Presenting Jesus to Muslims: a suggested approach

A finely balanced view of how to speak to Muslims about Jesus Christ.

Praban Saputro, Ph.D., is assistant professor of world mission at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies IAIIASI, Silang, Cavite, Philippines

Various approaches on how to share the gospel with Muslims have been suggested. The most current one is an attempt to understand the worldview of Muslims and then express the truth of the gospel in forms and terms that can best be understood by them.

This approach may have the most potential for penetrating the Muslim world, but it may also lead to an unhealthy syncretism.

As we seek for ways to faithfully speak to and reach Muslim people with the message of Jesus Christ, we must keep both these possibilities in mind.

This article seeks to understand the Islamic view of the person of Jesus and then express the truth of Jesus in terms that can be best understood by Muslims. It discusses the life and titles of Jesus, then suggests a biblical model for faithfully sharing Jesus with Muslims.

How the Quran looks at Jesus

Muhammad had a high regard for Jesus. This is evident both from the accounts of Jesus' life as well as the titles which are used in the Quran in which references to Jesus are found in 14 suras or chapters, totaling 90 different verses.1

The Quran speaks of the birth of Jesus through the virgin Mary. Sura 19:18-22 states that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, "I am only a messenger from thy Lord to announce to thee the gift of a holy son."

Mary responded, "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" The angel replied, "So it will be; Thy Lord said: That is easy for me, and we wish to appoint him as a sign unto men and a mercy from us.' It is a matter decreed."2 So Mary conceived Jesus, and she retired to a remote place.

Many Christian scholars state that the Quran supports the Christian teaching that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and His birth was different from that of any other human being. This, it is said, implicitly suggests the divinity of Christ.

However, in order to stress the humanity of Jesus, Muslims teach that the birth of Jesus was similar to the creation of Adam. This belief is based on Sura 3:59: "Jesus is like Adam in the sight of God. He created him of dust and then said to him, 'Be,' and he was."

Muslims maintain that "God demonstrated omnipotence by creating Jesus in the womb of Mary without a father's involvement. Even more miraculous, however, they note, was the creation of Adam without father or mother."3

Nevertheless, the Quran speaks of the nature of the birth of Jesus in Sura 19:21, pointing to His divinity. It states that Jesus is "a sign unto men and a mercy from God."

Since the Quran was written in a Semitic culture, parallelism consisting of two statements of the same thought is found in this verse.4 Thus, the phrase "a sign unto men" is parallel with "a mercy from God." Thus, to the Muslim this means that Jesus' birth is a sign of God's mercy to humanity.

The Quran speaks of miracles performed by Jesus. All miracles that are attributed to Jesus are summarized in Sura 5:113: "When God saith: 'O Jesus Son of Mary, Remember my favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, so that thou spokest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst create of clay as it were the figure of a bird, by my permission; and didst breathe thereon, and it became a bird by my permission; and thou didst heal one blind from his birth, and the leper, by my permission; and when thou didst bring forth the dead, by my permission.'"5

Many Christian scholars believe that the Quran's record of miracles performed by Jesus point to His divinity. For example, although Roelf S. Kuitse says that the story of the child Jesus giving life to birds made of clay is not bibli cal, but a story in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, he demonstrates that many words used in the story are also used in the account of the creation of Adam.

Consider these Quaranic statements: "Sura 3:49: Jesus makes; Sura 6:2: God makes. . . . Sura 3:48: Jesus makes from clay; Sura 6:2: God makes from clay. . . . Sura 3:49: Jesus breathes into it; Sura 32:9 God breathes into it. ... The Arabic imperative kun (be) used in the creation story (Sura 3:47) is also used in the story of Jesus (kun fa-yakuri)."6

Fuad Accad, a Muslim convert to Christianity, compares the story of the child Jesus and the creation story of Adam to show Jesus as the Creator and hence, divine.7 Abdiyah Akbar Abdul-Haqq, also a Muslim convert, adds that "the story of Jesus making birds out of clay makes a significant point about His divinity."8

The point is, however, that while Muslims believe that Jesus performed more miracles than any other prophet, they maintain that these miracles were done only by the will of God, not as a proof of His divine nature.9

The Quran and the death and resurrection of Jesus

The Quran speaks of the death and resurrection of Jesus in Sura 3:55; 4:157-58; and 19:33. But Muslims deny the death of Jesus based on Sura 4:157-58: "The Jews said, 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary.' But Muhammad said, They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them. . . . God raised him up unto Himself; Allah is exalted in power and wisdom.'"

Muslims believe that it was impos sible for such a good man as Jesus to die on the cross. God would have saved Him from such a terrible death. They believe that God took Jesus to heaven just before the Crucifixion and that a substitute, perhaps Judas, was crucified in His place.

However, a certain sect of Islam, the Ahmadiyyah, holds that Jesus was crucified but did not die on the cross. He was taken down in a coma and subsequently revived and traveled to Kashmir, where He finally died.10

Accad suggests the possibility of harmonizing Sura 4:157-58 to the death of Jesus on the cross, as follows: "It was not the Jews themselves who crucified Jesus, as this was not permissible to them. They caused the Romans, who were the masters of Palestine then, to do it for them. It was God who planned this crucifixion according to the Old Testament. The Jews were not able to slay him, because 'God raised him up unto himself,' after His death and resurrection."11

The ascension and return of Jesus

The Quran speaks of the ascension of Jesus in Sura 4:158. Muslims believe Jesus is now in heaven and has access to the throne of God. The Quran, in Sura 43:6, also implicitly makes a sin gular reference to Jesus in connection with the coming judgment.

It states, "And Jesus shall be a sign for the coming of the hour of Judgment. Therefore have no doubt about the hour, but follow ye Me: this is a straight way."

Islamic tradition says that Jesus will descend to a mountain in the Holy Land, near Afiq. He will kill Al-Dajjal, the anti-christ, with a spear. Then Jesus will go to Jerusalem to worship in the Islamic manner; thereafter He will kill the swine, destroy the churches and synagogues, and kill all Christians who do not believe in Him.

From that time on there will be only one faith on earth. Jesus will reign for 40 years and die and be buried in Medina beside Muhammad.12

The Quran and the titles of Jesus

The Quran gives a greater number of honorable titles to Jesus than to any other prophet. It refers to Jesus, for example, as a "Prophet," an "Apostle," a "Servant," a "Sign and Mercy," an "Example," a "Witness," "Blessed," One who "held honor in this world and the hereafter," and "Nearest one to God."13

Other Quaranic titles for Jesus, such as the "Word from Allah," the "Spirit proceeding from Him [Allah]" and the "Messiah," may imply some belief in the divinity of Jesus. These three titles are discussed below.

The most exciting title given to Jesus in the Quran is the "Word from Allah." It is found in Suras 3:39; 3:45; and 4:171. Some scholars think that the Quran's statement that Jesus is the "Word from Allah," means that He is the "Word of God" who became the "Son of Mary."14

In addition, since the Quran was written in the Semitic culture, the title "Word from Him [Allah]" in 3:45 is parallel to Jesus Christ who "held honor in this world and the here after" where these titles appeal to His divinity.

The name "Jesus Christ" is parallel with "Son of Mary" in connection with the birth and humanity of Jesus. Thus, Sura 3:45 essentially states that Jesus is the Word of God who became a man through the virgin Mary.

However, Muslims believe that God does not reveal Himself to anyone in any way. He reveals only His will.15 Therefore, most Muslim scholars argue that the "Word from Allah" did not become flesh but became a book, namely the Quran. 16

For them, "the great theophany of Islam is the Quran."17 As one writer expresses it, "The Quran was more than a book. It was a faithful reproduction of the original scripture in heaven. To this heavenly copy, it is not implausible to hold, was transferred the Christian concept of the uncreated Word of God, the Logos, which was later applied by the orthodox to the Arabic copies of the Quran."18

Other scholars, such as Al Tabari (d. 932), Zamakshari (d. 1144), and Al Baidawi (d. 1286), believed that the "Word from Allah" referred to Jesus, but only as a created being.19

Another title given to Jesus in the Quran is a "Spirit proceeding from Him [Allah]" (Sura 4:17). This title is more supreme than any given to other prophets. In the Quran, Adam is called the "chosen of God," Noah the "prophet of God," Abraham the "friend of God," Moses the "spokes man with God," and Muhammad the "messenger of God."20 But some Muslims believe that the Spirit from God is a created spirit, while others explain that it is the angel Gabriel.21

This view on the Spirit from God is ambiguous. Sura 21:91 suggests that the Spirit from God is neither the angel Gabriel nor a created spirit, but it pertains to God: "And remember her who guarded her chastity. We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and We made her and her son a sign for all people."

