Few reason why Muslims think Jesus was a Muslim

¿Was Jesus a Muslim?

By: Humberto Gutierrez

Muslims claim that Jesus was a prophet of Islam and that they love Jesus and obey him even more than Christians do. I will address few reasons why Muslims say Jesus was a Muslim, but is the truth on Muslims´ side? Let the evidence to speak:

1. “Jesus (pbuh) taught that there is  only One God and Only God should be worshipped as taught in Deut. 6:4, Mark 12:29. Muslims also believe this as taught in the Qur'an verse 4:171.”

Mar 12:29 “Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

فَأَجَابَهُ يَسُوعُ: «إِنَّ أَوَّلَ كُلِّ الْوَصَايَا هِيَ: اسْمَعْ يَا إِسْرَائِيلُ. الرَّبُّ إِلَهُنَا رَبٌّ وَاحِدٌ.

My answer:  

It is true that Jesus spoke of the One and Only God, we Christians believe in One True God (The God of the Scriptures), if we read the context we shall notice that a man asked him what is the most important commandment?:

(V.28)"…Which commandment is the most important of all?"

 «أَيَّةُ وَصِيَّةٍ هِيَ أَوَّلُ الْكُلِّ؟»

And Jesus answered by quoting Deut. 6:4 (Shema):

 Deut. 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

  «إِسْمَعْ يَا إِسْرَائِيلُ: الرَّبُّ إِلهُنَا رَبٌّ وَاحِدٌ.

Taking some verse out of the immediate context and read it isolated, it will lead us to a misunderstanding of the actual meaning of what the text or the book itself is trying to communicate to us. The question here is: Did Jesus reject to be divine?

Jesus is not saying He is not God, but he only answered the question by quoting Scriptures, if we read the context, since Mark 12:1-11. Jesus is speaking to them in parables, He spoke about the Owner of a vineyard, and the tenants, and the owner sending his servants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard, but the tenants killed them all, until he sent his Son, thinking they will respect him, but they kill the Son also, Jesus´ goal was to point all the attentions to Himself.

Jesus was very interested in people knowing who he was, not if they believe in one God or not, because to believe in one God, won’t take you to heaven (The Devil know God is One), but Jesus was making emphasis most of the time on himself, because it was more important (and still is) to know who Jesus is, because he is the only way to the Father.

After the Scribes tried to trap him, by making questions, Jesus wanted to draw their attention to focus on something more relevant than knowing if God is one or not, again, he points to himself:

Mar 12:35 “And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

Mar 12:36 “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet."'

Mar 12:37 “David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?" And the great throng heard him gladly.

  ثُمَّ سَأَلَ يَسُوعُ وَهُوَ يُعَلِّمُ فِي الْهَيْكَلِ: «كَيْفَ يَقُولُ الْكَتَبَةُ إِنَّ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنُ دَاوُدَ؟

 لأَنَّ دَاوُدَ نَفْسَهُ قَالَ بِالرُّوحِ الْقُدُسِ: قَالَ الرَّبُّ لِرَبِّي: اجْلِسْ عَنْ يَمِينِي حَتَّى أَضَعَ أَعْدَاءَكَ مَوْطِئاً لِقَدَمَيْكَ.

  فَدَاوُدُ نَفْسُهُ يَدْعُوهُ رَبّاً. فَمِنْ أَيْنَ هُوَ ابْنُهُ؟» وَكَانَ الْجَمْعُ الْكَثِيرُ يَسْمَعُهُ بِسُرُورٍ

It is of vital importance that people know who Jesus really is; this is why He asked them why the Messiah is called Son of David, when David himself called him LORD. Is very evident that Jesus´ concern was on make them understand who He was, and that they could acknowledge that. Now, what the Muslims really have to think about is: Do you acknowledge Jesus is Lord? For Jesus is very important that you recognize him and accept him as Lord, If you don’t, so why you claim to be true followers of Jesus? Or Why do you claim Jesus was a Muslim, when he Himself told them “I am Lord”.

2. “Jesus (pbuh) didn't eat pork as taught in Leviticus 11:7 and neither do Muslims as taught in the Qur'an verse 6:145.”

