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JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC RESEARCH 2013

IS JESUS' LIFE REVELATION?

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gürbüz DENİZ

Introduction

This article is aimed at u nderstanding who Jesus is and what the lnjil (the Gospel) is with reference to

the Qur'anic narratives about them. Histarical documents have been consulted as much as possible,

although they were not entirely incorporated into the text.

The traditional Muslim canception of the lnjil fa i ls to cl early establish the existence of the lnjil in

history. The source of this taek of c!arity stems from the fact th?t the Muslims did not establish its

existence in accordance with the Qur'anic narrations. Even though the Muslims accept that the lnjil

was dictated to its preacher prophet as in the cases of the Terah and the Qur'an, they have thus far

not been able to prove the histarical existence of the lnjil. In this regard, Muslim comments on the

existence of the lnjil stili remain a matter of fancy. 1

W e regard the comments put forward in the course of time concerning Jesus and the lnjil as

views that have fed on a series of actions and reactions stemming large Iy from the Christian-Muslim

antagonism. Excess in actions and reactions has resulted in extremism in the discourses of both

parti es. Christians m ay be further evaluated among themselves. However, the Muslims'

u nderstanding of the lnjil originated as a result of ce rta in preconceptions without considering

1 Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen, İsla.n:ı ve Dünya Dinleri (İ'tilai İslam), Sadeleştiren: Hidayet Işık, İstanbul2010, s.79;

Cemal Sofuoğlu, Kur'an-ı Kerim ve Hadisiere Göre Hz. İsa ve Hıristiyanlık (Ankara 2005), p.l5,.

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. Qur'anic and histarical materials. In this study, we will attempt, from our perspective, to seek for

answers and resolve this problem.

Jesus and Revelation

The Qur'a~ in different ways mentions the variety of knowledge. Revelation·, according to the Qur'an,

is God's transmission of metaphysical and practical knowledge to the entire Universe.

For explicitly stated in the Qur'an, Muslims consider other prophets as equivalents of the Prophet

Muhammad in terms of the source of revelation. Although this fact d id not negate the different

attributes of different types of revelation, Muslims commonly and mistakenly assume that attributes

or the contents of any ki nd of revelation are the same. This belief gave way to state, without

etabarating the reasoning behind it, the attributive superiority of the revelation cam e to the Prophet

Muhammad?

In the Qur'an, God states that prophets are in varying degrees according to their merits (fadila).

"Those messengers We endowed with gifts, same above others: To one ofthem Allah spoke; others

He raised to degrees (of honor}; to Jesus the son of Mary We gave clear (Signs), and strengthened

him with the holy spirit''3 (2:253}.4 That is to say, the source is the same for any kin d of revelation,

but different attributes of revelations ca use an inequality in m erit between prophets and

messengers.

The Qur'an states that Jesus relieved the Children of ls ra el from so me of the ir responsibilities.

According to the Qur'an, both the Torah and the Gospel contain particular judicial and moral, but not

creedat, orders and prohibitions for a certain nation (4:160} (6:146}. On the other hand, the verse

stating "a Mercy for all creations" (21:107} (34:28}5 refers to the universal character of the revelation

given to the Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, revelation is oftwo kinds regarding its addressees.

In ord er to understand different attributes of revelations, we should assessthem according to:

1. their sources

2. their preservations by prophet and his fallawers (by way of dictation}

3. their degrees of feasibility

2 Taftazaru, Şerhu'l Akaid, Edited by Süleyman Uludağ, Dergah Yayınlan, İstanbu12010, p.243

3 I made use ofboth Yusuf Ali' s and Pickthall' s translations but ~ccasi~nally changed some words for sake of simplicity.

4 Numbersin parentheses denote the place of the verse in the Qur'an (2:2~3=Surat al-Baqara(2ruı), verse :?53)

5 Jesus's representation ofhis duty in the New Testament: ''he answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep ofthe house of

Israel."' (Matthew 15:24) All B,iblical passages are from http://bible.org/netbible unless stated otherwise.

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From my point of view, if a revelation is fulfilling all three requirements, it is of the first class. A

revelation is of the second class if it carries only the first two requirements. Lastly, a revelation that

shares only the first and the thi~d characteristics with others is of the third ki nd.

Being from an absolute and supreme source, dictated and memorized while the Prophet was alive,

preserved in a binder right after His death and in practice for fifteen centuries, The Qur'an is of the

first kind of revelation because it meets all three requirements.

