Jesus in Islam
What does Islam say about Jesus? To answer this question in a beneficial way demands the understanding of a number of terminology. The concepts of: God (Allah), religion, Islam, Qur’an, accountancy, prophet-hood, Holy spirit (ghost!), Lord, LORD and many others should be understood first.
As far as Muslims are concerned, Qur’an is recognised as the book of truth, being the word of God revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel(Jibreel), believed to have been kept intact and to contain the cardinals of Islam.
Jesus in Qur’an
Although Qur’an does not present a detailed life-account of Jesus (peace be upon him), it highlights the important aspects of his birth, his mission, his ascension to heaven and finally it discusses beliefs concerning him and passes judgments on those holding them.
The virgin birth
The Qur’anic account of Jesus starts with the conception of his mother Mary (Maryam in Arabic, the language of Qur’an). Mary’s mother, the wife of Imran, vowed to dedicate her child to the service of God (a common act then). She gave birth to Mary and Zacharia took charge of her. The story in brief is found in Qur’an (3:35–37).
The complete (brief) story of birth is found in Qur’an (19:16–40) in the Sura (chapter) called Mary. After talking about Zacharia and the glad tiding of his son Yahya (John), though he was too old. The story of Mary follows as she went away from her family when the angel came to her in a human shape and gave her the glad tiding that a child is to be born to her. She argued how could that be since she wasn’t married and she was well-known as a chaste woman. The Angel told her that it is the decree of the Almighty God and to him it is all very easy. He assured Mary that her son will be a sign to the people and a mercy from God. When the birthpangs came to her by the palm-trunk, she was worried and wished she were dead long before and became forgotten. Here she was strengthened and advised (by the angel) to shake the trunk to get ripe dates and to declare a dedicated fasting to the Merciful that she cannot talk to any human that day. She brought the child back to her people (Jews) and has a stream of accusations mainly questioning her chastity.
Mary pointed to the child (in the cradle), but they couldn’t believe that he could speak. At that moment Jesus spoke declaring that he is a servant of God who blessed him and made him a prophet, enjoined prayer (salat) on him as well as alms (zakat) and also to look after (cherish) his mother and didn’t make him wicked or arrogant. The story concludes that this is Jesus, son of Mary in word of truth concerning whom they are doubting and debating. Being the son of Mary, he is not the son of God (according to Qur’an of course). To clear the situation, the story ends with the assurance that it is NOT for God to take a son unto Him. After that, Qur’an directs Muhanmmad (and any Muslim) to call people who are in doubts or different beliefs concerning Jesus to a fair deal: to worship God the One and Only and not to associate with him any partner.
The rejection of the idea of God having a son is reiterated more strongly later in the same chapter (19:88–93). It should be clear here that Qur’an recognises that Jesus has no human father, but this doesn’t make him son of God or even God himself. Here Qur’an brings the story of Adam who had neither a father nor a mother. In Qur’an (3:59), God compares the likeness of Jesus to that of Adam (in their miraculous coming to existence) whom God created from dust and bestowed life upon him.
The Concepts of Trinity and Divinity
With the same strength as it rejects the son-ship of Jesus, Qur’an dismisses the concept of trinity. In Qur’an, God is One and trinity contradicts the Oneness of God simply because three are by no means equal to one even from a conceptual point of view. In Qur’an (4:171–172), God addresses the People of the Book — Jews and Christians (Nasaraa in Arabic). Here, God commands them not to go beyond the bounds of their religion and not to utter about God but truth. Therein, Qur’an declares that the Messiah Jesus son of Mary is not but the messenger of God, his word that he committed to Mary and a spirit from Him. It goes on and on asking for belief in God and His messengers and demands that they refrain from saying “three” for again, God is One and Glory to Him that he may have a son, all on earth and in heaven belong to Him.
Yet, in Qur’an (5:116–119), a stronger denial of the divinity of Jesus and Mary is presented. Jesus is said to witness to God that he told the people, as was commanded by God, to worship God alone and not to associate any with Him.
The Mission of Jesus
So far, we’ve seen that Qur’an, the ultimate Islamic book of truth, denies the son-ship, trinity and divinity a far as Jesus is concerned. So, what was his mission according to Qur’an?