My answer:

 Muslims say Jesus didn’t eat pork, as Muslims do, but Jesus said:

Mark 7:18  “And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside [eaten] cannot defile him,

Mark 7:19 “…since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

لاَ تَقْدِرُ شَجَرَةٌ جَيِّدَةٌ أَنْ تَصْنَعَ أَثْمَاراً رَدِيَّةً وَلاَ شَجَرَةٌ رَدِيَّةٌ أَنْ تَصْنَعَ أَثْمَاراً جَيِّدَةً.

كُلُّ شَجَرَةٍ لاَ تَصْنَعُ ثَمَراً جَيِّداً تُقْطَعُ وَتُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ.

But that’s not all, Jesus also said:

Mar 7:20 “And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.

Mar 7:21 for from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

Mar 7:22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."      

فَإِذاً مِنْ ثِمَارِهِمْ تَعْرِفُونَهُمْ.

«لَيْسَ كُلُّ مَنْ يَقُولُ لِي: يَا رَبُّ يَا رَبُّ يَدْخُلُ مَلَكُوتَ السَّمَاوَاتِ. بَلِ الَّذِي يَفْعَلُ إِرَادَةَ أَبِي الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ.

  كَثِيرُونَ سَيَقُولُونَ لِي فِي ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ: يَا رَبُّ يَا رَبُّ أَلَيْسَ بِاسْمِكَ تَنَبَّأْنَا وَبِاسْمِكَ أَخْرَجْنَا شَيَاطِينَ وَبِاسْمِكَ صَنَعْنَا قُوَّاتٍ كَثِيرَةً؟

فَحِينَئِذٍ أُصَرِّحُ لَهُمْ: إِنِّي لَمْ أَعْرِفْكُمْ قَطُّ! اذْهَبُوا عَنِّي يَا فَاعِلِي الإِثْمِ!

The question for Muslims is: ¿Does Islam deals with the things that really defiles a person?, Jesus is telling the religious people that whatever people eat, does not defile them (spiritually), but God want to deal with the main point of our wickedness, our sinful nature, and our wicked heart. In Islam even Muhammad who supposedly was a prophet, lived in sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery.  So ¿How can you say that you follow Jesus´ teachings more than a Christian when even Muhammad did not followed Jesus’ teachings?. God want to remove every sinful desire, want to change our wicked heart, God want to give us a new nature, and the only way this can be accomplish is by born from the Spirit of God:

John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he [Jesus] gave the right to become children of God,

John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

وَأَمَّا كُلُّ الَّذِينَ قَبِلُوهُ فَأَعْطَاهُمْ سُلْطَاناً أَنْ يَصِيرُوا أَوْلاَدَ اللَّهِ أَيِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِاسْمِهِ.

  اَلَّذِينَ وُلِدُوا لَيْسَ مِنْ دَمٍ وَلاَ مِنْ مَشِيئَةِ جَسَدٍ وَلاَ مِنْ مَشِيئَةِ رَجُلٍ بَلْ مِنَ اللَّهِ.

Jesus taught that nobody can enter the Kingdom of God, unless one is born from the Spirit of God:

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:6 that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7 do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'”

 أَجَابَ يَسُوعُ: «الْحَقَّ الْحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكَ: إِنْ كَانَ أَحَدٌ لاَ يُولَدُ مِنَ الْمَاءِ وَالرُّوحِ لاَ يَقْدِرُ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ مَلَكُوتَ اللَّهِ. 

  اَلْمَوْلُودُ مِنَ الْجَسَدِ جَسَدٌ هُوَ وَالْمَوْلُودُ مِنَ الرُّوحِ هُوَ رُوحٌ. 

  لاَ تَتَعَجَّبْ أَنِّي قُلْتُ لَكَ: يَنْبَغِي أَنْ تُولَدُوا مِنْ فَوْقُ. 

The question for Muslims is: ¿Have you been born again, by the Spirit of God? If you haven’t, how could you say that Muslims follow Christ even more than Christians do? Or how do you expect to be in the Kingdom of God without born again? Repent from you sins and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and God will pour His Holy Spirit over you.

3. Jesus (pbuh) greeted with the words "as salaamu alaikum" (Peace be with you) in John 20:21. Muslims also greet each other this way.

My answer:

That depends more on cultural affairs, people in the Middle East used to greet others in this way, but is irrelevant the way that people greet each other. The Muslims put emphasis on superficial things, such as how Jesus used to greet, instead of comparing Jesus with the teachings of the Quran, and see if Jesus was a Muslim. For example the Quran commands Muslims to:

9:29 “Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.”

And the Qurans refers to the Jews and Christians as:

98:6 “Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.”

On the other hand, Jesus commands us to:

Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

Mat 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

«سَمِعْتُمْ أَنَّهُ قِيلَ: تُحِبُّ قَرِيبَكَ وَتُبْغِضُ عَدُوَّكَ.

وَأَمَّا أَنَا فَأَقُولُ لَكُمْ: أَحِبُّوا أَعْدَاءَكُمْ. بَارِكُوا لاَعِنِيكُمْ. أَحْسِنُوا إِلَى مُبْغِضِيكُمْ وَصَلُّوا لأَجْلِ الَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَيَطْرُدُونَكُمْ

The Lord Jesus also said:

Mat 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

طُوبَى لِصَانِعِي السَّلاَمِ لأَنَّهُمْ أَبْنَاءَ اللَّهِ يُدْعَوْنَ..

4. Jesus (pbuh) always said "God Willing" (Insha´Allah), James 4:15, Muslims say this too before doing anything as taught in the Qur'an verses 18:23-24.

My answer:

Muslims quote from the epistle of Jacob (James) 4:15 where he said:

James 4:15 “Instead you ought to say, "If the LORD wills, we will live and do this or that."

  عِوَضَ أَنْ تَقُولُوا: «إِنْ شَاءَ الرَّبُّ وَعِشْنَا نَفْعَلُ هَذَا أَوْ ذَاكَ».

What Muslims do not mention and are not aware of, is that when Jacob (James) is talking here, he is referring to Yeshua as LORD:

James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the LORD (YHWH) Jesus Christ”

يَعْقُوبُ، عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَالرَّبِّ يَسُوعَ الْمَسِيحِ، يُهْدِي السَّلاَمَ إِلَى الاِثْنَيْ عَشَرَ سِبْطاً الَّذِينَ فِي الشَّتَاتِ.

And Muslims are correct in their interpretation, they agree that Yeshua is Allah (God)!

5. Jesus (pbuh) washed his face, hands, and feet before praying [Exodus 3:5]. The Muslims do the same.

My answer:

Well, again, there is any mention in the Holy Bible of Jesus washing or doing “Wudu” (as Muslims do),

washing his face, hands and feet before praying. If I am wrong, please prove me where it says so. If we read the Gospels, we won´t find any place where Jesus commanded his disciples to wash their hands and face and feet before every pray, simply there is no evidence for that.

6. Jesus (pbuh) and other prophets of the Bible prayed with their head to the ground (see Matthew 26:39). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur'an verse 3:43.

My answer:

Muslims love to claim that Jesus is a Muslim because he prayed with the face on the ground as recorded on Luke 22:41, but again, Jesus never commanded his disciples to have a position to pray, because is not important the way we pray. If Muslims want to know what Jesus taught about praying, lets read the Gospels to see what really Jesus taught, an example of that is when the disciples asked Jesus "LORD, teach us to pray, as John (Yahya) taught his disciples." and Jesus told them how to pray:

Luke 11:2  And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

Luke 11:3 Give us each day our daily bread,

Luke 11:4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."

فَقَالَ لَهُمْ: «مَتَى صَلَّيْتُمْ فَقُولُوا: أَبَانَا الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لِيَتَقَدَّسِ اسْمُكَ لِيَأْتِ مَلَكُوتُكَ لِتَكُنْ مَشِيئَتُكَ كَمَا فِي السَّمَاءِ كَذَلِكَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ.

خُبْزَنَا كَفَافَنَا أَعْطِنَا كُلَّ يَوْمٍ

وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا خَطَايَانَا لأَنَّنَا نَحْنُ أَيْضاً نَغْفِرُ لِكُلِّ مَنْ يُذْنِبُ إِلَيْنَا وَلاَ تُدْخِلْنَا فِي تَجْرِبَةٍ لَكِنْ نَجِّنَا مِنَ الشِّرِّيرِ».

Another question raises now for my Muslims friends, Do you pray to God as “Father”?  I think you don’t, because the Quran explicitly says “Allah is father to no one” so how can you even think that you pray as Jesus prayed?

Muslims if you want to know how Jesus actually prayed I encourage you to read John 17 where it clearly says:

Joh 17:1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…”

تَكَلَّمَ يَسُوعُ بِهَذَا وَرَفَعَ عَيْنَيْهِ نَحْوَ السَّمَاءِ وَقَالَ: «أَيُّهَا الآبُ قَدْ أَتَتِ السَّاعَةُ. مَجِّدِ ابْنَكَ لِيُمَجِّدَكَ ابْنُكَ أَيْضاً

I must say I´ve never meet any Muslim who lift his eyes to heaven for pray, or more important, Muhammad never prayed to Allah as Father, nor did Muhammad said what Jesus did:

John 17:5 ”And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

وَالآنَ مَجِّدْنِي أَنْتَ أَيُّهَا الآبُ عِنْدَ ذَاتِكَ بِالْمَجْدِ الَّذِي كَانَ لِي عِنْدَكَ قَبْلَ كَوْنِ الْعَالَمِ..

7. Jesus (pbuh) followed the law and believed in all the prophets, (see Matthew 5:17). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur'an verses 3:84, and 2:285.

My answer:

Jesus followed the Law, that is true and He believed in all the prophets also (Muhammad is not included as prophet) but why Muslims do not read the whole verse? and let Jesus speak for himself:

Mat 5:17 "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.”

لاَ تَظُنُّوا أَنِّي جِئْتُ لأَنْقُضَ النَّامُوسَ أَوِ الأَنْبِيَاءَ. مَا جِئْتُ لأَنْقُضَ بَلْ لِأُكَمِّلَ

Jesus is not saying he obey the Prophets, but that He came to fulfill those prophesies about him, what Jesus is saying is that the Torah and the books of the Prophets, were prophesizing about Him, and He came to fulfill everything.

The religious people in the time of Jesus were thinking that they would accomplish eternal life by following the Law, or by reading the Prophets, He points to them the reality of why the Scriptures were written, Jesus said:

John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me”

فَتِّشُوا الْكُتُبَ لأَنَّكُمْ تَظُنُّونَ أَنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهَا حَيَاةً أَبَدِيَّةً. وَهِيَ الَّتِي تَشْهَدُ لِي.

Jesus is saying that the eternal life is not in the Scriptures, but that the Scriptures point to Him, and that only He could give Eternal Life. Moses no gave them eternal life, but Moses spoke about the only One who could give Eternal life, in the words of Jesus:

John 5:46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me”

  لأَنَّكُمْ لَوْ كُنْتُمْ تُصَدِّقُونَ مُوسَى لَكُنْتُمْ تُصَدِّقُونَنِي لأَنَّهُ هُوَ كَتَبَ عَنِّي.

8. Jesus (pbuh) spoke Aramaic and called God "Elah", which is pronounced the same as "Allah". Aramaic is an ancient, Biblical language. It is one of the Semitic languages that also include Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic and the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian language of Akkadian. The Aramaic "Elah" and the Arabic "Allah" are the same. The Aramaic "Elah" is derived from the Arabic "Allah", and it means "GOD". "Allah" in Arabic also means "GOD", the Supreme GOD Almighty. You can easily see the similarity in their pronunciation so this concludes that the God of Jesus is also the God of the Muslims, of all mankind, and all that exist.

