Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu May peace and God s mercy and blessings be upon all of you! Good evening and thanks for taking time to attend today s seminar. My name is Aurangzeb and the topic of this seminar is Jesus in Islam. Jesus is no doubt the central figure in Christianity. But it may be interesting for you to note that Muslims too hold him in very high regards. Actually belief in Jesus is essential part of every Muslim s faith and no Muslim is a Muslim unless he/she believes in Jesus. Muslims believe that Jesus was born of virgin mother, Mary, that He is the word of God, that He is the promised Christ, that he was supported by the Holy Spirit, that he performed many miracles including healing blinds and lepers and raising from the dead, that he preached Gospel, the Divine Book given to him, that he was lifted to the heavens and that he will be sent back in the End Times. It must sound very familiar to the Christians. It is true that there are many similarities between the Islamic and Christian belief about Jesus, but of course there are differences as well. But before starting the presentation and going into the details I d like to make a request to all of you, to please not be offended by anything that you find different from your beliefs. My goal is to share with you how Jesus is viewed and regarded in Islam and not to offend anyone. 1
That said, here is the outline for today s presentation First I d like to give you a very brief introduction of Islam. After that I ll talk about the mother of Jesus, Marry, how her mother dedicated her to the service of God and how she was brought up. Then we ll see how John the Baptist was born and what the Qur an says about him. Next we ll study the immaculate conception of Jesus and his virgin birth as described in the Qur an and believed by Muslims. Then we ll see that according to the Islamic belief Jesus is not son of God or God or third entity in the Trinity. After that we will see how Jesus and Mary are given a very high status among the human beings, in Islam. Next, we ll see that in Islam Jesus is a Prophet, like Moses, Abraham, David, and so on, who was sent to guide his people. We will study some of his teachings and read about his disciples. Finally we ll see that according to the Islamic belief Jesus was not crucified but God saved him and lifted him alive, and because he did not die he will be sent again near the End Times. If you think of any questions during the presentation please write them down on the cards that have been provided to you, I ll try to answer them at the end of the presentation. 2
Here is the list of keywords or terms that I will be using in my presentation. Muslims believe in one Creator, who is called Allah in Arabic. Muhammad is believed to be the final prophet of God sent to the mankind. The Qur an is the Divine book which Muslims believe to be the literal word of God. I ll pronounce the word as Qur an and not Koran. Similarly, I ll say Islam and not Izlam. Jesus is Isa in Arabic. PBUH is the abbreviation of peace be upon him. We is the plural of respect in Arabic which is used as a pronoun for one God, in the Qur an. And Children of Israel and people of the book refer to Jews and Christians, in the Qur an. 3
That said, let s start with the brief introduction of Islam. The concept of exactly one creator is central to Islam. That creator is called Allah in Arabic. Muslims believe that this universe and everything in it was created by God. He is the only creator and everything else is His creation. The creator, in Islam, is absolutely perfect and most exalted. He is eternal. He is not bound by time and space. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is nothing like Him. Muslims believe He has got all the good and unique attributes of infinite vastness and absolute perfection. For instance, He is Allknowing, All-powerful, All-Wise, the most Merciful and so on. Again, He is absolutely perfect and free from any kind of flaw, weakness, imperfection, need and dependence, no matter how minute it is. 4
Muslims believe that just because God is perfect what He does is perfect too. So this creation is a purposeful creation and God did not create all this in vain. And the purpose of creation, in Islam, is praise, glorification, reverence and worship of God and His complete obedience and submission to Him. He created everything so that everything could praise, worship and obey Him. Everything in the universe does that but without knowing and without choice. Human beings are unique because they are given intellect and wisdom through which they can know the purpose of their creation and they are also given ability to choose, using which they can either choose to do what is required of them or choose to not do so. 5
And life of this world is a test for human beings, not a written test but a comprehensive one. Muslims believe that we are given life and sent in this world so that we could be tested as to who among us realize the purpose of their creation and then fulfill it out of their choice. Since, it is a test; it has got a result too. Those who pass the test, will be appreciated, acknowledged, honored and rewarded in a place called Heaven or Paradise. Those who fail the test will be punished in a place called Hell. Again, what is required to pass the test? First of all know who the Creator is, what His attributes are, why He created us. And then fulfill the purpose of creation which is to worship and obey Him in everything. 6
