What do Muslims believe about Jesus?

Many people are surprised to learn how much Muslims love Jesus. What do Muslims believe about Jesus? They believe he is the Messiah, one of the greatest prophets Allah ever sent, born of the Virgin Mary by Allah’s command, a word from Allah and a spirit from Him. A Muslim who denied Jesus would not be a Muslim. Muslims say “peace be upon him” whenever they speak his name, and they await his return.

Do Muslims believe in Jesus?

Faith in all of Allah’s prophets is part of Islam itself. The Quran commands Muslims to say that they believe in what was given to Moses and Jesus and all the prophets, “making no distinction between any of them” (2:136). The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described his bond with Jesus in a single image:

«أَنَا أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ، وَالأَنْبِيَاءُ إِخْوَةٌ لِعَلاَّتٍ، أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ شَتَّى، وَدِينُهُمْ وَاحِدٌ»

“I am the closest of all people to Jesus son of Mary, in this world and the next. The prophets are brothers of one father: their mothers are different, and their religion is one.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 3443

In the Quran, Jesus is named ʿĪsā (عيسى) and is called al-Masīḥ, the Messiah, eleven times. Muslims, like Christians, believe that he is the Messiah promised to the Children of Israel.

What does the Quran say about the birth of Jesus?

The Quran tells the story of his birth twice, in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān and in Sūrat Maryam, the chapter named after his mother. Mary (Maryam) is the only woman the Quran names, and it says Allah chose her and purified her above the women of all the worlds (3:42). The angels came to her with this news:

إِذۡ قَالَتِ ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ يَٰمَرۡيَمُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٖ مِّنۡهُ ٱسۡمُهُ ٱلۡمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبۡنُ مَرۡيَمَ وَجِيهٗا فِي ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ وَمِنَ ٱلۡمُقَرَّبِينَ

“The angels said: Mary, Allah gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the next, and one of those brought near to Allah.”

Quran 3:45

Mary asked how she could have a son when no man had touched her, and the answer came: “Allah creates what He wills. When He decides a thing, He only says to it, Be, and it is” (3:47). Muslims affirm the virgin birth without hesitation. Sūrat Maryam describes Mary alone in her labor beneath a palm tree, comforted by Allah with fresh dates and a stream of water (19:23–26), one of the most tender scenes in the Quran.

Do Muslims believe Jesus is the Son of God?

Here Muslims and Christians differ. When Mary’s people accused her, the infant Jesus spoke from the cradle in her defense, and his first words describe who he is:

قَالَ إِنِّي عَبۡدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِيَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيّٗا وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيۡنَ مَا كُنتُ

“He said: I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be.”

Quran 19:30-31

The Quran calls him “the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from Him,” and asks Christians not to speak of three (4:171). In Islam, being the servant (ʿabd) of Allah is the highest honor a human being can have; the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is given the same title. For how this difference fits within a shared faith in one God, see Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?

What miracles did Jesus perform in the Quran?

The Quran recounts the miracles Allah gave him. Jesus shaped a bird from clay, breathed into it, and it became a living bird; he healed the man born blind and the leper; he brought the dead back to life, all “by Allah’s permission” (3:49, 5:110). He spoke as a newborn, and at his disciples’ request a table spread with food came down from heaven (5:112–115). Allah gave him the Gospel (al-Injīl), “containing guidance and light” (5:46), and strengthened him with the holy spirit (2:253).

What happened at the end of his life on earth?

The Quran says that those who sought to kill Jesus did not kill or crucify him, and that Allah raised him up to Himself (Quran 4:157–158). Muslims have understood these verses in several ways, set out in Did Jesus die on the cross according to Islam?.

Most Muslims believe that Jesus will return before the end of time as a just judge, based on hadith such as Sahih al-Bukhari 3448. Some modern scholars, among them Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut, later Grand Imam of al-Azhar, held in a 1942 fatwa that Jesus died a natural death and that belief in his return is not a required part of faith.

How have Muslim mystics loved Jesus?

Muslim literature preserves hundreds of sayings and stories of Jesus. Imam al-Ghazali (d. 1111) filled his Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn with them, presenting Jesus as the model of the ascetic who owns nothing and loves God alone. The historian Tarif Khalidi gathered more than three hundred of these sayings, from the eighth century to the eighteenth, in The Muslim Jesus (Harvard University Press, 2001), calling them the largest body of texts about Jesus in any non-Christian literature.

One saying attributed to Jesus in this tradition is carved over the great gate of Fatehpur Sikri, built by the Mughal emperor Akbar: “The world is a bridge: cross it, but do not build a house upon it.” In Persian poetry, “the breath of Jesus” (dam-i ʿĪsā) became an image for words that bring the dead heart back to life. Sufi teachers saw in Jesus a perfect example of poverty, gentleness and love (see What is Sufism?).

Peace be upon him

Muslims end every mention of Jesus with a blessing, echoing the words the Quran gives him from the cradle: “Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised to life” (19:33). Christians and Muslims who share a love for Jesus can meet each other in that peace, and learn from each other’s devotion. Many Muslims find Christmas a natural moment to honor him with their Christian neighbors; see Is it haram to celebrate Christmas?