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_001.jpg) Islam, besides Christianity, is the only major world
religion that recognizes Jesus. A Muslim’s belief is incomplete without Jesus.
Prophet Muhammad said:
“If anyone testifies that none has the right to be
worshipped but God alone who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His servant
and His Messenger, and that Jesus is God’s servant and His Messenger and His
Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit from Him, and that Paradise is
true, and Hell is true, God will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which
he has done even if those deeds were few.”
In other words, without sound belief in Jesus, one can never
earn God’s Paradise. As with other prophets of God, Muslims add to his name, alai
his-salam, which means, ‘Peace be upon him.’
Even though Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,”
in the Gospel, Christians rarely use any honorific term but ‘Christ’, and
this as part of his name. Though this may be due to the idea that the
Christian does not pray for him, but to him, it shows that Muslims have a great
deal of respect for him despite not sharing such a viewpoint.
Quran is the sacred scripture of Islam, and in it, more
than ninety verses spread across fifteen chapters of the Quran discuss Jesus. Three
chapters of the Quran are named after their reference to Jesus: the third
chapter of Quran, ‘The Family of Imran,’ is named after the father of Mary; the
fifth chapter, ‘The Table,’ is likely named after the last supper. Lastly, the
nineteenth chapter is named after Mary.
His Name in the Quran
In Arabic, Jesus is known as Eesa. In sixteen of
the 25 places in the Quran where Eesa is used, he is called “the son of
Mary” (Ibn Maryam). Since he had no father, he was named so after his
mother.
The Descriptive Titles of Jesus in the Quran:
(1) The Messiah
Prior to the appearance of Jesus, belief in the coming
of the Messiah has been a basic and fundamental part of traditional Judaism. It
is part of Maimonides’ Thirteen Articles of Faith which are considered the
minimum requirements of Jewish belief. In the
Shemoneh Esrei prayer, recited
three times daily, modern Jewry prays for the Messiah who will be their king from
the line of David to come and restore the glories of its golden age. In Hebrew,
‘Messiah’ means the ‘anointed one.’ It is interesting to note that the Old
Testament prophecy emphasizes the humanity of the Messiah by referring to him
as the “son of man” (Daniel 7: 13) and not
God.
The ideology of the Messiah has a central position in
Christian theology. According to the Bible, Jesus claimed to be the expected
Messiah of the Jews (John 4:25-26), but they rejected
him. Therefore, Christians apply ‘Christ’ - the Greek word for ‘Messiah’ - to
Jesus. In addition, they also maintain the Messiah will be the son of God.
The Quran corrects Jews and Christians in their excesses.
It considers the Jews to be in the right in believing the Messiah to be human,
but equates their rejection of Jesus to disbelief,
“And (We cursed them) for their disbelief… and their boastful
claim: Indeed, we have killed the [so-called] Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary,
the messenger of God. And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him.” (Quran
4:156-157)
On the other hand, the Quran agrees with the Christians
who identify Jesus to be the Messiah, but considers their insistence that the
Messiah is the son of God to be blasphemy:
“Indeed, they are unbelievers who say, ‘God is the Messiah,
the son of Mary.’” (Quran 5:72)
The truth, according to the Quran, is that:
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger;
messengers before him had indeed passed away.” (Quran 5:75)
Furthermore,
the Quran states that the Messiah called to the worship of “the true God” like
all the prophets before him:
“But the Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your
Lord.’” (Quran 5:72)
The Quran refers to Jesus as the Messiah (al-Maseeh)
at least nine times. One of the
explanations given by Muslim lexicographers is that Jesus was the Messiah
because he anointed the eyes of the blind to cure them (Quran 3:43; Mark 6:13;
James 5:14), or because he used to lay hands on the sick.
(2) Sign
The Quran describes Jesus to be a ‘Sign,’ an aayah
in the Quran. In the terminology of the Quran a miracle is a ‘sign’ of God to
display divine might and unrestricted ability to do acts outside the chain of
cause and effect. In this sense, the virgin birth of Jesus is a miracle; a
wonderful show of God’s mighty power to do as He pleases. Therefore, Jesus is
a ‘sign’ not only to the Israelites but to the entire world:
“And We made the son of Mary and his mother as a Sign.” (Quran
23:50)
“…We may make him a sign to men...” (Quran 19:21)
“and We made her and her son a sign for all peoples.” (Quran
21:91)
In addition, the Quran declares Jesus’ second coming to
be a ‘sign,’ an announcement that the Judgment Day is coming close, “And
indeed, Jesus will be a sign for the Hour (of Judgment), so have no doubt about
it, and follow Me. This is a straight path.” (Quran 43:61)
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