Lives of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and Esa/Jesus (PBUH)

An apostate once asked me:
Appostate of Islam:
"Why did I leave Islam? It began with, Muhammad. My mother, giving me a book to read, on the Prophet of Islam, wives. This book was not a Christian book, but a well, documented book from Islamic history. As I read one story in particularly, about Muhammad and his young wife Aisha, I was deeply grieved, from there I began to look once again at the life of Jesus. I also took a closer much more intense look at the life of Muhammad, and Islamic history. It was Jesus, and His life that I viewed so differently from anyone else on the face of this earth. It was His perfect life, His love for me, and His love for the whole world. It was about how He died, giving up Heaven, coming to this world, taking on all sins, so we could ALL have a personal relationship with God once again!"

My Reply:
The problem I see in your argument is that you are trying to match apples with oranges. One has to keep the right context in mind before making such comparisons. Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) remained among his people till the age of approximately 32-33 before he was lifted in the sky, a concept equally shared by both Muslims and Christians in one form or another. Prophet Muhammad (Peach be Upon Him) on the other hand got his first message from Allah(SWT) at the age of 40. Before that he was known in the Arabs of that time as the most honorable, trustworthy, honest and truthful person. He was a person who would never even harm a single hair of the worst of the enemy. He was chosen even before his prophet hood as an arbitrator in the placing of holy stone (Hajr-e-Aswad) by Quraish. He was known to have the best character among his people.

For my explanation about Prophet's marriage with Aisha(RA), please refer to another of my blog: Prophet's Marriage with Aisha(RA)

During the first 13 years of his prophet hood at Makkah, he acted precisely how Jesus(peace be upon him) had acted during his life and never reacted or retaliated against all the worst of punishments and ridicules that he and his companions encountered. The early muslim were made to migrate first to Abyssinia (present Ethopia) and later to Medina due to unliveable conditions in Makkah for them but yet not a single one among them ever raised a sword. Even in Medina, Prophet initially entered in a peace treaty with Jews. It was only when Jews violated the treaty many times that they were fought against. Also, most of the battles in Prophet’s(Peach be Upon Him) time were in self defense since pagans of Makkah attacked them on various occasions. You have to remember one thing, i.e. there was a great difference between the missions of prophet Muhammad(Peach be Upon Him) and Jesus's(Peach be Upon Him) first coming since later himself said the following:

Matthew 5: 17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law (Hebrew - Torah), or the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfil.

For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law (Torah), till all be fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

While prophet Muhammad’s(Peach be Upon Him) mission was to implement the divine law in its complete form and hence on several occasions had to tackle the evil by force since it had acquired deep roots after so many centuries of domination. Prophet’s Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) mission according to both Islam and Christanity is not over yet and that is why he is destined to come back, fight the anti-Christ (referred to as Dajjal in Islam) and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth. That act is simply "Islam" in essence is i.e. establishing a kingdom on this earth based on divinely prescribed law.

Here is the link to one of my blog comparing 10 commandments that the believers in Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) were instructed to follow by Jesus (Peach be Upon Him)himself and the message of Quran. Look especially the first and 2nd commandments of Mosaic law and you will find a direct contradiction in the present Christanity. Islam and Jewish 10 Commandments

Aspostate of Islam:
"I believed Jesus, was who He said He was "The Son of God" I began to ask myself questions like, how could I trust a god that would try and deceive me?As taught in Islam, Allah put someone else on the cross in place of Jesus. How could I have faith in a god that would trick me? This is not honest and would make Allah a liar and a deceiver. The Bible says that God cannot lie, nor deceive. That would have been an act of deception, and is not an attribute of a pure and Holy God."


My Reply:
Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) was sent as a messenger of God to the children of Israel, however, the majority of them rejected his teachings, ridiculed him and in their own understanding, crucified him. Allah(SWT) through Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) warned them repeatedly but after witnessing clearly that they were not going to change their ways, Allah(SWT) simply left them in their ignorance. Allah(SWT) saved Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) as per his promise to him and replaced him with some one else. As per the Bible of Barbanas, it was Judas Iscariot(Jesus’s companion who betrayed him) whose appearance was transformed into that of Jesus's and since according to Judiac law, the punishment of mutiny or betrayal was death and hence he was given one as a result of his betrayal to the messenger of God. Allah(SWT), however, didn’t deceive any one. Infact due to the rejection of Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) by the Children of Israel, they had become enemies to Allah and hence were not considered significant enough anymore to be conveyed that information. Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) according to the Bible had been reported to come back to his companions after his so called crucifixion and they all touched him to verify that he is still flesh and bone and that he also shared their meal with them. Why would he do that if he was not human anymore? Isn’t that simply an exhibition of his mortality and human existence in contrast to what Paul propagated on his behalf? Here are the references to those verses in Bible:

Luke 24:36-43
36While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

37They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate it in their presence.

