Tag: Jesus in Islam

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New Muslims Reflections

Emmanuel Adebayor : I Am A Muslim and That’s Why

Emmanuel Adebayor

Now I believe am a true follower of Jesus.

Emmanuel Adebayor, the Togolese international football star, is now a Muslim. His conversion went viral in the early days of the Ramadan this year after a video was posted online showing the Tottenham Hotspurs striker, 30, clothed in a white robe, while taking his Shahadah (the Islamic Declaration of Faith).

The story was doubted particularly as the Togo football star was known as a practicing Christian with him posting pictures of himself with a priest to Facebook with captions praising God.

It was until the former Arsenal, Man City and Real Madrid forward has all confirmed his recent conversion to Islam in a new post wishing fellow Muslims a happy `Eid along with his manner of dressing.

“SEA, to all my Muslim families: may the blessings of Allah fill your life with happiness and open all the doors of success now and always. Eid Mubarak! ?À toutes mes familles Musulmanes: que les bénédictions d’Allah remplissent votre vie de joie et vous ouvre les portes du succès, maintenant et à jamais. Eid Mubarak! #GodFirst #EverythingSecond #belief #OneGod #HappyEid #EidMubarak #GoodLife #GodIsGood #GoodOverEvil #LifesGood”

The soccer star shared a message on Instagram along with a photo of himself wearing the popular Arabian white thawb and an ankle-length white shirt. He covered his head with a shemagh, a heavy red and white scarf-like head cover.

In the past few months Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor has been releasing online family issues and how he has been dealing with them as well as vice versa.

As days, weeks, months stretched on, he was reported to have dumped his Christian faith and be a Muslim.

That’s Why I Became Muslim

In his expected usual self, he released the reasons why he converted to Islam.

Check out his reasons

I got 13 valid reasons why and how Muslims are like Jesus (peace be upon him) and true followers of Jesus than most Christians believe:

1- Jesus (peace be upon him) taught that there is only One God and Only God should be worshipped as taught in Deut 6:4, Mark 12:29. Muslims also believe this as taught in the Qur’an, verse 4:171:

O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three” – Cease! (it is) better for you! – Allah is only One Allah. (An-Nisaa’ 4:171)

2- Jesus didn’t eat pork as taught in Leviticus 11:7 , and neither do Muslims as taught in the Qur’an:

Say: I find not in that which is revealed unto me aught prohibited to an eater that he eat thereof, except it be carrion, or blood poured forth, or swine flesh. (Al-An`am 6:145)

3- Jesus greeted with the words “as-salamu `alaykum” (Peace be upon you) in John 20:21. Muslims also greet each other this way.

4- Jesus always said “God Willing” (in sha’ Allah), Muslims say this too before doing anything as taught in the Qur’an:

And say not of anything, “I shall do it tomorrow,” without adding, “if God wills.” (Al-Kahf 18:23-24)

5- Jesus washed his face, hands, and feet before praying. The Muslims do the same.

6- Jesus and other prophets of the Bible prayed with their head to the ground (see Matthew 26:39). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur’an:

O Mary! Be obedient to your Lord, prostrate ourself and bow with those who bow (in worship). (Aal `Imran 3:43)

7- Jesus had a beard and wore a thawb. It is Sunnah for Muslim men to do the same.

8- Jesus followed the law and believed in all the prophets, (see Matthew 5:17). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur’an in two verses:

Say (O Muhammad): “We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam).” (Aal `Imran 3:84)

The Messenger believes in that which hath been revealed to him from his Lord and (so do) believers. Each one believeth in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers – We make no distinction between any of His messengers. (Al-Baqarah 2:285)

9- Jesus’ mother, Maryam (Mary) (May Allah be pleases with her) dressed modestly by fully covering her body and wearing a headscarf (hijab) as found in 1 Timothy 2:9, Genesis 24:64-65, and Corinthians 11:6. Muslim women modestly dress the same as taught:

O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. (Al-Ahzab 33:59)

10- Jesus and other prophets of the Bible fasted up to 40 days (see Exodus 34:28, Daniel 10:2-6. 1Kings 19:8, and Matthew 4:1-Muslims do so also during the month of Ramadan. Muslims are required to fast the full obligatory 30 days (see Qur’an 2:183), and others take it a step further by fasting an additional 6 days to increase their rewards.

11- Jesus taught to say “Peace to this house” when entering it (see Luke 10:5), and to also greet the people in the house with “peace be unto you”.

Muslims do exactly what Jesus did and taught. When we enter our homes and the homes of others we say “bismillah” (in the name of Allah) and also greet with “as-salamu `alaykum” (peace be upon you) as taught in the Qur’an:

But if you enter houses, salute each other – a greeting of blessing and purity as from Allah. (An-Nur 24:61)

12- Jesus was circumcised. Circumcision is 1 of the 5 fitrah (pure nature) in Islam, so Muslim men are required to be circumcised. According to the Bible in Luke 2:21, Jesus was eight days old when he was circumcised. In the Torah, Allah/God stated to the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) that it is an “Everlasting covenant” (see Genesis 17:13).

In the Qur’an verse 16:123 Muslims are required to follow the religion of Abraham. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “The Prophet Abraham circumcised himself when he was eighty years old.” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad).

13- Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke Aramaic and called God ”Elah”, which is pronounced the same as “Allah”. Aramaic is an ancient, Biblical language. It is one of the Semitic languages that also include Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic and the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian language of Akkadian.

The Aramaic ”Elah” and the Arabic “Allah” are the same.

The Aramaic “Elah” is derived from the Arabic “Allah”, and it means “GOD”. “Allah” in Arabic also means ”God”, the Supreme GOD Almighty. You can easily see the similarity in their pronunciation so this concludes that the God of Jesus is also the God of the Muslims, of all mankind, and all that exist.

Now tell me who is the real follower of Jesus (peace be upon him)? Obviously Muslims.

Now I believe am a true follower of Jesus.

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Source: The Herald and other websites.

 

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Conversion Stories New Muslims

Finding God: Why More and More Scots are Turning to Islam

A growing number of Scots are converting to Islam – with the majority young women.

Scots muslims

Glasgow Central Mosque alone is now seeing more than 200 Scots a year ‘revert’.

Glasgow Central Mosque alone is now seeing more than 200 Scots a year ‘revert’. Due to the rising number of Scots finding Islam, mosques across the country are also setting up support groups for new ‘reverts’. Many are fearful of abuse and intimidation.

Reversion is the preferred term within Islam for those who ‘convert’ – as Muslims believe everyone is born believing in Allah.

From Christianity

The Sunday Herald spoke to Hannah, a 25-year-old administrator from Glasgow who recently “reverted”. Hannah asked for her surname to be kept confidential. Though brought up without any particular faith, Hannah is one of a growing number of Scots who are turning to Islam despite what many see as a “demonization” of the religion.

“I’d done a degree in comparative religion and had to analyze all the religious texts,” said Hannah. “I went away from that thinking that maybe I should be a Christian.

“But a few months later, while meditating, I found myself pulled in the direction of Islam. After that I started reading again, but this time in a more emotional way. I found, I preferred the simplicity of Islam.”

After mulling it over for six months, she decided to revert. In July this year, she visited Glasgow Central Mosque to take the Shahadah (the Declaration of Faith) in front of two witnesses, in which Allah is recognized as the only God.

Her conversion was shared online by the Glasgow Central Mosque along with others including 20-year-old Jade from the Shetland Isles, and Katie, also 20 and an administration worker from Glasgow, who made her Shahadah last month.

Increasing Influx

Glasgow Central Mosque says numbers of “reverts” have been gradually rising and they are now dealing with up to four conversions a week. Along with the Edinburgh Central Mosque, it has now started support groups for new Muslims.

The total number of converts is not known, but according to a report by Faith Matters, 5,200 people now join the UK-wide Muslim population of three million every year. Scotland’s community is significantly smaller at 90,000 people, over one-third of whom live in Glasgow.

Rizy Mohammad, a co-ordinator at the Glasgow Central Mosque, said: “We are seeing an influx, particularly in the number of women expressing an interest in Islam. I don’t think there is one reason for it but it’s interesting that after 9/11, where Muslims were blamed for the bombing of the twin towers, a lot of people started doing their own research. Many found out more about Islam that led them to different conclusions.

“There is also the spiritual dimension. They’ve been part of the material world, done the shopping thing and now they are looking for a deeper connection.”

Scots & Islamophobia

But for many reverts, it is not an easy transition. High-profile conversions of white Muslims such as Richard Dart, who is serving a six-year jail sentence for plotting an attack on soldiers in Royal Wootton Bassett, mean alarm bells often sound for family members.

“Because of the extent of Islamophobia in the media, my mum, who is a Pagan, thought that I was going to join IS,” said Hannah.

“People see the violent, loud things. They don’t see the quiet Muslims who aren’t doing anything bad. My brother told her not to be so ridiculous and after about a week she came round. Now she makes sure that I don’t drink when I come to her house and even cooks halal for me.”

Hannah has also found some of the more conservative aspects of the religion, which still segregates men and women at places of worship, difficult to deal with. She admits she has taken off her hijab in parts of the city where she perceived the reaction to Muslim men and women wearing full traditional dress to be less than supportive. Since converting she has not been swimming due to concerns about covering up, and finds it hard cycling while wearing a hijab.

A 2013 Cambridge University study about women’s experience of conversion claimed it was “not for the faint-hearted”.

“I think in Islam men and women are equal but different,” said Hannah. “But I also think there are some cultural issues with equality.”

Inner Peace… Inner Power

Jay (not his real name), who converted less than three months ago after a near-death experience with drugs, said that while some friends had asked if he was going to travel to Syria and fight for IS, most people have been positive about his decision. Before his conversion, he said, he worked and partied too hard, and lived for the weekend.

“One of my colleagues in particular was keen to know why I converted,” said Jay. “He wanted to know how I could give up the clubs, drink and girlfriends, and now spend my time praying.

“I told him that now I had inner peace. I could now go to sleep at night. A few weeks later he also became Muslim.”

The Convert’s Need for Support

However, other converts have been left disillusioned. Dawud Duncan, originally from Oban, who became Muslim nine years ago, believes the lack of support from fellow “heritage Muslims” – people born into Islam -has led some reverts to leave their newfound faith.

“When a person takes the Shahadah they are treated like a superstar and everyone wants to know their story,” he said.

“However, within a week they can be left to their own devices. This can make the individual feel very isolated as they are often caught between two communities.”

Duncan, who now lives in Glasgow, currently hosts an online radio program for converts and also aims to set up a support and advocacy group. He hopes that issues raised by the group can be taken up by the leadership of the mosque to help avoid future problems.

“New Muslims have so much to offer the Muslim community and Scotland,” said Duncan. “This would include a fresh perspective and a deeper understanding of the cultural issues our society faces. Converts find it easier to explain Islam to a Scottish audience.”

His experience chimes with that of Saleem Mcgroarty, 43, from Edinburgh, a member of the Edinburgh Muslim Community Association who was raised a Catholic and converted to Islam at 26.

He no longer attends his local mosque due to concerns about its links to Saudi Arabia, a country with a very conservative approach to Islam, and has found it hard to integrate.

Mcgroarty said: “I think there should be some emotional and community support, a buddy network; the things you really need when you are moving into another world.”

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Source: The Herald

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Conversion Stories New Muslims

The Teachings of Jesus Led Me to Islam

By Harry Joseph

Christianity

Islam is both a religion which requires certain beliefs and is focused around the love of God/a relationship with Him.

For many years of my young life, but most profoundly in recent times, I have been in avid pursuit of God and His universal truth. I live in a New England suburban town, and I enjoy many things, including music, reading, and camping; however, religion and God have always been important in my life, and I have always had a relationship with Him.

I was previously a Christian and was very happy and content with my faith; however, I came to realize that much of what I believed was ‘un-Christian’ by doctrinal standards. Also, I was becoming rather interested and intrigued by other religions in an attempt to promote universality, yet many Christians are against learning, and especially practicing other religions. Mind you, I have received my share of ‘watch out with that stuff and don’t be deceived’ and ‘the Bible is God’s only truth’.

However, I realized that a loving, kind, and merciful God such as Allah would not limit Himself to one group of people. Soon enough, I was immersed in the teachings of Gautama Buddha and of Hindu yogis, and yes, I even got myself a copy of the Qur’an.