Jews, although they fo Ilawed the path of the prophet Moses and believed in Go d, refused to put the

moral principles of the reveiation into practice. For instance, theirarrogance, which makes them say,

"you (Moses) and your Lord fight, while we sit here (and watch)"(5:24), resulted in forty years of exile

in desert. For this ki nd of deficiencies of Jews, To ra h is of the second kin d because it lacks the

practicability by its followers.

However, the situation of the revelation to Jesus is of special characteristics in the Qur'an for there is

no verse stating Gospel's preservation and dictation.6.

The re is no histarical report mentioning ab out the dietatian of the Divine message. W e could not

even encounter any witness speaking of an original/unaltered scripture of the Gospel.7 The Gospels

that we have taday consist only of the narratives of Jesus. His mission was essentially to heal moral

diseases of Jews; a mission that Moses failed. However, Jesus could not accomplish this mission

e ith er. Therefore, the revelati?n came to Jesus can be considered in the third category for lacking

preservation of the main message.

Classification of revelation as the first, second, and third rate may cause same confusion in

terms of the way it is expressed: if revelation of each rate com es from Gad, how is it that one varies

from anather in terms of quality of revelation? We must start by saying that we cannot atcept any

classification with regard to the source of revelation. However, one can say that it is Gad who

created both the human being as well as the fly. There is no difference between a human being and a

fly in terms of divine creation. Nevertheless, the re are seri o us differences between them as to the ir

ranks in existence. Although both h;:ıve come into existence by way of Gad' s creation, that does not

m ean that the significance and ontological value of the ir existence are the same. And yet the fa ct

that the fly is of a lower level of existence does not mean that it can be created by others in the same

form or that this way of creation is any less. Likewise, the source of revelation is Go d; however, the

source's being divine does not amount to the qualitative sameness of the sorts of revelation.

When we consider the Qur'an's clear statement that "He (Jesus) was no more than a servant: W e

granted Our favor to him, and W e ma de him an example to the Children of lsrael" (43:59), it is

6 Paul was the fust one who used the word 'the Bible' in tiıe christian religious manuscripts. What he meant was also the

mess age, no ta scripture. In addi ton, Luke was the first one who stated that İlı ey wrote the Bibles. (Luke 1:1 -3). For a brief

history of the written Bibles: Karen ~trong, İncil, Translated by ilgın Yıldız, Versus Kitap, İstanbul2007, p. 77-85.

7 Hamidullah, Muhammed, Introduction to Islam, Beyan Yayınlan, İstanbul (no date), p:88.

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obvious that Jesus was sent to renovate the message of Gad among Jewish community by way of

fixing the ir moral deficiencies. 8 The word 'an example' (mathal) in this verse, 1 thin k, refers both to

the prophethood9 (nubuwwa) of Jesus asa successor of the Mosaic revelation and his duty as to

fertilize divine morality among morally corrupted Jews by be ing a sample in the flesh. For this reason, . Jesus's message was substantially about application of the divine rules in daily life. Jesus

accomplished his duty by living in this manner and calling people's attention to have a morallife by

the way of miracles. In this sense, his life was a manifestation of the Divine truth, which means he

was the revelation. His mission was not to preach but to embody the Divine morality during the

course of his life. In addition, this way of thinking might be an explanation for the passage of the

Qur'an stating Gabriel's support for Jesus.

Nevertheless, it must be kept in mi nd that Jesus was not the source of the revelation. His creation

was Gad' s universal revelation of the truth into a particular, which was Jesus's saul and mi nd {2:87).

That is to say, his body is equivalent of the letters and papers of the Qur'an. Therefore, Jesus was a

means of Divine knowledge10, not God11

• Gad revealed this knowledge through Gabriel (ayyadnahu bi

ruh a/-quds) when he was in his mother's womb.

lt is appropriate to understand the verses (3:3, 4, 48, 65) (5:46, 47, 66, 68) (19:30) consisting of

phrases like 'W e reveo/ed (anzala) the Book to Jesus', 'W e taught the Book to him', and 'W e gave the

Book to him' inthesense that the source of embedded revelation in Jesus's nature is the Supreme

Being and Gabriel is the way revelation comes through. Otherwise, Gad' s being everywhere might be

dubious because of his use of an intermediary. The words 'inzal' and 'tanzil' refer to the supreme

source of the revelation and human' s relatively lower level. For this reascin, it would be na"ive to take

'inzal'as a dietatian of the text by an angel to a prophet. For this case, 'inzal' is the Divine knowledge

embedded to Jesus's soul in the womb by way of angel Gabriel. This knowledge was not manifested

in a grammatical-logical form but in the form of actions.

