The Muslim Jesus: Prophet Jesus Occupies a Revered Position in Islam
By
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
8 November 2023
While there
are differences between Islam and Christianity, there is also a tremendous
bridge between Muslims and Christians. Muslims and the first Christians—the
Jewish followers of Jesus—saw Jesus as not divine but rather as a prophet and
human Messiah and that salvation comes from faith and good works, not merely as
faith, as Christians would later emphasize. Apart from being Abrahamic faith
which owes a common genealogy, Prophet Jesus occupies a revered position in
Islam. Christians, perhaps because they call themselves Christians and believe
in Christianity like to claim ownership of Christ. Thus, it is a huge surprise
to many of them to discover that the world's second-largest faith, Islam, also
stakes a claim to him.
File Photo
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In Islam,
Jesus, or Isa, known in the Qur'an, is a Prophet of God. The difference is that
he is not divinized as he is in Christianity. In other words, Christ, for
Islam, is not part of the Godhead or the son of God or God incarnate.
In the
Qur'an, God spoke directly to Christians when he said:
"O people of the Scripture! Do not exceed
the limits in your religion, nor say of God aught but the truth. The Messiah
Jesus, son of Mary, was a Messenger of God and His Word, which He bestowed on
Mary and a spirit created by Him; so believe in God and His Messengers. Say
not: 'Trinity!' Cease; it is better for you! For God is One God, glory is to
Him. Far Exalted is He above having a son." (Q 4:171)
Islam
embraces the moral and ethical teachings of Moses and Jesus. Honesty, decency,
equality and dignity are central to even Prophet Muhammad's message. The
foundations of both faiths repeatedly emphasized in their sacred texts are the
basic principles of tolerance and treating others how we wish to be treated.
Like all prophets, Jesus provided lessons to be learnt from his life and
teachings. His tradition of peace, compassion, love and gentleness needs to be
revived more than ever.
The special
message of Islam is twofold. It first completes the message of the previous
prophets—and we must not forget that Muslims recognize the Judaic prophets such
as Isaiah and Jeremiah, who have also been adopted by Christianity—by putting
an end to the dispute between the Nestorians and Jacobites about the nature of
Christ: Muslims believe that Christ is of the Spirit of God, not God Himself,
because God "begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none
comparable unto Him" (Q 112:1-4).
Jesus was
but one in this long line of Prophets and Messengers, calling the people to
worship One God. He came specifically to the People of Israel, who had at that
time gone astray from the straight path of God. Jesus reckoned:
"And I have come confirming that which was
before me of the Torah, and to make lawful part of what was forbidden to you,
and I have come to you with a proof from your Lord. So, fear God and obey me.
Truly! God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is the Straight Path." (Quran 3:50-51)
Jesus did not expound on a new religion. That
very religion, which had been the religion of all the Prophets, was also his
religion, and it is towards that religion that he called people. He believed in
the Torah's true teachings, which were extant in his time. The Gospel which was
revealed to Jesus was an authentic revelation, but we know that the New
Testament, which the Christians obey, was written after the departure of Jesus.
God did not
reveal any of the Books to repudiate the previous ones; each confirmed and
supported the preceding ones. Every messenger of God was sent to this world as
a witness, a preacher, a harbinger of good tidings and a Warner.
The Qur'an
repeatedly stresses that none of the Prophets of God, no matter in which part
of the world they appeared, denied the Prophets who had preceded them. On the
contrary, each Prophet confirmed the message of his predecessors and sought to
promote the mission, which was their sacred legacy.
The Qur'an
does not believe that Jesus is divine. Still, it devotes more space to the
story of his virginal conception and birth than does the New Testament,
presenting it as richly symbolic of the birth of the Spirit in all human beings
(Q 19:17-29; 21:91). The Quranic writings say Jesus was betrayed and sentenced
to die on the cross. According to the Islamic narrative, Jesus was not
crucified; instead, a man who looked like him was. Muslims believe Jesus did
not die but rise bodily to Heaven by God, from whence he will return to Earth
before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and to defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal
("the false messiah"), also known as the Antichrist.
Jesus, born
to Mary (called "Maryam" in Arabic), is mentioned about a hundred
times in the Quran. He is referred to by name in as many as 25 different verses
of the Quran and six times with the title of "Messiah" (or
"Christ", depending on which Qur'anic translation is being used). He
is also referred to as the "Messenger" and the "Prophet"
but, perhaps above all else, as the "Word" and the "Spirit"
of God. No other prophet in the Quran, not even Muhammad, is given this honour.
In fact, among the 124,000 prophets said to be recognized by Islam – a figure
that includes all of the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament – Jesus is
considered second only to Muhammad and is believed to be the precursor to the
Prophet of Islam.
The Islamic
version of the Jesus story closely tracks the one Christians know. The Quran
has a whole chapter about Mary, the only woman mentioned by name in the holy
book. The other female figures are identified only by their relation to others,
such as the wife of Adam and the mother of Moses, or by their title, such as
the Queen of Sheba. Mary is mentioned more in the Quran than in the New
Testament. Prophet Muhammad described her as one of the four
"perfect" women in the history of humanity.
