, hivyo kwamba dini za dunia, katika kiini chake, ni imani moja inayoendelea kufunuka. Yesu, katika mpango huu, ni Dhihirisho mmoja kati ya wengi — kweli kutoka kwa Mungu, lakini kwa ajili ya wakati wake — ambaye sasa ametimizwa na kupitwa na Bahá'u'lláh, Dhihirisho wa wakati wa sasa, ambaye maandiko yake yanasimama kama maandiko matakatifu mapya zaidi. Mengi katika ujumbe wa Kibahai yanavutia: amani ya dunia, upatano wa sayansi na dini, usawa wa wanaume na wanawake, na kukomeshwa kwa ubaguzi. Wokovu, kwa Mbahai, ni kumjua na kumpenda Mungu, kumtambua Dhihirisho wake wa leo, na kuishi kwa mafundisho yake. Hapa tena Yesu anaheshimiwa — na kisha kuwekwa kando kwa ajili ya sauti mpya zaidi.The Bahá'í Faith arose in nineteenth-century Persia through Bahá'u'lláh, following his forerunner the Báb. It teaches three great unities: the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity. Its central idea is "progressive revelation": God, unknowable in Himself, sends a line of Manifestations who each bring truth suited to their age, so that the world's religions are, at heart, one unfolding faith. Jesus, in this scheme, is one Manifestation among many — genuinely from God, but for His time — now fulfilled and superseded by Bahá'u'lláh, the Manifestation for the present age, whose writings stand as the newest scripture. Much in the Bahá'í message is winsome: world peace, the harmony of science and religion, the equality of men and women, and the end of prejudice. Salvation, for the Bahá'í, is to know and love God, to recognize His Manifestation for today, and to live by His teachings. Here again Jesus is honored — and then set aside for a newer voice.

Kuupima Mzizi (1): Kristo MwingineTesting the Root (1): A Different Christ

Tunazipima imani zote mbili mahali ambapo tumejifunza kupima kwanza: nafsi ya Kristo. Uislamu unasema waziwazi kwamba Yesu si Mwana wa Mungu; Imani ya Kibahai inasema Yeye ni Dhihirisho mmoja ambaye sasa amepitwa na mwingine. Zote mbili, hatimaye, zinakana kwamba Yesu ndiye Mungu Mwana wa milele — na Maandiko hayaruhusu ukanaji huo. "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno... naye Neno alikuwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:1); "katika yeye unakaa utimilifu wote wa Mungu, kwa jinsi ya kimwili" (Wakolosai 2:9); na Yesu mwenyewe alisema, "Mimi ndimi njia, na kweli, na uzima; mtu haji kwa Baba, ila kwa njia ya mimi" (Yohana 14:6) — si njia moja kati ya nyingi, bali njia pekee. Kwa dai kwamba Mungu hana mwana, Yohana anajibu, "Kila amkanaye Mwana hanaye Baba" (1 Yohana 2:23). Na kuna kushindwa kwa pili, kulikio kali zaidi katika Uislamu: kuukana msalaba. Lakini kifo cha Kristo si aibu ya kuelezwa ili kiondolewe; ndicho kiini cha injili. "Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu, kama yanenavyo maandiko; ... na ya kuwa alifufuka siku ya tatu" (1 Wakorintho 15:3-4), na "pasipo kumwaga damu hakuna ondoleo" (Waebrania 9:22). Kristo ambaye hakufa kwa ajili ya wenye dhambi ni Kristo asiyeweza kuwaokoa.We test both faiths at the point we have learned to test first: the person of Christ. Islam says plainly that Jesus is not the Son of God; the Bahá'í Faith says He is one Manifestation now surpassed by another. Both, in the end, deny that Jesus is the eternal God the Son — and Scripture will not allow that denial. "In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God" (John 1:1); "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9); and Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6) — not one way among many, but the only way. To the claim that God has no son, John answers, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either" (1 John 2:23). And there is a second failure, sharpest in Islam: the denial of the cross. But the death of Christ is not an embarrassment to be explained away; it is the heart of the gospel. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and... He rose again the third day" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and "without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). A Christ who did not die for sinners is a Christ who cannot save them.

Kuupima Mzizi (2): Mwana Ndiye wa MwishoTesting the Root (2): The Finality of the Son

