Do you know Jesus?! Yes I do!

Bismillah,

“Do you know Jesus?” is a popular question asked by Christian students in my school who go around campus praying for people and trying to find “lost” souls (nonchristian people) to spread the gospel to. Each time they approach me and ask me “Do you know Jesus” I answer YES. And friends I’m with (always Christian) give me the sideways glance but yes in fact I do know Jesus. I know him very well. And I love him dearly. I appreciate him and what he did and I know his importance in the history of my religion. If these people really want to find out if I’m a Christian or not, the question should be “Do you believe Jesus is God?” No I don’t. “Do you believe he died for your sins?” No I don’t. Now that is the difference. In Islam, we don’t deny Jesus or ignore him. Rather we respect him and love him and know the real mission he came to do.

“Do I believe Jesus is God?” No I don’t. Islam doesn’t deny the miraculous birth of Jesus, Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). The Quran talks about Mary (Maryam) and how she birth Jesus without any sexual relation with anyone. The Quran details the lineage of Prophet Isa (PBUH) telling about his grandfather, Imran (Maryam’s father) and his family. It tells of how Imran’s wife called to Allah dedicating the baby in her womb to him for His “special service”. Imrans wife birth Maryam and was dismayed that her baby would not be able to do much due to her gender. But Allah had big plans for Maryam. Maryam was chosen to birth Prophet Isa (PBUH). She was cared for by Zakariya, her cousins husband. Zakariya and his wife had Yahya (John the Baptist). These were Maryam’s family. All pious and all devoted to their Lord. Maryam birth Prophet Isa (PBUH) without sexual relations. How can this happen? Simple, Allah made it happen. The Quran says “…Allah createth what he willeth, when he hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it “Be” and it is!” (3:47). “Be” is a word of Allah, that is all Allah says and anything can be created. There is no expenditure, no effort. Allahu Akbar. “Be” a word of Allah created Prophet Isa without the need for the biological insemination of his mother. “Be” a word of Allah.

Prophet Isa (PBUH) was created by Allah and was appointed by Allah as a messenger to the children of Israel. Prophet Isa is Gods creation. A human sent by Allah. How then is he God himself? How can we reduce Allah to such a state? You might say that God wanted to suffer for us as a human. This is using the human mind to quantify God. God is beyond anything our mind can phantom. Saying he needs to become human to suffer for us is belittling his majesty. Daily Allah feels for us, in each step we take, each mistake we make, each pain we suffer. Allah know its all,  sees it all, hears it all. He feels for us, He walks with us. He is sad when we slip. He wants us to succeed in life and in our deen. He does not need to become human to feel this, He is Allah. I do not believe Jesus is God. Because I know that God created Jesus and sent him to guide us aright. Prophet Isa (PBUH) came to show us a better way to live life and enrich our deen than what was being done at the time. He himself did not proclaim himself as God. Why should we?

Do I believe Jesus died for my sins? No I don’t. The Quran teaches that we are all responsible for our sins. No person can take the sins of another. And Prophet Isa who was sent to guide us aright did not take our sins away. We must strive not to sin. We must ask for forgiveness when we sin. Allah is the most forgiving. He repeats this over and over and over and over in the Quran to let us know that when we sin we should ask for forgiveness because he is oft forgiving and most merciful. Allah doesn’t say our sins won’t be forgiven and that we need Jesus to shoulder them for us. Allah knows us, he knows what we are capable off. He doesn’t emphasis our sins rather he emphasizes our good deeds and our strive to be better. Strive hard in the cause of Allah, strive against this dunya, strive against your souls, strive to be more devoted, more prayerful, more loving. The more you strive the closer you get to Allah and the less you sin. Allah sees our strives and acknowledges it. We do not need someone to die for our sins. Salvation is from Allah himself not in the absorbing of sins by Jesus.

I do not write this to offend anyone. I write this in the spirit of Easter. During this period, I am reminded exceedingly of what Christians believe about Jesus. I write this to show what Islam teaches and what I believe. I love my Christian brothers and sisters because we are all from one God. And to them i say Happy Easter.

May Allah forgive us all our sins. May he guide us closer and closer to the straight path. May He open our heart to one another and help us live in peace with each other. Amin.