According to the Koran (Qur'an), Muhammad went to great lengths denying that Jesus was a son of God AND asserting that a Trinity or other deity multiplicity does not exist and that there is only one supreme deity, Allah (God).
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And yet some people assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son!" Limitless is He in His glory! [96] Nay, but His is all that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will. - 2:116 (Asad)
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O FOLLOWERS of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds [of truth] in your religious beliefs, [180] and do not say of God anything but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God's Apostle - [the fulfilment of] His promise which He had conveyed unto Mary - and a soul created by Him.[181] Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, "[God is] a trinity". Desist [from this assertion] for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God. - 4:171 (Asad)
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the Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could it be that He should have a child without there ever having been a mate for Him - since it is He who has created everything, and He alone knows everything? - 6:101 (Asad)
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AND THE JEWS say, "Ezra is God's son," while the Christians say, "The Christ is God's son." Such are the sayings which they utter with their mouths, following in spirit assertions made in earlier times by people who denied the truth! [44] [They deserve the imprecation:] "May God destroy them!" [45] How perverted are their minds! [46] - 9:30 (Asad)
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[And yet] they assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son!" Limitless is He in His glory! [89] Self-sufficient is He: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth! No evidence whatever have you for this [assertion]! Would you ascribe unto God something which you cannot know? - 10:68 (Asad)
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and say: "All praise is due to God, who begets no offspring, [133] and has no partner in His dominion, and has no weakness, and therefore no need of any aid" [134] -and [thus] extol His limitless greatness. - 17:111 (Asad)
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Furthermore, [this divine writ is meant] to warn all those who assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son." - 18:4 (Asad)
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It is not conceivable that God should have taken unto Himself a son: limitless is He in His glory! [26] When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it "Be" -and it is! - 19:35 (Asad)
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As it is, [75] some assert, "The Most Gracious has taken unto Himself a son„! [76] - 19:88 (Asad)
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Indeed, [by this assertion] you have brought forth something monstrous, - 19:89 (Asad)
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whereat the heavens might well-nigh be rent into fragments, and the earth be split asunder, and the mountains fall down in ruins! - 19:90 (Asad)
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That men. should ascribe a son to the Most Gracious, - 19:91 (Asad)
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although it is inconceivable that the Most Gracious should take unto Himself a son! [77] - 19:92 (Asad)
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And [yet,] some say, "The Most Gracious has taken unto Himself a son"! Limitless is He in His glory! [33] Nay, [those whom they regard as God's "offspring" are but His] honoured servants: [34] - 21:26 (Asad)
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Never did God take unto Himself any offspring, [52] nor has there ever been any deity side by side with Him: [for, had there been any,] lo! each deity would surely have stood apart [from the others] in whatever it had created, [53] and they would surely have [tried to] overcome one another! Limitless in His glory is God, [far] above anything that men may devise by way of definition, [54] - 23:91 (Asad)
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He to whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth belongs, and who begets no offspring, [2] and has no partner in His dominion: for it is He who creates every thing and determines its nature in accordance with [His own] design. [3] - 25:2 (Asad)"God has begotten [a son]"; and, verily, they are lying [too, when they say], - 37:152 (Asad)
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Had God willed to take Unto Himself a son, He could have chosen anyone that He wanted out of whatever He has created - [but] limitless is He in His glory! [4] He is the One God, the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists! - 39:4 (Asad)
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Say [O Prophet]: "If the Most Gracious [truly] had a son, I would be the first to worship him!" - 43:81 (Asad)
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Utterly remote, in His glory, is the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth - the Sustainer, in almightiness enthroned [58] from all that they may attribute to Him by way of definition! [59] - 43:82 (Asad)
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for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son! - 72:3 (Asad)
However, he did confess that God created Jesus as a spirit from himself:
- [4:171] O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion, and do not say about God except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is the Messenger of God, and His Word that He conveyed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and do not say, "Three." Refrain—it is better for you. God is only one God. Glory be to Him—that He should have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and the earth, and God is a sufficient Protector."