But a question comes to mind that if this life is a test are we told about the test. And the answer is Yes, everything in detail. God described everything in His own words. These were called Books of God or word of God. Among them, Muslims believe, are Torah, Psalms, Gospel and the Quran. Not only God described everything Himself but He also appointed human beings from among human beings who explained the word of God to mankind and also practically demonstrated what is required of them to pass the test of life. Muslims believe these instructors and role models, called messengers and prophets were sent to every nation. Among them were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, John, Jesus and Muhammad who is the final messenger. May peace be upon them all! 7
So three things are required to pass the test, belief, worship and obedience. First is the belief. Here are some core beliefs that every Muslim has to have. We have discussed the belief in the Creator, Books and Messengers, others are belief in Angels, Divine Decree, and the day of Resurrection. As for the worship, Muslims are taught different modes of worship. Among them are praying, fasting and making Pilgrimage to Makkah. As for the obedience, they are given excellent commandments. These commandments cover all aspects of our individual as well as collective lives and ensure a peaceful society based on justice, equality, fairness, goodness, piety and modesty. 8
After the brief introduction of Islam, now let us see what the Qur an tells Muslims about the mother of Jesus. The Qur an says that Mary was the mother of Jesus. She was the daughter of Imran who was a descendant of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. We are told that when the wife of Imran got pregnant she vowed to God that she would dedicate the child who is in her womb to the service of God. And she prayed that may God accept this from her. Here is the verse from the Quran. It is in chapter 3 and the verse number is 35. It says: (Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services, so accept this, from me. Indeed, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing. 9
But when she delivered the child she found that it was a girl. We can tell that she is not very happy. She was expecting a boy because these were males that were usually dedicated for this purpose. Nonetheless, she names the daughter, Mary and prays that she and her offspring may be protected from Satan. Here is the verse. You can also find it in your handouts; I won t be reading all the verses but what I am describing is from the Quran and the handouts have the relevant verses which you can read later. 10
Next we are told in Qur an that God accepted Mary with a goodly acceptance, made her grow up in a good manner i.e. she turned out be an excellent and a very fine child, and put her under the care of Zechariah. Zechariah was one of the priests of the temple and a prophet. Mary of course had to move to the temple as she was dedicated for God s service and someone had to be her caretaker there. We are told in the Quran later that the people in the temple disputed as to who would become the caretaker of Mary and then they cast lots with their pens to decide the winner, who turned out to be Zechariah that is why Quran says that God put Mary under the care of Zechariah. Then we are told that whenever Zechariah entered her Chamber, her room where she used to worship God, he found sustenance with her, food and fruits of different kind. He was of course surprised to see food with her. Hmm where does this little girl get all this yummy food from? When he couldn t figure out who gives her food, one day he asked her O Mary, where did this come for you from? And she said, this is from Allah, from God. Verily God provides sustenance to whomever He wills, without limit. 11
This made Zechariah pray to God for the offspring. Zechariah was in his old age and he did not have any children. After finding out that God provided food to Mary, his hope that God can still provide him with offspring got strengthened. So Zechariah prayed, O my Lord, grant me from you, a good offspring. You are indeed the All- Hearer of invocation and supplication. God accepted his prayer. So he sent angels who called him while he was praying in the chamber. They told him that Allah gives him glad tidings of John, who will confirm the word of God i.e. he would testify that Jesus is the Word of God and Christ, he will be noble, modest and a prophet from among the righteous. 12
