“_Jesus is no other than a servant, Whom We have favoured with the
gift of prophecy; and We appointed Him for an example unto the
children of Israel (if We pleased, verily We could from ourselves
produce angels, to succeed you in the earth), and He shall be a sign
of the approach of the last hour; wherefore doubt not thereof._”
“_O ye who have received the Scriptures, exceed not the just bounds
of your religion, neither say of God other than the truth. Verily
Jesus Christ the Son of Mary is the Apostle of God, and His Word
Which He conveyed to Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him. Believe,
therefore, in God and His apostles, and say not, There are three Gods.
Forbear this. It will be better for you._”
“_The Christians say, Christ is the son of God. This is their saying
in their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who were unbelievers
in former times. May God resist them. How are they infatuated, they
take their priests and their monks for their lords, besides God and
Christ the son of Mary; although they are commanded to worship one
God only: there is no God but He. Far be that from Him which they
associate with Him. They seek to extinguish the light of God with
their mouths; but God willeth no other than to perfect His light,
although the infidels be averse thereto._”
There are in the Quran many references to our Lord Jesus Christ, but
there is practically no historic knowledge. It must be remembered
that in Muhammad’s time there was no Arabic version of the Bible; he
was therefore dependent for information upon the Jews and Christians
with whom he came into contact. That he formed conclusions upon very
insufficient knowledge is the terrible blunder of his life, of which
full use has been made by Christian writers. Enough has not been
made of the responsibility of the church which had no better tales
to tell, no truer account to give, of their Lord and their Faith.
The Christianity presented to this Seeker after God was painfully
inadequate to his need.
The little Muhammad discovered led to his acknowledgment of the Jewish
and Christian books, which he had never read, with reservations. It
led also to a far more important admission. The Jesus of the Quran is
denied Divinity, but the character of Jesus did not fail of effect.
All criticism is directed towards the professors of the Christian
Faith, and their doctrines. This “son of Mary” is, in Muhammad’s view,
that which he never dreamt of claiming for himself, a man unstained
by sin. Not only so, but titles and honours are yielded to Him little
short of Divine:—He is _Masih_, the Messiah; _Qaul-ul-Haqq_, the Word
of Truth; _Kalima_, the word; He is “the Apostle of God to confirm the
law, and to announce an Apostle who should come after Him, whose name
should be Ahmad;” He had near access to God, and was “illustrious in
this world and the next.”
Yet Muhammad supersedes Jesus Christ!
[Sidenote: The Death of Jesus]
There is another part of the problem of the rejection of our Lord; the
attitude of the Quran towards the Death of Jesus. The death upon the
Cross is indignantly denied.
“_They have not believed on Jesus, and have spoken against Mary a
grievous calumny; and have said, Verily we have slain Christ Jesus
the Son of Mary, the Apostle of God; yet they slew Him not, neither
crucified Him, but He was represented by one in His likeness; ... They
did not really kill Him; but God took Him up unto Himself; and God is
mighty and wise ... on the day of resurrection He shall be witness
against them._”
It is said that Muhammad so hated the sign of the Cross, that if any
article, however valuable, came into his possession bearing the mark,
it was destroyed at once. The horror of the thought that Jesus should
have died the abhorred death, or that God Himself should have permitted
it, seems to be the argument against its having occurred. In the Quran
that which is symbolized by the Cross—the approach of God to sinful
man in mercy and love—is entirely lacking. There is no hint that
the Christian Message of Atonement through the Gift of the Saviour’s
life to God in man’s name had ever reached the Prophet. There is
therefore no assurance, save the Prophet’s word for it, that God upon
His far Throne, hears, or hearing answers and forgives the sin of His
creatures; there is no assurance of salvation in Islam.
It is a tragic story; the responsibility for which it has been
the habit of Christian writers to cast largely upon Muhammad. The
apportionment of guilt is not so lightly determined.