- Region:
- World
- Category:
- Society
- Article type:
- Opinion
Who was Jesus Christ?
Easter is the most sacred and significant time of the year for Christians. According to the Christian belief, Easter is celebrated to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Similarly to Christmas, unfortunately Easter has also become so heavily commercialised that the religious focus and the person of Jesus Christ becomes increasingly replaced by merely Easter customs and celebrations.
Jesus Christ is one of the most controversial person in the history of mankind. Although having a close association to all three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – his role and person is very diverse in each religion:
According to Judaism, Jesus Christ was a liar who falsely claimed to be the Promised Messiah. According to the Jewish faith, before the advent of a Messiah, the Prophet Elijah had to descend from the heavens. Jesus Christ justified his claim by referring to John the Baptist as the re-advent and second manifestation of the prophet Elijah. (Matthew 17:11-14) However, the Jews of that time before accepting any Messiah were expecting the literal descend of the same Elijah who once upon a time was ascended to heaven. Hence for the Jews, Jesus Christ was a false Messiah and the punishment for a false prophet was the death on the cross in attempt to save mankind from astray leading persons.
On the other hand, according to Christianity, Jesus Christ being born to the Virgin Marry was the Son of God. Jesus died on the cross to save mankind from the origin of sin which was committed by the first human being Adam. After his death, Jesus Christ was resurrected and finally went to heaven.
However, according to Islam, Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) despite being born to the Virgin Mary is not the son of God but a very noble prophet of God. In Islam, the virgin birth is not an automatic characteristic for someone being the son of God. In Islam, a virgin birth is a rare and special form of birth which could happen to anyone. If being born without a physical father is the criteria for being the son of God, then the first human being would have deserved more to be declared as the son of God - because of being born without a physical father and physical mother.
Moreover according to Islam, Jesus Christ was not a universal prophet but a prophet sent only to the 12 tribes of Israel (Holy Quran, Chapter 3:50). As history tells us, at the appearance of Jesus only 2 tribes of Israel were settled in Jerusalem, whilst the other 10 tribes were scattered in Asia since the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore to fulfil his Divine mission of reforming the 12 tribes of Israel, we believe that Jesus Christ must have also went and preached to those 10 scattered tribes in middle Asia. According to the Holy Quran, Jesus Christ was put on the cross for a few hours but survived the death on the cross by Divine succour. (Chapter 4:158)
The person of Jesus Christ plays a key role not only for Christians but also Muslims. The founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prophesised the advent of Jesus Christ as a Messiah for Muslims in the latter days. Hence, some Muslims believe that the same Jesus Christ after being saved from the cross went to the heaven and will descend in the latter days from heaven. Whereas other Muslims, such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe that according to the Holy Quran, Jesus Christ after the salvation from the death on the cross, migrated to India in attempt to preach to the 10 lost tribes of Israel, where he died a natural death and was buried in Kashmir. (Holy Quran, Chapter 23:51)
Moreover, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe that the prophecy about the second advent of Jesus Christ was fulfilled in the person of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) - who is the founder of the Community and claimed to be the Promised Messiah. As Jesus Christ was the Messiah and Reformer for the 12 tribes of Israel, similarly Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad appeared with the same characteristic and responsibility with the only difference being that he was a universal Messiah and subordinate Prophet of the founder of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him).