The True Nature of Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) in Islam | Jumu'ah Khutbah | Sh. Yaser Birjas

The True Nature of Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) in Islam

This is the season when many people around the world are celebrating Isa عليه السلام — or Jesus. And as Muslims, when we see these celebrations and what people talk about and how they put Isa عليه السلام in a specific position, sometimes we wonder: what is our role as Muslims in this situation? How much do we owe our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends, to tell them about Islam — about Jesus and Islam, actually? What does it mean?

SubhanAllah, the reason for this khutbah is that just this past weekend, I was in an event with Brother Sean King, who alhamdulillah became Muslim in Ramadan last year — him and his family, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. And as we were speaking, he was telling me things that for me, as a Muslim, are given knowledge — I don't think about them very much. But to him, this was something so great.

He said, "Look, when I became Muslim and I started learning more about Islam, I realized that you — the Muslims — have this knowledge about Isa that is hidden from us, the Christians. Hidden from us. We don't even know that you have all this knowledge about Isa عليه السلام that would be surprising to us if we had known this before. Our life would have been different, perhaps." But it took him becoming Muslim to start learning about Isa عليه السلام in Islam. And I said, you know what? That's our fault as Muslims.

SubhanAllah, right after that, a few days later, I watched a clip on the internet — a very famous, very well-known TV personality who had visited a Muslim country, and he was speaking about it with so much excitement. That excitement surprised me, because for me, that's very common knowledge. He said — and he's speaking now to millions of people who watch his show — "Did you guys know that in Islam, the Quran mentions Jesus 25 times? Even more than the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad himself." And he was so excited as he was explaining this to his audience on TV.

And I'm just watching that clip, and I said, SubhanAllah — that reminds me of an incident that happened to me more than 15 years ago when I lived briefly in Chicago. I was invited to give a talk about prophets in Islam in the library of one of the famous schools and colleges in that area. And when I was there, the librarian, the day before, said, "I want you to be aware that sometimes we have a lot of people who are rowdy and noisy and would be interrupting you." I said, "Don't worry about it. It's okay, I'm fine."

SubhanAllah, for the entire hour I was speaking about prophets in Islam, not even one person opened their mouth. And when I said, "Any questions?" no one raised their hand. I looked at the librarian — he was surprised and shocked. He said, "I've been doing this for the past 13 years. This has never happened before." I said, "It's not about me — it's about the message that they heard. For the first time ever."

SubhanAllah, as we were leaving, there was a group of seniors in the gathering who seemed to have come together — they were taking notes and trying to learn. Then I was stopped by them and they asked me questions about the subject, and I was very excited to give them the answers. SubhanAllah, one of the ladies started crying. I felt so bad. I said, "Ma'am, what's going on?" She said, "Why? Why? No one ever told me this before." Alhamdulillah, two weeks later she gave her shahada.

But the point is — that question really shook my core. I said, you know what, that's our fault. That is our fault. We live in this area, next to our neighbors, our friends, we work with them forever, and we never had a conversation about such a dear subject as Isa عليه السلام.

And my dear brothers and sisters, when we talk about informing our friends, our colleagues, our neighbors — it's not about debating. It's not about shoving it down their throat. No, it's just about dialogue. If they open the subject, if they ask you the question — are you prepared? Do you even know how to represent Isa عليه السلام as a Muslim? If a friend asks you, "So what do you believe, as a Muslim, about Isa عليه السلام?" — what do you say? So in this khutbah, I want to share with you a few things — just a few things — as a starting point for your conversation, about who was Isa عليه السلام to us as Muslims.

First: Muslims Believe in Jesus

The first thing to understand is that as Muslims, we believe in Jesus. Believe it or not, for many people, that's a new thing. One time I was walking out of a grocery shop and a lady was looking at me in a certain way. I said, "Can I help you?" She said, "Do you believe in Jesus?" I said, "Of course I do." And she was shocked that as a Muslim I believe in Jesus.

There are so many people out there who don't even know that as a Muslim, you don't just believe in Jesus — you believe that it is essential to your being a Muslim to believe in Jesus. As Allah commands in the Quran, we make no difference between any of these messengers and these prophets. And if you deny one, you deny all. So you are not a Muslim if you deny Isa عليه السلام.

To some Christians, this is actually surprising news — "Wow, if you don't believe in Jesus, you are not a Muslim?" Correct. But we still want to make sure they understand: the difference between our belief in Jesus and their belief in Jesus is not a matter of respect. It's a matter of identity and nature. It's not that we disrespect Isa عليه السلام when we say he is not God. We are not trying to put him down or cancel him completely.

