Jesus A Prophet of Islam

Jesus: A Prophet of Islam - Siraj Wahhaj

Opening Greetings and Introduction

As-salamu alaykum. (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim). Alhamdulillah. Ashadu an la ilaha illa Allah, wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.

Brothers and sisters, invited guests, we are very honored to see you tonight. We pray Allah the Almighty will guide all of us. And I pray that Allah will bless my tongue to articulate what I feel in my heart. I want to thank the Muslim Student Association of this wonderful institution, George Mason University. And may Allah the Almighty bless us tonight.

A Personal Connection to the Topic

I want to first say that I think it's befitting that a Muslim, myself, who used to be a Christian, is going to talk about one of the great and illustrious prophets, Prophet Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him. I want to remind especially the Muslims who are here, who used to be Christian like myself, something that the Prophet said, peace and blessing be upon him. He said, Whoever believes in Jesus and then believes in me, Muhammad, will have a double reward.

So for my immigrant brothers who were born Muslims, I have something over you. Before I get into the particulars about Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him, let me give you some basic foundation. All of my Christian friends who are here tonight, I want to say, even before I begin, that please do not be offended by anything that I say that might appear to you not worthy of the great personality of Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him.

I'm letting you know from the beginning, I don't intend to do that. I don't think it would happen. But sometimes in our zeal to try to explain our faith, we may say something when other people might take it not in such a good way. So I want to let you know from the very beginning, I apologize if such a thing should happen.

The Purpose of Prophets

Let me first give you some background. Whenever God Almighty sends a prophet to the people, it means that something is wrong, not that it's something right. And usually when messengers come, they come in times of darkness and ignorance. And it is the job of that prophet to come to the people and take them out of ignorance and bring them to the light of God.

According to one of our traditions, Allah the Almighty has sent on this earth 124,000 prophets. In the Arabic language, Nabi, prophet. In the plural, Anbiya. 124,000 prophets. And among these 124,000 prophets, 315 of them were special prophets. Special prophets called Rasul or Rusul, which means messenger. 124,000 prophets, 315 messengers.

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The Prophets Mentioned in the Quran

And of the 124,000 prophets, 25 of them have been mentioned specifically in the Quran. Of the 124,000 prophets, 25 of them has been mentioned in the Quran. And of the 25 prophets that's mentioned in the Quran, 5 of them is mentioned in a very special way. The greatest. Noah, Noah. Ibrahim, Ibrahim. Musa, Moses. Isa, Jesus. And Muhammad.

Of the 25 prophets mentioned in the Quran, 5 of them mentioned in a very special way. Noah, Ibrahim, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.

Muslim Belief in All Prophets and Books

Allah mentioned in the Quran as a Muslim:

Muhammad believes in what was revealed to him, and so do the believers. All of them, every Muslim believes in the angels, the last day. Every Muslim believes in the prophets and the books.

Now, I want to say something tonight that is critical for us to understand as we move along, is that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have something in common. All of them are people of faith. They are people of faith. Jews who believe in the Torah, and believe that the Torah was revealed by God Almighty, are people of faith. Muslims believe in the Torah as the book of God.

وَأَنزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ

And He, Allah, revealed the Torah and the Gospel. (Quran 3:3) So as a Muslim, we must believe in the Torah. The Torah revealed to the great prophet Moses, peace and blessing be upon him. And what does Allah say about the Torah in the Quran?

فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ

And in it, the Torah is guidance and light. (Quran 5:44) So God revealed the Torah to Moses, and God Almighty, Allah, revealed the Injil or the Gospel to Jesus. And what does Allah say about the Injil, the Gospel?

فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ

And in it is guidance and light. (Quran 5:46) You can't get better than that.

The People of the Book

So what do Muslims believe in? Muslims believe that the Torah is the word of God. It's in the Quran. And the Muslims have a special relationship with Jews and Christians, and they are given a special name in the Quran. They're called Ahli Kitab, the people of the book. Why are they called the people of the book? Because Jews,

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true Jews, don't do anything unless they get the guidance from the Torah. Why? Because the Torah is from God Almighty. We believe that as Muslims.

Christians are called Ahli Kitab. They're the people of the book. Why? Because they follow the book, and they don't follow themselves. They follow the book that was given to their prophet, Prophet Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him.

People of Faith

What do we have in common? We're people of faith. No Jew living today was on Mount Sinai when God revealed the Torah to Moses. No Jew living today saw the great miracles of God as he took the people, the children of Israel, away from Pharaoh and saved the children of Israel. No Jew today saw the manna and the quails from heaven. None of them witnessed when the Jews were running from Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was drowned in the ocean. None was there. But they believe in it. Why? Because they're people of faith. And guess what? Muslims believe it, too, because we are people of faith.

We believe in Moses, not because we witnessed one miracle of Moses. No, we believe in Moses as a prophet because the Quran says that Moses was a prophet. No Christian experienced or saw or witnessed the miracles of Jesus. Not one living today. But yet Christians out of faith believe in their book because God Almighty talks about the miracles of Jesus in their book. But they're people of faith.

And likewise, today, no Muslim witnessed the miracles of Moses or the miracles of Jesus. But yet every Muslim believes in the miracles of Moses and the miracles of Jesus. Why? Because we witnessed them? No. But because the Quran says it. It said it, and we believe in it. We're people of faith.

The Non-Negotiable: The Oneness of God

Now, brothers and sisters, before we proceed, let me give you one more point that I think is critical. In Islam, we can negotiate about many things. But there are some things that's non-negotiable. Non-negotiable. And the one non-negotiable thing is absolutely God is Wahid. God is one. There's no debate. There's no argument. And anyone who makes a partner with God Almighty, then they have violated the worst violation you can imagine.

We can negotiate. We can argue about entertainment. Muslims argue about music, to what degree we can participate in music. What music is permissible? What music is not permissible? We can negotiate about that.

We can even negotiate to some degree how to pray, which direction to pray. Maybe I believe that that's the direction of Mecca, but someone comes and gives me another argument and turn me that way, and thinking that that is the way to Mecca. We can negotiate about that.

There are many things we can negotiate about, but the one thing we can never negotiate about, and that is the absolute oneness of God. There's two things. There's Al Khaliq, the Creator, and Makhluq, Creation. Everything in the universe is a creation of God. Everything in the universe is a creation of God, and God is Al Awwal. He's

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first, and He's last. There was nothing before Him. There's nothing after Him. He's the Creator. And everything else is creation.

Every Soul Shall Taste Death

And because of that, we have this verse in Quran. I'm going to put it here, because we're going to come back to it. I want you to remind me.

Every soul shall taste of death. (Quran 3:185) Everything in creation must die, except Allah. Everything must die. Prophets live, and prophets die. Angels live, and angels die. In fact, we are taught, in the end, the last one to be standing is the angel of death. And then Allah will order the angel of death to die. And everything ever been created will go out of existence, except Allah.

We can negotiate about a lot of things, but the one thing we can never negotiate about is the absolute oneness of God. And every prophet, 124,000 of them, all said the same thing. God is one. Do not associate gods with God.

The Similitude of Jesus and Adam

Now, let us talk about Prophet Jesus from an Islamic perspective. Allah mentioned in the Quran, the similitude of Jesus before God is like the similitude of Adam. And God created Adam from dust and said, Be, and Adam was. It is no accident that Adam is mentioned in the Quran 25 times.

And Allah mentioned in the Quran, the similitude of Jesus with God is the similitude of Adam. God created Adam from dust. Let me stop. All of us in this auditorium tonight, Muslim, Christians, Jews, black, white, Americans, non-Americans, let me say something about us, what the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said, mankind, all of them are the children of Adam. And Adam was created from the dust.

So wherever we are, wherever we come from, one thing we have in common tonight in this auditorium, all of us are human beings and all of us come from our father, Adam. And this is why in the Quran we're called the Bani Adam, the children of Adam, because Adam was the first man.

I said that Adam is mentioned in the Quran how many times? Twenty five times. And I said, Allah compares Jesus to who? Adam. And guess how many times Jesus is mentioned in the Quran? Exactly 25 times. Jesus is mentioned in the Quran 25 times. Now I know some of you don't believe me. Here's my Quran. If you like to take it and go look in the Quran, but take my word for it. Jesus is mentioned in the Quran 25 times. And so is Adam, peace and blessing be upon him.

Call Them by Their Father's Name

Now brothers and sisters, let me first give you a little bit of information which is important. How many of you heard of Reverend Al Sharpton, the minister, the Christian minister from Brooklyn, New York? You know, last

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year, Reverend Sharpton discovered something about his family lineage. And he found out that his name Sharpton, that he got from his great grandfather, and his great grandfather got his name Sharpton, not from his father, but he got his name from Alexander Sharpton.

Who was Alexander Sharpton? Alexander Sharpton was the slave master of the great grandfather, Reverend Sharpton. So we learn in slavery, black people who were enslaved, the slave master took away their name and gave them the slave master's name. But Allah said in the Quran, call them by their father's name. Every human being has a right to be called by the name of their fathers.

Now, I'll ask you a personal question. How many of you are married? Raise your hand. Okay, good. Sisters, how many of you, don't raise your hand, how many of you are not married but plan to get married? And those of you sisters, now you can raise your hand, those of you who plan to get married, how many of you will take on the name of your husband? Raise your hand.

Okay, now let me tell you something, let me tell you something. In Islam, when a woman marries a man, she's not obligated to take on his name. Why? Because Allah said in the Quran, call them by their father's name. If you look at Aisha, the wife of Prophet Muhammad, she never became Aisha Abdullah. Muhammad, the messenger, was called Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, his father, Abdullah. He will always be Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. Muhammad, the son of Abdullah. Aisha will always be Bint Abu Bakr. She will be the daughter of her father, Abu Bakr. She never changed her name. She was Aisha Zawjatin Nabi. She was Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, but she never changed her name.

But in this Western society, when a person put their name on you, it meant ownership. Now, now, now, now, now, wait a minute. Those sisters who married to your husband, you got their name. It's okay. He didn't mean ownership. But really, if you study Western history, you will find out that when women married men, she became, she became their property. And so that that tradition has continued.

The Right to Know One's Father

So Allah says, call them by their father's name. And everyone is the is the is the son and daughter of their father. And that's why this illicit relationship is crazy. Some people don't even know their father. According to who? According to who? Who? According to who? Who? World Health Organization. No, that's what it's called. It's called who?

Intimacy between men and women happened a hundred million times a day on this earth. A hundred million times a day on this earth. And it's rumored that a lot of it takes place in New York City. But that's just another issue. And as a result of that. Eight hundred and ten thousand conceptions a day on this earth. That results in three hundred and fifty thousand sexually transmitted diseases a day on this earth. That results in one hundred and fifty thousand abortions every day on this earth. And there are a lot of men, girls and boys who don't even know their father.

Jesus, the Son of Mary

Then if every person is called by the name of their father, how come? How come in the Quran it says Isa Ibn Maryam, Isa Ibn Maryam, Jesus, the son of Mary. All throughout the Quran, Jesus, the son of Mary. How come Jesus is not known by the name of his father? Because he had no father.

And you will learn today there are things in the Christian theology where Muslims agree 100 percent. I'm going to talk about those. And then you're going to find out that there are things that the Quran mentions that the prophets traditions mentioned. That's not even mentioned in the Bible. Miracles about Jesus that you didn't even know about that Muslims know about. I'm going to talk about that. And then finally, we're going to talk about a few differences.

Remember, tonight is not a debate. We're saying that this is most Muslims view of Jesus. This is an Islamic view of Jesus. It's a Quranic view. It's how the Muslims view Jesus. According to the Quran is how the Jews, the Muslims view Jesus. Peace and blessing be upon him. According to the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. And some of you non-Muslims will be amazed at what's going to come out of my mouth in the next few moments. Jesus, the son of Mary.

The Popularity of Names: Muhammad and Mary

Now, let me stop here and say this. What name on this earth is the most popular name? What name? There's no debate, no argument that the most popular name on this earth is Muhammad. Right now, Muhammad is the second most populated name in all of the United Kingdom. Everywhere you go, people talk about Muhammad and take on the name Muhammad.

Muhammad is the beloved name of Muslims. How many of you in this audience, either your first name, your middle name, or your last name is Muhammad, raise your hand. Look at this. Come on. Look at that. I mean, come on. I know someone who loved Muhammad so much, his name is Muhammad, Muhammad, Muhammad. Love Muhammad. Can't help it. Right? They love Muhammad. And usually, when you take on the name of someone, it's a badge of honor. You respect them. You love them. You honor them.

Now, it is not surprising that among Muslims, there are Muslims who take on the name of Isa, Jesus, out of respect and love for Jesus. It's no different than Muslims taking on the name of Musa. How many of you know a

Muslim with the name Musa? Musa means Moses. Moses is a great prophet. We love Moses. So, Muslims take on the name. How many here tonight name Moses, Musa? All right.

Muslims take on the name of Abraham, Ibrahim, Khalilullah, the friend of God. How many of you know Muslims with the name Abraham? Raise your hand. Look at that. How many here tonight name Abraham? All right. A sister raising her hand. Your name is Abraham? So, Muslims with the name Isa, Muslims with the name Moses, Abraham, Muslims with the name Yaqub, Jacob. I know Muslims with the name Yaqub, Jacob. Everywhere you see Muslims with those names.

Now, I would argue that Khadija is a very popular name among Muslim women. True? Khadija is a very popular name. The name of the prophet's wife. Aisha is a popular name among Muslim women. True or not? I would argue that the name Miriam is as popular a name among Muslim women as any other name. Am I right? Miriam. How many here name Miriam? Ah, ha, ha. Wait a minute. Raise your hand. One. Raise them up. Two. Three. So, you see. Four. She just remembered.

Now, what does that mean? It means that Muslims respect Miriam. The 19th chapter of the Quran is entitled Miriam. So, there's no doubt about it. Muslims love and respect Jesus. They name their children after him. They name themselves after him. They name themselves after his righteous mother.

Two Perfect Women

And let me tell you what the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said about Mary. He mentioned two perfect women. One of them, Aisha. Believe it or not, the wife of Pharaoh. Perfect woman. And the second one, Miriam, the mother of Jesus. Two perfect.

The Most Beloved Name to God

Now, remind me to come back to the second verse. My brother who recited the Quran, he recited in the very beginning by saying, Inni Abdullah. Put that there for a minute. I want to come back to that.

If the most popular name on earth is Muhammad, I'm going to ask you a second question. What name is most beloved to God? Is it Muhammad? That's not what the prophet said. What name? Ahabba illallah. Most beloved to God. What name? Hmm? Abdullah. Abdullah means the servant of God. The most beloved name to God is Abdullah. Abdurrahman. The servant of the beneficent. The servant of God.

Why? Because Abdullah, if you study the Quran, there's a verse, what the French would call, The very purpose of life. God said:

I have not created spirits or human beings except to worship me. (Quran 51:56) It is God's right to be worshipped by everybody. Jinn, spirits, human beings to worship God. Who must worship God? Not everybody.

From the prophets on down. Because there's one thing that's non-negotiable in Islam. And that is God is one. And everyone must worship God the almighty.

Jesus as the Word of God

Now, the Christians refer to Jesus as the word. And brothers and sisters, the more I study, the more I've come to the conclusion that there are many facts that Muslims and Christians especially agree upon. But where we differ is the interpretation. I'll give an example. Christians teach that Jesus is the word. Muslims absolutely believe that Jesus is the word of God. He's called Kalimatullah, the word of God. And there's many evidences from Quran and from Sunnah. It's called in the Quran:

Kalimatullah, He's the word of God and a spirit from him. (Quran 4:171)

The Virgin Birth

Now, what do you mean as a Muslim that Jesus is the word of God? Since you say that Jesus didn't have a father, how did he come into existence? Allah said:

And Jesus was. (Quran 3:59) And Mary was pregnant. And she carried him. Jesus was born from a virgin. Some might interpret it to mean that because he's God, therefore his birth must be a different way other than the regular birth or regular coming into existence. Interpretation.

Jesus Speaking from the Cradle

Now. There's a miracle in the Quran that the Quran mentions that you don't find in the Torah and you don't find in the Injil. And that is when Jesus was born, Jesus spoke from the cradle as a baby. And when Jesus was born, the people, they look at Mary accusingly because they knew she didn't have a husband. How could you have this? And your father and your mother, your mother is not a prostitute. How could you have a baby without a man?

And what did Mary do? She pointed to the baby Jesus. How can we speak to him? He's a baby. How can we speak to him? And Jesus spoke. And Jesus' first words were:

Not insignificant. Not the son of God. Not divine. I am the servant of God. (Quran 19:30)

The Miracles of Jesus

Now. I'm going to ask you a few questions. How many Muslims believe that Jesus raised the dead? Raise your

hand. Look at this. Muslims raise their hand. A miracle of Jesus. Raising the dead. And yet Muslims, they raise their hand and say, yes, we believe that Jesus raised the dead. By the permission of God.

How many of you believe that Jesus cured those born blind? Raise your hand. Muslims raising their hand. They didn't see Jesus perform the miracle. But they believe that Jesus touched the eyes and the people able to see.

How many believe that Jesus cured those who had leprosy? Raise your hand. Look at this. Muslims believe it. Why? Because it's in the Quran. They didn't witness it. God mentions it in the Quran. Muslims don't hide it. It's true. It's real. It's there. He did it.

Water into Wine: Verification and Silence

How many Muslims believe? Or how many of you believe that Jesus turned water into wine? Raise your hand. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Where'd those hands go? How many believe Jesus turned water into wine? One, two. You, my good brother, raise your hand. No, you. Yes. Yes. You had no idea I was going to call on you, did you? You said, what the heck I get myself into?

Why do you believe that Jesus turned water into wine? Ha. Hmm. Sister, you mentioned that you believe Jesus turned water into wine. Why? No, don't turn around. You. Why do you believe it? You learned it somewhere. It was when you went to church that Sunday. That's when you learned it.

Muslims don't deny it. But because we can't verify it, we silent. Because one of the things that the Quran does, is called:

مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ

It verifies what is with you. (Quran 2:41)

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had so much respect for the Injil and the Torah, he gave advice to his followers, he said:

قُولُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَلَا تُكَذِّبُوهُمْ

Don't verify what the people of the book say, but don't deny it. We don't say that Jesus didn't turn water into wine, we say because Allah didn't say it, and the Prophet didn't mention it, we are afraid to attribute something to Jesus that may not be true, so we want to be careful because we believe that some of the things have been changed. So therefore we want to be careful not to say that Jesus did such a thing or said such a thing, but then we don't want to deny it, so we are silent on it.

The Miracle of the Clay Bird

Now, a miracle that the Quran mentions that the Bible doesn't mention, the Torah doesn't mention, the Gospel doesn't mention. Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, took clay and made an image of a bird:

فَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ

and he blew in the clay and the clay became a living bird. (Quran 3:49) A miracle that's in the Quran, the Bible doesn't mention.

You will see that Muslims don't try to diminish Jesus or what he's done, but in fact the Quran and the Sunnah seems to give more ammunition to the Christians, but then give it interpretation.

Mary and Jesus: Untouched by Satan

Now let me tell you the one that's going to blow your mind. What do you have to do when you go and sit on a plane, what do the flight attendants tell you? Put your seatbelts on. I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to make sure you got your seatbelts on. Ready? Got them on? Let me check.

Our prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, Every human being that's born is touched by Satan at his birth or her birth and they cry out because of that touch. Every human being that's born is touched by Satan. Every human being at birth is touched by Satan except two people. And who are the two people? Who are the two people? Who are the two people? Yes, Mary and Jesus. The only human beings never touched by Satan at birth.

This hadith, this tradition, Mutafakun alayhi, Mutafakun alayhi sahih in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and other places. If you don't believe me, you want to check it out, I want you to get Bukhari hadith, Volume number four, Kitab al-Anbiya in the book of the prophets and under Isa, under Jesus, you will read what the prophet said about him, peace and blessings be upon him. So you will learn this about our prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He doesn't shy away from telling the truth. He doesn't hide or diminish the miracles of Jesus.

Every Soul Shall Taste Death - Except Jesus Has Not Yet Died

Now, what's up here? Ha, thank you.

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ

Every soul shall taste of death. (Quran 3:185)

Question, Muslims, what happened to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him? What happened to him? Matta, he died. What happened to Abraham? Matta, he died. What happened to Musa? Matta, he died. What happened to Noah? But didn't you tell me he lived to be 950 years? But what happened after that? He died.

Muslims, what happened to Jesus? He's still alive. Hayun, Jesus has never died. This is the belief of the Muslims.

The Ascension of Jesus

How Christians and Muslims differ. Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross and Jesus was resurrected. Last Friday, Good Friday, the celebration of the death of Jesus and this past Easter, the holiest day of the Christians when Jesus was resurrected. Our belief is similar. Almost.

Allah says:

They didn't kill him. They didn't kill Jesus. Nor did they crucify him.

No, God raised Jesus up to himself. Muslims absolutely believe in the ascension of Jesus. Jesus ascended. And right now, Jesus is in heaven.

But wait a minute, Mr. Speaker. You said what?

Every soul must die except God. But you said that Jesus, a thousand, two thousand years ago was raised up in heaven. He didn't die. Ha! We got you. You got us, right?

But that doesn't mean he's not going to die. Jesus must die. We're going to come back to that in a minute.

Jesus: Prophet, Messenger, and the Messiah

What was Jesus? In the Quran, Jesus is called the Nabi, a prophet. But then he was more than that. He was a Rasul. 124,000 prophets, Nabi. 315 Rasul, messengers. So Jesus was a Nabi and a Rasul. Like many prophets, Muhammad was a Nabi and a Rasul. Moses was a Nabi and a Rasul. Isa, a Nabi and a Rasul.

But there is something about Jesus. I have looked and I have not found this title except with Jesus. In the Quran, Jesus is referred to 11 times with this title. 11 times in the Quran:

الْمَسِيحُ

No other prophet called Al-Masih. What does Christ mean? What does Christ mean? Anointed. Anointed. Muslims think that Christians take their name from Jesus. They don't take their name from Jesus. They're called Christians. They take their name from the Anointed One. In Hebrew, it would be Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah.

Do Jews believe in Jesus as a prophet? No. Do Jews believe in Jesus as a Messiah? No. Why don't they believe in Him as a Messiah? Huh? Why? Why don't they believe in Him as a Messiah? Because why? Huh? Huh? No. Yes. Yeah. He didn't do the job of the Messiah. The Messiah was supposed to come and bring peace on the earth. He didn't do it, so He's not the Messiah.

One God for All

But why must Jesus come back? This stuff is good, man. I mean, really, honestly, this stuff is delicious. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you about whom we worship. Whom the Christians and the Muslims and the Jews worship. Because Allah says in the Quran:

Your God and our God is one. Our God and your God is one. There's only one God. We come to Him, we get it wrong, you know. Why? Because we're people of faith. We believe. We believe you believe, and we believe.

Now, Allah says in the Quran:

And God does whatever He wants to do. You believe that?

God Saves His Prophets As He Wills

Now, look throughout history and see how Allah, God, has saved His prophets. Moses, He saved them from Pharaoh in a miraculous way. He saved the children of Israel. They went across the Red Sea, and He drowned Pharaoh and his soldiers.

Look at Abraham. Abraham was about to be thrown in the fire, and Allah ordered the fire to be cool. Abraham didn't die in the fire. Why?

Allah does what He pleases. Everyone tonight agrees that God can do whatever He wants. True. He has the power.

But hasn't God Almighty allowed some prophets to be murdered? It's in the Quran. Some prophets were murdered. It's in the Torah. It's in the Bible. The cousin of Jesus, what was his name? Yahya. John. John the Baptist. It's reported that he was murdered. He was beheaded. Other prophets had died. God not able to save them? Of course He was. He was able to save them, but He didn't. Why? For His reason. His reasons are beyond us. This is what makes Him who He is.

You know, I was at an airport, and I had just come back from a trip to the Gwadi Airport, and I got a cab. And the cab driver was listening to a radio station, and a preacher was preaching. And I'm listening to the sermon. And the preacher says something like this, Well, if I were God, I would have done it this way. And I said, No, if you were God, you'd do it the same way God did it. Because that's what's making God. You see? I mean, right? So why did God do it that way?

Not only did Allah save Jesus, but He saved him in a very special way. He raised him up to himself. And Jesus is in heaven.

Jesus: A Sign of the Hour and the Return of the Messiah

One of the things that Jesus called in the Quran, and by the way, I'm working on my conclusion. I don't know if you can tell. We're about to land soon. So make sure your seatbelts are on.

Allah mentions in the Quran, that Jesus is a sign of the hour. Jesus is a sign of the hour. And according to our tradition of our prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, the day of judgment will not happen until there are some signs. And one of the signs is the return of Jesus.

Muslims absolutely believe in the return of Jesus. Jesus has to come. Why? He has to fulfill the Messiah. He has to come, and Jesus will be a just ruler. It's there. We believe it. See? We're not hiding it. Jesus will come to this earth as a just ruler. Why? He's al-Masih. He is the Messiah.

And he will come about, and Jesus will come about, and he's not going to teach a new teaching. It's going to be the same teaching that we have, the teaching of the last book of al-Quran. And Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him, will bring about justice on this earth.

Jesus and the Antichrist

And according to what our prophet taught us, peace and blessing be upon him, there is no more difficult trial to human beings than what is called Ad-Dajjal, what you call the Antichrist. The Antichrist is real. He will bring havoc on this earth, called the Antichrist. And lo and behold, who will put an end to the Antichrist? It's Jesus. It's Jesus.

The Question on the Day of Judgment

Now, brothers and sisters, Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him, is a huge test for us, like everyone else. Allah, the Almighty, will ask Jesus on the Day of Judgment. Now remember, when God asks a question, he doesn't ask because he doesn't know. He asks to teach us.

Did you tell the people to worship you, you and your mother, as gods besides Allah? And of course, Jesus would deny that. Because no prophet ever have told people to worship me. No prophet. It's unbefitting for a prophet to say, worship me. It's unfitting for any prophet to say other than, worship the Almighty. We believe that Jesus worshipped the Almighty and taught the people to believe in him.

The Year of Our Lord?

I need somebody to help me. I'm almost finished. Somebody help me. What day is today? Thursday, March 27, 2008 A.D. Good. Sometimes, brother and sister, we don't think about what we've been saying. I mean, just think about it for a minute. March. What's March? Where did March come from? Mars, the god of war. Thursday. You

don't mean Thursday. You mean Thor's Day. Thor. Frigg's Day. Saturn Day. Sun Day. Moon Day. Tyre's Day. Wooden's Day. I gave you enough. Go study it. Serious.

