The Muslim Jesus

By Moin Qazi

Dr Moin Qazi is a PhD in Economics and English.

It may come as a surprise to many that Jesus is the common heritage of Christians and Muslims. There is also a powerful bridge between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which are Abrahamic faiths and consider Abraham as their forefather. Jesus occupies a highly revered position in both Christianity and Islam.

Christ as a Prophet of God

In Islam, Jesus, or Isa, as he is known in the Quran, is a Prophet of God. The difference is that he is not divinised 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. Whereas Christians know Jesus as the son of God, Muslims know him merely as the son of Mary  (called “Maryam” in Arabic). Jews also do not recognise Jesus as divine or as a godly messenger.

Islam embraces the moral and ethical teachings of Moses and Jesus. Honesty, decency equality and dignity are central to even Muhammad’s message. The basic principles of tolerance and treating others the way we wish to be treated are the foundations of both faiths, repeatedly emphasised in their sacred texts. 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).

His role in furthering the existing religion

In the Quran’s telling, 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 to you 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 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 true teachings of the Torah 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. As a matter of fact, every messenger of God was sent to this world as a witness, a preacher, a harbinger of good tidings and a Warner. They were all human beings, and all preached the same religion: monotheism.

The Quran repeatedly stresses the fundamental fact 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 the sacred legacy of them all.

Islamic views on Christ’s death and return

The Quran does not believe that Jesus is divine, but 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). According to Islamic narrative, Jesus was not crucified; instead, a man who looked like him, was. Muslims believe Jesus did not die but rose 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, reunite the Children of Abraham, and usher in a golden age.

In Muslim eschatology, Jesus will descend from heaven onto a white minaret, usually identified with the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, where John the Baptist’s remains can be found. (John too is a prophet in Islam, closely linked with Jesus in the Quran.) In the process, Jesus will clear his name of the divinity attributed to him and confirm in person that he worships the same God as Moses and Muhammad. In fact, it is over Jesus that the children of Abraham have diverged.

Mentions in the Holy Quran

Jesus is mentioned about 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 Quranic 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 particular honour. In fact, among the 124,000 prophets recognised 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. Jesus had an affinity with Muhammad and had predicted his coming (Q61:6), just as the Hebrew prophets were believed by Christians to have foretold the coming of Christ.  

The Quran has a whole chapter about Mary, who is the only woman mentioned by name in it. 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 times in the Quran than in the entire New Testament. Prophet Muhammad described her as one of the four “perfect” women in the history of humanity.

The Quran gives a very fair estimate of the persona of Jesus. He was one born from the womb of a woman, who possessed a physical body, who had all the attributes characteristic of human beings who had a known genealogy, who was subject to all the limitations of a human being and. He slept, ate, felt the discomfort of heat and cold and was so human that he was even put to the test by Satan.

Quranic view on Prophets

Jesus did not expound 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 true teachings of the Torah 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.

The Quran repeatedly stresses the fundamental fact 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 the preceding ones. As a matter of fact, every messenger of God was sent to this world as a witness, a preacher, a harbinger of good tidings and a Warner. They were all human beings, and all preached the same religion: monotheism. Like all prophets, Jesus provided lessons to be learnt from his life and teachings. His tradition of peace, compassion, love, and gentleness need to be revived now more than ever.

The Muslim devotion to Jesus is a remarkable example of the way in which another can enrich one tradition.

Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt