From my study of the Seerah (biography) of the Prophet, I am convinced that no Christian or Jew who studies his life without preconceived notions would fail to notice the nobility of his character, the holiness of his mission, and the reaffirmation of their own scriptures.
Muslims, Christians, and Jews make up almost two-thirds of the world’s population. The world would immensely benefit if the people of these three Abrahamic faiths could unite on some basic principles. If Christians and Jews delve into their own scriptures and history and do so with open minds, they will realize that they have so much in common with Muslims and with one another.
Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad, like the prophets Moses and Jesus, came to unite the believers under God’s divine laws. Part of Islam’s mission is to confirm and complement the message of Moses and Jesus. The Qur’an tells us that the Prophet Muhammad preached the religion of his forefathers: Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and other messengers who followed them like Moses and Jesus. May God’s peace be upon them all! Islam is the only religion that recognizes all prophets. Jews believe in all the prophets from Adam through the end of the Old Testament, but not Jesus. Christians recognize all previously known prophets and of course Jesus, but not the Prophet Muhammad.
The Prophet Muhammad said, “My parable among the Prophets is that of a man who built a house and did an excellent and complete job, except for the space of one brick which he left unfilled. People began to go around the building, admiring it and saying, ‘If only that brick were put in its place.’ Among the Prophets, I am like that brick and the prophets end with me.”1
The prophets Moses and Jesus are beloved and revered figures in Islam and an integral part of the Muslim faith. No Muslim can ever say something disrespectful about Moses, Jesus, or any of the biblical prophets. It would be akin to heresy. To Muslims, Jesus has a unique significance for a number of reasons. Jesus is the prophet immediately before the Prophet Muhammad. According to a number of prophetic traditions (Hadith), Jesus will return to the earth toward the end of time, and Muslims will be his helpers against the Antichrist, called Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal in Arabic. Muslims believe that then Jesus will rectify Christian belief and say that there is only One God, Allah, that God does not have a son, and that he is not divine. This, of course, is the central belief of the vast majority of Christians, yet it is precisely where theological conversations between Christians and Muslims should begin—the question of Jesus as either divine and human as Christians believe, or simply human and prophetic as Muslims believe.
The Prophet Muhammad emphasized his special relationship to Jesus, saying in a Hadith, “I am closest to Jesus, son of Mary, among the whole of mankind in this world and the Hereafter. Prophets are brothers in faith, having different mothers. Their religion is, however, one, and there is no Apostle between Jesus and me.” (Muslim, Book 30, Hadith #5836).
Like Jesus, his mother, Mary, occupies a special place in Islam. Mary (Maryam) is mentioned thirty-four times in the Qur’an, with her genealogy and childhood described in greater detail than in the four Gospels, and the language and way of narration are seen to be particularly significant.2
It is generally thought that only those who follow the Prophet Muhammad are Muslim. However, the Qur’an calls all prophets and their followers Muslim. It says that the prophet Abraham, the patriarch of all three Abrahamic faiths, was “neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was an upright Muslim; and he was not one of the polytheists” (Aal Imraan 3:67).
In another chapter, the Qur’an tells us that when Jacob was dying, he verified from his sons that they would worship none other than Allah:
Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob and he asked his sons, ‘Whom will you worship after me?’ They said, ‘We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac—One True God. And we are Muslims (in submission) to Him.3
Our world today is mired in violence due to hatred and misunderstanding among the people of the world’s three great religions—Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. It is not to say that this is the only cause of violence in the world, but certainly it’s one of the most significant. How long can we go on living like this? What legacy are we going to bequeath to our children and their children?
In 2007, a group of Muslim scholars published an open letter to the People of the Book calling it “A Common Word between Us and You.” The letter sprang from a verse in the Qur’an, wherein God commanded the Prophet Muhammad to say to the Christians and Jews:
O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God.” And if they turn away, then say: “Bear witness that we are they who have submitted (unto Him).”4
The letter says, “Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.” It further states:
“The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbor. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbor is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.”
The Prophet Muhammad said, “None of you will have true faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself.”5
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ says,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.6
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[1]A Hadithis a saying of the Prophet Muhammad. This Hadith was narrated by Ubayy bin Ka`ab, a close companion of the Prophet, and collected by Hadith scholars Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, andTirmidhi.
2GiancarloFinazzo, “TheVirginMaryintheQur’an,” L’OsservatoreRomano, weekly edition in English, April 13, 1978.
3Baqarah2:133.
4AalImraan3:64
5Muslim,Hadith#45
6Mark12:29–31King James Version (KJV)
Excerpted from the author’s latest book, Muhammad: Son of Abraham, Brother of Moses, Successor of Jesus.
Posted By: Ekram Haque
Ustadh Ekram Haque is a writer, journalist, author, and khateeb. He has a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has written hundreds of articles in large and small publications, including a number of Op-Ed and features articles in the Dallas Morning News, News & Observer, Denver Post, Newsday and Asbury Park Press. He has taught the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallaahu Alaiyhi WaSallam to different age groups and delivered weekly lectures on the Seerah at the East Plano Islamic Center in Plano, TX. Those lectures served as the nucleus for his recently published book, “Muhammad: Son of Abraham, Brother of Moses, Successor of Jesus.” He received much of his informal education about Islam from Sheikh Abul Yosr Mohamed Baianonie, then imam of the Islamic Center of Raleigh in North Carolina. Ustadh Ekram teaches the Seerah in a contemporary context and helps draw lessons that are relevant to our current challenges. “Only by following the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (s) can we successfully navigate through these turbulent times,” he said.