My answer:

I´ve heard thousands of times, Muslims claiming that Jesus cried out to Allah for help, when Muslims make use of this argument, they´re not realizing that when they do it they agree with something the Quran denies, which is Jesus´ crucifixion. When Muslims quote this passage from the Gospels, they are denying Muhammad´s statement that Jesus was never killed nor crucified (Quran Surah 4:167), because when Jesus spoke this words he was hung at the cross on Calvary:

Mat 27:46 ”And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

وَنَحْوَ السَّاعَةِ التَّاسِعَةِ صَرَخَ يَسُوعُ بِصَوْتٍ عَظِيمٍ قَائِلاً: «إِيلِي إِيلِي لَمَا شَبَقْتَنِي» (أَيْ: إِلَهِي إِلَهِي لِمَاذَا تَرَكْتَنِي؟)

But what is Jesus saying with these words? Is he really praying to Allah? Muslims think that the Aramaic for “Elah” (God) sounds same to the Arabic word for “Allah” (الله) therefore Jesus was praying to Allah, I wonder how can this be possible when Muslims deny that Jesus was put on the cross? According to Muslims this event never happened, so how can somebody make reference or quote an event that in the first place they say (Muhammad said) it never happened!.

But we know Jesus actually was crucified, we know he died, but also we know that he did rise from the death!. But is very important that we can deeply understand what was Jesus saying, and the reason why he said such words. To understand Jesus´ words on that cross, we have to back up our interpretation using the Scriptures.

In the Old Testament there is a prophesy about the sufferings of the Messiah, we can read it on the book of Psalms.

 Psalms 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”

 لإِمَامِ الْمُغَنِّينَ عَلَى [أَيِّلَةِ الصُّبْحِ]. مَزْمُورٌ لِدَاوُدَ إِلَهِي! إِلَهِي لِمَاذَا تَرَكْتَنِي بَعِيداً عَنْ خَلاَصِي عَنْ كَلاَمِ زَفِيرِي؟

When Jesus was hung on that cross, all the religious leaders who denied Jesus was the Messiah, they were in that place watching Jesus being martyred, it was a very usual thing that when somebody wanted to quote or make reference to certain passage on the Scriptures, he would quote and recite the first verse of that text, we have to understand when Jesus was saying these words, he was referring to the Psalm 22, which is a prophetic Psalm which spoke about the suffering of the Messiah, I won´t quote the whole chapter just a few passages that make a clear reference to Jesus’ sacrifice:

Psa 22:7 “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

Psa 22:8 "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" …

كُلُّ الَّذِينَ يَرُونَنِي يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ بِي. يَفْغَرُونَ الشِّفَاهَ وَيُنْغِضُونَ الرَّأْسَ قَائِلِينَ:

 [اتَّكَلَ عَلَى الرَّبِّ فَلْيُنَجِّهِ. لِيُنْقِذْهُ لأَنَّهُ سُرَّ بِهِ].

Psa 22:14 “… I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

Psa 22:15  my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

Psa 22:16  For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—

Psa 22:17  I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

Psa 22:18  they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

كَالْمَاءِ انْسَكَبْتُ. انْفَصَلَتْ كُلُّ عِظَامِي. صَارَ قَلْبِي كَالشَّمْعِ. قَدْ ذَابَ فِي وَسَطِ أَمْعَائِي.

يَبِسَتْ مِثْلَ شَقْفَةٍ قُوَّتِي وَلَصِقَ لِسَانِي بِحَنَكِي وَإِلَى تُرَابِ الْمَوْتِ تَضَعُنِي.

لأَنَّهُ قَدْ أَحَاطَتْ بِي كِلاَبٌ. جَمَاعَةٌ مِنَ الأَشْرَارِ اكْتَنَفَتْنِي. ثَقَبُوا يَدَيَّ وَرِجْلَيَّ.

  أُحْصِي كُلَّ عِظَامِي وَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ وَيَتَفَرَّسُونَ فِيَّ.

يَقْسِمُونَ ثِيَابِي بَيْنَهُمْ وَعَلَى لِبَاسِي يَقْتَرِعُونَ.

When Jesus spoke those words what he was saying in few words is “Look how I´m fulfilling these prophesies that were wrote about me”.

The evidences point to one way only, Jesus was not a Muslim, nor he was a preacher of Islam, he never mentioned any god Allah, and he is not who Muslims think he was. I encourage my Muslims brethren (In humanity) to check the evidences, and read the Biblical sources, so they can know Jesus and God willing (Insha´Allah) someday you can say “Jesus is Lord for the Glory of God the Father” Amen.