New Testament Book of James and the Quran
By ANNA JORDAN

CHAPTER 2

J2:1. Dear brothers, how can you claim that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, if you show favoritism to rich people and look down on poor people?

J2:2. If a man comes into your church dressed in expensive clothes and with valuable gold rings on his fingers, and at the same moment another man comes in who is poor and dressed in threadbare clothes,

J2:3. And you make a lot of fuss over the rich man and give him the best seat in the house and say to the poor man, "You can stand over there if you like, or else sit on the floor" - well,

J2:4This kind of action casts a question mark across your faith - are you really a Christian at all? - and shows that you are guided by wrong motives.

Q. 80:1-17 He (Muhammad) frowned and turned away.
When the blind man came to him.
How do you know? He may purify himself.
Or he may take heed, and benefit from the message.
As for the rich man.
You gave him your attention.
Even though you could not guarantee his salvation.
The one who came to you eagerly.
And is really reverent.
You ignored him.
Indeed, this is a reminder.
Whoever wills shall take heed.
In honorable scriptures.
Exalted and pure.
(Written) by the hands of messengers.
Who are honorable and righteous.

Woe to the human being; he is so unappreciative!

J2:5 Listen to me, dear brothers: God has chosen poor people to be rich in faith, and the kingdom of heaven is theirs, for that is the gift God has promised to all those who love Him.

Q. 93:1-11 By the forenoon.
By the night as it falls.
Your Lord never abandoned you, nor did He forget.
The Hereafter is far better for you than this first (life).
And your Lord will give you enough; you will be pleased.
Did He not find you orphaned and He gave you a home?
He found you astray , and guided you.
He found you poor, and made you rich.
Therefore, you shall not forsake the orphan.
Nor shall you reprimand the beggar.
You shall proclaim the blessing your Lord has bestowed upon you.

6. And yet, of the two strangers, you have despised the poor man. Don't you realize that it is usually the rich men who pick on you and drag you into court?

Q. 92:8-11 But he who is stingy, though he is rich.
And disbelieves in the scripture.
We will direct him towards misery.
His money cannot help him when he falls.
We provide the guidance.
We control the Hereafter, as well as this life.

J2:7 And all too often they are the ones who laugh at Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear.

Q. 3:48 "He will teach him (Jesus) the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel."

Q. 3:50-53 "I confirm previous scripture - the Torah - and I revoke certain prohibitions imposed upon you. I come to you with sufficient proof from your Lord. Therefore, you shall observe God, and obey me.
"God is my Lord and your Lord; you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path."
When Jesus sensed their disbelief, he said, "Who are my supporters towards God?" The disciples said, "We are God's supporters; we believe in God, and bear witness that we are submitters.
"Our Lord, we have believed in what You have sent down, and we have followed the messenger; count us among the witnesses."

Q. 2:212 This worldly life is adorned in the eyes of the disbelievers, and they ridicule those who believe. However, the righteous will be far above them on the Day of Resurrection. God blesses whomever He wills, without limits.

J2:8. Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's command, "You must love and help your neighbors just as much as you love and take care of yourself."

Q. 92:17-21 Avoiding it (the hellfire) will be the righteous.
Who gives from his money to charity.
Seeking nothing in return.
Seeking only his Lord, the Most High.
He will certainly attain salvation.

J2:9. But you are breaking this law of our Lord's when you favor the rich and fawn over them; it is sin.

J2:10. And the person who keeps every law of God, but makes one little slip, is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is.

Q. 2:84,85 We made a covenant with you, that you shall not shed your blood, nor shall you evict each other from your homes. You agreed and bore witness.

Yet, here you are killing each other, and evicting some of you from their homes, banding against them sinfully and maliciously. Even when they surrendered, you demanded ransom from them. Evicting them was prohibited for you in the first place. Do you believe in part of the scripture and disbelieve in part? What should be the retribution for those among you who do this, except humiliation in this life, and a far worse retribution on the Day of Resurrection? God is never unaware of anything you do.

J2:11 For the God who said you must not marry a woman who already has a husband, also said you must not murder, so even though you have not broken the marriage laws by committing adultery, but have murdered someone, you have entirely broken God's laws and stand utterly guilty before Him.

