Chapter XIII

CHRISTIANITY IN THE LIGHT OF THE QUR’AN

           

Belief in the Prophets

Belief in the Books of God

Crucifixion on the Cross

 

Christianity as understood and believed by the Christians of both the Roman Catholics and the Protestant persuasions comprises three creeds, namely, the Apostles, the Nicene and the Athanasian. The fundamental doctrines of modern Christianity are:

1.       The Trinity

2.       The Divinity of Jesus Christ

3.       The Divine-Sonship of Jesus

4.       The Original Sin, and

5.       The Atonement 

These basic doctrines of Christianity have for centuries kept the intellect of man in a state of perplexity. They are subjects on which much intellectual blood has been shed. These doctrines developed into a full-fledged religion which not only dealt a death blow to the true teachings of Jesus but also caused great harm to humanity.

According to the Holy Qur’an, Jesus was sent to his people to preach Belief in God. This implies recognizing God as only One, associating no partner with Him. He has power to do all things and He is only One who deserves to be worshipped. This is the fundamental principle of the teachings of Jesus.

“And when Jesus perceived their disbelief, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah?’  The disciples answered, ‘We are the helpers of Allah.  We have believed in Allah. And bear thou witness that we are obedient; Our Lord, we believe in that which Thou hast sent down and we follow this Messenger. So write us down among those who bear witness’.”     [Qur’an 3:52-53]

“Indeed, they are disbelievers who say, ‘Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ whereas the Messiah himself said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship Allah Who is my Lord and your Lord.’ Surely, whoso associates partners with Allah, him has Allah forbidden Heaven, and the Fire will be his resort. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.”    [Qur’an 5:72]

Qur’an, therefore, rejects the doctrine of the Trinity.

“They surely disbelieve who say, ’Allah is the third of three;’ there is no god but the One God, And if they do not desist from what they say, a grievous punishment shall surely befall those of them that disbelieve.”    [Qur’an 5:73]

“Will they not then turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness, while Allah is Most Forgiving and Merciful? The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely Messengers (like unto him) had passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food. See how We explain the Signs for their good, and see how they are turned away.”     [Qur’an 5:74-75] “This grace is from Allah, and Allah suffices as One Who is All-Knowing.”    [Qur’an 4:70]

“Surely, Allah will not forgive that a partner be associated with Him; but He will forgive whatever is short of that to whomsoever He pleases. And whoso associates partners with Allah has indeed devised a great sin.”    [Qur’an 4:48]

“Allah shall not forgive that anything be associated with Him as partner, but He will forgive what is short of that to whomsoever He pleases. And whoso associates anything with Allah has indeed strayed faraway.”    [Qur’an 4:116]

“And they say, ‘The Gracious God has taken unto Himself a son’.

Assuredly, you have indeed uttered a most hideous thing.

The heavens might well nigh burst thereat, and the earth cleaves asunder, and the mountains fall down in pieces.

Because they ascribe a son to the Gracious God. It becomes not the Gracious God that He should take unto Himself a son.”     [Qur’an 19:88-92]

Islam believes in the uncompromising doctrine of monotheism - Belief in One and only One God.

The New Testament also supports this Islamic view that Jesus was raised to prophethood by God for the Israelites, who had ceased to act upon the teachings of the Torah, had become spiritually dead.

The Muslims believe that Jesus was one of the prophets who was sent to his own people alone and whose message was not meant for others in other parts of the world.

“Verily, We have sent thee with the Truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and as a Warner; and there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent.”    [Qur’an 35:24]

This view is confirmed by the New Testament:

“But he answered and said, ‘I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’.”    [Matthew 15:24]

“And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.”    [Matthew 1:21]

“And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, are not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”    [Matthew 2:6]

The Muslims love, respect and believe in Jesus as a prophet of God as they love, respect and believe in other prophets of God.

Belief in the Prophets

Belief in Prophets is the natural sequence of faith in divine revelation since revelation must be communicated through human beings.

The Prophet is not the bearer of Divine message only but he also shows how the message is to be interpreted in practical life. Therefore, he is the model or example to be followed. It is the Prophet’s examples that inspire a living faith in the hearts of his followers and brings about a real transformation in their lives. This is why the Holy Qur’an lays special stress on the fact that the Prophet must be a man. The reformation or transformation of man can only be accomplished through a prophet. Hence, the Holy Qur’an rejects the doctrine of incarnation because God incarnate would serve no purpose in the reformation of man, seeing that man has to face temptation at every step but there is no temptation for God.

A Muslim must believe in all the prophets; Hud and Salih raised up in Arabia, Luqman in Ethiopia, a contemporary of Moses. The Holy Qur’an says:

“And who believe in that which has been revealed to thee and that which was revealed before thee and they have firm faith in the Hereafter.”    [Qur’an 2:4]

Thus, the Holy Qur’an lays the foundation of a world-wide religion by making a belief in the Prophet of every nation the basic principle of his faith.

In order to teach men how to live in this life; how to behave with each other; with friends; enemies; parents and children and how to give each man his right and dues, God sent a number of prophets. To every nation God has sent a messenger, in order to bring them out of darkness into light; to teach them how to live a happy life. But each prophet was opposed and ill-treated by those persons of his own nation who had wealth and power and who did not like to change their evil ways. They did not want to give up their injustices to the poorer people. The prophets were abused, beaten, killed or driven out by their people. But these prophets went on doing their work and suffered everything patiently until they succeeded in bringing a large number of followers around them. They gave the message of God to their followers, taught them how to live and treat other people justly. They further asked them to obey God and fear His punishment for doing evil.

All these prophets were born in different times and among different peoples. Therefore, they could not adopt the same methods, because their people had different customs, habits, languages and manners. But they had one thing in common, that is, all of them asked people to believe in God and in the Life after Death and to lead a life of virtue, truth and honesty.

The number of these apostles of God is said to be more than a hundred thousand but 25 of them  are more important than the others and these are distinctly mentioned in the Holy Qur’an (see  Surahs 7, 10,  11, 19, 21, 26 and 38). The following are the names mentioned in the Qur’an, Those names in brackets are the Bible version of the names mentioned in the Holy Qur’an;

Adam-(Adam) Musa-(Moses)

Nuh-(Noah) Dawud-(David)

Hud-(Heber) Sulaiman-(Solomon)

Salih-(Saleh or Methusela) Yonus-(Jonah)

Lut-(Lot) Ayyub-(Job)

Idris-(Enoch) Dhul-Kifl-(Isaiah or Ezekiel)

Ibrahim-(Abraham) Ilyas-(Elijah)

Ismail-(Ishmael) Alyasa-(Elisha)

Ishaq-(Isaac) Zakariyyah-(Zacharias)

Yusuf-(Joseph) Yahya-(John the Baptist)

Yaqup-(Jacob) Harun-(Aaron)

Shu’aib-(Jethro) Isa-(Jesus)

Muhammad

A Muslim must believe in all the prophets of God. To believe in some prophets and reject others is regarded as disbelief, The Holy Qur’an says:

“Surely, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and seek to make a distinction between Allah and His Messengers, and say ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in others,’ and seek to take a way in between;

These really are the disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers an humiliating punishment.”    [Qur’an 4:150-151]

Faith is in all the prophets of God and in the finality of the prophethood of [PBUH] as the last prophet.

By belief in all the Prophets of Allah, one means that at different stages of the history of mankind, Allah sent prophets as His Messengers for their guidance. One must believe in all of them in general, and in those whose names are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in particular. One cannot personify anyone as a prophet if his name is not so mentioned in the Divine Book, nor can one deny the prophethood of any one whose name is so mentioned in the Divine Book.

A Prophet is a servant and a Messenger of Allah who receives Divine revelation. He is a model for human being and teaches and practices the Commands of Allah. One does not worship any of the prophets, but only love and revere them and consider them as models of conduct for themselves as well as humanity at large. The prophets worshipped Allah and taught us to do the same. But we cannot call any of the prophets God; for they were all created by Allah Who is Self-Existing and has no partner.

Besides being Messengers and Servants of Allah, none of the prophets claimed Divinity for they themselves were human beings.

Belief in the Books of God  

Muslims also believe in all the Books of God.

“This Messenger of Ours believes in that which has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; all of them believe in Allah, and in His Books, and in His Messengers, saying, ‘We make no distinction between any of His Messengers’; and they say, ‘We have heard and we are obedient. Our Lord, we implore Thy forgiveness, and to Thee is the returning’.”    [Qur’an 2:285]

It is obligatory to believe in all the Books of Allah, i.e. Books which He has sent down through His Prophets for the guidance of mankind from time to time at different stages of history. God revealed His Books to His Prophets before Muhammad [PBUH] and these Books were sent down in the same way as He sent down the Qur’an to Muhammad [PBUH].

There are five books of Allah (or code of religion) mentioned in the Qur’an, namely:

(a)            Suhuf revealed to Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim).

(b)           Torah (Old Testament) revealed to Prophet Musa (Moses).

(c)            Zabur (Psalms) revealed to Prophet Dawud (David).

(d)            Injil (New Testament) revealed to Prophet Isa (Jesus).

(e)            The Holy Qur’an revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last of the prophets.

The older revealed books; Torah, Zabur and Injil do not exist in their original forms except the Holy Qur’an. Their present day editions are only interpretations by their respective followers of later ages. Thus the original teachings of the Torah, Zabur and Injil have been tampered with and the word of God is no longer preserved in them in its original unalloyed and unadulterated form.

All these books have many things in common and they have the same purpose, i.e., to reform mankind. Furthermore, all these books originated from the same geographical area. They are all Divine revelations as well as written scriptures and all alike are to be believed and accepted.

Each of these books have come to confirm and clarify the earlier scriptures. As far as the Qur’an is concerned, it not only confirms earlier scriptures, but as the final revelation, clears up all uncertainties and is the repository of perfect truth.

The Qur’an, the Holy Book of the Muslims, makes mention of the great prophets and messengers to whom the Holy Books were given with great reverence and respect. It places Moses as a great reformer, a great guide of mankind, holy man, a prophet and so on.  Similarly, it tells about David and his Zabur. The Holy Qur’an describes Jesus (unlike the Jews who accused him and depict him and his mother as immoral characters) as one of the greatest of the messengers and his mother as a chaste lady. It says he suffered great pains at the hands of oppressors or tyrants but he did not move from his primary mission to reform mankind.

About the Injil (Gospels), the Qur’an speaks very highly. The Holy Qur’an refers to the Christians and Jews as the “people of the Book” (Ahl al-Kitab) and a Muslim can live peacefully in a Christian or Jewish society. Also, a Muslim can eat and drink with them and marry the Jewish and Christian ladies without any difficulty.

In Islam, Muslims do not believe that any prophet has ever claimed to be a God or Son of God or a partner in the Godhead. Thus, the basic doctrine of Islam is the Concept of the Unity of God. The humble writer somewhere had stated:

“Wahdahoo La Sharika Lahoo” meaning, “He is One, He has no partner”. This is what distinguishes the Islamic Religion from any other religion. The Unity of Allah is the distinguishing characteristic of Islam. This is the purest form of monotheism, i.e., the worship of Allah who was neither begotten nor begot nor had any associates with him in his Godhead. Islam teaches this in the most unequivocal terms.

Yet, Muslims’ faith in Allah is not a blind, international faith. A Muslim is taught in the Holy Qur’an to be grateful for all the bounties and blessings of God and thus, to adore Him and Him alone.

Therefore, the most fundamental and the most important distinctions of Islamic Faith from any other Faith is the Unity of God. This is expressed in the primary kalima of Islam as “La illah illallah”, i.e., “There is no god but Allah.”

This beautiful phrase is the bed-rock of Islam, its foundation and its essence. It is the expression of this belief which differentiates a Muslim from a non-Muslim.”

Islam does preach, pure and simple, the Unity of God, the Almighty, the All-Loving, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the All Holy, the Unique, the Creator and Sustainer of all the Worlds.

“And your God is One God; there is no god but He, the Gracious Merciful.”    [Qur’an 2:163]

“Say ‘He is Allah, the one!

‘Allah, the Independent and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten;

And there is none like unto Him’.”     [Qur’an 112:1-4]

Thus, the Muslims believe in the Oneness of God. They consider the Modern Christian deification of Jesus to be a reversion to paganism. According to the Holy Qur’an, Jesus was not an incarnation of God but a prophet or messenger of God and like all other prophets (including the Holy Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]), he was every bit a human being.

Islam also rejects the doctrine or the divine sonship of Jesus. Jesus may be called a son of a God in the sense in which righteous human beings may be called the children of God but not in any literal or special sense. Thus, the concept of fatherhood of God is acceptable to Islam only in the spiritual sense, in which case it embraces all humanity. All mankind are the children of God and the prophets were their teachers sent by God. This is in tune with the idea of’ father-hood as taught in “The Lord’s Prayer”, which says: “Our Father which art in Heaven”.

In the same manner, Islam rejects the dogmas of the Original Sin, the vicarious Sacrifice and the Atonement. There isn’t any evidence that any of the Christ’s disciples believed in these doctrines.

The religion of Islam has no place in it for any of these dogmas. The Holy Qur’an, categorically rejects the fallacious notion of the above modern Christian doctrines. The Holy Qur’an enunciates the pictures of the real Jesus and the faith preached by him in Surahs: Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, Mai’dah, Maryam and other parts of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an does not substantiate any of the doctrines of modern Christianity nor the stories of the Gospels pertaining to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to the Holy Qur’an Jesus was no more than a prophet.

The Bible says very little about Jesus. We are merely told that he was a Jew by birth and that the Virgin Mary gave birth to an illustrious Nazarene. Afterwards, Mary fled to Judea with the child and after twelve years, Jesus was seen in the synagogue finding faults with the Rabbis and joining issues with teachers of Judaism. The curtain dropped again. Another gap of eighteen years passed when Jesus appeared again from ascetic monastries and he was seen at the bank of the river Jordan performing miracles, preaching about God and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. He was subsequently arrested and crucified.  

Islam throws light on the life of Jesus. According to Islam, Jesus (Prophet Isa) was the son of Mary. Mary was the daughter of Imran. Imran was descendant of Prophet Harun (Aaron) the brother of Musa (Moses). Mary as a young girl was placed in the care of Prophet Zakariah, the father of Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) and she was dedicated by her mother to the service of God. She grew up as a chaste woman, sinless with a great devotion to God and she was one of the devoted women of her time.

“And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah has chosen thee and purified thee and chosen thee above all women of the time.

O Mary, be obedient to thy Lord and prostrate thyself and worship the one God with those who worship Him’.”     [Qur’an 3:43-44]

The above verses of the Qur’an suggest that with all her great virtues, Mary was a mere mortal and she had no part of divinity in her. She was like all true and devoted servants of Allah spending her time in prayer. She was neither a goddess nor a demi-goddess, nor a mother of God. According to the Holy Qur’an Jesus was born by the Virgin Mother Mary.

“This is of the tidings of things unseen which We reveal to thee. And thou wast not with them when they cast their arrows, as to which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou with them when they disputed with one another.”    [Qur’an 3:44]

“When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives thee glad tidings of a son through a Word from Him; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honoured in this world and the next, and those who are granted nearness to God’.”    [Qur’an 3:45]

“She said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a son, when no man has touched me? He said, ‘Such is the way of Allah. He creates what He pleases. When He decrees a thing, He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is’.”     [Qur’an 3:47]

“And relate the story of Mary as mentioned in the Book, when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place;

And screened herself off from them. Then we sent Our angel to her and he appeared to her in the form of a well-proportioned man.

She said, I seek refuge with the Gracious God from thee if indeed thou dost fear Him.’

The angel said, ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord that I may give thee glad tidings of a righteous son’.

She said, ‘How can I have a son when no man has touched me, neither have I been unchaste?’

The angel said, ‘Thus it shall be’. But says thy Lord, ‘It is easy for Me; and We shall do so that We may make him a Sign unto men, and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing decreed’.”     [Qur’an 19:16-21]

The above Qur’anic verses show that Mary was a chaste woman who gave birth to a faultless boy prophet Jesus by Divine decree. These verses refute the most vulgar charges of the Jews that Mary led an immoral life.

As far as Christianity is concerned, it believes not only in virgin birth of Jesus but also consider him as a son of God. Islam recognizes the virgin birth but points out that this does make Jesus the son of Mary, not the ‘son of God’. In fact, whenever Jesus is mentioned as a son in the Qur’an, it is always “Isa ibn Maryam” (Jesus the son of Mary).

The Christians considered the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of the virgin Mary as a fundamental basis for the claim of Jesus’ unique relationship with God. The Qur’an says:

“Surely, the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam. He created him out of dust then He said to him, ‘Be’, and he was.”     [Qur’an 3: 59]

Therefore, all that is meant is that Jesus is no more than a mortal, and that is an error to take him for God. Jesus was conceived by a woman in the manner all women conceive; she was delivered of him as all women are delivered of children. He was fed as children are fed. Then, he ate food and drank water and answered the call of nature as all other mortals do. The experience of Mary during the time of labor is described in the Qur’an as follows:

“And the pains of child-birth drove her unto the trunk of a palm-tree. She said, ‘O, would that I had died before this and had become a thing quite forgotten’!”    [Qur’an 19:23]

This shows that Mary gave birth to Jesus under the ordinary circumstances which women experience in giving birth to children. The throes of childbirth were too severe for her to bear and hence she gave utterance to such words. The reference to the throes of childbirth clearly shows that an ordinary human child was coming into the world; reference may be to the prediction in the Bible:

            “......in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.”      [Genesis 3:16]

The likeness to Adam here also indicates that the creation of Adam is more wonder-inspiring than the birth of Jesus; for Jesus had a mother, but Adam had neither father nor mother. If any creature were to be accorded the privilege of divinity, it is Adam, for he was a “direct” handiwork of God and God breathed life into him. All other creatures, including Jesus, came into being through intermediary agents. God Himself refers to Adam as His vicegerent on earth.

Muslims accepted Jesus as a prophet bringing the Injil (original New Testament) as a guidance for his people which according to Islam, means Allah’s revelation to Jesus.

“And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, fulfilling that which was revealed before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel which contained guidance and light, fulfilling that which was revealed before him in the Torah; and a guidance and an admonition for the God-fearing.”    [Qur’an 5:46]

Jesus was a Messenger of God sent to the Jews to confirm the messages of the earlier Jewish prophets and to call his people back to obedience to the guidance given through the earlier prophets like Musa (Moses) and Yahya (John the Baptist).

“And I come fulfilling that which is before me, namely, the Torah; and to allow you some of that which was forbidden unto you, and I come to you with a Sign from your Lord; so fear Allah and obey me.”    [Qur’an 3:50]

The Bible also confirmed that Jesus was only sent to his people the Jews.

“But he answered and said, ‘I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’.”    [Matthew 15:24]

“And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”    [Matthew 2:6]

The Bible agrees that Jesus received his revelation from God.

“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”    [John 12:49]

Jesus strongly disclaim Godhood or divinity when he says:

“Why callest thou me good? there is none good but One that is God.”    [Mark 10:18]  

He spoke of God as:

“My Father and your Father an my God and your God.”     [John 20:17]  

This verse shows that he stood in the same relation to God as any other man-he was a creature of God. In his agony on the cross, Jesus cried out:

“Eloi, Eloi, Iama sabachthani? with is, being interpreted, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’”    [Mark 15:34]

Can anyone imagine these words coming out of the mouth of God? Here we have the cry of a helpless man to His Creator and Lord.

The fact is, Jesus claimed only to be a prophet of God. He was a man, to whom God had revealed His message for the guidance of other men; many passages from the Bible support the view:

“Jesus saith unto them, If ye are Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard from God.”    [John 8:39, 40]

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”    [John 17:3]

The doctrine of the Incarnation like the Trinity, was also developed long after Jesus. The modern scholars have, in fact, traced several stages through which Jesus was gradually deified.

Reason also refuses to accept a man, who was born of a woman, who suffered from human wants, ignorance and limitations, and grew in stature, power and wisdom, like all other human beings as God. To put human limitations upon God and to believe in His incarnation in a human body is to deny the perfection of God.

 The dogma of the incarnation was brought into Christianity like many other Christian doctrines and rituals from paganism. In the pre-Christian mythologies, we often find the hero being regarded as God. The Hindus of India even today worship their heroes, Rama and Krishna as incarnations of Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu Trinity.

The essentials of Islam may be summed up in the theism of one God, the unity of all genuine revealed religions, the unity of humanity and virtues with full-hearted love and service for Allah, to love one’s neighbor as one loves one’s self and the belief in the community as an instrument to protect and promote good life under its simple democratic socialism. Islam also believes that God will one day make a reckoning with each individual and prescribe appropriate reward. Hence, knowledge and love are the ultimate values to which Islam reduces all values which together constitute the good life.

The greatest service Islam rendered to humanity was the exaltation and purification of the concept of God. Islam strove to deliver humanity from a multiplicity of gods on the one hand and from incarnationism on the other and to bring man back to the Unseen God.

“Eyes cannot reach Him but He reaches the eyes.

And He is the inscrutable, the All-Aware.”      [Qur’an 6:103]

In Islam, God is the Creator Who rather than being immanent in His creation transcends all His creations. The highest and the purest of human beings are also His creatures and the oneness of the creatures with the Creator is achieved by complete self-surrender which is the literal meaning of Islam.

All creation is the manifestation of God :