But the real significance of Mary is that Islam considers her a virgin and endorses the Christian concept of the Virgin Birth. "She was the chosen woman, chosen to give birth to Jesus, without a husband," says Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam in Leicester and assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). This is the orthodox Islamic position and, paradoxically, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr notes in The Heart of Islam, "respect for such teachings is so strong among Muslims that today, in interreligious dialogues with Christians . . . Muslims are often left defending traditional . . . Christian doctrines such as the miraculous birth of Christ before modernist interpreters would reduce them to metaphors."
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However, for Muslims, the Virgin Birth is not evidence of Jesus's divinity, only of his unique importance as a prophet and a messiah. The Trinity is rejected by Islam, as is Jesus's Crucifixion and Resurrection. The common theological ground seems to narrow at this point - as Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian think tank Ekklesia, argues, the belief in the Resurrection is the "deal-breaker". He adds: "There is a fundamental tension at the heart of interfaith dialogue that neither side wants to face up to, and that is that the orthodox Christian view of Jesus is blasphemous to Muslims and the orthodox Muslim view of Jesus is blasphemous to Christians." He has a point. The Quran singles out Christianity for formulating the concept of the Trinity.
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[As] A N Wilson wrote in the Daily Express a decade ago: "Islam is a moral and intellectual acknowledgement of the lordship of God without the encumbrance of Christian mythological baggage . . . That is why Christianity will decline in the next millennium, and the religious hunger of the human heart will be answered by the Crescent, not the Cross."
I thought the first part about Muslims defending traditional Christian beliefs against liberal interpreters was a bit amusing. Feel free to share your thoughts if you have any.
8 comments:
I don't want to upset the traditional Muslims; have never wanted that. But the problem is that Muslims generally don't want to learn about Christianity. Once when I wrote on my blog that I attended church, some Muslim brother wrote on his blog about my amazing experience and he was literally abused on his blog by people who claimed that he was glorifying a sinner - that is me in case you are wondering :) A man wrote that whatever has to be known about Jesus is in the Quran, there is no need to read the Bible which is an *evil* book because it is corrupted.
In the ME it is prohibited by law to sell Bibles in bookstores and my students were flabbergasted to learn that I had read the Bible. They asked, "and your family didn't mind?!"
With that background it is not unusual to see Muslims who don't know much about Christ.
To be continued...
Continued...
What we learn in Islam is contradictory. For example, Quran states that Jesus was made to die by God, but then states that he was not crucified. Then states that it only appeared to this enemies that he was crucified. There is nothing about his resurrection, but hadith claims that Jesus will return as the final saviour. Again, hadith teaches that Jesus never died.
Quran teaches that Mary was a virgin, according to the hadith when the Christians of Najran visited the Muslims, it is said that Muhammad said that Mary "conceived as women conceive" which makes many Muslims reject the notion that Mary was a virgin and claim that God relieved her of her priestess duties and marry and conceive Jesus.
In short, Muslims don't know much about Christ or Christianity and it is quite possible that early Muslims didn't know much either for there is a hadith in which a companion of Muhammad tells Aisha that he had learnt from Christians that Mary was NOT the sister of Moses and Aaron to which Aisha replied, "you lie!" (!!) Early Muslims didn't even know that.
(For example, Quran states that Jesus was made to die by God, but then states that he was not crucified).
But how is that contradictory??
Seroiusly, some people take about how muslims don't understand Christainty, while they themselves don't understand what Islam really says about this or that issue.
Let us look at verse
(3:55) :
"Behold! God said: O Jesus! I will take thee And raise thee to Myself And clear thee (of the falsehoods) Of those who blaspheme; I will make those Who follow thee superior To those who reject faith, To the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, And I will judge Between you of the matters wherein ye dispute."
According to Islam, Jesus never died on the cross, nor ever wanted to die on the cross, nor ever was born to die on the cross.
Muslims believe that Jesus was sentenced to death, and people thought that he got executed on the cross. The Quran rejects this idea, and claims that it is a false one.
(many Muslims reject the notion that Mary was a virgin and claim that God relieved her of her priestess duties and marry and conceive Jesus).
Um.. which muslims???
Marry was definiatly refered to as the "bleesde virgin" both in the Quran and all the authintic hadiths.
(a companion of Muhammad tells Aisha that he had learnt from Christians that Mary was NOT the sister of Moses and Aaron to which Aisha replied, "you lie!")
EVIDENCE, please? =/
Evidence # 1: Muslims are banned from reading Bibles - read the last few lines (http://www.islamweb.net/VER2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=E&Id=91295&Option=FatwaId)
Evidence # 2: "Muslims believe that Jesus was sentenced to death, and people thought that he got executed on the cross. The Quran rejects this idea, and claims that it is a false one." - That is what I said. Susanne has read a long post I wrote on it and knows what I am talking about.
Evidence # 3: Not all Muslims think Mary was a virgin - http://aaiil.info/misconceptions/jesus/argqh.htm
Evidence # 4: Aisha thought Mary was sister of Moses:
"It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads,
"O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "YOU HAVE LIED." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.
(Arabic commentary of Ibn Kathir on Sura 19:28 is here - http://quran.al-islam.com/Tafseer/DispTafsser.asp?l=arb&taf=KATHEER&nType=1&nSora=19&nAya=28)"
I don't want to argue with any one here - don't even want to debate. I was talking about Muslims and not about Islam. Yes, I still believe that Muslims neither know enough about Christ nor about Christianity as a religion.
"Seroiusly, some people take about how muslims don't understand Christainty, while they themselves don't understand what Islam really says about this or that issue."
Exactly!
To anonymous:
I'm sorry if I seemed too blunt in my previous comment to you. I didn't mean to come off as annoyed.
You mentioned once that you studied Islam for nine months, I studied it for six years. Yet, I accept that there is a lot I don't know or don't understand correctly. After all there is 1400 years of history that I can't understand even in a lifetime. So I am certain I may be wrong or unclear about Islamic concepts at times. And I don't think you don't know anything. In fact, why I included that Ibn Kathir link in Arabic is because I know you can read Arabic and perhaps have read it before.
I avoid discussing my findings of six years of study. That is something personal and hence my reluctance in engaging in any debate.
Thought I should explain that. Allah maa-ik.
Achelois, I'm sorry those people said such things about your friend "glorifying a sinner." :-O It seems people would realize gossiping and saying unkind things about others is sinful, but of course your going to a church would be a bigger sin so theirs is somehow "better." Please! *rolling my eyes*
Wow, what a reaction from your students wondering if your family minded that you read the Bible. LOL...it seems it is much more permissible to watch TV shows and movies that celebrate sex outside of marriage and other haram things, but, God forbid, you actually read the Bible! Desperate Housewives -- must see TV. The Bible -- evil, evil, evil. These people make me laugh with their absurdity.
LOL....Moses and Aaron lived hundreds of years before Mary and Jesus! Miriam is not the same as the Virgin Mary. :) (Oh, I see the thing you added in your evidence post about 600 years...good one!)
Thanks for pointing out the contradictions in Islam about Jesus. It's no wonder they focus so much on Muhammad then. What a shame as Jesus' message is far superior to Muhammad's, in my humble opinion.
Anonymous, thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment. I'm glad you added to the discussion. :)
Thank you, Ladies. Enjoyed reading your thoughts on this post. My wish is for more Muslims to truly learn more about Jesus so they can know this wonderful person and the message he brought.
Yes, I'm happy that *anonymous'* insistence on EVIDENCE spurred me to look for the links and post them here. I wasn't making up stuff, I was only writing what I had read elsewhere - my comprehension may be faulty but it is written and published out there. Since I was commenting and not blogging, I didn't think it necessary to include links. I thought if a non-Muslim wanted links, they would ask and assumed that Muslims wouldn't need them since they would know it already.
I agree with you, Susanne. Jesus' message is perfect and the best.
Dear all
Discover the truth about islam
www.theradiantlight.blogspot.com
Common questions
http://www.ipci.co.za/Books/commonquestions_3rded02.pdf
Thank you
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