This kind of u nderstanding has never appeared in the intellectual history of Islam. To establish my

position on a firm ground~ 1 am go ing to assess the related verses of the Qur'an in fo ur categories:

8 Jesus explains his duty as to perfect the message ofTorah, as well as to give spirit to the stiff Jewish laws: Matthew 5:17-18

and 5:21-22.

9 I exclusively use the word prophethood for 'nubuwwa'.

10 The Biblical ~eference to Jesus as 'the Word' shows his nature as the divine knowledge: ''In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God The Word was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1-3) "All

things were created by him, andapart from him not one thing was created that has been created ... Now the Word became

flesh and took up residence among us." (John 1:14)

11 For the histarical process of deification of Jesus: . Russell, N orman, the Doctrine ofDeification in the Greek Patristic

Tradition, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2006.

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Placement of Jesus to Mary' s womb by Gabriel

Talking of newborn Jesus

References to the Gospel in the Qur'an

Meanings ofthe words 'kalimah', 'ka/ama/lah', 'ruh', and 'ruha/lah' in the cantext of

Jesus and the Qur'an.

Placement of Jesus

The classkal sources clearly state that Gabriel is the basic element in the process of delivering Divine

knowledge to the Universe. As narratedin Qur'an 19:17-19, Gabriel places a chi/d anda word in

Mary' s womb assl!ring the baby'is the messenger of God being sent to Mary. In addition, the child is

qualified as a miraele in the story. We should pay attention here to the Gabriel's status asa

messenger (rasul), who is alsa referred as the Spirit12 in the verse {We sent him our spirit), and his

delivery of the word to Mary. If the placement of Jesus were an ordinary creation, the angel would

not be Gabriel for placing him into the womb because this was not Gabriel's duty. 1 suggest that the

word 'kid' (ghulam) denetes Jesus's body whereas 'the spirit' refers to the revelation.13

The Qur'an talks about a time before Jesus was born:

"The angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah gave you glad tidings of {a son

whose name is) John, {who comes) to confirm a word from Allah, lordly, chaste, a Prophet of the

righteous.11 {3:39)

All major exegeses agree on that 'the word' isa reterence to Jesus. lt is im portant to notice John' s

name is explicitly uttered while Jesus is referred as 'the word' in the verse. Therefore, he is the word

of God and Gabriel has delivered him to the world as in the case of other revelations.

12 Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari, Ed. M.Ali es-Sabuni andS.Abmet Rıza, Turkish translation of Mehmet Keskin,

İstanbul2006, v.3, p.403; Faklıreddin ar-Razi, Tafsir al-Kebir, translation of agroup led by Cafer Sadık Doğru, Ankara

1993, v.15, p.308. In the story ofJesus's birtlı, the angel and the Holy Spirit are different. An anonyınous angel said to ~- .

Mary that she would become pregnant by the way ofHoly Spirit. (Luke 1: 26-35). For anather shorter story of the same

event: (Matthew 1:18,24, 25)

13 In the Qur'an, the word •iuh• is used with the Arabic ver)J NA-FA-KHA (to breatlı into sth) three times in Adam' s story

(15:29, 32:9, Sad 38:72) and two times in Jesus's story (Enbiya 21:91, Tahrim 66:12). It isimportant to notice the use of

this word in the same way for two similar cases. In addition, the word is used in an ezafe construction with God as "My

spirit, Our spirit". (For details: Mehmet Dalkılıç, İslam Mezheplerinde Ruh, İstanbul204, p. 26). Again, the phrase

"strengthened them with a spirif' in 58:22 isa reference to 'ruh' in the meaning of revelation.

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Jesus was also a trustworthy rrian, a concrete example of Divine morals. That is to say, in his

circumstances, he was assigned to present principles of divine morality by way of being an excellent

mpdel for morally corrupted Jews.

"The angels said: O Mary! Allah gave you glad tidings (yubashshiruki) of a word from Him, Whose

name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those

brought near (unto Allah)." (3:45)14

lnjee/ (the Qur'anic word for the Gospel) literally means 'good news'15• Therefore, Jesus, for the

Qur'an, was the good news to Mary and to the Sons of lsrael. The evidence of his being good newsis

his attitudes in accordance with divine morality among his people.

When Mary' s people saw the baby, giving birth without being married surprised them:

"O sister of Aa ro n! Your father was not a man of evil or your mather a woman unchaste" (19:28): ·

That is to say, they asked why she turned into such an impure. The n, with an inspiration of God, Mary

pointed out the baby. Then the baby miraculously spoke "1 am indeed a seniant of Allah. He has giveri

me revelation and made me a prophet ( ... )and He has made me blessed wherever 1 be, and has

enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as llive"(19:30,31) and "So peace is on me the day 1 was

born, the day that 1 die, and the day that ı shall be raised up to life." (19:33)16

In some classical exegeses, the words 1He has given me revelation' have been understood in

reterence to the future for the reason that a chil d cannot be a messenger.17 Nevertheless, the Qur'an

14 The story in the Bible: ''But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about tlıe meaning of this greeting.