Sasa tunafika kwenye dai wanaloshiriki, na kwenye Maandiko yanayolijibu. Imani zote mbili zinasema kwamba Mungu aliendelea kutuma manabii na kwamba wa baadaye — Muhammad, au Bahá'u'lláh — anampita Yesu. Lakini waraka kwa Waebrania unatangaza kinyume kabisa: "Mungu, ambaye alisema zamani na baba zetu katika manabii kwa sehemu nyingi na kwa njia nyingi, mwisho wa siku hizi amesema na sisi katika Mwana... Yeye kwa kuwa ni mng'ao wa utukufu wake, na chapa ya nafsi yake" (Waebrania 1:1-3). Manabii walikuja kwanza na kwa vipande vingi; lakini neno la mwisho si nabii mwingine — ni Mwana, aliye Mungu mwenyewe. Baada ya Mungu kusema kupitia Mwana wake mwenyewe, hakuna mjumbe mkuu zaidi atakayekuja, kwa maana hakuna aliye mkuu kuliko Mungu. Ndiyo sababu Yuda anatuamuru "mwishindanie imani waliyokabidhiwa watakatifu mara moja tu" (Yuda 3): injili imetolewa mara moja tu, wala hairekebishwi na kila wakati mpya. Sauti ya baadaye inayoibadilisha, hata ile inayodai mamlaka ya malaika — na Muhammad alidai hivyo hasa — iko chini ya onyo la Paulo: "ijapokuwa... malaika wa mbinguni, atawahubiri ninyi injili yo yote... na alaaniwe" (Wagalatia 1:8). Kristo si kiungo kimoja katika mnyororo wa manabii. Yeye ndiye Neno la mwisho, kwa sababu Yeye ndiye Mwana wa milele.Now we come to the claim they share, and to the Scripture that answers it. Both faiths say that God kept sending prophets and that a later one — Muhammad, or Bahá'u'lláh — supersedes Jesus. But the letter to the Hebrews declares the very opposite: "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son... who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person" (Hebrews 1:1-3). The prophets came first and in many pieces; but the final word is not another prophet — it is the Son, who is God Himself. After God has spoken by His own Son, there is no greater messenger to come, for none is greater than God. This is why Jude commands us to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3): the gospel is given once for all, not revised by each new age. A later voice that changes it, even one claiming an angel's authority — and Muhammad claimed just that — falls under Paul's warning: "even if... an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you... let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). Christ is not a link in a chain of prophets. He is the last Word, because He is the eternal Son.

Kwa Nini Hii Ni "Injili Nyingine"Why This Is "Another Gospel"

Yaweke vipande hivi pamoja na hukumu ni ileile kwa zote mbili. Kila moja inatupa Yesu mwingine — nabii au dhihirisho badala ya Mwana aliyefanyika mwili. Kila moja inaweka kitabu cha baadaye juu ya Maandiko — Kurani, au maandiko ya Bahá'u'lláh. Na kila moja inatoa wokovu wa kujisalimisha na matendo mema badala ya neema ya bure ya Mungu ndani ya Kristo aliyesulibiwa na kufufuka. Uchaji wa mmoja na upole wa mwingine ni halisi, na tunaheshimu yaliyo mema ndani yao; lakini wala uchaji wala upole hauwezi kuubadilisha mzizi. Ujumbe unaompita Mwana, unaoukana msalaba wake, na unaoongeza nabii mpya zaidi ni, kwa maneno ya Paulo, "injili ya namna nyingine; wala si nyingine" (Wagalatia 1:6-7). Tunasema hivi si kwa ukali, bali kwa huzuni na kwa tumaini.Put the pieces together and the verdict is the same for both. Each gives us another Jesus — a prophet or a manifestation rather than the incarnate Son. Each sets a later book above the Scriptures — the Qur'an, or the writings of Bahá'u'lláh. And each offers a salvation of submission and good works rather than the free grace of God in the crucified and risen Christ. The reverence of the one and the gentleness of the other are real, and we honor what is good in them; but neither reverence nor gentleness can change the root. A message that surpasses the Son, denies His cross, and adds a newer prophet is, in the words of Paul, "a different gospel, which is not another" (Galatians 1:6-7). We say this not with harshness, but with sorrow and with hope.

Upanga na MsalabaThe Sword and the Cross

Kuna tofauti moja ambayo hatuthubutu kuipita bila kuitaja, kwa maana inagusa tabia ya watu walio vichwa vya imani hizi. Muhammad hakuwa mhubiri tu bali pia jemadari na kiongozi wa dola; aliongoza majeshi, alipigana vita, na kwa upanga pamoja na neno dini yake ilisimikwa na kuenezwa. Waislamu wanaliona jambo hili kuwa la haki na wanaweza kusimulia matendo yake ya rehema, nasi hatuhitaji kumchora kama mnyama mkatili ili kuthibitisha hoja — kwa maana hoja ni tofauti hiyo tu. Watu walipokuja kumkamata Yesu na Petro akachomoa upanga ili kumtetea, Yesu alisema, "Rudisha upanga wako mahali pake; kwa maana wote waushikao upanga wataangamia kwa upanga" (Mathayo 26:52), na akalponya sikio lile lile ambalo mwanafunzi wake alilikata. Alimwambia Pilato, "Ufalme wangu sio wa ulimwengu huu; kama ufalme wangu ungekuwa wa ulimwengu huu, watumishi wangu wangenipigania" (Yohana 18:36). Kristo hakuuteka mji wowote wala hakumpiga adui yeyote; alishinda kwa kupigwa yeye mwenyewe. Hakuondoa uhai wa watu ili kuueneza ufalme wake — aliutoa uhai wake mwenyewe. Vuguvugu nyingi zimeendelezwa kwa upanga; ni Mwanzilishi mmoja tu katika dunia yote aliyeushinda uovu kwa kufa kwa ajili ya adui zake, kisha akafufuka kutoka kwa wafu.There is one contrast we dare not pass over, for it reaches to the character of the men at the head of these faiths. Muhammad was not only a preacher but a general and a statesman; he led armies, fought battles, and by the sword as well as by the word his religion was established and spread. Muslims regard this as just and can recount his acts of mercy, and we need not paint him a monster to make the point — for the point is simply the contrast. When men came to arrest Jesus and Peter drew a sword to defend Him, Jesus said, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52), and He healed the very ear His disciple had cut off. He told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight" (John 18:36). Christ conquered no city and struck down no enemy; He conquered by being struck down. He did not take life to spread His kingdom — He laid down His own. Many a movement has been advanced by the sword; only one Founder in all the earth defeated evil by dying for His enemies, and then rose from the dead.

