Editing Jesus in Islam (section)

== Islamic literature ==
<div class="depiction">[[File:Medieval Persian manuscript Muhammad leads Abraham Moses Jesus.jpg|thumb|Muhammad leads [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[Jesus]] and others in prayer. Persian miniature, 15th century<ref>{{cite web |title=BnF. Département des Manuscrits. Supplément turc 190 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/view3if/ga/ark:/12148/btv1b8427195m/f16 |publisher=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] |access-date=7 September 2023}}</ref>]]</div>
The Quran does not convey the specific teachings of Jesus. What has developed over the years was authored by later followers of Islam. What is found in the Quran about Jesus is that his teaching conformed to the prophetic model: a human sent by God to present both a judgment upon humanity for worshipping idols and a challenge to turn to the one true God. In the case of Jesus, Muslims believe that his mission was to the people of Israel and that his status as a prophet was confirmed by numerous miracles.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=90}} The Quran's description of specific events at the end of Jesus' life have continued to be controversial between Christians and Muslims, while the classical commentaries have been interpreted differently to accommodate new information.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=90}} Jesus is written about by some Muslim scholars as the perfect man.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Little|first=John T.|date=3 April 2007|title=Al-Insan Al-Kamil: The Perfect Man According to Ibn Al-Arabi|journal=The Muslim World|volume=77|issue=1|pages=43–54|doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1987.tb02785.x|quote=[[Ibn Arabi|Ibn al-'Arabi]] uses no less than 22 different terms to describe the various aspects under which this single Logos may be viewed.}}</ref>{{sfn|Schumann|2002|p=13}}{{sfn|Parrinder|1965|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iJmcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6 6]}}

=== Hadith ===
{{See also|Hadith of Jesus Praying Behind Mahdi}}

The [[Hadith]]s are reported sayings of Muhammad that developed a canonical status in the third Muslim century as a source of authority for the Muslim community. The Muslim perception of Jesus emerging from the Hadiths is of a miraculous, sinless, and eschatological figure, pointing people, again according to the Muslim's perspective of prophethood, to the Muslim faith (''Muslim''; one who submits to the will of God).{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=97}}

Jesus is featured as a major figure in two categories of hadiths which can be described as apocalyptic and biblical.{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=25}} The eschatological role of Jesus in the hadiths may have been influenced by ideas of the [[Second coming]] held by the [[Eastern Churches]], as well as the Quranic Jesus mentioned in {{qref|43|61|pl=y}}.{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=25}} Many of the hadiths which feature Jesus's sayings were not included in the canonical [[hadith collections]], which became more focused on the sayings of Muhammad, but were instead included in a separate genre known as {{transliteration|ar|[[Qisas al-anbiya]]}} ('Stories of the Prophets').{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=26}}

=== Sunni Islam ===
[[File:Jésus et Mahomet dans un manuscrit timouride (Collection Al Thani, Paris, detail).jpg|thumb|Jesus and Muhammad introduced by an angel in paradise. Timurid, 1466.]]

In {{transliteration|ar|Kitab al-Milal wa al-Nihal}}, [[al-Shahrastani]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 1153), an influential Persian historian, historiographer, scholar, philosopher and theologian, records a portrayal of Jesus very close to the orthodox tenets while continuing the Islamic narrative:

{{blockquote|The Christians. (They are) the community ({{transliteration|ar|[[ummah|umma]]}}) of the Christ, Jesus, son of Mary (peace upon him). He is who was truly sent (as prophet; {{transliteration|ar|mab'uth}}) after Moses (peace upon him), and who was announced in the Torah. To him were (granted) manifest signs and notable evidences, such as the reviving of the dead and the curing of the blind and the leper. His very nature and innate disposition ({{transliteration|ar|[[fitra]]}}) are a perfect sign of his truthfulness; that is, his coming without previous seed and his speaking without prior teaching. For all the (other) prophets the arrival of their revelation was at (the age of) forty years, but revelation came to him when he was made to speak in the cradle, and revelation came to him when he conveyed (the divine message) at (the age of) thirty. The duration of his (prophetic) mission ({{transliteration|ar|[[da'wa]]}}) was three years and three months and three days.{{sfn|Watt|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qxlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 68]}}}}

