How do you prove Jesus was not a Muslim?
Question:
Hello Brother Hamilton and the rest of La Vista Church of Christ,
I have two questions that I want to ask you. I want to start with this one in particular because they're two different ideas. As we know, the more time goes by, there will be a new concept or belief among men. People piggyback off the truth and create falsehoods that are being taught.
This one in particular pertains to Islam and the idea that Jesus is Muslim. I've had conversations with Muslims and they argue that Jesus is Muslim because of Abraham. No matter what logic I bring up like Islam being created 600 years after Christ, their idea of a Muslim is "one who submits to God" and they claim it has always existed and that's what makes you Muslim. They then bring up Arabic ideas to outweigh Scripture. Of course, they claim Muhammad has all the truth since he spoke to Gabriel.
It seems because this is a new argument, you need new methods to argue. Of course, I use the Bible as a source but as we all know they put that aside when it comes to Christ. How does one approach this idea that Jesus is not Muslim? It seems that using biblical principles isn't enough.
Answer:
If the Muslim religion pre-existed Mohammad, then Mohammad did not establish the religion. The greatest problem they would have is proving that the religion existed since there are no records of it prior to Mohammad's life. Sure, some of the ideas expressed in Islam did exist but that only establishes that Islam borrowed ideas from earlier religions. Since we know Mohammad had an interest in Judaism and Christianity early in his life, it is not surprising that he lifted some of the teachings.
Sharing some common traits also does not prove that a person was a follower of that religion. For example, a man being circumcised does not prove he is a follower of Judaism.
Interestingly, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, also claimed to have spoken to an angel. Does that prove he knows what God wants in a religion? In contrast, Jesus doesn't claim to teach second-hand information from an angel. Jesus claimed to talk by his own authority and his first-hand knowledge of God (Matthew 11:27).
Ultimately, you'll have to face the fact that no evidence that you give will be good enough for a person who does not want to consider it. "A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge is easy to one who has understanding" (Proverbs 14:6).
