Isa in the Qur'an

Isa (Jesus) the Word of Allah

The Qur’an and the hadith say that Jesus is Allah’s Word, or you could say Jesus is the Word of God. It also says Jesus is a spirit coming from Allah. 

“O People of the Book!... Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him.” -Surah 4:171

“Go to Jesus, Allah’s Slave, His Apostle and Allah’s Word and a Spirit coming from Him.” -Bukhari 4476

Muslims state that the meaning behind Jesus’ title “Allah’s Word” is simply that Jesus was created by God speaking. “Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was.” -Surah 3:59

The fallacy of comparing Adam’s creation with the birth of Jesus is that Adam was the very first human and needed to be created because he didn’t have a father or mother. But why was Jesus born of a miracle when God’s natural cycle of reproduction had already existed? If they call Jesus the Word of God simply because God created him by command, why isn’t Adam called the “Word of God”? Or the Angels, or any creature? Jesus alone is specifically identified as “God’s Word”. Every prophet of God has been a messenger, but only Jesus is the “Word of God”.

The use of the title “The Word of God” to refer to Jesus originates in the Bible. The Qur’an used the Bible’s terminology but ignored the traditional teaching.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…” -John 1:1-3, 14

Jesus being called the “Word of God” speaks of Jesus being an eternal being and the creator of all things; then the “Word of God” came in the flesh as the person of Jesus. Even Muslims recognize that the speech of Allah is eternal, just like Allah himself. 

“…The Quran is the speech or word of Allah and is therefore uncreated.” Muslim scholars have reasoned that Allah’s speech cannot be created since it comes or originates directly from him, and nothing created comes from him. As…Imam Malik states…“The Qur’an is the Speech of Allah, the Speech of Allah comes from Him, and nothing created comes from Allah Most High.” -Narrated by al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’ (Dar al-Fikr ed. 7:416). (G.F. Haddad, The Uncreatedness of the Divine Speech: The Glorious Qur’an)” 1

Al-Ghazali states in his book Foundations of Islamic Belief, “The Qur’an is…uncreated and without beginning, subsisting in the Essence of Allah…” 2

Muslims believe the eternal word came in a book called the Qur’an. Christians believe the eternal word came in human form in Jesus Christ. Do you, dear Muslim, believe the Qur’an is the word of God? Is the word of God eternal? So Allah is eternal, and the Qur’an is eternal, and the Qur’an is part of Allah. This is what Christians have always believed. We believe that Christ, being the Word of God, is in essence united with the one God and comes from him. The Qur’an teaches Jesus is the “Word of God”! Scriptures teach that Allah is the one true God. And Allah has an eternal word, and that “Word of God” is Jesus.

The same logic which led Muslims to conclude that the Qur’an is not created and eternal can be used more forcefully to prove that Christ himself must also be uncreated and eternal.

A Spirit Proceeding from Allah

In the same surah, Surah 4:171, it says Jesus is a spirit proceeding from Allah. It also makes clear in the Qur’an that the spirit is its own distinct being and subject to Allah. Allah even sends his spirit to help the believers who are being opposed by Godless people.

“You will not find any people of faith in God and the Day of Judgment who would establish friendship with those who oppose God and His Messenger, even if it would be in the interest of their fathers, sons, brothers, and kinsmen. God has established faith in their hearts and supported them by a Spirit from Himself.” -Surah 58:22

Muslim translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali referred to this entity in Surah 58:22 as the Divine Spirit. A being that does the work of God and shares God’s characteristics and yet is its own distinct being.

“… Cf. 2:87 and 253 … Here we learn that all good and righteous men are strengthened by God with the holy spirit. If anything, the phrase used here is stronger, ‘a spirit from Himself’. Whenever any one offers his heart in faith and purity to God, God accepts it, engraves that faith on the seeker’s heart, and further fortifies him with the Divine Spirit, which we can no more define adequately than we can define in human language the nature of God. (Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Quran, p. 1518, fn. 5365; bold emphasis ours). 3

Here we have Yusuf Ali, the most respected English translator of the Qur’an, admitting the spirit is divine, and Jesus is called a spirit from Allah. Muslims don’t even know how to explain who this spirit from Allah is. Many Muslim apologists say it is Gabriel the Angel, but Muhammad himself admitted he knew very little about who the Spirit of Allah is. Muhammad definitely knew Gabriel and would

have said that the Angel and the Spirit were the same if they were.