Q. 5:32-34 Because of this, we decreed for the Children of Israel that anyone who murders any person who had not committed a murder or horrendous crimes, it shall be as if he murdered all the people. And anyone who spares a life, it shall be as if he spared the lives of all the people. our messengers went to them with clear proofs and revelations, but most of them, after all this, are still transgressing.

The just retribution for those who fight God and His messenger, and commit horrendous crimes, is to be killed, or crucified, or to have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or to be banished from the land. This is to humiliate them in this life, then they suffer a far worse retribution in the Hereafter.

Exempted are those who repent before you overcome them. You should know that God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

J2:12. You will be judged on whether or not you are doing what Christ wants you to. So watch what you do and what you think;

Q 43:63 When Jesus went with the proofs, he said, "I bring to you wisdom, and to clarify some of the matters in which you dispute. You shall reverence God and obey me.

J2:13. For there will be no mercy to those who have shown no mercy. But if you have been merciful, then God's mercy toward you will win out over His judgment against you.

Q 57:27-29 Subsequent to them, we sent our messengers. We sent Jesus the son of Mary, and we gave him the Injeel (Gospel), and we placed in the hearts of his followers kindness and mercy....
O you who believe, you shall reverence God and believe in His messenger. He will then grant you double the reward from His mercy, endow you with light to guide you, and forgive you. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
Thus, the followers of previous scripture should know that they have not monopolized God's mercy and grace, and that all grace is in God's hand. He bestows it upon whomever He wills. God is Possessor of Infinite Grace.

J2:14. Dear brothers, what's the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians, if you aren't proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone?

Q. 2:204-206 Among the people, one may impress you with his utterances concerning this life, and may even call upon God to witness his innermost thoughts, while he is a most ardent opponent.
As soon as he leaves, he roams the earth corruptingly, destroying properties and lives. God does not love corruption.
When he is told, "observe God," he becomes arrogantly indignant. Consequently, his only destiny is Hell; what a miserable abode.

J2:15. If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing,

J2:16. And you say to him, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty," and then don't give him clothes or food, what good does that do?

Q. 2:267,268 O you who believe, you shall give to charity from the good things you earn, and from what we have produced for you from the earth. Do not pick out the bad therein to give away, when you yourselves do not accept it unless your eyes are closed. You should know that God is Rich, Praiseworthy.
The devil promises you poverty and commands you to commit evil, while God promises you forgiveness from him and grace. God is Bounteous, Omniscient.

J2:17. So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn't show itself by good works is no faith at all - it is dead and useless.

Q. 2:207 Then there are those who dedicate their lives to serving God; God is compassionate towards such worshipers.

J2:18. But someone may well argue, "You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can't prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act."

Q. 18:103-108 Say, "Shall I tell you who the worst losers are?"
"They are the ones whose works in this life are totally astray, but they think that they are doing good."
Such are the ones who disbelieved in the revelations of their Lord and in meeting Him. Therefore, their works are in vain; on the Day of Resurrection, they have no weight.
Their just requital is Hell, in return for their disbelief, and for mocking My revelations and My messengers.
As for those who believe and lead a righteous life they have deserved a blissful Paradise as their abode.
Forever they abide therein; they will never want any other substitute.

J2:19. Are there still some among you who hold that "only believing" is enough? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the devils believe this too - so strongly that they tremble in terror!

Q. 14:22 And the devil will say, after the judgment had been issued, "God has promised you the truthful promise, and I promised you, but I broke my promise. I had no power over you; I simply invited you, and you accepted my invitation. Therefore, do not blame me, and blame only yourselves. My complaining cannot help you, nor can your complaining help me. I have disbelieved in your idolizing me. The transgressors have incurred a painful retribution."

Q. 59:16 They are like the devil: he says to the human being, "Disbelieve," then as soon as he disbelieves, he says, "I disown you. I fear God, Lord of the universe."

J2:20. Dear foolish man! When will you ever learn that "believing" is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith.

