Christians, Muslims & ….

Jesus
A short guide exploring the history, depiction and importance of
Jesus the Muslim and Christian traditions

Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford

December 2023
'Hikmah' is an Arabic word for wisdom. CMCS Hikmah Study Guides are
an accessible way for the reader to develop a wise understanding of
complex and potentially controversial topics which Muslims and
Christian encounter together. Each guide is written with input from
both Christian and Muslim scholars and is intended to be non-partisan
whilst not ignoring difficult or controversial issues and histories. The
guides can be read by both specialists and non-specialists in the field
and can also be used as conversation starters for small groups. There
will no doubt be Christians and Muslims who disagree with some
points or find this guide less than comprehensive, since no short work
of this length can cover all the complexities of such a topic. So
additional reading is suggested for those who want to study further.
The questions for reflection at the end are designed to help us all think
more deeply about these important themes. Let the conversation
continue!
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
Christian Views of Jesus........................................................................ 2
In history ........................................................................................... 2
In the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles ........................................... 3
In the Epistles ................................................................................... 6
In the Book of Revelation ................................................................. 7
In the Old Testament ........................................................................ 8
In the Councils of the Church ........................................................... 8
In recent times................................................................................ 10
Christian worship of Jesus .............................................................. 10
Muslim views of Jesus ........................................................................ 12
In the Qur’an................................................................................... 12
In the Hadith ................................................................................... 15
In recent times................................................................................ 16
Christian-Muslim debates about Jesus ............................................... 17
Muslim concerns with Christian views of Jesus.............................. 17
Christian concerns with Muslim views of Jesus ............................. 18
Conclusion .......................................................................................... 21
Further reading ................................................................................... 22
Questions for further reflection ......................................................... 24
Introduction
Jesus is so central to Christians that their very name is taken from one
of Jesus’ titles: the Christ (from the Greek translation of Messiah,
meaning anointed one). According to their traditional creeds,
Christians believe Jesus to be the “Word of God”, who was involved in
creation, became human as the son of the Virgin Mary, was crucified
and buried, rose again, brings salvation and will one day “judge the
living and the dead”.1 Whilst Jesus’ humanity is crucially important and
he gives the perfect example for believers to follow, it is his supposed
divine nature which leads Christians to worship. The New Testament
tells them that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians
1:15) and “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of
His being” (Hebrews 1:3). If Christians want to know what God is like,
they look at Jesus.

It surprises many Christians to learn that Jesus is also an important

figure in Islam. He is seen as a prophet, one of the four principal
messengers of God who brought books to their people, along with
Moses, David and Muhammad. He was born to a virgin, was a word
from God (cf. Q3:45, Q4:171) and performed miracles. He ascended
into heaven and one day will return to earth. However, Muslims
strongly reject the idea that Jesus should in any way be seen as divine.
Most would also not believe in his death or resurrection, and do not
see that he is in any way a “saviour”.

These different understandings of Jesus have led to a long history of

disagreement and misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians
over the centuries. This Hikmah Guide sets out the varying views of
Christians and Muslims about Jesus from the Bible and Qur’an, and
from the developing traditions about Jesus in both communities. The

1
https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/109020/Nicene-Creed.pdf
1
debates about Jesus between Christians and Muslims will be illustrated
by some historical case studies of writers who took the views of “the
other side” seriously. There will no doubt be Christians and Muslims
who disagree with some points, or find this guide less than
comprehensive, since no short work of this length can cover all the
complexities of such a topic. However, it is hoped that this Hikmah
Guide, along with the further reading and discussion questions at the
end, will help Christians, Muslims and others to have a wiser
conversation about Jesus in and between their respective faith
communities.

Christian Views of Jesus

In history
According to the traditional Christian narrative, Jesus was born over
2000 years ago in Bethlehem. His miraculous birth to a virgin was
announced by angels, greeted by both shepherds and wise men and
caused a political crisis (Matthew 1:18-2:23, Luke 1:26-2:21). He was
given the name Jesus by an angel, which is from the Hebrew Joshua,
meaning “the Lord saves” (Matthew 1:21).2 As a young child he was
taken to Egypt to escape assassination before returning to live in
Nazareth where he grew and learned a trade as a carpenter until the
start of his public ministry at around 30 years of age. His life and death
are attested by early historians. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus,
writing at the end of the first century, refers to “Jesus who was called
Christ”, although his references to his death and resurrection may have
been later Christian interpolations. 3 The Roman historian Suetonius,
writing in the early second century, also mentions “Christ” or

