Instead of writing a full-scale biography of Jesus of Nazareth, I want to focus on some aspects of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth that are commonly overlooked by most Christians. Any attempt to reconstruct the historical Jesus (as distinct from the incarnate deity of ecclesiastical faith) needs to take into account all the recoverable data about Jesus, much of which has been ignored by many Christians because of its’ embarrassment to Christian orthodoxy. Jesus’ reported sayings in the Gospels are frequently subjected to tortuous exegesis by fundamentalist Christians to make them fit later church tradition. Paradoxically, the data has been critically examined by none other than Christian scholars themselves.
The following is a synopsis of Tarif Khalidi’s book entitled : “The Muslim Jesus”, which might lead people to learn more about Islam. Tarif Khalidi is Sir Thomas Adams’ Professor of Arabic, Director of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. Here is a cross-section of book reviews from a variety of sources.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, argue that a pacifistic Jesus was very unlikely. As the authors point out, Qumranian phrases flowed from his lips, sometimes word for word. Traditionally, scholars concede that at least some Zealots made up Jesus inner circle. The Bible itself reveals him acting in a Zealot-like way, driving the money changers out of the Temple. He states in the gospels : “I am come not to bring peace, but a sword”. In the same vein, when a cohort of Roman soldiers comes for him in Gethsemane, Peter raises his sword against them, hardly the act of a meek Christian. As revealing is the number of soldiers in a Roman cohort, six hundred. Why send six hundred soldiers except in anticipation of armed resistance ? And crucifixion, remember, was the method of execution for rebels, not rabbis. These biblical events, in conflict with Christian tradition, do not conflict with the Qumran context. On the contrary, they fit.
Recently Sam Shamoun, a well-known belligerent and provocative Christian missionary at Answering Islam, issued a challenge to Muslims to prove that Jesus (peace be upon him) did not claim to be God, as per the Qur’anic statement. It is obvious, however, that his demands are as preposterous as it is stupid. The Qur’an certainly quotes or paraphrases Jesus as saying that he is not God, but in Arabic. This is because the Qur’an has affirmed itself to be revealed in Arabic text, sent down to an Arab prophet, lest its audience uses the excuse that they will not be able to understand the Qur’an if were brought down in a foreign tongue.
(I) JESUSINJUDAISM * LIFE : — Establishing the time of the “Jewish Jesus”: The reference to Jesus in the Talmud is by the title : “Yeshu Ha-Notzri,”…
This great mission is that, among the major signs of the final Hour and among the keys of the huge deliverance that will dawn upon this Community of Islam there will come a time on this earth when the call to the pre-morning prayer will be raised in Damascus — at the white minaret East of Damascus ; the imam will want to step forward to lead the prayer when — lo and behold ! — the people will watch in astonishment while our liege-lord Jesus descends from the heaven, his two hands resting on the wings of the angels, his head seemingly dripping with water, wearing clothes which our liege-lord Muhammad — upon him blessings and peace — described in great detail. He said that the color of his clothes resembled saffron dye, as if his clothes had been dyed with saffron and wars. Our Prophet Muhammad — upon him blessings and peace — described for us the very appearance of the clothes in which Jesus would descend ! Such vestimentary description signifies nothing other than additional emphasis on reflection, perception, and discernment (dhawq) for the meaning of our connection with this great master who was thus honored by his Lord.
An article posted on a Christian website entitled Jesus in the Rabbinic Traditions is a good example of the level to which religious studies…
Abdur Rafay Ahmad & Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi Before proceeding, please let us inform you clearly that Muslims love Prophet Jesus(P) and have nothing…
That the Christianity of today rests solely on the the doctrine of Jesus Christ, that he was God in human form and died on the cross as a suffering deity need no longer be explained. However, there is hardly a single statement where Jesus had explicitly stated that he is God, although Christians do bring out various passages in order to force this interpretation. But did Jesus really make statements of his (alleged) deity regarding his status, the words, the will and the power he used ? We urge you to consult your own Bible and verify that the following conclusions are not drawn out of context.
Centuries of confrontation with the Christian West followed by a period of intense missionary activity, which still continues in certain regions of the Islamic…
What does Allah (God) say about the Prophet ‘Eesa (Eesho/Jesus)(P) and his mother Maryam (Miriam/Mary) in His last Revelation to mankind, the Qur’an ? The…
Nabeel Qureshi died at the age of 34 years old in 2017 from a “rare and deadly form of stomach cancer” on 16th of September 2017 with mixed reactions.
But the first of the four gospels, i.e., the Gospel according to Mark, apparently did not receive Paul’s memo. And this is a very important point as we keep in mind that each of the gospels were initially divorced from each other and were written in different localities for different audiences.
So which is the correct Gospel account concerning the choice of Jesus’ first apostles ? The following Bible contradiction was extracted from an unpublished thesis entitled Ibn Hazm On The Doctrine of Tahrif which cites Kitab al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa’ wa al-Nihal and insha’allah this will be part of an ongoing series to reproduce extracts of Ibn Hazm’s criticisms of the Bible and Christianity.