Question for Muslims re: Jesus being a prophet

[Shami]

I have been wondering this for years.  I have asked one of my friends who was Muslim and converted to being Christian, but she didn't really have an answer.

If Jesus is considered a prophet among Muslims then why don't Muslims believe in what he said?  Particularly when Jesus said He is the way to the Father and that He is the way, the life and the truth.  Jesus also said that if you have seen Me then you have seen the Father.

So I looked up prophet to see if maybe there are other meanings of prophet and I got these definitions:

1. A person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom the will of a god is expressed.

2. A person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression.

3. A predictor; a soothsayer.

4. The chief spokesperson of a movement or cause.

 

thanks for reading...hoping for a better understanding of Islamic beliefs

Edited by Shami - 1/11/12 at 10:48am

[MaJoie]

If Jesus lied about who he was (see OP) how could he have been a prophet or even a "good man." Just wondering how people put their minds around that.

[Liquesce]

Quotes attributed to Jesus in the Bible are by and large not a part of the Islamic depiction of Jesus.  An Islamic faith in Jesus by no means implies a faith in the accuracy of the text of the Bible.

[dealic]

I was going to say the same thing as Liquesce. I figured I would wait though and let an actual Muslim answer, since I am not one. But that reflects the understanding I have from my research and through talking to Muslims.

Its not a case of Jesus "lying" so much as the source (the Bible) being a product of men, subject to influences that effected what he is reported to have said and done, and what was accepted as canon. 

[Shami]

OK.  So if, according to the Islamic faith, the Bible is not accurate, then upon what source do Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet.  Does the Koran  say Jesus is a prophet?   Is the Koran viewed as the only source that is accurate?\

edit to ask:  Should I spell it Qur'an instead of Koran?

[Imakcerka]

Not Muslim, not even a Christian anymore.  But I'm going to answer your question as a Linguist.  I don't doubt that an original text could be a valuable instrument in knowing whether or not words in the bible or Qua'ran have any significance.  I do doubt that either books still hold the same original messages.  I currently have 6 bibles, an old old old family bible, a teen bible, a women's bible, and three random ones I picked up at used bookstores. WOW the differences.  Though the messages are generally the same-ish, they can be easily construed to mean something else.  We all know that happens.  Your question about Jesus being a prophet according the Qua'ran well maybe you should do some research on your own with that one.  As you will get numerous different answers depending on what has been learned read and regurgitated.
 

Originally Posted by Shami 

OK.  So if, according to the Islamic faith, the Bible is not accurate, then upon what source do Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet.  Does the Koran  say Jesus is a prophet?   Is the Koran viewed as the only source that is accurate?\

edit to ask:  Should I spell it Qur'an instead of Koran?

[Liquesce]

Originally Posted by Shami 

OK.  So if, according to the Islamic faith, the Bible is not accurate, then upon what source do Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet.  Does the Koran  say Jesus is a prophet?   Is the Koran viewed as the only source that is accurate?\

edit to ask:  Should I spell it Qur'an instead of Koran?

The Qur'an defines Jesus as a prophet and messenger of god, but explicitly contradicts the ideas of his being a child of god, of divinity, and of the crucifixion and resurrection. Where the story is similar to the Biblical account is most prominent in the story of his birth and in some stories related to miracles performed (healing the blind, etc).

The Qur'an isn't viewed as necessarily the only accurate source, but it is viewed as the supremely accurate source, such that there is no question of contradictions arising in which other viewpoints would be considered within an Islamic theological framework.

And the spelling doesn't matter, really.  :)   "Qur'an" has more to do with modern transliteration norms, "Koran" has more to do with historic English language use.

[Shami]

Thanks to all!  Liquesce, what did Jesus prophesy? What was his message according to the Islamic faith?

[Liquesce]

It's said that the fundamental message of all prophetic messengers has been the same, primarily being proscribing the worship of one god, undivided.  It's basically saying the core theological structure that makes Islam has been universal among god's messengers.  As for the minutiae of any one earlier prophet's statements, Islamic texts don't make a lot of claims. 

Edited by Liquesce - 1/12/12 at 11:47pm

[Koalamom]

Subbing to this fasinating thread!

[Shami]

Thought of another question if you don't mind...

What did Mohammed say or do (other than receive the words from Allah that are now the Koran--not that I am minimizing that, just want to know what else?) that made him special in the Islamic faith?  Would you say he is your main prophet and other prophets' speaking must align with his speaking or else they are false prophets?

I know I can research and read articles and such, but I'd rather talk to a real person.  Thanks for helping me.

Edited by Shami - 1/14/12 at 6:09am

[Liquesce]

Muhammad put a lot of emphasis on the "prophets are just people" idea, so while pious literature will sometimes play up "miracles" he himself was emphatic that "my miracle is the Qur'an."  Beyond that, it is considered that prophets, while capable of human error, are protected from major sins, and so his life -- his biography, his actions -- are often thought of as a sort of template for right action. 

It's not really a question of "false prophets" so much as it is the concept of corrupted prophetic messages -- that time and time again god sends messengers and, over time, people alter the message to suit their own inclinations or misunderstandings.  A sort of a repetitive process of the creation of the golden calf, you know?  The Qur'an purports itself to be a final prophecy protected by god from corruption of that sort, and so for Muslims it is given that where reports of earlier prophets differ the prophets themselves may not have been false but the reporting of their word is changed.