Panel to discuss Jesus in Islam

As a Muslim, Jamal Sheikh won't be celebrating Christmas. But he will take time on Christmas Day to remember Jesus as a messenger from God.

Like other Muslims, Sheikh has a layered view of Christ as prophet but not savior, an emissary of God but not divine, someone to revere but not believe in. These nuances and others will be explored at a panel discussion, "Jesus in Islam," on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South.

"We have so much love and respect for him," explains Muslim convert Suzanne Qoraan, "just not as God or the Son of God." Both Sheikh and Qoraan will participate in the panel, along with Imam Shuaib-Ud Din of West Valley City's Khadeeja Mosque.

The Islamic view of Jesus originates in the Quran, the Muslim holy book, which characterizes Jesus as a prophet who performed miracles. Like Christians, they believe his mother was a virgin. Unlike Christians, they do not believe he was either crucified or resurrected.

"He was lifted up to heaven," Sheikh explains. "It was not really a resurrection, it was more of an elevation from this world." Jesus wasn't unique in that regard, he says. "God lifted up other prophets and messengers when they were in danger."

"We're not saying somebody didn't die that looked like Jesus," Qoraan adds. "Some scholars believe that when they came to look for Jesus, that Judas' face was changed to look like Jesus, and that Judas may have died on the cross."

Muslims believe that Jesus will return to Earth before "doomsday" and will continue his work, marry, have children, slay the anti-Christ, then die and be buried. As part of his mission, Sheikh says, "Jesus will prove he was not divine."

"We are told when he comes down a lot of people will believe in him," Sheikh says. "He will live among the people, and peace will prevail. People will be loving each other like brothers and sisters."

Despite their reverence for Jesus as a messenger of God and their belief in the virgin birth, Muslims do not celebrate the day designated as Jesus' birthday. In the first place, says Sheikh, "if you look into history, there is no confirmation" that Jesus was born on Dec. 25. And, too, Muslims do not celebrate birthdays, even Prophet Mohammed's, he says.

Qoraan, whose family's roots go back to Mormon pioneer Parley P. Pratt, says that because her relatives celebrate Christmas, she and her immediate family attend the family Christmas party — which has been renamed the "family holiday gathering." She and the LDS members of her family are "very respectful" of each other's beliefs, she says.

Sheikh, who grew up in what he refers to simply as "the Holy Land," says that on Christmas Day he'll "take the opportunity to remember Jesus, to remember who he was, what he did and to reach out to our Christian brothers and sisters" to explain Jesus from an Islamic perspective.

"I wouldn't be a Muslim if I didn't believe Jesus was sent from God," he says.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com