=== Shia Islam ===
In the [[Nahj al-Balagha]], the fourth caliph [[Ali]] ({{Reign|656|661}}) is reported to have talked about the simplicity of Jesus.{{Sfn|Leirvik|2010|p=75}} Ali says that "Jesus used a stone for his pillow, put on coarse clothes and ate rough food. His condiment was hunger. His lamp at night was the moon. He had no wife to allure him, nor any son to give grief, neither wealth to deviate. His two feet were his conveyance and his two hands were his servant".{{Sfn|Leirvik|2010|p=75}} According to [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]], a great-great-grandson of Ali, the time between David and Jesus was four hundred years.{{Sfn|Qaim|2007|p=36–37}} Ja'far further says that the religion of Jesus was monotheism ({{transliteration|ar|tawḥīd}}) and purity ({{transliteration|ar|ikhlāṣ}}).{{Sfn|Qaim|2007|p=36–37}} The {{transliteration|ar|Injil}} (Gospel) was sent down to him and the pledge that other prophets took was also taken from Jesus: to establish prayer with religion, enjoin the good and forbid the evil, allowing what is allowed and forbidding what has been forbidden. Admonitions and parables were sent down to him in the {{transliteration|ar|Injil}}, but there was no law of retribution in it nor precepts of retribution ({{transliteration|ar|ahkam al-hudud}}), and no obligations for inheritance. He was sent what was an alleviation of what was sent down to Moses in the Torah. Jesus commanded of his followers that they believe in the law of the Torah and the {{transliteration|ar|Injil}}.{{Sfn|Qaim|2007|p=36–37}}

According to [[Al-Qadi al-Nu'man|Qadi al-Nu'man]], a famous Muslim jurist of the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid period]], Jesus is referred to as the Messiah ({{transliteration|ar|al-Masīḥ}}) in the Quran because he was sent to the people who responded to him in order to remove ({{transliteration|ar|masaha}}) their impurities, the ailments of their faith; whether apparent ({{transliteration|ar|[[Zahir (Islam)|zahir]]}}) or hidden ({{transliteration|ar|[[Batin (Islam)|batin]]}}). [[Al-Qadi al-Nu'man|Qadi al- Nu'man]], in his work ''Foundation of Symbolic Interpretation'' ({{transliteration|ar|Asās al-ta'wīl}}), talks about the spiritual birth ({{transliteration|ar|milad al-batin}}) of Jesus, as an interpretation of his story of physical birth ({{transliteration|ar|milad al-zahir}}) mentioned in the Quran. He says that [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]], the mother of Jesus, is a metaphor for someone who nurtured and instructed Jesus ({{transliteration|ar|lāhiq}}), rather than physically giving birth to him. [[Al-Qadi al-Nu'man|Qadi al-Nu'man]] explains that Jesus was from the pure progeny of [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]], just as [[Ali]] and his sons were from the pure progeny of [[Muhammad]], through [[Fatimah|Fatima]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Hierohistory in Qāḍī l-Nuʿmān's Foundation of Symbolic Interpretation (Asās al-Taʾwīl): the Birth of Jesus|date=6 November 2019|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004415294_007|journal=Studies in Islamic Historiography|pages=147–169|publisher=BRILL|doi=10.1163/9789004415294_007|isbn=978-90-04-41529-4|access-date=21 November 2020|last1=Virani|first1=Shafique N.|s2cid=214047322}}</ref>

=== Sufism ===
Early Sufis adopted the sayings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and an ascetic dimension. The submission and sacrifice Jesus exemplified shows the Muslim is to be set apart from worldly compromises. In poetry and mysticism, Jesus was celebrated as a prophet close to the heart of God achieving an uncommon degree of self-denial.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=85}}

