By Raymond Finney - Prophetic Article - September 2003
I presented last month the Koranic views about Jews. I present this month what Islam teaches about Yeshua, whom they call Isa. Dr. Mark Durie has written an excellent summary in Isa, the Muslim Jesus (http://www.answering-islam.org/ Intro/islamic_jesus.html). I will draw heavily on Dr. Durie’s essay in this article.
Due to Islam’s growing influence, we commonly hear that Islam and Christianity share the "same" Yeshua, just as they both share the "same" Ibrahim (Abraham), but this is a grave error.
The following is the Islamic view of Isa (Yeshua):
Muslims believe both Judaism and Christianity sprang from Islam. Biblical prophets' Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Issac), Yaqub (Jacob), Nuh (Noah), Dawud (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Ayyub (Job), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), Harun (Aaron), Zakariyya (Zachariah), Yahya (John the Baptizer), Isa (Yeshua), Ilyas, Ishmael, Al-Yash’a (Elisha), Yunus (Jonah) and Lut (Lot)' were all Islamic prophets, "stolen" by Jews and Christians for their religions.
Isa's true message was pure Islam' "surrender to Allah." Isa was a Prophet and Lawgiver, and Muslims should surrender to His true words. However, Mohammad was a greater prophet. Isa received His instructions from Allah in a book, the Injil (Gospel). The Taurat (Torah) was the book Allah gave Musa (Moses), and the Zabur (Psalms) was the book Allah gave Dawud (David). Because the Jews and Christians were given these books from Allah, they are called "People of the Book."
Isa received true revelations from Allah, and Mohammad confirmed the teachings of Isa and the need for Muslims to follow them. However, Jews and Christians corrupted their books. Mohammad received the last and correct revelation from Allah, and these revelations are written in the Qur’an (Koran).
The Koran states that Isa was the Messiah, and that He was supported by the Holy Spirit. He is referred to as "the Word of Allah.“
The Koran states that Isa was the Messiah, and that He was supported by the Holy Spirit. He is referred to as "the Word of Allah.“ Continue on Page 3
Isa's mother was Marium (Mary). She was the daughter of Imram (the same Amram of Exodus 6:20?). She was the sister of Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses). Her foster father was Zachariah (father of John the Baptizer). While still a virgin, Marium gave birth to Isa. (Muslims readily accept the virgin birth of (cont. pg3) Isa, but do not ascribe this to a Divine nature!) Marium gave birth to Isa alone under a date palm tree in a desolate place (not at an inn [a sukka?] in Bethlehem).
Isa spoke from the cradle while an infant. As a young child, He performed such miracles as breathing life into clay birds, healing the blind and lepers, and raising the dead. He prophesied the future birth of Mohammad.
The Scriptures cannot be trusted because jealous, devious Jews and Christians changed the words (removing all references to Allah and Mohammad, etc.).
The Jews and Christians lie about Isa's death. The Jews brag that they killed Him; Christians claim He died on a cross. Neither statement is true. Allah took Isa alive (translated Him) to Paradise. On the Day of Resurrection, Isa will return to Earth to testify against lying Jews and Christians.
Jews and Christians lived in ignorance until Allah sent Mohammad to them to correct their error. Mohammad was Allah's gift to Jews and Christians. Jews and Christians must accept Mohammad as Allah's messenger and the Koran as Allah's final revelation to man. That is, Jews and Christians are commanded to become Muslims. Anyone who opposes Muslims is not a true Christian.
Some Jews and Christians accept Allah, but most are transgressors and will go to Hell. Muslims are commanded not to take Jews or Christians for friends. Rather, they must fight against Jews and Christians until they surrender, pay the poll-tax, and are humiliated.
Christians are commanded not to believe that Isa is the Son of Allah. Allah's majesty is such that he was not created and he has no son. Isa is not Allah's son, but his slave' a mere human being.
Muslims call Christians "polytheists" (worshipers of many gods). Christians are said to believe in and worship a family of gods' Father God, Mother Marium, and Son Isa. Isa rejected this polytheistic heresy, but Christians who believe it face a horrible future.
In the end times, Isa will be important. He will return to destroy all worshipers except Muslims, to establish Islam as the world's one religion, and kill Dajjal (the Evil One). He will break all crosses, kill pigs, and abolish the poll-tax. By breaking crosses and killing pigs (which Christians eat, but not Jews or Muslims), the message is that all Christians will be killed. Ability to pay the poll-tax was associated with rich Jews. The message of abolishing this tax is that Jews will also be killed.
Isa's appearance is even foretold: He will be of medium height and of reddish complexion, and will wear two light garments.
