b) Jesus in Islam

Jesus is the greatest of the prophets who came after Abraham. According to the Qur’an 5:6, Jesus
came in the succession of the prophets to:
Follow in their footsteps confirming that which was revealed before him, and we bestowed on
him the gospel wherein is guidance and a light.”
The Qur’an presents Jesus in a respectful way as a sinless human being, born of the Virgin Mary.
He is referred to as Isa bin Mariam – Jesus, son of Mary. Ibn Mariam is one of the several tittles
attributed to Jesus, and is found in 23 times in the Qur’an: 16 times as “Jesus son of Mary” and 7
times as “Son of Mary” or with other titles. In contrast, the title “Son of Mary” occurs only once
in the Bible. Some Muslim scholars argue the title “Son of Mary” refers to the mortal and human
nature of Jesus.
Islam is the only non-Christian religion that acknowledges the teachings and miraculous birth of
Jesus. The Qur’an speaks about Jesus in 14 chapters (Surat), 4 from the Meccan period and 10
from the Madinan period. Jesus according to the Qur’an was Allah’s prophet. According to the
Qur’an, Jesus was Allah’s prophet sent to the children of Israel. He is referred to as the Messiah,
a Spirit, a Mercy and a Word from God who owed his existence to God’s command. Jesus was
created by the Sovereign God by His divine speech. He simply said: “be! And it is. (2:10). The
Qur’anic Jesus is not the Word of God but Word from God” a specially created being like Adam
The Miraculous Birth of Jesus
The Qur’an acknowledges the miraculous birth of Jesus without the intervention of a human
father. He was born of the pious Virgin Mary who was chosen because she was humble obedient
and a spirit of God dwelt in her (21:91; 66:12). The Angel from God announced the birth of
Jesus to Mary (Mariam) before she conceived the child. She was told that she will bear a son
who would be “a revelation for mankind and a mercy from us” (Chapter 19:21). The birth begins
with the chronicle of Mary’s life along in the desert far away from any human habitation. After
the child was born Mary returned to the community where her fidelity was questioned. In order
to clear the mother, the infant Jesus spoke from the cradle and defended his mother (19:30-33).
The Infancy Gospel mentions that Jesus spoke from the cradle to Mary: “I am Jesus, the son of
God, the Word, which you have borne as the angel Gabriel announced to you.” Christian scholars
argue that this story about Jesus must have been a very common tradition among the Arab
Christians during the time of Muhammad.
The early childhood of Jesus and his life with his parents are not mentioned anywhere in the
Qur’an. There is only a slight and passing reference about the place of his birth (23:50). The
Qur’anic narration of Jesus starts with the story of the mother of Mary, the wife of Imran. As
soon as Mary was born, she was entrusted by her parents to Zechariah, a priest who raised her in
the closed enclaves of the temple. The Gospels do not say that Mary was cared for by Zechariah
although Mary stayed with Zechariah and Elizabeth during her pregnancy for three months as
recorded in Luke 1:40-47. Some of the narration of Mary’s childhood as mentioned in the Qur’an
come closer to what was recorded in the apocryphal infancy gospels especially the
Protevangelism of James. In the book of James, Mary was taken to the temple when she was 3
years old, where Zechariah was a priest. She was miraculously fed and given food from the hand
of an angel. Traditions say that she was fed from heaven. Liberal Muslim scholars say that Mary
was fed by fellow worshippers who brought gifts and to the temple where she was living which
by itself was a miracle.
Jesus as a Prophet
The Qur’an has assigned a prominent place to Jesus among the Prophets of Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. He is given supremacy among the saints who were raised among the Arabs (19:30-31;
4:172; 5:17, 75). He is ranked among the venerated prophets: “Zechariah and John and Jesus and
Elias, each one of the righteous” (6:85). Jesus is esteemed both as a prophet and messenger to
whom Allah “gave pre-eminence over others” (2:253-254). The Qur’an attests that Jesus was
given both the Gospel (Injil) and the power to perform miracles, therefore the coming of Jesus
was announced as “glad tidings” (3:45). But in Islam, Jesus was a mere human being like the
prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures (3:59), but of all those born of women, Jesus represents a
special creation (3:45; 4:171). In Jesus, the divine power of revelation was manifested in a
mighty way (19:30). Jesus observed the teachings of Allah and worshipped him. Islam teaches
that Jesus was taught and received the Torah, the Wisdom and the Gospel (3:43-48) from heaven
by divine revelation, in the same manner as prophets Moses and David received the Torah
(Taurat) and Psalms (Zabur) respectively (3:46-60).
