Muslimwoman
Coexistence insha'Allah
as salaam aleykum
Last night I was very saddened to watch a documentary about apostacy in Islam. A part of the programme looked at evangelists coming from US to UK to try to convert Muslims. The leader of one such group said that "in Islam Jesus is not the son of G-d but is just a Prophet, a FAILED Prophet. Because he failed he must return again".
I was hurt, angry and astonished at his utter lies and/or ignorance. I wanted to set out for everyone the beliefs, respect and love of Jesus (pbuh) that Islam teaches.
I realise we disagree about the nature and role of Jesus (pbuh) but I hope you will take time to read this and understand the reverense in which we hold him in our hearts. This is what Islam teaches:
Jesus is mentioned in the Quran, by name, in 25 places. In other places he is called the son of Mary, the Messiah/Christ (our definition of Christ is different to yours), the servant of Allah and as the Messenger of G-d. He is also referrred to as the Word of G-d, the Spirit of G-d and a Sign from G-d. There are others but none are in any way insulting.
There is an entire chapter of the Quran named Maryam (Mary - being the mother of Jesus (pbut)).
The virgin birth - yes we believe in the virgin birth:
“When the angels said: ‘O Mary, indeed Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. He will be honored in this world and the next and will be of those close to Allah.’ ” Quran 3:45
“She said: ‘O my Lord, how can I have a son when no man has touched me?’ He said: ‘Even so Allah creates what He wishes. When He decrees something, He only has to say to it: “Be!” and it is.’ ” Quran 3:47
Did Jesus (pbuh) perform miracles?
The first miracle was when Mary (pbuh) returnd to her people after giving birth, as an unwed mother the people accused her of fornication. She refused to speak and simply pointed to her son (a baby):
"When she pointed to him, they asked, 'How can we talk to a child in the cradle?'. He [Jesus] said 'Indeed I am a servant of Allah. He gave me the scripture and made me a prophet.'" (Quran 19:29-30)
This was the first miracle of Jesus (pbuh).
The Quran also tells of Jesus (pbuh) curing the blind, bringing the dead back to life, curing lepers - it also tells that he used to make birds from clay and blow onto them and they would fly away as real birds brought to life.
Why do Muslims not accept the miracles as proof of the divinity of Jesus (pbuh)? Because all things are by God's will alone, G-d performed the miracles through Jesus (pbuh), as He performed the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea through Moses. This miracle did not make Moses divine. I believe in the Bible Elisha & Elijah caused the blind to see and cured lepers - they were not accepted as divine. All of these very special men were gifts from G-d and performed miracles with the permission of G-d, not through their own ability.
We are told that from the Bible we know Jesus (pbuh) did not claim to perform miracles of his own ability: In John 5:30, it is narrated that Jesus also said: “I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
The Mission of Jesus:
G-d sent Jesus (pbuh) as a gift to the world, a light, a confirmation of the Jewish scripture before him. He was given the scripture (Injil) as a guidance to mankind. G-d allowed Jesus (pbuh) to perform miracles as proof of his Prophethood and to show that he was a gift from G-d.
The death of Jesus:
There is debate among Muslims as to whether Jesus (pbuh) was resurrected alive or dead. Most Muslims believe that Jesus ascended to heaven prior to death (various theories abound, someone was crucified in his place, G-d replaced someone with Jesus while on the cross, he simply slipped into unconciousnessness and was revived in the tomb, etc). The Quran gives no specific answer to this question, so the debate rumbles on.
Was Jesus (pbuh) the son of G-d?
For Muslims that is a definate no. He was a Messenger, a Righteous Prophet, a gift to mankind, beloved of G-d. He is alive, in heaven, as I type, alhamdiolillah. For Muslims divinity and worship belong to G-d alone.
And when Allah will say: O Jesus son of Mary! did you say to men, Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah he will say: Glory be to Thee, it did not befit me that I should say what I had no right to (say); if I had said it, Thou wouldst indeed have known it; Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in Thy mind, surely Thou art the great Knower of the unseen things. I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with: That serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord, and I was a witness of them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst cause me to die, Thou wert the watcher over them, and Thou art witness of all things (Quran 5:116)
The Second Coming
Again there is debate in Islam as to whether Jesus (pbuh) will return to earth to herald the coming of the Day of Judgement. The hadith are very clear that he will return but those that study the Quran alone are less clear on this issue, as the Quran does not explicit on the second coming.