Clearly, Muhammad admitted that Jesus was God's (presumably the UNIVERSAL Father's) SPIRIT OFFSPRING.
We should interpret that as Muhammad asserting that, while God bore no physical offspring (that he knew of), God did produce Jesus' person (or personality) as God's SPIRITUAL offspring, albeit Mary actually bore the physical body of Jesus in her womb.
Muhammad also confessed that Jesus performed miracles with the support of the Holy Spirit. He did not explain the nature, origin, or presence of the Holy Spirit - obviously, he did not consider the Holy Spirit a deity co-ordinate of God (the Universal Father), but what else could she be?
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[2:87] We gave Moses the Scripture, and sent a succession of messengers after him. And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs, and We supported him with the Holy Spirit. Is it that whenever a messenger comes to you with anything your souls do not desire, you grew arrogant, calling some impostors, and killing others?
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[2:253] These messengers: We gave some advantage over others. To some of them God spoke directly, and some He raised in rank. We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear miracles, and We strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Had God willed, those who succeeded them would not have fought one another, after the clear signs had come to them; but they disputed; some of them believed, and some of them disbelieved. Had God willed, they would not have fought one another; but God does whatever He desires.
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[5:110] When God will say, "O Jesus son of Mary, recall My favor upon you and upon your mother, how I supported you with the Holy Spirit. You spoke to the people from the crib, and in maturity. How I taught you the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And recall that you molded from clay the shape of a bird, by My leave, and then you breathed into it, and it became a bird, by My leave. And you healed the blind and the leprous, by My leave; and you revived the dead, by My leave. And recall that I restrained the Children of Israel from you when you brought them the clear miracles. But those who disbelieved among them said, `This is nothing but obvious sorcery.'"
Muhammad declared that those who follow Jesus are superior to those who don't:
- [3:55] God said, "O Jesus, I am terminating your life, and raising you to Me, and clearing you of those who disbelieve. And I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return; then I will judge between you regarding what you were disputing.
Muhammad mentions the Gospel (of Jesus) in 12 places in the Koran, but fails to enunciate its tenets (presumably because he did not know them). I have yet tointerrogate a Muslim who can articulate any tenet of the Gospel.
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[3:3] He sent down to you the Book with the Truth, confirming what came before it; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel.
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[3:48] And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel.
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[3:65] O People of the Book! Why do you argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Will you not reason?
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[5:46] In their footsteps, We sent Jesus son of Mary, fulfilling the Torah that preceded him; and We gave him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah that preceded him, and guidance and counsel for the righteous.
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[5:47] So let the people of the Gospel rule according to what God revealed in it. Those who do not rule according to what God revealed are the sinners.
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[5:66] Had they observed the Torah, and the Gospel, and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would have consumed amply from above them, and from beneath their feet. Among them is a moderate community, but evil is what many of them are doing.
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[5:68] Say, "O People of the Scripture! You have no basis until you uphold the Torah, and theGospel, and what is revealed to you from your Lord." But what is revealed to you from your Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief, so do not be sorry for the disbelieving people.
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[5:110] When God will say, "O Jesus son of Mary, recall My favor upon you and upon your mother, how I supported you with the Holy Spirit. You spoke to the people from the crib, and in maturity. How I taught you the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And recall that you molded from clay the shape of a bird, by My leave, and then you breathed into it, and it became a bird, by My leave. And you healed the blind and the leprous, by My leave; and you revived the dead, by My leave. And recall that I restrained the Children of Israel from you when you brought them the clear miracles. But those who disbelieved among them said, `This is nothing but obvious sorcery.'"
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[7:157] Those who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel in their possession. He directs them to righteousness, and deters them from evil, and allows for them all good things, and prohibits for them wickedness, and unloads the burdens and the shackles that are upon them. Those who believe in him, and respect him, and support him, and follow the light that came down with him—these are the successful.
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[9:111] God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise. They fight in God's way, and they kill and get killed. It is a promise binding on Him in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Quran. And who is more true to his promise than God? So rejoice in making such an exchange—that is the supreme triumph.
