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What do Muslims think about Jesus?
Muslims respect and revere Jesus, and
await his Second Coming. They consider him one of the
greatest of God's messengers to mankind. A Muslim never
refers to him simply as 'Jesus', but always adds the
phrase 'upon him be peace'. The Quran confirms his
virgin birth (a chapter of the Quran is entitled
'Mary'), and Mary is considered the purest woman in all
creation. The Quran describes the Annunciation as
follows:
'Behold!' the Angel said, 'God has chosen you, and
purified you, and chosen you above the women of all
nations. O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from
Him, whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary,
honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of
those brought near to God. He shall speak to the people
from his cradle and in maturity, and shall be of the
righteous.'
She said: 'O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man
has touched me?' He said: 'Even so; God creates what He
will. When He decrees a thing, He says to it, "Be!" and
it is.' (Quran, 3:42-7)
Jesus was born miraculously through the same power which
had brought Adam into being without a father:
Truly, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness
of Adam. He created him of dust, and then said to him,
'Be!' and he was. (Quran, 3:59)<BR>
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During his prophetic mission Jesus performed many
miracles. The Quran tells us that he said:<BR>
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I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make
for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird,
and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's
leave. And I heal the blind, and the lepers and I raise
the dead by God's leave. (Quran, 3:49)<BR>
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Neither Muhammad nor Jesus came to change the basic
doctrine of the belief in One God, brought by earlier
prophets, but to confirm and renew it. In the Quran
Jesus is reported as saying that he came:<BR>
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To attest the law which was before me. And to make
lawful to you part of what was forbidden you; I have
come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear God and
obey Me. (Quran, 3:5O)
The Prophet Muhammad said:
Whoever believes there is no god but God, alone without
partner, that Muhammad is His messenger, that Jesus is
the servant and messenger of God, His word breathed into
Mary and a spirit emanating from Him, and that Paradise
and Hell are true, shall be received by God into Heaven.
(Hadith from Bukhari)
Do Islam and Christianity have
different origins?
No. Together with Judaism, they go back to the prophet
and patriarch Abraham, and their three prophets are
directly descended from his sons, Muhammad from the
elder son Ishmael, and Moses and Jesus from the younger
son Isaac. Abraham established the settlement which
today is the city of Makkah, and built the Ka'ba towards
which all Muslims turn when they pray.
What about Muslim women?
Islam sees a woman, whether single or married, as an
individual in her own right, with the right to own and
dispose of her property and earnings. A marriage dowry
is given by the groom to the bride for her own personal
use, and she keeps her own family name rather than
taking her husband's.<BR>
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Both men and women are expected to dress in a way which
is modest and dignified; the traditions of female dress
found in some Muslim countries are often the expression
of local customs.<BR>
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The Messenger of God said:<BR>
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'The most perfect in faith amongst believers is he who
is best in manner and kindest to his wife.'
What is the Qur`an?
The Quran is a record of the exact words revealed by God
through the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad. It
was dictated by him to his companions, and written down
by scribes, who cross-checked it during his lifetime.
Not one word of its 114 chapters (Suras) has changed
over the centuries, so that the Quran is in every detail
the unique and miraculous text which was revealed to
Muhammad fourteen centuries ago.
Are there any other sacred sources?
Yes, the sunna, the practice and example of the Prophet,
is the second authority for Muslims. A hadith is a
reliably transmitted report of what the Prophet said,
did, or approved. Belief in the sunna is part of the
Islamic faith.<BR>
Does Islam tolerate other beliefs?
The Quran says: God forbids you not, with regards to
those who fight you not for [your] faith nor drive you
out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with
them; for God loveth those who are just. (Quran,
60-8)<BR>
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It is one function of Islamic law to protect the
privileged status of minorities, and this is why
non-Muslim places of worship have flourished all over
the Islamic world. History provides many examples of
Muslim tolerance towards other faiths: when the caliph
Omar entered Jerusalem in the year 634, Islam granted
freedom of worship to all religious communities in the
city.<BR>
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Islamic law also permits non-Muslim minorities to set up
their own courts, which implement family laws drawn up
by the minorities themselves.<BR>
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The Patriarch invited him to pray in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, but he preferred to pray outside its
gates, saying that if he accepted, later generations of
Muslims might use his action as an excuse to turn it
into a mosque. Above is the mosque built on the spot
where Omar did pray.<BR>
What does Islam say about war?
Islam permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of
religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled
forcibly from their homes. It lays down strict rules of
combat which include prohibitions against harming
civilians and against destroying crops, trees and
livestock. As Muslims see it, injustice would be
triumphant in the world if good men were not prepared to
risk their lives in a righteous cause. The Quran says:
Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you,
but do not transgress limits. God does not love
transgressors. (2:190)
If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in
God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all
things. (8:61)
War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to
the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law. The
term jihad literally means 'struggle', and Muslims
believe that there are two kinds of jihad. The other
'jihad' is the inner struggle which everyone wages
against egotistic desires, for the sake of attaining
inner peace.
How does Islam guarantee human rights?
Freedom of conscience is laid down by the Quran itself:
'There is no compulsion in religion'. (2:256)<BR>
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The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic
state are considered sacred whether a person is Muslim
or not.<BR>
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Racism is incomprehensible to Muslims, for the Quran
speaks of human equality in the following terms:<BR>
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O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and
female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that
you may come to know one another. Truly, the most
honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in
piety. God is All-Knowing, All Aware (49-13)
The Muslim World
The Muslim population of the world is around one
billion. 30% of Muslims live in the Indian subcontinent,
20% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 17% in Southeast Asia, 18% in
the Arab World, 10% in the Soviet Union and China.
Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan comprise 10% of the
non-Arab Middle East. Although there are Muslim
minorities in almost every area, including Latin America
and Australia, they are most numerous in the Soviet
Union, India, and central Africa. There are 5 million
Muslims in the United States.
"O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and
female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that
you may come to know one another. Truly, the most
honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in
piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware". (Quran, 49:13)
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