The Quran speaks of Jesus as the "Messiah" eleven times.22 One of them is found in Sura 3:45: "Behold! The angel said: 'O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: His name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the hereafter and of those nearest to Allah.'"

Abdul-Haqq points out that Muslim scholars believe that the word Messiah is derived from the Arabic word Saha, meaning "to travel." Jesus was called Messiah because He had traveled much.

Other Muslim scholars such as Baidawi and Zamakshari reject this derivation, stating that the word was foreign to the Quran. But Abdul- Haqq believes that the word Messiah means "the Anointed One." The meaning of Messiah is found implicitly in Sura 2:87, where God said, "We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit."23

To conclude this part of this study dealing with the way the Quran speaks of Jesus, here is a summary:

The Quran speaks of various aspects of Jesus and of His titles which reflect Muhammad's knowledge of both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.

The Quran confirms the existence of the virgin Mary, the unique birth of Jesus, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming judgment.

These Quranic teachings about the person of Jesus can be used as a bridge to approach Muslims. But Muslims, as monotheists, reject the divinity of Jesus. This is where the model of Matthew can help.

Matthew's model

From Matthew (16:13-17), we learn that it is not easy to share the divinity of Jesus with monotheistic people like the Jews.

In a way, it was easier to share Jesus with Gentiles than with Jews. Indeed, Matthew points out that when Jesus was born, the Magi from the East searched out the birthplace of Jesus and worshiped Him, but the Jewish leaders did not show any interest.

To approach the Jews, a monotheistic people, Matthew first introduces Jesus as the Son of Abraham and David (Matt. 1:1). This introduction of the person of Jesus would not offend the Jews because they believed themselves to be the descendants of Abraham and they admired King David, Israel's most famous monarch.

Matthew was aware of the beliefs of his audience when he started with the humanity of Jesus. Indeed, he fol lowed the advice of Jesus: "Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (10:16).

Matthew introduces the divinity of Jesus united with His humanity by stating that through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary gave birth to a son named Jesus (1:20, 21) or Immanuel, which means "God with us" (1:23). When Matthew introduces Jesus' divinity to Jews, he points to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning His unusual birth and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

By doing this, he shows the necessity of examining the Scriptures, particularly the prophecies concerning the Messiah. This is vital in sharing the doctrine of the divinity of Christ with monotheistic people.

Matthew indicates that Jesus first used the title "Son of Man" to introduce Himself to the Jews (8:20). Afterwards, Jesus demonstrated His miraculous works such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and driving out demons. He then introduced Himself as the "Son of Man" who had authority on earth to forgive sins (9:6).

After His resurrection, Jesus introduced Himself to the disciples as the One who has "all power... in heaven and in earth" (28:18). It is important to note that Matthew was a Jew, a monotheistic believer, yet he believed that Jesus was God who became a man.

In summary, Matthew started with the humanity of Jesus, moved to His divinity, and then shared the person of Jesus with the Jews. That is Matthew's model.

When Christians talk to Muslims about Jesus

Christians working with Muslims should follow what Matthew did.

They should begin with the human ity of Jesus, something Muslims already believe. They hold that Jesus is the "Son of Mary," which shows that He is human. Thus, by way of introduction, Christians may start their dialogue with Muslims with the humanity of Jesus.

They may use the title "Son of Mary" instead of the title "Son of God" in the initial stages of the dialogue, because the title "Son of Mary," is familiar to them. Christians may also use the Quran wisely from the begin ning to explain Jesus as the "Son of Mary."

Though Muslims believe the birth of Jesus was similar to the creation of Adam, Christians can stand together with Muslims in terms of the birth of Jesus. Christians can show biblical verses about the birth of Jesus and the creation of Adam to demonstrate the significance of the former.

Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet. Prophets, according to Muslims, are not ordinary men. Muslims believe that Jesus performed many miracles. Yet they admit that unlike the prophets, Jesus is never found confessing sins or praying for forgiveness either in the Quran or in the Bible.

