The First Principles of the Two Religions
Muslim rejoicing at the victory of Heraclius and his Christian armies was great. Despite the many controversies that had taken place between the followers of Muhammad and those who believed in Jesus, their friendly and fraternal relationships continued to be strong throughout the life of the Prophet. It was otherwise with the relationships of Muslims and Jews. There had been an armistice followed by alienation and war with consequences so disastrous and bloody that the Jews had to be moved out of the Arabian Peninsula altogether. The Qur’an confirms the bond of friendship between Muslims and Christians and denounces the enmity of the Jews. It advises the Muslims, “You will find greater enmity to the believers among those who are Jews and idolaters; but you will find greater friendliness among those who say, ‘We are Christians.’ For they, especially the monks and priests among them, do not take to false pride.”[Qur’an, 5:82]
Indeed Christianity and Islam entertain the same view of life and ethics. Their view of mankind and of creation is one and the same. Both religions believe that God created Adam and Eve, placed them in paradise and commanded them not to listen to Satan, and that eating of the tree thereby caused them to be discharged. Both religions believe that Satan is the enemy of mankind who, according to the Qur’an, refused to prostrate himself to Adam when commanded to do so by God and, according to Christian scripture, refused to honor the word of God. Satan whispered to Eve and deceived her, and she in turn deceived Adam. They ate from the tree of eternal life, discovered their nakedness, and then pleaded to God to forgive them. God sent them to earth, their descendants enemies of one another, forever open to the deception of Satan, some of them liable to fall under this deception and others capable of resisting it to the end. In order to transcend man’s war against this deception, God sent Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the other prophets, commissioning every one of them to convey in the tongue of his people a book which confirms, elaborates, and makes evident the revelations received from his predecessor-prophet. As Satan is assisted by his helpers among the evil spirits, the angels praise the Lord and adore Him. Both the good and the evil powers therefore compete to win mankind until the Day of Judgment when every soul will receive that which it has earned and when everyone will be responsible for himself alone.
The Difference between Them
Not only has the Qur’an mentioned Jesus and Mary, but it has honored them and presented them in such light that the readers cannot but feel this fraternal feeling towards Christianity when they read its verses. It is all the more perplexing, therefore, that the Muslims and Christians have continued to fight each other century after century. The confusion disappears however, when we learn that Islam has differed from Christianity in many fundamental matters which were subjects of strong controversy, without ever leading to hatred and hostility. Christianity does not acknowledge the prophethood of Muhammad as Islam acknowledges the prophethood of Jesus. Moreover, Christianity upholds trinitarianism whereas Islam strongly rejects anything but the strictest monotheism. The Christians apotheosize Jesus and, in their argument with Muslims, seek confirmation of his divinity in the Qur’anic assertion that he spoke out in the cradle (19:29-34) and in the many miracles which he alone had been favored by God to perform. During the early days of Islam, the Christians used to dispute with the Muslims in the following vein: Doesn’t the Qur’an itself, which was revealed to Muhammad, confirm our view when it says:
“The angels said, ‘O Mary God announces to you His command that a son will be born to you whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, Son of Mary, and who will be honored in this world and in the next and be close to God. He will speak as a baby in the cradle and he will be righteous throughout his long age.’ Mary asked: ‘How can I have a son when no human has touched me?’ The angel answered: ‘Thus God creates whatever He wills. He commands a thing to be and it is.’ God will teach Jesus the scripture, wisdom, the Torah and the Evangel. He will send him a prophet of Israel, and charge him with the conveyance of a new revelation from God. He will confirm him by giving him the power to blow life into birds which he could fashion out of clay, to give vision to the blind, to heal the leper, to resurrect the dead, and to prophesy about what the Jews eat and what they hide in their houses-all with God’s permission-that the Jews may believe in him and thereby prove their faith.”[Qur’an, 3:45-49]
The Qur’an then did declare that Jesus would resurrect the dead and give vision to the blind and heal the leper, create birds out of clay and prophesy-all of which are divine prerogatives. Such was the view of the Christians who, at the time of the Prophet, were disputing and arguing with him that Jesus was a god besides God. Another group of them apotheosized Mary on the grounds that she had been the recipient of God’s command. The Christian adherents to this view regarded Mary as a member of a trinity which included the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost [Christian scholars have invariably attacked Islam on the ground that it has missed the nature of trinitarianism. They impute to the Qur’an and to Muhammad the charge of having misunderstood the trinity as consisting of Father, Mary and Jesus. E.g., Gibb’s statement that “the doctrine of the divine Sonship of Jesus is emphatically repudiated, in terms which betray the crassly anthropomorphic form in which it had been presented or presented itself to the Arabs . . . Mohammed had no direct knowledge of Christian doctrine” (Gibb, H. A. R., Mohammedanism, London: Oxford U. Press, 1954, p. 45). “A more serious confusion occurs, however, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, is admitted to the Trinity in the place of the Holy Spirit-Qur’an 5: 76-79, 116 (Donaldson, D. M., Studies in Muslim Ethics, London: S.P.C.K., 1953, p. 57). Like statements may be read in Guillaume, A., Islam, Edinburgh, Penguin paperback, 1956, p. 52-53 ; Cragg, K., The Call of the Minaret, New York: Oxford University Press paperback, 1964, p. 253; etc., etc. These charges are utterly groundless. The Qur’an certainly criticized and condemned trinitarianism-as in 5:171; 