Jesus of Islam is a prophet sent by God with a definite message to the people of Israel (3:49-50).
His message to them was about the worship of one true God and need to submit to him. From the
beginning of his birth Jesus knew he was “only a servant” of Allah. He is addressed as al-Masih
(Messiah) [3:40] a title that does not have any of the Biblical connotations of Messiah as
liberator from the bondage or deliverer from sin. His messiahship is established by the miracles
that he performed and the revelations he brought in the form of the Gospel (3:43-45). He is only
a messenger of Allah who preached about the sovereignty of Allah inviting people to worship
and submit to him (4:17). He was neither a Redeemer nor a servant, nor a Savior (19:93). He is
referred to as one who is anointed with honor, protected from Satan’s power from birth (3:31-
36), and blessed with Allah’s favor to serve as a special messenger. The names attributed to Jesus
as Son of God, Lamb of God, God only begotten son are blasphemous and a corruption of
Allah’s message revealed through Jesus. Muslims take the title “Son of God” literally and argue
that it undermines God’s sovereignty; after all, Jesus is the son of Mary not the son of God.
Christians are accused of shifting attention from the messenger to the messenger and elevating a
mere prophet to the level of God. They have committed the worst crime against humanity and
God by giving a partner to the Supreme God (10:68; 2:116-117; 5:75). Jews and Christians are
accused of distorting God’s message of love and compassion and limiting the abundant mercy of
God to a specific group of people. According to Muslims, Jews and Christians are not the only
chosen people; rather, Islam affirms, everyone who draws to God in submission belongs to Him
(5:20).
The Miracles of Jesus
The Qur’an talks of the miracles of Jesus. The more prominent one being the creation of birds
out of clay, healing of the blind, cleansing of lepers and raising of the dead. [Stories about giving
life to birds are found in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas]. The Qur’an also records that at one
time while, in an answer to his prayer, Jesus received from heaven a table filled with bounteous
food (5:12, 114). Some critics say that Muhammad was confused about Jesus’ feeding of the five
thousand as recorded in the Gospels while others that the Qur’an version is the story of the Last
Supper or reference to the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples: Give us this day our daily
bread.”Some apocryphal literatures narrate stories about miracles that Jesus performed as an
infant. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, a Latin script probably written in the 8th century CE says
that during the family’s flight into Egypt, Mary and Joseph were overcome with hunger and thirst
as they sat under a tree. The infant Jesus sitting on her mother’s lap and having seen the plight of
her parents ordered the tree to bend and give its fruits to his mother. Then the infant Jesus
ordered the tree to give some water under its roots. The tree obeyed and the family was
refreshed. According to the Arabic Infancy Gospel, the family was resting under a sycamore tree
at Matarieh and there Jesus caused a spring to gush out. His mother washed his clothes and the
family got nourished by the fresh water.
The Qur’an does not talk about Jesus’ control over nature or the miracles he performed in
controlling them. The first miracle of changing water into wine at Cana of Galilee and other
“nature” miracles such as stilling the storm and walking over water are not referred to in the
Qur’an.
(c) Denial of Divinity and Sonship of Jesus
The Qur’an denies the divinity and sonship of Jesus and his vicarious (shocking) death on the
cross and the doctrine of trinity (see not on trinity and tawhid). Divinity of Jesus is the greatest
stumbling block to Muslims in reference to Christ. By rejecting the incarnation of Jesus the
Qur’an comes close to Nestorian’s teachings about Jesus.1 Some Christian scholars argue that
Muhammad’s concept Allah as the one sovereign God was influenced by Nestorians. The Qur’an
condemns any association of anthropomorphism to Allah or the sharing of His Godhead with a
human being. Associating Jesus with God and narrating his birth as the savior of humankind
limit God’s sovereign power over his creation. God cannot come in form of a human being. By
equating Jesus with God, the Christians have committed the gravest sin (2:116; 9:30). According
to the Qur’an Jesus himself denied his divinity and claimed he was only Allah’s servant and a
messenger (5:116-118; 4:171; 5:17)
(d) Debate on Soteriology and Ecclesiology
The Qur’an does not account for Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God, the Beatitudes, the
meaning of the servanthood of the Son of Man, his impending sacrificial death on the cross, and
the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Qur’an does not contain a direct quote from the Bible and it
does not refer to the followers of Jesus as Christians or apostles or disciples. It refers to them as
Nazarenes, after the place Jesus came from. Giving any other name to the followers of Jesus, it is
believed, would elevate Jesus from prophethood. Islam states that a prophet cannot have
followers. He is only a messenger and servant of Allah. The servant role of Jesus does not hold
any special relationship with Allah as Paul portrays in his epistle to the Philippians (2:6-11).