I’m not entirely sure why I first decided to buy an English Interpretation of the Qur’an, but I believe it had something to do with me wanting to learn about a faith which was almost entirely foreign to me. As I eagerly thumbed through the pages I felt something inside me saying, very quietly at first: ‘This is indeed the Word of God’. Now, being a Christian I was taught that the Bible is God’s only preserved, perfect, and unchanged Word.

Islam has the passion and love of Christianity and the law and ritual of Judaism.

At first, Islam was just an interest of mine, some intellectual theology that I could dabble in from time to time. I was at first very reluctant to call the Qur’an the Word of God, and I didn’t really know much about Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the time.

Meanwhile, I also spent time reading the Bible, especially the teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him) and the wisdom literature in the Old Testament. While reading what Jesus taught, I thought to myself, ‘This Messenger taught truth, and God has given me so much through him.

Yet, why are so many Christians hypocritical, often harsh against others beliefs, and why has Church doctrine invented beliefs calling it God’s Word?’ When thoughts like this and thoughts pertaining to the falseness of the Trinity (which was invented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD) came into my mind, it was at this time when Islam began coming into my life.

My history teacher, a Christian, once told me that every misconception about Islam is untrue (i.e. Muhammad was a terrorist, he is the Muslim Jesus, peace be upon both Prophets, etc, etc) and was very pleased with my reading of the Qur’an and open-mindedness. I soon came to accept the truth of Islam; ironically, to Christians at least, there was a prominent figure that inspired me to convert to Islam: Jesus Christ.

I recognized the similarity and importance of what he taught in many passages of the Qur’an. I saw how the Qur’an states that Jesus and his teachings contain guidance, salvation, and Light. Also, I believe Muslims and Sufis refer to him sometimes as the ‘Word of God’, ‘Spirit of God’, etc, and that Muslims believe (or at least the Qur’an says) he is near stationed to God. Almost immediately I was researching Islam on the internet and I thought, ‘Surely this is a true faith!’

I was also influenced by Yusuf Islam, or Cat Stevens, one of my favourite musicians of all time; he made a statement in converting to Islam, and showed me that one does not need to be Arab to be a Muslim. Since I too am an avid musician in pursuit of a musical career, Yusuf showed me that living a righteous life before God should never be put aside due to music. So, I eventually took Shahadah (I believe in the one true God, Allah, and that Muhammad is a Messenger of God) and became an ‘official’ Muslim. I was fourteen upon my conversion, and… well I’m still fourteen, but Islam has already affected me quite profoundly.

I still believe in Jesus… I wouldn’t be a Muslim if I didn’t!

Now, just because I now began referring to myself as a Muslim instead of a Christian didn’t mean that I had to give up beliefs. I never believed in a Trinitarian God or that Jesus was God Himself; after all, Jesus taught to abide by his word and to obey the Father, and that the Father is greater than he.

The only main difference was that I now recognized the validity of Muhammad’s prophethood and the truth of the Qur’an.

However, Islam was different to me in some respects than Christianity, but in ways that were pleasant and helpful. For example, I have always had a good relationship with God because of Jesus and his teachings, and I have always seen Christianity as a religion focused on God’s love. At school I have many Jewish friends, and I have partaken in the Sabbath with some of them, attended holidays, etc, and I noticed that they are very law abiding, yet in talking to my friends, it seemed to me as though they didn’t have that same connection/relationship with God that I and many other Christians I knew had.

So my feeling was this: Christianity is great because it is focused around the love of God, but there is a lot of blind faith and mysteries involved, and that Judaism is great because many Jews live in accordance to the laws of the Torah, yet in my personal observances, it seemed as though many lacked some of that relationship.

Islam is both a religion which requires certain beliefs and is focused around the love of God/a relationship with Him, and it also has a strong aspect of law abiding, and ritual; in short, it has the passion and love of Christianity and the law and ritual of Judaism. These two are of course a fine combination if one wishes to know God and be obedient of His commandments.

As I partially mentioned before, my conversion to Islam was not an entirely huge step for me, because I was already a very spiritual person in touch with God; however, upon my conversion I found myself reading the Qur’an a lot, learning about the Prophet Muhammad and researching all aspects of Islam.

Soon enough, I learned how to do the ritual prayer and even if I don’t pray at all during the day (I’m trying to improve on that), I usually pray at night, often for long periods of time (20 minutes to an hour) because after the ritual prayer I stay prostrate before God thanking Him for what he has blessed me with, praising Him, etc. Prayer is indeed the door to the Eternal, and when I finish praying I feel ‘intoxicated’ with God’s presence and I am often at a heart-warming peace.

My family has no qualms about me converting to Islam; I still believe in Jesus (I wouldn’t be a Muslim if I didn’t!), I haven’t gone to extremes like changing my name to an Arabic one, and I will still celebrate Christmas and Easter with my family in addition to Ramadan and other Muslim holidays.

I know that neither Christian holiday is prescribed by God, yet I feel I need celebrate them now not because of my religious upbringing, but mainly for love of my family, and I see no harm in doing so as long as I know in my heart what it is that I am really celebrating. I have been brought up to shun the pagan ideas and commercialism that pertains to these holidays.

I know not how my friends will react to my conversion, but it’s not like I shall be walking around campus professing that I am a Muslim, but if anyone asks me or religious status comes up in conversation, I will be proud to say I am a Muslim, just as I was proud to say I was a Christian. I hope to God that anyone who hears about my religious conversion will see me the same way as they did before.

The main impact that Islam has had on my life is that now, more than ever, I find myself in great obedience to God. I’m almost never angry, I don’t swear, I obey the Qur’an to the best of my abilities, and any minor sin I may commit (i.e. lust) I ask immediate forgiveness from God. I am also very jovial and peaceful, and I have excelled in wisdom. God even inspired me to write an essay in which I propose a non-Trinitarian way of viewing the nature of God which can be fully accepted by both Muslims and Christians.

What really matters is one’s relationship with God and obeying His commands that leads to eternal life and salvation.

I feel as though in recent times I know God more than ever. I have also become greatly influenced by Sufism; the writings of Sufi saints are filled with wisdom, simplicity, and they profess their love of God so greatly. In reading the Sufi wisdom/religious literature, I realized something very important: I was always taught to believe in God and Jesus so that I may have eternal life, yet one day I realized that I do not believe in God and His Messengers and His commandments so that I can live forever, but because of my undying love and supreme reverence for the Almighty.

God exists here and now, on earth, and you must look inside yourselves and around you at His creation to find Him. Why wait for eternity to come when you can experience God’s presence anywhere at any time? Islam has indeed made me spiritually stronger than ever, and I thank God for inviting me to be a part of it. I wish the entire world could know how great Islam really is and stop judging it by the actions of a few men (terrorists and fundamentalists) who bring shame to Islam and the name of God.

As advice to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, don’t take seriously what is written negatively about Islam on the internet, especially on Christian websites: I have read horrible things including: Islam is a cult, it leads people away from God, Muslims don’t believe in Jesus, Allah is not God or Yahweh, and even a site which poked fun at Islam, instructing Christians how to kindly point out contradictions in the Qur’an or Muslim belief to get Muslims to convert to Christianity, etc.

The real truth is, it doesn’t matter what religious title you hold (Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu); it is one’s relationship with God and obeying His commands that leads to eternal life and salvation. To any Christian who may be skeptical about this simple statement on the ticket to eternal life, ask Jesus: ‘Whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me (God) has eternal life’. (Jon 5:24) And to support it with a Qur’anic passage: “O believers, believe in God and His Messenger(s), and the Book He has sent down on His Messenger (Muhammad), and the Book (Gospel) which he sent down before”. (An-Nisaa’ 4:135)

In the prior, as in the latter, there is no complex theology: just God and His Messengers.

I hope and pray that there shall be a day when every person shall bow before God Almighty, and love Him with the greatest of love. May the truth guide all men to salvation, and may the Eternal engulf them in His ever embracing light.

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Source: onislam.net[H1] .

 [H1]On the internet the article is originally to islamonline, but I found it republished on onislam

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Conversion Stories New Muslims

Like It or Not, Jesus Practiced Islam

From Christianity, Brother Phil, a French Canadian Muslim, has made his way to Islam.

The journey started ten years ago. Now he has that strongly founded and deeply rooted home in Islam. Over a decade now he has been living the peace and beauty of his choice.

It’s not just a conversion story as it may seem, neither is it a recited poem or story. Rather it’s the facts, the beliefs and the creed put into words.

Listen to the deep and rhythmic words outlining Brother Phil’s spiritual and practical journey, and notice how they tell on the resolution, strength and confidence portrays his character, filling his heart and mind.

This is what he, once a Christian, is certain about and believes in:  ‘like it or not, Jesus (peace be upon him) practiced Islam’.

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Divine Unity New Muslims

Six Facts about Jesus in the Qur’an

What does the Qur’an say about Jesus, his birth, and his mother Maryam? Who was Jesus? How was he created? Did he call himself God or “son of God?” What about his miracles; does the Qur’an mention them? Was he crucified?

One of the facts about Jesus, according to the Qur’an, he was born miraculously without a father:

Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. She said: “I seek refuge from you to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if you does fear Allah.” He said: “Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a pure boy”…. (Maryam 19:16-19)

Watch the video below to learn about other facts about Jesus that were mentioned in the Qur’an…

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Source: OnePath Network

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ABC's of Islam New Muslims

What Do the Prophet’s Traditions Say about Jesus?

Allah (Exalted be He) selected the finest amongst humanity as messengers whom He sent to His creation with specific legislations: for them to worship and obey Allah and to establish His Religion and His tawheed (Oneness of Allah) in His Lordship, Worship, and Names and Attributes. This is how the Muslim believes in Allah’s messengers.

jesus

Muslims believe that Jesus will return before the Day of Judgment to bring justice and peace to the world.

And We sent not before you (O Muhammad) but men to whom We inspired, so ask the people of the reminder (Scriptures) if you do not know. And We did not create them (the messengers, with) bodies that ate not food, nor were they immortal. (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:7-8)

Therefore, one must believe in all of God’s prophets and that they were purely and truly only human in nature; they were not supernatural beings.

`Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Faith is to believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in divine destiny, both in its good and in its evil aspects.” (Muslim)

Allah says:

Lo! those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers, and seek to make distinction between Allah and His messengers, and say: We believe in some and disbelieve in others, and seek to choose a way in between; Such are disbelievers in truth; and for disbelievers We prepare a shameful doom. (An-Nisaa’ 4:150,151)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Send peace and blessings upon the Prophets and Messengers of Allah, for He (Allah) has sent them (to people) as He (Glory be to Him) sent me.” (Al-Albani)

God’s Word

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “He who bears witness that there is no true god except Allah, alone having no partner with Him, that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, that `Isa (Jesus) is His slave and Messenger and he (Jesus) is His Word which He communicated to Maryam (Mary) and His spirit which He sent to her, that Paradise is true and Hell is true; Allah will make him enter Jannah (Paradise) accepting whatever deeds he accomplished”. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Between Jesus and Muhammad

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all the people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.” (Al-Bukhari)

Ibn `Abbas narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “I saw Moses, Jesus and Abraham (on the night of my Ascension to the heavens). Jesus was of red complexion, curly hair and a broad chest. Moses was of brown complexion, straight hair and tall stature as if he was from the people of Az-Zutt.” (Al-Bukhari)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus (peace be upon him). He will descent (to the earth). When you see him, recognize him: a man of medium height, reddish fair, wearing two light yellow garments, looking as if drops were falling down from his head though it will not be wet. He will fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizyah. Allah will perish all religions except Islam. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him. (Abu Dawud)

Virtues of Jesus

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘I am the most close to Jesus, son of Mary, from among the whole of mankind in this worldly life and the next life.’ ‘They said: Allah’s Messenger how is it?’ Thereupon he said: ‘Prophets are brothers in faith, having different mothers. Their religion is, however, one, and there is no Prophet between us (between me and Jesus Christ).” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When any human being is born. Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.”

About Maryam (Mary), the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Many a man achieved perfection, but no woman achieved perfection except for Maryam (Mary), the daughter of `Imran, and Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh…” (At-Tirmidhi)

Jesus’ Return

Muslims believe that Jesus will return before the Day of Judgment to bring justice and peace to the world.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon) said, “Dajjal (the Antichrist) will appear in my Ummah and he will stay in the world for forty. I do not know whether this will be forty days or forty months or forty years. Allah will then send (Prophet) ‘Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary). ‘Isa will pursue him and slaughter him. Then people will survive for seven years (i.e., after the demise of ‘Isa) in the state that there will be no rancour between two persons…. (Muslim)

This Islamic belief about Jesus is similar to the belief of some of the early Christians.

In the Qur’an, God addresses the Christians about Jesus in the following way:

O People of the Book, do not commit excesses in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers and do not speak of a ‘Trinity’– stop (this), that is better for you– God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him and He is the best one to trust. (An-Nisaa’ 4:171)

 

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ABC's of Islam New Muslims

Jesus in Islam and Other Religions

One cannot be a Muslim if he does not believe in Jesus as well as all other prophets sent by God- the Qur’an names twenty-five prophets and messengers and suggests that there were many more- including Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

jesus

Islam considers Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, as one of the great prophets of God, worthy of respect and honor but not worship.

Muslims have the highest regard for Jesus and await his second coming. The Islamic view of Jesus is one between two extremes. The Jews rejected his prophethood and called him an impostor, while many Christians regard him as the son of God and worship him as such.

Jesus in Islam

Islam considers Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, as one of the great prophets of God, worthy of respect and honor but not worship. He was sent to confirm and renew the basic doctrine of belief in God alone and obedience to Him.

According to the Qur’an, he was born miraculously without a father:

Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. She said: “I seek refuge from you to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if you does fear Allah.” He said: “Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a pure boy”…. (Maryam 19:16-19)

And he was not crucified but raised up to God.

(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering you and causing you to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing you of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me you will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein you used to differ. (Aal `Imran 3:55)

And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger – they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise. (An-Nisaa’ 4:157-158)

The Qur’an attributes to him miracles that are not even mentioned in the Bible. However, Islam sees the deification of Jesus as a reversion to paganism, and the divinity of Jesus is categorically rejected within the Qur’anic text:

They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! who ascribes partners unto Allah, for him Allah has forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. (Al-Ma’idah 5:72)

 “Various” Gospels

Such doctrines as the «trinity», «divine sonship» and «atonement» are not accepted by Muslims simply because they did not originate from Prophet Jesus himself.

It is known that most of the Gospels were written by men long after the time of Jesus and that much of the New Testament was compiled from the writings of Paul and his students. Unmistakable contradictions have appeared in the various «modern,» «revised» and «amplified» versions of the Bible.

The once purely divine message conveyed by Jesus has obviously been corrupted by human input and altered through numerous translations; the original texts no longer exist.

The Gospels were written several decades after Jesus’ departure, and none of their authors had actually seen Jesus or heard him speak. Moreover, they were written in Greek whi

le Jesus spoke Aramaic. Those Gospels presently in circulation were not selected from among the others and authorized by the Church until the decisions of the ecumenical Council of Nicea in the year 325 CE.

Nevertheless, belief in the divine scripture, not in its present form but as it was originally revealed to Prophet Jesus, is an article of Islamic faith.

The final revelation from God is the only criterion by which information in previous scriptures can be evaluated. Therefore, whatever the Bible says about Jesus that agrees with the Qur’an is accepted by Muslims, and what is contrary to it is rejected as a product of human intervention.

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The article is excerpted from the book Clear Your Doubts about Islam, Compiled by Saheeh international.

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ABC's of Islam New Muslims

The Christmas Message of Jesus

By Idris Tawfiq

As Christmas is celebrated all over the world, it will come as a real surprise to many people that Muslims have any regard for Jesus at all.

Most people have no idea that Jesus has any part in Islam. And yet, for Muslims not only is Jesus revered as a Prophet of Islam, but whenever his name is mentioned, they will add the words “peace be upon him.”

Far from being a “foreign” religion, Islam teaches that all prophets in the Old Testament actually brought a message from Almighty God, Allah, to His people, and Muslims respect the same prophets revered by Christians and Jews.

Whilst Christians and Muslims believe very different things about Jesus, it is nonetheless a very useful starting point to know that both religious traditions honor Jesus as a very special person. In fact, it would be quite acceptable for Muslims to include the name of Jesus in their Shahadah, or declaration of faith.

Muslims say: “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” but they could just as equally declare “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Jesus is the Messenger of Allah.”