On hearing that, Zechariah said, O my Lord how can I have a son when I am very old and my wife has been barren all her life? Allah said, Thus Allah does what He wills. He said, O my Lord, make a sign for me. Although he prayed for the offspring, but seems like he is finding it hard to digest the idea of having a son, because He knows he is too old and his wife has been barren all her life. So he asks for a sign, seeing which he could strengthen his heart. God tells him, your sign is that you will not be able to speak to the people for three days except with signs. So remember much your Lord, i.e. praise Him, and glorify Him in the afternoon and in the morning. In case you are wondering what does the birth of John the Baptist have to do with our topic, it is important to note that the Birth of Jesus is mentioned at least three times in Quran and every time the birth of John is mentioned before it to make us realize that the birth of John is miraculous too. God, who can bless a very old man whose wife cannot produce child, with a son can also bless Mary with a son, while she is virgin. It is easy for Him. 13
Here are some of the characteristics of John the Baptist, according to the Qur an, that he was blessed with wisdom since childhood. God made him sympathetic to men as a Mercy from God, and pure from disbelief. He was righteous and dutiful to his parents. He was neither arrogant nor disobedient to Allah and his parents. Peace be upon him the day he was born, the day he died and the day he will be raised up to life again. 14
Next we see that angels tell Mary that she was chosen by Allah and purified and chosen above women of all nations. It is an unmatched honor that Mary enjoys. But with privilege comes more responsibility and expectations. So the angels ask Mary to submit to her Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow down in prayer and submission. 15
So Mary grows up as a righteous, noble and chaste lady who is dedicated to the worship of God and the service of religion. According to the Qur an, one day angels come to Mary and give her glad tidings of a son who would be the Word of God. They tell her that his name would be the Messiah Jesus, Jesus Christ, son of Mary. That he will be held in honor in this world and in the Hereafter he will be one of those who are near to Allah. They further tell Mary, that Jesus will speak to the people as an infant and he will be one of the righteous. 16
Now this is quite shocking for the virgin lady to hear the news about having a son. She is like, wait a minute, do you tell me that I can have a son when no man has ever touched me? In other words I am a virgin, how on earth can I have a son. Angel Gabriel says, so it will be, for Allah creates what He wills. It is not difficult for Him. When He has decreed something He just says Be and It becomes. Then the angel Gabriel continues on to tell Mary more about the son. That Allah will teach him the Book and the wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel. 17
And that Allah will make him a messenger to the progeny of Jacob and enable him to perform miracles as a sign that he is a true messenger from God. Among the miracles that he will perform by the will of God are creating a living bird out of clay, healing born blinds and lepers, give life to dead, and telling what people eat and what they store in their houses. 18
That he will confirm Torah as a true book from God and make some forbidden things lawful. He will ask his people to fear God and follow Jesus. He will tell them that God is his Lord and their Lord so they should worship God alone. So the angels tell Mary all this in advance, about the virgin birth of Jesus, about him being the word of God, the promised Christ, a messenger to progeny of Jacob, a teacher of Torah and Gospel, and having the ability to perform many miracles. 19
Now let us study the virgin birth of Jesus in more detail. This is described in chapter 19 and the name of this chapter is Mary. The whole chapter is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus. We are told in this chapter that Mary withdrew herself in seclusion from her family to a place facing east. There she placed a screen to screen herself from people and there Allah sent angels to her. Angel Gabriel appeared to her in the form of a man. This was a test for her modesty. Just imagine a virgin young girl in her room with a man, alone. But Mary is a chaste lady, on finding a man in her room she is not like, wow, what a tall handsome man!. She is actually frightened and worried. She seeks refuge with God from the man and tells him to fear God and not have any bad intentions towards her. 20
So it was a test of her modesty which she successfully passed and on that the Angel Gabriel reveals his identity that he is an angel, a messenger from God, and tells her not to be scared. He also tells her that he came to announce the gift of a righteous son. Mary as we have seen before is shocked, she questions how can she have a son when she is a virgin. Angel tells her that it will be so. Her Lord has said that it is easy for Him. And He will make Jesus a sign for the mankind (i.e. his virgin birth) and a mercy from God. And that this is a matter already decreed. So Mary conceives miraculously and withdraws with the child in her belly to a far place, i.e. the Bethlehem valley, 4 to 6 miles from Jerusalem). 21
