The Seed · Messengers
Jesus
The Messiah, son of Mary: a messenger, a prophet and a servant of God, who taught one thing above all: worship God alone.
(The infant spoke and) said, “I am a servant of GOD. He has given me the scripture, and has appointed me a prophet.
[19:30]The Quran speaks of Jesus with deep love and respect. It tells of his wonderful birth, his miracles and his patience.
It also does something else. It sets the record straight about who he was, and about what he taught.
If you grew up Christian, some of this will be familiar, and some of it will be new. Please read it with an open heart. Then see whether it sounds like the Jesus you love.
This page follows his life through the Quran, and it ends where his own teaching ends: worship God alone.
Who Jesus Was
The Quran tells us plainly who he was. He was a messenger: “The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was a messenger of GOD, and His word that He had sent to Mary, and a revelation from Him.” [4:171]
He was also a prophet. As a baby in the crib, he said: “I am a servant of GOD. He has given me the scripture, and has appointed me a prophet.” [19:30]
God calls him “the Messiah” [4:171]. The angels told Mary he would be “prominent in this life and in the Hereafter, and one of those closest to Me” [3:45].
He was sent to a particular people: “As a messenger to the Children of Israel” [3:49]. And God gave him the Gospel [5:46].
And he was a servant of God, like every messenger before him: “He was no more than a servant whom we blessed, and we sent him as an example for the Children of Israel.” [43:59] That “we” is God speaking.
A Birth Like No Other
The angels brought Mary the news of a son. She asked: “My Lord, how can I have a son, when no man has touched me?” [3:47]
God answered: “GOD thus creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He simply says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” [3:47]
A birth without a father is a wonder. But God reminds us that Adam was created the same way: “The example of Jesus, as far as GOD is concerned, is the same as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was.” [3:59] Adam had neither father nor mother. No one calls Adam God.
When Mary brought the baby to her people, they accused her. She pointed to him, and the infant spoke [19:29] [19:30]. He said God had “enjoined me to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat) for as long as I live” [19:31], and: “I am to honor my mother” [19:32].
The story of Mary, and of Zachariah who cared for her, has its own page in this section.
Miracles, by God's Leave
God gave Jesus great miracles [2:253]. Jesus told the Children of Israel: “I create for you from clay the shape of a bird, then I blow into it, and it becomes a live bird by GOD's leave. I restore vision to the blind, heal the leprous, and I revive the dead by GOD's leave.” [3:49]
Twice he says: “by GOD's leave”. And God says the same, again and again: “You healed the blind and the leprous by My leave, and revived the dead by My leave.” [5:110]
The power was never his own. It was God's, shown through him. Jesus said so himself. That is the difference between a messenger and a god.
What Jesus Taught
The heart of his teaching was the same as every messenger's: “GOD is my Lord and your Lord; you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path.” [3:51]
He said it in many places. God tells us: “The Messiah himself said, ‘O Children of Israel, you shall worship GOD; my Lord and your Lord.’” [5:72]
He came to confirm the scripture before him, and to lighten some of its burdens: “I confirm previous scripture—the Torah—and I revoke certain prohibitions imposed upon you.” [3:50]
He came to settle disputes: “I bring to you wisdom, and to clarify some of the matters in which you dispute.” [43:63]
God commanded him to keep the Contact Prayers and the obligatory charity [19:31]. And he brought good news of a messenger to come after him [61:6].
His Disciples
When Jesus sensed their disbelief, he asked: “Who are my supporters towards GOD?” [3:52]
His disciples answered: “We are GOD's supporters; we believe in GOD, and bear witness that we are submitters.” [3:52] They called themselves submitters, the same word the Quran uses for all believers.
They asked him for a feast from the sky, to settle their hearts [5:112] [5:113]. Jesus prayed: “Our god, our Lord, send down to us a feast from the sky.” [5:114] God sent it [5:115].
God holds them up as an example for us: “O you who believe, be GOD's supporters, like the disciples of Jesus, son of Mary.” [61:14]
The End of His Life on Earth
His enemies plotted against him. “They plotted and schemed, but so did GOD, and GOD is the best schemer.” [3:54]
God told Jesus what He would do: “O Jesus, I am terminating your life, raising you to Me, and ridding you of the disbelievers.” [3:55]
So the real Jesus, his soul, was raised to God first. What his enemies arrested, tortured and crucified was his body, empty of the person who had lived in it.
