The Prophet Isa: Part 3- What He Means to Me

This is one of the most interesting topics I've ever read in Islamic theology. Before I read or knew anything about the Islamic view of Jesus (Isa) I thought Christianity and Islam had very little in common. They still don't have much in common but I think this hope they share in Jesus' message and eventual return is vital to any remaining dialogue between the two faiths in this post 9\11 world.

[Jesus meditating near Mt. Kailash in Tibet by Bruce Harman]

Part 1
Part 2

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Jesus Christ is one of the most widely known and beloved figures in history. As a spiritual teacher Jesus is many things to many people: to the Bahá’í he is a manifestation of God; to Hindus, a shaktyavesha Avatar; to Muslims, a messenger of God; to Buddhists, a bodhisattva; to Christians he is Messiah, Son of God. In Part 1- A Sign for Humanity I went over the basic beliefs Muslims have on Jesus and what he represents, and in Part 2- A Long Awaited Hope I wrote about the hope that Christians and Muslims both share in the second coming of Jesus. In this last segment on the Prophet Isa I'd like to focus on what he means to me.

I no longer consider myself a Christian. Some Christians may cringe at the thought that anyone that has received Christ into their heart (which I truly did in my youth) would be willing to forsake Christ, but all I really left was a man-made church and its man-made teachings to follow the true spirit of Jesus. It is because his teachings touch upon that vein of love buried at the foundations of our world religions that he is accepted, loved, and followed by billions. Can non-Christians follow Jesus and his teachings without worshiping him as God incarnate? This is the exact predicament that I face when I speak with Christians. Some believe it's all or nothing, "either you love Jesus, the Son of God, or you don't. You can't separate Jesus the man from Logos the Word, and by doing so you attack everything Jesus represents and did for humanity." The doctrines of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ are hard for me to swallow only because it does not help me to commune with the Divine. I can not imagine a God that I could not come directly to in prayer and meditation. This is not because I feel I am righteous enough to come before the Almighty but because the relationship becomes more personal without an intermediary.

So where does Jesus fit in my beliefs? He is my model to how I should interact with my fellow man and how to worship our Creator. I do not believe the original message of Jesus was to declare worship for himself as God or to become a sacrificial lamb for our sins, but I believe he intended to rekindle the flame of love inside our hearts so that it radiates throughout our bodies and pours off of our tongues. He is my signpost, my guide, my compass, not the destination. I felt so strongly about what he means to me that I designed a symbol and had it tattooed on my right forearm. At that point in my life I saw myself as a Christian and I wanted to get a tattoo that represented my beliefs. I did not want to get a crucifix so I decided to base my tattoo on the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ, the Chi Rho. I replaced the Greek letter chi with a sword and a hammer representing that I am a soldier and worker for Christ's message and teachings. I had it placed on the inside of my right forearm for several reasons:

• The right hand in biblical symbolism is associated with the righteous.
• It is kept from direct view on the inside of my arm to symbolize my belief in religion being a private matter.
  
• The point where the hammer and sword cross right below my wrist is the point where Christ could have been nailed to the cross.
  

I had it done because I never imagined myself as anything other than a Christian. It is my daily reminder of how we should fight injustice and work towards a loving and compassionate society.

Although the title of this post is on the Prophet Isa I see both the Muslim and Christian Jesus as one and the same. Both were messengers of God who taught that by unifying yourself (harmonizing the inside and outside of spirit and body) we can begin to heal the scars that divides Humanity. When a unified Humanity arises then we can truly come to understand the mysteries of the universe and its Creator.

The Prophet Isa: Part 2- A Long Awaited Hope

This is one of the most interesting topics I've ever read in Islamic theology. Before I read or knew anything about the Islamic view of Jesus (Isa) I thought Christianity and Islam had very little in common. They still don't have much in common but I think this hope they share in Jesus' message and eventual return is vital to any remaining dialogue between the two faiths in this post 9\11 world.

[Turkish-Islamic picture of the ascension of Jesus (Isa)]

Part 1
Part 3

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In Part 1- A Sign for Humanity I went over the basic beliefs Muslims have on Jesus and what he represents. Isa is a sign of God's power and majesty being created by the decree of God, no different than the Christian Jesus. But in Islam the sign is not worshiped nor becomes God. Because he is a created being, although special, he must one day return to earth in a Second Coming, live out the rest of his life, and die. Muslims look forward to Jesus returning as much as (but probably not more than) their Christians cousins. Whatever the beliefs, traditions, or sayings either group attributes to this one man he is a sign of hope for all mankind who is prophesied to usher in a new age.

“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.”[Qur'an 43:61]

According to Islamic theology and eschatology Jesus was not crucified but was taken up alive to God and will return before the Day of Judgment. He will return one day during the conflict between the Mahdi ("the rightly guided one") and the Antichrist (al-Masīh ad-Dajjāl, "false messiah"). Jesus will then kill the Antichrist and the people of the book (the Jews and the Christians) will come to believe in him. After the death of the Mahdi Jesus establishes universal peace and justice, rule for 40 years, marry (if I remember correctly), and eventually die. Even though the details and purpose of Jesus' Second Coming differ between Christians and Muslims the important point is that BOTH groups are awaiting his return to establish an era of peace.

Both religions have fought, bled, and died over their faiths yet both have a shared hope in Jesus. Regrettably we have all but lost Jesus' original teachings and his message of love your neighbor has been garbled and enmeshed with rituals and beliefs that it is hard to find true practitioners of love. Maybe since we lost his message the first time we hope that he will return to teach us once more. What would we do then? Will we try to follow it the second time in hopes of establishing universal brotherhood and peace, or will we fight over the meaning of the message once more and return to endless cycles of violence? How many times must God keep sending revelations; when will we learn from our mistakes?

