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, considered him to be the son of
God and worship him as such. Islam considers Jesus to be one of the great
prophets of God and respects him as much as Ibrahim (Abraham), Moses, and
Mohammed. (Peace Be Upon Them) This is conformity with the Islamic view of the
oneness of God, the oneness of Divine guidance, and the complementary role of
the subsequent mission of God's messengers.
The essence of Islam - willing submission to the will of God - was
revealed to Adam, who was passed it on to his children. All following
revelations to Noah, Ibrahim, Moses, Jesus, and finally Mohammed (Peace Be Upon
Them) were conformity with that message, with some elaboration to define the
revelation between man and God, man and man, man and instructions. Thus, any
contradictions 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 Quran does not present a detailed life-story of Jesus, it
highlights the important aspects of his birth, his mission, his ascension to
heaven, and passes judgements on the Christian beliefs concerning him. The
Quranic account of Jesus starts with the conception of his mother, Mary, whose
mother, the wife of Imran, vowed to dedicate her child to the service of God in
the temple. When Mary became a woman, the Holy Spirit (the Archangel Gabriel)
appeared to her as a man bringing her news of a son. We read the following
dialogue in the Quran between Mary and the Angel:
"When the angel said, "Mary, god gives you a good tidings of a
Word from Him whose name is messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, -high honoured 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 he 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 but say to it, "Be", and it is.
(Al-Imran 3:45-47)
In a chapter (Surah) entitled "Maryam" (Mary), the Quran tells
us how Mary gave birth to her son, and how the Jesus accused her when she
brought the child home:
"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 your mother a woman unchaste. Mary
pointed to the child; but they said, 'Hoe shall we speak to one who still in
the cradle, a little child. And 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/may be; and
hi has enjoined me to prayer, and to give the alms so long as I live, and
likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant and wicked. Peace be
upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up a
live. "Maryam 19:29-33)
in the same chapter, following the above quotation, God assures Mohammed
(PBUH) and through him the whole world, that what is told above is the TRUTH
about Jesus (PBUH), although Christians might not accept 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, He nut
says to it, 'Be, and it is. (Maryam 19:34-35)
After this strong statement about the nature of Jesus, God directed
Mohammed (PBUH) to call the Christians to worship the one God: "Surely God
is my God, and your God, so surely serve him. This is the straight path".
(Maryam 19:36)
The rejection of the very idea of God having a son is restated 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. As if
the skies are about to burst, the earth to split asunder and its mountain to
fall down in the utter ruin for that they have attributed to the All-merciful a
son; and behaves not the All-merciful to take a son. None there in the heavens
and earth but comes to the All-merciful as a servant" (Maryam 19:88-93)
The Quran 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 more entitled to be the son of God, because he had
neither a father nor a mother, so the Quran draws attention to the miraculous
creation of both in the following verses; " truly the likeness of Jesus,
in God's sight is as Adam's likeness; He created him of dust, then He said upon
him, 'Be' and hi was. (Al-Imran 3:59)
The Quran rejects the concept of Trinity God the Father, God the son, God
the Holy Spirit - as strongly as it rejects the concept of Jesus as the son of
God. This is because GOD IS ONE. Three cannot be one. The Quran addresses
Christians in the following verses from the Surrah entitled
"An-Nisaa" (The Women)
People of the Book, do not go beyond the bounds in your religion, and say
nought as to God but the Truth. The messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only the
messenger of God, and his word (Fulfilment of his word (Fulfilment of His
command, through the word "Be", for the creation of Jesus) that he
committed to Mary, and a spirit originating from Him (was given life by God).
So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not 'Three'. Refrain, better is
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 walks proud, He will
assuredly muster them to Him, all of them.
As for the believers, who do deeds of righteousness, we will pay them
their rewards in full, and He will give them more, of His bounty; as for them
who disdain and walks proud, then He will punish with a severe punishment, and
they shall not find for them, apart from God, a friend or helper."
