How is Jesus described in the Koran?
Here is the answer from an Iranian E-Pal.
I don’t know have you ever read these verses of Holy Quran about your and our Holy prophet Jesus and his Holy mother Miriam. We, Muslims believe on whole prophets and we have respect for them and God has learned us a lot about some of them in Quran.
Here are some verses from chapter Miriam(Mary) in Holy Quran:
And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east.(16)
And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man.(17)
She said, “Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah .”(18)
He said, “I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy.”(19)
She said, “How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?”(20)
He said, “Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.’ (21)
So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place.(22)
And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.”(23)
But he called her from below her, “Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream(24)
And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates.(25)
So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, ‘Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.'(26)
Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, “O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented.(27)
O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste.”(28)
So she pointed to him. They said, “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”(29)
[Jesus] said, “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah . He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet(30)
And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive(31)
And [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant.(32)
And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive.”(33)
That is Jesus, the son of Mary – the word of truth about which they are in dispute.(34)
It is not [befitting] for Allah to take a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.(35)
[Jesus said], “And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path.(36)
In the name of God
here are some other verses about Jesus in Holy Qoran:
Chapter 5: AL-MAEDA (THE TABLE (food) from heaven)
Those who say that Allah is the messiah, son of Mary are indeed those who disbelieved. Say: ‘who then could prevent anything from Allah, if he willed to destroy the messiah, son of Mary, together with his mother and all the people of the earth? For Allah is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. He creates what he will and has power over all things. (17)
The Jews and the Nazarenes say: ‘we are the children of Allah and his loved ones. ‘Say: ‘why then does he punish you for your sins? Surely, you are mortals amongst what he created. He forgives whom he will, and punishes whom he will. For Allah is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them. All shall return to him (18)
People of the book! After an interval during which there were no messengers, our messenger (Muhammad) has come to clarify (your religion) to you, lest you should say: ‘no bearer of glad tidings or a Warner has come to us. ‘Indeed, there has come to you a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner. Allah has power over all things. (19)
And we sent, following in their footsteps (prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which was before him in the torah, and gave him the gospel, in which there is guidance and light, confirming that which was before him in the torah, a guide and an admonition to the cautious. (46)
The unbelievers are those who say: ‘Allah is the messiah, the son of Mary. ‘But the messiah said: ‘children of Israel worship Allah, my lord and your lord. ‘He who associates anything with Allah, Allah has indeed forbidden paradise to him, and his abode shall be in the fire. The harm doers shall have no helpers. (72)
Indeed those who say: ‘Allah is the third of the trinity’ became unbelievers. There is but one god. If they do not desist in what they say, a painful punishment will afflict those of them that disbelieve. (73)
Will they not turn to Allah in repentance and ask his forgiveness? He is forgiving, merciful (74)
The messiah, the son of Mary, was not except a messenger, other messengers had gone before him. His mother was in the state of sincerity, they both ate food. See how we make plain to them our signs. Then, see how perverted they are (75)
Say: ‘will you worship instead of Allah that which owns neither harm, nor benefit for you? Allah is the hearer, knower. ‘(76)
when Allah said: ‘( prophet) Jesus, son of Mary, remember the favor upon you and on your mother; how I strengthened you with the holy spirit (Gabriel), to speak to people in your cradle and of age (when he descends and dies); how I taught you the book and wisdom, the torah and the gospel; and how, by my permission, you fashioned from clay the likeness of a bird, and breathed into it so that, by my permission, it became a living bird. How, by my permission, you healed the blind man and the leper, and by my permission you brought the dead forth; and how I protected you from the children of Israel when you brought them clear signs; whereupon the unbelievers among them said: “this is nothing but plain magic”.(110)
When I revealed to the disciples to believe in me and in my messenger they replied: “we believe, bear witness that we submit.”(111)
When the disciples said: ‘o (prophet) Jesus, son of Mary, can your lord send down to us a table( food) from heaven? ‘He replied: ‘have fears of Allah, if you are believers. ‘(112)
‘We wish to eat of it, ‘ they said, ‘so that we can satisfy our hearts and know that what you said to us is true, and that we become witnesses to it. ‘(113)
‘Allah, our lord, ‘ said (prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary, ‘send down upon us a table out of heaven that shall be a festival for us the first and the last of us and a sign from you. And provide for us; you are the best of providers. (114)
