Jesus in Islam: The Purpose of His Coming

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Jesus in Islam

A Christian Perspective of Islamic Thought

 

The Purpose of His Coming

 

 

God taught Jesus the Tawrat (the books of Moses) and gave him the

Injil (the Gospel) as a confirmation of the Tawrat. The Injil is

regarded by the Qur'an as Hikma (wisdom) because it fills the hearts

of those who follow it with meekness and pity (Surah 5:82). The

Qur'an claims that Jesus' prophetic authority guaranteed the Gospel,

the Torah and all other prophetic writings, all of them being taught

by God to him (Surah 3:43; 5:110).

 

Although generally Muslims claim that the original Injil can no

longer be found, yet remnants of the teaching of Jesus can be

detected in sermons and parables ascribed to him in the current New

Testament, this idea of corruption in the Christian scriptures goes

against not only the documentary evidence but also the Qur'anic

teaching which claims that none can alter God's words (Surah 6:34;

10:64).

 

According to the Qur'an, the ministry of Jesus commenced from the

cradle (Surah 3:49). God sent many prophets and messengers to lead

the people of Israel. At the end, God sent Jesus to revive their

Islam (then called Judaism). He came to enhance the inner meaning

and purity of the religion that had become heavily burdened by outer

ritual, dietary laws and abuse of power by rabbinical figures (Surah

3:43-40) the Qur'an mentions how Jesus preached and taught. He

called the children of Israel to the worship of one God. He tried to

bring unity among them and legalised things previously forbidden to

them (Surah 3:50). Perhaps the Qur'an is portraying what we read in

Matthew chapters 4 to 6. Let us not forget that the Qur'an is not

trying to tell the main reason why Jesus came and what he was

referring to: " The son of man did not come to be served, but to

serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many " (Matthew 20:28;

Mark 10:45).

 

The Qur'an, however, generally portrays most of the children of

Israel as recalcitrant people from whom God protected Jesus. In the

face of such recalcitrance, Al-hawariyun (the disciples) stepped

forward to accept the call of Jesus to be his helpers in serving God

(Surah 3:52-54; 5:111-113; 57:27; 61:14). Some of the things Jesus

is alleged to have said reflect the message that Jesus sent to John

the Baptist (Matthew 11:5) and resemble several new Testament

sayings of Jesus about eating, fasting and worship (Matthew 6:16-

26). The attitude of Jesus to the Law, and relaxation of its

rigidity is found in his sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:17). Little

importance is given in the Qur'an to the moral teaching of Jesus and

there is only one reference to his parables which we find in

abundance in the four narratives of the Gospel in the New Testament

(Surah 48:29 compare with, for instance, Mark 4:27-28).

 

Sufi traditions depict Jesus in his teaching and practice as an

ascetic. One of the most famous Sufis in the Umayyad period was

Hasan al-Basri (d. 728). He was renowned for his scholarship as well

as his piety. A letter that he wrote to the caliph to plead with him

to follow the teaching of the prophets, depicts the prophets as

ascetics. He portrays Jesus as saying:

 

" My daily bread is hunger, my badge is fear, my raiment is wool, my

mount is my foot, my lantern at night is the moon, my fire by day is

the sun, and my fruit and fragrant herbs are such things as the

earth brings forth for the wild beasts and cattle. All the night I

have nothing, yet there is none richer than I! " (A.J.Arberry,

Sufism, An account of the Mystic of Islam, pp. 34-35)

 

Here too we see that the whole picture of Christ is not available.

Yes Jesus, in a way, has given us an example of not loving the world

but that is because our abode is not this world but the coming

world, where we will be in fellowship with God. That is our goal,

which can be achieved through Jesus.

 

Jesus in Islam: The Purpose of His Coming

http://islam.itl.org.uk/Jesus/purpose.html