Sub-hanallah. Here’s something I found in the question and answer section of Readingislam.com. I say, it was quite a revealing piece. What is that Muslims and Christians differ on? And deep down, after all the man-made distinctions have been removed, are we, in fact, quite the same? I think both the ‘questioner’ as well as the ‘answerer’ deserve commendation. It requires a lot of patience and tolerance to have meaningful inter-faith dialogs like these, don’t you think? Considering the way things are today, internationally, with intolerance reigning supreme everywhere, elucidations like these must surely be of some help:
THE QUESTION:
Dear Muslim friends, I am a Christian man and have lived in the United States my entire life. I have always been fascinated with the subject of religion and have taken the time to study the Islamic faith somewhat.
As I write this, it is September 13, 2007, which is the first day of Ramadan this year. I pray that you have a blessed time of fasting and prayer unto God (Allah).
I have a question in regard to your position on salvation and the afterlife. Here is some background so that you will understand where I am coming from.
I personally believe in the Torah and the Gospels as do other Christians, but I do *not* in any fashion believe that there are “three gods” or anything of the sort. The Bible itself teaches that there is only *One God* and the belief in “three” is from sources other than the Bible. “One” by no means implies that there are really “three.” To this day, I still can’t really figure out where Christians have come up with the concept of “three in one.” There is only One God. And, like Muslims, I do not ascribe any “partners” with God – no humans, animals, etc. And neither do I worship his prophets or messengers as being equal with God, though I do acknowledge that they are sent from Him.
Of course, because I am a Christian, I do feel that Jesus -may peace be upon him – was the “Messiah,” just like other Christians believe (that he died on the cross, etc.) My question in regard to Islam, pertained to the fact that Muslims (as I understand them) deny the crucifixion of Christ, and accept the prophethood of Muhammad.
Although I am not a “Muslim,” I do most certainly worship only One God, Who I believe is the same as “Allah,” whom the Muslims worship. But because I am a Christian, I do not hold the same views as do Muslims in regard to the prophethood of Muhammad and the crucifixion of Jesus.
My question to you is: is it considered necessary in Islam for a man like myself to convert to Islam in order to go to Paradise (Heaven), even though I ascribe worship to only One God now as Christian? Is it acceptable to still be a “Christian” in the eyes of Allah, and go to Heaven?
I’m just curious, and perhaps the answer is not as cut and dry as I make it. I ask with an open mind and heart. Please get back to me when you can. And may Allah richly bless you for your work in spreading the glorious truth that He is One – and there is none before or after Him. Have a blessed Ramadan. – Jonathan
THE ANSWER
Peace,
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for your Ramadan greetings and prayers, they were deeply appreciated. We pray that God graces you with the best of health and guidance in this special month and, indeed, every day in your life.
Regarding your question, like you said, there really are no cut and dry answers. Would it surprise you if I told you that in Islam, even Muslims can never be sure whether they will be going to heaven or hell?
Judging in the Place of God
We believe that the judgment lies in the hands of God, as He is the Most Just and even more important, He is the Most Loving and Most Merciful and Compassionate. It is never for us to judge in His place.
In fact, it is prohibited in Islam to specify Hell for any human being, no matter what his or her beliefs appear to be.
Muslim scholars have also taught that one shouldn’t hold any human being in contempt because he or she might be closer to God than oneself.
Being our Creator, only God knows what is in our hearts, our intentions, our actions, our speech. He knows whether we have harmed people or whether we have sought for peace and understanding among His creation.
Mercy and Compassion, Not Justice
As Muslims, we believe that everyone will be held accountable for their deeds and speech, and we live in hope that God will judge us not according to His justice, but according to His Infinite Mercy and Compassion.
There is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that basically means that everyone who believes in his or her heart that there is no god but the One True God (Allah in Arabic, and El in Hebrew) will ultimately dwell in Paradise.
In addition, in the Qur’an, which as you may know, is what Muslims believe to be the revelation of God’s words to the Prophet Muhammad, God says:
*{Verily, those who believe (in that which is revealed to you, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans – whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right – surely their reward is with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them neither shall they grieve.}* (Al-Baqarah 2:62)
Now, the translation here mentions “Christians”. Technically, the term in the Qur’an is “Nasara“. In Arabic, and in the Muslim understanding of the life of Prophet Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), his followers were called the “Nasara“, or the “followers and supporters”.
As the Qur’anic verse points out, the reward of all the people mentioned in the verse is with their Lord. More importantly, they have nothing to fear or grieve, and can only hope for Paradise through leading a pious and peaceful life, doing good deeds and helping their fellow creatures, all the while worshipping none but the One God.
Furthermore, the Qur’an explicitly states that *{We never punish until we have sent a messenger.}* (Al-Israa 17:15)
People who lived before the Prophet Muhammad, or even those who lived after him but did not have enough knowledge about him in order to accept that he is a prophet of God like other prophets, are called “ahl al-fitrah“. In Islam, these people are forgiven by God because the message did not reach them.
However, Jonathan, if you don’t know enough about Muhammad, you might be interested to read up on him from original sources. The Qur’an says:
*{And thou wilt surely find that, of all people, those who say, “Behold, we are Christians”, come closest to feeling affection for those who believe in this divine writ. This is so because there are priests and monks among them, and because they are not given to arrogance.
