Summary

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Last week’s program was a wrap up of the first segment of the topic Jesus Beloved Messenger of Allah because it continued the discussion about the profile of Jesus in the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet. Continuing with the second coming and especially the nature of life when he comes and the period of time when he is going to live on earth and the end of his human life on earth and how he will be buried next to the grave of Prophet Muhammad Peace be Upon Him. Then the questioned was raised at to what was the reaction of Christian brothers to the profile provided in the Quran and again indicated that some have no idea of what the Quran says about Jesus some get the erroneous information through second hand or erroneous sources. Some officiated and some have been so touched by the beauty and testimonies in the Quran of the story that they themselves turned to Islam and we will give the story of Negus the King Of Abyssinia in the seventh century who actually braced Islam after hearing the section or the part of the Chapter 19 in the Quran or Surah 19 Mary which is all about Jesus. We ended the program with citation of that section in the Surah as well as another section from Surah 3 which is also about Jesus and his profile.

Host: Now to touch up on another project. How do you personally see the relevance of comparisons of how Jesus is perceived?

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Well I think the comparison here could be quite helpful and useful provided that it is put into the right context and hopefully also using the appropriate methodology. It then could be quite informative but if we were to discuss of how Jesus was viewed in the Bible as compared to in the Quran or to open any dialogue between the communities of believers then I think the first point to realize is that comparison by definition means you must examine areas of similarities and differences. Now I realized to talk about similarities is a lot easier and definitely more pleasant then speaking about the areas of differences but I think it would be worthwhile to examine both really. If you examine the area of similarities then both communities perhaps will be aware of each other’s youth that are similar to theirs and that will derive some common ground for understanding for both sides. As far as points of differences in understanding or conviction obviously the requires a great deal of openness and requires less dogmatism and approaching the matter with an open mind and open heart which is a little bit more difficult but we’ll accept the challenge.

Host: Now what do you see as the main area of similarities between the Muslims and Christians in terms of their perception on Jesus?

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Well I would say the most important area of similarity between Muslims and Christians regarding Jesus Peace be Upon Him is acceptance of Jesus and respecting, loving, and honoring him. I have given already throughout the previous programs substantial evidence to show that we have seen first of all the complete absence of a single word in the Quran that may be construed or seem unfavorable or disrespectful of Jesus Peace be Upon Him. But it is not only the negative part to access. Secondly we find that in numerous verses in the Quran the profile of Jesus is very highly honorable and I’ll dare to say even that in some places it is more honorable and respectful than even The New Testament itself. I think I might have given the story before when Jesus’s mother went to him and asked him while complaining there is not enough wine during the wedding and this is narrated in John Chapter 2 Verse 4 and he addressed his mother “woman” which of course no one would expect a Prophet to speak to his mother like that. We don’t find an analogy of that in the Quran not only because Muslims believe that the Prophet had nothing to do with wine but if you compare it to the Quran for example in Surah 19 where it speaks of Jesus as a person who was extremely respectful and kind and considerate of his mother I don’t think and I dare say that the Quran shows even more respect to Jesus than the New Testament itself. Not only this, but we find a great deal of honor bestowed on Jesus without mixing him into divinity. Keeping a human as a human and the creator remains the creator. How the Quran called him the Masseeh or a pure or holy child, a mercy from Allah, and an honor in this life and the hereafter of being close to Allah. We have seen how the Quran called him a messenger and a Prophet of Allah which is a title much greater than a mere moral teacher or preacher. A Prophet and Messenger is a title that is reserved in Islam for the purest of the pure of all the human beings according to the Quranic profile of Prophets. The Quran speaks about his verse from a version that he was a spirit preceding from Allah and we explained previously the meaning of this honorary title. A common practice of Muslims is that when any name of a Prophet including Jesus is said we say “Alahee Al Salam” meaning Peace be With Him or Peace be Upon Him. The same formula that is used for all other great prophets a formula that I don’t know of any Jew or Christian who uses that formula not to refer to Muhammad but to refer to his own Prophet. I have never heard a Jew for example repeatedly saying Peace be Upon Him when Moses is mentioned or a Christian say that about Jesus Peace be Upon Him. I wonder giving this what more accommodation and respect can be expected of Muslims. Were the Christian or Jewish writers who write to the Western leaders, were they to show a small fraction of respect that the Quran shows about Jesus when they speak about Prophet Muhammad Peace be Upon Him. Were they to speak about the Prophet in a more objective and a sympathetic way the Quran speaks about Jesus the situation could have been far better than what it is.

