Serious Question I need answered!
Reader comment on item: "A Corrective to the Pipes Worldview"
in response to reader comment: Ask a muslim about islam?

Submitted by Jon W (United States), Dec 19, 2006 at 19:12

Recently I've become interested in learning more about the islamic religion and I have been studying more about it. Recently I read a book from the late 1800's (Sorry, but a friend of mine owns it and I don't recall the title or the author-- I can find out if anyone really cares). It is a journal of someone who travelled to the holy land. The book mentions an inscription in the Dome of the Rock. I found some information on it, including a full translation to english. Here it is:

1. The Messiah, Jesus son of
2. Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit
3. from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not 'Three' - Cease! (it is)
4. better for you! - God is only One God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is
5. in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And God is
6. sufficient as Defender. The Messiah will never scorn to be a
7. servant unto God, nor will the favoured angels

I did some research, wondering what the word "Messiah" truly means. Besides the common "Christian" definition the term generally means "a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom" I have also found it defined as "an annointed one above others".

Now, I am hoping that someone out there can clarify this for me, because I'm confused. I have heard that followers of Islam do not believe in Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, and the Dome of the Rock seems to assert this belief. However, I'm confused as to why the Dome of the Rock would claim he was the Messiah (AND a messenger of God), but the very definition of 'Messiah' means that he was a ruler (and other definitions also say 'annointed one above others'). If then, Jesus WAS the Messiah, shouldn't we all be listening to his words (not just Mohammads)?

But then, I don't understand how it can be that if Jesus was the messiah and a messenger of God, and he said that he was the Son of God, then how can we not believe him, but only believe was Mohammad said. Did Mohammad instruct us not to listen to Jesus? I haven't found anything to that effect in the Koran yet. I don't know that Mohammad was NOT a messenger of God, but wouldn't "the Messiah", who is "an annointed one over all others", "a ruler", be above any messenger/prophet?

I am not trying to start an argument here or try to cause a disruption on this website. I'm just someone trying to find an answer to what the real beliefs of a Islam are, because there is so much disinformation out there. I want to understand how a follower of Islam can say that Jesus was the Messiah, that he was a messenger, but that we should all only listen to what Mohammad said. Please, let me know how this can be made sense of?

Thank you.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.