"FOR ALLAH SO LOVED THE WORLD"?

Allah, is a word, charged with emotion, for many Christians. Usually they say “Allah is not the God of Christianity”, even though I understand the point they are making, it doesn’t make sense, because the Christians in Arabic speaking countries calls God “Allah”. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. Even so did Paul use the Aramaic word “Abba” to describe God. At the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell, and there was people from every nation in Jerusalem at that time. The disciples received the heavenly language and spoke in tongues, and to the people’s amazement, they all could hear the Jewish disciples speak in their own languages. The Arabians among all the other people heard them speak about the wonderful works of God. Which word did the disciples use to say "God" if they spoke Arabic? - they used the word “Allah”.

MUTUAL RESPECT BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS

We all can mostly agree on what differs Islam to Christianity, but not many know the similarities. Muhammad claimed that an angel of the Lord appeared to him and revealed to him a verse from the Quran, here the bible and the Quran differs from each other. The apostle Paul said “though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). What Paul said was, that even if an angel declares a message, but if it doesn’t correspond to the biblical message, the angel is a fallen angel with a false message. The point with this blog though, is not to lift up one religion above another, there would be no reason for that, because no religion saves. Every religion has their holy book(s), but it is not the book that saves, it is the person that saves, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul had no reason to bully another religion, he was simply to busy to talk about the goodness of Jesus, for example, in Acts 19:37, non-believers confessed that Paul had not blasphemed their goddess. By seeing our similarities we can all discover Jesus, the Savior of the world, that came to die for every person, whatever religion they practiced. As Christians and Muslims we have focused too much on our differences, and the gap between us has gotten bigger. During the beginning of Islam, Muhammad had a particularly good relationship with Christians, in matter of fact he taught that the Gospel comes from God. Both Christians and Jews is called on Arabic “Ahl al Kitab”, which means “the People of the Book”. The Quran says that those that come closest to the Muslim, in love and affection, is the Christian and the Jew (Surah 5:82) Surah 29:46 encourages Muslims not to argue with the People of the Scripture, and that Muslims also believes in that which has been revealed to them. It even goes so far to say that "our God and your God is one". Whether the Christians wants to believe that our God is the same as the God of Islam, that's what this verse in the Quran states. The Quran also encourages the Muslims when they doubt, to turn to the People of the Book for questions (Surah 10:94) During the later part of Muhammad’s time, the Quran reflects episodes of enmity between Christians and Muslims, but the verses I’ve quoted above shows an openness for understanding and mutual respect. As Christians we ought to have a friendship approach to everybody, and to build bridges between us. Jesus is mentioned in fifteen chapters and ninety-three verses in the Quran. As Christians we can’t deny the fact that there are strong disagreements regarding who Jesus is, but at the same time we can neither deny the fact that we agree on a lot of things.

WAS JESUS MORE THAN A PROPHET?

Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet of God, while Christians believe that he was the Son of God. Whether what you believe, the Quran and the Bible shares a lot of beliefs and some of them are food for thought. Was Jesus more than a prophet?

1: Jesus was born of a virgin (Surah 19:16-27, Surah 21:91) 2: Jesus is called the son of Mary (Surah 19:34) 3: The angel Gabriel confessed Jesus’ supernatural birth (Surah 3:41-46) 4: God breathed his spirit into Mary when she conceived (Surah 66:12) Why was the birth of Jesus so unique and different from the other prophets? 5: Mary was chosen above all women (Surah 3:42) No other woman was privileged like Mary, what made Mary so special? Why did Jesus not have an earthly father? 6: Jesus is called the Word of God (Sura 3:44-45, Surah 4:171) Jesus was given a title no other prophet was given, others were called messengers or God’s spokesmen but never “God’s word”. It’s one thing to speak God’s word, but it’s another to be God’s word. The bible says in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 7: The Quran calls Jesus “the Messiah” (Surah 4:171, 9:31, 3:45, 5:72). The word Messiah means “the anointed One”, no other prophet in the Quran was given such a tribute. 8: The Quran says that Jesus is distinguished and will be glorified in this world and the Hereafter (Surah 3:45) 9: Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit (Surah 2:87) 10: Jesus was without sin (Surah 19:19) He was never in a situation, unlike other prophets, where he had to confess his sins. Muhammad had to ask for forgiveness (Surah 40:55), even so Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. (Surah 7:23, 26:82, 28:16, 38:24, 47:19) 11: Jesus performed miracles (Surah 5:110-113) “[The Day] when Allah will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Pure Spirit and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and [remember] when I taught you writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you designed from clay [what was] like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission; and you healed the blind and the leper with My permission; and when you brought forth the dead with My permission” Muhammad on the other hand, said that he was only but a "warner" and signs didn’t follow him (Surah 29:50-51) 12: In Surah 43 Jesus said “Follow me” 13: The Quran says that Jesus is coming back on the day of judgement (Surah 4:159)

WAS JESUS RAISED FROM THE DEAD?

The bible takes it one step further, and also says that Jesus was not only born of a virgin, performed miracles, was the Messiah etc. but that he also died on the cross and rose again from the dead. Some Muslims say that Jesus didn’t die on the cross but that Allah took him to heaven, while other Muslims believe that Judas was the one that hung on the cross. I urge Muslims to consider the historic documented facts, that Jesus died and rose again. Every disciple except John died as martyrs, testifying that Jesus rose again. Would they really suffer such a death for no cause?

If Islam is a religion of peace, that encourages openness and understanding towards Christianity and to the Scriptures (Surah 29:46), even so the Torah that according to the Quran was given to Moses by God, then I urge Muslims to discover Jesus on a deeper level. There’s an interesting verse in the Quran that says “And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive.” (Surah 19:33) Jesus in this verse, says that: 1: Peace was upon him when he was born 2: Peace was upon him the day he died 3: Peace was upon him the day he was raised from the dead In the biblical book, the book of Romans, we read “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Another interesting verse in the Quran that is worth reflection is: Surah 3:54-55

“And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners. [Mention] when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.” A common verse Muslims use to say that Jesus didn’t die on the cross is Surah 4:157, that states that it seemed like he was crucified since the Jews said that they killed him. According to this verse though, the Jews never crucified him. Muslims therefore say that Jesus wasn’t killed by the Jews but was taken up by God (Surah 5:117) which is very similar to the bible scriptures of when Jesus ascends to heaven after the resurrection.

I want to point out though, that Surah 4:157 actually doesn’t say that he wasn’t crucified and killed, it just simply states that “they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him” - referring to the Jews, that they were not behind his death. Well, the bible agrees, the Jews basically didn’t kill him, the Romans did, while the Jews were the ones that wanted Jesus to be crucified. The Quran therefore doesn’t challenge the crucifixion as an event, but denies that the Jews was behind the killing of Jesus.

Those that say that the Quran denies the crucifixion, are guilty for accusing the Quran for being ignorant to historical fact. The Romans, the Jews, the Christians, and others, agrees on the fact that Jesus was crucified. If the Quran denies historic facts, should Muslims then be literal with every verse in the Quran, or should they be open for reflection? With this being said, if you’re either a Muslim or a Christian, let’s both discover Jesus on a deeper level.