Where does Islam and Christianity divide?

Isa Al Masih or jesus is highly respected and is considered the most sacred personality in our religion.

The Qur’an gives him the unique title of the Messiah (messenger). According to the Qur’an, Jesus was one of God’s most beloved messengers, a precursor to Muhammad (PBUH), and was sent to guide the Children of Israel. The Qur’an tells of his miraculous birth to Mary (Arabic: Maryam), cites the miracles he performed by God’s permission, and states that God raised him to His Presence. The Qur’an also alludes to Jesus’ future return. Also Qur’an states that Jesus was not crucified and that God lifted him to heaven, and a famous hadith states that he will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment and defeat the Dajjal(Anti-Christ). The Islamic conceptualization of Jesus is similar to that of the Unitarian Christian tradition.

I have a friend who just wrote an esssay for his theology degree about this! I had to proof-read it so I’ll tell you what I remember.

Mohammed knew Jewish people and also some Christians, but they were part of a Christian heresy who didn’t follow standard teaching about who Jesus was. He looked into both religions but neither of them seemed right to him. Thus, in human terms, what he learned about Jesus wasn’t standard Christian teaching for those days.

The Qur’an teaches that there have been many prophets of God, and that all the Old Testament prophets, plus Jesus, were called by God to give God’s message.

Where things really get different is that Jesus is considered a human (not divine/human, as Christains believe). As a godly human, called by God to speak His word, the Qur’an teaches that God would not have allowed Jesus to suffer death on the cross. Therefore, the Qur’an argues that Jesus did not die on the cross at all.

This is the really big difference. Christians argue that God died for our sins when Jesus died on the cross. Islam argues that Jesus wasn’t God and that he didn’t die like this.

On a personal note, this seems to make a big difference - I asked my Muslim friends about prayer and it seemed really different to Christian prayer. I know I can say anything to Jesus, any time, in any way. They told me they had to recite prayers that were written down, and that if you were really holy there was a written prayer for just about any occasion (e.g. leaving the bathroom). It seems to me that it’s Jesus’ death for us that broke down that barrier to God. In Islam the barrier is still pretty strict, and as a Christian it does me good to remember that it would be like that for me too if it wasn’t for Jesus.

In islam jesus was a much loved prophet and we believe that he was never tortured or hung on the cross. We believe this was an impostor. We do like Christians beleive that Jesus (Isa in Arabic) ascended into heaven and will return on the day of judgment.

oh yes jesus is known to our muslim brothers as the Isa Al Masih. I forgot what that meant thoug. All I know is that he was considered to be the most humblest prophet.

The only think Christianity and Islam have in common is the God of Abraham.

in islam there is only one god(creator) to worship and jesus is a prophet, in christianity there are father and son, and jesus is the lord

The Qur’an (Koran) contains many references to people and events that are mentioned in the Bible; especially the stories of the prophets of Islam, among whom are included Moses, David and Jesus.

Muslims believe that Moses was given the Tawrat (Torah in Hebrew, or ‘the Law’); that David was given the Zabur (or Psalms) and that Jesus was given the Injil (Greek evangel, or Gospel) from the Abrahamic God (Allah in Arabic). Traditionally, Muslims have believed that parts of these teachings were eventually lost or distorted to produce what is now the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

Although Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet and the Messiah, it does not believe that Jesus to be divine and the son of God in a trinity. Muslims do not believe that Christ was the “begotten son of God” and they do not accept the Trinity. According to Muslims, Jesus was a man and prophet brother who brought to mankind a closer relationship with God and each other. In the “religion-literal” sense, Christians reject the Muslim religion’s understanding of Christ as heretical.

Islam and Christianity differ in their fundamental views in regard to the crucifixion and resurrection which is essential to Christianity. Christians believe that Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin and the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, physically crucified and resurrected. Muslims believe that Jesus was condemned to crucifixion and then miraculously saved. “And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, God’s messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.(Quran Chapter 4 Verse 157)” Some Muslims hold the belief that another man was crucified and made to look like Jesus as is listed in the apocryphal (heterodox to Catholic and Orthodox faithful) scriptures. Muslims would deny the death and resurrection of Christ which is held as the basis of all faith for Christians in that it redeems man from death and the blot of “original sin”. In the Qur’an Jesus is said to ascend into heaven. In Christianity, Jesus is present for 40 days after his resurrection and ascends to the heaven and appears briefly two more times, once to Saul of Tarsus, known as Paul and then again to Philip the Apostle.

What muslims and chritstian share in certainty is the objective existence of heaven and hell in the afterlife. Moreover, they both believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, but disagree on the nature of Jesus’ paternity in relation to the conception. This produces the major gap as Christianity is based on the sacrificial death of Christ and Islam teaches that Jesus did not die.