So the angel said to her, ''Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have fo und favor witb Go d! Listen: You will become pregnant

and give birtlı to ason, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called tlıe Son of the Most High, and

tlıe Lord God will give him tlıe throne of his fatlıer David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdam

will never end." Mary said to tlıe angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations witlı aman?" The angel

replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and tlıe power oftlıe Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, tlıe child

to be bom will be holy; he will be called tlıe Son of God. And lo ok, your relative Elizabetlı has als o become pregnant ~ .. ~~

witlı a son in her old age- altlıough she was called barren, she is now in her sixth montlı! For notlıing will be impossible

witlı Go d." So Mary said, "Yes, I ama servant of the Lord; I et tlıis happen to me according to your word." Then tlıe angel

departed from her. (Luke 1:29-38)

15 For details oftlıe meaning of the word 'Injeel' as good news: Demir, Şehmus, Kur'an'ın Yeniden Yorumlanması, Istanbul

2005, p.132. Aydın, Fuat, Ibid, p. 140-141. In addition, ibid .. footnote on p. 98.

16 The word 'salam' has also tlıe meaning ofbefng secure. That is to say, The Holy Spirit (Gabriel) prov.ided this security for

Jesus throughout his life.

17 Ibn Jarir at-Tab ari, v.3, p.406. In contradiction to Tab ari, for Faklıcaddin Razi, tlıe phrase 'titaniye 'l kitab' is a reference to

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explicitly states this possibility when talking to the prophet John, the successor of Jesus, 110 John!

Hold the Scripture. And We gave him wisdom when a child" (19:12). If John was titled as a prophet

when he was a kid, there is no restriction of being a prophet for a young. Hence, it is possible to

suggest that newbom Jesus was alsa prophet.

How, or wheri, Jesus, then, has become a m essenger and in what way he received the message of

Gad? First, Gabriel's placement of the word of Gad in Mary' s womb clearly indicates that this word

was the message, or the book. However, even if his physical body (ghulam) was alsa embedded to.

Mary' s womb, this was not .divine word, but his nature was.

The child, with Gad' s direction, states blessings on his own birth, life, and death and extends his

greetings to Gad for this blessedness, which was ensured by Ruh ai-Quds (ayyadnahu bi ruh a/-quds),

Gabriel, from the birth to the death of Jesus by way of protecting Jesus from mistakes.18 The fact that

the Qur'an does not mention any of his mistakes unlike other prophets' supports my daim of his

life' s being revealed.19

Furthermore, the baby Jesus alsa talks about the religious duties such as prayer and almsgiving.

Therefore, the revelation had already come to him fully at the time of his speaking. Hence, there is

no reason to believe it was a reterence to a future revel~:üion.

By this way of understanding, the story of Jesus does not allow us to put his message in the same

category with tablets given t~. Moses or Gabriel's dietatian ofthe sacred text to Muhammad. Jesus

d id not need a pa per nar a pen because he was speaking of a knowledge prior to any experience.

Suggesting revelation as the source of this knowledge, we iriter that his life was directly guided by the

revelation that was embedded in his nature. This revelation fa lls into o ur third class because despite

of its divine source; its meaning was put in a written form at the hands of humankinds after Jesus.

The Mature Jesus

Jesus expresses the reason of his prophethood (nubuwwa) as follows: 111 was se nt only to the lost

sheep of the house of lsraei."(Matthew 15:24) To be precise, his main duty was the renovation of the

revelation given to Moses among lsraelites.20 The Qur'ari alsa states this fact: "(Jesus comes)

confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful same of that which was

forbidden unto you. 1 com e unto you with a sign from your lord, so keep your duty to Allah and obey

me." W e can derive fallawing d~ties of Jesus from this and other similar verses of the Qur'an:

prophecy of Jesus, and it is appropriate to take the verse in literal sense. (Razi, Ibid).

18 Shihabuddin Mahmud el-Alilsi (d.1270 h.), Rilhu'l-Me'full, Dfuu'l-Kutubi'l-İlmiyye, Beyrilt 2001, I/317; Yazır, ElmaWı

Hanıdi, Hak Dini Kur'an Dili, Matbaai Ebüzziya, istaiıbul1938, I/413.

