by Prof Shahul Hameed
The Christian belief about Jesus is that he is the only-begotten son of God or God Himself, who died on the cross to save humans from Original Sin.
Muslims hold that there is no such thing as Original Sin. So, God had no reason to become a human and die on the cross. Even if there were something called Original Sin, Muslims do not see how God could be so helpless as to atone for that sin by dying on the cross.
The Christians would answer: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Did God really love the world so much… so much that He decided to sacrifice even His son, His only begotten son, to save the world from Original Sin? Christians would say, Yes.
On the other hand, Muslims would insist in the first place, that God is one and one Only, and, therefore, He did not have a son. Second, as God is Just, He would not punish the innocent to save the sinners. Third, the so-called Original Sin cannot be such a problem for the Almighty God that He is compelled to sacrifice “His own son.” He could very well cancel that sin or He could simply demand an atonement from the sinful or at least ask for sincere repentance from them. Indeed, there was no need for God to subject ‘His son’ to the terrible torture he is said to have undergone, as portrayed in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, for instance.
In fact, there were early Christians who did not believe in the crucifixion of Jesus. For instance, the Basilidians believed that someone else was crucified in his place. The names of Simon of Cyrene and even Judas Iscariot are heard in this context.
As for the Quran, it speaks of how Allah cleared Jesus of the disbelief of his people. It says:
And remember, when Allah said: O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself, and cleanse you of those who disbelieve; and I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to me you will all return, and I will judge between you as to that wherein you used to differ. And as for those who disbelieve I will punish them with severe torment in this world and the Hereafter; and they will have no helpers. (3:55-56)
Thus, Allah raised Jesus up to Heaven, and so he was saved from an accursed death on the cross, in contrast to what his enemies and even his self-styled “followers” alleged. It was the plan of the enemies of Jesus to crucify him, but Allah foiled their plan. So, to believe in his death by crucifixion means to believe that those unbelievers were successful against God’s plan. But assuredly they could not crucify Jesus the Messenger of Allah. The Quran says:
And their saying is ‘we slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger’ – They slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them. And those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture. For of a surety they slew him not; but Allah took him up to Himself. Allah is Almighty and All-Wise. And there is none of the people of the Book (the Jews and Christians) but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.(4:157-159)
Muslims believe in all the prophets of God and honour and respect them alike; we do not make any distinction between one and another of them. Muslims believe Jesus Christ to be one of the great prophets of God and hold that all prophets are brothers and that their religion is the same, namely, Islam (or unconditional submission to Allah). Allah says in the Quran: He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion as that which He ordained to Noah, and that which We inspired in you (Muhammad), and that which We ordained to Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying: Establish the religion, and make no divisions therein. To those who worship other things than Allah, dreadful is that to which you call them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He will, and guides to Himself him who turns in repentance to Him. (42:13)
A Follower of prophet Muhammad
There are a large number of authentic sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that clearly indicate the second coming of Jesus. Abu Hurairah reported the Prophet as saying:
By the One in Whose hand is my self, definitely the son of Mariam will soon descend among you as a just judge, and he will break the cross, kill the pig and abolish the jizyah, and wealth will be so abundant that no one will accept it, until a single prostration will be better than the world and everything in it. (Al Bukhari)
Jabir ibn Abdullah said: “I heard the Prophet saying, ‘A party of my nation will never stop fighting for the truth victoriously until the Day of Rising.’ He said, ‘Then Jesus son Mary (peace be upon him) will descend and their amir will say, “Come and lead us in prayer,” but he will say, “No. Some of you are amirs over others,” as Allah’s showing honour to this nation.’” (Muslim)
The above two hadiths show that according to Islam, Jesus will return to the earth as a follower of the final Prophet Muhammad. And at the second coming, it is inconceivable that Jesus will bring a new Law. Even at the first coming, he was working within the framework of the earlier Law of Moses. So, if Jesus does not follow the Law of Muhammad, he should follow the Law of Moses, which is most unlikely. We should remember that the religion of Allah has been completed through the final Prophet, and so there is no question of another Law at all; so Jesus has got to follow the Law of Muhammad. We know that some “Christians” do not follow Jesus. They follow St Paul and his version of the religion of Jesus. So one of the first duties of Jesus will be to bring the Christians back to the true religion he preached and practiced, namely submission to the One God.
Also, the Jews who are still waiting for the Messiah will be made to realise that the real Messiah was indeed Jesus and they need to recognise that fact, and follow the Messiah (Christ) Jesus. When the Christians and the Jews follow Jesus, they will be Muslims. By the second coming of Jesus, the confusions regarding Jesus will disappear and we can imagine a situation where Jews, Christians and Muslims join together to pray behind Islam’s prophet Jesus, or behind a Muslim Imam.
