Muslims don’t believe in Jesus

The fact that Muslims do not believe Jesus (a.s.) is God does not mean that Muslims are non-believers in Jesus (a.s.). In all the reported accounts of Jesus (a.s.) that exist, Prophet Jesus (a.s.) asserts the same title concerning himself that God gave to the Prophet Ezekiel (a.s.), that he is the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a title that represents every human-being because we are all born of Mankind. The Son of Man (any single one of us or plurality of us) is not begotten of God, therefore God Himself. Prophet Jesus (a.s.) never is reported to have asserted that he is begotten of God as if God produced offspring, nor is in any way God Himself in the flesh. The Qur'an confirms this.

Assigning or to ascribe partners to God is shirk, blasphemy of the Spirit of God! God's Spirit is His Nature or Being, i.e. Existence as One God without plurality. A God who has no others besides Himself (the core teaching of monotheism), is Unique among all created things and not begotten nor can beget. Blasphemy of God's Spirit, or His Nature (or Existence) as a God with no partners, is strictly forbidden in the Scriptures and in the Qur'an alike! It is a sin against the God's very core existence. God, the One Unique God, is God that has the power to bring order among chaos and confusion, the proof being all of creation itself. A god who gives offspring to many other lesser gods, like mankind gives offspring to many other members of mankind, has no power among the chaos and confusion of its equals, as seen in mankind itself which accepts the differences of its equals. In fact, this type of blasphemy, blasphemy of God's Spirit which is a Spirit of Oneness, is an unforgivable sin. In the Jewish Scriptures (the Older Testament, the Torah section), Deuteronomy 5:7-9 says:

Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me...

In the Christian Scriptures (the Newer Testament), Prophet Jesus (a.s.) is reported to have said in Matthew 12:31-32:

Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come...

The Qur'an confirms that what Prophet Jesus (a.s.) is reported to have said is true. "Verily! Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners (in worship) with Him, but He forgives whom He wills sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far away," Qur'an 4:116. Of course the person in question must be given the chance to repent of this sin first by being made aware of what shirk, or blasphemy of God's Spirit, is before God holds them accountable.

The concept of God that many in Christianity and Christianized societies have is that God exists somehow as a Trinity. Christian thought and how it has been transmitted to its followers varies somewhat on how this Trinity exists. Some Christians say that God is a council of three persons or personalities, consisting of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit, while others deny altogether that there is a Trinity. The theology among most Christian denominations is, for the most part, the same and teaches the Three in One concept.

The Trinitarian theology Christians have adopted is, with little doubt, taken from their knowledge of the Hindu Trinitarian Godhead. The similarities are strikingly similar. In Hinduism the Supreme God is Brahma the Creator. Vishnu and Shiva come from Brahma. The power to create belongs to Brahma, and all three gods are one in the same. The Christian God the Father is the Supreme part of the Godhead, above His two counterparts (i.e. the Son and the Spirit) who come from the Father. It is God the Father who is the Creator, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.", Genesis 1:1.

The Hindu God who controls human fate is Vishnu. The power to preserve, save and protect belongs to Vishnu. The Christian God the Son is the one who controls human fate. It is the Christian God the Son who became incarnate in order to preserve, save and protect humanity from impending destruction. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.", John 3:17. God the Son is also seen as the embodiment or symbol of the love that God the Father has for his creation, like the Hindu God Vishnu.

The source of good and bad is the Hindu God named Shiva. Shiva is known as the great destroyer of evil and also the re-creator bringing new life. Shiva destroys the evil of the world and brings humans into a new life after the destruction of the corruptible body (i.e. death). In him there is eternal rest. It is through the power of Shiva that Brahma and Vishnu accomplish their goals. The Christian God the Spirit is also seen as a destroyer of evil and re-creator of life. God the Spirit is seen as the source of the salvation granted by the Son. It is by God the Spirit that the Son brings humans into a new life after the destruction of the corruptible body (i.e. death). Since material things are corruptible and cannot enter heaven, God the Spirit is also seen as the destroyer of the corruptible flesh and it's evil ways and is the fire that purifies those who believe so that they may be granted the afterlife in heaven. The earliest official Church creed, at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., states that they believe, "...in the Holy Spirit (i.e. God "the Spirit"), the Lord and life-giver, who proceeds from the Father (i.e. God "the Father" the original Creator). Together with the Father and the Son is worshipped..."¹ It is by God the Spirit that the goals of the Father and the Son are accomplished.

