An Analytical Study of the Cross and the Hijrah
Chapters
- Introduction
- The Similarities between Jerusalem and Mecca
- The Opposition to Jesus and Muhammad
- The Ways of Escape Before both Men
- Muhammad and the Ummah at Medina
- The Contrasting Path Chosen by Jesus Christ
- The Cross - the Choice of the Saviour of the World
- The End Result: the Glorious Kingdom of God
It is not often realised how many similarities there are between the ministries of Jesus and Muhammad up to the point of Muhammad's departure from Mecca for the city of Medina (then known as Yathrib). The Islamic calendar traditionally dates from this exodus which is described in Islamic history as the hijrah (the "emigration"). In the biographies of the founders of the two greatest religions in the world we find them both pursuing a religious purpose and vocation that was to provoke intense opposition from their respective countrymen to the point where plans were laid to put them both to death. Each one was to learn of the plot against him and a moment of crisis, of crucial decision-making, was to face him.
In this booklet we shall briefly analyse the similarities between the events in the lives of these two men that led to the point of crisis, examine the actual decisions taken by them, and the vastly different courses their lives and ministries were to take as a result.