In general, Jesus is considered as a link in the chain of messengers and prophets sent by God to various nations and localities. Prophets are usually sent on missions when there is a marked deviation from the straight path. A distinguished messenger, supported by God in his conception and birth, also supported by numerous miracles to prove his heavenly mission, Jesus was chosen to be sent to the Children of Israel (Israel is Jacob) in a time when they deviated from the teachings of Moses and the previous prophets; when they disregarded the Torah (Old Testament) and began to think of it in terms of business hiding parts and interpreting others in the way that suits them. However, the majority rejected his ministry and plotted against him.
In Qur’an (3:45–51), a brief account of Jesus’s mission is outlined: that God will give him knowledge, teach him wisdom; the Torah and the Injil (the Gospel — one gospel of course!), and to send him to the Children of Israel coming to them with a sign from God: creating the likeness of birds out of clay, blowing into it where it becomes real birds by the will of God, healing the blind and the leper and bringing to life the dead — all by the will and power of God. His mission is to confirm the truth of the Torah sent to Moses, and to make lawful some of the things forbidden to them as a result of their arrogance. In another place (61:6), Qur’an sums this story again adding that Jesus is giving the glad tiding to a messenger to come after him and his name is Ahmad (another name for Muhammad).
Belief in Jesus, in what is special about him and recognising him as a prophet, is one of the cardinal principals of Islam (it comes under the articles of Belief in Prophets and Belief in Revealed books).
The Original Sin and Redemption
In Islam, the concept of original sin simply does not exist. Sin, an acquired act, committed by humans is not inherited. One cannot assume responsibility of wrong deeds committed by accountable others. In Qur’an (53;38–41) & (2:134), it is clear that every one is responsible for his own actions. According to Qur’an (2:62,177), belief in God and the Last Day, offering sincere right deeds, belief in prophets; angels and revealed books, spending in alms and charities are to be rewarded and those who behave like that are successful. There is no intermediary between humans and God.
Was Jesus Crucified/killed? — Will he come back again?
According to Qur’an, the answer to the first question is certainly no. In Qur’an (4:156–159), we find a statement clear enough and strong enough to rule out any tiny doubt concerning the disappearance of Jesus. Here, Qur’an starts talking about the unbelief of the Jews, their utterings against Mary and their claims that they killed the Messiah Jesus son of Mary the messenger of God. Qur’an declares: Neither they killed him, nor they crucified him, but it has been made to them as if such a thing happened. It continues that those at variance concerning him are in doubt; they base their judgement on speculations and — Qur’an reiterates — they never killed him, but God raised (ascended) him up to Him. The text continues to state that there is none of the people of the book but will believe in him before his Death (i.e he is not dead yet) and on the Day of Judgement he will testify on them. This together with Qur’an (43:61), namely that he (Jesus) is a sign to the nearness of the Final Day, are — as I know — the only Qur’anic reference to his second coming. His second coming and more detailed accounts of all the above facts are supported by authentic sayings (Hadith) of the last prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Whether the crucified person was Juda Iscariot or not, Qur’an does not elaborate on that. This is in the possession of history same as the life account of Jesus and in fact most of his teachings. It may be of certain value to compare the version told by the officially recognised gospels with that of Barnabas who denies the son-ship and divinity of Jesus and gives the detailed account of how Jesus was saved and ascended where Juda Iscariot was taken instead.
To sum up
The Islamic position lies between two extremes: the Jews never recognised Jesus and plotted to kill him, followers of Christianity with almost all considerable sects raised him to the level of God or son of God; they believe that he died willingly on the cross in a move to redeem those who accept their version of belief from their sins.
In my own opinion, the marked gaps are a result of both the question of authority and authenticity of the currently accepted life accounts of Jesus and the distortion caused by translation in the absence of the original text.
This is a very brief account of Jesus from an Islamic point of view. It should be borne in mind that whatever wide the gap is, it does not imply a confrontational relationship so far as the good will and the search for truth are concerned. History can tell more about sincere intentions and their fruitful results. The other side of the coin is not neglected by history of course.