2
Arab Christians call him yasūꜤ, leading some Christians to dispute whether
the Qur’anic Arabic name ꜤIsā is even referring to the same person.
3
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews - Book XX, 9:1, written around 93
CE, also Book XVIII, 3:3.
2
“Chrestus” and the trouble that those called “Christians” caused in
various places. 4 Another historian writing at that time, Tacitus,
discussing the great fire in Rome during Nero’s reign (54-68 CE),
mentions Jesus’ death. He says that the blame for the fire was placed
on those “called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the
name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of
Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”5 Pliny
the Younger, writing around 112 CE, also discusses the punishment of
Christians who “sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god” rather
than sacrificing to the Roman gods.6

In the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles

The four Gospels in the New Testament are presented as based on
eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry (Luke 1:1-4, John 21:24-
25). 7 The earliest of the Gospels, written by Mark around 70 C.E.,
begins by announcing that the subject of the Gospel is “Jesus Christ,
the Son of God” (1:1). Twice in the account of the preaching and
healing work of Jesus, it is recorded that God audibly declared Jesus to
be His well-loved son, firstly, after he was baptised by John the Baptist
at the outset of his public ministry (1:11), and secondly after he had
taken three of his disciples up a mountain and was “transfigured”
towards the end of his life (9:7). However, Jesus usually refers to
himself as “the Son of Man” who has authority to cast out demons
from those possessed (2:10), to heal those with various illnesses –
including paralysis (2:3-12), blindness (8:23-25), and deafness (7:32-

4
See Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Nero 16:2 and Claudius
25:4.
5
Tacitus, Annals, Book 15, Chapter 44, written around 116 CE. See Luke 23
for an account of Pilate’s involvement.
6
Pliny the Younger, Letters, 10:96, to Emperor Trajan.
7
See on this Bauckham, Richard. 2017. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2nd
edition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
3
35) – to forgive sins (2:10), and to raise the dead to life (5:35-43). He
walks on water (6:45-52), calms a storm (4:37-41), and multiplies food
for a multitude from a few loaves and fish (6:30-52). Three times he
tells his disciples that he will be put to death by Jewish leaders but that
he will be raised to life after three days (8:31, 9:30-32, and 10:33-34).
The disciples do not believe him, and when Jesus is put on trial, Peter,
the leading disciple, even denies all knowledge of Jesus (14:66-72).
Jesus says his death will be a ransom for many people (10:45), and a
Roman army officer present at his crucifixion is reported as professing
that Jesus was God’s son (15:39). Mark finishes his Gospel with the
account of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day
after his death (16:1-8).

Two other Gospels by Matthew and Luke follow the same pattern but
add extra accounts. Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus and the
announcement by an angel that he would be called Immanuel,
meaning “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Luke records the choice of the
unmarried Mary as Jesus’ young mother and the angelic assurance that
the child would be conceived by the Spirit of God without a human
father. He was to be called “Son of the Most High” ( Luke 1:26-35).
Matthew emphasises the teaching of Jesus, especially his deeper
interpretation of the Jewish law. “Do not murder” is extended to “do
not be angry” (Matthew 5:21-22); “do not commit adultery” becomes
“do not lust” (5:27-28); “love your neighbour” even includes praying
for your enemy who persecutes you (5:43-46). He has a particular focus
on Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God. People should repent as
“the kingdom of heaven has come near” and the kingdom is seen
working in society like yeast from the bottom up (13:33). This kingdom
is global and will draw in people from other nations (8:11-12).
Matthew ends his Gospel with an account of the resurrected Jesus
sending his disciples into the world with authority to make disciples
from all nations, to baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son

4
and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them everything Jesus had
commanded his disciples. Finally, Jesus promised that he personally
would be with them to the very end of the age (28:18-20). Luke adds a
record of Jesus praying on the cross that his Father would forgive those
who had crucified him (Luke 23:34), and ends his Gospel with Jesus
ascending to heaven in front of his disciples who “worshipped him with
great joy” (24:50-52).

The Acts of the Apostles, whilst not one of the four gospels, presents
itself as written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke and
continues the account, picking up after the resurrection of Jesus. It tells
of his ascension into heaven (Acts 1:1-10), the promise of his return
(Acts 1:11) and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) in fulfilment of
Jesus’ earlier promise (Luke 24:49). According to the writer, his
disciples then preach, tell the “good news”, heal and baptise people,
all “in the name of Jesus” (Acts 2:38-4:34). It records the significant
conversion of Saul of Tarsus after having a vision of Jesus on the road
to Damascus (Acts 9, Acts 26). Saul was renamed Paul and went on to
evangelize and establish churches in Asia Minor (present day Turkey)
and Europe, the record of which occupies most of the rest of the book
of Acts.

