who is this man?

The practicality of Islamic Law is one particular aspect that truly impressed me at that time, It is a great blessing that in Islam one finds detailed teachings that result in their desired goals while, at the same time, being extremely practical and consistent with human nature. The lack of such teachings is one of the greatest dilemmas faced by Christianity. For example, with respect to societal cohesion and interaction, the greatest teachings found in the New Testament are what are known as �the hard sayings� of Jesus. They are as follows:

�Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies,

bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect� (Matthew 5:38-4.

Christian scholars themselves are perplexed. How are such obviously impossible or impractical teachings to be applied? Just one example of a discussion of these words will suffice to show how perplexing they are to those who staunchly believe in them:

[For interpreting these words, t]he model proposed by Joachim Jeremias is simple, representative, and of continuing influence. According to this model, the Sermon usually is seen in one of three ways: (1) as a perfectionist code, fully in line with the legalism of rabbinic Judaism; (2) as an impossible ideal, meant to drive the believer first to desperation, and then to trust in God's mercy; or (3) as an �interim ethic� meant for what was expected to be a brief period of waiting in the end time, and which is now obsolete. Jeremias adds his own fourth thesis: The Sermon is an indicative depiction of incipient life in the kingdom of God, which presupposes as its condition of possibility the experience of conversion. More complex or comprehensive schematizations have been offered, but most major interpreters can be understood in relation to the options posed by Jeremias.[1]

In Islam, there are no such dilemmas. The teachings are easy, flexible, practical and completely suited to everyday life, even for a new Muslim living in a completely non-Islamic environment, such as I was. The famed author James A. Michener also noted and appreciated this aspect of Islam. In one of the earliest writings that I had read about Islam, entitled �Islam�the Misunderstood Religion,� Michener wrote,

The Koran is remarkably down-to-earth in its discussion of the good life. In one memorable passage it directs: �When ye deal with each other in transactions involving future obligations reduce them to writing� and get two witnesses�� It is this combination of dedication to one God, plus practical instruction, that makes the Koran unique.[2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHMIDfo76oY

Jesus in the Quran holds one of the highest statures amongst the Prophets. Unlike other Prophets who performed miracles, Jesus himself was a miracle, as he was born of a virgin mother, and God describes him and his mother Mary as such:
��and We made her (Mary) and her son (Jesus) a sign for the worlds.� (Quran 21:91)
Nonetheless, in the Quran, Jesus is described as having many miracles not bestowed upon other prophets. God says:
�And We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear miracles� (Quran 2:87)
The following is a brief description of the miracles performed by Jesus mentioned in the Quran.

1. A Table Laden with Food
In the fifth chapter of the Quran, �The Table Laden with Food� � named after this miracle of Jesus, God narrates how the disciples of Jesus requested him to ask God to send down a table laden with food, and for it to be a special day of commemoration for them in the future.
�When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is your Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? He said: Observe your duty to God, if ye are true believers. They said: We desire to eat of it and our hearts be at rest, and that We may know that you have spoken truth to us, and that We may be witnesses thereof. Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'O God, our Lord, send down for us a Table laden with food out of heaven, that shall be for us a recurring festival, the first and last of us, and a miracle from You. And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best of providers!� (Quran 5:112-114)
Since the occasion was to be �for us a recurring festival,� it is likely the Last Supper,[1] also called the Lord's Supper, Breaking of Bread, Eucharist, or Communion. The Eucharist has always been at the center of Christian worship. Encyclopedia Britannica says:
�Eucharist is a Christian sacrament commemorating the action of Jesus at his Last Supper with his disciples � The letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles make it clear that early Christianity believed that this institution included a mandate to continue the celebration� The Eucharist has formed a central rite of Christian worship.�[2]


2. While Still in the Cradle
One of the miracles mentioned in the Quran, although not mentioned in the Bible, is that fact that Jesus, while still in the cradle, spoke out to protect his mother Mary from any accusations people may have placed on her due to having a child without a father. When she was approached about this strange incident after her childbirth, Mary merely pointed to Jesus, and he miraculously spoke, just as God had promised her upon annunciation.
�He shall speak to people while still in the cradle, and in manhood, and he shall be from the righteous.� (Quran 3:46)
Jesus said to the people:
�I am indeed a slave of God. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be. And He has enjoined upon me prayers, and to pay the alms, as long as I live and (He has made me) kind to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed. And may Peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and on the Day I shall be raised to life.� (Quran 19:30-33)



3. And It Becomes a Bird
God mentions a miracle given to none other in the Quran but Jesus, one which is quite parallel to how God himself created Adam. This miracle was one which none can argue its greatness. God mentions in the Quran that Jesus says:
�I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with God�s permission.� (Quran 3:49)
This miracle is not found in the New Testament, but it is found in the non-canonical �Infancy Gospel of Thomas,� �When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream� he then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows� but Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: �Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!� And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily.� (Infancy Gospel of Thomas:2)


4. Healing the Blind and the Leper
Similar to the New Testament[3], The Quran also mentions Jesus to a have healed the blind and lepers.
�I also heal the blind and the leper.� (Quran 3:49)
The Jews during the time of Jesus were quite advanced in the science of medicine and were quite proud of their achievements. For this reason, miracles of this nature were given by God to Jesus, ones which the Jews could well understand that no force in nature could perform its like.


