Muslims Reverence Jesus Christ
This is a claim which many Muslims in Western nations will often make, so as to
encourage greater "dialogue" and openness toward Islam. Because Jesus Christ is
mentioned in the Qur'an, it is said to follow that the Qur'an honours Him. Islam
acknowledges that Jesus Christ was a prophet, that He was born of a virgin, and
even that He was sinless. However, simply giving lip service to these facts does
not necessarily mean that Muslims understand the significance of these points,
or that they are therefore reverencing the Lord. This is because, in the process
of mentioning and teaching about Jesus, Islam rejects and denies many truths
about the Lord which are of vital importance.
A Short Synopsis of What Islam
Teaches About Christ
The Qur'an mentions quite a lot about Jesus Christ -- some of it truthful, and
some of it rather outlandish. Islam teaches the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus
Christ. "And Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefore We
breathed therein something of Our Spirit. And she put faith in the words of her
Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient." (Surah 66:12, Pickthal
translation) And also, "She said: 'How shall I have a son, seeing that no man
has touched me, and I am not unchaste?' So it will be: Thy Lord saith, 'that is
easy for Me: and We wish to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':
It is a matter so decreed. So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a
remote place." (Surah 19:20-22) In both of these Quranic passages, we can see
that orthodox Muslim teaching holds to the fact that Christ was conceived in
Mary, despite her being a virgin. Further, it is taught that Mary's conception
of Christ was a result of the action of the Spirit of Allah. The virginal
conception of Jesus Christ is also explicitly stated to have been a sign to men
and a mercy from Allah. Where Islam fails, though, is to understand what this
sign pointed to and what the mercy of God through the Lord Jesus Christ really
is.
The Qur'an also reports that Jesus Christ was sinless in His life on earth. "He
said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless
son." (Surah 19:19, Pickthal translation) Christ was therefore described to Mary
as faultless, indicating that He would be sinless. The Yusuf Ali translation of
the Qur'an uses the word "holy" to describe Jesus, which is a word meaning "to
be set apart and separated from sin". This does indeed describe Jesus Christ,
who is sinless and completely separated from any sin in His holiness.
Some of the events surrounding the birth of the Lord are taught as well. The
Qur'an reports that Jesus spoke at birth. "But she pointed to the babe. They
said: 'How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?' He said: 'I am
indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a
prophet'..." (Surah 19:29-30) The Bible, though, makes no record of this event,
which appears to be a later Muslim addition designed to strengthen the doctrine
of Jesus' prophethood by attributing this miracle to Him.
In Islam, Jesus Christ is acknowledged as having performed many miracles. He
raised people from the dead and healed the sick and infirmed. He had
supernatural knowledge of things which people kept secret. He is also reported
to have fashioned a bird out of clay, breathed into it, and it came to life.
"And appoint him a messenger to the Children of Israel, with this message: 'I
have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of
clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a
bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I
quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what
ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;"
(Surah 3:49) Some of these miracles are true to the Biblical record, the miracle
of the clay bird is not. However, we can note that Islam does record Jesus as
having performed miracles, through the power of Allah, and that these miracles
were for the purpose of serving as signs so that the people might believe.
