Do Christians Believe in Jesus?

The question whether Christians believe in Jesus will certainly sound strange to Christians. But not to Muslims, if you understand Islam.

Before we discuss whether Christians believe and follow Jesus, we need to understand that there are two sources of revelation in Islam: (1) The Quran; (2) The Sunnah.

Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, explained it this way:

…the Quran for us is a book of guidance. It has the first saying. The Prophet’s sunnah is an explanation for it. And it is impeccable application for the Quran…It is not right nor allowed to interpret sunnah far from Quran nor to interpret the Quran far from sunnah because both are from Allah. The Prophet (SAWS) is the owner of both revelations. (Abrogation)

Because the sunnah is a form of revelation in Islam, Muslims try and imitate Muhammad’s conduct in all details of life such as clothing, what to say when someone sneezes, and what hand to wipe with after going to the bathroom. This is important to understand because Christians don’t imitate everything Jesus did. We don’t even follow the food laws Jesus observed. ¹There is even a tradition in Islam that when Jesus returns He will kill all pigs.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts). (see Sahih al-Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 656)

ʿAbd al-Jabbar (d. 1025), in a book titled The Critique of Christian Origins, insisted that Jesus followed the practice established by Moses, and accused the Christians of deviating from the religion of Jesus:

Christ was circumcised and required circumcision, just as those before him—Moses, Aaron, and the prophets—required it. . . .

He never took Sunday as the holiday ever, nor did he ever build a church. He did not annul the Sabbath, even for one hour. He never ate pork, but forbade it and cursed the eating of it, just as the prophets did before him. . . .

In a word, Christ only came to revive the Torah and to confirm it. He said, “I have come to you only to act in accordance with the Torah and the commandments of the prophets before me. I did not come to abolish but to complete. For with God it is easier for the sky to fall upon the earth than for anything to be abolished from the law of Moses. Whoever abolishes anything from it will be missing from the kingdom of heaven.”

Christians need to be sensitive to this and explain the purpose of the Law and why we no longer observe certain parts of it.

Do Christians believe in and follow Jesus? Yes, but not in the way Muslims try to follow Muhammad.

Furthermore, Christians need to point out that: (1) Even though we don’t follow all the laws of Moses, they are still part of our Scriptures. On the other hand, the Quran omits the revelation God gave to the Jews and which Jesus followed; and (2) Christians still uphold the moral law as Jesus obeyed and taught. Muhammad did not. This is evidenced by Muhammad’s marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh which violated Jesus’ teaching about the 7th Commandment about adultery.

You might also be interested in:

Law and Sin in Christianity and Islam

Islam, the Bible, and Eating Pork