What follows is a quotation from the Holy Qur’an (Chapter 7, Verses 156-158) in the M.A.S. Abdel Haleem transliteration:
‘I shall ordain My mercy for those who are conscious of God and pay the prescribed alms; who believe in Our Revelations; who follow the Messenger – the unlettered prophet they find described in the Torah that is with them, and in the Gospel – who commands them to do right and forbids them to do wrong, who makes good things lawful to them and bad things unlawful, and relieves them of their burdens, and the iron collars that were on them. So it is those who believe him, honour and help him, and who follow the light which has been sent down with him, who will succeed.’ Say [Muhammad], ‘People, I am the Messenger of God to you all, from Him who has control over the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him; He gives life and death, so believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet who believes in God and His words, and follow him so that you may find guidance.’
Who is the ‘unlettered prophet’ to whom God is referring in this passage? For reasons I will explain in this article, it seems to me that the unlettered prophet is likely Jesus Christ, and if this is the case, there are significant implications for Christians, which I will describe at the close of the article. Bible quotations in this article are from the English Standard Version.
The first Bible verse I would like to cite in this discussion is John 7:14:
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
Jesus is described as a prophet in the New Testament (for example, in Matthew 21:11). If we take the term ‘unlettered’ to mean ‘unschooled’, we can see how this quotation from the gospel according to John could serve as confirmation that Jesus was an ‘unlettered’ prophet.
What other evidence is there that Surah 7:156-158 could be referring to Jesus? I will provide six further reasons.
- Jesus is described in the Torah and the Gospel.
In Deuteronomy 18:15 in the Torah, we find the following statement:
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
This is often thought to be a reference to Jesus, and if it is, we could say that Jesus is described in the Torah.
The New Testament, which contains the Gospel, is of course all about Jesus, so it is not necessary for me to quote specific passages to evidence that Jesus is described in the Gospel (that should be obvious).
2. Jesus commands people to do right and forbids them to do wrong.
One example of Jesus commanding right and wrong is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. For example, we find the following verses (23-26):
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
3. Jesus makes good things lawful and bad things unlawful.
In Matthew 12:11-12, we find Jesus saying the following:
He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
And Mark 7:18-19 says,
18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[a] (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
These verses could be seen as examples of Jesus making good things lawful.
Matthew 5:21-22 says the following:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
And Matthew 5:27-28 says,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
These verses could be seen as examples of Jesus making bad things unlawful.
It’s important to consider all of these verses alongside Matthew 5:17-18 in which we find the following statement of Jesus:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
4. Jesus relieves people of their burdens.
Matthew 11:28-30 says the following:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
These words of Jesus could be seen to exemplify him relieving people of their burdens and the iron collars that were on them.
5. Light was sent down with Jesus.
Consider John 8:12 which says,
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
This is one example of a common theme in the New Testament of Jesus being associated with light.
6. Jesus believed in God and His words.
John 6:38-40 says,
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
These verses present Jesus claiming to know the will of God and doing His will, which could be seen as evidence of Jesus believing in God and His words.
If the examples and explanations offered in this article are correct, we can see that there is a strong argument to be made that the unlettered prophet of Surah Al-A’raf is Jesus Christ. The significance of this would be that the Qur’an explicitly commands people to believe in, honour, help and follow Jesus and the light that was sent down with him, which might be comforting to Christians.
It has been suggested by some that you cannot have ‘Christlam’ (the theologies of Christianity and Islam existing in harmony), but the evidence presented in this article would contribute to the perspective that you can.
Perfect Chaos 