According to Islam, Jesus’ life and ministry have no salfivic effect. Muslims argue that
Christian’s concept of salvation was the brain child of Apostle Paul who manufactured it in
retaliation against the Jews. A Muslim scholar Ata ur-Rahim in his book Jesus prophet of Islam,
(1977, 71-72) argues that the theory of redemption was the child of Paul’s brain, a belief entirely
unknown to Jesus and his disciples. It was based on the belief in “original sin”, the “crucifixion”
and the “resurrection”, none of which have any validity.
Muslims also believe that Jesus had no intention of establishing a church and leaving behind a
community to worship him. It was innovated by the political and religious leaders of the 4th and
subsequent centuries who corrupted the scriptures and managed to control and manipulate the
minds and hearts of the adherents of faith. The major conspiracy and corruption of scriptures
occurred especially after the Nicene Council (325 CE) when according Ata ur-Rahim “the
manuscripts of the New Testament which were written after the Council of Nicea are different
1 According to Nestorians God cannot have a mother and no creature could have engendered the
Godhead. Mary bore a man the vehicle of divinity but not God. The Godhead cannot have been
carried for nine months in a woman’s womb, or have been wrapped in baby clothes, or have
suffered, died and been buried (Dharmaraj & Dharmaraj, p.139) from the ones that existed before
the Council.” The Church has also been accused of being founded on false theological and
biblical creed. Some enthusiastic religious zealots who had no first-hand contact with Jesus
invented intricate narrations and fancy notions about God and His commandments. And the
worst character was Paul. Ur-Rahim argues: The established church is founded on the doctrine of
original sin, of atonement and redemption, of the divinity of Jesus, of the divinity of the Holy
Ghost and of the Trinity. None of these doctrines are to be found within the gospels. They were
not taught by Jesus. They were the fruits of Paul’s innovations and the influence of Greek culture
and philosophy. Paul never experienced the company or the direct transmission of knowledge
from Jesus…. His teaching is based on an event which never took place, the supposed death and
resurrection of Jesus (see, Dharmaraj & Dharmaraj, 146-147) Because Christians exaggerated
the teachings of Christ and corrupted Allah’s revealed message, they have become unbelievers
and idolaters and therefore have incurred God’s wrath upon them. The Christian innovation of
church has caused division, multiplication of denominations and sects among its supporters. As a
result, they have become weak in their faith and ignorant of Allah’s teachings.
The worst crime that the Christians have committed was not only making Jesus equal to Allah
but also rejecting Muhammad, His Prophet. The Christian’s rejection of Muhammad is
considered far worse than the Jews rejection of Jesus and made Christian’s more unbelieving
than the Jews.
(e) Jesus’ Death/Crucifixion
The Qur’an denies Jesus’ shameful death on the cross for the salvation of humankind and omits
his victorious resurrection from the dead on the third day. However, Islam assigns the highest
place for the man Jesus in the religious realm and continuous to honor the teachings of the
Prophet Jesus.
Muslims do not accept the biblical account of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The salvific and
paschal mystery of God as revealed in the incarnation of Jesus, his resurrection and his promise
of Parousia which are the hope and foundation of Christianity are denied by Islam. According to
Islam, God cannot suffer in human hands and cannot reveal his person to humanity because He is
absolutely transcendent. However, according to the Christian perspective, the anthropomorphic
expression of God which is disputed by Islam should not be taken literally but metaphorically.
Where the Bible talks of about God as a parent, it should not be supposed that He has a body like
a human being therefore a human parent. In addition, in whatever case, God does not think or act
as a human being. The person of God according to Christians should be explained metaphorically
and in allegorical concepts for human comprehension. Yet the Biblical God is infinite and can
reveal Himself in a person. According to the 13th century renowned Muslim scholar and
theologian, Ibn Taymiyyah, the Qur’an does not accept the salvific death of Christ on the cross.
The Sovereign Lord would not have allowed His prophet, Jesus to suffer such a low kind of
death. It is therefore hard for Muslims to comprehend how and why a prophet of the Sovereign
Lord could endure pain in the hands of mortals. According to this view, the idea of “suffering
servant” is a presumptuous betrayal of the dynamics of Allah’s revelation and a humiliating
dishonor brought upon the office of His messenger. Indeed, Islam does not share the Christian
view of sin and salvation and the pouring of the blood on the altar of God for redemption of
human beings. According to the Islamic concept every child is born “sinless” (refer to the notes
on the concept of sin). One does not inherit sin but acquires it as he/she grows old. Human
beings are given freedom and endowed with knowledge to choose between right and wrong.
