"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.

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.

It's theological. It's the religion of Christianity itself that theologically doesn't recognise Muhammed (pbuh) as a prophet, (ie he doesn't appear in Christian scripture or belief systems) and that's because Christianity was codified long before his lifetime.

But if a Christian believes Mohammed is a prophet then that person is no longer a Christian but is a Muslim.

Mohammed was a prophet because he received direct revelations from God which directly said that JC is not the son of God (the core belief of Christians).

If ‘Christians’ believe Mohammed is a prophet, then they must follow his prophecy, ie, follow the Qu’ran, which would make them Muslims.

Much like the Jews who followed Jesus became Christians.

Saying Christians believe Mohammed is a prophet is not nicely tolerant and inclusive, it’s a failure to understand what makes someone a Christian or a Muslim, and the core beliefs of those religions, their differences and why those matter.

It's what @LiterallyOnFire said - it's theological. Most people aren't that interested in theology. I'm not saying that Christians believe in Muhammad as a prophet, I'm just saying many Christians probably haven't spent time thinking about it and aren't massively interested in a theological debate.

Words have meanings. The word Christian actually means something. The word Muslim actually means something.

I’m not sure how ‘Oh it’s theological so we don’t need to bother about that’ is meant to make any sense at all, in fact that sentence rather reveals a failure to grasp what is being discussed.

This is not some obscure debate amongst a few academics.

What we are talking about here are absolutely the core understanding of what it is to be Christian or Muslim.

Anyone who called themselves a Christian but didn’t realize that Mohammed cannot be regarded as a prophet in Christianity, has failed to understand their own faith at a very, fundamental level and failed to understand Islam at a fundamental level.

I completely agree with this. I have frequently read on mumsnet posters saying things like 'I'm Christian but really relate to Hinduism' or 'I consider myself a Christian pagan'. This tells me that these people are often ignorant of Christianity at its core, either due to ignorance or misinformation.

A lot of people think that Christianity is just about being nice, and it's not. Christianity, at its core is about Jesus Christ taking on God's wrath on the cross as the only means for us to be reconciled with God. Certain aspects of being kind and compassionate do cross over with other faiths but the central tenant does not.

Some people interpret the Gospel through a universalist or cynical lens and reject the notion that Jesus is the only way, and cite their own research as reason for believing what they do. However, this goes against orthodox Christian theology. There are a vast amount of Christian denominations but they do all generally agree on Christ's atonement for sin (and us as inherently sinful) as the core of Christianity.

I have had conversations with people who vehemently claim to be Christian but who reject the Biblical portrayal of Christ. I mean, nobody has to accept the Bible but where are they getting their information about Jesus from if they completely disregard the main text where his teachings are laid out? Who is the Jesus that they believe in, if not the one written about in the Bible? Believe it, don't believe it, that's anyone's choice and prerogative. Absolutely. But if you're going to say you're a Christian, then what do you mean? The Jesus that I follow is the one who was written about in the New Testmant, who was a devout Jew, who believed in the God of the Old Testament (and quoted the OT a lot, showing that he believed it), who went through everything the Gospels describe. He said he was the son of God who came to set us free. Either he was who he said he was in the text where his teachings have been recorded, or he wasn't.

Christianity isnt exclusive in that it is open to anyone who wants it, but once you're in it, it can't be mixed with other faiths. It's like saying you consider yourself a Communist but that you also really like the free market too. Or you consider yourself a vegan as you only eat free range eggs.

I can't speak for Islam as I'm not a Muslim, but Christ in Christianity is vastly different to the Jesus of the Qu'ran. They aren't the same Jesus.

I recently came across Chrislam which is a blend of Christianity and Islam which is unique to Nigeria. I don't know much about it but it sounds fascinating.

It is just a muslim belief, not a fact. It is no different from the LDS baptising dead people of all faiths into their LDS faith after death - just a belief. Same as if we said everyone on earth was male rather than muslim or everyone is blue.

Christianity isnt exclusive in that it is open to anyone who wants it, but once you're in it, it can't be mixed with other faiths

I agree. Christianity is inclusive in that anyone can accept its tenets and become Christian.

It’s not inclusive of all and any ideas or beliefs people want to attach to it. Like all the monotheistic religions, it makes exclusive truth claims. You do actually have to believe certain things to be a Christian, and refuse to believe other things.

Jesus (pbuh) being a Muslim has nothing to do with when he was born, what ethnicity he belonged to or any other religious practices that he may or may not have practiced. It is purely to do with the most fundamental/core beliefs.

Which is, that he worshipped only One True God without associating any partners with God (i.e. sons, daughters, wives etc.) just like every other Prophets and Messengers did before him and the last final Prophet and Messenger Prophet Muhammad (saw) taught, "There is no deity but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

The meaning of the Arabic word ‘Islam’ in its simplest, means, ‘Peace, Submission’.

And a Muslim is someone who submits to Allah (God) willing without any compulsion.