Islam will even go so far as to teach that Jesus Christ was the Messiah from
God, and that He was God's Word and mediator. In Surah 3:45, we see the
Messianic nature of Jesus Christ supported, "And remember when the angels said:
O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the
Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one
of those brought near unto Allah." (Pickthal translation) The Arabisation of the
corresponding Syriac word, translated as "Messiah" by Pickthal, is al-masseh,
which literally means "the anointed one, the messiah", just as does the word
Messiah in Hebrew. Note the similarity between the two words in these two
related, Semitic languages. As the Messiah of God, Jesus was then also reckoned
by the Qur'an to be the Word of God. "O People of the Book! Commit no excesses
in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of
Mary was no more than a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on
Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him..." (Surah 4:171)
The Qur'an even hints at the divinity and intercession of Christ, though most
Muslims probably would not be inclined to accept this. Surah 39:44 states, "Say:
'To Allah belongs exclusively the right to grant intercession: to Him belongs
the dominion of the heavens and the earth: In the End, it is to Him that ye
shall be brought back.'" Hence, Allah alone has the right to intercede before
himself for human beings. Interestingly then, over in Surah 3:45, we see, "And
remember when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a
word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the
world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near unto Allah." That phrase
"brought near unto Allah" has been interpreted by many prominent Muslim
scholars, including the authors of the early commentary on the Qur’an, Al-Jalalan,
as indicating a position and office of intercession with Allah, which we saw
previously is said to only reside with Allah himself.1
Lastly, and most controversially, the Qur'an appears to teach both the death and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Surah 3:55, the Qur'an says "And when
Allah said: O Isa, I am going to terminate the period of your stay on earth and
cause you to ascend unto Me and purify you of those who disbelieve and make
those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the day of resurrection; then
to Me shall be your return, so l will decide between you concerning that in
which you differed." (Shakir translation) Pickthal translates the phrase "I am
going to terminate the period of your stay" as "I am gathering thee". Muslim
apologists claim that this does not indicate the death of Jesus Christ, but that
Allah merely brought Him up to him through ascension. However, Dr. Anis Shorrosh
makes the statement,
"This phrase in the Arabic language, 'Inni mutawaf-feeka,'
is translated as "I am gathering thee." Some say the word does not indicate
death, while others affirm that Christ did actually die. As an Arab, I have
never known of any other meaning than death for this expression, within or
without the Quran."2
Likewise, Muslim interpreters clearly understand that the Qur'an teaches the
death and resurrection of John the Baptist in Surah 19:15, "So Peace on him the
day he was born, the day that he dies, and the day that he will be raised up to
life again!". However, almost the exact same wording in the Arabic is used when
the Qur'an reports Jesus as saying "So peace is on me the day I was born, the
day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life again!" (Surah
19:33) Yet, many Muslim scholars will contend that Jesus did not say he was
going to die and be raised up again in this passage, preferring to say instead
that it teaches the "gathering in" mentioned earlier. They would rather make
completely unsupportable textual claims than admit that their scriptures report
the death and resurrection of Christ.
Reverencing the Lord?
So, does all this teaching about Jesus really honour Him, as Muslim apologists
say? And further, do Muslims really even abide by the apparent teachings of
their own scriptures with regards to the Lord Jesus? Not really. For all that
the Qur'an says about Jesus, it still in the main denies His divinity. "O People
of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the
truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was no more than a messenger of Allah, and
His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so
believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not 'Trinity' : desist: it will be
better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: far exalted is He above
having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough
is Allah as a Disposer of affairs." (Surah 4:171) Muslims use this passage as a
source for their arguments against the divinity of Jesus. Pointing to this, they
will say that Jesus was no more than a messenger of Allah, that He was not part
of the Trinity, and that Allah is far exalted above having a son, so hence Jesus
was not the Son of God.
Another Quranic verse which Muslims use to deny the Trinity is Surah 5:116, "And
behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, take
me and my mother for two gods beside Allah.?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never
could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, Thou wouldst
indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is
in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden."
Muslims have long misunderstood the doctrine of the Trinity, as these verses
demonstrates. The Trinity does not consist of three separate gods. The Trinity
does not consist of God, Jesus, and Mary (as per Surah 5:116). Instead, the
Trinity is one God who has revealed Himself to mankind in three manifestations,
each playing a varying role in God's plan of redemption for mankind. These are
three in person, but one in essence, and all are one God. "For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one." (I John 5:7) This is THE clearest statement of the Trinity in
all the Bible, though by no means the only one. Jesus Christ, the Word of God,
is clearly shown to be God in the Bible. Christ Himself made the claim to deity.
"I and my Father are one." (John 10:30) The men of Jesus' day knew that He
claimed deity, which is why the Jews sought to lodge blasphemy charges against
Him.
