Uniting over Jesus Christ

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Originally published 10:22 p.m., December 10, 2006, updated 12:00 a.m., December 11, 2006

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With the advent of the Christmas season we two friends -- a Christian and a Muslim -- find our thoughts turning to the relationship between Christianity and Islam, which looms so fatefully on the global stage. From Nigeria to Indonesia, conflict erupts along the faultlines of these two great missionary religions, threatening to expand to a civilizational conflagration. Together Christians and Muslims make up half the world's population, and the planet cannot sustain a war between them.

Despite mutually hostile perceptions, the two contending faiths share more in common than many of their followers appreciate. And one thing that could unite Muslims and Christians is, ironically, veneration of Jesus.

This may surprise Christians unaware of the fact that Muslims view Jesus as a great prophet. Unfortunately, the historic Islamic reverence for Jesus is also in danger of being lost among Muslims who associate Christianity with the crusades and Western imperialism and thus find it difficult to see a link between the West and Jesus. His message of love tragically is thus marginalized among Muslims who see America's war on terrorism as a campaign against Islam.

What is the source of Muslim reverence for Jesus, and how might it speak to us today? For Muslims, Jesus is esteemed in a special way that Christians can appreciate.

Jesus holds a unique place in the Koran, the holy book of Islam: He is miraculously born of the Virgin Mary. As no other figure in Islamic history he can perform miracles, such as breathing life into a figure of clay, giving sight to the blind, curing the leper and bringing the dead to life (Chapter 3, Verse 49). He is mentioned more often in the Koran than even the Prophet Muhammad and there is an entire chapter devoted to Mary, the venerated mother of Jesus. It is also well for Muslims to recall that the Prophet Muhammad said about himself that there is no one closer to Jesus in love and reverence.

Muslim Sufi mystics describe Jesus as "the spirit of God," or Ruh Allah, because his spirit evokes God's love for humanity and our mandate to love one another in return. Thus while not viewed in Islam as divine, Jesus is nonetheless understood in terms remarkably consonant with Christian sensibilities.

Because both Christians and Muslims revere and love Jesus, he is a natural bridge between them.

Sadly, some Christian and Muslim leaders seem to think there is an irreconcilable conflict between them. Franklin Graham referred to Islam as "a very evil and wicked religion." Former Southern Baptist Convention president Jerry Vines said that Prophet Muhammad was "a demon-possessed pedophile." Pat Robertson described him as a "wild-eyed fanatic" while Jerry Falwell termed the Prophet "a terrorist."

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