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Jesus in the Quran?
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04-15-2006, 10:38 PM
I recently saw a brief article which spoke of Jesus' birth, in fact vigin birth, in the Quran. Is this true? If so do Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? And as a follow-up...who do muslims think Jesus was?
04-18-2006, 09:04 AM
Bismillah Peace Curious <i>''Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be <b>Christ Jesus, the son of Mary</b>, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah; </i> "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: <b>When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is! </b> '' The Qur'an 3:45-47 <i>''The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: <b>"Be". And he was.</b>''</i> The Qur'an 3:59 <i><b>''Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger</b>; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!'' </i> The Qur'an 5:75 <i>''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 Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. '' </i> The Qur'an 4:171
04-18-2006, 11:41 AM
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.
04-19-2006, 02:22 AM
Thanks for such a thought provoking answer. It's no surprise that Mohammed was familiar with Jesus and the stories in the Gospels. <b>"ALLAH is HE besides Whom there is none worthy of worship, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. HE has sent down to thee the Book containing the truth and fulfilling that which precedes it; and HE has sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this, as a guidance to the people; and HE has sent down the Discrimination." -- Qur'an, Surah 3:3-4</b> Obviously, I do believe that Jesus is the son of God. I also believe that he was crucified and resurected. We both agree that he acescended into heaven. I don't know how Jesus' diciples could have continued to worship Jesus as God if Jesus was a prophet of Allah and taught that to his diciples. The Gospels and other early Christian writing are explicit that Jesus was the son of God. That Jesus was in fact God and that Jesus was crucified and conquered death. This is also what Paul taught in his letters to the early church(please help...I understand that Paul is described in the Quran as well).
04-19-2006, 08:07 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-19-2006, 08:11 AM by umm Zachariah.)
Bismillah Peace Curious Your last input did surprise me a bit. Quote:It's no surprise that Mohammed was familiar with Jesus and the stories in the Gospels. To me that is not the answer at all. But I am familiar with that there are for example anti Islamic sites that make that statement, but they are not aware of the Islamic teachings of the issue. So lack of knowledge does not make one an expert, but reading the authenthic sources gives one the guidance to take the right path to knowledge. It is the best start one could say. And one other thing - the Gospel that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is referring to in the Qur'an, is the Gospel, Injeel, sent to Jesus pbuh. The revelation sent to him that he fowarded to the children of Israel. Do not mix it up with the NT, that is someting that is written by man long time after the departure of Jesus pbuh. So the Qur'an refers to the Injeel, not to the NT. May I ask where you got your translation of the Qur'an from? I have looked through a couple of translations and the wording used in the translation you have used is different from the others? Why is that so? <i>''It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to you (Muhammad) with truth, confirming what came before it. And he sent down the Tauraat (Torah) and the Gospel.</i> Aforetime, as a guidance to humankind, And He sent down the criterion [of judgement between right and wrong (this Qur’an)]. Truly, those who disbelieve in the Signs of Allah, for them there is a severe torment; and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Able of Retribution.'' The Qur'an 3:3-4 Quote:I don't know how Jesus' diciples could have continued to worship Jesus as God if Jesus was a prophet of Allah and taught that to his diciples. Where in the NT can be read that they DID worship him as God? Quote:The Gospels and other early Christian writing are explicit that Jesus was the son of God. But there are other mentioned as 'sons of God' too, and also begotten. So it is not unique for Jesus pbuh. Wasn't it decided by the early church and at a meeting that Jesus pbuh should be called the son of God? Did Jesus pbuh also mention this to his disciples and the children of Israel? Quote:I understand that Paul is described in the Quran as well Where did you get this understanding?
04-19-2006, 11:23 AM
Hi curious, Thank you for your interest and contribution.I believe that you have got your materials from different and contradictory sources.There are many Bobles that can conflict with ine another and never come in good terms with each others.You have to be careful when dealinf with abstracting knowledge in any field.Religion needs more authentic sources and refernces so you reach the route you want and meet your satisfaction.Otherwise,You will feel confused and lost a mid thousands of books and articles.So people write them out of prejudice and others are ignorant. The best way is to know what is meant by MONOTHEISM.This uis the headstart.explict meaning from the lexicon will pave the way for you and you are going to hit your target. I apologize for writing too much things that might bother you.I always like curious people.You are one of themm,,,,CURIOUS[/[/color]
04-19-2006, 10:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-19-2006, 10:50 PM by Curious Christian.)
Quote:Bismillah A) To your surprise that I would say that Mohammed knew of Jesus. <i>Wouldn't Mohammed know about Jesus since he came hundreds of years after Jesus? Would he not have encountered the early church? </i> B ) Where was Jesus worshiped as God? For Starters: Mattew 28 vs 1-10 NIV <i>1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. </i> 2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. <b>They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. </b> <i>10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."</i> I didn't mean to offend to say that Mohammed knew of Christ. If I am wrong, correct me.
04-19-2006, 10:57 PM
Quote: But there are other mentioned as 'sons of God' too, and also begotten. So it is not unique for Jesus pbuh. John 3:16 NIV 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his <b>one and only</b> Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." I admit that I know very little about Islam and the teachings of Mohammed. I wouldn't dare impose an idea that I have about the Quran, Islam or Mohammed on any of you because I know that I know so little about Islam. However, I do know that the NT clearly illustrates, describes and supports Christ as God. That isn't even a question. ________ As far as Paul mentioned in the Quran...I just heard that somewhere and hadn't researced it. This is why I asked for help on the matter. I presume that my information was incorrect? Thanks for clearing that up... ---------- Soulperson...I replied to your email but for some reason the message wasn't delivered. In a nutshell, thanks for you kind words. I appreciate your willingness to talk openly about these questions which matter most of all...
04-20-2006, 09:18 AM
Bismillah Peace Curious To answer your comments; a. Yes prophet Muhammad saws got the knowledge of Jesus phub through revelation. Since he did not meet him in person. b. About worshipping. It is an interesting subject. There are other verses that tells us about people worshipping. But what does the word mean? Does 'kneeling down' mean the same as 'praying to'? Does Jesus phuh require prayer to him, as God does in the Bible? So, to me, worshipping here could well mean to 'pay one's respect to'. Bow down before, like some people do before a king or a priest some even do it to elderly people - but it is not worshipping in the sense of praying to them as a God. There is only one God to pray to. Yes I agree that is one verse that tells us about the only son, but there are others too, and they are not about Jesus phub. Other sons are there in focus. For example David pbuh is called a begotten son in Psalms 2:7. Eternal life - according to Islam that is one of the teachings that all the prophets and messengers always have forwarded to the nations they were sent to. That this life is temporary and the eteranal life will come after it. So it is not a new teaching credited to Christianity, it has always been well known.
04-20-2006, 11:44 AM
Quote:Yes I agree that is one verse that tells us about the only son, but there are others too, and they are not about Jesus phub. Other sons are there in focus. For example David pbuh is called a begotten son in Psalms 2:7. Greetings again. David is not called a begotten son in Psalms 2:7. David wrote the Psalm and speaking of Christ when he cometh. From the New King James Version 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against <b>His Anointed</b>, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then <i>He shall speak to them</i> in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” 7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break[a] them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” This is not David speaking in the 1st person. |
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