‘The Passion of the Christ’ surprises Muslim students
Muslim students view “The Passion of the Christ” impressed by the language parallels, not by the content.
bq.. They expected the blood. They expected a story of Jesus that differed from what the Quran taught them about the man revered as one of the greatest prophets of Islam.
What a group from the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh didn’t expect when they went to see “The Passion of the Christ,” was to hear Jesus speak their language.
“It was like Arabic with an accent,” said Dalia Mogahed, outreach program coordinator for the Oakland mosque, who didn’t need to read most subtitles because she understood the Aramaic dialogue.
p. Islam teaches that Jesus Christ was a profound teacher, was not God, and did not die on the cross. One student quickly relieved her Christian classmates with this comment:
bq.. “In Islam, we do not believe that he got crucified at the end,” said Ranim Khalifa, 17, a senior at Schenley High School. Muslims believe that when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for God to deliver him from death, God took him directly to heaven. There was no crucifixion or resurrection, only an ascension. [...]
When Khalifa explained that to her Christian friends, “they were taken aback. But at the same time, they were kind of relieved that he didn’t get tortured the way the movie showed.”
p. [ Full Story @ Post-Gazette.com ]
p(small). Source: Post-Gazette.com © 2004 PG Publishing Co
Listen to this podcast
Filed under: The Passion of the Christ
SALAAM ALAYKUM
I will probably offend you by my questioning, please forgive me. I am writing to you in the name of God the most merciful; may we know God and his ways. If people are only allowed to examine someone for his goodness, how can wrong be found. No wrong will ever be found in him by man. But God knows the truth about that man and will not hide it at judgment. God has also said “The truth shall make you free”. God is not afraid of the truth. I am only seeking the truth; I would like to know if my facts are wrong. However I can not tell you who I am, because I am afraid that someone would try to harm me. I would like to ask three questions about God and his prophets (Peace be upon them).
1) Does God’s laws change?
Many prophets came after Moses and before Mohammed. None of these prophets added to the Law of Moses. And none of these prophets took away from the Law. No new laws were made to be followed. And no prophet declared that a law was no longer needed. What did these prophets do? They told the people to repent and follow God. They pointed out disobedience. They told of God’s anger. They told of God’s love and his willingness to forgive. They told what God was going to do. Mohammed declared many new laws. These laws seem good (laws about fasting, alms giving, prayer, pilgramage, and more), but they were not the same laws that Moses gave.
2) Does God make two sets of laws?
Before Mohammed, no prophet said that there was one law for the people and another law for a prophet. Does God want his prophets to be an example of how we should live? A prophet says to the people: You may not have more than four wives. Can a prophet then say God has given a different moral law for himself; a prophet can have more than four wives?
3) Can a man be a prophet while he disobeys God?
Moses gave the ten commandments. These commandments are the fundamental laws given by Moses. One of the ten commandments says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” (Deuteronomy 5:21). Mohammed’s adopted son, Zayd, had a wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, and Mohammed desired her. Zayd agreed to divorce his wife so that Mohammed could marry her. Mohammed married her, his fifth wife. Did Mohammed break the law given to Moses?
Islam rest on the authority of Mohammed. If Mohammed did not speak for God, he had no authority. If he spoke for God, he had all authority. I present these points out for consideration and discussion.
I do not believe God’s laws change. God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus said, “Do you think that I came to distroy the Law? No, I came not to distroy the Law, but to fulfill it.” Following Jesus can mean persecution. Jesus also said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”
How can a man know for sure if Jesus is the way or the Qu’ran is the way? If someone truly wishes to follow God, and he prays for God to reveal the truth so that he may follow, and he promises that he will follow Jesus or the Qu’ran no mater which God reveals to be the true way, then God will reveal it to that person. God will reveal the truth to anyone who prays earnestly and sincerely. God loves you.
If you would like a copy of the Ingel in Arabic, it can be found in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, or in other countries, or from Christian organizations, or on the internet, and from Christians.
SALAAM ALAYKUM,
May God help us to find the way of truth.
It seems u have enough knowledge about Islam. These are the add on from my side to your three questions.
1. God appoints Muhammad (peace be upon him) because the bible (revelation through Jesus/Issah (peace be upon him)) does not exist it in the original form. I’ve got these information from Quraan itself. So it seems there is no add on to the God’s Law.
2. Prophet’s wives considered to be the mother of muslims. When that law came into effect, all except prophet divorced their wives till 4.
3. Please see what u stated about prophet mohamed
is correct or not. I strongly believe that there was quarrel in between Zayd and his wife. They got divorced and then prophet married her.
May God keep us on the right path and let all attain the final fruit… ameen
I am a Christian, so I believe in Jesus to be more than a prophet. But, Jesus did give us a new commandment. “Love one another, as I have loved you”.
You must remember that as a Christian, I believe that it is my faith that saves me, not my obedience to the law. No man is perfect but one, and it was he they crucified.
You must remember that prophets are men to. Remember the saying “do as I say and not as I do.”
Prophets are not without sin.
Dear Shine Mohammed,
I am a christian and I am not shy to proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the Lord and King of the entire universe.
I have faith in Jesus Christ and it will not be change. As long as I know that in the Quran almost 90% is telling us about Jesus Christ despite of Mohammad the Prophet.
As long as I know that in this world only Christian called their God as Father. Can you imagine how closed we are with God.
As long as I know that only Christian that are waiting Jesus Christ second return in the world.
I am telling you this that Jesus Himself will come back to this world again. Are you never afraid of Him? I am waiting patiently for Him to save me.
I love to see you to be a Christian and give a chance to Jesus Christ to change you. And you will see He is the true Savior.
Assalamualaikum,
as i read this, i felt interested, but i have a little doubt when you call god as father. just asking, isn’t it god’s authority to decide whether you are close to him? no one in this world knows what Allah has decided or not. Now, i am a strong believer in Islam, and we believe that we, as human beings are sent down to earth to be tested. not only us, but other life forms such as the ‘jinns’(read it upon the internet,too lazy to tell what it means).It is stated that if you think you are close to god,then it just means that you are filled with pride and bliss. I strongly believe that we are here as slaves and therefore we should not over-estimate ourselves and pray to Allah.
Dear Keegan,
I am a Muslim (at least trying to be). Much of what you said sounds fine. Your first point is true, the Quran talks more about Jesus and other Prophets rather than Mohammed, but this is purely because Mohammed delivered the Quran whilst he himself was learning Islam from God, so it common sense that there was not much God could talk about regarding Mohammed. Similar to the 1st testiment where you do not hear about Jesus. With your 2nd point I am glad you beleive you are close to God, we all should as he watches over us closely, and to be close to him in our hearts will protect us (eventually). When you call God ‘Father’ i can understand why you feel comfort. In a Muslim’s point of view we do not call him ‘Father’ not for the reason we do not feel close to him but for the reason that we do not want God to be given an image. We want to talk of God as something larger than a father figure, but as something which we cannot begin describe, and that is our love of God. So it is just a different way of looking at it. just as i can understand your view, now i am sure you understand a Muslim’s view. (both correct in their own right).
Your 3rd point on Jesus returning to this world, is the same view as all Muslim’s have. Jesus will return back to the world one day! so on that we definately agree!
Dear readers,
I was reading through the comments.
Am a muslim student and have seen the passion of the christ. Not really very interesting to me. It may be because it is not my faith. But for sure I do not belive that Jesus (peace and blessing be upon him) was crucified. Lets put this down to logical thinking. You consider Jesus is a god. If he was the god why didnt he had the power to get free from the so called crucifixion. Such a helpless god. Isnt this proof enough that he is not god. In our book it says “He was niether crucified but it was SHOWN to them as if it happened”. But I do respect your views. We as muslims are supposed to respect the other religions too.
I’m a Christian. Mike F. has made an excellent point underscoring Islam; reverence of Allah is focused on more than the love of God. Christians say, “Father” because Jesus taught us to do so (Matthew 6:9). When Jesus obediently died on the cross for us it was to restore the relationship between us and God which was shown in The Passion when the curtain was torn in two that seperated God from the common people. People insulted Jesus by saying that he could save others, but not himself (Mark 15:31), but Jesus showed the love of God by dying in our place (John 15:13-14). So while some may say that if Jesus is God, then God is weak for dying on the cross, I say that if Jesus is not God, then God has never loved us as much as Jesus Christ has. For another rebuttal to Mike Ford’s argument read Matthew 26:47-53.
Islam respects the scripture whereupon it was foretold that a Savior would come to redeem His own. Christ was prophesied in the OT and these things have come true, even his sacrifice on the cross. It is because God keeps His promises and because He sent One to pay the penalty that we all rightly deserve that His justice is in place and His love fulfilled.
This is the mystery, that is how God would save us. He foretells it in Scripture, He reveals it in Christ. If Christ did not die for us, our sins remain and we deserve their penalty. Through grace, in love, this penalty has been paid — He purchased us back with His own blood.
GaryK
Psalm 119:63
Asalamualikum,
Hey! On the subject of the Christian beleif that God is the ‘father’, the Islamic belief asserts that God is nearer to you than your ‘jugular vein’ (Al-Quran). Bearing in mind that this vein is the life-link in all us human beings, this may give the person an idea of just how close God is to a person.
Dear Brothers Asslamu Alaikum to all of u.
It seems there are good discussions are going on about islam and christianity. To my dear christian brothers I have some questions
1. Why do u believe Jesus is GOD.
2. Why do u believe Every one take birth in this world comes with SIN.
3. Do u have any authorised scripture from BIBLE saying that JESUS is GOD by GOD ITSELF not be his Gospels