Mtu AliyevukaA Man Who Made the Crossing

Kuvuka kwa namna hii kunatokea kweli, na kunagharimu sana. Nabeel Qureshi alikuwa Mwislamu mcha Mungu wa jamii ya Ahmadiyya aliyeipenda imani yake na familia yake, hadi urafiki na Mkristo mmoja aitwaye David Wood ulipomvuta katika uchunguzi mrefu na wenye maumivu wa ushahidi. Hakuuacha Uislamu kwa haraka ya hisia; alitumia miaka mingi kupima hoja za kihistoria za ufufuo wa Yesu, na kushindana na tofauti kubwa kuliko zote kati ya imani hizi mbili — kwamba Uislamu unaacha uzito wa dhambi ya mtu juu ya matendo yake mwenyewe na toba yake, wakati injili inatangaza kwamba Mungu hakushusha kiwango cha haki yake ili kutusamehe, bali aliitimiza Yeye mwenyewe katika kifo cha Mwana wake. Hatimaye aliposhawishika kwamba ufufuo ulikuwa ukweli wa kihistoria na kwamba msalaba ndio jibu pekee kwa hatia yake, aliifuata kweli popote ilipomwongoza, na ilimgharimu ukaribu wa familia aliyoipenda. Mara nyingi alisema kwamba hakuna mtu anayevumilia hasara kama hiyo kwa ajili ya njia au falsafa tu, bali kwa ajili ya kitu halisi na cha lazima kama uhai wenyewe. Maisha yake ni picha ya kile tunachowaomba wengine, na ya Yule anayestahili ombi hilo.Such crossings really happen, and they cost dearly. Nabeel Qureshi was a devout Ahmadi Muslim who loved his faith and his family, until a friendship with a Christian named David Wood drew him into a long and painful examination of the evidence. He did not leave Islam in a rush of feeling; he spent years weighing the historical case for the resurrection of Jesus, and wrestling with the deepest difference between the two faiths — that Islam leaves the weight of a man's sin upon his own deeds and repentance, while the gospel declares that God did not lower the standard of His justice to excuse us, but satisfied it Himself in the death of His Son. When at last he was persuaded that the resurrection was a fact of history and the cross the only answer to his guilt, he followed the truth where it led, and it cost him the nearness of the family he loved. He often said that no one endures such a loss for a mere path or philosophy, but only for something as real and necessary as life itself. His life is a picture of what we are asking of others, and of the One who is worth the asking.

Lengo la UkomboziA Redemptive Aim

Na hili ndilo tumaini letu. Mwislamu na Mbahai wote wawili tayari wanamheshimu Yesu — na huo ni mwanzo tunaoweza kujenga juu yake. Ujumbe wetu kwao si kwamba wanapaswa kumfikiria Yesu kuwa mdogo zaidi, bali kuwa mkuu zaidi sana: Yule wanayemheshimu kama nabii ni mkuu kuliko walivyoambiwa. Yeye si sauti inayomngoja mrithi wake, bali ni Mwana wa milele, Neno la Mungu la mwisho na kamili; hakuonekana tu kufa, bali kwa kweli aliutoa uhai wake kwa ajili ya wenye dhambi na akafufuka tena; na Yeye si njia moja kati ya nyingi, bali ndiye njia pekee ya kwenda kwa Baba. Hatuji ili kushinda mabishano, bali ili kumtambulisha Mtu — Kristo halisi — kwa wale ambao tayari wanakistaajabia kivuli chake. Tunamtendea kila Mwislamu na kila Mbahai kwa heshima anayostahili jirani, kwa uvumilivu, kwa maombi, na kwa Biblia iliyo wazi, tukitamani sana wakutane na Bwana ambaye Yeye mwenyewe ndiye neno la mwisho na kuu kuliko yote kutoka kwa Mungu.And here is our hope. Both the Muslim and the Bahá'í already hold Jesus in honor — and that is a beginning we can build upon. Our message to them is not that they must think less of Jesus, but far more: the One they revere as a prophet is greater than they have been told. He is not a voice awaiting a successor, but the eternal Son, God's final and complete Word; He did not merely appear to die, but truly gave His life for sinners and rose again; and He is not one way among many, but the only way to the Father. We do not come to win an argument, but to introduce a Person — the real Christ — to those who already admire His shadow. We treat each Muslim and each Bahá'í with the honor due a neighbor, with patience, with prayer, and with an open Bible, longing for them to meet the Lord who is Himself the last and greatest word from God.

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