"The Qur'an does not teach that Jesus is God, but only a Prophet."

Submitted by Angela Class (United States), Jun 12, 2007 at 19:34

This is a quote of a classical Muslim apologetic on that subject, not my own statement.

A Sufi would say that just as al-Hallaj proclaimed "I am God," so in that sense, the sense of the unio mystica, or mystical union, Jesus can say "I am God," as is every person who has experienced the unio mystica and they can utter the same, though it is not they who do the speaking, for the illusory ego does not "become" God. God becomes (always has been) the deepest Self of the person in unio mystica, so that the "ego-person" vanishes in fana, extinction, so that it is God, and not al-Hallaj, who proclaimed: "I am God!"

However, Allah is simply the Arabic word for "God,"

Christians who speak Arabic call God "Allah."

So, yes, in that sense, Jesus would be the "Allah", or the "God", of Christians.

So, I'm not sure just what is meant by you here.

The letter of the Qur'an accentuates the humanity of Christ, and denies that "God is the Messiah,"

Yet as the Sufi ibn Arabi points out, it does not specifically deny that "Christ is God" in some sense.

This distinction is important for Sufis. Certainly the Qur'an emphasizes that Jesus was a human who had a physical body which was mortal. This combats the Christian heresy that Christ never had a physical body, that he was only an immaterial spirit on earth.

In that the Prophet had to combat these errors, his message necessarily puts the accent upon the humanity of Christ. Islam at the exoteric level providentially accentuates the humanity of Christ; but Sufism sees deeper and accentuates the celestiality of the Prophets and of all the faithful. If the Qur'an condemns polytheism, stating that God is One without a Second (word-for-word of what is found throughout the Upanishads!), the Sufis interpret this as meaning that the idol temples are dwelt in by this one God just as much as all mosques, temples, and churches are .

Perhaps I should give the final word to ibn Arabi:

Those who adore God in the sun behold the sun, and those who adore Him in living things see a living thing, and those who adore Him in lifeless things see a lifeless thing, and those who adore Him as a Being unique and unparalleled see that which has no like.

Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you disbelieve all the rest; otherwise, you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter. God, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not limited by any one creed, for He says (Qur'an 2:109), "Wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah."

Every one praises what he believes; his god is his own creation, and in praising it he praises himself. Consequently he blames the beliefs of others, which he would not do if he were just, but his dislike is based on ignorance. If he knew Junayd's saying, "The water takes its color from the vessel containing it," he would not interfere with other men's belief, but would perceive God in every form of belief.

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