For, when they come to understand what has been bestowed from on high upon this Apostle (Muhammad), thou canst see their eyes overflow with tears, because they recognize something of its truth; and they say: “O our Sustainer! We do believe; make us one, then, with all who bear witness to the truth.”}* (Al-Ma’idah 5:82-83)
Muslims Are… Also Believers in Christ
On another note, you interestingly ask, “Is it acceptable to still be a “Christian” in the eyes of Allah, and go to Heaven?”, placing the word Christian between quote marks.
If you meant to say “follower of Jesus Christ”, rather than “believer in Christ’s divinity”, would it surprise you if I told you that Muslims are “Christian” in the sense that they are also followers of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him)?
We also believe that he is the Messiah, and that is how he is mentioned in the Qur’an.
You can read the verse that says:
*{And remember when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah gives thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near unto Allah.}* (Aal `Imran 3:45)
There are many other verses that mention Jesus as the Messiah, but I will only quote a few:
*{O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three” – Cease! it is better for you! – Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.}* (An-Nisaa’ 4:171)
And again:
*{The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food…}* (Al-Ma’idah 5:75)
The verses about Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary are beautiful in the Qur’an. It might interest you to read a translation of those verses.
Jesus’s mother, Mary, is even considered a prophet, and not just a saint, according to some strong opinions of Muslim scholars because she received revelation from God through the angel. This actually makes Islam the only religion in the world who has female prophets. In fact, there is a whole chapter in the Quran named after her.
Original Innocence, Not Sin
You are right when you say that Muslims do not believe in the crucifixion of Christ. We believe he is the Messiah, but this word means in Arabic “the one whom God has wiped clean of any sins”, among other things.
Other scholars of Islam say that the name “Messiah” also refers, in the context of Jesus as the Messiah, to the fact that when Jesus wiped his hands over any sick person, that person would be miraculously healed by God.
For Muslims his being the Messiah does not mean that he died on the cross. I hope that I am not offending you when I say this, but this is what we believe.
The verse in the Qur’an that mentions this says:
*{And their saying, “We killed the Messiah, `Isa son of Maryam, Messenger of Allah.” They did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to seem so to them. Those who argue about him are in doubt about it. They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture. But they certainly did not kill him. Allah raised him up to Himself. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.}* (An-Nisaa’ 4:157)
So, because we believe that the Qur’an is the word of God and that God is the All-Knowing, we believe that He, in His Mercy and Wisdom, “raised” Jesus up to himself. We do not believe that he was crucified simply because we do not believe that he needed to be crucified as expiation for the sins of mankind.
The reason for this is that Muslims do not accept the idea of original sin, but in contrast, accept as true the idea of “original innocence”, if one can term it that. Actually, we consider that although Adam and Eve did sin, they repented, and because God is the Most Merciful, He forgave them.
And even if they had not been forgiven, we believe that it would still have never affected us because according to Islam, each human is responsible for his or her own deeds only.
This is why Muslims believe that everyone is born free of any sin, and that everyone will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment only for the sins he or she committed.
Following Muhammad… Following Christ
After saying all this, it probably sounds strange when I say that Muslims are also followers of Christ, doesn’t it? However, we maintain that by following Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we are actually following all the prophets of God that were sent before him.
You see, in Islam, we do not think that Prophet Muhammad appeared with some new religion that is different from that of Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham Joseph, Jacob, or Jesus. We believe in all of these prophets, and that they were all saying the same thing: “Believe in One God and worship only Him.” That’s it – nothing more, nothing less.
So technically, we are Mosaic, Christian, Abrahamic, Jacobian, Ishmaelite, and Muhammadans, and so on, because we believe in all of the messages of all those prophets. In the Qur’an it is mentioned that the Prophet Muhammad is only the final prophet in a long line of prophets.
In his sayings, the Prophet Muhammad calls all the other prophets “my brothers”, because he is very aware of the heritage and long tradition of prophethood that he belonged to.
In addition, in the Qur’an, God tells us:
*{Say: We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.}* (Al-Baqarah 2: 136)
That means we believe in the message that Jesus (peace be upon him) received just as we believe in the message that Muhammad (peace be upon him) received.
We do not see Islam as the religion of Muhammad, but rather, it is the religion of God, and it is the same message that all the prophets of God received throughout history.
By the way, it might be prudent here to explain that the word “Islam” should not be offensive when I use it in the sentence above because the meaning of the word in Arabic comes from the lexical root s-l-m, from which the Arabic words meaning “peace”, “purity” and “submission” are derived.
Therefore, the technical meaning of “Islam” is peaceful submission, and a Muslim is “someone who submits peacefully to his Creator”.
And submitting to the Creator means believing in all His prophets and messengers, and not picking or choosing some of them alone. In other words, it was the duty of every follower of Moses to believe in Jesus Christ as a messenger of God. The same would apply for the followers of Jesus to believe in Muhammad as a messenger of God. And, of course, as I mentioned before, for every follower of Muhammad to believe in all the prophets who came before him (peace be upon them all).
There are still so many issues I would have liked to discuss with you, Jonathan, but I have written so much already, so I will leave it at that for now. I hope you continue to visit our website and provide us with your comments and feedback.
Once again, I would like to express our thanks for your kind words. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at any time. May God bless you with health, happiness, and inner peace.
Salam.
Name of Counselor: Marwa Elnaggar
What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed 