by Dr. Maneh Al-Johani
Quotations from the Holy Qur’an
Say: 'O People of the Book, come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but God; that we associate not aught with Him; and do not some of us take others as Lords, apart from God. And if they turn their backs, say: 'Bear witness that we are Muslims’. (3:64)
People of the Book! why do you confound the truth with falsehood and
conceal the truth knowingly? (3:71)
Quotations from Hadith:
Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger (PBUH) as saying, "I am the
nearest of kin to Jesus, son of Mary, in this world and the next. The
prophets are brothers, sons of one father by co-wives. Their mothers are
different but their religion is one. There has been no prophet between us".
(Bukhari and Muslim).
Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger(PBUH) as saying,"By Him in
whose hand my soul is, the son of Mary will soon descend among you as a
just judge. He will break crosses, kill swine and abolish the jizya (a tax
payable by a commuinty which accepts the protection of a Muslim ruler but
whose members do not embrace Islam), and wealth will pour forth to such
an extent that no one will accept it, and one sajda (the position in Muslim’s
prayer where the forehead is placed on the ground), will be better than the
world and what it contains". (Bukahri and Muslim).
PREFACE
The controversy about the personality of Jesus Christ is the major difference
between Islam and Christianity. This difference keeps the followers of the two religions
apart. Muslims look at Jesus Christ as a great Prophet of God and love and respect him
as much as they love and respect Abraham, Moses and Muhammad. Christians on the
other hand consider Jesus as God or son of God, a concept that Muslims cannot
accept. Islam teaches that Jesus never made such a claim for himself. As a matter of
fact all the cardinal doctrines of Christianity that are rejected by Islam center around
the personality of Jesus. Specifically these are:
1. The Trinity
2. The Divinity of Jesus
3. The Divine Sonship of Christ
4. Original Sin, and
5. Atonement.
It is clear that all these dogmas are the result of over-exhalting Jesus Christ above
what God wants him to be. These differences focusing on the personality of Jesus have
overshadowed the many similarities between Christianity and Islam. Some examples
are the moral system and the emphasis on human principles. They have even over
shadowed the beliefs that Muslims associate with Jesus Christ such as the Virgin Birth
of Jesus, being able to speak in the cradle, performing miracles,and the second coming
of Jesus Christ.
The following two articles aim at presenting a true picture of Jesus in Islam and
explaining why the Christians deviated from his original teachings. The first article also
indicates that many scholars and thinkers, who are still within the fold of Christianity,
are gradually coming to agree with the Islamic points of view about Jesus, in many
cases without realizing it. This corresponds to my conviction that the more scientific
and biblical studies advance, the more they will agree with Islam. In other words, the
Islamic truth is more evident with the passage of time. God in the Holy Quran hints to
this in the following verse:
We shall show them our signs in the horizons and in themselves, till it is
clear to them that it is the truth. (41:53)
INTRODUCTION
The Islamic view of Jesus lies between two extremes. The Jews, who rejected
Jesus as a Prophet of God, called him an impostor. The Christians on the other hand,
consider him to be the son of God and worship him as such. Islam considers Jesus as
one of the great Prophets of God and respects him as much as Abraham, Moses and
Muhammad. This is in conformity with the Islamic point of view of the oneness of
God, the oneness of Divine guidance, and the complimentary role of the subsequent
messages of God’s messengers. The essence of Islam, which is the willing submission
to the will of God, was revealed to Adam who passed it on to his children. All
following revelations to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and finally Muhammad were in
conformity with that message in addition to some elaboration to define the relation
between Man and God, man and man, man and his environment, and to live according
to God’s instructions. Thus, any contradiction among revealed religions is viewed by
Islam as a man-made element introduced into these religions. The position of Jesus in
the three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, should not be an exception.
Although the Qur’an does not present a detailed life-account of Jesus, it
highlights the important aspects of his birth, his mission, his ascension to heaven and
passess judgements on the Christian beliefs concerning him.
MARY
The Qura’nic account of Jesus starts with the conception of his mother, Mary.
The wife of Imran, Mary’s mother, vowed to dedicate her child to the service of God
in the temple. Zacharia, who took charge of Mary, used to find food with Mary. When
he asked her how she got it she answered that it was from God. The Quranic verses
read:
When the wife of Imran said, 'Lord, I have vowed to you, in dedication,
what is within my womb. Please accept it from me. you are the Hearer and
knower'. And when she gave birth to her she said, 'Lord, I have given birth to
her, a female... And I have named her Mary end commend her to you with her
seed, to protect them from the accursed Satan.'Her Lord received the child
with gracious favor, and by His goodness she grew up comely, Zacheria
taking charge of her. Whenever Zacharia went to her in the Sanctuery, he
found her provisioned. 'Mary', he said, 'how comes this to you? ''From God',
she answered. Truly God provisions for whomsoever He will without
reckoning. (3:95-7)
GLAD TIDINGS AND JESUS'S BIRTH
When Mary became a woman, the Holy Spirit (the Archangel Gabriel)
appeared to her as a man bringing her the news of a son. We read the
following dialogue in the Qur'an between Mary and the angels:
When the angels said, 'Mary. God gives you good tidings of a Word
from Him whose name is Messiah Jesus, son of Mary; high honored
shall he be in this world and the next, near stationed to God. He shall
speak to men in the cradle, and of age, and righteous she shall be.'
'Lord', said Mary, 'how shall I have a son seeing no mortal has touched
me? 'Even so' he said, 'God creates what He will.' When He decrees a
thing He does but say to it, "Be", and it is.' (3:45-7)
Mary conceived the child miraculously and retired to a distant place
where she awaited her delivery. The Qur'an in a chapter entitled 'Mary’ tells us
how Mary felt and what the Jews told her when she brought the child home:
She conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. And
the birthpangs surprised her by the trunk of the palm-tree. She said,
'would I had died before this. and become a thing forgotten.' The one
from below her called to her, 'Do not grieve; see, your Lord has set
below you a rivulet. Shake also toward you the palmtrunk. and there
shall come tumbling upon you dates fresh and ripe.
Eat therefore, and
drink, and be comforted; and if you should see any mortal, say. "I have
vowed to the All-Merciful a fast, and today I will not speak to any man."
Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said,
‘Mary, you have surely committed a monstrous thing. Sister of Aaron,
your father was not a wicked man, nor was your mother a woman
unchaste.' Mary pointed to the child. but they said, 'How shall we speak
to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?' He said, 'Lo, I am God's
servant; God has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. Blessed
he has made me, wherever I may be; and he has enjoined me to pray.
and to give the alms, so long as I live, and likewise to cherish my
mother; he has not made me arrogant or wicked. Peace be upon me,
the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive.'
(Surah Maryam)
NOT THE SON OF GOD
In the same chapter, following the above quotation, God assured
Muhammad and the whole world that what was mentioned above is the truth
about Jesus although the Christians might not believe it. Jesus is not the son of
God. He was, obviously enough, the son of Mary. The verses continue:
That is Jesus, son of Mary, in word of truth, concerning which they
are doubting. It is not for God to take a son unto Him. Glory be to Him!
When He decrees a thing. He but says to it "Be". and it is. (19:34-5)
After this strong statement about the nature of Jesus, God directed
Muhammad to call the Christians to a fair deal: to worship the one God:
Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord, so serve Him. This is the straight
path. (19:38).
The rejection of the idea of God having a son is reported later in the same
chapter with even stronger words:
And they say, 'The All-merciful has taken unto Himself a son.' You
have indeed advanced something hideous. The heavens are well nigh
rent of it and the earth split asunder, and the mountains well nigh fall
down crashing for that they have attributed to the All-merciful a son; and
it behoves not the All-merciful to take a son. None is there in the
heavens and earth but he comes to the All-merciful as a servant.
(19:88-93)
The Qur’an recognizes the fact that Jesus had no human father but this
does not make him the son of God or God Himself. By this criterion Adam
would have been more entitled to be the son of God because he had neither a
father nor a mother. So the Qur'an draws attention to the miraculous creation
of both in the following verse:
Truly the likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as Adam's likeness; He
created him of dust. then said He unto him, "Be", and he was. (3:59)
The Qur'an rejects the concept of the Trinity as strongly as it rejects the
sonship of Jesus. This is because God is One. This is the essence of all
monotheistic revelations. Three, by reason and by simple arithmetic, are not
one. The Qur'an addresses the Christians in the following verses in the chapter
entitled "Women".
People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and
say not as to God but the Truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was
only the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary,
and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers, and say
not, 'Three'. Refrain. better is it for you. God is only One God. Glory be
to Him — that He should have a son! To Him belongs all that is in the
heavens and in the earth, God suffices for a guardian.
The Messiah will not disdain to be a servant of God, neither the
angels who are close to Him. Whosoever disdains to serve Him and
waxes proud. He will assuredly muster them to Him, all of them.
As for the believers, who do deeds of righteousness, He will pay
them their rewards in full, and He will give them more, of His bounty; as
for them who disdain and wax proud, them He will punish with a severe
punishment, and they shall not find for them, apart from God, a friend or
helper. (Surah Nisa)
The verses continue to draw the attention of people, all people, to the proof
which Muhammad brought. God knows that people frequently inherit certain
ideas and beliefs which include, among other things, the mistakes and
interpretations of previous generations. They have no way of discovering such
mistakes for themselves. Thus God presents the Qur’an as a proof to such
people. He says:
O men, a manifest proof has now come to you from your Lord; we
have sent down to you a clear light. As for those who believe in God,
and hold fast to Him, He will surely admit them to mercy from Him, and
bounty, and will guide them to Him on a straight path. (4:173-5)
The denial of Jesus' divinity (and for that matter Mary's divinity) is
presented in the Qur’an as a topic of dialogue at the Day of Judgement between
God Almighty and Jesus. All the messengers and the nations will be gathered in
front of God and He will ask the messengers how they were received by their
peoples and what they said to them. Among those who are going to be
questioned is Jesus:
And when God said, 'O Jesus son of Mary, did you say unto men,
"Take me and my mother as gods. apart from God?” He said, 'To you be
glory! It is not mine to say what I have no right to. If I indeed said it, you
knew it, knowing what is within my soul, and I do not know what is within
your soul. you know the things unseen. I only said to them what you did
command me: "serve God, my Lord and your Lord."
And I was a witness
over them, while I remained among them; but when you did take me to
yourself, you were yourself the watcher over them; you are the witness
of everything. If you punish them, they are your servants, if you forgive
them, you are the Almighty, the All-wise.' God said, ‘This is the day the
truthful shall be profited by their truthfulness. For them await gardens
underneath which rivers flow therein dwelling forever, God being
well-pleased with them end they well-pleased with Him; That is the
mighty triumph'.
JESUS'S MISSION
Now one might ask: If the Qur'an denies the Trinity and the sonship of
Jesus, what was the real mission of Jesus according to the Qur'an?
Jesus was a link in a long chain of prophets and messengers sent by God to
various societies and nations whenever they needed guidance or deviated from the
teachings of God. Jesus was especially prepared by God to be sent to the Jews who
had deviated from the teachings of Moses and other Messengers. As he was
miraculously supported by God in conception, birth and childhood, he was also
supported by numerous miracles to prove that he was a messenger from God.
However, the majority of the Jews rejected his ministry. The Qur'an tells us about
Jesus' mission in the following verses which are a continuation of the verses quoted
earlier in which the glad tiding was brought to Mary:
And He will teach him the Book, the wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel and
make him a Messenger to the children of Israel saying, “I have come to you
with a sign from your Lord. I will create for you out of clay as the likeness of a
bird; then I will breathe into It, and it will be a bird, by the power of God. I will
also heal the blind and the leper and bring to life the dead, by the power of
God. I will inform you too of the things you eat, and what you treasure up in
your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you if you are believers. Likewise I
will confirm the truth of the Torah that is before me, and to make lawful to you
certain things that before were forbidden unto you. I have come to you with a
sign from your Lord; so fear God, and obey me. Surely God is my Lord and
your Lord; so serve Him. This is a straight path". (3:45-51)
In another verse of the Qur’an, Jesus confirmed the validity of the Torah which
was revealed to Moses and he also brought the glad tidings of the coming of a final
messenger after him. This is clearly indicated in the following verse:
And when Jesus son of Mary said. 'children of Israel. I am indeed the
Messenger to you, confirming the Torah that is before me, and giving good
tidings of a Messenger who shall come after me, whose name shall be the
praised one (note that this is translation of Ahmad which is Prophet
Muhammad’s name). (61:6)
The messenger of whom Jesus gave glad tidings is referred to in both the old and
new testaments of the Bible. The old testament contains several prophecies that apply
only to the Prophet Muhammad. I quote only one of those which applies to none
except Prophet Muhammad. This prophecy which was addressed to Moses said that
God will send among the 'brethren' of the Israelites, a prophet like Moses who will be
a founder, a leader, and an exemplar of a community of believers. We read this in the
following verses of Deut. Ch. 18:
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and
I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I
command him. And whoever will not give heed to My words which he shall
speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. (Deut. 18:18-20)
Any one who is familiar with Prophet Muhammad's life, can easily see that no
one fits the above description better than Prophet Muhammad. It was Prophet
Muhammad, not Jesus, who like Moses was born from ordinary parents, got married,
founded a faithful community, established a great law and died a natural death.
Careful study of the New Testament shows that this same prophet is referred to
by Jesus in John 14:16,17:
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with
you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.
Later in John specific description of this Spirit of Truth and his role is given as
we read in John 16:13,14.:
When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he
will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and
he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me...
The terms of the prophecy do not warrant the conclusion usually attributed to
this prophecy, namely that it refers to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost explanation is
excluded by a previous verse in John which reads:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantages that I go away,
for if I do not go away, the counselor will not come to you.
It is clear from the Bible that the Holy Ghost used to visit men before and during
the life-time of Jesus. John was filled with the Holy Ghost before he was born and
Jesus himself received the Holy Ghost in the shape of a dove.
The characteristics of this counselor, as can be derived from the prophecy,
are the following:
1. He will not come until Jesus leaves.
2. He will stay forever, with the believers.
3. He will glorify Jesus.
4. He will speak what he hears from God.
These characteristics are applicable only to Prophet Muhammad, as the
following brief remarks show:
Prophet Muhammad was the only messenger that came after Jesus. There
was a period of six centuries between them. Jesus' mission was limited to
the "lost sheep of the children of Israel”, but Muhammad's was a universal
message. This explains the second characteristic.
Only Prophet Muhammad's message was intended by God to be a universal and
everlasting message. This agrees with the statement that the counselor will stay
forever with the faithful.
No other prophet glorified Jesus as much as Prophet Muhammad did. The Jews
called him an impostor and accused his mother of immorality. They tried to crucify
him. Prophet Muhammad considered Jesus as great Prophet and the “Word of
God". The Qur'an attributed to him miracles that are not mentioned in the Bible.
Mary is considered the most chaste woman and the best of all women in paradise.
Thus did Muhammad really glorify Jesus.
The fourth characteristic also applies neatly to Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’an
was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. When the angel
finished reciting the Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad used to convey verbatim to his
companions what he heard from the angel without adding, changing or forgetting
anything. The Qur'an also describes Prophet Muhammad saying “He does not
speak out of his own fancy. He utters what is revealed to him." (53:4,5). If
we compare this with, "He will not speak on his own authority", we see the
striking similarity between the characteristics of the counselor and those of Prophet
Muhammad. These and other prophecies in the old and new testaments predict in
unequivocal terms the advent of Prophet Muhammad who is rejected by the Jews
and Christians on the basis of misunderstanding and bias rather than on the basis of
careful study of the Bible, the Qur'an and modern findings in the field of
comparative religion.
JESUS RAISED TO HEAVEN
It is a sad fact of history that not many follow "the straight path", to which people
were called by Jesus. He was followed by a few disciples who were inspired by God to
support him. Not only that, but the non-believers plotted (as they did to Muhammad
six centuries later) to kill Jesus, but God had a better plan for him and his followers as
the Qur'an tells us in the following verses:
And when Jesus perceived their unbelief, he said, 'who will be my
helpers in the cause of God? The Apostles said, 'we will be helpers of God.'
We believe in God; be witness of our submission. Lord, we believe in that you
have sent down, and we follow the Messenger. Inscribe us therefore with
those who bear witness.' And they devised, and God devised, and God is the
best of devisers. When God said, 'Jesus, I will take you to me and will raise
you to Me, and I will purify you of those who do not believe. I will set your
followers above the unbelievers till the Ressurrection Day. Then unto Me shall
you return, and I will decide between you, as to what you were at variance on.
As for the unbelievers, I will punish them with a terrible punishment in this
world and the next; they shall have no helpers.' (3:52-6)
As the above verses indicate, Jesus was raised to heaven before he died.
This means that according to the Qur'an he was not crucified. It was the plan of
the enemies of Jesus to put him to death on the cross, but God saved him and
somebody else was crucified. This plot and the false accusation of Mary are
considered by the Qur'an to be some of the sins of the non-believing Jews. All
this is clear in the following quotation:
And for their unbelief, and their uttering against Mary a mighty calumny,
and for their saying, ‘We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the
Messenger of God'... yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a
likeness of that was shown to them. Those who are at variance concerning
him surely are in doubt regarding him, they have no knowledge of him, except
the following of surmise; and they did not slay him of certainty... no indeed;
God raised him up to Him; God is Almighty, All-wise. There is not one of the
people of the Book but will assuredly believe in him before his death, and on
the Ressurrection Day he will be a witness against them. (4:156-9).
Who was the person crucified instead of Jesus? The Qur'an does not elaborate on
this point nor does it give any answer to this question. The interpreters of the Qur'an
have suggested a few names. But all these are individual guesses not supported by the
Qur'an or the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
This means that Jesus will come back before the Day of Judgement. Again the
Second Coming is not clearly mentioned in the Qur'an. However, the explanators of
the Qur'an understood the last verse of the above quotation: there is not one of the
people of the Book but will assuredly believe in him before his death, and on the
Resurrection Day he will be a witness against them, to mean that Jesus will come
back and all the Christians and the Jews will believe in him before he dies. This
understanding is supported by authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