Allah replied: ‘I am sending it to you. But whoever of you disbelieves thereafter I shall punish him with a punishment that I do not punish anyone from the worlds. (115)
And when Allah said: ‘(prophet) Jesus, son of Mary, did you ever say to the people: “take me and my mother for two gods, other than Allah?” ‘Exaltations to you, ‘ he said, ‘how could I say that to which I have no right? If I had said that, you would have surely known. You know what is in myself, but I do not know what is in yours. Indeed, you are the knowledgeable of the unseen (116)
I spoke to them of nothing except that which you ordered me, that you worship Allah, my lord and our lord. I witnessed them whilst living in their midst and ever since you took me to you, you have been the watcher over them. You are the witness of everything. (117)
If you punish them (for their disbelief), they surely are your subjects; and if you forgive them, surely you are the almighty, the wise. ‘(118)
Allah will say: ‘this is the day the truthful shall benefit by their truthfulness. They shall live forever in gardens underneath which rivers flow. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with him. That is the great winning. (119)
to Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is in them. he has power over all things.(120)
Also more verses are available:
chapter4: an-Nesa (women)
And for their saying, ‘we killed the messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger (and prophet) of Allah. ‘They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but to them, he (the crucified) had been given the look (of Prophet Jesus). Those who differ concerning him (Prophet Jesus) are surely in doubt regarding him, they have no knowledge of him, except the following of supposition, and (it is) a certainty they did not kill him. (157)
Rather, Allah raised him up to him. Allah is almighty, the wise(158)
The messiah would not despise being a worshiper of Allah, nor would the angels who are near. Whosoever despises worshipping him, and becomes proud, he will surely assemble them all to him (172)
As for those who believe and did good deeds, he will pay them in full their wages, and he will increase them from his bounty. as for those who despise and became proud, he will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find neither a guide nor a helper for themselves, other than Allah(173)
enshaallah God will absolve all of us
Submitted by Reality Researcher
Shalom Salam 
Many Christians, and specifially Mennonites, believe that Jesus was born here on earth to show us how to live. Therefore, we are to emulate or try to live like he lived here on earth. We say that we are to follow in his footsteps. Is there any person in the Islam faith that Muslims see as an example of how they are to live?
Dear friend,
In answer to the question: “Many Christians, and specifically Mennonites, believe that Jesus was born here on earth to show us how to live. Therefore, we are to emulate or try to live like he lived here on earth. We say that we are to follow in his footsteps. Is there any person in the Islam faith that Muslims see as an example of how they are to live?” I briefly can say: in general, according to Islam there are always special persons who are called Perfect Human. This term has special profound significance which is our aim here but we should know that such persons are the best servants of God and they are examples for all other human.
Also, when the Qoran or narrations talk about the good traits of a person, it wants to introduce the person as a example, a relative one or a complete one. For example, when the Qoran speaks about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her good deeds, it is in fact, introducing him as an example for other women or even men.
But, as a complete message, the Qoran directly introduces the prophet Mohammad as an example and says: “certainly you have in the messenger of allah an excellent exemplar (AL – Ahzab:21).”
JE, Iran
Dear friends,
As for the question “what Qur’an says about Jesus (upon whom peace be)”, our other friends have cited the verses of Qur’an which talked about Jesus. Here I just willexplain the way the Qur’an talks about Jesus. The Holy Qur’an talks in two ways: what he was and what he was not.
According to Islam, in order to show humans the way of true perfection, God has appointed some certain humans as his messenger named prophet. They were the best servants of God and were totally good, so that they were the perfect examples for other humans. Treating with such truth, humans have been divided into two main divisions: those who believed and followed the way of the prophets, called Believers; and those who stood in contrast. Among the former, there were some believers that put some of these special humans in a position beyond what they really were; for example, believed them as God, instead of servants and messengers of God. Why it happened needs its special leisure.
According to the Qur’an, such an exaggeration happened about Jesus, the prophet who established the religion Christianity, after Judaism. Jesus’s special traits such as the story of his birth and the very attractive personality and his miracles, made him one of the beloved prophets in the word, but everyone has to be aware of the fact that he was one of God ‘s messengers and servants . the Holy Qur’an pointed out such facts about Jesus: 1- What he was: a servant of God, born of a very pure and glorious mother, had special miracles, among which one is speaking when he was a 3 day baby in introducing himself as a servant of God and defending the purity of his mother Mary. 2- What he was not, but people have exaggerated about him: He was not God. he was just a Servant of God and indeed, a prophet. The Qur’an warns about this fact and says those who believe in Jesus as god, are unbelievers. And ,as an ultimate truth, it says: “That is Jesus, the son of Mary – the word of truth about which they are in dispute (Mary: 34).”