19 For details: In Adanı's case 7:11-17, 7:187-190, 2:30-39; Nuh's 11:25-29; Abralıanı's 2:260; Josefs 12:42; Jonah's 68:48-

50, 37:139-148, 21:87-88; David~ s 38:17-40; Moses's 28:14-21, Prophet Muhamrnad's 80/1-12.

2° For Jesus's message was particularly for the sons oflsrael, look at Gündüz, Şinasi, Hıristiyanlık, istanbul 2008, p.17, 24.

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JOURNAL OF ıSLAMıC RESEARCH 2013

1. Attesting to the To ra h

2. Abrogating and modifying same ıaws of the To ra h

3. Performing mirades (which stated in the Gospel, particularly in the Apocryphai New

Testaments such as the ınfancy Gospels21, and in the Qur'an)

According to the Qur'an, Jesus is aman who spoke unto humankind in his infancy (3:46), and was a

righteous man in his maturity. Jesus was taught the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel by

Gad (3:48) in a general sense. That means he knew the book (most probably the Preserved Tablet

lawh mahfuz), wisdom, the To ra h, and the Gospel as divine manifestations. If we consider this 'be ing

taught' in textual sense, we are to accept, at least, duplication of the revelation of the To ra h, which

would be absurd. Jesus learned them as inthesense of acquaintance of divine truths.

Jesus was (appointed) as "a m essenger to the Children of ısrael, (with this message): 'ı have co me to

you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that ı makefor you out of day, as it were, the figure of a bird, and

breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave. And ı heal those born blind, and the lepers,

and ı quicken the dead, by Allah' s leave; and ı dedare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your

houses. Su rely therein isa Sign for you if ye d id believe'li (3:49). This verse emphasizes Jesus's duty of

performing mirades. Particularly, his prophethood seems like a consequence of his su pernatural acts.

He was to surprise ısraelites with mirades because they took lessons neither from the truths of

message nar from leading of prophets.

"W e gave· Moses the Book and fo Ilawed him up with a succession of messengers; W e gave Jesus the

son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit'' (2:87). The relation of Jesus with

Gad is his mirades and Gabriel's support, which directs Jesus's life according to the Divine will. In

fa ct, the Qur'an depicts the Ho Iy Spirit, Gabriel, as the carrier of the revelation (16:102) to the

M essenger Mu hammad. Therefore, Gabriel had the intermediary role in both of these revelations.

However, he directed the one' s life while gave fixed verses to the other. For the former, revelation

was a guided life, while for the latter it was aset of rules canceming un known (ghayb) and practical

faces of life. While the former represents local values, the latter represents universal. Although both

have-divine origin, in the former, Gabriel protected and maintained applications of the divine

knowledge in Jesus's life while, in the latter, he completed the divine meanings in the text.

,,. ... Jesus was a prophet who acted according to the Torah with a few exceptions in practice. (5:46-47)

(~:49-51) Therefore, he was a na bi (prophetL not a rasu/ (messenger). W e know this from the verse

in which he introduces himself. (19:30) He was sent to the sons of lsrael in ord er to cu re the ir moral

diseases by way of surprising them with mirades and of forming a model for the ir lives. That is to say, he was a Jewish prophet.

21 For the Infancy Gospels: The Apocryphal New Testaments, A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English

Transhıtion, J. K. Elliot, CleranoriPress, Oxford, 2005 .. For Apocriftranslations of the Bibles: Diğer lnciller/Apokrif

İncilleri Metinler ve Tarihi Bilgiler, translated by Ekrem Sarıkçıoğlu, Isparta2005. For details of the miracles of Jesus

stated in the Qur'an look at The,Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Apocryphal New Testaments, p. 75.

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As indicated above, although Jesus is free of mistakes because of his life' s divine character, at the

Day of Judgment, Gad will say to him as follows:

110 Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say unto men, worship me and my mather as gods in deregation of

Allah?" He will say: "Giory to You! Never could 1 say what 1 had no right (to say). Had 1 said such a

thing, you would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, You 1 know not what is in Your

Mi nd. For You know in full all that is hidden. Never said 1 to th.em ought to except what You di d

com ma nd me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and 1 was a witness over them

while 1 dyıtelt among them; when You d id take me up You was the Watcher over them, and You are a

witness to all things." {5:116-117) lt is im portant to notice that, in this conversation, Jesus does not

s pea k of the Gospel as a gujde for the people after him. Because after he died, the message, which

was his life, was no langer directly available to humans. lt is alsa noteworthy that in the verse he says

he delivered the message by tht;! way of speech. (1 said)

Qur'anic References to the Existing Gospels

1. 11ln the ir footsteps W e se nt Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come

before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and corıfirmation of

the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admoriition to those who fea(

Allah. Let the people of the Gospel judge by w hat Allah has revealed therein. If any do

fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those

who rebel.,; (5:46-47)

lt is important to discuss the nature of the Gospel if w e are to accept Jesus's life as the Gasp el. The

verse 5:46 is of great im portance because Jesus here introduces himselfas the attester to the Torah.

In addition, the Gospel is alsa presented as attestation to the Torah's message anda serman for

those who concern Gad' s consent. Therefore, the Gospel and Jesus are identical inthesense of

attestation. In the verse, however, they differ intheir orientations. While the Gospel was essentially

public in orientation, that is to say, mo re sermonized for the sake of moral/practical guidance, Jesus

was a living model of this message.

The nextverse, 5:47, talks about the necessity of canformatian to the Gospel for Christians. How

should we understand the sentence 11Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed

therein"? Does the word 'Gospel' here denote, as asserted by many classkal Muslimviews, a text as

in the cases of the T?rah and the Qur'an, or the existing Gospels, which were to same degree

falsified by Christians. Although -the form er view is prevalent among Muslims, 1 would prefer to take

the latter because it seems much more consistent and fact-based. First, the former view is lacking of

any histarical evidence of scriptural/textual Gospel. Secondly, if the form er were the ca se, w e would

conclude that the Qur'an wants Christians to follow an imaginary guide, an altered text, which is

completely absurd and unfair. At time of the revelation ofthe Qur'an, the Gospels were the ones we

have taday. All of these Gospels,. i ncluding the Gospel of Barnaba, consist of Jesus's life, namely his

sayings and deeds. If the Qur'an wants them to fallaw the Gospel's guidance, the Gospels must stili

have the strength to guide its fallawers into truth.

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One possible question would be why Qur'an authorizes the Gospel's guidanc·e. The answer lies under

the fa ct that the Qur'an always wants anybody to stick to his or her belief consistently if he or she

does not accept guidance of the Qur'an. This is the least. One should definitely fallaw the way he or

she already ta kes steadily. Jewish community had come to the Prophet for an lslamic solu\ion in an

instance of disagreement among themselves in Madina. The Qur'an asks 11How come they unto you

for judgment even though they have the Torah" (5:43) in order to point out their inconsistent

attitudes towards the ir religion. If they believe in the To ra h, they have to o bey what the ir religion

says. Similarly, the Qur'an (57:27) criticizes Christians of the ir neglect of later-invented monasticism.

For the sake of consistency, they have to keep practicing the ir invented tradition if they are sineere in

their religion.

2. "They said, 'O our people! We have heard a Book revealed after Moses, confirming what

came before it: it guides (men) to the Truth and to a Straight Path.111 (46:30}

What is significant in this verse is, talking about revelation, the jinn's not mentioning of the Gospel

while giving the name of the To ra h as the preceding revelation. If the Gospel were in the scriptural

form, eve n if falsified, the jinn would be asked to liste n to it too. Thus, because the re was no text,

they did not have chance to listen to it.

3. "If they had observed the To ra h and the Gospel and that which was revealed unto the m

from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from

beneath the ir feet. Among them, there are people who are moderate, but many of them

are of evil conduct11(5:66).

Even though their followers, according to the Qur'an, falsified the Torah and the Gospel, they stili fall

into a different category from other non-Muslims (ghayr-muslim). They are called 'the people of the

book' {ah/ a/-kitab). However, in the above verse, same ofthem are alsa identified with their

modesty. And those who do not fallaw their own books are of evil conduct. The verse obviously

refers to the already falsified Gospel. Therefore, these Gospels can stili guide the m into the straight

path because they teli the stories of Jesus, that is to say, anather form of revelation. 11Say: "O People

of the Book! You have no ground to stand u po n unless you stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all

the revelation that has come to you from your Lord." lt is the revelation that came to you from your

Lord, that increased in most of themtheir obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But sorrow you not

over ~these) people without Faith.".lt is necessary to note that what exacerbates the obstinacy of the

People of the Bo ok is the revelation cam e to the Prophet, and those obstinate people are among the

People of the Book.22

11Some of those who are Jews change words from their context" (4:46} In fact, the Qur'an only refers

to the Jews as the falsifiers of the scripture. No similar blame on Christians appears in the Qur'an.

22 However, the Qur'an's recogıüzes the ~Nasara' as the people of the book, and the word Nasara refers to the Jewish

Cbristians, not Catholics. For details: Françoıs De Bloıs, The Religıous Vocabulary ofChristiyanity and oflslam,

Bulletin of the School ofOrienton and A.frican Studies, University of London, vol. 65, No: 1 2002, p. 13,16.