5:73; etc. It has certainly criticized and condemned the doctrine of theotokos or “mother of God” as in 5:75-79, 116. These are two distinct criticisms the Qur’an has directed at Christianity. But it has nowhere identified the persons of the trinity as consisting of God, the Father; Jesus, the son; and Mary, the mother. The Qur’anic position is simply that whoever and whatever the persons of the trinity may be, trinitarianism and theotokos are blasphemous compromises of divine trancendence and unity. Combining the two Qur’anic condemnations, some exegetes had regarded “The Mother of God” as part of “The Trinity.” If this is a mistake, it belongs to those exegetes, not to the Qur’an. Even so, it is not necessarily a mistake. The exegetes’ works constitute evidence of the current tenets of faith of their contemporaries; and there is no apriori evidence that some Near Eastern Christians have not identified the Trinity in these terms. Indeed, there is but one small step from the Christian assertion that “the Logos took human nature to Himself in the womb of the Virgin Mary-that Godhead and Manhood were united in the Incarnate logos in one Person,” to use Cyril’s words, to the assertion that “theotokos” implies the unity of the mother with the embryo in her womb, and hence that the Incarnation creates a bond between mother & logos separable only in theory. (See for further detail F. J. Foakes Jackson, The History of the Christian Church to C.E. .461, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1st pub. 1891, rep. 1957, pp. 459 ff.) This need not be a mistake; indeed it is quite probable that some Near Eastern Christians had held such a view, since in this, as well as in many other passages, the Qur’an is simply reporting what is being heard.]. However, those who held that Jesus and his mother were divine were but one of the many sects into which Christianity was divided in those days.
Debate of the Christians with the Prophet
The Christians of the Arabian Peninsula debated with Muhammad on the basis of their diverse views. They argued that Jesus was God, that Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus was the third person of the trinity. The apotheosizers of Jesus had recourse to the foregoing argument. Those who held the view that Jesus was th
e Son of God argued that he had no known father, that he had spoken out in the cradle as no other human had ever done. Those who held that he was the third person of the trinity argued that God referred to Himself as “We” in His acts of creation, of commanding and providing, and that this was evidence for His plurality-for otherwise He would have referred to Himself as “I.” Muhammad used to listen to all these arguments and debate with them in kindness. He never showed in his debates the hardness and severities which characterized his debates with the associationists[Arabic mushrikun, those who associated other gods with God.] and the worshipers of idols. Rather, he argued with them on the basis of revealed scripture and based himself on what could be deduced there from. God said: “Blasphemous are those who claim that God is Jesus, the son of Mary. Say, ‘Who is capable of anything should God desire to destroy Jesus, the son of Mary, as well as his mother and all that is on the face of the earth? To Him alone belongs the dominion of heaven and earth and all that is in between. He, the Omnipotent, creates what He wills.’ Both Jews and Christians claim that they are the sons of God and His favorite people. Say, ‘Why does He then punish you for your sins? Rather, you are all humans, on a par with all other men He has created. God forgives whomsoever He wills and punishes whomsoever He wills” [Qur’an, 5:17-18]. God said: “Blasphemous are those who claim that God is Jesus, the son of Mary. Jesus said: ‘O Children of Israel, worship God alone, your Lord and my Lord. Whoever associates aught with God, God will exclude from paradise and punish in hell. Such unjust people will have no helper.’ Blasphemous are those who claim that God is the third person of a trinity. There is no God other than God, the One. Unless they stop this blasphemy, God will inflict upon them a painful punishment.” [Qur’an, 5:72-73] He, to Whom is the glory, also said: “God asked Jesus, son of Mary: ‘Did you ask the people to take you and your mother as two gods beside God?’ Jesus answered: ‘Praise be to You alone, I had not said but that which I was commanded to say. You surely know whether I am guilty of such blasphemy, for You know all that is in my thoughts, and I know none of what is in Yours. You alone are omniscient. I did convey to them that which You commanded me to convey, namely, that they ought to worship God alone, my Lord and their Lord. In their midst, I have been a witness unto You throughout my life. And when You caused me to die, knowledge of what they did was Yours for You are the witness of everything. If You punish them, they are Your creatures and servants: if You choose to forgive them, You are the Mighty and Wise.”[Qur’an, 5:116-118]
Christianity upholds the trinitarian view and claims that Jesus is the Son of God. Islam, on the other hand, categorically denies that God could possibly have a son. “Say,” God commands Muhammad, “God is one. God is eternal. He has neither progeny nor ancestry. He is absolutely without parallel.”[Qur’an, 112:1-4] “It is not possible for God-may He be praised-to take unto Himself a son.” [Qur’an, 19:35] “Jesus is to God as Adam was to Him, a creature made out of dust that had come to be at God’s command.” [Qur’an, 3:59] Islam is monotheistic par excellence; the unity of God it teaches is the most categorical, the clearest, the simplest, and therefore the strongest. Whatever casts the slightest doubt upon the unity of God is strongly rejected by Islam and declared blasphemous. “God does not forgive that He be associated with anyone, but He will forgive anything lesser than that to whomsoever He wills.” [Qur’an, 4:48]. Whatever connection Christianity may have had with ancient religions as far as its trinitarian doctrine is concerned furnished no justification at all in the eye of Muhammad. The truth is that God is one and unique, that He has no associates, that He has neither progeny nor ancestry and that He is absolutely without parallel. It is no wonder therefore that controversy arose between Muhammad and the Christians of his time, that he debated with them in kindness, and that revelation confirmed Muhammad with the foregoing Qur’anic corroborations.