The most widely held view is that he is alive in heaven and when the time is right, insh'allah, he will descend from heaven, lead an army and kill the anti Christ. He will be preceeded by the anti Christ who will perform minor miracles and try to make people believe he is G-d. We are not to be persuaded by this deception.
The killing of the anti Christ will bring a time of peace, where all creatures will live in peace, wolves will lie with the sheep, lions with camels and all mankind will worship G-d alone. He will remain on earth for 40 (it does not specify days, weeks, months or years but it is presumed to be years) and will then die. During these years he will live as any mortal man does. There is no indication of what he will look like, what colour his skin will be or how he will make himself known.
Jesus (pbuh) will not come with a new message or return as a Prophet, he is coming, as G-d's servant, to confirm the message of G-d and refute the false beliefs about him. He will unite the believers, show us the errors of our various ways and bring us together to the true path of G-d.
Original Sin
Muslims do not believe in original sin, hence the need for Jesus (pbuh) to die for our sins. Every man and woman is responsible solely for their own sin. We do not inherit sin and cannot take upon ourselves the sin of others. Our good deeds do not negate our bad deeds but we will be judged by weight of good deeds compared to bad deeds. G-d will judge everyone with absolute fairness and mercy, giving more weight to our good deeds. Sins as children will not be judged.
Conclusion
Jesus (pbuh) himself called mankind to worship the One True G-d and he will return to repeat this message. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, was a mortal Prophet, is beloved of G-d and now lives in heaven awaiting the time to return, to confirm his original message.
I know as Chrsitians you will not accept the above but I felt the need to set out our beliefs and refute the utter nonsense that Muslims believe Jesus (pbuh) to be a 'failed' Prophet. He is beloved of Allah, he was one of the greatest Prophets ever sent as a gift from Allah and we love and respect him. We also wait for his return, his killing of the anti Christ and his bringing a time of absolute peace in the world.
I accept that for you it is rude that we do not see him as the son of G-d and for us it is rude that you would worship a man, albeit such a great man, as G-d. These are differces we can live with and accept, I hope. We will all be told the truth of our faith when G-d judges us.
I have tried to give the mainstream Islamic beliefs here, rather than my personal views. I hope Allah will forgive me if I have misrepresented anything.
Thank you for reading my little rant but I felt I had to speak up against such an inaccurate portrayal of my beliefs.
Salaam
Last night I was very saddened to watch a documentary about apostacy in Islam. A part of the programme looked at evangelists coming from US to UK to try to convert Muslims. The leader of one such group said that "in Islam Jesus is not the son of G-d but is just a Prophet, a FAILED Prophet. Because he failed he must return again".
I was hurt, angry and astonished at his utter lies and/or ignorance. I wanted to set out for everyone the beliefs, respect and love of Jesus (pbuh) that Islam teaches.
I realise we disagree about the nature and role of Jesus (pbuh) but I hope you will take time to read this and understand the reverense in which we hold him in our hearts. This is what Islam teaches:
Jesus is mentioned in the Quran, by name, in 25 places. In other places he is called the son of Mary, the Messiah/Christ (our definition of Christ is different to yours), the servant of Allah and as the Messenger of G-d. He is also referrred to as the Word of G-d, the Spirit of G-d and a Sign from G-d. There are others but none are in any way insulting.
There is an entire chapter of the Quran named Maryam (Mary - being the mother of Jesus (pbut)).
The virgin birth - yes we believe in the virgin birth:
“When the angels said: ‘O Mary, indeed Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. He will be honored in this world and the next and will be of those close to Allah.’ ” Quran 3:45
“She said: ‘O my Lord, how can I have a son when no man has touched me?’ He said: ‘Even so Allah creates what He wishes. When He decrees something, He only has to say to it: “Be!” and it is.’ ” Quran 3:47
Did Jesus (pbuh) perform miracles?
The first miracle was when Mary (pbuh) returnd to her people after giving birth, as an unwed mother the people accused her of fornication. She refused to speak and simply pointed to her son (a baby):
"When she pointed to him, they asked, 'How can we talk to a child in the cradle?'. He [Jesus] said 'Indeed I am a servant of Allah. He gave me the scripture and made me a prophet.'" (Quran 19:29-30)
This was the first miracle of Jesus (pbuh).
The Quran also tells of Jesus (pbuh) curing the blind, bringing the dead back to life, curing lepers - it also tells that he used to make birds from clay and blow onto them and they would fly away as real birds brought to life.
