Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 2. God in Islam

Jesus in Islam: man, messenger, messiah

In short

1.The Qur'an affirms the **virgin birth** of Jesus explicitly [3:47, 19:20-21].
2.It calls him **al-Masih**, the Messiah — a title the Qur'an gives to no one else [3:45].
3.It affirms his **miracles**: healing the blind and leper, and raising the dead, by God's permission [3:49].
4.It affirms his **second coming** as a sign of the Hour [43:61].
5.No Muslim's faith is valid without believing in Jesus — denying him is disbelief [2:136, 4:150-151].

The claim being examined

Muslims are frequently assumed to disrespect Jesus because they deny his divinity.

The Islamic position

Islam holds Jesus in the highest honour: born of a virgin, a worker of miracles by God's permission, the Messiah, and one of the five greatest messengers — a man, not a deity.

Analysis

The Islamic position is not a diminished Jesus but a differently located one: fully honoured within prophethood rather than absorbed into divinity. The Qur'an's Jesus performs greater miracles than most prophets, is supported by the Holy Spirit, and is honoured in this world and the next — yet remains a servant of God. This is the natural conclusion of tawhid: the greatness of a messenger is measured by his obedience, not by his identity with the One who sent him.

From the Qur'an

Qur'an 3:45

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ

God gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, distinguished in this world and the Hereafter.

Qur'an 3:49

أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ

I design for you from clay the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of God.

Qur'an 5:75

مَّا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ

The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; other messengers have passed on before him.

From the Bible

John 17:3

τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν

…the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Read it in their Bible

From the Sunnah

Sahih al-Bukhari 3442 · Sahih

The Prophet said: I am the nearest of all people to Jesus son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.

Sources

Abu Zakariya, Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · Qur'an 3, 5, 19 · Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah — ch. 2, pp. 51-53

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