Jesus and Peter
Catholics and Protestants agree on a lot of things but at the same time we disagree on a lot of things. One is the interpretation of Matthew 16:18. The KJV reads:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Has anyone ever wondered as to what the Islamic interpretation is regarding this verse? Muslims believe that Jesus is a Prophet so they have to believe in what he says, including this verse.
To Muslim readers of this blog I ask: Are you a member of the Church spoken of in this verse? This is a Church founded by a Prophet. Wouldn’t you want to be a part of this organization.
Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church and 2,000 years later He stands vindicated. There is no classical Islamic literature where Muhammad, his followers, or the early Muslims believed that they were part of the Church that their Prophet Jesus founded. This includes the Quran, the Hadith, the Sira literature, or the early commentaries. This seems odd because Christ promised that this Church would not be prevailed against.
When we look at history, this puts Muslims in a dilemma. It is true that the Church didn’t have much presence in Arabia. According to early Islamic literature, there were orthodox Christians in Najran but that seems like the only large community in Arabia. According to the classical account, Muhammad dies in 632 AD and the Arab invasions commence a year later. Damascus was conquered in 634 AD and Jerusalem, only a couple of years later.
At the time Jerusalem was conquered, Patriarch Sophronius was the leader of that Church. He was very good friends with the Pope. This would have been a great opportunity to inquire about the Church that Christ founded. They could have learned the teachings from the man whom they claimed to be a Prophet and follow his Church. This doesn’t make much sense if you ask me.
As I mentioned earlier, there is no early Islamic literature that states that the Muslims were part of the Church that Christ founded. If this is the case, if one claims to follow the Messiah, one needs to follow the Church that he founded and that still exists to this day according to His promise.
There is no need for the Muslims to be separated from the Church that the Messiah founded any longer. If they truly follow the Messiah, His Church is waiting to accept them as members.
If you’re a Muslim who is interested in being a part of the Church founded by the Messiah, feel free to ask me any questions.
However, I would start by reading the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. This is my recommendation.
From the Islamic perspective, the true believing followers of Jesus were Muslims, who believed in one God and Jesus as his servant and messenger, and rejected the falsehoods that were invented after his ascension.
“O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah, as when Jesus, the son of Mary, said to the disciples, “Who are my supporters for Allah ?” The disciples said, “We are supporters of Allah .” And a faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved. So We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant.”
(Quran 61:14)
God clearly says the true believers of Jesus who held on to the original message will be superior by the coming of the final prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Muslims today are the followers of Jesus upon him be peace.
“Behold! Allah said: “O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection” (Quran 3:55)
Quran 61:8 “They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.”
Quran 48:28 “It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion. And sufficient is Allah as Witness.”
But the Quran is incorrect because no followers of Jesus until the time of Muhammad believed in Islam. It was in that timeframe that they became upmost over the Jews.
The Quran is simply being ahistorical here.
This is simply false. The followers of Jesus who are considered Muslims by us are the ones you called them “heretics”. You do know what is considered today “Orthodox Christianity” was out of many different opinions and understanding. Many sects and denominations still existed after it became the mainstream. But to simply deny this fact is to be dishonest. Historically and theologically, the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus are based on shaky grounds. So you have to appreciate it!
Can you name these groups?
The sect of Salman the Persian.
Can you refer me to his writings so I can confirm that he was a proto-Muslim.
I keep visiting this page to see if there is any clarification on the claim made that the followers of Jesus were Muslims – it is vague and unsubstantiated.
There is no evidence that Islam existed before Muhammad, though Muslims claim that Islam goes back to the beginning of mankind with Adam. Islam is the youngest of the worlds major religions but it claims to be the oldest. Pretty ironic.