Jesus, Mary and Islam — News Journal
This week Mark contributed to an article on the importance of Jesus and Mary to Muslims in the Wilmington, DE, News-Journal. Thanks Gary!
If Humza and Maryam Javed Ismail had their way, they would ride by the big display of Christmas lights every day on Yeatmans Station Road that’s near their Landenberg, Pa., home.
The lights remind the children, who are 11 and 9, about the importance of Jesus and Mary in Islam.
“We believe in the goodness and purity of Mary,” says their mother, Dr. Sheerin Javed. “And sometimes we talk about this — that Jesus is a special prophet for Muslims so it makes us feel good to see him honored this time of year.”
Mary — or Maryam as she is known in the Quran — is held in such high esteem that Javed and her husband, Dr. Hummayun Ismail, named their daughter for the mother of Jesus.
At a time when the birth of Jesus is on the minds of Christians, he is also revered by Muslims. And while they do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, there are many similarities between what the Bible and the Quran say concerning the birth of Jesus.
These are so striking that a former Michigan congressman believes that a better understanding of the Muslim and Christian scriptures would be a healing force in the world.
“The similarities are mind-blowing,” says former U.S. Rep. Mark Siljander, an evangelical Christian now living in Great Falls, Va.
“But years ago when someone told me Jesus was in the Quran I wouldn’t believe it until I read it. I was shocked to learn that Jesus is in the Quran as the Messiah.”
“He’s talked about as the word of truth. It’s said that he can heal the sick and has authority to raise the dead. By my count Jesus is mentioned 110 times.”
For the full article and Mark’s commentary, click here.
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