"When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the
palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes
sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak
blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus
perceived in his Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say
to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and
take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power
on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto
thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And
immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all;
insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it
on this fashion." (Mark 2:5-12)
What Jesus was illustrating in this passage was His deity. He asks the
rhetorical question of which is more difficult: to forgive a man of his sins, or
to heal a man of his physical infirmities. The answer, of course, is that it is
more difficult to heal the man physically. Jesus showed that since He had the
supernatural power to heal the man without the least bit of effort, then He also
had the power to forgive sins, which is reserved for God alone. By forgiving
sins, Jesus demonstrated His deity in a way that His audience easily recognised.
Further, it must be understood by all, Muslim and non-Muslim, that Jesus Himself
laid claim to deity in a specific and direct way. When Christ was being tempted
by Satan in the wilderness, there was a point at which Satan took Him up to the
top of the temple and challenged Jesus to throw Himself down, in an attempt to
get the Lord to step outside of the plan which God had for His ministry (this by
engaging in a 'spectacular' exhibition instead of preaching and teaching and
using His miraculous powers rightly for these ends). However, what is
interesting for us here is the Lord's response to Satan's challenge:
"Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not
tempt THE LORD THY GOD." (Matthew 4:7)
Now, who was present in this dialogue besides Jesus and Satan? Nobody. Who was
Satan tempting? Jesus. Therefore, who ONLY could Jesus have been saying was Lord
and God who was being tempted? Himself.
Islam denies His deity, though, and reduces Jesus to the status of a prophet
only. "He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and
hath appointed me a Prophet." (Surah 19:30, Pickthal translation) Hence, Jesus
is subordinate to Allah, and cannot be reckoned as having deity or being Allah.
The two are clearly delineated and declared as separate beings. Similarly, Islam
denies that Jesus is God's Son, using Surah 4:171 where it says that Allah is
exalted above having a son. Most expositors on this that I have seen, though,
consistently think that this idea refers to God physically having a son, in the
same way which a mortal human being would, i.e. through sexual procreation.
However, they fail to understand that the virgin birth of Christ renders this
argument moot. God miraculously caused Mary to conceive, through the
overshadowing action of His Holy Spirit, and thus Jesus was born without a human
father. This is important, also, in that it confirms His sinless perfection. As
Christ was not born through the means of passing the seed of man down, Christ
did not inherit in the human part of His nature the sinfulness which afflicts
the mortal human race.
Hence, what we see in the way Islam deals with the deity and personage of Christ
is that they will go right to the brink, and then fail to take that
all-important step of faith to trust in His deity. Islam acknowledges His
sinlessness, His virgin conception, and that He was indeed from God (as far as
being a prophet is concerned). Muslims see and believe that He performed many
miracles, and that He is the Messiah who intercedes before God on behalf of man.
Yet, they turn back at understanding and believing what this all means. Christ's
virgin birth and sinlessness point to His deity. His position as the Messiah,
who was to die for the sins of the world, made Him the only one who could be the
spotless sacrifice for man's sin. God Himself was the only acceptable sacrifice
to God to take away man's sin guilt, as He is the only one who has never sinned,
and thus is spotless and righteous in His own right.
Islam also tries to deny the death of Christ. Many fairy tales have been put
forth over the years by Muslims wishing to deny the crucifixion of Christ. It
will has been said that He really swooned on the cross, did not really die, and
was taken down, after which He woke up again (similar to the tale told by
liberal infidels in many of our "Christian" seminaries). Muslims will claim that
it was really Judas who died on the cross, instead of Jesus. They will say that
angels removed Him from the cross before He died. Any number of stories are told
to get around the simple fact, as seen from all four Gospels and secular sources
as well, that Jesus Christ died upon the cross at Calvary. Muslims will make the
argument that saying Jesus died on the cross dishonours God as it presumes that
one of God's servants would be killed by sinner. The fact notwithstanding that
God's Word records MANY of God's faithful servants who were killed for serving
Him faithfully, this argument demonstrates the ignorance of Muslims as to the
PURPOSE of Christ's death on the cross. The argument that they think is
honouring the Lord really dishonours Him as it denies the very reason He even
came among mankind as the God-man. Jesus Christ incarnated to mankind for the
specific purpose of dying on the cross! It was His whole reason for coming, to
consummate God's plan of salvation for man by serving as the ultimate, final
sacrifice for man's sin.