Then when it is the time to give birth, labor pains drive her to the trunk of a datepalm. She is in pain but the pain and worries of forthcoming insult and embarrassment are overwhelming. At that point Mary wishes that she had died before this and had been long forgotten. She is really worried about what she is gonna tell her people. She is thinking of all the fingers that will be pointed towards her, all the evil titles and names that she will be given, all the comments like oh look at her, isn t it the same girl who was dedicated for God s service, isn t it the same girl who belongs to a noble family, and look what she has done. You can imagine how worried she is. But at that point that what is below her, i.e. the newly born baby consoles her by saying, Grieve not, Your Lord has provided a water stream under you and fresh dates. Shake the trunk of the date-palm and it will let fresh ripe dates fall on you. So basically she is told that her Lord has not forsaken her. He cares about her and has provided for her dates to gain energy and water to drink as well as get purified. And that God is with her and He will let it pass, she will be able to face her people, so she should not be grieved. 22
After telling her about the dates and water, Jesus, the newly born baby, asks her to eat and drink and cool her eye by looking at her adorable child and hugging and kissing him. He also tells her that when she is ready to go back to her people she should fast and when any human being tries to talk to her she should signal them that she is fasting and cannot speak. So she comes back to her people, carrying the baby, Jesus, in her hands. As expected, everyone is shocked. They exclaim! O Mary, you have indeed brought a mighty unheard thing. O Mary, your father was not an adulterer nor was your mother an unchaste lady, how come could you do such an evil and shameful thing. 23
As was told previously, she points to the child, meaning that they should ask him. They are like, what? Are you out of your sense? How can we talk to a baby who is in cradle? On that, the baby, Jesus, says. Verily, I am a slave of Allah. He has given me the Scripture i.e. Gospel and made me a Prophet. And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me prayer and charity, as long as I live. And dutiful to my mother and I am not made arrogant or overbearing. Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die and the day I shall be raised alive. This is the first miracle of Jesus, when he spoke as an infant in the defense of his mother. He cleared her from all false allegations and slander. It is important to note that Jesus performed this and other miracles by the help of angel Gabriel, whose title in Qur an is the Holy Spirit. So he was truly supported by the Holy Spirit according to the Islamic belief. 24
The Qur an tells us that this is a true narrative. Muhammad PBUH did not know about any of the details. The whole Qur an is the divine revelation and not Muhammad s own writings, as it is claimed by some non-muslims. Also, it is interesting to note that the Qur an has many more stories of other Prophets and their families as compared to very few about him and his family. 25
After the story of virgin birth of Jesus, the Qur an says: Such is Jesus, son of Mary, this is a statement of truth about which people doubt. It is important to note that most of the time when Jesus is mentioned in the Qur an, he is mentioned as Jesus, son of Mary to emphasize that he was son of Mary and not God. Then the Qur an reads that it befits not God that He should beget a son. Process of begetting is associated with low animal desires. Human beings and animals beget, God does not. He is far too perfect and most exalted to beget and have sons and daughters. He creates. He is the creator of everything. And whenever He decrees something He just says Be and it becomes. That is how He created Jesus, through His command or word of Be, that is why Jesus is said to be the Word of God. 26
It is not exclusive to Jesus only, God in general does not have any sons. He is far too perfect and most exalted to have sons. His is all creation. Everything is created by Him and belongs to Him. He does not need a heir or a name bearer or an intermediary. 27
Muslims also believe that Jesus is not God, and similarly God is not Jesus. Declaring anyone else God, other than the true God, the one Creator of the universe, is the greatest sin in Islam which will not be forgiven unless the person repents sincerely. Muslims also believe that Jesus is not part of the Trinity and that Trinity, itself, does not exist. They believe that God is just one. 28
According to the Islamic belief Jesus was born of virgin mother. But just because he was born without a father, it does not mean that he was the son of God because then Adam is probably a more proper candidate to be called the son of God. Because Jesus still had a mother. Adam had none. No father, no mother. But the Qur an says that both Adam and Jesus are human beings. God created both of them. It says that the example of Jesus is just like the example of Adam. God created him from dust/clay and just said, Be and he was. Then it says, this is the truth from your Lord so be of not those who doubt. 29
In the Qur an we are told that God will remind Jesus of His favors on him, on the day of Resurrection. God s favors on him, like giving him wisdom, teaching him Torah and Gospel, giving him the ability and permission to perform miracles like speaking as an infant, creating a living bird out of clay, healing born blinds and lepers, raising from the dead and so on, and His favor of saving Jesus from his people when they tried to kill him and giving him the disciples. 30
