na descended from heaven
for His sustenance and that He uttered words immediately after His birth.
In brief, in the Qur'an there is eulogy and commendation of Christ such as
you do not find in the Gospel. The Gospel does not record that the child
Jesus spoke at birth or that God caused sustenance to descend from heaven
for Him, but in the Qur'an it is repeatedly stated that God sent down
manna day by day as food for Him. Furthermore, it is significant and
convincing that when Muhammad proclaimed His work and mission, His first
objection to His own followers was, "Why have you not believed on Jesus
Christ? Why have you not accepted the Gospel? Why have you not believed in
Moses? Why have you not followed the precepts of the Old Testament? Why
have you not understood the prophets of Israel? Why have you not believed
in the disciples of Christ? The first duty incumbent upon ye, O Arabians,
is to accept and believe in these. You must consider Moses as a Prophet.
You must accept Jesus Christ as the Word of God. You must know the Old and
the New Testaments as the Word of God. You must believe in Jesus Christ as
the product of the Holy Spirit." His people answered, "O Muhammad! We will
become believers although our fathers and ancestors were not believers,
and we are proud of them. Tell us what is going to become of them?"
Muhammad replied, "I declare unto you that they occupy the lowest stratum
of hell because they did not believe in Moses and Christ and because they
did not accept the Bible; and although they are my own ancestors, yet they
are in despair in hell." This is an explicit text of the Qur'an; it is not
a story or tradition but from the Qur'an itself, which is in the hands of
the people. Therefore, it is evident that ignorance and misunderstanding
have caused so much warfare and strife between Christians and Muslims. If
both should investigate the underlying truth of their religious beliefs,
the outcome would be unity and agreement; strife and bitterness would pass
away forever and the world of humanity find peace and composure. Consider
that there are two hundred and fifty million Christians and three hundred
million Muslims. How much blood has flowed in their wars; how many nations
have been destroyed; how many children have been made fatherless; how many
fathers and mothers have mourned the loss of children and dear ones! All
this has been due to prejudice, misunderstanding and imitations of
ancestral beliefs witho