Q. 27:46 He said, "O my people, why do you hasten to commit evil instead of good works? If only you implore God for forgiveness, you may attain mercy."

Q. 27:89 Those who bring good works (in their records) will receive far better rewards, and they will be perfectly secure from the horrors of that day.

J2:21. Don't you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did, when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar?

At this point it must be stated that the Quran disagrees with the Bible as to whom Abraham was supposed to sacrifice, and also to the circumstances that led Abraham to believe he was obeying God: the Quran states that it was Ismail who Abraham attempted to sacrifice, as Isaac was not yet born. Satan was allowed to tempt Abraham in a dream, which Abraham mistakenly interpreted as being inspired by God. Furthermore, God never tempts anyone to commit a sin, and murdering ones son is a sin. God expressly forbids the killing of our children. God never violates His own law. The Quran states:

Q. 7:28 ....God never advocates sin. Are you saying about God what you do not know?"

Q. 37:102-108 When he grew enough to work with him, he said, "My son, I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you. What do you think?" He said, "O my father, do what you are commanded to do. You will find me, God willing, patient."
They both submitted, and he put his forehead down (to sacrifice him).
We called him: "O Abraham."
"You have believed the dream." We thus reward the righteous.
That was an exacting test indeed.
We ransomed (Ismail) by substituting an animal sacrifice.
And we preserved his history for subsequent generations.

Q. 17:31 You shall not kill your children due to fear of poverty. We provide for them, as well as for you. Killing them is a gross offense.

Q. 17:33 You shall not kill any person - for God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder, he will be helped.

As already stated in James 1:13, "....When someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it." We can only speculate why the Old Testament version claims that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, contrary to the fact that God never advocates evil. Also, James 3:17 points out that God's wisdom is full of mercy and good deeds, and killing ones child, or anyone else, except in the course of justice, is evil, and thus must be inspired by the devil. Certainly good and evil are not equal. Therefore, in light of the evidence, one must decide whether it was God's command or the devil's that Abraham attempted to follow.

J2:22. You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did, by his actions, his good deeds.

Q. 4:75 We showed Abraham the marvels of the heavens and the earth, and blessed him with certainty.

Q. 4:79-87 "I have devoted myself absolutely to the One who initiated the heavens and the earth; I will never be an idol worshiper."
His people argued with him. He said, "Do you argue with me about God, after He has guided me? I have no fear of the idols you set up. Nothing can happen to me, unless my Lord wills it. My Lord's knowledge encompasses all things. Would you not take heed?"
"Why should I fear your idols? It is you who should be afraid, since you worship instead of God idols that are utterly powerless to help you. Which side is more deserving of security, if you know?"
Those who believe, and do not pollute their belief with idol worship, have deserved the perfect security, and they are truly guided.
Such was our argument, with which we supported Abraham against his people. We exalt whomever we will to higher ranks. Your Lord is Most Wise, Omniscient.
And we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and we guided both of them. Similarly, we guided Noah before that, and from his descendants (we guided) David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron. We thus reward the righteous.
Also, Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias; all were righteous.
And Ismail, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot; each of these we distinguished over all the people.
From among their ancestors, their descendants, and their siblings, we chose many, and we guided them in a straight path.

J2:23. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God's sight, and he was even called "the friend of God."

Q. 4:125 Whose is better guided in his religion than one who submits totally to God, leads a righteous life, according to the creed of Abraham: monotheism? God has chosen Abraham as a beloved friend.

J2:24. So you see, a man is saved by what he does, as well as by what he believes.

Q. 2:207 Then there are those who dedicate their lives to serving God; God is compassionate towards such worshipers.

Q. 3:142 Do you expect to enter Paradise without God distinguishing those among you who strive, and without distinguishing those who are steadfast?

J2:25. Rahab, the prostitute, is another example of this. She was saved because of what she did when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.

Q. 4:48 God does not forgive idolatry, but He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills. Anyone who sets up idols beside God, has forged a horrendous offense.

J2:26. Just as the body is dead when there is no spirit in it, so faith is dead if it is not the kind that results in good deeds.

Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Afterword

[ back to the top of this page ]