Art.  #18:  WHAT DO MUSLIMS THINK ABOUT JESUS?  Muslims respect and revere Jesus, and await his Second Coming. They consider him one of the greatest of God’s Messengers to mankind.  A Muslim never refers to him simply as “Jesus”, but always adds the phrase ‘upon him be peace’.  The Qur’an confirms his virgin birth (a chapter of the Qur’an is entitled “Mary”), and Mary is considered the purest woman in all creation.  The Qur’an describes the Annunciation as follows: ‘Behold!’, the Angel said, ‘God has chosen you, and purified you, and chosen you above the women of all nations.  O Mary!, God gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near to God.  He shall speak to the people from his cradle and in maturity, and shall be of the righteous.’

She said: ‘O my Lord!  How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?’  He said: ‘Even so; God creates what He will.  When He decrees a thing, He says to it, “Be!” and it is.’  (Qur’an, 3:47)

Jesus was born miraculously through the same power, which had brought Adam into being without a father:  “Truly, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam.  He created him of dust, and then said to Him, ‘Be!’, and He was.”  (3:59)

During his prophetic mission Jesus performed many miracles.  The Qur’an tells us that he said:  I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God’s leave.  And I heal the blind, and the lepers, and I raise the dead by God’s leave.  (3:49)

Neither Muhammad nor Jesus came to change the basic doctrine of the belief in one God, brought by earlier prophets, but to confirm and renew it.  In the Qur’an Jesus is reported as saying that he came: To attest the law which was before me.  And to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden you; I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear God and obey me. (3:50)

The Prophet Muhammad said:  Whoever believes there is no god but God, alone without partner, that Muhammad is His messenger, that Jesus is the servant and messenger of God, His word breathed into Mary and a spirit emanating from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are true, shall be received by God into Heaven. (Hadith from Bukhart)

REBUTTAL:  The early suras of Medina pay homage to Christ, while later suras of Mecca diminish his importance, relegating Him to just another prophet.  The difference was Muhammad’s changing attitude towards Christians and Jews.  While courting both religions for converts in Medina, his suras concerning Jesus were respectful.  But upon attracting few converts, and once his power base was secure, he commenced a bloody persecution of those Jews and Christians not willing to convert, and his attitude towards Jesus changed drastically, as seen by the following suras.

Denying the Divinity of Jesus:  “O People of the Book!  Commit no excesses in your religion; nor say of Allah aught but the truth.  Christ Jesus the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger of Allah, and His word, which he bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him; so believe in Allah and His Messengers.  Say not ‘Trinity’; desist; it will be better for you, for Allah is one God; glory be to Him; for Exalted is He above having a son.” (4:171)

Denial of the Holy Trinity:  “They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity; for there is no God except One God.”  (5:73)

Denying Christ’s crucifixion: “That they said in boast, ‘We killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah…But they killed Him not, nor crucified Him, but so it was made to appear to them’.”  (4:157)  According to Muslims, Christ was not crucified; instead, a man named Shabih, who closely resembled Jesus, was sacrificed.  From the above revelations of Allah (Muhammad), it appears that certain Christians equating Jehovah with Allah might wish to re-think their position.

Christians are deemed mortal sinners because of their belief in the divinity of Christ:  God (Allah) will forbid him the Garden (Heaven) and the fire (Hell) will be his abode."
(5:72)