5. The Resurrection of the Dead
��and I bring to life the dead, by the permission of God.� (Quran 3:49)
This, like the creation of a bird, was a miracle of incomparable nature, one which should have caused the Jews to believe in the prophethood of Jesus without doubt. In the New Testament, we read three cases where Jesus brought the dead back to life by God�s permission - the daughter of Jairus (Matt 9:18, 23; Mark 5:22, 35; Luke 8:40, 49), the widow's son at Nain (Luke 7:11), and Lazarus (John 11:43).


6. The Provisions of Today and Tomorrow
Jesus was given the miracle of knowing what people had just eaten, as well as what they had in store for the coming days. God says.
�I inform you too of what things you eat, and what you store up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.� (Quran 3:49)
A Demonstration of Truth
Similar to other prophets, Jesus performed miracles to convince skeptics of his truthfulness, not to demonstrate his divinity. The Quran says:
�Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.� (Quran 3:49)
These miracles were performed only by the Will of God, had he not willed them to occur, they could never come to be. God explicitly states this in the Quran, saying that they were:
��by the permission of God� (Quran 3:49; 5:10)


Although Muslims can not confirm it, the Bible, through certain narrations, states that Jesus at times failed to perform miracles. Once when Jesus tried to heal a blind man, he was not healed after the first attempt, and Jesus had to try a second time (Mark 8: 22-26). In another instance, �He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.�(Mark 6:5)
The fact remains that indeed it was not through his own will that Jesus or any other prophet performed miracles. Rather, they were performed only by Will of God Almighty - a fact also explicitly stated in the Bible:
�A man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst.� (Acts 2:22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrlFch1dV7U

Christians believe that Jesus is alive today, and many denominations believe him to be active. They also believe that he has been resurrected already, and that he will never die again. The Muslim position, however, is that he never died, and therefore is still alive. It says in the Quran, that the Jews claim:

�We killed Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, Messenger of God.�

However, God denies this, as the verse continues:

�But they killed him not, nor crucified him; It was only a likeness shown to them: Most certainly they killed him not. Rather, God lifted him up to Himself.� (Quran 4:157-

This action of lifting is literally an upward movement, physically being taken from the earth into heavens, just as he will be physically brought back on the wings of angels from the heavens to the earth when he returns. Christians estimate his age to be 31-33 years of age at ascension, because the synoptic Gospels are considered to describe approximately 1 year of his life. The Gospel of John purportedly describes 3 years of his life from the moment he began preaching, of which Luke says:

�And Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph � and (he) was led by the spirit into the wilderness.� (Luke 3:23 and 4:1)

Muslim scholars agree. Hasan Basri said, �Jesus was 34, while Sa�eed bin Mussayyib said, �He was 33,� when he was lifted up to heaven.[1]

�And there is none of the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Judgment, he will be a witness against them.� (Quran 4:159)

God, here, is talking about the �People of the Book� believing in Jesus before the latter dies well after he was lifted up into the heavens. The implication is that he is not yet dead. In fact, he is securely kept by God until he completes his appointed term. As God says in the Quran:

�It is God Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and (the souls) of those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed.� (Quran 39:42)

And:

�It is God Who takes away the souls at night, and has knowledge of all that you have done by day, and raises you up again that a term appointed be fulfilled; then will you be returned unto Him. Then He will inform you of all that you used to do.� (Quran 60:60)

�The term appointed� denotes the numbered days of our lives, already known and confirmed by God. The word �to take away� is a promise made by God to Jesus which God will do when His messenger is threatened by disbelief. The Quran informs us that He told Jesus:

�Indeed I will take you (away) and lift you up to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve�� (Quran 3:55)

Thus we have a promise of God fulfilled when he saved Jesus from crucifixion, and another that will be fulfilled when He returns Jesus to earth and he completes his life here - a promise confirmed in the revelation given to Mary at the annunciation:

�God gives you tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be Jesus Christ, son of Mary, held in honor in the world and in the hereafter, and one of those who are nearest (to God). He shall speak to the people in infancy and when middle-aged[2], and shall be of the righteous.� (Quran 3:45-46)

Since middle-aged is older than the early thirties, this prophecy concerns his speaking to the people after his return. So this second promise (that everyone will believe in him before he dies) concerns his second mission when he descends to earth again. When he arrives, he will be the same age as he left, and then he will live for another forty years.[3] The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said:

�There is no prophet between me and him (Jesus), and he shall descend. He� will stay in the world for forty years; then he will die and the Muslims will offer the funeral Prayer for him.� (Abu Dawood, Ahmed)