The fourth Gospel written by John is quite different from the other
three in structure and design, with many dialogues between Jesus and
various people. John opens his Gospel by speaking of Jesus as the
Logos, “the Word”, who was always with God, becoming flesh and
living among humans to make the invisible God known (John 1:1-16).8
Jesus makes several declarations about himself: “I am the bread of life”
(6:35); “I am the light of the world” (9:5); “before Abraham was born,
I am” (8:58); “I am the gate for the sheep” (10:7); “I am the good

8
Logos is the Greek word for “word” but can also mean “logic” or “reason”,
having special resonance in Greek philosophical thought.
5
shepherd” (10:14); “I and the Father are one” (10:30); “I am the
resurrection and the life” (11:25); and “I am the way, the truth and the
life” (14:6). In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that his kingdom
is not an earthly political rule and he rejects fighting as an option for
his disciples (18:36). Finally, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit on
his disciples (14:16-17, 16:13-15) which came about on the Day of
Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 (above).

In the Epistles
In addition to the gospel accounts, the New Testament contains 21
letters, or epistles, written by Jesus’ followers. The largest number
were written by Paul, mentioned above, who was reported to have
met Jesus in a vision (see the Hikmah Guide to Christians, Muslims and
the Bible). It is widely accepted that these epistles were written before
the Gospels and were later collected by Christians who regarded them
as authoritative and inspired writings by those who had received
instruction directly from Jesus. They show how Jesus was understood
by the first generation of believers. For example, the eternal identity
of Jesus is affirmed by Paul in the epistle to the church in Philippi, in
which he says that although Jesus Christ possessed the nature of God,
he humbled himself and died on the cross (Philippians 2:6-8). To the
believers in Colossae Paul writes that Jesus is the image of the invisible
God, through whom all things were created and in whom everything
holds together (Colossians 1:15-17). The writers of the epistles also
develop the idea in Jesus’ teaching in the gospels that his death would
accomplish something. It was a “sacrifice of atonement” (Romans
3:25), that would bring redemption and forgiveness or purification
from sins (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, 1 John 1:7). Through it,
people can be reconciled to God and to one another (Ephesians 2:16,
Colossians 1:20) and the powers of darkness are defeated (Colossians
2:15).

6
The resurrection of Jesus is affirmed as being central to the Christian
hope of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) and Jesus will one day return
to earth and the dead will be raised (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Believers are to “eagerly wait” (Hebrews 9:28) for him to come,
although that time will come at an unknown hour like a “thief in the
night” after which the earth and heavens will be made new (2 Peter
3:10-13).

Other New Testament writers focus on the need to follow Jesus’

teachings. James, traditionally believed to be Jesus’ brother, stresses
in his epistle that faith should lead to good works and that people
should not just listen to Jesus’ teaching but do what it says (James 1:22,
2:14-24). John similarly commanded believers to “live as Jesus lived”
and to put their love for one another into action just as Jesus did (1
John 2:6, 3:14-18).

In the Book of Revelation

The final book in the New Testament, the Revelation of John, contains
the reported visions of John, who had been exiled by the local Roman
government to the prison island of Patmos for his leadership of the
Ephesian church towards the end of the first century. He describes
seeing Jesus as a lamb that had been sacrificed yet standing in front of
the throne of God in heaven, and hearing him being praised for dying
for people from every tribe and nation (Revelation 5:6-14). In a later
vision of the End Times, he saw Jesus, riding on a white horse like a
Roman general but bearing the names “Faithful and True”, “the Word
of God” and “King of kings and Lord of lords”. A sharp sword came from
his mouth to strike the nations by his word (19:11-16). After the
judgement on the enemies of God (20:1-15), John saw the existing
earth and heaven being abolished and replaced with God’s new city
where he dwells with his people for ever and all pain and tears are
wiped away (21:1-27).

7
In the Old Testament
All of the New Testament writers of the gospels, the epistles and
Revelation make it clear that they consider Jesus to be the fulfilment
of the prophecies and expectations in the Hebrew scriptures or the
“Old Testament” (e.g. 1 Peter 1:10-12). For example, Matthew many
times claims that events, words or actions concerning Jesus were “to
fulfil” what had been said by one of the prophets (e.g. Matthew 1:22-
23, 2:13-18). Jesus too claimed that “Moses and all the Prophets” had
been speaking about him (Luke 24:25-27). He self-consciously
associated himself with Old Testament characters or symbols such as:
the bronze serpent (John 3:14-15 cf. Numbers 21:4-9); the Son of Man
and the Suffering Servant (Mark 10:45 cf. Daniel 7:13-14 and Isaiah
52:13-53:12); the True Vine (John 15:1-8 cf. the people of Israel in
Hosea 10:1); and the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18 cf. the Lord in
Psalm 23:1-3). Christians ever since have believed that they can see
evidence in the older writings of both predictions of Jesus’ coming (e.g.
Deuteronomy 18:17-20), allusions to his role (e.g. in creation Genesis
1:1-3 cf. John 1:1-5) and even possibly of his appearing in the earlier
scriptures (e.g. Daniel 3:24-27).