Since the prophet hood was taken away from the Children of Israel after Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) left them and there was a lapse of about 600 years after Prophet Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) and Prophet Muhammad(Peach be Upon Him) and no divine book was revealed during that time, therefore that information was not conveyed to any one from Allah(SWT) especially to Jews since they were divinely cursed by their act of allegedly killing a Messenger of Allah(SWT). However, Quran has clarified all the misconceptions and made up theories regarding Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) and his supposed divinity and the false accusations of Jews that Jesus (God Forbid) was an illegitimate child and those who recognized the Quranic truth, accepted Islam. Historically, there are known to be many sects among early Christians who never believed in the divinity of Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) but unfortunately were pushed in the background after Emperor Constantine made trinity part of Christian faith through the 'Council of Nicea', a move that was politically motivated. Show me a single verse in Bible that suggest or speaks anything about trinity. Even if you read the direct quotes from Jesus (Peach be Upon Him), he never claimed himself to be the son of God, rather Greek word for son means "servant or slave of God" which is equivalent in Arabic as “Abdullah”. Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) never claimed that he is the begotten son of God but he referred himself as a servant or slave of God like all the other prophets of Islam before and after him.

Apostate of Islam:
Look at Christ life: Compare His life to Others:
Jesus never killed anyone, but rather healed the sick, and broken hearted.
He lived a life of perfection.
He is the only one who can forgive of all our bad deeds.
Jesus cast out demons.
Angels bowed down to Him,
The stormy seas obeyed His commands.
He made the blind to see, and the lame to walk.

My Reply:
Jesus’s(Peach be Upon Him) life is not over yet and it was only one phase of his life that he spent on this earth. The next phase is yet to come in which he is well known to assume an entirely different role according to Christians (Book of Revelation) and Muslim literatures. He will be a warrior who will fight the evil to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth just like Prophet Muhammad(Peach be Upon Him) did to establish that kingdom in the Arabian Penninsula during his lifetime. As far as his miracles go, that is not a unique attribute of Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) since many prophets before and after him were known to possess God's given miracles. It is Allah(SWT) who should be praised not Jesus (Peach be Upon Him) since Allah(SWT) gives those miracles to whom ever he chooses. Some of the miracles given to other prophets are summarized below:

- Prophet Adam (Peach be Upon Him) was born without a father and mother.
- Prophet Noah (Peach be Upon Him) brought the flood to his unbelieving nation.
- Prophet Jonah (Peach be Upon Him) spent several days in the belly of a fish.
- Prophet David (Peach be Upon Him) use to mold iron in his hand and possessed a voice that would mismerize all living things.
- Prophet Solomon (Peach be Upon Him) had the power to communicate with Jinns and animals.
- Prophet Abraham (Peach be Upon Him) was thrown in fire and surived without a scratch/burn.
- Prophet Moses (Peach be Upon Him) spoke directly to God, made a Serpent out of his staff, parted sea, brought seven plagues to Pharaoh and his people etc.
-Prophet Muhammad (Peach be Upon Him) traveled on a journey to the havens faster than the speed of light (Miraj), Splitted the moon etc.

These miracles were God given and no human whether a messenger or not could claim them to be his own rather they were the special gifts from Allah(SWT) so that people of their time will recognize the might of God and come to the right path. Since human intelligence had advanced considerably since then, Prophet Muhammad(Peach be Upon Him) being the last of messengers, was given a miracle of miracles in the form of Quran which contains numerous signs of Allah(SWT), many of which were to be explored later by the people to follow. Most of the scientific facts mentioned in the Holy Quran 1400 years ago have only been explored and confirmed without any doubt just with in the span of last 50-100 years or so with the help of powerful scientific equipments. The source of such superior knowledge could only be divine, hence it gives a clear indication to those who seek the true path that Islam is the only path to God.

Apostate of Islam:
Who else in history could make such a claim?
The Bible tells us that if everything Jesus did here on earth, was recorded, all the books in the world couldn't contain it!

My Reply:
Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) no doubt was a mighty messenger of Allah(SWT) and one of the most pious being that has ever sat foot on this earth but even then he was still a human being and a slave of Allah(SWT) and was here to fulfill his mission of showing his people the path to Allah(SWT). He of course would be rewarded greatly by Allah(SWT) for his efforts when he dies after his second coming. He, however, was not the God or had any relation with the God in his existence other than being a pious creation and slave of His. Jesus(Peach be Upon Him) mission is not finished yet as the Kingdom of Heaven is not established anywhere on this earth but he will return and will fulfill his duty which will evelate his status make him one of the greatest human on this earth but not even close to being referred to as God.