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There was no text available; bence, they did not change any of divine words. lnstead, they put down

the life of Jesus on pa per. This is very similar to the hadith tradition of Islam. However, unlike the

hadith traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, which cover every aspect of life, the Biblical accounts

convey merely same mirades and proverbs on same occasions.

4. "This is their similitude in the Torah and their similitude in the Gospel is like a seed which

sen ds forth its blade, then ma kes it strong; it the n becomes thick, and it stands on its

own stern, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight."(48:29}

The Qur'an emphasizes the continuity of divine knowledge and uniformity of its source by making

ascriptions to the revelations prior to it. Nevertheless, ascriptions to the Gospel are so limited in

number in comparison with to the Torah. The metaphor given in the above verse is one of them. lt is

interesting that the same meaning ta kes place in the Gospel as an experience of jesus, that is to say

the life of him:

"The same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were

gathered together unto Him, so that He went into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on

the shore. And He spoke many things unto the m in parables, saying, "Behold, a sower went forth to

sow. And when he sowed, same seeds fell by the wayside; and the fowls came and devoured them

up. Same fell upon stony places where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up,

because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up they were scorched, and because

they had no root they withered away. And same fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and

choked them. But others fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, same a hundredfold, so me

sixtyfold, same thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto

Him, "Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?" He answered and said unto the m, "Because it is

given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdam of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For

whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and heshall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not,

from him shall be taken away eventhat which he hath. Therefore speak 1 to them in parables,

because seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. And inthem is

fulfilled the prophecy of lsaiah, which saith, 'By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and

seeing ye shall see, and shall not.perceive. For this people's heart has waxed gross, and their ears are

du ll of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and

hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and 1 should

heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For veri Iy 1 say unto

you, that many prophets and rigbteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have·

not see n the m, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard the m. "Hear ye therefore

the parable of the sower: When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdam and understandeth it not,

then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he that

received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that

heareth the Word and at once with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for

a while. For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he loses faith.

He alsa that received the seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word; and the ca res of this

world an-d the deceitfulness of _riches choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that

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. received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word and understandeth it; who alsa

beareth fruit and bringeth forth, same a hundredfold, same sixty, same thirty."23

The People of the Bo ok

"O you who beli eve! If ye listen to a faction among the People of the Book, they would (indeed)

render you apostates after you have believe d!" (3:100) According to the Qur'an, 'the people of the

book' does not mean people oftawheed nar are they Muslims, but majority ofthein are unbelievers.

However, "They are not all alike. Of the People of the Scripture the re isa staunch community who

recite the revelations of Allah in the night season, falling prostrate (before Him)". (3:113) On one

depiction, they lead Muslims into astray, whereason the other they are sineere (3:110-113) and

reliable believers (3:75). In ord er to resolve the ambiguity, we should be aware that 'people of the

book' is a universal te rm, so that so me may be eleser to the truth than others may, by living

according to the true verses intheir hands.

"Say: 'O People of the Book! Come to comman terms as between you and us: That we worship none

but Allah. That we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords

and patrens other than Allah.111(3:64)

This verse clearly states that Muslims and Christians are the same in terms of being righteous

believers as Jang as they do not accept a divine power other than Gad. This po int is the separating

line between Muslims and the people of the book. If Christians give up polytheist believes such as

trinity, they w ili be regarded as allies for they stili rely on the message of Go d, which is narratives of

the life ?f Jesus. And the words "we associate no partners with him from among ourselves" is a

reminder to them the fact that no human being, eve n Jesus, can be gad.

"From those, too, who ca ll themselves Christians, W e di d take a Covenant, but they forgot a good

part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the

one and the other, to the Day of Judgment. And soan will Allah show them what it is they have

done."(5:14)

1 thirı~, the sharp sectarianism through the course of history among Christians, which caused

seetarian wars and extreme exclusionism, is the res u lt of the ir neglect of Jesus' s life, narrated in the

Gospel, and attribute Paul' s Jetters and Church fathers' decrees greater importance in religious :,.·

matters. Furthermore, they are not only depriving of a scriptüre but alsa of cansensus on the priority

of the reveled truth over humans' ideas. 1 thin k this se paration will remain unless they base the

Gospel for their creed.

"O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nar say of Allah aught but the truth.