In the Councils of the Church

Christians have not always agreed on the exact meaning and
interpretation of the New Testament texts. Debate concerning the
nature and eternal, uncreated status of Jesus came to a head in the
churches during the fourth century. By this time the word “Trinity” was
being used to describe the nature of the one God as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, the word having appeared in the second century, although
many Christians see the concept as very clear in the New and even the
Old Testaments.9 One notable dissenter was Arius of Alexandria, who

9
See for instance, Tertullian, On the Trinity in Against Praxeas. Tertullian
lived in Carthage around 155-220 CE.
8
in 319 CE declared that Jesus was not eternal or pre-existent but was
merely the most important created human being. However, in 325 CE
the Council of Nicaea agreed with Athanasius of Alexandria that Jesus
the Son is “consubstantial” with, or of the same substance as, God the
Father, affirming the unity of Father and Son in eternity.

In the fifth century there was further disagreement about the

relationship of the divinity and humanity of Christ. Cyril of Alexandria
held that Jesus possessed one incarnate nature as God the Word, but
Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, argued that Mary should not
be called “theotokos” (or God-bearer, a term still frequently used in
the Eastern churches) since she only bore the human Jesus who was
the dwelling of the divinity. Nestorius was exiled in 431 and the Council
of Chalcedon in 451 affirmed a middle way between these positions.
Pope Leo I of Rome was influential in leading the delegates to affirm
that Christ was perfect God and perfect man, and that each nature
keeps its own characteristics without confusion while each carries out
its activity in harmony with the other. Since that time, broadly
speaking, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and later Protestant
Christians have held to the decisions of the Councils of Nicaea and
Chalcedon, whilst the Oriental Orthodox churches, which include the
Coptic Orthodox, the Syriac Orthodox, the Armenian Apostolic and the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, have not accepted the Council of
Chalcedon. They see Jesus as only having “one nature” (physis) whilst
the Chalcedonian churches see Jesus as “one person” (hypostasis) in
“two natures” (physeis).10

10
See the Hikmah Guide to Christians, Muslims and Sects & Diversity for a
discussion of Christian denominations and their distinctives. There is also an
accessible introduction to early Christian divisions as the background to the
7th century life of Muhammad in Brown, Daniel. 2009. A New Introduction to
Islam: Second Edition (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing), pp34-37.
9
In recent times
Since the eighteenth century, critics have again challenged the divinity
of Jesus. Historical study of the New Testament documents led some
to question whether the church had not overlaid the portrait of Jesus
with a divine hue. For them Jesus was no more than a healer who
challenged Jewish teaching in his day but did not himself claim to be
divine. This approach was typified by Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976)
who, in the twentieth century, claimed that the only historical certainty
about Jesus was his death by crucifixion, whilst the rest of the stories
about his life and miracles should be regarded as myth.11 Some other
theologians have followed in his footsteps with radical critiques of
Jesus’ supposed divinity. For instance, Don Cupitt (1934-) sees him as
nothing supernatural but rather as “an almost secular moral teacher
inviting commitment to a quite new moral world—a world ruled by
love, in which everyone lives from and by the heart”.12

Nevertheless, theologians in the mainstream Christian tradition

continue to regard the accounts of the Gospels as historically
trustworthy. For example, Larry Hurtado (1943-2019) pointed out that
it would have been very difficult for Jews who had steadfastly held to
the worship of one God to begin to worship Jesus.13 Yet this is what
apparently happened to Paul and other Jews at that time, as they
responded to the claims Jesus made about himself.

Christian worship of Jesus

For the vast proportion of the Christian churches, Jesus is seen as being
divine, the “second person of the Godhead” who will one day return to
earth. Their theology is “Christocentric”, meaning that God is

11
Bultmann, Rudolf. 1958. Jesus and the Word (New York: Scribners), p17.
12
Cupitt, Don. 2009. Jesus and Philosophy (London: SCM), 86.
13
See Hurtado, Larry. 2003. Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest
Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
10
understood through the person of Jesus. He is worshipped and the
focus of this worship in most church traditions is the bread and the
wine which commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus,
variously called the Eucharist, Holy Communion or the Mass. 14 All
traditions include readings from the Bible about Jesus in their worship,
some traditions recall his life in specially written liturgies and most use
the “Lord’s Prayer”, which Jesus taught his disciples to say (Matthew
6:9-13). Many also worship him in music, using ancient psalms, hymns
that have been handed down through history or even in modern songs.
Christians regard Jesus as being alive and present with them through
the Holy Spirit. They obey him as their Lord and seek to live out his
example of selfless love in society whilst calling others to follow him
too.