Therefore, anyone who willingly submits to the revelation of God is a Mulsim.

Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) is a Muslim, just like Prophets Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon and Moses, peace be upon them all, before him. They all willingly submitted themselves to God.

Hope that helps.

He is part of God made into human flesh

muslims believe that everyone on earth is born muslim regardless of their faith they are brought up in. that's why they call new converts- reverts. They are reverting to original religion.

Technically he ofcourse wasn't as islam wasn't even started until years later

Exactly, that's why he didn't exactly worship God. Although he was a faithful Jew. He is God

Yes nothing to do with Islam

I just wanted to comment that from a Muslim and indeed Jewish perspective that the idea of a human being God or God becoming a human just seems totally contradictory and confusing- So God is a Jew? Jesus didn’t exactly worship God? Who did Jesus pray to? Himself? What about the OT Prophets who lived before Jesus- will they be saved? I’m sure I read somewhere that some Catholics believe they’re in purgatory and will ultimately be saved by Jesus in the afterlife?

I know these questions have been asked and answered before and Muslims, Jews and Christians have been at loggerheads for centuries but I’ve read the NT many times and maybe it’s just because of my ‘Muslim tinted’ glasses but the Jesus I see in the Bible always speaks of God as superior. He casts out devils with the ‘finger of God’ for example whilst also declaring ‘that of my own self I can do nothing.’ Maybe for those of you who are Christian you see this is as the human side of Jesus but it’s something that resonates with my beliefs that there have been many special and holy people throughout history and some of them performed miracles THROUGH the permission and power of God, not because they were divine themselves?

From the Muslim perspective, Jews have gone to one extreme in their view of Jesus- Jews reject Jesus totally, he’s not god, he’s not a prophet, he’s not special in any way. And Muslims believe that Christians have gone to the other extreme- He’s god and human at the same time, God sacrificed himself in the form of being his own son on the cross, etc. I’m not trying to preach or proselytise here, I just find it all really fascinating!

There's a rather interesting book by Bart Ehrman called How Jesus Became God. He argues that Jesus was considered a prophet by his original Jewish followers and was only thought of as God by Christians a long time after his death, influenced by the ideas of St Paul. St Paul also nudged open the door for the giving up of food laws such as not eating pork - an anti-Abrahamic move which the original Jesus is unlikely to have approved of!

Speaking as someone who is agnostic, I do think there is some truth to the core Islamic claim that the original message of Jesus was distorted by later followers.

Yes exactly that

As you probably already know the Old Testament frequently talks about the coming of Jesus. I think in Isaiah for instance and Jesus's bloodline can be traced back to David or even before which I find incredible

Some of The Jews definitely don't or didn't see him as the messiah hence why they were heckling in the crowd for his crucifixion

The Old Testament talks about the coming of the Messiah. It doesn't talk about the coming of Jesus. The Messiah was supposed to be filled with the Spirit of God but was never supposed to be the literal son of God. I'm not surprised that most Jews didn't regard Jesus as the Messiah.

Islam (meaning submission to the will of God) has been around since the dawn of time, with God sending messages through prophets that were either heeded/interpreted/interpolated by the people of their time. The bible mentions Jesus (peace be upon him) prophesising the arrival of Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Old Testament (Deutronomy 18:18).

In the Quran, it says, “And remember Jesus, the son of Mary, said: O children of Israel! I am the Apostle of God sent to you confirming the Torah, which came before me, and giving Glad Tidings of an Apostle to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said: this is evident sorcery.” (61:6) The name Ahmad and Muhammad come from the same Arabic root and in essence are the same name.

All the prophets including Jesus (peace be upon him) are highly revered, with Muhammad (peace be upon him) being the last and final prophet sent by God.

Muslims regard Islam as the 'one true religion', with both Judaism and Christianity respected as the other two main Abrahamic religions, both preaching the submisson to and the oneness of God.

@rezzer how do you know Deuteronomy is referring to the prophet Muhammad? It seems a very general verse and there were plenty of prophets since then. That seems very much to be an interpretation of the text (which Christians would obviously disagree with).

There are no prophets after Jesus (pbuh) except Muhammad (pbuh). The prophecy in Deuteronomy is confirmed retrospectively in the Quran.

Christians may well disagree with the interpretation but the fact is that both prophets had the sane basic message, however Jesus’ message was lost.

It's not a "fact" though is it, that Jesus' message was lost. That's your interpretation.

I agree. I’m saying the fact is that both prophets had the same message.

You did say Jesus' message was lost. Can you explain that?

Jesus' message was one of peace. The Prophet Mohammed's actions were violent.

His message was lost because it was interpreted into something else ie the Christianity we see today.

because, unlike many threads and religious discussions, this has been a really interesting and respectful discussion I would like to ask a question. What do Messianic Jews believe? I've always thought it was that Jesus existed but wasn't the son of God but now I'm not sure.