Jesus Christ:
An Islamic Perspective

Covers his mission and alleged crucifixion only.  This page does not discuss his second coming, his miraculous birth, or his mortal
(not divine) nature.  It also does not constrast the revelation
Jesus received from God to the contemporary Bible.


The Mission of Prophet Jesus
       Prophet Muhammad has been sent to all humanity [34:28].  He was our best role model ([33:21] and [68:4]).  What then was the role of Prophet Jesus, (may Allah be pleased with all His prophets)?

       In the Holy Quran, Prophet Jesus is reported to have said, "O Children of Israel!  I am a messenger of Allah sent to you, confirming the Taurat which came before me, and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad" [61:6].  Historically before this, the angels are reported to have told Mary that,

...Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Taurat and the Gospel, and appoint him as a messenger to the Children of Israel with the message, 'I have come to you with a sign form your Lord...to attest the Torah which was before me; to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you.  I have come to you with a sign from your Lord so fear Allah and obey me.  It is Allah who is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him:  this is a way that is straight...' [3:48-51]

From this passage we first surmise that:

  • Prophet Jesus was sent only to the Jews, and not to the whole world.  This idea is supported from the Bible (not that people¾including Muslims¾should use its authority for any purpose) in (Mat 10:5-6), (Mat 15:22), (Mat 15:26), (Mat 7:6).  The Bible contradicts itself and implies that Jesus was sent for all the world in (Mat 24:14), (Mk 14:9), (Jn 1:29), (Jn 3:16), (Jn 8:12), and (Jn 9:5).   

  • He was sent to "confirm the Taurat" and, perhaps, to correct parts of it which may have been corrupted.  This idea is supported from the Bible in (Mat 5:17-19), (Mat 19:16-17).

  • He was sent to make lawful some things which had been prohibited to the Jews.

  • He was sent to prophecy about Prophet Muhammad.  This idea is supported in (Jn 16:7-12), (1 Jn 4:1-2), (Jn 14:16-17), (Lk 16:29).

The Alleged Crucifixion
       As against the teachings of Jesus that salvation only comes through keeping the commandments (Mat 19:16-17), Paul nails the law and the commandments to the cross (Col 2:14) and claims that salvation can only be obtained through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, "If Christ be not risen from the dead, then our preaching is vain and your [the Christian] faith is also vain" [1 Cor 15:14].  Expanding upon this point, if Jesus was not killed, then he could not have been brought back to life (resurrected), and, of course, then Christianity is a gigantic hoax.  Let's pursue this matter in detail, as Allah has assured us in the  Quran,

...They [the Jews] said in boast, "We killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the apostle of God."  But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it was made to appear to them [the Jews] so.   Those who differ herein are full of doubts, with no sure knowledge, and follow only conjecture because of a surety they killed him not [4:157]

       Resurrected human beings, according to the Bible, are spiritual, not physical.  This idea is supported in (1 Cor 15:42, 52) and (Lk 20:36).  But after the alleged crucifixion, when Jesus came back to his disciples, he proved conclusively to them that he was a physical human being, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:  handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Lk 24:39).  In (Acts 1:3) we read that Jesus proved himself alive (i.e., not dead or resurrected) after many infallable proofs.  In (Heb 5:7) we read that God saved Jesus from death.