“And they ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit); Say: “The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.” -Surah 17:85

Muslims need to realize that Jesus alone bears the honour in the Qur’an as the Word of Allah and Spirit from Allah, and Jesus is unlike any other prophet and is more than a mere man.

Isa (Jesus) the Life Giver and Creator

The Qur’an says Jesus has the ability to give life to inanimate objects and to raise the dead.

“When God said, ‘Jesus, son of Mary… you made a sculpture of a bird out of clay, blew into it, and it turned into a real bird by My Will. (Recall) how, by My will, you healed the deaf, the lepers, and raised the dead…’” -Surah 5:110

Jesus makes a bird out of clay and breathes into it and gives the bird life. This is exactly what Allah did in the Qur’an with Adam—he made him out of clay, breathed into him and gave him life. The Qur’an says that the ability to create is an attribute of God alone.

“I will create the human being out of pure mud-moulded clay. When it is properly shaped and I have blown My Spirit into it…” -Surah 15:28-29

“Yet have they taken, besides him, gods that can create nothing.” -Surah 25:3

Muslims will say Jesus could only give life and raise the dead by God’s permission. This doesn’t deny Christ’s deity but reveals the special relationship that Christ alone has with God the Father. The power of giving life and death is attributed only to God, but Jesus creates live birds from clay and resurrects the dead just like God! Jesus the Word and Spirit of God, in partnership with God, does the works that only God can do. This is what the Bible teaches; that God and Jesus created man in the beginning:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” -b

“My Father is working until now, and I am working . . .The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” -John 5:17-19

Certain parts of the Qur’an suggest that Jesus is created, but other parts make Jesus out to be much more than a created man. Muslims think that if one part of the scripture denies the Divinity of Christ,

then this somehow proves that the entire Qur’an does so.

Jesus is called the Messiah 8 times in the Qur’an, but the Qur’an gives no definition of what this title means. Messiah means “anointed one” in the Bible, and the world was waiting for centuries for this special messenger to come. Jesus Christ claimed he is this messenger. 

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” -John 4:25-26

The Hadith says every child who is born is touched by Satan (this includes Muhammad) except for Jesus. “I heard Allah’s Messenger saying, ‘There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, except Mary and her child.’” -Bukhari 3431

Why is Muhammad greater than Isa (Jesus)?

Jesus is called the Word of God. The Qur’an says that he is a Spirit from God. Jesus creates and gives life to birds and raises the dead, which only God can do. He is the only child to never be touched by Satan. He is called the Messiah, which is the name of the anointed one for whom the whole world was waiting. Is it not suspicious that Muhammad never did any miracles and never prophesied any future events, and even the Qur’an and the Hadith say Muhammad was a sinner? How is he any different from anybody else?

“So know, [O Muhammad], that there is no deity except Allah and ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women.” -Surah 47:19

“I heard Allah’s Messenger saying. ‘By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.’” -Bukhari 6307

In the Qur’an there are 93 Ayas about Jesus. 64 Ayas are on his birth and his youth, with only 26 Ayas to present the rest of Jesus’ life. The Bible mentions Jesus’ name over 1000 times. And there isn’t a single teaching of Jesus in the Qur’an, except that he says “I am a servant of Allah and the scriptures have been given to me.” Muslims say they respect Jesus, but they never read the Injeel (Bible). The Qur’an says the Injeel is a guidance and a light, so why don’t Muslims read it? “And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him.” -Surah 5:46

Here are two of Isa’s (Jesus) teachings:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? -Mat 5:38-46a

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” -Luke 9:23-27

There are hundreds of other teachings of Jesus that Muslims have not read. Please pick up a Bible and read it; your soul depends on it.