When we say we don't believe in Jesus as God or the son of God, that doesn't mean we're disrespecting him. No — we believe in him as a great messenger of God. So we have that sense of clarity and consistency about our belief in Isa عليه السلام. For the Muslim, across all traditions, we believe in him as a great messenger of God. Very consistent, very clear, and with full reverence and respect.

Second: His Name and His Noble Lineage

So who was he? His name: Isa ibn Maryam — Jesus, the son of Mary. The word Isa is from the Aramaic language, which did not have the letter "J," which is why it is Isa rather than Jesus. But it's okay — we use the English word for it as well.

And Allah named him the son of Mary. In the Quran, multiple times, Allah called him يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ — "O Isa, son of Mary." Normally when you call someone, you call them by the name of their father. So when Allah named Isa as the son of Mary, it was to honor his mother. Which means his mother is also one of the most honorable — and indeed, she is the most honorable of all women of all time. As Allah mentioned in the Quran:

"And when the angels said, 'O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you above all the women of the worlds.'"

The word اصْطَفَاكِ — istifa — was mentioned twice. Allah repeated that selection twice: the first, Allah made her unique for her qualities, her chastity, her purity; and the second, He made her unique amongst all women. Twice the honor. And as the Prophet ﷺ also mentioned in the hadith, among the most perfect of women, he mentioned Maryam.

Third: His Miraculous Birth and His Nature

Brothers and sisters, we believe that he was born without a father — as a miracle from Allah. There is no need to disguise that lineage. There is no need to mask it with someone else's name. He was a miracle of God. Allah created him by His word, and He made it very clear from the very beginning that he was a Rasulullah — a messenger of God.

So Isa عليه السلام for us is a nabi — an honorable prophet. He is one of the top five great messengers of God: Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and Muhammad — the most honorable of all the messengers of God. He is counted as one of them. He is considered among the greatest of the prophets sent to Bani Israel.

Allah described him in the Quran even before he was born — the glad tidings were given to his mother when she was still not yet pregnant: "You are going to be carrying a child." And that child, Allah called him kalima — by the command of Allah — "you will be the fulfillment of the word of God." Isa ibn Maryam — he is the son of Mary. He is going to be an honorable person in this dunya and the akhira, and among the nearest to Allah.

Allah also named him Ruhun Minhu:

It is the fulfillment of the command of God and His spirit from Allah — a very unique creation from Allah as a miracle to the world. However, he was still a human being — like all the other prophets that Allah sent to the world. Because Allah says in the Quran:

Only bashar — like you. All the messengers before you were human beings like yourself. His birth was miraculous, yes — but this does not change his nature as a human being.

So for the Muslim, Allah says:

The example and resemblance of Isa عليه السلام is the example of Adam — he was created from dirt. So Isa was also originally a human being. And not just that — if the fact that he was born without a father made him a deity and God, then Adam has more right to be God, because he was created without a father or a mother. A simple logical analogy.

And there are other examples where Allah gave unique miracles to other prophets — but none of this would make any creation of Allah into God or to be considered God. All these miracles, as Muslims, we believe they were Allah working through him — just as He worked through Musa عليه السلام, just as He worked through Muhammad ﷺ and all the other anbiya. None of those miracles caused any of the prophets who received them to become deities. SubhanAllah, if you read the Gospel with this vision of Isa عليه السلام being a great human being and a miracle from Allah, it would make a lot of sense.

Fourth: He Was Proud to Be the Servant of God

Brothers and sisters, Allah mentioned to us that Isa عليه السلام himself — it's not just that he's not God or the son of God — he was actually proud of being the servant of God. As Allah says in Surah an-Nisa:

Al-Masih, Isa ibn Maryam, would never disdain being a servant of God. He would never be ashamed to say, "I am the servant of God." Just as Allah called the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the Quran abd — a servant of Allah. It is an honorable position to be a servant of Allah. And Isa عليه السلام was no different. Being a servant of God is not putting down his status — rather, just as it elevated the status of all the anbiya, Isa عليه السلام would be proud to call himself a true servant of Allah.

We see this because Allah mentioned in the Quran what Isa عليه السلام said — from the moment he was born. The first thing he ever spoke, in the cradle — something that is not mentioned in the Gospel — was this:

"He said: Indeed I am the servant of God. He gave me the Book and made me a prophet."