14
See the Hikmah Guide to Christians, Muslims Sects & Diversity.
11
Muslim views of Jesus
Many Christians are surprised to find that Muslims believe in Jesus and
hold him to be an important prophet. Indeed, Muhammad is reported
in the Hadith as saying how near he felt to Jesus. 15 So, there are
significant overlaps between the Muslim and Christian accounts of
Jesus. However, the most important differences are that Muslims do
not see Jesus as divine or as a saviour figure. Rather he is a highly
respected, but human, prophet.

In the Qur’an
Jesus is mentioned many times in the Qur’an with great respect and all
Muslims revere Jesus (or ꜤIsā in Qur’anic Arabic) as a great prophet.
Jesus receives a scripture which the Qur’an terms the Injῑl (’Gospel‘ -
singular) in a way seen as parallel to Muhammad’s receiving of the
Qur’an, that is directly from God (Q5:46, 57:27). He is one of the most
important prophets in a sequence which culminates with Muhammad.
The Qur’an’s account of Jesus then overlaps with that in the New
Testament in several respects, although often with significant
differences in detail or emphasis. In Sūrat Maryam there is an account
of his miraculous conception and birth without a human father. Angels
announced to a virgin called Mary that she would give birth to a baby
boy, but she was concerned that people would think her “unchaste”.
So, the angel reassured her that the conception would be by the will of
God who is able to create whatever He wills, and that the child would
be “a pure son”. Indeed, Mary and her son were to be “a sign for all
people” of the power of God to create beyond normal means. When
Mary gave birth under a palm tree and the people accused her of
indecency, the baby Jesus himself spoke and spoke of his prophethood,
thus vindicating his mother (Q19:16-26). Jesus is called “a word from

15
Bukhari Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 652
12
Him (God)” to be called “the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary” and the
angel predicts the sort of life he would lead (Q3:42-51).16

This passage includes the healing work of Jesus and announces that
Jesus has come with a sign from God. He will make a bird from clay and
then breathe life into it, heal the blind and the lepers and raise the
dead to life. All these signs will be performed “with God’s permission”
(Q3:49). Another sign is mentioned in Q5:112-115, when Jesus asks
God to send down a table of food for his disciples so that they might
believe in the power of God. The Qur’an also declares that Jesus came
to confirm the Torah, the law that had been given to the Jews, which
prescribed “an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a
tooth for a tooth, an equal wound for a wound”. However, it goes on
to say that “if anyone forgoes this out of charity, it will serve as
atonement for his bad deeds” (Q5: 44-47).

Despite these similarities, there are some important differences

between the Qur’anic and New Testament accounts. For instance, the
Qur’an insists that Jesus should not be seen as more than a human
prophet. In Sūrat al-Mā’idah (Q5), Jesus denies that he ever told
people to take him as a god in addition to God, and in the same verse
he says that what is in his heart is known by God, but he does not know
what is in God’s heart (Q5: 116-117). The Qur’an also warns Christians
not to believe in the Trinity. “Do not say anything about God except
the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a
messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So,
believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a ‘Trinity’–
stop”. They should stop calling Jesus the Son of God because God is
“far above having a son”. Everything in the heavens and on the earth
belongs to God. It is therefore not right for Christians to single out Jesus

16
All in text Qur’an quotes are from the translation by Abdel Haleem, Oxford
University Press, 2004.
13
from among other messengers and to elevate him to divine status
(Q4:171). In another place, it says that both Mary and Jesus ate food,
suggesting that they were nothing more than human (Q5:75-76). Jesus
is also recorded as telling the Jews of his time that he is a messenger
of God to them, confirming the Torah that came before him and
announcing good news of a messenger to come after him whose name
will be “Ahmad” (Q61:6). Thus, Jesus was announcing that he was a
messenger in the line of messengers to the Jews before him and also a
forerunner of Muhammad (another form of the name Ahmad) who
would confirm the message that he brought.

Furthermore, the Qur’an talks about Jesus’ crucifixion. The Jews

claimed to have crucified Jesus, but in the Qur’an God declares that
“they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to
appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of
doubt, with no knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly
did not kill him. Rather God raised him (Jesus) up to Himself” (Q4:157-
158). This has usually been interpreted to mean that Jesus was taken
to heaven without going through the process of death. 17 Other
Qur’anic references affirming the death of Jesus at some point in time
(Q3:55, 19:33) are usually interpreted in line with this interpretation of
Q4:157, so as to rule out the crucifixion. For example, they are taken
to refer to his death after he returns to Earth at the end of time to
reveal the truth of Islam (see below in Hadith discussion). Finally,
Christians are warned of God’s judgement if they persist in equating
the Messiah with God. The Qur’anic Jesus himself warns that whoever
makes an associate for God, “God will forbid him from the Garden, and
Hell will be his home” (Q5:72).

