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Muslim Jesus

Overview

Isa Ibn Maryam (=Jesus of Nazareth) is accepted and respected by Muslims as a Messenger of God and Prophet. A creature of God and Jewish by ethnicity, he was born miraculously by his mother, Maryam, the daughter of Imran. Isa was the Messiah sent to the people of Israel to give them a new Scripture, the Gospel. At the end of times, he will return to destroy the Dajjal (the Antichrist).

From the Islamic point of view, Christians have taken their love for Isa too far and worship him as a god. Jews have gone too far in the opposite direction and do not believe he is the Messiah or a prophet.

Jesus in the Qur'an

The Qur'an provides an original narrative of the life of Jesus that only in part parallels Christian canonical and apocryphal traditions. While keeping the Gospel(s) in high esteem, the Qur'an maintains that it was somehow "corrupted" by the Christians. The Qur'an aims to confirm the Gospel by giving what is claimed to be its correct and original significance.

The Qur'an begins with an account of the birth of Maryam and her service in the Jerusalem Temple under the care of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Maryam was not married when Jesus was born and was a virgin when Allah informed her through His angel Jibreel (=Gabriel) that she would give birth to the Messiah. Isa was born about 600 years before Prophet Muhammad in the area of the Bethlehem Valley "under a palm tree" (as the Qur'an says: "and the pangs of childbirth drove her [=Maryam) under a palm tree,” ch. 19:23). When Maryam returned to her family, Isa performed his first miracle by speaking miraculously as an infant: "I am the slave of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and has made me a Prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I may be and has not made me arrogant, or unblessed. Peace on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I shall be raised back to life." (19:30-33)

In his life Isa performed many miracles, including:

• Healing the sick and lame.
• Giving sight to the blind.
• Forming a clay figure of a bird and breathing life into it.
• Raising a man from the dead.
• Multiplying a small amount of food to feed thousands.

When Jesus began to preach his message, most of the poor and destitute of society accepted him as a Prophet of Allah, but the powerful rejected him and had him condemned to death. The Qur'an however denies that Isa died on the cross, "though it was made to appear like that to them." In reality "God raised [Jesus] unto himself," and saved him from his persecutors.

"And they said we have killed the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God. They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of doubt, with no knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly did not kill him. On the contrary, God raised him unto himself. God is almighty and wise."—Quran surah 4 (An-Nisa النساء) ayah 157-158

The Gospel of Barnabas

See Gospel of Barnabas

A Gospel of Barnabas is often (mis)quoted in Muslim apologetic as evidence of the "corruption" of the Gospel by Christians, as it contains a number of "pro-Islamic" statements including the prediction by Jesus of the coming of Muhammad. The extant Gospel of Barnabas however is a late, 14-16th century document aimed to harmonize the Qur'an with the four canonical Gospel, and as such as no historical value if not as witness of Christian-Muslim relations in the 14-16th century.

Related categories

• Bible and Qur'an
• Early Christian Literature & Qur'an
• Islamic Origins
• Muslim-Christian Polemics
• Muslim-Christian Relations
• NT Apocrypha and Qur'an
• Qur'an

External links

• Wikipedia.en (Jesus in Islam)