CHAPTER 6 : ANSWER TO CHRISTIAN DILEMMAS

"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:-
Holy Quran 4:171
GOING TO EXTREMES

"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?
A.Yusuf Ali's comment on verse 171 above.
JESUS QUESTIONED

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-
Holy Quran 5:119-121