Muslims believe that Jesus is in heaven now and that He will return to this earth for judgment.

In the light of these things, Christians can invite Muslims to believe in Jesus because, in biblical teaching, Jesus will return to save people who believe in Him. It is important to note that most Muslims are uncertain of their salvation.

The doctrine of the second coming of Christ is important to help Muslims open their minds about Jesus' coming to save people who believe in Him.

As to the death and crucifixion of Jesus, while some Muslims believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, others believe that He did. The Quran points out both His death and resurrection.

Christians can explain that the divinity of Jesus did not perish on the cross, but Jesus as a human being died on the cross. They can emphasize that the person of Jesus is more than human by pointing to the titles of Jesus in the Quran which reflect His divinity. These include Jesus "the Messiah," who "held honor in this world and the hereafter," the "Spirit from Allah," and the "Word from Allah."

Christians can explain the divinity and the humanity of Jesus in the Quran where it refers to the "Word from Allah" who became the "Son of Mary" (Sura 4:171). At this point, Christians may review quranic and biblical teachings ranging from the birth of Jesus up to His second coming. Finally, they can invite Muslims to accept, by faith, the person of Jesus, which includes His divinity.

The essential Christian reality that Jesus is divine and the Savior of the world, cannot be compromised in any way, even if it is done in a well meaning attempt to reach our Muslim friends. To accommodate here would deeply impair the central soul of Christian faith.

At the same time, a careful look at what the Quran in fact says and what Muslim people actually believe, can provide us with a way of meeting Muslim people where they are, and ultimately inviting them to believe heart and soul in Jesus as God and as Savior of the world. This will open the way for further conversation.

1 The Quran consists of 114 suras (chapters) and 6,205 verses, totaling about 78,000 words.

2 Roman Transliteration of the Holy Quran with Full Arabic Text, English trans. A. Yusuf Ali (Lahore: Muhammad Ashraf, 1991).

3 Paul Varo Martinson, Islam: An Introduction for Christians, trans. Stefanie Ormsby Cox (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1994), 185.

4 Giulio Basetti-Sani, The Koran in the Light of Christ: A Christian Interpretation of the Sacred Book of Islam (Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1977), 70.

5 Abdiyah Akbar AbduI-Haqq, Sharing Your Faith with a Muslim (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1980), 101.

6 Roelf S. Kuitse, "Christology in the Quran," Missiology 20 (1992): 358.

7 Fuad Accad, "The Quran: A Bridge to Christian Faith," Missiology 4 (1976): 334.

8 Abdul-Haqq, 97.

9 Ishaq Husaini, Christ in the Quran and in Modern Arabic Literature (n.p., n.d), 3, quoted in Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Quran (London: Faber & Faber, 1965), 83.

10 Michael Nazir-Ali, Islam: A Christian Perspective (Exeter: Paternoster, 1983), 17, 18.

11 Accad, 340.

12 H. A. R. Gibb and J. H. Kramers, "Isa," Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam (1974), 173, 174.

13 Parrinder, 30-54. See respectively Sura 2:136; 3:45; 4:159, 171; 19:21, 30, 31; 43:57.

14 Thomas). O'Shaughnessy, Word of God in the Quran (Rome: Biblical Institute, 1984), 9.

15 Phil Parshall, The Fortress and the fire (Bombay: Gospel Literature Service, 1975), 112.

16 Frank K. Flinn, Christology: The Center and the Periphery (New York: Paragon House, 1989), 106.

17 Frithjof Schuan, Understanding Islam, trans. D. M. Matheson (Baltimore: Penguin, 1972), 43.

18 M. S. Seale, Muslim Theology (n.p., n.d.), 66, quoted in Abdul-Haqq, 69.

19 O'Shaughnessy, 13-17.

20 Parshall, New Paths, 140.

21 Michael Nazir-Ali, Frontiers in Muslim-Christian Encounter (Oxford: Regnum, 1987), 32.

22 Parrinder, 30.

23 Abdul-Haqq, 82, 84.


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Praban Saputro, Ph.D., is assistant professor of world mission at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies IAIIASI, Silang, Cavite, Philippines

July 2004

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