The return of Jesus will be close to the end of time. In fact, his descent will be one of the major signs the final hour is due. The Quran discloses that:

�He (the son of Mary) shall be a known sign of the Hour; so have no doubt concerning it and follow Me.� (Quran 43:61)

His appearance will be followed by only two or three other unmistakable portents. Among these are the appearance of the beast[4], the wafting of the believers from the earth[5], leaving only disbelievers behind, and the rising of the sun from the west.[6]

The ten major signs, among which is the second coming of Jesus, are summarized in one hadeeth:[7]

�The Hour will not come until you see ten signs: the smoke; the False Messiah; the Beast; the sun rising from the West; the descent of Jesus son of Mary; the Gog and Magog; and three tremors - one in the East, one in the West, and one in Arabia, at the end of which fire will burst forth from the direction of Aden and drive people to the place of their final assembly.� (Ahmed)

May God save us from disbelief and preserve us from being among those who witness the final moments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNbsub8mfE

The Message of Jesus

The Prophets of the Old Testament such as Abraham, Noah and Jonah never preached that God is part of a Trinity, and did not believe in Jesus as their saviour. Their message was simple: there is one God and He alone deserves your worship. It doesn�t make sense that God sent Prophets for thousands of years with the same essential message, and then all of a sudden he says he is in a Trinity and that you must believe in Jesus to be saved.

The truth is that Jesus preached the same message that the Prophets in the Old Testament preached. There is a passage in the Bible which really emphasizes his core message. A man came to Jesus and asked �Which is the first commandment of all?�Jesus answered, �The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.��[Mark 12:28-29]. So the greatest commandment, the most important belief according to Jesus is that God is one. If Jesus was God he would have said �I am God, worship me�, but he didn�t. He merely repeated a verse from the Old Testament confirming that God is One.

Some people claim that Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. But consider the following statement of Jesus: This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.[John 17:3-4]. Jesus said this before he was caught and taken to be crucified. It is clear from this verse that Jesus did not come to die for the sins of the world, as he finished the work God gave him before he was taken to be crucified.

Also Jesus said �salvation is of the Jews� [John 4:22]. So according to this we don�t need to believe in the Trinity or that Jesus died for our sins to attain salvation since the Jews don�t have these beliefs.
5. The Early Christians

Historically there were many sects in early Christianity who had a range of beliefs regarding Jesus[1]. Some believed Jesus was God, others believed Jesus was not God but partly divine, and yet others believed he was a human being and nothing more. Trinitarian Christianity which is the belief that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in three persons became the dominant sect of Christianity, once it was formalized as the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century. Christians who denied Jesus being God were persecuted by the Roman Authorities[2]. From this point onwards the Trinitarian belief became widespread amongst Christians. There were various movements in early Christianity which denied the Trinity, among the more well known of them is Adoptionism and Arianism.

Dr Jerald Dirks who is an expert on early Christianity had this to say on the subject: Early Christianity was quite conflicted about the issue of the nature of Jesus. The various Adoptionist positions within early Christianity were numerous and at times dominate. One can even speculate that Arian and Nestorian Christianity might well be an extremely sizable source within Christianity today, if it were not for the fact that these two branches of Christianity, which were located primarily in the middle east and in North Africa were so similar to the Islamic teaching regarding the nature of Jesus that they quite naturally were absorbed into Islam at the beginning of the seventh century.�[3]

Since there were so many sects in early Christianity, each with different beliefs about Jesus and with their own versions of the Bible, which one can we say was following the true teachings of Jesus?

It doesn�t make sense that God sends countless Prophets like Noah, Abraham and Moses to tell people to believe in one God, and then suddenly sends a radically different message of the Trinity which contradicts his previous Prophets teachings. It is clear that the sect of Christianity who believed Jesus to be a human Prophet and nothing more, were following the true teachings of Jesus. This is because their concept of God is the same as that which was taught by the Prophets in the Old Testament.
Jesus in Islam

The Islamic belief about Jesus demystifies for us who the real Jesus was. Jesus in Islam was an extraordinary individual, chosen by God as a Prophet and sent to the Jewish people. He never preached that he himself was God or the actual son of God. He was miraculously born without a father, and he performed many amazing miracles such as healing the blind and the lepers and raising the dead � all by God�s permission. Muslims believe that Jesus will return before the day of Judgement to bring justice and peace to the world. This Islamic belief about Jesus is similar to the belief of some of the early Christians. In the Quran, God addresses the Christians about Jesus in the following way:

O People of the Book, do not commit excesses in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers and do not speak of a �Trinity�� stop [this], that is better for you� God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him and He is the best one to trust. [4:171]

Islam is not just another religion. It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. Islam literally means �submission to God� and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine. The concept of God is summarized in the Quran as:

�Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.� (Quran 112:1-4)[4]

Becoming a Muslim is not turning your back to Jesus. Rather it�s going back to the original teachings of Jesus and obeying him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUA2Ln4jsEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpdrcQ55Zxw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z29jFDmkoEc