JE, Iran
In the name of God
Hello Friends
I am in agreement with Je’s answer
Dear Friends,
Thanks to JE and Reality Researcher for your comments. Of course, the question of who was Jesus is where we have the major difference in our beliefs. As you say, the Qur’an says, “…people have exaggerated about him: He was not god. he was just a Servant of God and Indeed, a prophet. Qur’an warns about this fact and says those who believe in Jesus as god, are unbelievers…” In the story of Jesus in the Christian Bible, Jesus told his disciples, ” I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.” (John 14:6). Because of this, most Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to know God. Most believe in the trinity, that God is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all in one. We first know God by accepting and following Jesus as God, and then God works within each one of us through the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God). Because of this, many Christians believe that we each are actually able to have a personal relationship with God.
I am wondering how Muslims see their relationship with respect to God?
In the name of God
Hello Dear friends
First answer to the question: ((I am wondering how Muslims see their relationship with respect to God?))
God currents in Muslims life’s. We worship God 5times in 24hrs of a day through saying prayers that we name it salath. We talk to God through salath. God has taught us how to talk him in a regular program every day, so as we are with God during our daily life, we never forget him and his benignity. God has learn us how to salath via Prophet Muhammad and Holy Quran. We read salath in Arabic language, because of many reasons. The most important one is that Arabic language is very perfect and God asked us to read salath in Arabic, plus when all Muslims say prayers in a same language it makes them more and more united. As you read your books in Latin and Jews read in Hebrew. But this is not the only way for talking to God! We can talk to God directly in every moment of our life and ask his help, we don’t need an intermediate for talking to him and worship him and he hears us all the time. God talks us through his book Holy” Quran”. In our religion God has encourage us to learn and read and educate because as the knowledge increases with a sure faith to God, wisdom and perfection will be more near to human. when Gabriel talked to Holy Muhammad his first phrase was:
“Read” …”read in the name of God” Mohammad!
And our faith tells us in every face of life, search the reality and hear all words and then choose the best one of them. Islamic trainings, learns us intellect is the messenger of conscience and by the help of wisdom and Islamic trainings we can choose the best solutions in our life’s challenges.
The next topic, when I read your comment I found some question in my mind, I’ll be happy if you answer me.
1) as you know 2011years ago Holy Jesus was born, as you said if he is the God, why God has not decided to coming to earth before 2011 years ago,
2) What has happened for whom has been before Christ in the world; they didn’t have Jesus to go on his way! God will forgive their bad works because,e at that time he wasn’t in the earth to guide them! Or they will be punished for their bad works, which had done in the time that God was not in the earth
3) If you just go on the way of Jesus so who are Daniel, Moses and other men who said we are Guidance from God,
4)if you just walk on Jesus footstep, why you read other men’s religious books too?
And more and more questions about trinity
At the end I want to add some points to Je’s comment. We follow some important things 1) book of God, Holy Quran (God talks us through this book and the most important miracle of our prophet is this book, Quran that never will be old. this is the only book that is useable in all the times. God has said a lot of stories about good and bad humans , and the result of their works and faith in this book. God wants us to give advice of these stories and find our way to perfection and being more near to him, also we have a lot of rules in this book that are not limited for a special time and are useable for all times and ages )
2)Sunnah :it means following prophet Mohammad’s deeds and actions as he is the most perfect human in the world during the history of human’s life
3) follow 12 Imams as the perfect humans after Holy prophet Mohammad, as the teachers and expositors of Islam as for time(because we believe Islam is the most complete program of life for all humans)
4) We believe in whole prophet as the messengers of God and we follow them, and we have respect for their followers
Thanks for your attention. Let’s pray for our Egyptian brothers and sisters
Salam,
First I want to say that I join you in praying for our Egyptian brothers and sisters. I pray for peace and justice for all of God’s children in that land of great history.
I appreciate your response to my question. I also appreciate your tough questions and take these as an opportunity to clarify my own faith in God. I see myself as more of a practitioner than an expert in the nature and ways of God, but will try my best to answer your questions from what I have learned. I also invite my friends who have more theological training and background than I to help answer as they wish.
There is much I can find to respect in the daily commitment of Muslims to prayer and worship. In fact, there is much here that we can again find of similarity between our faiths. Christians also believe in the importance of prayer and do see this as a way that we have direct contact with God. We can speak directly to God, and we believe that God in his infinite ability hears all of our prayers. We also believe that God speaks to us through the scriptures of the Holy Bible. In addition, worshipping within a community of other believers where we can share our faith, study the scripture together, and learn from others is another way in which we believe that God can speak to us. Practicing these disciplines of prayer, reading the scripture, and learning with others are ways that our knowledge of God increases and a way that we can feel our relationship growing with God.
While we place great importance on those activities, we believe that those activities by themselves are not what make us part of God’s kingdom. Jesus Christ, as God’s messenger, explained that it is more important that our hearts be changed. Without that, these activities become empty and meaningless to God and for us. Joining God’s kingdom is a voluntary choice that we make and should not be something we do just because our family, friends, or government tell us to do. We must truly want to follow Christ and be in God’s kingdom, then we will also want to be engaged in those activities as mentioned above. They will then become natural expressions of our faith, rather than routine exercises. This may be one of the great differences in our beliefs. I would be interested in any comments you might have about this.
In answer to your other question:
1 – I had explained that God came to earth as a human, through the body of Jesus. God also called Jesus his son, so God was still God even while he was in the body of Jesus. That is one of those things that our human scientific minds cannot ever fully understand, and is where faith comes in. Faith is believing in what we have not seen or fully understood. You asked why God didn’t decide to come to earth until then? God made the earth and was always here and is still here. Again, God is so great a God that we cannot understand this – That is what makes him God and us merely human. Prior to Jesus coming to earth, God did speak to his people, often through prophets. He also worked through political leaders, Kings and others. At that time, individuals believed that in order to please God, they had to do things like sacrificing animals and following all kinds of strict rules. I don’t know why God came at the specific time when he came (as Jesus), but it was predicted in the scriptures that he would come. I think that maybe he saw the confusion of those he had created, and through Jesus was able to show what he really wanted of his people. He explained while here that following every rule was not what was important, but believing in him and making him the master of our lives was what he wanted. To fully demonstrate that, instead of asking his followers to sacrifice animals at the altar, Jesus Christ allowed himself to be sacrificed to show how deeply he loved them and wanted them to understand this.
2 – You asked what happened to people who came before Christ, how did God relate to them. As I said above, I believe that God worked and spoke more through prophets and leaders prior to the time of Jesus, but through Christ he made it clear that he wants to work through each and every one of us. As far as forgiveness and punishment, God already had the capability of knowing people’s hearts and people had a sense of a heaven (an eternal reward) and a hell (punishment). Again, Jesus was God’s way of making it clear to his people what “they had to do to be saved.” Acts 16:30-31
3 – You asked that if we only follow Jesus, what guidance do we take from others such as Daniel and Moses? While Jesus was both human and divine, he was the perfect example for us to follow. Others such as Daniel and Moses were only human, humans who did great things, but who also made mistakes and had to seek God’s leading in their lives. As humans, we have a lot to learn from them, from their examples, their mistakes, and how they related to God. We learn from them, but we do not follow them as master of our lives. Correct me if I am wrong, but would we not agree in our view of these prophets and leaders, other than Jesus? It does seem to me in your comments that you view Muhammad as nearly like we view Jesus, as you mentioned “following” his deeds and actions. The big difference is that we believe that because Jesus was not only human but also divine, we not only follow his deeds and actions, but we follow him as a person, because he is God.
4 – You asked that if we follow only Jesus, why do we read other religious books too? I am not sure if you are referring to other books of the Bible, or other current books that people use to explain the Bible. The books of the Old Testament provide history of God’s interaction with humans and the world, and it points toward Jesus as the one who was coming. Books of the Bible that were written after Jesus (such as many written by Paul) were stories of the first Christians and churches and how they lived this life of following Jesus, providing us guidance today of how to follow Jesus. Other books are still written even today that are not included in the Bible, but are books written by those who have studied the Bible, and can be helpful for each of us in explaining the meaning of the stories and words of the Bible, much as I am attempting to do right now through writing in response to your questions.
Thanks for your questions and for reading this. I am interested in your answers to my questions above and am willing to consider more questions. We may think differently, but I believe that together we are honoring God through this discussion. Together, we are working toward peace.
Shalom, David Powell