Three Expectations
One important point to note in this connection is the correlation between the expectations about the coming of a prophet or messiah in all the three Abrahamic religions. Jews expect the Mashiach (Messiah; literally “the Anointed One”) as a political and military deliverer and king. The Christians believe the Messiah to be a divine incarnation and “savior”, who came to liberate the people from sin. And the Muslims believe the Messiah to be a sign to the world sent by God with a significant prophetic mission to the Children of Israel. In all the three cases the word, Messiah (Arabic: Masih) is used for the expected prophet. Both Christians and Muslims believe Jesus to be the Messiah, while the Jews reject him and continue to expect the Messiah even now. No one can deny the continuity of the same religious tradition through the three religions, though sectarianism has clouded the whole issue of common religious heritage. One of the important links among the three religions ought to be the Messiah; especially as he serves as a link between Judaism and Islam. Because, he is the expected Messiah of the Jews, who clearly foretells to his followers of the coming of the Paracletos – the final Prophet. Besides, he is properly described by Allah Almighty in the Quran as a “sign” to the world. But most people did not properly understand the sign and consequently misconstrued his mission.
As Jesus was a sign from Allah, there was an aura of wonder and mystery around him, which caused a lot of speculation among his followers after his time.
And there ought to be a way of clearing the cloud of mystery around Jesus before the end of the world. So Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an what means:
That they said in boast, “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah”;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no certain knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not. Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise. And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them… (4:157-159)
Indeed these verses have generated a lot of controversy about the implication of certain words. A few points are worthy of note. The reference is clearly to the future; and the verse tells us of something that will happen in the future which will make the People of the Book to believe in Jesus. And we should note that by “the People of the Book” not merely the Christians but also the Jews are meant. Referring to the doubts and confusion in the minds of the people (i.e. People of the Book) regarding “the death” and the “raising” of Jesus, Allah emphatically tells us that they did neither kill him nor crucify him; but raised him up to Himself.
Believing in Jesus
The verses quoted above clearly say that all the People of the Book will believe in Jesus before he dies. Obviously, “believe in him” indicates the right belief about Jesus, that is, that Jesus was a prophet of God preaching His Oneness. We know that neither the present day Jews nor the present day Christians have this belief about Jesus. So the reference in the verse is obviously about future Jews and Christians who will be made to realise the truth about the Messiah and will have to accept that truth. The occasion for this is when Jesus himself appears again and clears all misunderstandings about him. And then the Jews will realize that he was the Messiah they were expecting; and the Christians will realize that he was not the Son of God who died on the cross. And if there are any Muslims who reject the return of Jesus, they too will realize the truth about him. And in the above verse, we may note the expression “before he dies”. This expression is attributed to People of the Book sometimes; i.e. in the sense of “before their death”.
But this cannot be; if so it would mean that all the Jews and Christians who lived after Jesus’ time would realise the truth of Jesus before their death till Judgment Day. This is most unlikely. Rather the correct meaning of the verse must be that Jesus, on his second coming will bring the Jews and the Christians of that future time, not only to the truth of himself, but also to the true religion.
www.onislam.net
A great prophet, not god
by Idris Tawfiq
According to Islam, Jesus was a prophet of God. He belonged to a long line of prophets, calling people throughout history to the worship of One God. These include such names as Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon (peace be upon them all) and, like them, he is revered and honoured by all Muslims. Whenever they mention the name of Jesus, Muslims will always say, “Peace be upon him.”
Like the accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Quran shows that Jesus’ birth was miraculous, but this does not make him a god.
Not only did Jesus have a miraculous birth, but the Quran also tells us that he was born of a virgin mother and that he spoke in the cradle, that he performed miracles, and that he did not die on the cross, nor was he raised back to life after three days.
The Quran is quite clear that Jesus was a great prophet, but he was no more than that. So, Jesus (peace be upon him) was a man. He was a truly great man, a prophet, but he was no more than a man. Jesus was not a god. He had a human mother, Mary, and they both ate food in order to live. He did not die on the cross, nor was he raised to life after three days, but he was a man. One of the greatest men, yes. A man with very special gifts, yes. A man whom they revere as a great prophet, yes, but not a god. There is no God but Allah.
In summary of all this, the Quran tells us what God will say to Jesus in the Last Day, when He Almighty calls all people to Himself:
And behold! God will say on the Day of Judgment: “Oh Jesus, the son of Mary! Did you say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of God?” He will say: “Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Yours. For You know in full all that is hidden. Never did I say to them anything except what You commanded me to say: ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ And I was a witness over them while I lived among them. When You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a witness to all things.” (5:116-11)