Although the writings developed over the centuries embellished Jesus' miracles, the lessons of Jesus can be seen as metaphors of the inner life. These rich and diverse presentations of Jesus in Sufi traditions are the largest body of Jesus-texts in any non-Christian tradition.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=86}}

{{blockquote|A key issue arises for Muslims with the Sufi picture of Jesus: how universally should the ascetic/esoteric approach be applied? For many Muslim poets and scholars the answer is clear: every Muslim is invited to the path of asceticism and inner realization embodied by Jesus. However, whilst all Muslims revere Jesus, most have reservations about the application of his way of life to society. For Muslims the highest pinnacle of human achievement is, after all, Muhammad. Muhammad is revered in part because he promoted the right blend of justice and mercy. In other words, Muslims need both a path that addresses individual spirituality as well as a path that will address the complex issues of community life, law, justice, etc. Jesus is viewed by many Muslims as having lived out only one side of this equation. As a figure of the heart or individual conscience, Jesus is viewed by some to be a limited figure. In more critical Muslim perspectives the Sermon on the Mount is admired but seen as impractical for human society. Perhaps the greatest division amongst Muslims has to do with the relevance of ascetic and esoteric beliefs in the context of strengthening an Islamic society.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=86}}}}

The miraculous birth and life of Jesus becomes a metaphor for [[Rumi]] of the spiritual rebirth that is possible within each human soul. This rebirth is not achieved without effort; one needs to practice silence, poverty, and fasting—themes that were prominent in Jesus' life according to Islamic traditions.{{sfn|Barker|Gregg|2010|p=112}}

[[Ibn Arabi]] stated Jesus was [[Al-Insān al-Kāmil]], the spirit and simultaneously a servant of God. Jesus is held to be "one with God" in whole coincidence of will, not as a being. Due to the spirit of God dwelling in Jesus, God spoke and acted through him. Yet Jesus is not considered to be God, but a person within God's word and spirit and a manifestation of God's attributes, like a mirror, a view resembling Nestorian traditions.{{sfn|Leirvik|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IEUdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 89]}}<ref>Clinton Bennett ''Understanding Christian-Muslim Relations: Past and Present'' A&C Black 2008 {{ISBN|978-0-826-48782-7}} page 155</ref>

The conception of Jesus as described by [[Ibn Arabi]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 1240), an [[al-Andalus|Andalusian]] scholar, Sufi [[mysticism|mystic]], poet and philosopher, in the ''Bezels of Wisdom'':

{{poemquote|From the water of Mary or from the breath of Gabriel,
In the form of a mortal fashioned of clay,
The Spirit came into existence in an essence
Purged of Nature's taint, which is called Sijjin (prison)
Because of this, his sojourn was prolonged,
Enduring, by decree, more than a thousand years.
A spirit from none other than God,
So that he might raise the dead and bring forth birds from clay.<ref>{{cite book|last1=ibn ʻArabī al-Ḥātimī aṭ-Ṭāʾī|first1=Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad |author-link1=ibn Arabi|last2=Austin|first2=R. W.|author-link2=R. W. Austin|title=Ibn al-ʻArabi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4PeeQGStQkC&pg=PT174|year=1980|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-2331-5|page=174}}</ref>}}

==== Ascetic literature ====
Jesus is widely venerated in Muslim [[Asceticism|ascetic]] and [[mysticism|mystic]] literature, such as in Muslim mystic [[Al-Ghazali]]'s {{transliteration|ar|Ihya ʿulum ad-Din}} ('The revival of the religious sciences'). These works lay stress upon Jesus' poverty, his preoccupation with worship, his detachment from worldly life and his miracles. Such depictions also include advice and sermons which are attributed to him. Later [[Sufism|Sufic]] commentaries adapted material from Christian gospels which were consistent with their ascetic portrayal. Sufi philosopher [[Ibn Arabi]] described Jesus as "the seal of universal holiness" due to the quality of his faith and "because he holds in his hands the keys of living breath and because he is at present in a state of deprivation and journeying".<ref name="EoI-Isa" />{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}