
"Christ in Islam" is really Christ in the Quran: and the Holy Quran has something definite to say about every abberation of Christianity. The Quran absolves Jesus (pbuh) from all the false charges of his emenies as well as the misplaced infatuation of his followers. His enemies allege that he blasphemed against God by claiming Divinity. His misguided followers claim that he did avow Divinity, but that was not blasphemy (kufr) because he was God. What does the Quran say? Addressing both the Jews and the Christians, Allah says:-
O PEOPLE OF THE BOOK! COMMIT NO EXCESSES IN YOUR RELIGION: NOR SAY OF GOD AUGHT BUT THE TRUTH. CHRIST JESUS THE SON OF MARY WAS (NO MORE THAN) AN APOSTLE OF GOD, AND HIS WORD, WHICH HE BESTOWED ON MARY, AND A SPIRIT PROCEEDING FROM HIM: SO BELIEVE IN GOD AND HIS MESSENGERS... |
| Holy Quran 4:171 |
"O People of the Book:" is a very respectful title with which the Jews and the Christians are addressed in the Holy Quran. In other words, Allah is saying - "O Learned People!" "O People with a Scripture!" According to their own boast, the Jews and the Christians prided themselves over the Arabs, who had no Scripture before the Quran. As a learned people, Allah pulls up both the contending religionists for going to either extremes as regards the personality of Christ. The Jews made certain insinuations about the legitimacy of Jesus(pbuh) and charged him of blasphemy by twisting his words. The Christians read other meanings into his words; wrench words out of their context to make him God. The modern-day Christian - the hot-gospeller - the Bible thumper - uses harsher words and cruder approaches to win over a convert to his blasphemies.He says:
"EITHER JESUS IS GOD OR A LIAR""EITHER JESUS IS GOD OR A LUNATIC"
"EITHER JESUS IS GOD OR AN IMPOSTER"
These are his words - words culled from Christian literature. Since no man of charity, Muslim or otherwise, can condemn Christ so harshly as the Christian challenges him to do, perforce he must keep non-committal. He thinks he must make a choice between one or the other of these silly extremes. It does not occur to him that there is an alternative to this Christian conundrum.
SENSIBLE ALTERNATIVE Is it not possible that Jesus is simply what he claimed to be- a prophet like so many other prophets that passed away before him? Even that he is one of the greatest of them - a mighty miracle worker, a great spiritual teacher and guide - the Messiah! Why only God or Lunatic? Is "lunacy" the opposite of "Divinity" in Christianity? What is the antonym of God? Will some clever Christian answer?
The Quran lays bare the true position of Christ in a single verse, it says: That he was the son of a woman, Mary, and therefore a man;But an apostle, a man with a mission from God, and therefore he is entitled to honour; A Word bestowed on Mary, for he was created by God's word "Be"(kun), and he was; (see Holy Quran 3:59) A spirit proceeding from God, but not God. His life and mission were more limited than in the case of some other apostles, though we must pay equal honour to him as a man of God. The doctrines of Trinity, equality with God, and sonship, are repudiated as blasphemies. God is independent of all needs and has no need of a son to manage His affairs. The Gospel of John (whoever wrote it) has put a great deal of Alexandrain Gnostic mysticism round the doctrine of the Word (Greek, Logos), but it is simply explained here, and our Sufis work on this explanation." |
| A.Yusuf Ali's comment on verse 171 above. |
Reproduced below are verses 119 to 121 from Sura Maida (Ch.5) depicting the scene of Judgement Day, when Allah will question Jesus (pbuh) regarding the misdirected zeal of his supposed followers in worshipping him and his mother: and his response-
AND BEHOLD! GOD WILL SAY: "O JESUS THE SON OF MARY! DIDST THOU SAY UNTO MEN, WORSHIP ME AND MY MOTHER AS GODS IN DEROGATION OF GOD'?" 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, THOUGH I KNOW NOT WHAT IS IN TIME. FOR THOU KNOWEST IN FULL ALL THAT IS HIDDEN. "NEVER SAID I TO THEM AUGHT EXCEPT WHAT THOU DIDST COMMAND ME TO SAY, TO WIT, 'WORSHIP GOD, MY LORD AND YOUR LORD'; AND I WAS A WITNESS OVER THEM WHILST I DWELT AMONGST THEM; WHEN THOU DIDST TAKE ME UP THOU WAST THE WATCHER OVER THEM, AND THOU ART A WITNESS TO ALL THINGS. "IF THOU DOST PUNISH THEM, THEY ARE THY SERVANTS: IF THOU DOST FORGIVE THEM, THOU ART THE EXALTED IN POWER, THE WISE." |
| Holy Quran 5:119-121 |

تعليق