The Question of Jesus’ Crucifixion
Another problem in which Islam differed from Christianity and which aroused controversy at the time of the Prophet is that of the crucifixion of Jesus as atonement for the sins of mankind. The Qur’an clearly denies that the Jews had killed or crucified the Messiah. It says: “As for the Jews’ claim that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Prophet of God, the truth is that they have not killed him, nor have they crucified him, but that that appeared to them to be the case; whereas those who contend concerning this matter have no certain knowledge at all but merely conjecture. None of them is absolutely certain that they killed Jesus. Rather, God the Mighty and Wise raised Jesus unto Himself.” [Qur’an, 4:157-158]
Despite the fact that the idea of the Messiah’s sacrifice and his atonement for the sins of mankind with his own blood is undoubtedly beautiful and the writings it had inspired are worthy of poetical, moral, and psychological analysis, Islam founded itself upon the principle that moral guilt is non-transferable and that on the Day of Judgment justice shall be meted out to each according to his due. This fact rules out any logical rapprochement between the two doctrines. The logique of Islam is so precise on this matter and so clear and distinct that the difference between it and Christianity cannot be composed. The doctrine of sacrificial atonement runs diametrically counter to that of personal justice. “No father may bear the guilt of his son, and no son may earn anything for his father.” [Qur’an, 31:33]
Byzantines and Muslims
Did any Christians at the time consider this new religion and ponder the possibility of harmonizing its “unization” [Arabic tawhid, the Islamic doctrine of divine unity. The English “monotheism” is not specific enough and is applied to Christianity precisely where Islam would charge its inapplicability. Hence, our new term. -Tr.] of God and their revelation of Jesus? Indeed! And many of them joined it as a result. The Byzantines, however, whose victory the Muslims had celebrated and regarded as the victory of the scriptural religions, did not take the trouble to investigate this new religion. Rather, they looked at it from a political angle, and worried about their dominion should the new religion carry the day. They therefore began to attack it and its people and sent an army of a hundred thousand soldiers (or of two hundred thousand according to another report) against it. This led to the conquest of Tabuk by the Muslims and the retreat of the Byzantines in front of the army which rallied around Muhammad to repulse the aggression with such power and determination as it deserved.
Ever since then, Muslims and Christians have followed a poll of hostility towards each other; for many centuries victory was on the side of the Muslims, enabling them to extend their empire from Spain in the west to India and China in the east. Most of the inhabitants of this empire joined the new faith and adopted its Arabic language. When history came full cycle, the Christians forced the Muslims from Spain, launched the Crusades against them, and began to attack their religion and Prophet with falsehoods, lies, and forgeries. In their prejudice, they forgot the great respect and honor accorded to Jesus-may God’s blessing be upon him-by Muhammad-may God’s blessing be upon him-as the tradition has reported and the Qur’an, the revelation to Muhammad, has stated.
Christian Scholars and Muhammad
In presenting the views Christian scholars had of Muhammad during the first half of the nineteenth century, the French Encyclopedie Larousse stated: “Muhammad remained in his moral corruption and debauchery a camel thief, a cardinal who failed to reach the throne of the papacy and win it for himself. He therefore invented a new religion with which to avenge himself against his colleagues. Many fanciful and immoral tales dominated his mind and conduct. The Life of Muhammad by Bahomet is an example of this kind of literature. Other books on Muhammad, such as those published by Renault and Frangois Michel in 1831, illustrate the idea of Muhammad prevalent in the Middle Ages. In the seventeenth century, Peel looked at the Qur’an from a historian’s point of view. But he refused to divulge his conclusions to his readers though he acknowledged that the ethical and social system of Muhammad does not differ from the Christian system except in the the
ory of punishment and polygamy.”
The Life of Muhammad Page 3