According to most Christian theology it is by the Spirit that both He and the Son carry out the Will of God the Father (i.e. God carries out His own Will using His equals in plurality of the Trinitarian Godhead), whatever it may be, from creation, to judgment, to the afterlife. "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit (i.e. God "the Spirit") reap life everlasting.", Galatians 6:8. "So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.", Isaiah 59:19. In the same manner, it is by Shiva that both He and Vishnu carry out the Will of Brahma.

The concept of the Godhead of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva matches the cycle of life perceived by the Hindu, Creation, Sustainment and Salvation, Destruction of the material and evil, and Recreation into an afterlife. The Christian Godhead lends itself to the same perception. In both the Hindu and Christian Godhead the Three function as One in partnership with one another, with distinct individual functions and personalities, and are inseparable and mutually dependent on each other.

The concept of the Trinity was originally adopted at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. when Emperor Constantine began holding sessions focusing on uniting divisive Christians under one common Creed and Canon. There is no doubt that the Emperor had extensive knowledge of the many religions of the provinces he ruled and maintained extensive trading capacity with (such as ancient India), having knowledge into their belief systems. Even the Christian Emissary Paul had these extensive ties. Wayne Meeks, a Christian scholar and author wrote about the ancient Roman empire:

Much of the travel on these routes, apart from the military and administrative operations of the empire, was undertaken by individuals for purposes of trade or professional advancement. It is not surprising that the spread of foreign cults closely followed the spread of trade, or that Christianity repeated this already-established pattern. The southern route through Asia Minor, along which the Pauline congregations sprang up, "ran through country rich in opportunities for trading."²

This indicates that the leaders of Rome had established extensive trade routes with civilizations such as India and that religious ideas were, in fact, exchanged. The Emperor down to the common citizen had access to such knowledge and exchange.

The early Christian Emissary Paul manipulated the beliefs of the locals to plant churches, such as, in ancient Athens. In Acts 17:23, it says, "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare to you." This clearly demonstrates the compromises Christianity has willingly made, the assimilation of Pagan belief and practice, in order to gain membership among the non-believing Pagans. Paul had taken advantage of the Pagan alter that was built to worship an unknown god which in pagan belief most likely had a form that no one had yet assimilated like they have with the hundreds of other known gods.

Paul exploited this situation, using pagan ideology, to reach the pagans, who were uneducated in the Scripture Paul presented with his ideas, on terms they would most likely understand. He had proclaimed a man (Jesus (a.s.)) as this unknown god, and preached that he was God Himself, ascribing this ideology to this alter built by the pagans for pagan ritualistic worship. These pagans did not know what god they were worshipping nor were they instructed by God Himself to build this alter as Abraham was when he built the alter at the Ka'aba (located in present day Makkah, Saudi Arabia).³

The Emperor Constantine had seen the similarities between the Hindu Godhead and the Christian arguments over God. The Christians were divisive, some worshipping the Son,⁴ others the Father,⁵ and others the Spirit.⁶ All of them where condemning and fighting with the other over who was correct theologically. The Hindu people worshipped the Trinity and remained a united people for thousands of years prior. Emperor Contantine sought to end the Christian bickering over the nature of God by using the example of the Hindu Godhead. Throughout 2000 years, and especially when Christianity was a state religion forced on Roman citizens, the Church has made considerable compromises in their doctrine catering to a massive pagan philosophical rivalry and influx of converted pagan membership. In 325 A.D. the council of Nicea was called by the Emperor and in co-operation with early Church leaders the birth of Christian Trinitarian doctrine arose.

The fact is that the Bible (both Older and Newer Testaments) does not teach Trinitarian doctrine about God! There is clear distinction between God and Jesus (a.s.) in John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John 14:28 states, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." Mark 12:28-29 gives this account:

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.

Mark 12:28-29 is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." Lastly, in 1 Corinthians 11:3 it says, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Many Councils were held in Nicea and other Greek cities by the Emperor of Rome in order to iron-out these doctrinal differences. Among some were the Councils at Nicea (325 A.D. and 787 A.D.), then Constantinople (381 A.D., 553 A.D. and 680-81 A.D.), Carthage (395 A.D.), Ephesus (431 A.D.), Chalcedon (451 A.D.), Orange (529 A.D.), and many others to the present day. The doctrinal think-tanks condemned those who opposed the Emperor, or any of the Popes who had influence with Rome, and exiled them or had them killed! Needless to say the attempt to unite the Church on this issue failed miserably as seen by the myriads of denominations today (over 700 of them worldwide).

