Jesus & Quran

Islam -- Jesus @ Qumran and Hadith

Introduction: Much can be learned by examining the Qumran and Hidith respecting how Muslims perceive Jesus. As in the case of Abraham, Muslims see differently and see more than exists within the Jewish Scriptures. It is the same for Jesus. Your mission, if you are willing to accept it, is to discover these things for yourself.

Directions: Make arrangements with your learning partner to do these investigations at the same time (and same place, if possible), perhaps at the time of the ordinary class meeting on 01 Mar 06.. You will undertake the examination of primary texts, write down your hunches, share them with your learning partner, and draw your conclusions. In the end, you will be sending your results to me on 02 Mar 06; hence, decide early whether you want to print out these pages and write in your hunches or to capture (Ctrl-A,Ctrl-C) these pages and open them up as a Word document (Ctrl-V) that can be sent electronically.

Preparation: Take a few moments and fill in your hunches before the investigation begins.

Q1: Do Muslims believe what Christians believe when it comes to the central message of Jesus?

YES

Q2: Do Muslims believe what Christians believe when it comes to the miracles of Jesus?

YES

Q3: Do Muslims believe what Christians believe when it comes to the ascension of Jesus into heaven and his return on the Last Day?

NO

Q4: Do Muslims believe what Christians believe when it comes to how Jesus will function when he returns?

NO

Q5: Why do Muslims not believe that Jesus is equal to God (Allah)?

Because they believe in one Deity and if Jesus were equal to God, there would be more than one God

Investigation One: Examine the following. Underline those parts that find confirmation in the Christian Scriptures. Write NT references in the margins, if you know where such confirmation could be found. Draw a line through those parts that are unique to the Quran:

Jesus, the son of Mary, said to his people: "I am the messenger of God. I come to confirm the book [of Moses] (Mt 3:1-3; John 1:27; Mk 1:1-11) which has preceded me and to announce the coming of a prophet who will follow me. And his name will be Ahmad [Muhammad]." When he [Jesus] brought forth evident signs [confirming his message] before their eyes, they cried out: "These are due to pure magic." (Quran 61:3 @ critical French ed.)

(NOTE: Dr. Milavec--The new Outlook does not allow me to line through, so I hope you don't mind but I just changed the color for the Quran references.)

You who believe, be the supporters of God in the same way as Jesus, son of Mary, called to his disciples: "Who will assist me in God's cause?" And they responded: "Look to us as the assistants of God." And in this way a portion of the children of Israel believed while the rest did not believe (Quran 61:14 @ critical French ed.)

Q1. John the Baptizer, according to Matthew's Gospel, announced the coming of one who "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (3:11). Jesus, according to the Quran, announced the coming of Muhammad. If John's disciples were expected to get ready for the one coming, does it follow that Jesus' disciples were expected to get ready for Muhammad? ______ Explain.

Scripture reflects that Jesus' ministry was limited to "Israel" (Mt 15:21-26; Mt 10:5-6; Mk 7:24-27) "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" also "Jesus sent the 12 disciples to Israel only". The Quran speaks about Jesus being "limited to the Jews." (3:49). However, as Christians we believe that only in a literal sense, but it does give support that the disciples were probably not preparing for the arrival of Muhammad.

Q2. Where do Muslims find in the Christian Scriptures that Jesus expected Muhammad? If you know where, write it down here? If not, do a three minute web search to see if you can quickly find it.

John 16:12-13

Investigation Two: 2. Quran 3:30-55 offers an extended narrative that provides information respecting Mary and Jesus that only partially parallels Christian sources. Our task will be to discern where the parallels and the divergence exist. As in the above, underline parallels and draw a line through unique material.

Story of Mirium [Mary] and Isa [Jesus] in Surah 3

Birth of Mirium (Mary): parents = Imran (Joachim) and Hanna (Anna)

35. When a woman [wife] of Imran said: My Lord! surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to Thy service); accept therefore from me, surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing.

36. So when she brought forth, she said: My Lord! Surely I have brought it forth a female and Allah knew best what she brought forth and the male is not like the female, and I have named it Marium, and I commend her and her offspring into Thy protection from the accursed Shaitan [Satan].

37. So her Lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing, and gave her into the charge of Zakariya [Zechariah] (a priest in the temple);

Mirium fed miraculously by Allah in the sanctuary of the temple

whenever Zakariya entered the sanctuary to (see) her, he found with her food. He said: O Marium! whence comes this to you? She said: It is from Allah. Surely Allah gives to whom He pleases without measure.

Zakariya prayer for a son answered and a sign in given by Allah

38. There did Zakariya pray to his Lord; he said: My Lord! grant me from Thee good offspring; surely Thou art the Hearer of prayer.

39. Then the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: That Allah gives you the good news of Yahya [John] verifying a Word from Allah, and honorable and chaste and a prophet from among the good ones.

40. He said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to me, and old age has already come upon me, and my wife is barren? He said: even thus does Allah what He pleases.

41. He said: My Lord! appoint a sign for me. Said He: Your sign is that you should