These are the verses that talk about these favors. 31
After reminding Jesus of God s favors on him, God will question him if he told his people to worship him and his mother as two gods besides Allah. He will say, Glory be to you! It was not of me to say what I had no right to say Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden and unseen. 32
Jesus will further say, I only said to them what You commanded me to say: i.e. Worship Allah, my Lord and Your Lord And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up You were the watcher over them. And You are a witness to all things. If you punish them they are your slaves, and if you forgive them then verily You and only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. God will say that this is the day on which only the truthful will profit from their truth. 33
Now let us talk about the high status that Jesus and Mary have in Islam. First let s talk about Mary. As we saw previously that Mary was chosen by God and purified and chosen above women of all nations. It is a great honor and status that she enjoys among women of all nations and all times. She was the real Miss universe, who unlike the miss universe of our times was not selected by the physical beauty or attraction but the beauty of character, morals, values, personality, modesty, piety, wisdom, obedience and submission to God. It is a great honor that she enjoys, something even the most righteous among men envy about. The Quran also praises her for her truthfulness when it says, that she was a woman of truth. 34
It also praises her for her chastity and modesty and obedience. And presents her as one of the two examples of the best women of all times. It is interesting to see that Islam is usually targeted, of course falsely, as a religion which oppresses and subjugates women. But here we see, that the Qur an presents the examples of women to all the believers, men and women, of all times. That these women are the shining stars, the role-models for mankind. If you want to know how a believer should be then look at Mary and follow her example. 35
Similarly Jesus holds a very high status in Islam. He is given the title of the Word of God and the Messiah. Allah made Jesus and Mary as a sign for mankind. Jesus was an example for the children of Israel. 36
But as high a status as they had, according to Islam, both Mary and Jesus were still human beings. We are told in Qur an that they both used to eat food and then of course excrete. While God does not eat. He is free from any need or dependence or flaw or weakness or imperfection. And Qur an presents this argument as something to be pondered about. 37
Next we are told that Jesus was a humble slave of God. He will never be proud to reject to be a slave of Allah and whoever is proud and rejects God s worship, God will punish them. And God has power over everything if He wishes to destroy the whole mankind including Jesus and his mother, nothing can stop Him and no one has power against Him. 38
So in Islam, Jesus is not son of God or God, he is a human being but not any ordinary human being. He is believed to be a prophet, like other prophets, like Abraham, Moses, and David. God gave him the Divine Book, Gospel, which had guidance and light for his people. 39
Muslims believe in all the prophets and Jesus is certainly one of them. They are told to respect and honor all of them and not make any distinction among any of them. Allah says in the Qur an: Say (O Muslims), We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to the sons of Jacob, and that which has been given to Moses and Jesus, and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam). 40
Muhammad PBUH is also a Prophet like Jesus. Muslims believe that he is the successor of Jesus and the final prophet sent to mankind. He is a descendant of Abraham through his elder son Ishmael, as you can see in the tree on your right. 41
We have seen that Jesus was a prophet according to Islam. Let us take a look at some of his teachings that are described in the Quran. First of all, he confirmed Torah that was revealed before him as a true revelation. He made things clear to his people in which they used to differ. He made some things lawful for them that were previously made unlawful. As for the teachings, he told them to fear God and obey him. He asked them to worship God, his and their Lord. 42
At the time of Jesus, the true spirit of religion had been lost. His nation had turned into a corrupt and immoral society. People had taken liberties against the God s religion. They even killed prophets. Rabbis of his time had their hegemony on religion and they would exploit people in the name of religion. We are told in Qur an that Jesus condemned the rabbis of his time for what they used to do and revived the true spirit of religion. 43
The Qur an also mentions his disciples. It says when his people denied him, Jesus asked who would be his helpers in the cause of Allah. The disciples said they would be the helpers of Allah. So they believed in him and in the Gospel that was revealed to him and followed him. 44