Why do Muslims not accept the miracles as proof of the divinity of Jesus (pbuh)? Because all things are by God's will alone, G-d performed the miracles through Jesus (pbuh), as He performed the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea through Moses. This miracle did not make Moses divine. I believe in the Bible Elisha & Elijah caused the blind to see and cured lepers - they were not accepted as divine. All of these very special men were gifts from G-d and performed miracles with the permission of G-d, not through their own ability.
We are told that from the Bible we know Jesus (pbuh) did not claim to perform miracles of his own ability: In John 5:30, it is narrated that Jesus also said: “I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
The Mission of Jesus:
G-d sent Jesus (pbuh) as a gift to the world, a light, a confirmation of the Jewish scripture before him. He was given the scripture (Injil) as a guidance to mankind. G-d allowed Jesus (pbuh) to perform miracles as proof of his Prophethood and to show that he was a gift from G-d.
The death of Jesus:
There is debate among Muslims as to whether Jesus (pbuh) was resurrected alive or dead. Most Muslims believe that Jesus ascended to heaven prior to death (various theories abound, someone was crucified in his place, G-d replaced someone with Jesus while on the cross, he simply slipped into unconciousnessness and was revived in the tomb, etc). The Quran gives no specific answer to this question, so the debate rumbles on.
Was Jesus (pbuh) the son of G-d?
For Muslims that is a definate no. He was a Messenger, a Righteous Prophet, a gift to mankind, beloved of G-d. He is alive, in heaven, as I type, alhamdiolillah. For Muslims divinity and worship belong to G-d alone.
And when Allah will say: O Jesus son of Mary! did you say to men, Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah he will say: Glory be to Thee, it did not befit me that I should say what I had no right to (say); if I had said it, Thou wouldst indeed have known it; Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in Thy mind, surely Thou art the great Knower of the unseen things. I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with: That serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord, and I was a witness of them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst cause me to die, Thou wert the watcher over them, and Thou art witness of all things (Quran 5:116)
The Second Coming
Again there is debate in Islam as to whether Jesus (pbuh) will return to earth to herald the coming of the Day of Judgement. The hadith are very clear that he will return but those that study the Quran alone are less clear on this issue, as the Quran does not explicit on the second coming.
The most widely held view is that he is alive in heaven and when the time is right, insh'allah, he will descend from heaven, lead an army and kill the anti Christ. He will be preceeded by the anti Christ who will perform minor miracles and try to make people believe he is G-d. We are not to be persuaded by this deception.
The killing of the anti Christ will bring a time of peace, where all creatures will live in peace, wolves will lie with the sheep, lions with camels and all mankind will worship G-d alone. He will remain on earth for 40 (it does not specify days, weeks, months or years but it is presumed to be years) and will then die. During these years he will live as any mortal man does. There is no indication of what he will look like, what colour his skin will be or how he will make himself known.
Jesus (pbuh) will not come with a new message or return as a Prophet, he is coming, as G-d's servant, to confirm the message of G-d and refute the false beliefs about him. He will unite the believers, show us the errors of our various ways and bring us together to the true path of G-d.
Original Sin
Muslims do not believe in original sin, hence the need for Jesus (pbuh) to die for our sins. Every man and woman is responsible solely for their own sin. We do not inherit sin and cannot take upon ourselves the sin of others. Our good deeds do not negate our bad deeds but we will be judged by weight of good deeds compared to bad deeds. G-d will judge everyone with absolute fairness and mercy, giving more weight to our good deeds. Sins as children will not be judged.
Conclusion
Jesus (pbuh) himself called mankind to worship the One True G-d and he will return to repeat this message. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, was a mortal Prophet, is beloved of G-d and now lives in heaven awaiting the time to return, to confirm his original message.
I know as Chrsitians you will not accept the above but I felt the need to set out our beliefs and refute the utter nonsense that Muslims believe Jesus (pbuh) to be a 'failed' Prophet. He is beloved of Allah, he was one of the greatest Prophets ever sent as a gift from Allah and we love and respect him. We also wait for his return, his killing of the anti Christ and his bringing a time of absolute peace in the world.
I accept that for you it is rude that we do not see him as the son of G-d and for us it is rude that you would worship a man, albeit such a great man, as G-d. These are differces we can live with and accept, I hope. We will all be told the truth of our faith when G-d judges us.
I have tried to give the mainstream Islamic beliefs here, rather than my personal views. I hope Allah will forgive me if I have misrepresented anything.
Thank you for reading my little rant but I felt I had to speak up against such an inaccurate portrayal of my beliefs.
Salaam