Host: Okay, now how about the differences

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Well there are some differences in both profiles some relate to the scope of Jesus Peace be Upon Him. Was he sent exclusively or specifically for the Israelites or for the whole world as Prophet Muhammad was. Secondly, differences pertaining to the understanding and interpretation of what happened in the event or what was believed to be the crucifixion, and what happened in respect to ascending to the heavens, and differences pertaining to the second coming of Jesus and that is in what capacity he is coming and we will discuss that to extent and what he is going to do on Earth. Differences that might also relate to whether he came to shed his blood as the only begotten son of God so that God may forgive humanity and reconcile them to themselves or did he come to guide humanity like all other Israelite Prophets before him and like the last Prophet after him to guide humanity to the right path of the creator. You can enumerate these differences and others but it appears to me that perhaps the central difference in Muslim and Christian thinking is divinity of Jesus. Was he a human or something divine or both as some people claim. Before I leave that question I think I should make a distinction here between holy and divine. A Muslim has no problem at all saying Jesus was holy or Muhammad was holy and all prophets in fact were holy prophets and there is no difficulty in saying that at all, but I think holy does not mean divine because when you take divine to mean something that is God incarnated in some form or another that is when Muslims say that this is the line. The problem is divinity and to believe that Jesus was in some form or other diving, god incarnate, or the son of God in the way it was interpreted more commonly.

Host: Dr.Jamal what methodology would you suggest for somebody to go off and study and analyze these areas of difference?

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Well let me include some methodologies that I would suggest and some others would not necessarily suggest but this is just a survey of what usually happens when this issue of comparative Christology between Muslims and Christians is brought up. One approach is to simply avoid discussion altogether and suppress any discussions. “Alright you have this belief and we have this belief let’s not have a discussion about it.” Of course this may reflect a lack of motive to learn or explore and as far as the reason behind that only God knows. Some people might say I do not want to understand anything that might cause some confusion to me and some people might say I do not want to understand or explore anything more because of the fear of the unknown or the fear of believing one thing as a Muslim or a Christian and now you are telling me something that may make me reconsider or critically examine some of the cherished beliefs that I have as a Muslim, or Christian for that matter. That is one approach and there are cases where Muslims and Christians discuss the issue of Jesus Peace be Upon Him but the discussion becomes nothing more than each side quoting from his holy book. So the Christians would come and read from the New Testament and say look this is what Jesus is and what Jesus was and the Muslim says no the Quran says this. That discussion could be quite informative and useful for acquainting one side or the other for what the other scriptures say about Jesus. But on the other hand it does no fully satisfy someone who is seeking the truth or trying to understand or come up with more clarity on this important topic. In one sense when the Christians are saying alright I am quoting to you Muslims from the New Testaments the Muslim might say alright but I do not recognize the full authority of what you are quoting from. You are quoting the opinions of followers of Jesus and that is not authoritative to me. Then when the Muslim quotes from the Quran the Christians might say you are quoting from your book which holds no authority for me. Like I said this could be informative but it doesn’t lead to any clear dialogue or understanding. What I meant however would be to approach it perhaps with multiple ways with more than one approach other than these first two. Let’s leave aside the subject of my scripture or your scripture and let us try to scrutinize both holy books the Bible and the Quran to find out which of them or both is that is true is indeed the word of Allah and his revelation or is it the word of humans and their own biographies and interpretations which could be right or wrong. This might call for both the analysis of authority and authenticity of both scriptures. Authority by seeking internal and external evidence that claims that it is indeed the word of God and to see if there is any cooperating external evidence to show that the context of that scripture is totally free from error scientific or otherwise or contradictions or inconsistencies and as such we can be certain that from A to Z this is the word of God. That also calls for examination of authenticity that even if there is the claim of authority that it is God’s revelation one has to be sure also whether it was written down in the lifetime of its prophet and was it written in its original language and was it preserved. Is there any evidence historically, logically, or otherwise that shows that the words we have today are exactly as they were uttered by their Prophets whether it was Jesus or Muhammad Peace be Upon Them Both. This can also be quite productive but again it requires a great deal of impartiality and objectivity on both sides and the willingness to take the most sacred books and writings and to examine both evidence of authority and authenticity which is not easy for many. Another possible approach that could be productive also would be to study the consequences of deification or lack of deification of Jesus. To examine the set of beliefs that are set on dogmas that are set on assumption and to see whether those beliefs in themselves are consistent. Do they make any sense? Do they provide any substantive explanation of the nature of God? (Or something about the nature of God because you cannot fully comprehend the nature of God) Is there any proof or reasonable proof of the validity those beliefs or not? So that could be by analysis of the content based on either Christological assumptions you might say. Another way is to encourage both sides to reexamine their own holy books even as they stand. Even if we leave aside the question of authority or authenticity just to examine their own books. A Muslim to reexamine his own book the Quran and for Christians to examine the Bible also just to make sure there is any form conclusive and clear scripture foundation for claiming that either Jesus is divine and I think all these approaches could be used as to arrive at some kind of explanation or understanding.