Christ. Jesus the son of Mary was (no mo re than) amessenger of Allah, and His Word, which He

bestawed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not

"Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah. Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He)

23 Matthew 13. The allegory ofseed.: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+13&version=KJ21

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above having ason. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah asa

Disposer of affairs." (4:171)

Consequently, u nder the light of the above verses, we can deseribe Jesus and his message as follows:

He was a messenger and the word of Gad. He was a spirit from Gad. His special position sh_ould not

delude believers: he was a human, not Gad nar son of Gad. A particular attention must be pa id in

ord er not to confuse his position: be ing the word of Gad does not mean being a part of Gad.

"Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou fallaw their form of religion."

(2:120)

Values of Christians and Jews are equal in the eyes ofthe Qur'an. They become happy as Jang as

other people canform to theircreed. For this reason, no Muslim will satisfy them uriless he or sh e

converts to Christianity or Judaism. However, Mi.ıslims must design the relations with the· people of

the book according to the principles of the Qur'an.

"They su rely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when the re is no Gad sav e the One

Gad." (5:73) The Qur'an does not approve even a smail attribution to something of being partner of

Gad. As we said above, this is the most fundamental difference between Muslims and Christians.

"The Messiah will never scorn to be a slave unto Allah, nar will the favored angels. Whoso scorned

His service and is proud, all such will He assemble unto Him." (4:172)

"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who fallaw the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians

and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their

reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nar shall they grieve."(2:62)

According to this verse, one can be a believerif he:

Believes in (the oneness of) Gad

Believesin hereafter·

Good conduct

ThQ5e who have these qualifications are adequate for one' s salvation, However, the meaning of

good conduct' is not clear here.Jt might be performing good deeds according to believer's own

belief, or taking appropriate actions in sodety.

Conclusion

1 think we can answer the q1:1estion 'Why is Jesus' life revelation?' in the fallawing way:

1. The angel who came to Maryarn (Mary) and heralded the child physically as "ghulam"

and spiritually as revelation is Jibril, the angel of revelation. If the "word and spirit"

conveyed to Mal)iaı:n are not revelation, then what would Jibril be doing there?

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2. Jibril conveyed "word and spirit" to Maryam. At any rate, "word" in particular means

divine knowledge and revelation in the Qur'an.24

3. The newborn child says that his birth, life, and death are all blessed. From this statement,

we can understand that his life was u nder divine protection. And this was alsa conducted

by Jibril (wa ayyadnahu bi-ruh al-quds). Jibril, by dietating divine revelation to the

Prophet Muhammad, was making su re that words and expressions carrying divine

meanings would not be tampered with. Likewise, by taking Jesus' life under protection,

Jibril alsa took under protection the divine meanings which would arise from Jesus' acts

and speeches.

4. Jesus asa newborn states that "he was given a book, and sa/at (daily prayer) and dhakat

(almsgiving) were enjoined to him". The new born child did not have in his hands a book

inthesense we understand it to be. And yet the child mentions a book given to him and

te lls us about its content. From this we gather that the book given to Jesus was divine

words that were im printed on his heart or mi nd.

S. From the fact that Jesus was a prophet commissioned to the Jews and his main mission

was to summon them to morality, we understand that he was not exactly given a religion

or a comprehensive revelation comprising a total system of beliefs, conducts, and

morality. His task was to remind the Jews about moral virtues and set an example for

them. Here divine moral injunctions came abou_t through Jesus' life.

G: Furthermore, the Qur'anic references to the lnjillead us to the idea that the lnjil as it is

nowisa divine scripture, although we thin k that ce rta in aspects of it are tampered with.

For, as we have pointed out in the text, the Qur'anic statements, when referring to the

lnjil, suggest that the Gospels which the Christians had back then were the same ones

narrating Jesus' life as we know them taday. Contrary to the Muslim assumption, the re

was no text similar to the Qur'an at the hands of the Christians of that time.

7. lnclu~ion in this article ofthe People of the Book, though it may seem unrelated to the

subject, will fill a gap from our po int of view: the Gospels we have in min d are exactly the

ones which narrate the life of Jesus. The Gospels which contain the Jetters of St. Paul and

others and which constitute what is known as the New Testament are not dea lt with in

this study. As we have inentionedin the text, Christians of this day are those who accept

as revelation the words of the church saints rather than the fo ur gospels. And so they are

not considered among the People of the Book. Those who are accepted by the Qur'an as

the People of the Book are those who accept the fo ur gospels, (that is, the Nasara). And

the foundation of our notian that 'the life of Jesus is revelation' is restricted to the four

gospels.

24 See the Qur'an: 2/253; 5/110; 6/34, 115; 8/7; 39/19, 71; 10/19, 64, 110; 18/27; 20/129; 41/45; 42/14;

18/109; 31127; 40/15/

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Asa fınal note, this study has nothing to dowith the current pop u lar theme of interfaith dialogue.

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