# Islam Loves Jesus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774 "2008-08-12T20:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/1 "2008-08-12T20:54:07Z")
I’m currently engaged in a debate regarding how the Koran and/or Islam in general views the following Judao-Christian figures: Jesus, Abraham & Moses (sp?). My friend claims that those figures are accepted within the Islamic faith as prophets. I find this hard to believe but am indeed curious if there is any recognition of those figures within Islam? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/2 "2008-08-12T21:03:41Z")
Just a quick look at the extremely comprehensive Wikipedia entry on [Islam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam) will tell you: > [@](#): > > They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Reading about the [prophets of Islam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_of_Islam): > [@](#): > > Muslims believe that the first prophet was Adam, while the last prophet and nabi was Muhammad, thus his title Seal of the Prophets. In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a nabi and a rasul because he received wahi (revelation) from God, through which God revealed the Injil (Gospel) to him.[1] Muslims believe that God has sent over 124,000 messengers all over the world as mentioned in the Sahih Hadith. Five (sometimes known as Ulul Azmi or the Imams — i.e. leaders — of the Rasuls) are accorded the highest reverence for their perseverance and unusually strong commitment to God in the face of great suffering. These five are Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad. There’s also an article about [Christianity and Islam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_Islam): > [@](#): > > The historical interaction between Christianity and Islam, in the field of comparative religion, connects fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam and Christianity share their origins in the Abrahamic tradition though Christianity predates Islam by six centuries. Islam accepts many aspects of Christianity as part of its faith - with some differences in interpretation, and rejects other aspects. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are often collectively referred to as the Abrahamic religions. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/3 "2008-08-12T21:06:03Z")
Islam believes that the three greatest prophets were Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. They believe that Mohammed was the greatest, but they also believe that Moses and Jesus are to be revered. They do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate or that he rose from the dead, but, oddly, they do believe in the Virgin Birth. So yes it’s true. Jesus is revered as a great prophet in Islam. They just don’t think he was God. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/4 "2008-08-12T21:14:09Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] They do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate or that he rose from the dead, . [/QUOTE] You forgot to mention they don’t even believe he died. So, raising from the dead wasn’t an option to begin with 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/5 "2008-08-12T21:45:43Z")
Not only Jesus, but [Mary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary_in_Islam), too. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/6 "2008-08-12T21:58:52Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] So yes it’s true. Jesus is revered as a great prophet in Islam. They just don’t think he was God. [/QUOTE] More than that, Muslims find the concept of God being in separate parts completely anathema - how can God have a son? How can God BE a son? Dredging up what I remember of the Qur’an when I read it there are quite a few references to Jesus (Isoud) in there and he is indeed considered a prophet and is a revered figure. The scorn is really heaped on those who came after Jesus (Paul and the early church) who “twisted” his message and idolised him. I couldn’t quite get my head around how the virgin birth figured out in Islamic theology, thought. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/7 "2008-08-12T22:08:19Z")
Well, there’s no reason why a great prophet _shouldn’t_ have some miraculous circumstances attending his birth. John the Baptist did, for a start. So did Samuel. So it’s not unreasonable for Islam to both accept Jesus as a prophet with a similarly-miraculous background, and yet deny His divinity. (Tho’ that darned Paul must’ve got at John the Evangelist too, when you look at John 1: 1-11 or thereabouts.) ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/8 "2008-08-13T00:33:42Z")
Somewhere in the back of my mind is a tidbit from Islamic essays that Mary and Jesus are the only two humans untouched by sin. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/9 "2008-08-13T01:10:26Z")
Looks like you owe your friend a beer. You really want to throw him in a loop though, tell him about Mandeans. They consider Jesus a false prophet, but like all the old testament figures. However, they especially worship John the Baptist. I don’t know how they justify his baptism of Jesus, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/10 "2008-08-13T01:16:48Z")
I’ll just note that the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism) is also an extension of Christianity (which is itself an extension of Judaism.) > **[Abrahamic religions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions)** > > The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around the worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned in the religious scriptures of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran. > Jewish tradition claims that the Twelve Tribes of Israel are descended from Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, whose sons formed the nation of the Israelites in Canaan; Islamic tradition claims that twelve Arab tribes known as the Ishmaelites are de... ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/11 "2008-08-13T02:35:22Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I’ll just note that the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism) is also an extension of Christianity (which is itself an extension of Judaism.) > **[Abrahamic religions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions)** > > The Abrahamic religions are a set of monotheistic religions that respect or admire the religious figure Abraham as a patriarch, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, though the term also often encompasses several smaller faiths. The religions of this set share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them with Indian religions, Iranian religions, and East Asian religions. The term, introduced in the 20th century, replaced "Judeo-Christian" to include Islam as an Abra Th... [/QUOTE] I don’t know if it’s entirely accurate to call Islam an extension of Christianity, since Islam rejects the divinity of Jesus, which is probably the one thing all Christian denominations share in common (as well as Mormonism.) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/12 "2008-08-13T03:17:38Z")
And Abraham is quite important in Islam (thus its inclusion as an Abrahamic religion) since Muslims believe that Ishmael was a prophet and an ancestor of the Arabs and that he was the rightful recipient of the birthright which Jews and Christians claim for Isaac. Read about Abraham and Ishmael, their status as prophets, and their connection with the Kaaba [in this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_view_of_Abraham). ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/13 "2008-08-13T04:41:15Z")
My Muslim uncles-in-law, having been led to believe that my family are all practicing Catholics, were excited to talk to my father about how they had Jesus in common. And the imam at our engagement party gave a special shout-out to Mary, in the spirit of religious brotherhood. Jesus gets a “peace be upon him” after every mention, which is one step below Muhammad. Muslims also have points of agreement with the Left Behind folks: Jesus will be coming back. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-loves-jesus/459774/14 "2008-08-13T06:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=J Cubed] Muslims also have points of agreement with the Left Behind folks: Jesus will be coming back. [/QUOTE] The nature of the return is somewhat different. Muslims believe that Jesus (and the other prophets, maybe) will be reborn - Christians (and not just Left Behind folks) believe that the second coming will be Jesus returning in glory to reign, a global, unmissable event that all will acknowledge. Si