The first thing Isa عليه السلام confessed about himself — as a baby in the cradle — is what actually defies what people came to believe in him afterward. He said: Inni Abdullah — I am the servant of God. A very clear message from the very beginning of his birth. But it was lost somewhere, unfortunately, in translation, for generations to come. He made it very clear: I am but a servant of God, who received revelation from Allah as a messenger to deliver to the world.

Fifth: The Oneness of Allah

Why Isa عليه السلام? Because when we look at the nature of God, we look at Allah. Allah made it very clear who He is. What did He say in the Quran?

A very simple, very clear message about Allah: Say — O Muhammad — He is One. Allah is As-Samad — indivisible, eternal. He does not beget, and He is not begotten. And there is none comparable to Him. He is perfect. He is indivisible. He is eternal. He does not beget. He is not begotten. He does not suffer. He does not die. And He does not need any intermediaries to reach Him.

Sixth: His Miracles Were by the Permission of Allah

Brothers and sisters, we know about the miracles of Isa عليه السلام. Allah mentioned in the Quran that when Isa was showing the people these miracles, he always attributed them to the permission of God. He would blow into clay and it would become a bird — by the permission of Allah. He would call the dead to come alive — by the command of Allah. He would cure the sick and restore sight to the blind — all of this, he said, by the permission of Allah. So Allah was working through him. It is not a proof of his divinity. Rather, it is proof of his truthfulness as a great messenger of Allah.

Seventh: Salvation in Islam and the Issue of the Crucifixion

Now the very critical issue: what is the concept of salvation for Muslims, and how is Isa عليه السلام related to that?

In Christianity, the concept of salvation is that Jesus was sent down to earth and died on the cross to die for the sins of mankind — to purify them. To be saved, one must believe in that principle. As Muslims, we have an issue with that belief system. For us, Isa عليه السلام, like all the other messengers, gave the exact same message: to worship one and only one Allah.

For Muslims, salvation — by the grace of Allah first and foremost — comes through your faith and your good deeds. You have faith, you believe in Allah, and then you act upon it with good deeds. That is what saves you on the Day of Judgment. Each and every one of you will stand alone before your Lord and be questioned about what you have done. So you better be prepared with sound faith and good deeds. And that was the exact message of Isa عليه السلام.

We believe he was never killed. He was never on the cross. He was never crucified. As Allah mentioned in the Quran:

They did not kill him. They did not crucify him. It was made to look like that to them. But Allah took him up. And the time will come when he returns at the end of time — as the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the hadith — to rectify the belief in Allah again, remove all the misunderstanding about who he was and who he is, establish justice, and bring people back to the worship of Allah.

The Risalah of Isa — his message — before and when he comes back will always be the same. Allah says about him:

"Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path." Those were and will always be the words of Isa عليه السلام.

And Allah mentions that Isa عليه السلام will be asked on the Day of Judgment: "Was it you who told the people to take you and your mother as gods and deities besides Allah?" He will respond:

"Glory be to You! It is not for me to say what I have no right to say. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within me, and I do not know what is within You." All of this — Isa عليه السلام admitting and confirming that he is indeed a great messenger of Allah, sent to guide people to believe in and worship Allah alone.

So our belief as Muslims is a middle path — between the complete denial of Isa عليه السلام, and the exaggeration of his status to the level of deity. We believe in him as a great messenger of God, a miracle of Allah that was sent as mercy to the world.

Second Part of the Khutbah

الحمد لله رب العالمين، صلى الله وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمًا كثيرًا، أما بعد:

My dear brothers and sisters, once again — when we talk about this message — I need you to learn more about it. We have just been glossing over many of the things that Allah mentioned about Isa عليه السلام. But it is our duty to be informed, so that if you have a conversation, no one will ever have to say, "Why did no one tell me this before? How come you have all this knowledge and we never heard it?"

Make sure that your message is not about debate or argument. No — it is about informing and educating ourselves first and foremost, and everyone around us. People need to understand that Islam does not destroy Isa عليه السلام and his status. Rather, it brings it back to its original, pure status — being a great messenger of Allah. No exaggeration. No diminishment. Islam does not take away from Isa his greatness. It adds to it that reverence.

Islam will always see Isa عليه السلام as a righteous, great messenger of God — a true servant of Allah — and his message will always be to believe in Allah. Make sure to keep that in your heart and in your mind. Whenever you have that conversation with people, it is about educating, not debating. People do not have to accept what you say — but you are going to have to be brave and strong enough to simply say what it is: "This is what Isa عليه السلام means to us. You want to believe, you don't want to believe — that is up to you. But if you ask me, this is what we believe."