Those who chose Allah’s path will enjoy his blessings in paradise and those who refuse will reap
evil and condemnation. In the Qur’an, the crucifixion of Jesus is presented as challenge and
judgment (3:54, 61). According to the Qur’an, Jesus was raised up alive and was saved from
death so that people might believe in him before his death. In Allah’s presence, Jesus is purified
to be a righteous judge and righteous imam. Allah prepares the people of the world for his
coming again (3:55). The Qur’an further testifies that Jesus was sinless and pure, so at the end of
his mission he was taken to heaven to be with Allah. His disciples will rule over the unbelievers
until the day of resurrection (19:33; 3:55). According to the Qur’an, Jesus was exalted to the
presence of Allah without having been killed at the hands of the Jews. He was saved through
death by Allah by “raising him” up to Himself as he did with earlier prophets as mentioned in the
Qur’an (2:253; 6:83; 12:76; 4:158; 3:55). For many Muslims, the phrase “raising up” means
“letting him die” as Allah’s favored prophet. All the prophets will join Allah on the Day of
Judgment.
The Qur’an accuses the Children of Israel for killing Allah’s prophets and thereby trying to kill
Jesus unfairly. The Qur’an firmly denies that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. It
says they neither killed nor crucified him. It was only made to appear as if they fulfilled their
mission, but Allah took him up to himself (4:157-158). The phrase “rather it was made only to
appear so as to them” (Shubiha Lahum) has generated a lot of debate among Muslim scholars
and therefore the many interesting theories about the death of Jesus on the cross and his last days
of earth. These theories are based on chapters [Surat] 3:55; 5:117; 19:33). Some scholars such
Ibn Taymiyyah commenting on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in John 20:19-29,
argues that Jesus was never crucified or buried. He notes that instead one of the jinns personified
himself as Jesus and appeared to the apostles in order to mislead them.
Regarding his last days, the Qur’an says about Jesus, that he must die like the rest of the
Muslims and rise again for the final reckoning. Islamic traditions found in Al-Tabari one of the
leading exegists of the Qur’an, assert that at the end of his ministry on earth, Jesus asked for a
volunteer to take his likeness and be killed in his place, to which one of his disciples agreed and
was crucified and Jesus was protected and later taken up to heaven. Another tradition (legend)
says that, when Yudas Zechariah (Judas Iscariot) led the enemies of Jesus to capture him, Yudas’
face was altered and he was made to bear the likeness of Jesus. He was seized and crucified all
the while he was crying out: “I am not the one you want! I am the one who led you to him.”
(Dharmaraj & Dharmaraj, p.163). Another tradition says that the Jews were looking for Jesus but
were unable to get him because he had hidden in a niche in a wall. They got frustrated and, in his
place, they captured one of his disciples and killed him. Other scholars talk of Simon of Cyrene
as the one who was actually crucified. According to this view, a little before his crucifixion,
Jesus changed form with Simon of Cyrene who was asked to carry the cross by the Roman
soldiers. When both Simon and Jesus reached the place of crucifixion, Jesus disappeared and
Simon was taken and crucified. This theory of substitution has been taken by many Muslim
authors who mention some of the following as substitutes: Simon of Cyrene, Judas, Pilate, a
disciple, devil.
(f) Jesus’ Second Coming
Christians and Muslims believe that Jesus will come again to judge the world. According to some
Muslim scholars, Allah has shown special favor for Jesus and he has been accorded a special
place in heaven to intercede for true Muslims. When Jesus comes back, the Jews and Christians
will believe in him as God’s messenger. The Jews would not reject him as they did over 2000
years ago. The Christians will not exalt him as the Son of God as they did during his first
coming.
According to the Hadith, when Jesus returns from heaven, he will fight with Al-Dajjal (the Anti-
Christ) who is the personification of all evil who kept people from doing Allah’s will. Jesus is
expected to return upon the white tower in Damascus to “break the cross, kill the pigs, demolish
oratories and churches, and kill Christians except those who believe in him, impose jizya,
inaugurate millennial righteousness and bring the people of the world to worship Allah.
Ultimately, he would suffer a natural death and occupy the tomb prepared for him beside
Muhammad and the first two caliphs (Abu Bakr and Umar) in Medina. When Jesus returns to
earth, the closed doors in mosques will be opened as proof of his return and he will judge the
people of the world (3:55). Contrary to the Christian belief, Jesus will return not to judge the
world but to establish Islam and uphold the teachings of Allah as taught by Prophet Muhammad.