Jesus in Islam

In Islam, we believe in the original scriptures God sent to His Messengers, not in the books that carry the same names. The Quran is the only scripture of God that is intact and still exists in its original, pristine form.

 

The original sacred scriptures of the past do not exist in their original form in our times. This is confirmed by Biblical scholars, Jewish and Christian. However, some of the meanings of existing Biblical verses are clearly in line with the original scriptures because they are confirmed by the Quran, the Final Testament. An example would be the command to worship God alone without any partners.

 

Muslims believe that the Torah of Moses and the Injeel (Gospel) of Jesus originated from God. However, the original Torah and Injeel (Gospel) do not exist today. The Bible today consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are a collection of many books from different authors written in different times, not only the Torah and the Injeel that were sent by God to Moses and Jesus respectively.

 

In Islam, we view Jesus and his mother differently than how Christians in their various

denominations view them.

 

Jesus, the son of Mary, was a Messenger, and a Prophet of God. He was a human with no share in divinity. He was a Muslim and so was every Messenger of God. Jesus was the Messiah (the chosen Messenger of God) for the Children of Israel. He came to confirm the Law and the Torah of Moses and foretold about Muhammad’s coming. Isa is the name of Jesus in Arabic. We make a prayer whenever we mention the name of any of the Messengers of God. That prayer is asking God to bless the Messengers and grant them protection and well-being.

 

Both Jesus and Muhammad were human beings with no share of Divinity with God. They were brothers in faith – brothers from different mothers. They were both Muslims who submitted to God, followed His commandments, and obeyed God with sincerity. They were both sent by God to guide people as Messengers and Prophets. They came with the same message as all the other Messengers and Prophets of God from the time of Adam. That message was “Worship God and follow the Commandments.”

 

The main difference in their physical life is that Jesus did not have a father, whereas Muhammad did, although he too grew up an orphan since his father died before he was born. Jesus had a miracle birth which is recorded in the Quran. His mother, the Virgin Mary gave birth to him as a sign and a miracle from God.

 

Both Muhammad and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were descendants of Abraham through his two sons Ishmael and Isaac. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was from the offspring of Jacob, son of Isaac, whereas Muhammad was from the offspring of Ishmael. Jesus’ mother was an Israelite and Muhammad was an Ishmaelite, an Arab.

 

Jesus is mentioned in the Quran with the following titles, the Messiah, a Miracle, a Spirit, and a Word from God.

 

As for the differences in their teachings, both Jesus and Muhammad brought the same fundamental message of worship of the One True God and following His commandments. There were some differences in the details of the law that they brought because Jesus was only sent for a particular people and for a limited time and place whereas Muhammad was sent for all people and all times and places.

 

Jesus will come back (return) to earth at the end of times and join the ranks of the believers against the disbelievers. Muhammad prophesied this and gave details about the end of times.

 

In Islam, we have to believe in them both and love them both. Muslims are taught to celebrate, love, and honor Jesus.

 

A common misconception that some people have is that Muslims worship Muhammad the way many Christians worship Jesus. That is simply not true. Europeans and orientalists used to call Muslims “Muhammadans,” following this misconception.

 

Christians believe in the divinity of Jesus and some of them, like Catholics, believe in the divinity of his mother Mary, the Virgin, whom they call ‘The Mother of God.’ Muslims do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, Mary, or Muhammad. In Islam, only God is Divine.

 

Muslims don’t worship Muhammad. We don’t end our prayers in his name; instead, we ask God to bless and protect him when mentioning his name. We don’t have an equivalent of the “Hail Mary” dedicated to the mother of Muhammad. We pray directly to God and end the prayer with the name of God.

 

Muslims do not make images and icons of any human, no matter how special and righteous. We do not have statues and sculptures in our places of worship. The House of Worship is exclusively dedicated to the One True God. We simply try to follow Muhammad’s model and way as he followed the model and way of the Messengers before him, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

 

May God bless, protect and honor Jesus and Muhammad.