JESUS in the QURAN

JESUS in the QURAN

  JESUS in the QURAN

 The Islamic view Jesus lies between two extremes. The Jesus, 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"=85yet 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=85no 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