JESUS in the QURAN

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.