17
On Muslim interpretations of Q4:157, see Lawson, Todd. 2009. The
Crucifixion and the Qur’an: a Study in the History of Muslim Thought
(Oxford: Oneworld).
14
In the Hadith
The Hadith contain all the sayings and accounts of Muhammad and can
be found in many large collections compiled by various Muslims – both
Sunni and Shia – in the centuries following his death. These add to the
Muslim account of Jesus found in the Qur’an and many are helpfully
collected in Tarif Khalidi’s book, The Muslim Jesus. 18 There are two
particular emphases: the self-denial of Jesus, and his role in the events
surrounding the judgment of God at the end of the world. Ahmad Ibn
Hanbal (d. 855) records several sayings in his book on asceticism which
demonstrate that Jesus is an exemplar of the humble life. 19 Jesus is
quoted as telling people how to pray; they should frequently mention
God’s name and praise and glorify Him. Then they may ask God to
forgive their sins, to reform their way of life, and to keep them from
wrongdoing. Jesus gives advice about passing on knowledge to others
and he says that the greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the
one who has learned, acted, and imparted knowledge to others. Jesus
also encourages good deeds. Those who devote themselves to God
should be the light for the children of Adam. They should “forgive those
who have done evil to them, visit the sick who do not visit them, be
kind to those who are unkind to them and lend to those who do not
repay”.20

The Hadith also speak about Jesus’ role in the events of the End Times.
Muhammad said that he was closest to Jesus among all humans
because there was no Prophet between them. He said that in the End
Times Jesus will descend from heaven, break the crosses, kill the pigs,

18
Khalidi, Tarif. 2003. The Muslim Jesus: sayings and stories in Islamic
literature (Cambridge, Mass; London, Harvard University Press).
19
Ibn Hanbal, Kitab al-Zuhd (Book of Asceticism), 855CE, cited in Khalidi,
Muslim Jesus, 68.
20
Khalidi, Muslim Jesus, 88. All the sayings in this paragraph can be found in
Khalidi pp68-93.
15
and abolish the poll tax (jizya).21 After this Jesus will die and Muslims
will pray over him and bury him.22

In recent times
Muslims today all greatly respect Jesus as a Muslim prophet but take
different approaches to the Christian understanding of Jesus. All
Muslims would strongly reject the idea that Jesus is in any way divine.
Indeed, some are highly polemical and attack many areas of Christian
belief. Other Muslims, however, choose to seek out common ground.
For instance, in 2007, 138 Muslim scholars produced a document
called A Common Word between Us and You, addressed to Christian
leaders around the world which quoted approvingly the various words
of Jesus concerning love in the Gospels. 23 Other Muslims have
attempted to bring alignment between Christian and Muslim beliefs
about the end of Jesus’ life. In her book, Christians, Muslims and Jesus,
Mona Siddiqui wrestles respectfully with the meaning of the cross and
points out that some well-known Muslims have accepted that Jesus did
die on the cross before being raised to heaven.24 However, they could
not believe that Jesus’ death on the cross had any atoning significance
for the redemption of humanity from sin.

Jesus plays an especially prominent role in the thought and devotion

of many Sufi Muslims. Although they do not see him in any way as
divine, they regard him as being “among the ranks of ‘perfect men’”

21
These ideas appear in many hadith records e.g. Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 3,
Book 43, Hadith 656.
22
Sunan abi Dawud, Book 38, Hadith 4310.
23
https://www.acommonword.com
24
Siddiqui, M. 2014. Christians, Muslims, and Jesus (New Haven, Yale
University Press) p231. She cites two well-known Sunni scholars of the
C20th, Muhammad ‘Abduh and Rashid Rida, as examples.
16
and an important model of “purity, perfection, love, and healing”. 25
Some Muslims also believe that dreams about Jesus may have
auspicious meanings.26

Christian-Muslim debates about Jesus

We see in what follows here that early Muslims and Christians put
forward arguments which have remained as points of difference down
through the centuries.

Muslim concerns with Christian views of Jesus

There have been two particular problems for Muslims concerning
Christian beliefs about Jesus. Firstly, the claim that Jesus is God’s Son
which makes him uniquely divine, and secondly, the belief that God is
a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These concerns arise from the
teaching of the Qur’an (already mentioned above) that God has no
partner and no son, and that Christians should not speak of three when
God is one. The earliest extant refutation of Christianity is by al-Qasim
ibn Ibrahim (d. 860) who wrote around 815 when he had debated with
Christians in Egypt.27 He argued that the Christian gospels do not make
Jesus a unique son of God, because Jesus often called God the father
of the disciples. When Jesus says in John 8:31-58 that he is God’s son
and God is his father, that he has come from his father, and that if his
hearers obey God then they will be God’s sons, he means that God is
the father of all those who obey and please Him. Therefore, Christians
should interpret everything in their gospels about fatherhood and

25
Milani, M. "Representations of Jesus in Islamic Mysticism: Defining the
"Sufi Jesus"." Literature & Aesthetics 21 (2012) pp45-64, 63 & 48.
26
See for example www.myislamicdream.com/jesus.html and
https://www.islamicdreaminterpretation.org/jesus accessed 15 April 2021
27
See: Madelung, W., ‘Al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm’ in Thomas, D. et al. (eds.). 2001
Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, Vol.1 (Leiden, Brill)
p.541-3.
17
sonship in this way. Al-Qasim did not understand how the churches
developed their view that Jesus was divine because he was God’s Son,
because in his view Jesus did not teach this about himself. He called on
Christians to leave behind what he saw as the developed theology of
the later creeds and return to the simplicity of the Jesus of the Gospels.