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver or gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Peter 1:18-19) - "So Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many..." (Hebrews 9:28) - "And you, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled. In the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight;" (Colossians 1:21-22)
Christ died to serve as the sacrifice for man which would atone for man's sins.
Man cannot save himself through his good works or religious rituals. Christ, who
was completely righteous, took the place of every man, woman, and child who ever
lived and will ever live. He voluntarily gave Himself to suffer the death
penalty, the wrath of God against sin, so that through Him we all might receive
forgiveness of our sins, if we trust in Him and His sacrifice and resurrection.
The Muslim claims that Christ did not die is an attempt to negate this. While
they think they are honouring Him, they are in fact denying Him, calling Him a
liar, and leaving themselves with no hope of eternal salvation.
Likewise, the resurrection of Christ from the dead demonstrated His triumph over
death and hell, and gives promise of eternal life to all who trust in Him. His
resurrection was a firstfruits of the resurrection to eternal glory which all
who believe on Him will also receive. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." (I Corinthians 15:23) Without
the resurrection of Christ, which Muslims deny implicitly when they deny His
death, there is no hope for any man to be saved. "And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (I Corinthians 15:14)
What is amazing in all this is that Islam dimly recognises and honours the need
for a sacrifice to be made in the place of sinful man. Every year, at the
conclusion of the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims celebrate a
three-day festival called Eid al-Adha. This feast period celebrates an
episode in which Abraham was called by Allah to sacrifice his son Ishmael on an
altar, but at the last moment, an angel intervened and allowed Abraham to
sacrifice a ram in the place of Ishmael. This is very similar to the Biblical
account of the near-sacrifice and salvation of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-18. Isaac,
representing sinful man, must die for his transgressions, but God sends a male
ram to die in Isaac's place, providing a type of the coming Messiah, Jesus
Christ, who was described by John the Baptist as "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29).
The Muslim Eid Al-Adha, while being transposed to Ishmael, provides a loose
corollary of this event. Yet, the implications of the need for man to die for
his sins, and the provision of God to take man's place under wrath are not
understood by the Muslim world.
The Gospel of Barnabas
A brief mention ought to be made concerning the so-called "Gospel of Barnabas"
(not to be confused with the “Epistle of Barnabas“, a recognised exhortatory
epistle of a second century Christian author). This work is an extra-biblical
book which claims to be an account of the life and work of Christ. Muslims love
this book, and cite it often in support of the Islamic view of Christ. The
reason for this is because the book conforms very much to Islamic theology
concerning Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Barnabas denies that Jesus claimed deity,
denies that He was the Son of God, and denies His death on the cross (this is
partially where the claim that Judas was substituted comes from). Muslims say
that this book was considered authoritative by the early church, but this claim
is contradicted by the fact that no church fathers ever cited it in their
writings, and that the earliest textual evidence for this book is a sixteenth
century Italian manuscript.3 Some apologists
claim that the Gospel of Barnabas is mentioned in “The Gelasian Decree” of Pope Gelasius (492-495 AD). Now, a “Gospel in the name of Barnabas” is discussed in
that decree, but is rejected along with a host of other writings as spurious and
apocryphal, which had been attributed to various Apostles and other first
generation Christians.4 However, this apocryphal
gospel was dismissed at the end of the 5th century, while the Gospel of Barnabas
preferred by Muslims shows much internal evidence of having originated at a much
later date. Muslims will sometimes also attempt to point to various other
decrees of the early Catholic church as evidence of an early date for the Gospel
of Barnabas, such as the Decree of Pope Sixtus I, but examination of these
documents shows no mention of such a gospel.
