Let's Look at what the Quran has to say about Jesus and non-Muslims

In life I strive to try to bring groups who think they are in opposition together or to create a better understanding of different peoples.  Two of these groups are Christians and Muslims, who have large misconceptions of the other side.  Of course with this goal my topics were Jesus in the Quran, since that could be common ground for both groups, and the treatment of non-Muslims, which is something I think many westerns have their own misconceptions about.

      To Muslims, Jesus is not an unknown name, yet it is not the same as many Christians believe.  Interestingly he is referred to as the Messiah, which means the “Anointed One”, whose synonyms is Savoir and Redeemer, yet in Islam Christ did not come to die as a sacrifice for our sins.  He was however born of a virgin, Mary, though it was on a journey (shown in Chapter 19, section 2) rather than a manger.  Usually I am use to seeing Jesus get the persecution for the authority he claimed, but the Quran showed that Mary did too, when in Ch. 19:27, calling what Mary “brought” was strange.  The commentary said this was since Jesus claimed such authority and it was somewhat backhanded, and it is clear to see the calumny for Jesus right away comes to his mother’s rescue.  His speech though is something of interest.  From our readings on the Quran in class, we saw that Jesus did not die on the cross, nor was he resurrected; yet in Ch. 19;33 Jesus mentions he will be resurrected.  To quote exactly, “And peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised to life”, clearly this shows that Jesus will die and come back.  Sadly though the commentary has nothing on this, so I did look on the internet, and I didn’t find a good answer, or one that may be reliable.  This then does raise an interesting point, of what if he did die on the cross, even by the Islamic version of history, there seems to be plenty of times for some corruption of their Holy Book in it, maybe this is a sign that something was meddled with.  Something in his speech though that caught my eye was 19:36, since the commentary compares it to Matt. 4:10, which as someone who is looking for common ground, these two verses are clearly that.  The largest difference is that Islam views Christ as a great prophet, not God in the flesh.  Now this is a point that many in Christianity argue about anyway, for most Christians literally believe Christ to be Heavenly Father, a concept that is ridicules to LDS, yet we still hold the divinity of Christ.  In Islam, Christ is not divine, and in Ch. 4:171 it states that he is “only a messenger”.  There are many scriptures in which Jesus points to all his power coming from God, but this is the same in the Bible, as far as the idea that Jesus is literally God, I do agree with the Quran on that being an idea introduced after his death and ministry.  There is a section about the false doctrines introduced, as well as mention of them in other areas of the Quran, for the LDS faith, we can agree on this idea, since we very much do believe that Christ’s teachings were perverted.  

      When it comes to relations with non-Muslims, it is fairly liberal.  This can be shown by 2:62, where is it says, “Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”  This shows a very Universalist outlook, yet it is also a commentary against those religions.  In the commentary I have it is pointed out that this shakes the concept of a favored nation, whose member will go to heaven alone; much like the criticism of the Jewish people who call themselves the “Chosen People”.  This furthers illustrates a larger issue that the past faiths were the truth until the people rejected it.  Just read two verses later (2:64) in which the Quran states that the Jews turned their back after being given the truth.  While they still can achieve salvation, they are chastised throughout this section for rejecting God’s word.   It is true that there could be verse to back unfriendly relations to non-believers.  In Ch. 60 verse 1 it does say to not take disbelievers as your friends, yet it is not that simple.  In verses 7 and 8 it is explained that the only reason to not take the unbelievers as friends was due to the conflict and war happening at the time.  The commentary explained the historical background and that it depends on what is happening.  To actually quote the commentary, “the true principle is revealed in unmistakable language, allowing friendly relation with one class of disbelievers and prohibiting such relations with those of another class.”  So from this it is perfectly okay for friendship between disbelievers, except with those who are actively seeking to destroy you or your faith, which isn’t far off from Christianity, which teaches to still help those who are sinning, but if they are actively trying to corrupt you, to then cut yourself from them. 

      After studying for this paper, I was surprised.  I knew there were similarities between Christianity and Islam, but I wasn’t sure how it was.  I also knew that Islam is more open to non-Muslims, than most religions have been to people who don’t share their beliefs.  Now the beliefs on Jesus are close to my own, the only issue is the divinity part, or the part that he is not the Son of God.  Since I still do believe that the Quran is from God, yet I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, I attribute the inconsistency to either God not revealing completeness but rather the message he wanted for the Arabs or the more likely, corruption of man of the Prophet Mohammad’s (Peace be upon him) message.   I think if more understood that Jesus does have a place in Islam, there could be more dialogue between Christians and Muslims.  However, not all Christians would be receptive, this past week I talked to street preachers who said that Muslims were damn since they reduced Jesus to a prophet, and not God himself.  A theme that I picked up about the relations to non-Muslims was one greatly of tolerance rather than acceptance.  This goes well with the history of the Islamic Empire and their treatment of the Dhimmis.  While they did not enjoy the same benefits of those in Islam, they had their basic freedoms and rights and were treated with respect.  This seemed to jump out to me, though there is still a tone of somewhat disdain to the other beliefs, since they rejected and changed God’s word.  As a member of the LDS church, this is nothing new since we say that all other churches are abominations in the eyes of God; though it is because they have been corrupted.  There are still differences between Christianity and Islam, but I think of it as the way the Christian King of Abyssinia did when he drew a line on the ground and stated that the difference between the two were no thicker than that line.  I would say that line is even smaller for those in the LDS faith in relation to Islam.  I truly believe, after reading in the Quran, that Islam was the purest religion until the Restoration, and that it was completely pure when the Prophet Mohammed lived on this earth.

Quran used; The Holy Quran with English Translation and Commentary, Maulana Muhammad Ali
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