Another challenge to Christian faith in the divinity of Jesus came from

Abu `Isa al-Warraq (d. 861), who put forward the most detailed critique
of Christian theology in the early Islamic period.28 He scrutinised the
contradictory teachings of the main churches in the Middle East,
especially regarding the incarnation and death of Jesus. He argued that
these contradictions showed how much more rational Islam was than
Christianity. He also critiqued the Christian doctrine of the Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Spirit as he felt it violated the oneness of God. Al-
Warraq's refutation of the Trinity would go on to influence Muslim
writing on the Trinity for centuries. He subjected the Trinity to a
sustained assault based on the presupposition that God must be a
simple unity, and that the definition of oneness necessarily excludes
threeness.

The concerns of Muslims today often follow very similar patterns, as

can be seen in Kate Zebiri’s survey of academic and more popular
writings by Muslims and Christians about each other.29

Christian concerns with Muslim views of Jesus

Christians have tended to regard Muslim views of Jesus as not
representing the Jesus of the four Gospels. An early example is `Ammar

28
See Thomas, David. 1992. Anti-Christian Polemic in Early Islam: Abu ’Isa al-
Warraq's Against the Trinity (New York: CUP); and Thomas, David (ed. and
trans.) 2002. Early Muslim Polemic Against Christianity: Abu ’Isa al-Warraq's
Against the Incarnation (Cambridge: CUP).
29
Zebiri, Kate. 1997. Muslims and Christians Face to Face (Oxford:
Oneworld).
18
al-Basri (d. c. 850) who defended the authenticity of the Gospels in his
Book of Questions and Answers by arguing that the teaching of Jesus
was so challenging to people that his disciples could not have made it
up.30 He contrasted the portrait of Jesus in the Qur’an with that in the
Gospels. Jesus commands baptism in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, claims to be divine and human, and teaches that there will
be no marriage, eating or drinking in the hereafter. However, ‘Ammar
believed that Muslims do not know God the Father because they deny
that He has a Son. They say that the Spirit is from the Lord, but Jesus
teaches that the Spirit is the Lord. They say that the word of God is
created but Jesus is the eternal Word of God. They believe that there
will be marriage, eating and drinking in the hereafter, but Jesus denies
this. Muslims claim that the Gospels were corrupted by the followers
of Jesus but, for ‘Ammar, the corruption of Jesus’ teaching occurs the
other way around. Muslims corrupted the pure teaching of Jesus. He
goes into more detail with the commands of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus
commanded love for enemies and denied the right of a man to divorce
his wife apart from adultery. Jesus sent his disciples as lambs among
wolves and forbade them from retaliation or even from taking a club
to protect themselves. In short, `Ammar encouraged the reader to
come to the conclusion, without explicitly spelling it out, that Islam
makes the commands of Jesus much easier to follow.

A more recent example is Hans Küng (1928-2021) who thought that

Christians must challenge Muslims to take the Jesus of the gospels
more seriously than they do.31 For Küng, the portrait of Jesus in the
Qur’an is lacking in detail apart from his upholding of monotheism, his

30
For an English translation of this work see Beaumont, Mark (trans.) 2022.
Ammar al-Basri's Arabic Apologetics: The Book of the Proof Concerning the
Divine Economy and The Book of Questions and Answers, (Piscataway, NJ:
Gorgias Press).
31
Hans Küng, Islam: Past, Present and Future (Oxford: Oneworld, 2007), 500.
19
call to that monotheism in light of the judgment to come and a few
miracle stories. While the Qur’an claims that Jesus kept the Torah, the
gospels show that he challenged aspects of the Law. It was because he
opposed legalism with love that he was put to death. The fact that
historians of the time recorded that Jesus was crucified demonstrated
for Küng that the denial of the crucifixion in the Qur’an is impossible to
accept as truth. Küng’s view of Jesus was sharply contrary to the Jesus
of the Qur’an. For him the heart of the Christian faith was the belief
that God the Father works in a revealing, redeeming and liberating way
in us through his Son Jesus Christ in the Spirit, but none of this is like
the heart of the Islamic faith.

