Jesus

By Bin Isah

It’s funny how we attempt to submit Islam to our unwise wisdom. The most recent one is that, if we want to talk about Jesus (AS), we should be saying Isah (AS) instead of Jesus, because it infuriates a set of furious Christians to hear, “Jesus is not God”. But if we say “Isah is not God”, they won’t care.

However, come to think of it. Is Jesus not an English name of Quranic Isah? And the last time we can remember, we still call Moses as Musa, Jacob as Yakub, Solomon as Suleiman, Joseph as Yusuf, all as English names given to them. Why are we singling out Jesus and calling him Isah instead? Well, the wisdom has been stated but it’s nothing but a subversion of truth.

The idea is that the Nigerian Christians do not care about Isah, as these wise Muslims also tend to think. Now, a set of lame Christians are asking Muslims to use Isah when they want to talk about Jesus, that is, a name that they have in their Quranic scripture. Out of great ignorance, they have failed to understand that the term “Isah” is even more original to Jesus in their Bible than the term Jesus itself. Supposedly, when we use Isah, it’s even more biblical than Jesus.

In fact, there are Christians that still use “Esu” or “Yesu” or “Yeshua” instead of Jesus —and you can hear “Isah” in them. There are Hausa Christians in the North that use “Yesu” instead of Jesus, in fact, they think it’s a Hausa term. Yesu Almasihu is the chant of Arewa Christians, we all know that, which is similar to Jesus Christ, which is Isah Almasih in Quran. The evolution or corruption of the term Jesus from Hebrew to English is quite nothing new.

This is all an attempt to misrepresent Islam in the name of wisdom. Muslim and Christian scholars of remarkable repute have used Jesus in all their English works as the substitute of Isah, not any deceptive tactic to make Christians or Muslims confused about whom is being implied. We should not make Islam look like it doesn’t know what it’s addressing. The blame falls on us.

And the fact remains, there is no Christian who believes in Jesus as a God that would find anything less damning about the cancellation and condemnation of the Divinity of Jesus Christ as stipulated by Quran. You can call Jesus by Isah or whatever, but as long as you believe that he is not God, you can still be labelled as an offender, and Islam as a violent, offensive religion. It’s all about the Islamic belief on Jesus (peace be upon him), not about putting it on a banner.

Isah is not God

YET, another beautiful history to remember is that of first migration in Islam. THE COMMUNITY that provided a home to the early Muslims in Islamic history was Christian. Due to persecutions under their people, Muslims migrated to the Christian Abyssinia and, they were accepted in best manner. In fact, good Christians existed, and they will not cease to exist.

Yet, these Muslims that migrated to Abyssinia, continued to live as Muslims under a Christian rulership. Yet still, they didn’t compromise their beliefs, values or lifestyles. Contrary to the general belief of the host society, they made it clear they didn’t believe in Jesus as a God. The king of the state, king Negros, who later converted to Islam, gave them all rights to live under his domain of rulership.

The Quraysh sent a delegation to Abyssinia to persuade the king to release the Muslims to them as criminals who fled away from justice. They even told the king that the Muslims even insulted and blasphemed against his Lord, Jesus Christ, because they didn’t consider Jesus to be a God. Well, these are weighty allegations, especially the one directed at the religious belief of his nation.

The king invited the Muslim migrants to his court and interviewed them. They responded to the allegations put against them by the polytheists of Makkah, and the king didn’t find them guilty of any crime neither against the polytheistic Meccan society nor against the Christian nation. They informed him about how Islam regards Jesus AS as one of the greatest messengers of God, and they believed in him and they revered him as all other prophets sent by God. The request of Quraysh didn’t find acceptance.

They left Abyssinia and went back to Makka in loss. THE POINT IS THAT: The Christian king of Abyssinia was not a bigot that considered being a Muslim as any social problem, and there was no reason to expel the Muslims based on their belief and declaration on Jesus AS not being God or son of God but simply a great prophet and messenger of God. To him, their belief is their belief, and his belief is his belief. And they are free to publicly worship and wear the symbols of their faith.

This is a cardinal cornerstone of Islamic attitude towards other faiths: “You have your religion, and I have mine.” Yet, the Christian bigots of our time that have little to nothing to offer and the de-Islamized Muslims will continue to have a problem with Islamic beliefs and symbols. What else could they offer apart from what they have? What they cannot do is dousing the light of Islam as the last, true religion of God SWT.

May peace be upon our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW and his brother prophet Jesus Christ AS.

Bin Isah writes from Kano State.

By Bin Isah

In the last couple of days, social media platforms were inundated with discussions about a banner posted in front of Lekki mosque with this message: “Jesus Christ is not God! He is a prophet and messenger of God!”

It appears this simple and clear message from the Qur’an does not sit well with some Nigerian Christians who see it as an attack on their religion or in other words, a provocation and, a blasphemy.

This misunderstanding is either rooted from the ignorance of other religions, Islam for example, or some people want to shout fire while there’s no even smoke. This reminds me to ask of what use are all those interfaith gatherings between Nigerian Christians and Muslims?

Is it a new thing to Nigerian Christians that Jesus is not God in Islamic religion? Or saying that in a banner in front of a mosque (not church) is what makes it a sin? A provocation? A blasphemy?

The problem is that Muslims have Jesus Christ in their Islamic faith, but a Jesus Christ with a mission as a Messenger of God. Not like the Christians that claim to have no Muhammad SAW in Christianity, which means they have little to say about him.

For this reason, Muslims have a set of beliefs about Jesus Christ as one of the prophets of Allah in whom we believe. And the beliefs are diametrically not in sync with the mainstream concept of Jesus Christ in Christianity. So, whenever we portray Jesus Christ the way he is conceived in Islam, it would be a problem to them. It’s offensive, and nobody actually intended to offend them.

The thing is that, the Muslim community have an obligation to convey the message of Islam, and to declare its proclamations with no fear or compromise. Its plain truth! Our religion requires us to declare Jesus as a prophet and messenger of God, not as a God himself. Jesus is not God is a message of Islam to the world. In no time or place, Muslims are asked to state otherwise.

The trouble is that, Christians will never settle with the Islamic concept of Jesus Christ. In the same vein, however, Muslims seem to tolerate Christians that declare Jesus as God, because it’s offensive to Islam and Muslims to declare Jesus as such, because it’s part and parcel of Islamic core beliefs to believe and declare that Jesus is not God, but a prophet sent by God SWT.

In fact, the Christians write “JESUS IS LORD” with total freedom on banners at different places of worships and even on the main roads on billboards, yet Muslims cannot state their own belief in Jesus Christ in like manner. In fact, it’s offensive to Muslims and Islam, but we accept this is what Christians believe. So, if according to Christian faith, Christians can write Jesus is God, then Muslims should have the right to write Jesus is not God, according to their faith.

I blame the Nigerian clergy people for not properly teaching their congregants knowledge of other religions and their scriptures. It is a clear mischief which leads to interreligious conflicts.

Indeed, Jesus is not God but a revered prophet and great servant of God.