As people throughout the world celebrate Christmas, it might be a very good way of building bridges between people of faith if Muslims were to let others know just what Islam teaches about Prophet Jesus.

Jesus (peace be upon him) in Islam and in Christianity

That being said, the Jesus revealed in Islam is in many ways quite different from the Jesus many Christians have come to know. The foremost difference is that Jesus is not considered by Muslims to be the son of God.

The next major difference is that Muslims do not believe that he died on the cross to save people from their sins.

They take their belief from what Allah tells them in the Quran. For example, regarding who Jesus was, we read:

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… (Quran 4:171)

And we also read:

{Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth! (Quran 5:75)

Regarding Jesus’ death, we read in the Quran:

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… (Quran 4:157-158)

An Authentic Narrative about Jesus

It is important for us to understand why Muslims believe a different narrative about Jesus, rather than the one accepted by many Christians. Muslims in fact believe that the words about Jesus in the existing gospels are not the actual words revealed about him by Allah.

They believe, instead, that Almighty God, Allah, has spoken to His creation down through the centuries through prophets. Some of these prophets had books revealed to them. Prophet Moses, for example, had the Torah revealed to him, just as Prophet Jesus had a message revealed to him known as the Injeel.

Muslims believe that neither of these books now exist in the form in which they were originally revealed because they have been altered, either deliberately or accidentally, over time. Allah never intended these messages to last, since they were for a particular people at a particular time in their history.

The Quran revealed to Muhammad, however, was intended for all people and for all time. It is the fullness of revelation, affirming all that is correct of what had gone before and correcting all that had become unclear about previous revelation.

The Message of Jesus in Quran

The Quran, then, has a different nativity narrative for the birth of Jesus and a completely different approach to who Jesus was. Jesus according to the Quran, was “no more than a messenger,” delivering God’s words to mankind. Unlike prophets before him, he was given the gift of miracles, but these miracles were a manifestation of the power of God, not of Jesus’ own power.

The message of Jesus was the message given to all prophets before him: that God is One and that He deserves to be worshipped in a particular way. By following the “straight path” people can come to get to know God better. This is the message confirmed in the Quran and is what has come to be known as Islam today. For Muslims, Jesus is a Messenger of Islam.

So what about the “Christian message” preached by Jesus? What about all the teaching about love of neighbor? What about all the stories and the parables related by Christians today as the words of Jesus himself?

For Muslims, the Quran is the fullness of revelation. Everything that agrees with the Quran in the previous scriptures is considered to be true. Anything that disagrees with the Quran is considered to be false. And as for anything in the previous scriptures which is not found in the Quran, Muslims don’t know if it is true or false, whether it is divinely revealed or the invention of men.

Stories like the Good Samaritan and the Sermon on the Mount, for example, do not appear in the Quran so Muslims have no way of knowing who wrote them. Since they don’t actually disagree with Islamic teaching we cannot say they are wrong, but we remain unclear about where they came from.

In other words, much of Jesus’ so-called teaching, as narrated by the New Testament, sits very comfortably with the principles of the Quran, but is not to be found as divine revelation in the Quran itself.

Teaching that people should love their neighbor, although related in different language, is very much a part of what Muslims believe. Prophet Muhammad is the closest commentary we have on the Quran. In his life we see how the Quran should be lived and in his life we see that caring for neighbors, the widowed and the orphans is very much a part of being a Muslim.

Christmas Message

As people throughout the world celebrate Christmas, it might be a very good way of building bridges between people of faith if Muslims were to let others know just what Islam teaches about Prophet Jesus. This shouldn’t be done in a way that offends the belief of others. After all, disagreeing is not the end of the world!

If people could understand one another more and agree to differ on certain matters of belief, our world would be a much better place.

Christians would have us believe that “Peace” is the central message of Christmas. As Muslims we say “Amen” to that, since “Islam” itself comes from a root word that means “Peace” and Prophet Jesus came to teach the message of Islam.

Happy holidays!

Source: aboutislam website

About the author

Idris Tawfiq was a British writer, public speaker and consultant. For many years, he was head of religious education in different schools in the United Kingdom. Before embracing Islam, he was a Roman Catholic priest. He passed away in peace in the UK in February 2016 after a period of illness. May Allah (SWT) have mercy on him, and accept his good deeds. Ameen.

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