Answer
Praise be to Allah.
‘Eesa ibn Maryam (Jesus son of Mary – peace be upon him) was one of the noble Prophets of Allah, and one of the Messengers of strong will, whom Allah sent to the Children of Israel, and taught him the Torah and Gospel, and stated that he had come to confirm what was in the Torah, i.e., to reaffirm what was said in it, except that he abrogated some of its rulings, and permitted to his followers some of what was forbidden in it.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And He (Allah) will teach him [‘Eesa (Jesus)] the Book and Al-Hikmah (i.e. the Sunnah, the faultless speech of the Prophets, wisdom), (and) the Tawrah (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel).
49. And will make him [‘Eesa (Jesus)] a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying): ‘I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I design for you out of clay, a figure like that of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah’s Leave; and I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I bring the dead to life by Allah’s Leave.
And I inform you of what you eat, and what you store in your houses. Surely, therein is a sign for you, if you believe.
50. ‘And I have come confirming that which was before me of the Tawrah (Torah), and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you, and I have come to you with a proof from your Lord. So, fear Allah and obey me’”
[Aal –‘Imran 3:48-50]
“And in their footsteps, we sent ‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), confirming the Tawrah (Torah) that had come before him, and We gave him the Injil (Gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Tawrah (Torah) that had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)”
[al-Maa’idah 5:46]
Note:
Arabic language is very rich in vocabulary and something can has many Arabic words to describe it. Unlike English one word can has multiple meanings and you can not understand its meaning without a context.
Example: Word Sunnah is an Arabic word which has Linguistic and Islamic meanings such as Sunnah can mean Wisdom, Habits (obviously good habits), Traditions, Regular actions or sayings or both. When we referred to the Sunnah of Prophet Essa=Jesus in the above-mentioned Paragraph, we meant the authentic tradition and wisdom that were given to Prophet Essa=Jesus by Almighty Allah.
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Tafsir=Clarification of the above-mentioned Quranic verses: (2/44):
Tawrah and Injil: The Tawrah is the Book that Allah revealed to Moosa ibn ‘Imran, and the Injil is the Book that Allah revealed to ‘Eesa (peace be upon them both). ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) followed them both. End quote.
He also (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“confirming the Tawrah (Torah) that had come before him” means, following it, not going against what was in it, except in a few matters where he explained to the Children of Israel that concerning which they differed, as Allah tells us that
the Messiah (peace be upon him) said to the Children of Israel: “and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you”. Hence the sounder view among the scholars is that the Injil abrogated some of the rulings of the Tawrah=Torah. End quote.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (3/126)
Hence it is known that ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) believed in the Torah which was revealed to Moosa (peace be upon him) and followed it; he did not go against it except in a few matters.
The religion of Moosa, ‘Eesa and all the Prophets was, generally speaking, Islam, which means believing in the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed) and worshipping Him alone with no partner or associate, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam.”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:19]
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter, he will be one of the losers.”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:85]
And He tells us that Noah (peace be upon him) said (interpretation of the meaning):
“And I have been commanded to be of the Muslims (i.e. those who submit to Allah’s Will)”
[Yoonus 10:72]
And He tells us of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning):
“Ibrahim (Abraham) was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim Hanifa (Islamic Monotheism — to worship none but Allah Alone) and he was not of Al‑Mushrikoon”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:67]
And He tells us that Moosa (peace be upon him) said (interpretation of the meaning):
“‘O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are Muslims (those who submit to Allah’s Will)’”
[Yoonus 10:84]
And He tells us that Yoosuf (peace be upon him) said (interpretation of the meaning):
“Cause me to die as a Muslim (the one submitting to Your Will) and join me with the righteous’.”
[Yoosuf 12:101]
So, it cannot be said of Moosa that his religion was Judaism, rather his religion was Islam, and his followers were called Jews (al-Yahood) because they said Hidna ilayka إِنَّا هُدْنَا إِلَيْكَ i.e., we have repented and come back; or because they are called after Yehoodhah (Judah) the oldest of the sons of Ya’qoob (Jacob – peace be upon him). Similarly, the religion of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) was Islam, not Christianity. The Christians (al-Nasaarah=النصارى) are his followers who supported him (nasaruhu).
But he (peace be upon him) was a follower of the Tawrah (Torah), who followed and affirmed it, because he was one of the Children of Israel, to whom Moosa (peace be upon him) had been sent, then Allah revealed to him the Injil (Gospel) in which was a confirmation of what was in the Torah, as stated above.
What we have mentioned means that the religion brought by ‘Eesa was Islam if what the questioner meant was to find out and ask about his religion.
But if he was asking about the lineage of the Messiah (peace be upon him) and the people among whom he was born and to whom he was sent, then the Prophet of Allah ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) was indisputably one of the Children of Israel, the Children of Israel who subsequently became known as the Jews, as we have indicated above.
