by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: July 15, 2008   Last Updated: July 24, 2008

Despite the fact that these two religions seem to be at the greatest odds with each other, Islam and Catholicism actually have more in common than any other two faiths on the planet. While many of the proponents of each blow the smallest disagreements over semantics up to epic proportions the fact remains that the bulk of their two major texts, the Bible and the Koran, tell the exact same stories and in a sense seem to validate each other. One vital difference on cursory examination appears to be that the Bible makes no mention of Muhammad and instead emphasizes Jesus as our earthly messenger, whereas in the Koran that same role is taken up by Muhammad. Thus we are left with the intriguing question of how Islam viewed Jesus, a man whose existence it openly acknowledges.

Is he the son of Allah? If he is, why is he not featured more predominantly in the Koran? If he is not, then what was he? And what is his relation to Muhammad?

Put succinctly, the fundamental difference between Islam and Catholicism is found in the fact that Muslims believe him to be one of the most revered of many prophets whereas Catholics raise him above all prophets and worship him as God's earthly incarnation. In Islam Jesus is known as Isa, same as God is there called Allah. This is verified universally by Muslim scholars and supported in the text through the fact that his stories in the Koran are exactly the same as those in the Bible with a few significant differences.

The Koran states: "Isa was sent by Allah, who supported him with the Holy Spirit, to tell the world Allah's will." (2: 87; 5: 110-117*).

Obviously Jesus is not a dominant figure in the Koran, holding roughly the same percentage of space there as prophets like Abraham did in the Bible. But he is nonetheless a vital figure, seen as the precursor of Muhammad and one of the five greatest prophets out of many hundreds. Even though Prophet Muhammad is viewed as the one who completed the articulation of Allah's will on earth, it is Jesus who laid the foundation. Observe the following three quotes from the Koran:

"Long before the Prophet Muhammad, Allah revealed the Torah and the Gospel for mankind's guidance." (3:3, 4, 48, 65*).

"Allah taught Isa the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. Allah would do miracles through Jesus and make him a messenger to Israel." (3:48, 49*).

"Allah bestowed the Gospel on Isa to be a light." (5: 46*).

Islam also believes Jesus was conceived of divine origin, given the Gospels and sent to

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