Questions and Answers on Islamic Doctrine

Chapter 2: Belief in Prophets and Missions

Question 09: What evidence proves that Jesus was not a God, but only a messenger from God?

Answer 09: Jesus Christ (pbuh), following both the Gospels and the Qur’an, was born of the virgin Mary, who was just like any other human being.  It is common knowledge that whoever is born cannot be deified.  Jesus Christ was a human being who used to eat and drink just like anybody else.  He was susceptible to hunger, grief and/or merriment.  He experienced all the paraphernalia pertaining to human life.  His miraculous creation from no father is no stranger than that of Adam, a being who was both fatherless and motherless.  This is an evidence of God’s omnipotence.  Jesus Christ was no more than a servant to, and messenger of God, who revealed the scripture in order to promulgate it and carry out His call.  On the day of judgement Jesus Christ is not to be judged because of those who deified him in exclusion of God or thought of him as parallel.  In the Qur’an we have a mentioning of this, where in the hereafter God will ask Jesus if he had asked his followers to deify him, whereby Jesus will answer God by saying: “If you punish them, they are your slaves, and if you forgive them, verily, you, only you, are the all-Mighty, the all-Wise” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 118).  Here is one more reply to the one who seeks an evidence as to the deification of Jesus Christ, while he has none of the qualities of God.  Whatever miracles he performed emanated from God, just as He supported other prophets.