Host: Actually all those approaches are very interesting but I am going to ask you to elaborate on that very last one because that seems to be the most interesting out of all three.

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

It’s weird because it might not require as heavy research like questioning authority and authenticity might require for example. What I meant by that to be more explicit is that for example, if the Christian brethren say Jesus was divine and Jesus was God incarnate or God made himself from divine attributes and became man and the Muslims uphold strongly that Jesus was a prophet and messenger of Allah and that he was not divine. That leaves us with one of two approaches or two ways. Either that the Muslims claim is not founded on the Quran and that there is no basis for saying Jesus was not divine that indeed the Quran could say that Jesus was divine but the Muslims were not aware of that so they don’t have a firm ground to say that he was not divine. This is one possibility to examine. The second possibility to examine is the exact reverse of that it is also consumable that what a Christian claims that the divinity of Jesus is based on the Bible in fact lacks a structural basis. If the Bible was examined carefully it negates that Jesus was divine and there is no coherent foundation to say that Jesus was God, or the son of God, or God incarnate in the specific meaning that is normally presented. That is what I meant by reexamination of on the part of both sides on either assumptions and I think that would be quite useful provided of course that if somebody suggesting to the other side to reexamine his or that passage it has to be examined of course with frame work and terminology used in that particular scripture and within the context of that scripture.

Host: Well let’s begin with the Quran first. Now is there any passage in the Quran that Christian scholars use to show Muslims that this is divine according to the Quran?

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

There is a lot of literature about that and I probably won’t be doing justice by summarizing it in headlines but I think it might help and if you wish we can explore it as we go further on. Some for example say many times when God speaks or Allah speaks in the Quran he uses the plural we and that this is a proof in the Quran itself when God says we that means persons in Godhood. They also say that the Quran acknowledges the virgin birth and Jesus has a human mother then his father must be God. They also say that the Quran and we recited that in the previous program that Jesus was pure, sinless, and holy and since all human beings are sinful then he is different from a human he is something above human and divine. Fourthly, they say that in the Quran there is no command for Jesus to seek forgiveness of Allah whereas in the Quran we find that several prophets were told to seek forgiveness of Allah. This means again that he is sinless and that is why he is not asked to seek any forgiveness i.e he is divine. Fifthly, that the Quran refers to him as Messiah and they say Messiah is someone who really died for the sins of humanity and he is the Messiah capital M. Six, they say the Quran acknowledges that Jesus is a word from God and this is consistent with what John and the Gospel that God became or the word became flesh because the word of God is with God so it became divine because the word of God is divine. Seven, they also say that the Quran calls Jesus as a spirit from Allah or preceding from Allah and they say that this is what it means when you really speak about the Holy Spirit i.e the third person in the trinity of Godhood. Eight, they say the Quran simple negates only the physical friendship of Jesus towards God or the belief in the trinity or three Gods or the deification of Mary but there is nothing in the Quran that really rejects the trinity the way we understand it as the Testaments say. Some of these points as you may have noted that we have discussed before in one form or another in some of the previous programs but it might provide some similes of some of the main issues that are usually presented for Muslims to reconsider this could be their own scriptures.