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[48:29] Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Those with him are stern against the disbelievers, yet compassionate amongst themselves. You see them kneeling, prostrating, seeking blessings from God and approval. Their marks are on their faces from the effects of prostration. Such is their description in the Torah, and their description in the Gospel: like a plant that sprouts, becomes strong, grows thick, and rests on its stem, impressing the farmers. Through them He enrages the disbelievers. God has promised those among them who believe and do good deeds forgiveness and a great reward.
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[57:27] Then We sent in their wake Our messengers, and followed up with Jesus son of Mary, and We gave him the Gospel, and instilled in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy. But as for the monasticism which they invented—We did not ordain it for them—only to seek God's approval. But they did not observe it with its due observance. So We gave those of them who believed their reward, but many of them are sinful.
It seems clear that Muhammad believed the Gospel, whatever it might be, and therefore he believed the only extant record of that gospel, the direct assertions of the life and teachings of Jesus in the first 4 books of the New Testament in the Christian Bible.
Take note also that, the illiterate Muhammad, while living in a cave, allegedly received the information which he later recited and which scribes wrote as the Qur'an, most likely learned the tenets of Christianity from Christian missionaries traveling from the Jesusonian synagogue community of Philadelphia, present-day Aman, Jordan. These tenets differed markedly from mainstream Christian tenets espoused by the church in Byzantium, present day Istanbul, and Muhammad reflects some of those differences in his recitals. The reader might recall that the apostle John Zebedee in his book of Revelation ascribed to Jesus the denunciation of all of the churches of Asia Minor except that of Philadelphia which he claimed had singly remained truly loyal to his teachings. For that reason, modern Christians might want to give some heed to Muhammad's recitals on the subject of Jesus and his history. Take note also that most likely the missionaries from Philadelphia didn't quite understand everything about Jesus' life, particularly about the alleged dove which appeared above Jesus during his baptism.
Was that really a dove?
The following record from The Urantia Book, paper 136, explains the significance of the apparition that the Bible recounts as a dove appearing above Jesus' head during his baptism and speaking "This is my son in whom I am well pleased:"
When Jesus of Nazareth went down into the Jordan to be baptized, he was a mortal of the realm who had attained the pinnacle of human evolutionary ascension in all matters related to the conquest of mind and to self-identification with the spirit. He stood in the Jordan that day a perfected mortal of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Perfect synchrony and full communication had become established between the mortal mind of Jesus and the indwelling spirit Adjuster, the divine gift of his Father in Paradise. And just such an Adjuster indwells all normal beings living on Urantia since the ascension of Michael to the headship of his universe, except that Jesus' Adjuster had been previously prepared for this special mission by similarly indwelling another superhuman incarnated in the likeness of mortal flesh, Machiventa Melchizedek.
Ordinarily, when a mortal of the realm attains such high levels of personality perfection, there occur those preliminary phenomena of spiritual elevation which terminate in eventual fusion of the matured soul of the mortal with its associated divine Adjuster. And such a change was apparently due to take place in the personality experience of Jesus of Nazareth on that very day when he went down into the Jordan with his two brothers to be baptized by John. This ceremony was the final act of his purely human life on Urantia, and many superhuman observers expected to witness the fusion of the Adjuster with its indwelt mind, but they were all destined to suffer disappointment. Something new and even greater occurred. As John laid his hands upon Jesus to baptize him, the indwelling Adjuster took final leave of the perfected human soul of Joshua ben Joseph. And in a few moments this divine entity returned from Divinington as a Personalized Adjuster and chief of his kind throughout the entire local universe of Nebadon. Thus did Jesus observe his own former divine spirit descending on its return to him in personalized form. And he heard this same spirit of Paradise origin now speak, saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And John, with Jesus' two brothers, also heard these words. John's disciples, standing by the water's edge, did not hear these words, neither did they see the apparition of the Personalized Adjuster. Only the eyes of Jesus beheld the Personalized Adjuster.
When the returned and now exalted Personalized Adjuster had thus spoken, all was silence. And while the four of them tarried in the water, Jesus, looking up to the near-by Adjuster, prayed: "My Father who reigns in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come! Your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven." When he had prayed, the "heavens were opened," and the Son of Man saw the vision, presented by the now Personalized Adjuster, of himself as a Son of God as he was before he came to earth in the likeness of mortal flesh, and as he would be when the incarnated life should be finished. This heavenly vision was seen only by Jesus.
It was the voice of the Personalized Adjuster that John and Jesus heard, speaking in behalf of the Universal Father, for the Adjuster is of, and as, the Paradise Father. Throughout the remainder of Jesus' earth life this Personalized Adjuster was associated with him in all his labors; Jesus was in constant communion with this exalted Adjuster.
When Jesus was baptized, he repented of no misdeeds; he made no confession of sin. His was the baptism of consecration to the performance of the will of the heavenly Father. At his baptism he heard the unmistakable call of his Father, the final summons to be about his Father's business, and he went away into private seclusion for forty days to think over these manifold problems. In thus retiring for a season from active personality contact with his earthly associates, Jesus, as he was and on Urantia, was following the very procedure that obtains on the morontia worlds whenever an ascending mortal fuses with the inner presence of the Universal Father.
This day of baptism ended the purely human life of Jesus. The divine Son has found his Father, the Universal Father has found his incarnated Son, and they speak the one to the other.
(Jesus was almost thirty-one and one-half years old when he was baptized. While Luke says that Jesus was baptized in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, which would be A.D. 29 since Augustus died in A.D. 14, it should be recalled that Tiberius was coemperor with Augustus for two and one-half years before the death of Augustus, having had coins struck in his honor in October, A.D. 11. The fifteenth year of his actual rule was, therefore, this very year of A.D. 26, that of Jesus' baptism. And this was also the year that Pontius Pilate began his rule as governor of Judea.)
For more information, read The Urantia Book.
You might appreciate the explanations of Andreas Slot-Henriksen here, appended below:
WELCOME TO THIS SMALL QURAN STUDY
You have probably heard from the Quran, that Jesus – or Isa as he's also called, is not Allah …or God?
But who is Jesus according to the Quran if you… dig a little in the scriptures?
Well… The name Jesus is actually found in 25 places in the Quran
…whilst the name of the Prophet Mohammad is only found in 4 places in the Quran
But… why is there more focus on Jesus, if Mohammad should be more important than Jesus was?
That's a good question – so let us dig even deeper…
First of all the Quran says in chapter 2 verse 87 – and this is even before Jesus was born, that Jesus as the only one was strengthened with the Holy Spirit.
The Quran Chapter 2 verse 87
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ وَقَفَّيْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ بِالرُّسُلِ ۖ وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ ۗ أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَىٰ أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ
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. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay!
Let's start by looking at the family tree of Jesus. His Mother, Maryam – better known as Mary, is mentoned in several places in the Quran – Even the whole chapter 19 in the Quran is named after her "Maryam".
So who is this Mary according to the Quran?
In Chapter 3 of the Quran you can read that Mary was pure, born without ordinary sin, and was a virgin before Jesus was born… and even in Chapter 3 Verse 47 it says, that Maryam wasn't together with a man, and that Allah could do the impossible and create a child in her womb. So if Allah created the child in the Womb of Maryam without a man, he must also be the father of Jesus.
In the Quran Chapter 3 verses 45 – 55 is says that:
Jesus is
– Word of Allah
– Spirit of Allah
– The nearest to Allah
– The Messiah
– Jesus Christ
and "a messenger from Allah"
The Quran Chapter 3 verse 45
إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ
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;
And did you know that in the Quran chapter 57 verse 28 it says that
"JESUS, the messenger, will provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk
…and that Jesus had the authority from Allah to forgive your sins."
The Quran chapter 57 verse 28
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْ––––––نِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
O ye that believe! Fear Allah, and believe in His Messenger, and He will bestow on you a double portion of His Mercy: He will provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and He will forgive you (your past): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Funnily enough – if you compare all that with the Bible, it says in the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." So the Word here is also Jesus – and he is the light!
Furthermore, in the Quran chapter 5 verse 110 it says, that Jesus spoke, when he was only 2 days old, that Jesus created a living bird out of clay by breathing into it. Here the Quran also tells us that Jesus healed a man that was born blind – and that he healed the lepers… and not only that, but the Quran also says that Jesus gave life to dead people.
…and that Jesus was raised from the dead to life. In the Quran chapter 4 verses 157-158 we read that Jesus went to heaven and that he is still alive… It also says that he will come again and be the judge.
Mohammad never did any of these things and he never was the word of Allah, the Spirit of Allah, the light we have to follow. Mohammad never had the powers to forgive you, to heal anyone or to raise the dead. Mohammad was not strengthened with the Holy Spirit! He didn't have a family tree, he died, he doesn't live today, and Mohammad will not come back again. Mohammad never made any signs or wonders. In the Quran chapter 3 verse 144 is says that "Mohammad is no more than a messenger".
But what about Jesus? What does this make Jesus to Allah – Is he still only a regular Prophet…??? If he was just a prophet, he was obviously a greater prophet than Mohammad…? or…. No, it can't be real! Can it…?
Anyway… the Quran says that Allah created the World with "his Word"… and if Jesus is the "Word of Allah" it means that Jesus was already there when Allah created the world.…
So how do we actually find out more about this?
In the Quran chapter 3 verse 3 is says that Allah sent the Law of Moses AND the Gospel of Jesus to guide mankind of what is right and what is wrong. And futhermore in verse 4 it says that "those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty, and Allah is Exalted in Might, Lord of Retribution.". So if Jesus really is sent from Allah as "The messenger" of Allah, as the spirit of Allah, as the Messiah, born by a virgin with Allah as his father AND when Jesus even in the Quran chapter 43 verse 63 commands us to obey HIM, it really would be a good idea to listen to Jesus. But in the Quran we don't read much about what Jesus said – so what do we do?
Quran chapter 43 verse 63
وَلَمَّا جَاءَ عِيسَىٰ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالَ قَدْ جِئْتُكُمْ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَلِأُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي تَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ
When Jesus came with Clear Signs, he said: "Now have I come to you with Wisdom, and in order to make clear to you some of the (points) on which ye dispute: therefore fear Allah and obey me.
In the Quran chapter 10 verse 94 it says that if you are having any doubts about what Mohammad has revealed, you must go back and read the old scriptures.
Quran chapter 10 – 94
فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ ۚ لَقَدْ جَاءَكَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ
If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.
And the old scriptures were written around 550 years prior to Mouhammad. These scriptures that the Quran is talking about in Chapt 3 verse 3 are what we call "The New Testament" and the first four books in "The new testament" is the Gospel of Jesus, and these books are all a part of "The Holy Bible". Here you can also read that Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father but through me".
So if you want to follow the Quran and actually obey Jesus Christ, you have to read the full Gospel about him, and know what he tells you to do! Why…?? Because in the Quran chapter 3 verse 4 (right after it tells us about the Gospel of Jesus) it says "those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty"
And as an objective fact we know it is evident that the Holy Bible was written around 550 years before the Quran was written. So how come there are so many differences between the Holy Bible and the Quran??? The New Testament in the Holy Bible has 8 authors all confirming the same, that Jesus is the Messiah, the only Son of Allah. The Quran probably only has one author – but no one really knows…. And even though the whole Bible was written by 39 authors over a period of 1,500 years, the author of the Quran changes the old scriptures into a new "revelation" and throws away the old scriptures. No other historical scripture mentions Mouhammed, but Jesus Christ is mentioned in several old Roman and Greek scripts from year 30 a.d. and onwards. Luckily Mouhamed remembered to write chapter 10 verse 94 of the Quran…. And if that verse and the rest about Jesus is correct, all Muslims have to believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that He is the true Son – not of Allah, but of the living and loving God.
So if you believe in Allah…. Do you then believe your Iman? Or do you believe what the Quran tells you and thereby also what the Bible tells about Jesus?
You can read more about Jesus at www.Listen-To-Jesus.com
Andreas Slot-Henriksen
2017
