In the Spirit of Christmas
In this week’s newsletter we discussed the issues of Christmas and Muslims:
Do Muslims believe in Christmas? While they support the “real” meaning, they do not celebrate it like Westerners. The story found in the New Testament Gospels is commonly known in the West, but how many of us know that the Qur’an outlines a remarkably similar story? It speaks of an angelic visitation to Mary, her virginity, the Spirit’s power in conceiving a Holy son that will be the Messiah (Christ) and a sign to the world. Read the verses below from the Qur’an’s book interestingly entitled, Mary:
19:19-21, 21:91 &3:45
“…I am only a messenger (the angel) from your Lord to announce a gift of a Holy (sinless) son.”
“How shall I (Mary) have a son seeing that no man has touched me…?”
“We (God) breathed into her our Spirit and made her and her son a Sign for all people.”
“O Mary! (the angel) God gives you glad tidings from a Word from Him, his name will be Christ Jesus…”
We are in a season emphasizing peace and hope. The book, A Deadly Misunderstanding, outlines this little known Christmas similarity (see page 142) and many other commonalities from the Qur’an that expand good will and common ground among people of the world.
One of our readers quickly responded with a link to an article from the Telegraph.co.uk highlighting a Muslim cleric’s denouncement of Christmas only days before.
“Many [Muslims] still practise this corrupt celebration as a remembrance of the birth of Jesus. How can a Muslim possibly approve or participate in such a practice that bases itself on the notion Allah has an offspring? The very concept of Christmas contradicts and conflicts with the foundation of Islam.”
This critique of Christmas highlights the misunderstanding that resides between Muslims and Christians. Mark examines similar issues on the nature of Jesus in ADM’s Chapter 12, Jesus the Ruhallah. This cleric contradicts his own Qu’ran, which tells him to honor Jesus as a sign from God! This is an example of a situation in which the new strategy of building bridges could make all the difference.
Tags: Jesus ruhallah, media