This brings us to our last topic about Jesus, which is that according to the Islamic belief based on the Qur an, Jesus was not crucified. We are told that when his people plotted to kill Jesus, God planned too and He is the best of the planners. He told Jesus, I will take you and lift you to Myself and clear you of the falsehood of those who disbelieve. And I will make those who follow you, superior to those who reject faith till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will come to me and I will judge in the matters in which you used to dispute. 45
The Qur an says that Jesus was not killed. Nor was he crucified. But it was made to appear to them. That they crucified him, where in fact he was not crucified but God saved him and lifted him alive. 46
Since Jesus did not die and he was lifted alive, Muslims believe that God will send Jesus again to complete his life on earth and die just as all other human beings die. He will be sent near the End Times and will be known as the sign for the Day of Resurrection. We also know through the prophetic narrations that Jesus will gain victory against anti-christ and his cohorts. The Qur an also tells that his followers will believe in him as a righteous prophet and he will be a witness over them on the Day of Judgment, that he conveyed the true message from his Lord to them. 47
This concludes our topic of seminar. We have seen that according to the Islamic belief based on the Qur an Jesus was born of virgin mother, Mary. That He is the Word of God, as he was created by God s command or word. The he is the promised Christ, where Christ means the anointed one. That he was supported by the Holy Spirit who is Angel Gabriel. That he preached the Divine book Gospel, given to him. That he performed many miracles. That he was not son of God or God or part of Trinity. That he was a human being, but one of the best that ever lived. That he was a prophet. That he did not die and was lifted alive to the Heavens and will be sent again near the End Times. 48
But Jesus is associated with salvation so I guess I should give you a quick description of what Muslims believe about salvation. Since this life is a test, so the obvious answer to the question of what is required for salvation, is to pass the test, which as we saw previously is to have belief and worship and obey God. Sin is the disobedience of God. When we disobey God, we commit sin and become candidate for punishment. The only way this can be averted is that God may forgive us. And He does forgive us for each and everything. He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. His mercy encompasses everything. What He requires from us is that when we falter, we should realize and confess our mistake, be ashamed about it. Then we should turn to God in repentance, seek His forgiveness, resolve to not repeat the sin and rectify ourselves. It is important to note that perfection is not desired. We can never be perfect. Only God is so. All what is required is a sincere struggle, through worship and obedience and whenever we falter we should turn to God in repentance. And He does forgive. 49
Now let s take a very quick look at both Christianity and Islam. As you might have noted that there are many similarities between Islam and Christianity. Like the concept of God, Books, Prophets, Heaven and Hell. Christians and Muslims believe in the same God of Abraham, they believe in the same prophets and in the same books. So the two religions are in a way very close to each other. But of course there are some differences as well. Like there is no concept of Trinity in Islam. Similarly, there is no concept of original sin. Also, blood is not needed to blot out sins. Faith alone is not enough, both faith and actions (worship and obedience) are required to pass the test. The Holy Spirit is angel Gabriel. And similarly there are some differences about Jesus that we have studied in detail. But the differences should not stop us from coming closer to each other and promoting tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect. 50
Lastly I want to share some verses of Quran with you. These are about Christians. It might be interesting for you to note that the Qur an speaks good of some Christians. First verse says that those who followed Jesus, God ordained in their hearts compassion and mercy. Second verse says that you will find nearest in love to the believers i.e. Muslims those who say We are Christians This is because among them are priests and monks and they are not proud. So the Qur an says that among Christians are humble people and they are nearest in love to the Muslims, we just need to work for it, address misconceptions and promote understanding, mutual respect and love. 51
Third verse says that when they listen to what has been sent down to you O Muhammad you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognized. They say, Our Lord, We believe, so write us among the witnesses, i.e. those who testify your Oneness and believe in you and messengers. 52
53
You can also send your questions via e-mail later. Here is the link to download powerpoint. The Islamic Center of Greater Lafayette holds office hours every Thursday from 6-7PM. You are welcome to come and bring your friends. Thank you and May God bless you! 54