Additionally, the Gospel of Barnabas contains many historical mistakes and
anachronisms which date to medieval Europe and which would not have existed in
the first century AD, and the many Islamic influences in the work seem to
indicate the "Gospel" is the work of a medieval European forger, likely a
convert to Islam. The style of quotations from the Old Testament found in this
work are from the Latin Vulgate, which was not even translated until the very
end of the 4th century, and which remained the standard Roman Bible for most of
Roman Catholic history to the present. The tradition in the Catholic church that
Mt. Moriah was the mount of Transfiguration began only in the 3rd century, yet
this is the place presented in the Gospel of Barnabas. This “Gospel” also
contains several references to medieval elements such as wooden wine casks and
romanticised duals between lovers, which did not exist in 1st century Palestine.
Most revealing are the numerous references to Mohammed (in chapters 44, 54, 97,
112, 163, etc.) which reveals a post-Islamic origin for the work.
In fact, the dating for the creation of the Gospel of Barnabas can positively be
placed between 1300 and 1350. This is because of the use by its author of a
centennial Year of Jubilee. In chapter 85, the Gospel of Barnabas states,
“...years of the Jubilee, which now cometh every 100 years.” In the Old
Testament, the Year of Jubilee was set for every fifty years, and this remained
the practice (at least in word even if the Jubilee was not kept) throughout the
subsequent history of both the Jews and the early and medieval Christian church.
Yet, the Gospel of Barnabas says that the Jubilee was changed to being every 100
years. Why? Gairdner supplies the answer by noting that after celebrating this
year in 1300, Pope Boniface VII altered the Jubilee to a centennial event.
However, his successor Pope Clement VI reversed this decision and celebrated the
next Jubilee in 1350.5 Only a person living in
that period between 1300 and 1350 would have considered the year of Jubilee as
being changed to come every 100 years. Further evidence for dating the “Gospel”
to at least this date lies in that it actually, on several occasions, quotes the
works of Dante Aligheri (1265-1321)! All of these evidences, plus many, many
more which will not be listed here for the sake of space, point to the Gospel of
Barnabas as being a complete and utter forgery, produced by an individual
steeped in Muslim theology and tradition, yet who was also at least marginally
knowledgeable of the "Christianity" of his day.
For much more detailed expositions on the reasons why the Gospel of Barnabas can
be nothing but a forgery, read the section from their book Answering Islam:
The Crescent in the Light of the Cross which deals with the Gospel of
Barnabas, by
Norman
Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, and also the essay on this subject by
Gerhard Nehls. Any serious seeker of truth will be forced to recognise the
fakery behind this pseudographical forgery.
From all this we can see that while Islam says that they reverence and honour
Jesus Christ as a prophet of God, they really call Him a liar and dishonour Him.
Muhammed apparently heard the truth, or at least something closely approximating
it, from Christians in his early life, but could not accept the claims of
Christ. His contact with Monophysite Christians in Syria warped his theological
understanding of Christianity, and resulted in his denial of the Trinity, and
therefore, Christ's deity. Muslim claims of honouring Christ sound much like
those mentioned in Isaiah 29:13, "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this
people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have
removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of man."
End Notes
(1) - Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, eds. H.A.R. Gibb and J.H. Kramers,
p. 173.
(2) - Dr. A. Shorrosh, Islam Revealed: A Christian Arab's View of Islam,
p. 97
(3) - L.B. Jones, Christianity Explained to Muslims, p. 79
(4) - C.G. de Boor, “The Gelasian Decree of Books Received and Not Received“, in
Texts and Investigations into the History of Ancient Christian Literature,
cap. xxxviii.4
(5) - W.H.T. Gairdner and S. Abdul-Ahad, The Gospel of Barnabas: An Essay and
Inquiry, p. 19
