CHRISLAM IS SPREADING IN AMERICA

Posted on November 18, 2010

QURAN IN THE PEWS
JESUS IN THE QURAN

By:Paul L. Williams,Ph.D; Saifuddin Lakda

The Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston along with Christian communities in Atlanta, Seattle, and Detroit initiated a series of sermons that were designed to produce an ecumenical reconciliation between Christianity and Islam.
In addition to the sermons, the Sunday school lessons centered on the inspired teachings of the Prophet Mohammad S.A.W(Peace be upon him).

Qurans were placed in the pews next to the Bibles.
The concept of Chrislam, now embraced by such preachers as Rick Warren and Robert Schuller, appears to have emerged from a program on the meaning of “love your neighbor” at Grace Fellowship Church in Atlanta, Georgia

“In 2001, like most Americans, we were pretty awakened to the true Islamic presence in the world and in the United States,” says Jon Stallsmith, the outreach minister at Grace Fellowship. “Jesus says we should love our neighbors. We can’t do that without having a relationship with them.”

Stallsmith maintains that a rapprochement between Muslims and Christians can be achieved by the fact that Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Quran.

The Chrislam movement has gained impetus by statements from President George W. Bush and that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God and by Rick Warren’s reference to Isa (the Muslim name for Jesus) in his prayer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Only 30 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Muslims, according to a Pew Forum poll. At the same time, more than half the country says they know “not very much” or “nothing at all” about the Islamic faith.
“The recent political developments and the fact that we’re fighting two wars in Muslim countries (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan) should sharpen that need to know how to talk to these guys,” Stallsmith insists “We want to find peace, reconciliation around a scriptural understanding of Jesus.”

Jesus in the Quran is neither the only-begotten Son of God nor the Messiah who was divinely appointed to restore the House of David. He is rather viewed as a prophet who was appointed by Allah (Lord) to prepare mankind for the coming of the last prophet Mohammad S.A.W (Peace be upon him).

In the Quran, Jesus neither suffers nor dies on the cross but is rather raised alive into heaven:
“That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of God”;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- Nay, God raised him up unto the himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise” (4: 157-158)
The victim at Calvary, Islam teaches, was either Simon of Cyrene or Judas Iscariot.

The Quran mentions that Jesus was born of the virgin Maryam (Mary)- not by an immaculate conception but rather the will of Allah (Lord) and that He performed miracles to show the Jewish people that He was a maseh in the manner of Moses and Ibrahim (Abraham) S.A.W:
“In blasphemy indeed are those that say that God is Christ the son of Mary. Say: “Who then hath the least power against God, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every – one that is on the earth? For to God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For God hath power over all things” (5:17).

The Meaning of the Glorious Quran (This Quran was translated in English by: M.M.Pickthall); revised and edited in year 2002 in Modern English by: Arafat K. El-Ashi, Ph.D. explains foloowing in details:-

The Quran describes birth of Jesus ( in Surah 19:16 Maryam ):"And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East. And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent onto her Our spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from you, if you are God fearing. He said: I am only a messanger of your Lord, that I may bestow on you a faultless son. She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has touched me, neither have I been unchased? He said: So (it will be). Your Lord says: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a miracle for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. She conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place.

The pangs of childbirth drove her (Mary) unto the trunk of the palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this and had become a thing forgotten and out of sight. Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Your Lord has placed a rivulet beneath you. And shake the trunk of the palm tree toward you, it will cause ripe dates to fall upon you. So eat and drink and be consoled. And if you meet any human, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, so I shall not speak this day to any mortal. Then she brought him to her own folk, carryinghim. They said: O Mary! You have come with an amazing (unprecedented) thing. Oh sister of Aaroon! Your father was not a wicked man nor your mother a harlot. Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a little child? He spoke: Lo! I am the slave of Allah (Lord). He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a Prophet. And has made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive. And (has made me) dutiful toward my mother, and has not made me arrogant, unblessed. Peace on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing, He says unto it only: Be! and it is. And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him. That is a straight path."

Saifuddin Lakda prays: I am a child of God. I am thankful to my Allah (Lord) and Savior for His blessings in my and my family's life and for His unconditional love. May Allah keep me and my family always healthy, happy and contented. Aa'meen!