Like the true believers in Jesus (a.s.) (those who followed his teachings more clearly), Muslims believe that God is One God, Unique! God is the creator of the Universe and of all things, visible and invisible. Qur'an 2:116-117 says, "They say: 'Allah hath begotten a son': Glory be to Him.-Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him. The Originator of the heavens and the earth: when He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: 'Be,' and it is." "Say: He is Allah, The One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, Nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.", Qur'an 112:1-4. Also in Qur'an 5:72 it says, "They disbelieve who say: Allah is one of three (In a Trinity:) for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous chastisement will befall the disbelievers. Among them." God alone is our salvation. God alone brings judgment and destruction on evildoers. In Qur'an 7:167 it states, "Behold! Thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous chastisement. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." God alone purifies us. "Allah's object also is to purge those that are true in faith and to deprive of blessing those who resist faith.", Qur'an 3:141. God alone brings us into the after-life, "Allah will say; 'This is the a day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are Gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,'- their eternal home: Allah well-pleased with them, and they with Allah: That is the mighty Triumph (the fulfillment of all desires)." Qur'an 5:119.

His Spirit (Ruh)⁷ is not a person but the force of God's very existence by which the laws of the Universe operate. God's Spirit of Oneness is the force by which the chaos and confusion of all that exists is set to order (i.e. submits and obeys God). All that exists testifies to God's Spirit, which is not a person but proof of His Oneness and Unique Being, by obeying Him who is responsible for all that exists and the final Authority in the Universe. Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Isaiah 42:1, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit⁵ upon him..." "We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear (signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit.", Qur'an 2:87. The Spirit of God is everywhere because God is everywhere. When God makes His Will known to Creation (or anything within or otherwise) because it contains the Spirit of the Creator, the One Almighty Supreme and Unique God, it submits and obeys! Furthermore, when the Qur'an speaks of "the Spirit", such as in Qur'an 70:4, ("The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day the measure whereof is as fifty thousand years.") it speaks of the primary Angel (who is a spirit) that God has always sent to the Prophets to relay His message to mankind, i.e. the Angel Gabriel. The same Spirit, mentioned in the Newer Testament, that came to Zachariah, father of John the Baptist (a.s.), and Mary, mother of Jesus (a.s.).

Jesus (a.s.) is not God but is His messenger to the Jews, a Prophet and the Messiah (Masih) (Qur'an 3:45-49)! Qur'an 5:17 says:

They disbelieved indeed those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: "Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His Will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all-every on that is on the earth? For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah has power over all things."

In Qur'an 5:75 it says:

Christ the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger; many were Messengers that passed before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His Signs clear to them; Yet see in what ways they (i.e. the Christians) are deluded away from the truth!

Islam, unlike Christianity and many Pagan religions, does not teach that the innocent must pay the price of death so that the guilty can live. Every individual is responsible for his or her own actions. It is immoral and unrighteous that the innocent should receive a death penalty for the sins of the guilty. It is the same as saying, "Good must die so that evil can live." Even in the Scripture God outlaws human sacrifice, even for the sake of intercession on the behalf of man. In ancient Palestine the Pagans sacrificed human children to the god Molech. God gave harsh instruction to early Israel, and those among the Israelites, concerning the evil practice of human sacrifice. "And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech...," Leviticus 18:21. The Scripture continues in Leviticus 20:2-3:

Again you shall say to the children of Israel: "Whoever of the Children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. the people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name."

Keeping in mind God's abhorrence of human sacrifice, God Himself would certainly not sacrifice an innocent human-being for the sake of the guilty.

Furthermore, the Christian assertion that God made a man a human sacrifice for our sins neglects the rituals mandated by God in the offering of a sacrifice. A sacrifice is not something done just to waste flesh. The animal is never killed just for the sake of killing. In the Scriptures, God has always mandated that people partake and eat the sacrifice offered to Him. The only parts that is wasted was the fat, blood and the spoiled parts (parts left over for days). It was not a symbolic eating of the flesh but the literal eating of it. The Laws of the Scripture concerning all of the sacrificial offerings of animals are the same. In the book of Leviticus, it starts with the sin offering and then goes on to list the many others. According to the Scripture, the method of sacrificing animal's is the same regardless of the type of sacrifice. It begins by explaining that the sin and the trespass offering has one law concerning the sacrifice but goes on to include the peace offering and other general offerings, as well:

As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. (Leviticus 7:7-8.)