After Isa's return, He will serve "as a follower" of Mohammad.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
The Koran refers to Yeshua as Isa. Yeshua was never called Isa while on Earth. He was called Yeshua in His native Aramaic and in Hebrew, or Iesous in Greek. Yeshua is a variant of Yehoshua (Joshua). Yehoshua and Yeshua, variants of the same name, mean "the Lord is salvation." Arab Christians today do not use the name Isa, but Yasou, which stems from Yeshua.
According to the Koran, Allah gave Isa a book, the Injil, which is a corruption of the Greek euangelion ("good news," Gospel). The Gospels' Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John' came from four biographers of Yeshua's life, and were written after Yeshua's crucifixion.
Obvious errors in the Koran include: (1) The Koran simply states that Isa was not crucified, but offers no eyewitness accounts. The Bible records eyewitness accounts to Yeshua's' crucifixion, and secular sources corroborate His crucifixion. (2) Mohammad confuses Miriam in Exodus with Marium (Mary), mother of Jesus, but the two women lived more than one-thousand years apart. (3) Mohammad confuses Haman, in the Book of Esther, with Haman, a minister of Pharoah in Egypt, but the two men lived more than one-thousand years apart. (4) Mohammad's claim that Christians believe in three gods' Father God, Mother Marium, and Son Isa' is a complete mis-characterization of the Christian view of the Trinity. The Koran also mistakenly claims that the Jews call Ezra Son of God. (5) In addition to the wrong name given Yeshua (Isa), Mohammad also gives wrong names to Abraham and Elisha. (6) Mohammad mistakenly has a Samaritan' rather than Aaron' making a golden calf, which was worshiped by Israelites in the wilderness. The Samaritans did not exist at this time. They did not arise until centuries later, branching from northern Israelite tribes. (7) All of the miracles ascribed to Isa (giving life to clay birds, for example) can be traced to fables that originated a few centuries after the Gospels were written. (8) The Holy Spirit mentioned in the Koran is said to be the angel Gabriel. (9) Yeshua's Bible would have been the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). He would have referred to God as Adonai Elohim ("My Lord God"), not Allah. (10) The Bible is a very detailed history of a people for a period of more than one-thousand years. Biblical statements are corroborated with archeological evidence and secular historical references. Statements in the Koran cannot be supported by archeology or historical documents. (11) The Koran was written in the seventh century (A.D.), hundreds of years after Yeshua's life. The Koran represents a garbled, misinformed version of the Bible.
The Koran simply states that leading persons in the Bible were, in reality, Muslims, thereby attempting to rob them of their Jewish or Christian roots. Early Christians wrote extensively about a Yeshua HaMashiach and His establishment of a church hundreds of years before Mohammad's birth. Dead Sea scrolls prove a Hebrew text exactly identical to today's Hebrew Bible text, with absolutely no corruption of any words. Thus, an accurate Hebrew text existed centuries before Mohammad's birth. Muslims claim the Jews and Christians corrupted the original text (books) from Allah, without giving one shred of evidence.
Dr. Durie's conclusions (slightly edited) are:
"Isa (Yeshua) of the Qur'an is a product of fable, imagination and ignorance. When Muslims venerate this Isa, they have someone different in mind from the Yeshua of the Bible and of history. The Isa of the Qur'an is based on no recognized form of historical evidence, but on fables current in seventh century Arabia.
"For most faithful Muslims, Isa is the only Yeshua they know. But if one accepts this Muslim "Yeshua," then one also accepts the Qur'an: one accepts Islam. Belief in this Isa is won at the cost of the libel that Jews and Christians have corrupted their Scriptures, a charge that is without historical support. Belief in this Isa implies that much of Christian and Jewish history is in fact Islamic history. The Yeshua of the Gospels is the base upon which Christianity developed. By Islamicizing Him and making of Him a Muslim prophet who preached the Qur'an, Islam destroys Christianity and takes over all its history. It does the same to Judaism.
"In the end times as described by Mohammad, Isa becomes a warrior who will return with his sword and lance. He will destroy the Christian religion and make Islam the only religion in all the world. Finally at the last judgment he will condemn Christians to Hell for believing in the crucifixion and the incarnation..
"This final act of the Muslim Isa reflects Islam's apologetic strategy in relation to Christianity, which is to deny the Yeshua of history and replace Him with a facsimile of Mohammad, so that nothing remains but Islam.
"The Muslim claims that the whole Biblical history of Israel and Christianity is Islamic history' that all the Prophets, Kings of Israel and Judea, and Yeshua were Muslims. That the People of the Book should dare to challenge this statement is intolerable arrogance for an Islamic theologian. Jews and Christians are thus deprived of their Holy Scriptures and of the salvation value of the Scriptures."