"Jesus was Muslim" could some one explain this to me?

[Toddlerteaplease]

Not trying to be goady, I'm genuinely puzzled by this statement. I saw it on one of the stalls giving out Information and literature about Islam, In my city centre. I am aware that Jesus is regarded as a prophet In Islam. But since he was Jewish, his entire life, I'm not sure how anyone can claim he was Muslim.

It’s not a stalement. It’s a fundamentally different understanding which is at the very centre of both religions.

It’s like saying, ‘why can’t political parties just see that they are both about running the country and get over their stalemate and reconcile?’ Well, they can’t be cause they have fundamentally different stances on core issues such as the role of the state in society.

Or it’s like saying, ‘why can’t netball and football see that they are both about people running on a pitch and putting a ball in a net, and just get over their stalemate and reconcile?’

They are just different. Christianity and Islam may come from the same region and have some shared history but they are actually different religions and those differences are fundamental and irreconcilable.

There's never going to be unity. Judaism and Christianity don't consider Mohammed a Prophet.

Why does there have to be unity in belief?People can still live alongside each other peacefully.
There was a drug line that a Rabbi and Imam set up in a London area with volunteers from various communities, as these issues affect all cultures and religion. It was to help anyone who needed it.
These interfaith projects are so important and I wonder why they don't happen more often.
We all have more in common than differences.

It's a bit rude for Muslims to regard earlier people of different faiths before Islam was even established, as earlier Muslims. 🙄 the arrogance of religion eh 😂

We do have things in common, but it’s difficult to compromise when certain belief systems believe that what they teach is absolutely true and those who don’t believe those teachings are infidels who belong in hell. It is impossible to live in peace with certain people.

There won't be unity in belief, but a recognition that we have shared roots would help us to see and focus on our commonality and not our differences.

Clearly from the responses above there's still top much of an "I'm right, other religions are wrong" attitude which is what turned me away from religion years ago and will keep me so.

@CaterhamReconstituted I'm not sure what Jews believe, but don't devout Christian's also believe that only those who accept Jesus can be saved?
I do believe there's an arrogance in religion but most people are human and fallible and even those who are religious will accept that they don't know Gods will.

Well it’s something that piques a lot of interest. And of all the criticisms that people have thrown at Islam and Muslims, this one isn’t very common! I think it’s quite comforting in a way to say that Islam isn’t something strange or alien- it’s something that can fit into any time/place/culture/society.

But the problem is Islam is always seem as something totally alien and at odds with Western culture- sometimes it really does feel like Muslims can’t win whatever we say or do believe, whatever Islam says about any topic or issue, there were will always be someone to shake their head and wag their finger.

Not quite sure if it’s rude or arrogant. I think the fact that you’re denouncing the whole entity of religion shows more about the arrogance of atheism/agnosticism/non belief in general.

i don’t think there’s much point claiming Islam has had an entriry peaceful history or that Muhammad was never implicated in violence; he was the head of an expansionist army. I don’t the big 6 major world religions could claim to be free from violence, it just doesn’t work like that.

@Elopelo for me, and it’s been a long time since I studied Islamic theology and I am an atheist, the thing that is always difficult for me to reconcile with is the belief that the Qu’ran is the word of god. With the Bible there are get outs - it’s just written by people, you can explain away a lot. As an atheist I don’t believe the Qu’ran is the world of god, I think it was written by a savvy and charismatic leader, but obviously that’s not what Muslims think. For my degree I read a lot of modern/progressive/liberal (whatever you want to call it!) theology but it always seemed to me that those thinkers were having to work extra hard to marry the Qu’ran with contemporary society. Essentially by ignoring bits and coming up with reasons why they were ok to ignore those bits.

Anyway don’t want to pile on as I very much sympathise with the idea that Muslims can’t do right for doing wrong. And in meantime ultra right wing, American import Christianity which is more alien to me than mainstream Muslim thinking carries on… but I just meant to explain that it is a very different way of interpreting a text to someone brought up in a ‘Christian tradition’.

Aaahahahahahahaaahahahahaa

One thing I can't understand about Islam is the attitude that if someone who is a Moslem wants to become a Christian or a different religion it is terrible

Why can't it be accepted?

Hi @happybluefern thank you for your points. I’m not claiming that Islam is free from violence, I think we would be very hard pressed to find any society throughout human history that is free from violence- it’s an unfortunate reality. What I’m trying to say is that Muslims always get the short straw- I rarely see Jewish people for example getting questioned on the incredibly violent passages in their scripture for instance. And also there is the point that sometimes in certain situations the use of force is necessary, I’m thinking of the Christian teachings on a ‘just war’ for example, yet it’s always always always Muslims that get questioned on it as if Muslims own or created all the terrible things in the world.

Yes there absolutely is a difference between how Christians see the Bible and Muslims the Qur’an- I agree with you on that and of course I understand that for people who are certain that whole idea of God is made up, to believe that God reveals books is of course in your thinking, an impossibility. Then it all boils down to cold, hard faith- there is a very interesting saying that Muslims believe in where God says ‘I am in the opinion of my servant.’ One servant (I.e any human being) may not believe in God and therefore everything the see and encounter in the world is proof that religion is just made up folly but another servant could see and encounter the same things but see it as proof that God does exist.

Sorry I’ve waffled on but am enjoying the discussions- takes me back to undergraduate days.

Oh come on I’m sure you can hit back with something better than that!

I think that’s something that occurs across all mainstream religions- it’s only in the last couple of decades as the UK has become more secular that our religious identities aren’t fixed anymore and we’re all free to choose what we want.

Again this proves my point that Islam always gets it. What’s the punishment for apostasy in the Old Testament for example?

But this is still happening in modern day society

Many Christians fall away but no one disowns them

Yes because whilst the UK is mostly secular, majority of Muslim societies are not.

Well not if they are defining being Muslim as submitting to the will of God, it isn’t. It’s perfectly coherent on those terms.

That people are saved through faith in Christ is literally the core belief of Christianity. All Christians should believe this. Not just those who are ‘devout’.

There will be smaller break away churches who don’t believe this, but essentially this is a heretical belief.

What I find interesting is that according to the Pew Research Centre, if current trends continue, Islam will take over from Christianity as the religion with the most followers worldwide.

In the western world there is a perception that atheism is taking over but it's by no means a worldwide trend.

So it looks like the view that Jesus was Muslim could very well become the most popular view about his significance in a few decades time.

This is a really interesting thread and it's nice to read about how much these big religions have in common. The thing that's missing from the discussion is culture. I live in rural England, I go to the local church occasionally, I enjoy Christmas and Easter. I would describe myself as vaguely Christian, but I wouldn't agree with the poster above who says Christians don't recognise Muhammed as a prophet. Im just trying to live the best life I can in the culture I grew up in, it doesn't mean I think Muslims are wrong. It isn't really a priority for me to worry about what Muslims believe, I assume they are doing the same as me, trying to live a good life in their own community and culture.

Why would Christians consider Mohammed a profit though?

Sp

Prophet

Most people haven't read up on every world religion and chosen which one they believe in, they've just gone along with the culture they live in. So while Christians don't recognise Muhammad as a prophet, most of them probably haven't really thought about the issue in much detail.

What an interesting thread. Thanks to those who have explained why Jesus is seen as Muslim. Really fascinating.