Each community, tribe, and nation says "here is what God revealed to us!" but instead of being grateful we fight amongst ourselves in which truth is correct instead of letting these truths guide us. If there is a universal truth beneath and behind the curtains of the competing religions how can we find it amongst the others with our feeble and mortal minds? Man's fallibility hinders us from grasping the truth with every ounce of our souls so how can Man, who is known to make mistakes, determine that which is true without making a mistake?

I believe that is why Humanity relies on that which we describe as Infallible, Eternal, and Incorruptible. If we learn from our past mistakes maybe God won't need to send Jesus back. Maybe if we take the lessons we've learned from our myths and carve them into DNA maybe we won't need to hope for something greater to save us if we could just save ourselves. I'm not saying we should do away with God but we can at least give Him a break so that He doesn't have to keep reminding us "thou shalt not kill". Islam explains that humanity has forgotten its true nature, purpose, and way of life. This is why God sends us messengers, reminders, to lead us back to our natural state. Everything in Nature (birds, animals, trees) is a natural Muslim acting in harmony with their surroundings and their true nature. A bird doesn't stop being a bird so that it can be a fish likewise we should act in harmony with one another. Why should we steal our neighbor's bread when we have enough of our own or why horde our bread from those that don't have enough? As caretakers of this world we must also be caretakers of its citizens, our brothers. One day God may not need to send us reminders once we have finally instilled these spiritual truths into our hearts, and on that day God will once again step back and say that it was good.

The Prophet Isa: Part 1- A Sign for Humanity

This is one of the most interesting topics I've ever read in Islamic theology. Before I read or knew anything about the Islamic view of Jesus (Isa) I thought Christianity and Islam had very little in common. They still don't have much in common but I think this hope they share in Jesus' message and eventual return is vital to any remaining dialogue between the two faiths in this post 9\11 world.

[Photo: Islamic Jesus (Isa) miniature of Sermon on the Mount]

Part 2
Part 3

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First, a quick overview on what Muslims believe about Jesus:

• A prophet/Messenger of God
• Miraculously born of the Virgin Mary
• Given the ability to perform miracles by the permission of God
• Preached for people to adopt the straight path in submission to God's will
• The Christian concept of the deity of Jesus is blasphemous and seen as a form of polytheism.
• Neither killed nor crucified, but rather he was raised alive up to heaven.
• He will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and defeat al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl (The False Messiah or the Antichrist).
• Precursor to and foretelling of Muhammad's coming

Jesus is very highly revered in the Muslim world and is considered the second greatest prophet next to Muhammad but like all created beings he must return to the earth. Muslims even have a grave prepared for him in Medina next to the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad. Even with all the similarities (and I just named a few) why is it that Christians and Muslims can't see eye to eye on this important religious figure?

It is said in the Qur'an that Allah sent Jesus to confirm the previous revelation to the Israelites, the Tawrat, and sent him with a new revelation the Injil (the Gospel). Even Christians agree that Jesus came as the fulfillment of the Law even though this is interpreted as fulfillment through his Death and Resurrection.

17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 5:17-18 NIV

Even with all the similarities the main issue is that of Divinity. Was he Divine or not? Was he fully man, fully Divine, or fully Divine and fully man? The only problem with this question (and every theological question) is that it's all theory based on text based on events thousands of years ago, and this applies to both Islam and Christianity. Of course this is where faith steps in but that's a topic for another day.

If you want to understand Islam you must understand the concept of Tawhid, the Islamic doctrine of the Oneness of God.

[Excerpt taken from Wikipedia]

It holds God (Arabic: Allah) is one (wāḥid) and unique (ahad). The Qur'an asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world; a unique and indivisible being, who is independent of the entire creation.The indivisibility of God implies the indivisibility of God's sovereignty which, in turn, leads to the concept of a just, moral and coherent universe, rather than an existential and moral chaos. Similarly, the Qur'an rejects such ideas as the duality of God arguing that both good and evil generate from God's creative act and asserting that the evil forces have no power to create anything. The Qur'an also rejects the concept of Trinity as prevalent in Christianity. God in Islam is a universal god, rather than a local, tribal or parochial one -- is an absolute, who integrates all affirmative values and brooks no evil.

This is the foundation stone of Islam and if we are to understand the Islamic Jesus we must understand their view of God. Isa's message, as well as the other prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, is to bring the people back to God whenever they stray. Muslims believe that most nations and tribes have been sent a prophet throughout history and that Isa was just one of them.

There are a lot of similarities between the Christian and Muslim Jesus life stories as well. As I mentioned Mary miraculously gave birth to Isa not as the son of God but as a sign to humanity. [There is no Joseph in the Qur'anic version.] The Qur'an mentions signs of all sorts that reveals the majesty of God from the complex design of nature to the verses of the Qur'an itself. Isa even speaks from the cradle to calm Mary's fears and silence scandalous rumors.

30 He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; 31 And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; 32 (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; Qur'an 19:30–32

Isa is a sign of God's power and majesty being created by the decree of God, no different than the Christian Jesus. But in Islam the sign is not worshiped nor becomes God. Even though Christians and Muslims will continue to battle over the divinity of Jesus they both understand the power of signs and symbols that point to something greater. These signs hold a hidden knowledge that contain divine elements which in some cases results in the sign being worshiped instead of what it represents. When Christians worship Jesus do they bow down to merely a man? No, but a person that led a sinless life as fully divine and yet also fully man as a symbol pointing to the divine. It is in these tangible symbols that both Christians and Muslims share in an attempt to worship the Unseen, the Unknowable. They may continue to battle over which symbols more clearly represents the Divine but in the end they are just symbols. Even though Humanity may never do away with symbols it is only when we transcend these symbols can we truly begin to recognize the Divine.