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JESUS in the QURAN
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.
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