A Fateful Choice

Not long ago, a Mexican woman living in Houston was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Like most of her family, she was a Catholic. Two exceptions were her niece and the niece’s husband who had both left Christianity some year ago and embraced Islam, thus abandoning the belief that Jesus is not only God, but also the son of god. Anyway, the niece’s husband created an audio CD in Spanish about the basics of Islam and took it to the aunt saying, “Rather than learn about Islam and Muslims from network television and Hollywood, allow me to share what I know”. The man and his wife then left for a journey to the first house of worship on Earth.

Upon returning, they visited the aunt and asked her whether she had listened to the CD. The woman replied that she had, several times and agreed with everything in it other than what it said about Jesus not being the son of God, but His messenger and someone who followed in the path of Abraham. Jesus, she affirmed, was God.

The man asked her, “O aunt, you are on the last leg of your life, and able to think about matters without the pressure and considerations most of us may face. If you were able to call on only one at this time in your life, would you call on Jesus or the one who sent Jesus to us?” The woman thought about the matter and finally said, “Given such a choice, I would have to call on the one who sent Jesus.” Upon hearing this, the person said, “That is the same One all Muslims call and pray to.” Some days later, the woman decided to embrace Islam. Her decision created a big rift within the family. Her children and other relatives summoned a priest who encouraged her to embrace Jesus as the savior and be assured of eternal salvation. Unable to speak in the terminal stages of her affliction, the woman wrote on a sheet of paper, “There is only one God” and asked that she be given an Islamic burial. Shortly thereafter, she died. This woman was presented with a stark question in the final days of her life. What would you do in her place, and why? Which path would take you home?

Throughout human history and across multiple cultures, claims of divinity abound – made personally or by others, during a person’s lifetime or following his death. Paul of Tarsus, Japanese emperors, Egyptian Pharaohs, Shah Ismail I, and the Roman Emperor Hadrian (who deified Antinous after the latter died in 130CE) are just some of the names that have all played an active role in this arena. In other instances, a person is not considered divine but accorded other privileges such as wrestling with god all night and holding his own in the contest. Which of these claims should we accept and why? We have shared this earth with many individuals of exceptional piety and having high standing not only within their communities but also in the ones that followed. Among the prophets, Ibrahim was honored by Allah as His Khalil (friend) and is known as Khalil-Allah. Among the messengers, Musa bin Imran (Moses) was bestowed the title of Kaleem-Allah as he was addressed by Allah in a fashion that transcends common understanding. Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus), the messenger sent to Bani-Israel, was given the title of Ruh-Allah (a unique and especially noble Ruh from Allah). Muhammad has bestowed the title of Rasool-Allah (messenger of Allah) as the last of the messengers. These noble individuals, and many others that I haven’t mentioned for the sake of brevity, equally deserve our respect but should this standing be allowed to infringe on divinity?

No matter how special a human being, he/she is still utterly insignificant before the divine. But what does divinity really mean? In fact, divine attributes surpass all human measure. Nevertheless, they include:

• Being the only one worthy of worship and prayer
• Creating the flow of time and not being subject to the same
• Having absolute knowledge of all events and at every scale
• Bringing existence out of non-existence
• Giving shape, life/lifelessness, and qadar (measure/ability) to all matter
• Sustaining the universe from one instant to the next
• Not suffering from hunger, thirst, drowsiness, or pain
• Not experiencing birth and death
• Setting the limits of lawful and forbidden behavior
• Guiding, forgiving, rewarding, or punishing humans
• Commanding with the divine Word (“Kun”)
• Transcending all human descriptions regarding the essence of the God. Recognizing these divine attributes can help us avoid committing excesses in projecting some or all of these onto human beings.

When we consider a person to be divine, we raise many contradictions. For example, it is a paradox for a woman to say that the son she gave birth to is also her creator. If someone came to you today with such a claim, how would you respond to the statement that the baby she is holding is the eternal Creator of the heavens and earth? Why would your answer be any different regarding someone who lived thousands of years ago, and may not even have existed given the absence of irrefutable historical record (c.f. Jesus)? What if someone came to you and said, “I am god. You too are god. The only difference between you and me is that while I am aware of it, you are completely unaware of it.” This last gem comes from Sai Baba who died earlier this year. What objective basis should we use to resolve all these competing claims? Is it not simpler to submit to One creator, and not raise those who have lived among us to the status of divinity?