1. Position of Jesus (peace be upon him) in Islam:
Islam is the only non-Christian faith, which makes it an article of
faith to believe in Jesus (peace be upon him). No Muslim is a Muslim if he does not
believe in Jesus (peace be upon him).
We believe that he was one of the mightiest Messengers of Allah (swt).
We believe that he was born miraculously, without any male intervention,
which many modern day Christians do not believe.
We believe he was the Messiah translated Christ (peace be upon him).
We believe that he gave life to the dead with God’s permission.
We believe that he healed those born blind, and the lepers with God’s
permission.
2. Concept of God in Christianity:
Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) never claimed Divinity
One may ask, if both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus (peace
be upon him),
where exactly is the parting of ways? The major difference between Islam and
Christianity is the Christians’ insistence on the supposed divinity of
Christ (peace be upon him). A study of the Christian scriptures reveals that Jesus (peace
be upon him)
never claimed divinity. In fact there is not a single unequivocal statement
in the entire Bible where Jesus (peace be upon him) himself says, "I am God" or where he
says, "worship me". In fact the Bible contains statements attributed to
Jesus (peace be upon him) in which he preached quite the contrary. The following
statements in the Bible are attributed to Jesus Christ (peace be upon him):
(i) "My Father is greater than I." [The Bible, John 14:28]
(ii) "My Father is greater than all." [The Bible, John 10:29]
(iii) "…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…." [The Bible, Mathew 12:28]
(iv) "…I with the finger of God cast out devils…." [The Bible, Luke 11:20]
(v) "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement
is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which
hath sent me." [The Bible, John 5:30]
The Mission of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) to Fulfill the Law
Jesus (peace be upon him) never claimed divinity for himself. He clearly announced the
nature of his mission. Jesus (peace be upon him) was sent by God to confirm the previous
Judaic law. This is clearly evident in the following statements attributed
to Jesus (peace be upon him) in the Gospel of Mathew:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled.
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall
teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven."
"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven." [The Bible, Mathew 5:17-20]
God Sent Jesus' (peace be upon him)
The Bible mentions the prophetic nature of Jesus (peace
be upon him) mission in the
following verses:
(i)
"… and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me." [The Bible, John 14:24]
(ii)
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." [The Bible, John 17:3]
Jesus Refuted even the Remotest Suggestion of his Divinity
Consider the following incident mentioned in the Bible:
"And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall
I do, that I may have eternal life?’
And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one,
that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ " [The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17]
Jesus (peace be upon him) did not say that to have the eternal life of paradise, man
should believe in him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that
Jesus (peace be upon him) would die for his sins. On the contrary he said that the path
to salvation was through keeping the commandments. It is indeed striking to
note the difference between the words of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) and the
Christian dogma of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus (peace be upon
him).
Jesus (peace be upon him) of Nazareth – a Man Approved of God
The following statement from the Bible supports the Islamic belief that
Jesus (peace be upon him) was a prophet of God.
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the
midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." [The Bible, Acts 2:22]
The First Commandment is that God is One
The Bible does not support the Christian belief in trinity at all. One of
the scribes once asked Jesus (peace be upon him) as to which was the first commandment of
all, to which Jesus (peace be upon him) merely repeated what Moses (peace be
upon him) had said
earlier:
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adonai Ikhad."
This is a Hebrew quotation, which means:
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." [The Bible, Mark 12:29]
It is striking that the basic teachings of the Church such as Trinity and
vicarious atonement find no mention in the Bible. In fact, various verses of
the Bible point to Jesus’ (peace be upon him) actual mission, which was to
fulfil the
law revealed to Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). Indeed Jesus (peace be
upon him) rejected any
suggestions that attributed divinity to him, and explained his miracles as
the power of the One True God.
Jesus (peace be upon him) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all
earlier prophets of Almighty God.
NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version.
3. Concept of God in old Testament:
God is One
The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation
from Moses (peace be upon him):
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad". It is a Hebrew quotation which means: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" [The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]
Unity of God in the Book of Isaiah
The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:
(i) "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." [The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]
(ii) "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me." [The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]
(iii) "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." [The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]
Old Testament condemns idol worship
(i) Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth:"
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy
God am a jealous God." [The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]
(ii) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy:
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
beneath the earth."
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God." [The Bible, Deuteronomy 5:7-9]