And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten: But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7:15-18)

Concerning the fat, the Scripture says, "For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.", Leviticus 7:25. The blood, as well, was strictly forbidden because it is the life of the animal. According to Scripture in Leviticus 7:26, "Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings." Deuteronomy 12:23 says, "Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh." Only the Pagan cultures that existed in the ancient world believed in sacrificing through needless killing, the wasting of the animals flesh, and human sacrifice. As the Church sought to gain Pagan converts they assimilated their ideas, like human sacrifice, as they have in many other of their ideas and practices. God prescribed his terms for sacrifice in the Torah and eating it was part of the ritual. God would not sacrifice a human since it is against His terms for sacrifice and forbids cannibalism. The sacrifice that God has always taught is a form of worshipping him that contributes to the nourishment of our bodies while lifting our spirits on the joyful occasion of celebrating His mercy and goodness. The Christian symbolism claiming a man as the sacrificial lamb is simply pagan and smacks of the false gods of ancient Rome.

Islam teaches, regarding the Prophet Jesus (a.s.), that an Angel of God came to Mary to announce the wonderful news that God had blessed her above all other women to be given the gift of a pure son. "And (remember) her who guarded her chastity: we breathed into her from Our spirit, and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples." Qur'an 21:91. The Angel announced that the child's name would be Isa' (Jesus) the Masih (Messiah):

Behold! The angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee - chosen thee above the women of all nations. O Mary! Worship the Lord devoutly: Prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." This is part of the tidings of the things unseen, which We reveal unto thee (O Prophet!) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with pens, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary: Nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). Behold! The angels 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 honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah; he shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so; Allah createth what he willeth: when He hath decreed a matter, He but saith to it, 'Be', and it is! And Allah will teach him the Book of Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, and (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): 'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I bring the dead to life by Allah's leave; And I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe. (I have come to you), to attest the Torah which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (before) 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; then worship Him. This is the Way that is straight.'" (Qur'an 3:42-51)

Mary left her people to a place in the east where she gave birth to a son. Allah (s.w.t.) told the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), "Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East." Qur'an 19:16. Qur'an 19:22-25 continues:

So she conceived him (i.e. Jesus), and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! Would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten." But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! For thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; and shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee."

Shortly after she decided that she needed help raising the child so she returned to her people who accused her of committing a grave sin! "That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge." (Qur'an 4:156). And in Qur'an 19:27-30, it says:

At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms), they said: "O Mary! Truly a strange thing has thou brought! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" He (i.e. the baby Jesus) said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me Revelation and made me a Prophet."

The Prophet Jesus (a.s.) was the last messenger sent by God to Israel, while Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) was sent to all of humanity, Jews and Non-Jews alike. When Jesus was about thirty years old God began giving him revelation again. His message was to call the Jews, once again, back to God! Qur'an 52-53 states:

When Jesus found unbelief on their part he said: "Who will be my helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the Disciples: "We are Allah's helpers we believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims (i.e. true believers). Our Lord (i.e. Allah; the One God)! We believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger (i.e. Jesus); then write us down among those who bear witness."

He performed many miraculous miracles to prove to the Jews that his message was from God. Those who still refused to believe accused Jesus of using magic to perform the miracles. "...And the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.'" Qur'an 5:110.

The Jewish religious authorities began to become jealous of Jesus' influence and became angry about his exposure of the corruption in their religion. The authorities used their affluence with Rome to plot to arrest and kill Jesus. They had him arrested and subjected him to brutal interrogation and physical abuse, then with the permission of the governor had him taken out to be executed. Jesus prayed for God's protection and God caused confusion among the guards who were taking him to be executed. The guards lost grip of him for a moment and grabbed his betrayer who was nearby thinking it was Jesus, since his betrayer looked like him. The man was then taken out and executed. The Jews thought they had executed Jesus but God miraculously saved him! Qur'an 4:157 says:

They said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- But they killed him not, nor crucified him. Only a likeness of that was shown to them. And those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge. But only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.

Shortly afterwards, God took Jesus alive into the heavens. "Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-" Qur'an 4:158. When the end time is near he will return to defeat the anti-Christ.




Exerpt from Western Misconceptions: The Facts About Islam by BrJimC 2000

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