That is why the Quran says: “they never killed him, they never crucified him—they were made to think that they did.” [4:157] And: “Instead, GOD raised him to Him” [4:158].
Jesus himself will say on the Day of Judgment: “When You terminated my life on earth, You became the Watcher over them.” [5:117]
How Jesus Was Made Into God
Jesus never asked to be worshiped. Yet that is what happened.
Later, some people said things about him that he never said. God says: “the Christians said, ‘Jesus is the son of GOD!’ These are blasphemies uttered by their mouths.” [9:30]
About 300 years after Jesus, church leaders met in a council at Nicaea. There they declared Jesus to be God. Jesus never taught this.
God answers it plainly in the Quran: “You shall not say, ‘Trinity.’ You shall refrain from this for your own good. GOD is only one god. Be He glorified; He is much too glorious to have a son.” [4:171]
And: “It does not befit GOD that He begets a son, be He glorified. To have anything done, He simply says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” [19:35]
God shows us how simple the proof is: “The Messiah, son of Mary, is no more than a messenger like the messengers before him, and his mother was a saint. Both of them used to eat the food.” [5:75] One who needs food is not God.
Jesus on the Day of Judgment
The Quran lets us hear a conversation that has not happened yet. God will ask Jesus: “did you say to the people, ‘Make me and my mother idols beside GOD’?” [5:116]
Jesus will answer: “Be You glorified. I could not utter what was not right.” [5:116] “I told them only what You commanded me to say, that: ‘You shall worship GOD, my Lord and your Lord.’” [5:117]
So the people who worship Jesus will find that he never asked for it. On that Day, Jesus himself will say he never told them this.
His Story, and Where to Read It
The Quran tells the story of Jesus in several suras. Here are the main parts.
| What happened | Where to read it |
|---|---|
| The good news to Mary, and the birth | [3:42] to [3:47] and [19:16] to [19:26] |
| The infant speaks | [19:27] to [19:36] |
| His mission and his miracles | [3:48] to [3:51] and [5:110] |
| His disciples | [3:52] to [3:53] and [61:14] |
| The feast from the sky | [5:112] to [5:115] |
| God raises him | [3:54] to [3:55] and [4:157] to [4:158] |
| Jesus, an example like Adam | [3:59] to [3:62] |
| The question on the Day of Judgment | [5:116] to [5:118] |
| Not a son, not a third in a trinity | [4:171] to [4:172] and [5:72] to [5:75] |
A Word to Christians
The Quran speaks warmly of many Christians. It says: “you will find that the closest people in friendship to the believers are those who say, ‘We are Christian.’” [5:82] And when some of them hear the Quran, “you see their eyes flooding with tears as they recognize the truth therein” [5:83].
Loving Jesus is not the problem. What God commands is that we worship Him alone, as Jesus did. And the invitation is gentle: “Say, ‘O followers of the scripture, let us come to a logical agreement between us and you: that we shall not worship except GOD; that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords beside GOD.’” [3:64]
And the door is always open: “Would they not repent to GOD, and ask His forgiveness? GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.” [5:74]
One Message: God Alone
From the crib to the Day of Judgment, Jesus says one thing. Worship God alone.
He said it as a baby: “I am a servant of GOD.” [19:30] He said it to his people, again and again [43:64]. And he will say it before God: “You shall worship GOD, my Lord and your Lord.” [5:117]
He never looked down on being God's servant: “The Messiah would never disdain from being a servant of GOD” [4:172].
So we honour Jesus by doing what he did. We love him as a messenger and a prophet. And we worship God alone, as he did.
Jesus in Four Verses
Four verses to keep close.
The example of Jesus, as far as GOD is concerned, is the same as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, “Be,” and he was.[3:59]
“GOD is my Lord and your Lord, you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path.”[43:64]
The Messiah would never disdain from being a servant of GOD, nor would the closest angels. Those who disdain from worshiping Him, and are too arrogant to submit, He will summon them all before Him.[4:172]
It does not befit GOD that He begets a son, be He glorified. To have anything done, He simply says to it, “Be,” and it is.[19:35]
What Would Jesus Say?
On the Day of Judgment, Jesus will be asked whether he told people to worship him. He will answer: “Be You glorified. I could not utter what was not right.” [5:116]
If we love Jesus, the best way to show it is to believe what he said about himself.
Growth Prompt
Write down three things you were taught about Jesus. Then look for each one in the verses on this page. Which did Jesus say about himself, and which did others say about him later?
Do I honour Jesus by following his message, or by giving him what belongs to God alone?
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