Jesus had
an affinity with Muhammad and predicted his coming (Q61:6), just as Christians
believed the Hebrew prophets foretold the coming of Christ. The Qur'an,
possibly influenced by Docetic Christianity, denied that Jesus had been
crucified but saw his ascension into heaven as the triumphant affirmation of
his prophethood. Similarly, Muhammad had once mystically ascended to the Throne
of God. Jesus would also play a prominent role beside Muhammad in the
eschatological drama of the last days.
The Muslim
Jesus is the patron saint of asceticism who renounces the world, lives in
abandoned ruins, identifies with the poor and champions the virtues of poverty,
humility, silence and patience. "Jesus was a constant traveller in the
land," reads one Islamic saying, "never abiding in a house or a
village. His clothing consisted of a cloak made of coarse hair or camel stub.
Whenever night fell, his lamp was the moonlight, his shade the blackness of the
night, his bed the Earth, his pillow a stone, his food the plants of the
fields." "Jesus used to eat the leaves of the trees," reads
another, "dress in hair shirts, and sleep wherever night found him. He did
not have no child who might die, no house which might fall into ruin nor did he
save his lunch for his dinner or his dinner for his lunch. He used to say,
'Each day brings with it its sustenance.'"
The Qur'an
gives a very fair estimate of the persona of Jesus. He was merely a human
being. He was one born from the womb of a woman, who possessed a physical body,
had all the attributes characteristic of human beings, had a known genealogy,
and was subject to all the limitations of a human being. He slept, ate, felt
the discomfort of heat and cold and was so human that he was even put to the
test by Satan. How could any reasonable person believe that such a being was
God or a partner or associate of God in His godhead? But the Christians
continue to insist on the divinity of the Messiah, whose life has been
portrayed in their Scriptures as human. The fact of the matter is that they do
not believe at all in the historical Messiah. They have woven a Messiah out of
their imagination and have deified that imaginary being.
The fact
that Jesus is truly and fully human is clear from the fact that he has a human
body (Luke 24:39), a human mind (Luke 2:52), and a human soul (Matthew
26:38). A human will, and human
emotions
Time and
again, the Qur'an insists that, like Muhammad himself, Jesus was a perfectly
ordinary human being and that Christians have entirely misunderstood their own
scriptures. But it concedes that the most learned and faithful Christians –
especially monks and priests – did not believe that Jesus was divine; of all
God's worshippers, they were closest to the Muslims (Q5:85-86).
Islam
rejects the Christian concepts of the Trinity, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The Islamic conception of Jesus — devoid of divinity and outside the Trinity —
is in sync with the beliefs of the earliest Jewish and Christian sects, who
viewed Jesus as Messiah but not as the Son of God. The Muslim devotion to Jesus
is a remarkable example of how another can enrich one tradition.
Ascetic
saint, lord of nature, miracle worker, and healer, social and ethical model:
such is the figure of Jesus in modern Muslim gospels. A figure of universal
reach and resonance, the object of a ubiquitous and all-too-human religious
sentiment unfettered by sectarian affiliation, the Jesus of Muslim penitential
and sententious literature is particularly salutary today. Alongside the hadiths, the stories of the
Prophet's sayings and actions reflect certain of Jesus' sayings in the
Christian gospels, while others probably derive from pre-Islamic ascetics and
heroes
Despite the
stereotypes and ignorance that have sometimes marred it, the long relationship
between Christians and Muslims has also been mutually appreciative and
productive. For centuries, both traditions shared a love for the Prophet of
Galilee.
Jesus captivated the Muslim imagination; he is
regarded as the last great Prophet to precede Muhammad in Islam. It was in the
Middle Eastern milieu into which Islam arrived. Under a blazing desert sun,
many of the world's great traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and
Zoroastrianism—mingled in a vibrant, dynamic atmosphere. The proximity of so
many religions bred, along with tolerance, unmistakable signs of each other's
influence. In a 14th-century collection by the lawmaker al-Subki, Jesus is
still a cherished figure, instructing Muslims that 'the rich shall not enter
the kingdom of Heaven.'
At about
the same time, Dante consigned Muhammad to cruel suffering in 'Inferno.' We
might explain such drastically different treatments by the fact that imperial
Islam was flourishing while Western civilization was in turmoil 'Amid the
current tensions between Christianity and Islam,' 'it is salutary to remind
ourselves of an age and a tradition when Christianity and Islam were more open
to each other, more aware of and reliant on each other's wishes.'
Time and
again, the Qur'an insists that, like Muhammad himself, Jesus was a perfectly
ordinary human being and that Christians have entirely misunderstood their
scriptures. But it concedes that the most learned and faithful Christians –
especially monks and priests – did not believe that Jesus was divine; of all
God's worshippers, they were closest to the Muslims (Q5:85-86).
Islam
rejects the Christian concepts of the Trinity, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The Islamic conception of Jesus — devoid of divinity and outside the Trinity —
is in sync with the beliefs of the earliest Jewish and Christian sects, who
viewed Jesus as Messiah but not as the Son of God. The Muslim devotion to Jesus
is a remarkable example of how another can enrich one tradition.
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Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book,
Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance
sector for almost four decades.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/muslim-jesus-prophet-revered/d/131066
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