When you wake up and see the tricks that have been played on human beings, you'll be shocked. What do you mean 2008 A.D.? What does A.D. mean? Anno Domini. What does Anno Domini mean? The year of our Lord. There's only one Lord. That's God.

The Other Half of Paradise

Now, brothers and sisters, I'll leave you with this thought. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, said this, and I'll close with this. Arju an takunu nisfa ahli Jannah. He's talking to his companions, and he said, I hope that you will be one half the people of paradise. I hope that you, Muslims, my followers, will be one half the people of paradise. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

If he said, I hope you will be one half the people of paradise, who are the other half? Ha, ha, ha. Think about that for a minute. I'm going to rest here for a minute. Huh? What? Who are the other half? Who are the other half? If he said, I hope that you, my followers, the followers of Muhammad, will be the other half, who are the other half?

And I want to tell you this, Brunson, you'd be shocked to learn that many prophets didn't have many followers. Uri da'ale umman. The prophet said, I was shown all of the nations, and I saw some prophets who had a handful of followers. I saw a prophet that had one or two followers. I saw prophets who had no followers.

Who are the other half? The other half are the true followers of the prophets, the true followers of Jesus, the true followers of Moses, the true followers of Abraham and Noah. But now we've got a dilemma. And what's the dilemma? Many people may believe that they're following their prophet, only to learn that they're not. Because there's one thing that's non-negotiable. God is one.

The Islamic Position on Jesus

Allah mentioned in the Quran, they have disbelieved who said that Jesus is the son of God. They have disbelieved who say that Jesus is God. Jesus is beloved by us, one of the most honorable, respected of those near to God, in this life and the hereafter. But he's not God, nor the son of God.

The Responsibility of Muslims

The job of the Muslims, and let me tell you this, brothers and sisters, you've got a big job as Muslims. You have a huge job. Let me tell you why your job is so big. Because we have the last revelation, we believe. Why? We're people of faith. Because we believe that we have the last revelation, we can check those who came before us. And those who came before us, the mistakes that they made, not Jesus. Jesus didn't make no mistakes.

Jesus: Sinless and Perfect

In fact, let me tell you something. Let me give you another tidbit. And sometimes, brothers and sisters, you have to be like detectives when you look at scripture. And sometimes hints are given. On the Day of Judgment, when the people are about to be punished, and the people are going to look for help, and they're going to go to the prophets, they're going to go to Adam, alayhi salatu wasalam, to seek intercession. And you know what? Adam will say, Nafsi, Nafsi, Nafsi, Idhabu ila ghairi. I'm concerned about myself. And then Adam will mention the faults that he did, eating from the tree.

Idhabu ila nuh. Go to Noah. Noah will say, Nafsi, Nafsi, Nafsi, oh, myself, myself. I'm concerned about myself. He will mention his mistakes. Idhabu ila Ibrahim. Ibrahim will mention his mistakes. Musa will mention his mistakes. And when they come to Jesus, Jesus will say, Idhabu ila Muhammad. But no tradition will you ever read that Jesus mentioned any mistakes. See? It's a, it's a, it's a, you know, it's a subtlety that you've got to see it.

So we can't attribute anything to him at all. Wrong at all. Everything Jesus did was right and exact. The problem is when God took Jesus from him, and then some people begin to mistranslate what Jesus had.

Jesus: Taught the Scriptures

You know something else about Jesus that makes him really special? Allah says:

يُعَلِّمُهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ

And we will teach him the book, and the wisdom, and the Torah, and the Injil. (Quran 3:48) And then he will come back on the Day of Judgment, and he will be a believer in Al-Quran. Before the Day of Judgment, he'll come back and believe in Al-Quran.

So brothers and sisters, that's our story, and I'm sticking to it. As-salamu alaykum.

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Question and Answer Session

Now, it's the fun part, the question and answer part. That's the fun part. Yeah, that's all right Mr. Smarty, but I got some questions. Now, anyone of you have, how many of you have questions? Raise your hand. Questions or statements.

Now, let me say this to you. Let me tell you the ground rules. I love you, I love all of you. You can ask a question, you can make a statement, but I want to be honest with you. I love you, but they didn't come to hear you tonight. Get my point? All right? You're gonna make, I'm gonna let you, I'm gonna let you go for, you're gonna see me, I'm gonna let you go for a while, but if you go too long, all right, I'm gonna come get you. Questions, statements, points, please feel free. And don't hesitate, brothers and sisters, please don't hesitate. Any

questions you have. My good brother, yes sir. By the way, I want to thank you for helping us. I really appreciate that. Yes sir.

Question 1: The Trinity and the Oneness of God

Question: Okay, is it, do you guys not believe that Jesus could not have been God because you believe that Mohammed preached there's only one God, but in the Old Testament, they also say that there is also only one God. But is it possible that it's just, I mean, and Jesus claimed that he was God too according to Christians. Is it possible that there's just some, like the idea of the Trinity is just very hard to comprehend. I mean, if that idea was true, would that contradict what you're saying? I mean...

Answer: Yeah, think about this for a moment, and that's a fair question, but think about this for a moment. If we depend on every prophet that came, let's talk about every prophet that came before Jesus, all of them, not one of them ever said that God had a son. And what happened is that the last book, and what puts Muslims in this favorable position is that we believe, see, you know the difference between us? We believe in the gospel in its original form. We believe in the Torah. So we believe that the Quran now has to make sure, it has to clarify any mistakes.