What the scholars state here is that he is to be attributed to his lineage and people, so it may be said that he was one of the Children of Israel. As for the word “Jew”, it is used to refer to a specific religion, so it should be avoided when referring to ‘Eesa (peace be upon him), even though we know that his people were the Children of Israel who used to follow the law of the Torah before him, and he came to confirm what was in it except for a few rulings which he changed.
Ibn al-Atheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
‘Imran ibn Mathaan [i.e, the grandfather of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) and the father of Maryam] was one of the descendants of Sulayman ibn Dawood (Solomon’s son of David). The family of Mathaan were the leaders and priests of the Children of Israel. End quote.
Al-Kaamil fi’l-Tareekh (1/251).
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no dispute that she [Maryam – peace be upon her] was one of the descendents of Dawood (peace be upon him). Her father was ‘Imraan the prayer leader of the Children of Israel of that time. End quote.
Al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah (2/52).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no doubt that the people of Moosa were the Children of Israel, and the Torah was revealed in their language. The Children of Israel were also the people of the Messiah (peace be upon him). The Messiah spoke their language. Neither of these two Messengers addressed anyone in any language other than Hebrew; neither of them spoke Latin, Syriac, Greek, or Coptic. End quote.
Al-Jawaab al-Sahih li man baddala Deen al-Maseeh (2/94).
He also said:
It is known from the consensus of the Christians that the Messiah did not speak anything other than Hebrew, like the other Prophets of the Children of Israel, and that he was circumcised on the seventh day like all the Children of Israel; he prayed facing their “qiblah” or direction of prayer, and he did not pray towards the east or enjoin praying towards the east. End quote.
Op. cit. (3/32).
Muslims keep repeating that Prophet Essa=Jesus was a Muslim How so?
Jesus peace be upon him was a Muslim too!
Jesus is a slave of Allah Almighty- Jesus is a Muslim
From Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali to Cat Stevens and Yvonne Ridley, thousands of Christians are becoming Muslim Day after Day
Christians and Muslims are more alike than different. We are in fact almost the same if we follow Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) to the word as he himself taught and lived:
1. Jesus taught that there is only One God and Only God should be worshipped as taught in Deut 6:4, Mark 12:29. Muslims also believe this as taught in the Qur’an verse 4:171.
2. Jesus did not eat pork as taught in Leviticus 11:7, and neither do Muslims as taught in the Qur’an verse 6:145.
3. Jesus greeted them with the words “As salaamu alaikum” (Peace be with you) in John 20:21. Muslims also greet each other this way.
4. Jesus always said, “God Willing” (in-shaa’-Allah). Muslims say this too before doing anything as taught in the Qur’an verses 18:23-24.
5. Jesus washed his face, hands, and feet before praying. Muslims do the same.
6. Jesus and other prophets of the Bible prayed with their head to the ground (Matthew 26:39). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur’an verse 3:43.
7. Jesus had a beard and wore a robe. Muslim men do the same. Women also wear long robes.
8. Jesus followed the law and believed in all the prophets, (see Matthew 5:17). Muslims do too as taught in the Qur’an verse 3:84.
9. Jesus’ mother Mary dressed modestly by covering her body and wearing a headscarf (hijab) as found in 1 Timothy 2:9, Genesis 24:64-65, and Corinthians 11:6. Muslim women too dress modestly as taught in the Qur’an verse 33:59.
10. Jesus and other prophets of the Bible fasted up to 40 days (see Exodus 34:28, Daniel 10:2-6. 1Kings 19:8, and Matthew 4:1-Muslims do so also during the month of Ramadan. Muslims are required to fast the full obligatory 30 days (Qur’an 2:183)
11. Jesus was circumcised. According to the Bible in Luke 2:21, Jesus was eight days old when he was circumcised. Circumcision is one of the five fitrah acts in Islam, so Muslim men and women are required to be circumcised.
12. Jesus spoke Aramaic and called God” Elah”, which is pronounced the same as “Allah”. Aramaic is an ancient Biblical language. It is one of the Semitic languages that also include Hebrew, Arabic and Ethiopic. The Aramaic “Elah” and the Arabic “Allah” are the same. It means “GOD”. Thus, the God of Jesus is also the God of Muslims and of all mankind.
Allah knows best.–
Almighty Allah is the highest and most knowledgeable, and the attribution of knowledge to him is the safest.
Right from Almighty Allah and wrong from me and Satan
Prepared by Mohamad Mostafa Nassar- Australia.
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Arrogance is not only a sign of insecurity, but also a sign of immaturity. Mature and fully realised persons can get their points across, even emphatically without demeaning or intimidating others.