20
Conclusion
Christians and Muslims have a long history of differences over Jesus.
While there have been attempts to engage in debate over the
centuries, these have largely been conducted by a small number of
interested individuals. The vast majority of Christians and Muslims
have known very little about the beliefs of one another concerning
Jesus. On the one hand, Christians have wanted Muslims to understand
why they believe that Jesus is divine. For their part, Muslims see Jesus
as an honoured prophet in the line of Abraham, Moses and
Muhammad and cannot understand why Christians do not honour
Muhammad as they honour Jesus. Muslims feel that they would never
demean Jesus the way some Christians demean Muhammad (see the
Hikmah Guide on Christians, Muslims & Muhammad).

These apparently irreconcilable differences over Jesus continue to

impact relations between Christians and Muslims down to our time.
One way to increase understanding is to enable both Christians and
Muslims to read the Qur’an and the Bible together so that they can
listen to one another and explore the similarities and differences.
While the differences cannot be ignored or smoothed away, the effort
at understanding could bring about a more fruitful interaction between
Christians and Muslims.

21
Further reading
Jesus in Islam
Khalidi, Tarif. 2001. The Muslim Jesus. (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press).
Küng, Hans. 2007. Islam: past, present and future. (Oxford:
Oneworld).

Lawson, Todd. 2009. The Crucifixion and the Qur’an: A Study in the
History of Muslim Thought. (Oxford: Oneworld).
Omar, Irfan (ed). 2007. A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on
Dialogue by Mahmoud Ayoub. (New York: Orbis Books).
Sarıtoprak, Zeki. 2014. Islam’s Jesus, (Gainesville, FL: University of
Florida Press).
Shumack, Richard. 2020. Jesus through Muslim Eyes, (London, SPCK).
Siddiqui, Mona. 2013. Christians, Muslims, & Jesus. (New Haven &
London: Yale University Press).

Jesus in Christianity
Allison, Dale. 2010. Constructing Jesus: memory, imagination and
history. (London: SPCK).

Cumming, Joseph. 2012. 'Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? Responding
to the Muslim View of Jesus', Asian Journal of Pentecostal
Studies, 15/2: 133-142
Farnham, Bruce. 1988. The Way of Jesus. (Tring, Herts.: Lion Books).

Hurtado, Larry. 2003. Lord Jesus Christ: devotion to Jesus in earliest

Christianity. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

22
O'Collins, Gerald. 2009. Christology: a biblical, historical, and
systematic study of Jesus. (Oxford: OUP).

Wright, N.T. 2011. Simply Jesus: who he was, what he did, why it
matters. (London: SPCK).

Other reading
Beaumont, Mark. 2018. Jesus in Muslim-Christian conversation.
(Eugene, OR: Cascade Books).

Robinson, Neal. 1991. Christ in Islam and Christianity. (Basingstoke:

Macmillan).

23
Questions for further reflection
For Christians
• What portrait of Jesus can you create from Islamic scripture
and tradition?
• Why do you think that Muslims find the Christian view of
Jesus so hard to understand and accept?
• In what ways could you present a response to the Islamic
view of Jesus?

For Muslims
• What portrait of Jesus can you create from the account in the
Christian gospels?
• Why do you think that Christians find the Muslim view of
Jesus so hard to accept?
• How do you respond to Christian criticism that Islam has
moved away from the Jesus of the gospels?

For Christians and Muslims

• What can Christians and Muslims affirm together about
Jesus?
• How might we deal with differences about the life and nature
of Jesus?
• How can Muslims and Christians best understand the
contradictory accounts of the end of Jesus’ earthly life in their
respective scriptures?

24
 Hikmah Study Guides
“These Hikmah Guides are an excellent resource, looking constructively at
issues which sometimes appear to divide Christians and Muslims, and
applying the same standards and criteria to each tradition”. Prof Hugh
Goddard (Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh).

“Readers are expertly guided so that they can comprehend and

then reflect on the sheer range of sectarian diversity within the
modern world's two global religious superpowers”. Dr Shabbir
Akhtar (Regent’s Park College, Oxford)

“At last, accessible and readable guides to hot button issues in Christian-
Muslim encounter, at once non-polemical and academically rigorous. The
fruit of a sustained collaboration by Christian and Muslim academics. Highly
recommended. Dr Philip Lewis (Inter-faith Consultant to the Bishop of Leeds
and former Lecturer at Bradford University)

“Hikmah. Wisdom. We need to understand how the world works if

we are to interact with it rightly. This series lives up to its name and
I thank God for it!” Dr Ida Glaser, Founding Director of CMCS

© Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, 2023 Version 9.1

Some rights reserved – see copyright licence for details.

For further information about distribution and publication
please contact:

Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies

109A Iffley Rd.
Oxford
OX4 1EH

Email: office@cmcsoxford.org.uk
Website: www.cmcsoxford.org.uk

Hikmah Guide No.9