Let me show you what I mean. Brothers and sisters, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, had a big job. And one of his jobs is that people are going to follow him and follow his Sunnah very closely, follow his practices very closely. Therefore, how do Muslims describe the Sunnah of the prophet? Three ways. Number one, what he said. Whatever the prophet said, this is a Sunnah. The prophet said it. Or number two, what he did. And the third one is very interesting. What was done in his presence and he didn't disapprove of it. It's part of his Sunnah.

So if someone, now me, I love chicken. I can eat chicken every day. I'm serious. All day long, I love chicken. Now, if someone was eating chicken in the presence of the prophet and the prophet didn't say anything, I say yeah.

Now, the same thing with the Quran. Because the Quran is the last book, it must correct the mistakes. And I know people, people of faith, they're gonna believe it because they're people of faith. But the one thing, if you are honest, if we're honest, we will say that this teaching of the Trinity and the teaching that Jesus is the son of God is absolutely new. What Muslims would call the bid'ah, a religious innovation.

And so what the Quran has to do, it has to now correct it. Not Jesus. We don't believe that Jesus ever told people to worship him. He's the son of God or any of that or the Trinity. I'm not saying we reject it because it's irrational. That's not my argument. We reject it because God said it's not true. As simple as that.

Now, one of the things that will happen in the last day, we believe that everybody's gonna believe in Jesus. Meaning that he's going to denounce people of worshiping him. And people will believe in him like they believe in every prophet. And every prophet, with no exception, taught that God is one. Every prophet. No exception.

It's a matter of faith. And that's what your argument would be. Belief in Trinity is very difficult to believe in. It's a matter of faith. Ultimately, that's your argument. Yes, my brother.

Question 2: Salvation Without a Savior

Question: Recently, I was having a discussion with a lady who happened to be Christian. And her point to me was, how can you believe that you're on the right path when you don't have a savior? Meaning, Jesus. How can you believe that you'll be saved without believing Jesus as being the savior? Could you touch upon that?

Answer: Again, brothers and sisters, you know what? A lot of times, arguments are gonna always come back to the same basic principle of faith. Now, the question is, again, all the prophets who came before Jesus, how were they saved? They were saved by that prophet and the revelation that the prophet brought. And we believe in the same thing.

See, when you talk about a savior, that's in a Christian terminology and in a Christian belief system. But we believe, by the way, let me tell you something which is interesting that Muslims believe and some Muslims don't understand this. Christians talk about more grace than works. Am I right? You're saved not by works, but by grace, right?

Believe it or not, Muslims believe in that. Almost. The prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said that none of you can be saved by your works alone. None of you. He said, they said, even you, Ya Rasulullah, he says, even me, except by Allah's grace. That doesn't mean that we don't do good works. We have to because we can be punished for not doing good works. We can be punished for not making prayer. We can be punished for not praying. But in the ultimate, in reality, the only way we can go to paradise is God's grace. I mean, really. I mean, that's really the bottom line.

And that's good because you don't get arrogant and think that you did something. Remember the guy, this was a young man, very pious man, right? He was famous for his piety. And he would be, in the masjid, he would be praying every day. And he like, he had a spot, right, where he would always pray. So one day he's praying, right? And some people behind him say, oh, look at that man, that righteous young man. He's praying, he's always praying. And while he was praying, he says, I'm fasting too. Huh? Huh? You get it? Huh? You get it? Huh? You blew it.

So, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I love Jesus. You cannot imagine how much I love him. I'm a Muslim. And I, and the Muslims here, we love Jesus. And we don't diminish him at all. And, and, and you know, there's, there's traditions that we have about Jesus that you don't even find in Christian tradition. I'll give you one which is very interesting, which helped me.

The prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said once Jesus saw a man stealing. And Jesus asked him, did you steal? And the man swore by God, I swear by God, I believe in, I, I, I didn't steal. And you know what Jesus said? I believe in God. And I deny my own eyes. I believe in God.

And that's good, brother and sister, because you know what? Sometimes you look at things and it's not what they appear to be. You see somebody, a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, going to a liquor store. And next thing you start telling people he was drunk. I mean, he went to the liquor store to go to the bathroom. Come on. We don't give each other the benefit of the doubt. Now, I'm sure that Governor Spitzer, no, he was probably trying to give us some good advice. Bad.

All the way in the back, yes.

Question 3: Jesus Becoming a Believer in the Quran

Question: First of all, I just want to say thank you so much for coming out to talk to us. As-salamu alaykum. I'm actually a Christian. And I was wondering, the last statement you said that Jesus will come back on the Day of Judgment and become a believer in Al-Quran. Why is he, just point of clarification, you said that there was another miracle where Jesus basically speaks and the first thing he says is, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, the way I heard it was the first thing he says is, I am a servant of the one, Allah. Yes. So if he's coming back on the Day of Judgment and he's going to become a believer of Al-Quran, wasn't he by the Islamic tradition a believer of Al-Quran?

Answer: No, no, no, he was absolutely a believer. I'm just saying that the last book is the Quran. And the point I'm making is the miracle of Jesus is that he had the Torah and the Injil and then a believer of the Quran, only because the Quran came after him. So we're not, this is not to suggest to take anything away from Jesus that Jesus wasn't a believer, he was absolutely a believer, no question about that. We just wanted to make sure that people don't get the misconception that Jesus is gonna reject the Quran. That Jesus is gonna say, no, no, no, I'm not, no, we gotta go back to the Injil. That's the only point that I was making. But Jesus 100% have always been a believer and will have his place in the paradise, no doubt about it. Thank you for that point. Thank you, sir. Yes, ma'am.

