Muslims do believe in Jesus.

Many people may not know that Muslims do believe in Jesus (peace be on him) but as a Prophet of God. Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) also taught Muslims to respect all religions. The Holy Quran mentions about Prophet Jesus (pboh) and states, “The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food...” (5:76).

The worldwide Christian community will be celebrating Good Friday on March 30th and Easter on April 1st this year. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put on the cross on Friday by the Roman authorities for the crime of rebellion against the government. The Gospels narrate that Jesus died on the cross and was buried in an airy tomb in a garden. On the third day, his disciples found an empty tomb. They began to believe that Jesus who died on the cross was raised from the dead on the third day i.e. on Sunday. The Christian faith is based on this belief in the resurrection of Jesus as faith without belief in the resurrection is no faith.

The Holy Qur’an clearly states that Jesus (pboh) did not die on the cross. God states, “And they're saying, ‘We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah;’ whereas they slew him not, nor crucified him, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified…” (4:158). As an Ahmadi Muslim and a believer in the Messiah of the latter days, I believe that Jesus (pboh) was indeed put on the cross but he was taken down alive, brought into an airy tomb by two of his secret disciples and treated for his wounds by them. When he was healed and regained consciousness, he left Palestine and traveled to Kashmir in search of the lost tribes of Israel. At the age of approximately 120 years, he passed away there and is buried in Sri Nagar, India.

By: Fariha Mubarak