Host: Now that you have mentioned some of these points that are made by the Christian scholars I will ask you to respond to them.

Dr.Jamal Badawi:

Well I spoke briefly about some of this and again we have discussed in some other forms and we just have to put them together since the topic seemed to call for this slight overlap. Of course the question of God or Allah using the term we this is simply a royal language. Kings when they issued edicts they don’t say I the king they say we the king, and if human kings can do that then the king of kings Allah is definitely entitled to use we. Plurality does not mean plurality of persons it means Godhood. Secondly, the question of virgin birth has nothing to do with divinity and we indicated before that Adam was created without a mother or father. Not from his mother or fathers side this does not mean that he was divine. One was created without the normal methods that Adam was born without the normal methods that is Jesus and both are miracles of Allah. Third, the question of describing Jesus as holy and sinless as some translated which is ok. The Muslims believe that all prophets are as such not of course in the absolute sense because absolute protection is only Gods but in the human sense all prophets are sinless and are all pure. The purest of the pure as we call them and the very exact term Zakat which is the same root given in the Quran as prophet John the Baptist in Chapter 19 Verse 12 so nobody says that John the Baptist is also because he is sinless is divine and no Muslims or Christians say that. Fourthly, on the issue of seeking forgiveness in Allah the argument as I have said before is that no other Prophet was told and even though Jesus was never told to seek forgiveness the same applies to other Prophets like John the Baptist and there is no verse in the Quran that says to John the Baptist to seek forgiveness it doesn’t mean he is divine at all or that we should deify him. On the other hand, when we deal with the Quran teaching Prophets when it says to the Prophets seek forgiveness it is basically teaching his followers so that the followers say look this is the purest of the pure the Prophet himself is commanded to seek forgiveness even though we see him do nothing wrong really then we should be more humble and we should always seek forgiveness of Allah. The fact that they say in the Quran he is called the Messiah that term in the Quran used is Maseeh from Masseh which means anointed but this is not the same meaning to give to it as the one who carried the sins of the world. So Maseeh in the Quran doesn’t imply divinity or some or others. If the question is raised to why Jesus is the only one who is called Maseeh or Messiah well the answer to that is very simple, some prophets were given specific titles which apply to all prophets but it is more famous for them. Abraham was called Khaleel Allah or the friend of Allah and it doesn’t mean that the other prophets are enemies of Allah they are also friends of Allah but this happened to be his name. Moses was called to the one Allah spoke or in Arabic Kaleem Allah and it doesn’t mean Allah didn’t speak to any other Prophets at all. In other words, a title that has set relevance to a Prophet that could be applicable to others especially if we take the term Messiah in the sense of one appointed. The other point about Jesus being mentioned in the Quran as a word from Allah we explained that before that the Quran uses the word to refer to the command of Allah to the word Kun or be when Allah wishes to create something and this has nothing to do with what John says in his Gospel or the Greek philosophy. Similarly we discussed in this program that the mention of Jesus being a spirit from Allah has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit as a component of one person and trinity but we said that Quran indicates in 32:9 and 15:29 that all human beings have something of the spirit of Allah in them. Finally to say that the Quran only rejected heretical ideas like tritheism or believing in the physical concept of Jesus is not correct and we indicated before that there is evidence in the Quran like in Surah 4 Passage 170 and Surah 5 Passage 76  negating also trinity in some translations some translators translate trinity as Thalathah which is appropriate in the context of what the Quran speaks. This is sort of a quick rundown and I know some of these points might require a further clarification but that is what we can do for the time being I suppose.