Question 4: Timeline and Prayer Differences

Question: My friend and I have a two part question. One is how long after the Old Testament was the New Testament revealed? And also the difference between Salat in Islam and prayer in Christianity?

Answer: Yeah, good. I could be off by some years, but when you're talking about the Old Testament, really the Jews would say the Torah because everything in the Old Testament is not Torah. And so Moses came about 4,000 years ago and Jesus about 2,000 years ago. So you're talking about what? About 2,000 years in between.

Now, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, said, Sallu kama ra'itumuni usalli, pray as you see me pray. So when you look at the Muslims, and again, the beautiful thing about Islam is that, you know, let me say this. This is very important for you to understand this.

Our prophet said that my example and the example of the prophets that came before me is the example of a man who built a building. And the building was perfectly put together. And everyone went around the building and

was marveling at the beauty of the building and said, oh, what a beautiful building, except there was one brick missing, one brick. And he said, I am that brick.

And what does that mean? That means that Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, really didn't bring new stuff. The foundation of what he had is the same as the other prophets. And by his own analogy, what did he bring? He brought the brick.

Now, now why is that important? Prayer is critical. In the Quran, it teaches that God taught, the prophets taught the people to pray, the Christians, the Jews, whatever, to pray. So the detail may be a little bit different. Right? So Allah said in the Quran:

This day have I perfected your religion for you. (Quran 5:3)

So now the prayer of the Muslim is such that I don't even think we understand the full value and significance of our prayer. We pray, we stand, we bow, we get down in prostration. It's a wonderful exercise, spiritual exercise and physical exercise. So we believe that the prayer of the Muslims is the perfected state. And so now we have so much tradition that it's important for us to follow the prophet. If we want to do things right and get an A, then we follow God's last messenger, Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him.

Think about this. We mentioned in our talk, what prophet that lived 950 years? Noah. If you think about it, Noah was here 950 years, but yet how much of his traditions do we know? Not much. But when you look at Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, from the time he became a messenger until the time he died, how many years? 23 years, right? 23 years, but yet look at all the rich traditions. Hundreds of thousands.

Nine volumes of Bukhari Hadith, Muslim Hadith, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah. In all of these things, what the prophet ate, how he ate, what foods he ate, how he dressed, what he said to the people, how he worshiped, how he fasted, how he performed pilgrimage. In minute detail, why is that? Because he's God's last messenger.

And you have to know that because people will come after him. Thousands of years later, in France, 10% of the population Muslims. In Germany, 1,500 masjids. In Russia, 15% of the population Muslim. In China, millions of Muslims. In Japan, masjids all over the place. Everywhere you look on this globe, there's Muslims. And every Muslim, they pray the same way.

We talked about the miracles of the prophet. How come we didn't talk about the miracle of Muhammad tonight? Because Muhammad's miracle, peace and blessing be upon him, is the Quran. His miracle is the Quran, and it's witnessed by millions of people today, 1,500,000,000 people. That's the witness.

What kind of miracle is it? 10,000,000 people have memorized this Quran. Word for word. Even they're not Arabs. We got Muslims from Indonesia, Muslims from Malaysia, Muslims from Pakistan, and Nigeria, and Senegal, and the United States, who have memorized this Quran. It's a miracle.

So my point is, listen, God Almighty, he accepts the worship of people. But if you want the perfected state, the perfected prayer, is the prayer of Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. Yes, ma'am, all the way in the back.

Question 5: Personal Interpretation of the Quran

Question: Thank you, Mr. Quran. I was just wondering, what are, I'm listening to people say that their interpretation of the Quran, every man's own to himself. So whatever you interpret for the Quran, it's your interpretation. Can you just shed some light?

Answer: One of the mistakes, just to ask the question, people believe that you can read the Quran in everybody's interpretation by themselves. This is very dangerous. If you want the best explanation of the Quran, if you really want to know, it's the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. The first question is, how did he understand the Quran? Because Allah says, Allah taught him the Quran. And Allah taught the Prophet the Quran, peace and blessing be upon him. So if you really want to understand the meaning of the Quran, then we should go first to the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him.

There's some people, if our hearts are not right, will misinterpret things in the Quran for, with their own weakness and their own sickness. So the key is, A, the Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. B, the companions of the Prophet, because they were with him, and they understood how he interpreted the Quran.

And the next, those generation that followed, because the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said, khadu ummati qarni, thumma ladhina yalunahum, thumma ladhina yalunahum. The best of my ummah is my generation. And then the generation that follows it, and then the generation that follow it.

So you'll be safe if, for instance, if Umar, the Prophet's companion, or Abu Bakr, or Ibn Abbas, radhila anhuma, said that the Prophet said this verse meant that, you'll be safe to accept that. And then the scholars of Islam, who understand the rules of interpretation, who understand the Arabic language. The Quran is revealed in the Arabic language.

And one thing I learned, I will never ever repeat a verse from the Quran or Hadith of the Prophet until I first see it in Arabic. I've read books, I'm telling you the truth, I've read books. Now I'm not a scholar in Arabic at all, but I know enough Arabic to know I read some translations of some Hadith that is absolutely 100% wrong.

So you have to know the Arabic language, you have to know the Quran, and the rules of interpretation. And it's dangerous for someone to just pick up the book and think that they can explain what it means, and they'll find themselves deviated. Yes, sir.

Question 6: The Prayer of Jesus

Question: The prayer of those Hadith that Jesus peace be upon him in the Bible, what's the description of this prayer?

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