(An-Nissa 4:171-173)
The denial of Jesus's divinity (and. For the matter, of Mary's divinity)
is presented in the Quran in the form of a dialogue, at the Day of Judgement,
between the Almighty Jesus. All the Messengers and their nations will gather
before God and He will ask the Messengers how they were received by their
people and what they said to them. Among those who will 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
would have known it, knowing what is within my heart, though I do not know your
knowledge; you know the things unseen. I only said to them what you did
commands me: "Serve God, my God and your God." (Al-Maida 5-116)
Given that the Quran denies the Trinity and the son ship of Jesus, what,
according to the Quran, was the real mission of Jesus? The answer is that Jesus
was a link in a long chain of Prophets and Messengers sent by God to various
nations and societies whenever they needed guidance or deviated from his
teachings of Moses and other Messengers. As he was miraculously supported by
numerous miracles to prove that he was a Messengers from God. However, the
majority of the Jews rejected his ministry.
In another verse of the Quran, Jesus confirmed the validity of the Torah
which was revealed to Moses, and also conveyed he glad tidings of a final
Messenger who follow him: "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 tiding of a Messenger who shall be the praised
one."(As-Saff 61:6)
Note that "praised one" is a translation of "Ahmad" -
The Prophet Mohammed's name. Careful study of the New Testament shows that
Jesus refers to the same Prophet in John 14:16-17: "And I will give you
another Counsellor (ThProphet Mohammed). To be with you for ever, even the
Spirit of Truth."
The usual explanation of this Prophecy is that the counsellor referred to
is the Holy Spirit, but this explanation is excluded by a previous verse in
John: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I
go away, for if I do not go away, the Counsellor will not come to you."
The characteristics of this counsellor, as can be derived from the
prophecy, are that he will stay forever with the believers, he will glorify
Jesus; and he will speak that he hears form God. All four characteristics apply
to the Prophet Mohammed. He came six centuries after Jesus. He came six
centuries after Jesus. He came with a universal and everlasting message,
fulfilling the prophecy that the counsellor will stay forever with the
faithful. He glorified Jesus as a great Prophet. The Quran attributes to Jesus
miracles not mentioned in the Bible's Old and New Testaments, as well as
specific verses in the Quran show how the Prophet Mohammad is rejected by Jews
and Christians out of prejudice and misunderstanding, rather that carefully
study the Bible.
It is a sad fact of history that not many are following the
"straight path" to which people were called by Jesus. He was only
followed by a few disciples inspired by God to support him. The non-believers
plotted - as they would against Mohammed, six centuries later - to kill Jesus.
But God had better plan for him and his followers, as the Quran tells us:
"And when Jesus perceived their unbelief, he said 'Who will be my
helpers in the cause of God?
The apostles said, 'we are Gods helpers. We believe in God; so bear
witness of our submission God, 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 devised, and God is the best of
divisors. When God said, 'Jesus, I will take you to Me and will raise you to
Me, and I will purify you (of the falsehoods) of those who do not believe. I
will make your followers above the unbelievers till the Resurrection
Day."(Al-Imran 3:52-55)
As the above verses indicate, Jesus was taken and raised to heaven. He
was not crucified. It was certainly the plan of the enemies of Jesus to put him
to death on the cross, but God saved him and someone else was crucified:
"And for their unbelief, and their uttering against Mary a grave
false charge, and for their saying, 'We killed the messiah, Jesus son of Mary,
the Messiah 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
are surely in doubt the following of conjecture; and they did not kill him of
certainty…no indeed; God raised him up to Him; God is Almighty, Allwise. There
is not one of the people of the book but will assuredly believe him before his
death, and on the Resurrection Day he will be a witness against them."
(An-Nissa 4:156-159)
The Quran
does not explain who was the person crucified instead of Jesus, nor elaborate
on the Second Coming of Jesus. However, explanators of the Quran have always
interpreted the last verse of the above quotation to mean that Jesus will
believe in him before he dies. This understanding is supported by authentic
sayings (Hadith) of the Prophet Mohammed may the peace and blessings of Allah
him and upon all His Messengers.