Eucharist vs Hajj

I just finished reading a book called The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina.  I read the book in two sittings and I’m not a fast reader.  It’s a book that documents the history of the Christian practice of the Eucharist.  As someone who values history, it is important to look at the history of such a sacred Christian practice.  Every group that calls themselves Christian takes part in this ritual in one manner or another.

This book traces this practice from its origin and shows that it has always been a practice of the Christian Church.  It starts out with the evidence found in Scripture from the last supper and the writings of St. Paul.  It then goes into very early Church documents such as the Didache and the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr and many other early fathers.  It also documents the Church attempt at regulating the practice of the Eucharist.  This is demonstrated in Canon 18 of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD; a council where over 300 bishops attended.

We can see that what was found in Scripture was always followed by the early Christians and is still followed by Christians today.  It makes sense after all.  Christ told His followers to do this and Christians have done as they were told.

Contrast this with the Islamic practice known as the Hajj.  The Hajj is a pilgrimage to the Sacred Mosque in Mecca which is supposed to be undertaken by all Muslims if they have the financial means to do so.  According to Islam the Hajj wasn’t established by Muhammad or the early Ummah.  It was Abraham and Ishmael who established the Sacred Mosque and the Hajj according to Surah 2:124-127 of the Quran.

Of course if this was done, it would have been mentioned in the chapters of Abraham in the book of Genesis which is Genesis 11 through 25.  It would have been referenced in the Torah, the Prophets or the Psalms.  It would have been mentioned by Christ, His apostles or the early Church.  There is simply no Sacred Mosque, no Mecca, no pilgrimage where the Mosque is circled and no prayer toward this obscure location.  We have 2,500 years and no mention of this practice.  We only have the Quranic testimony to go on.

What can we conclude from this?  Very simple, the one who wrote Surah 2 is lying.  There is no evidence to back it up in the slightest.  Contrast this with the detailed history of the Eucharist in The Mass of the Early Christians and many other books.

I encourage Muslims to look hard at these two rituals.  The Hajj has no history.  It was unknown before Muhammad.  The Eucharist was ushered in by Jesus Christ and practiced by the early Church in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and typology.  Muhammad ignored this practice and chose the Hajj instead.  He lied about it by saying that Abraham and Ishmael established it.

Muslims, you have a choice.  You can either keep saving up thousands of dollars for a plane ticket to a city that has no connection to any Biblical prophets or you can join the Church and participate in a firmly established practice by the Messiah Himself.

I end with the words of St. Justin Martyr in his First Apology.  A document written in the second century.  The saint writes:

This food we call the Eucharist, and no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that our doctrines are true, who has been washed with the bath for the remission of sins and rebirth, and who is living as Christ commanded.