IslamOnline reports on 19 March, 2008, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considering the building of the first church on Saudi soil. This follows a visit by King Abdullah to the Vatican in November, 2007. At this moment, the only thing that is certain is that “discussions are under way”. The Papal envoy to the Gulf, Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hashem, points out that “We cannot forecast the outcome”. It is estimated that there are between 3-4 million expat Christians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The need for places of worship is self-evident. Currently, Christians are neither allowed to worship in public nor are they allowed to openly display Christian symbols. Some countries in the Gulf have allowed the building of places of worship for Christians. On 14 March, 2008, the first church in Qatar was inaugurated. Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait already have churches. Naturally, this makes me think about my own Christian past, and it makes me want to share with others how I reposition myself as Muslim in terms of the Christ who is worshipped by Christians as a member of a "three-in-one" God. I do this with sincere sensitivity and only with the desire to be on record for how I reflect on this matter.
Wherever this discussion goes, I am reminded of the hadeeth recorded by Muslim and Bukhari: "Do not eulogise me as the Christians eulogised the son of Mary, I am just His servant, so say, 'God's servant and His messenger'". These are the words of God's Messenger, Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In some parts of the Bible, Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) makes similar claims. Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came as a Messenger to people of Israel. Here are his own words as recorded in the Gospel of John: "My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honour for himself, but he who works for the honour of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him" [John 7:16-18]. Further in the same Gospel, Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) points out: "He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" [John 14:24]. Although there are already clear signs of corruption in the teaching of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the Gospel of John [for example the Father-Son analogy between Jesus and God], the true message of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is still found in its pages. Without any doubt or contest, these words of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) put paid to any claim that he was the "Son" of God or even that he was "god" himself: "...the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does...By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me" [John 5:19, 30]. It is within this context, that we need to proceed with an understanding of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the economy of God's revelation to humankind.
For example, in the Gospel of John, Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) remarked: "I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" [John 20:17]. Furthermore, in the Revelation to the same Apostle John [3:12], Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) again points out: "Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God". What is simple and clear from these statements is that Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) HAS a God - the same God that is worshipped by his followers. Of course, this is nothing new to the followers of Jesus who had also received the divine teaching that embodies the entire revelation of God in the Taurat (Torah): "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" [Deut. 6:4]. Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fully understood the meaning of this shema', and he personally reiterated its meaning and proclaimed its truth. Even the Apostle Paul (a Pharisee-turned-Christian) taught his young protege, Timothy: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" [1 Tim. 2:5]. It can hardly get clearer than this!
When asked by a teacher of the Taurat which of the commandments was the most imporant, Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) answered: "The most important one...is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one'" [Mark 12:29]. Answering the teacher of the Taurat in this manner demonstrated to all that Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was a Messenger of God, as Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was. 'Ubada narrated an hadeeth: "The Prophet said, 'If anyone testifies that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone Who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His Slave and His Apostle, and that Jesus is Allah's Slave and His Apostle and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit created by Him, and that Paradise is true, and Hell is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few'" (Junada, the sub-narrator said, " 'Ubada added, 'Such a person can enter Paradise through any of its eight gates he likes.") (Book 55, Hadith 644). Essentially, the kinship between Jesus and Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them) is encapsulated in the following hadeeth: "Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, 'Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all the people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one'" (Abu Hiraira - Book 55, Hadith 652).
So, in answer to the question I ask myself at the begining of the posting, the answer is abundantly clear in the Holy Qur'an: "Surely, disbelievers are those who said: "Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity)." But there is no ilah (God) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but one Ilah (God -Allah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them" (Al-Maeda, 5:73).
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