jesus in islam and judeo-christian tradition

(a comparative analysis)

jesus (peace be upon him) in islam, an issue i have been wanting to write about for a
while, since i am also working on a booklet about the crucifixion i think this article fits
somewhere in the context. many christians have been made to believe that muslims do
not believe in jesus christ (pbuh) at all, it is also said that we do not believe in god at all.
missionaries and those who teach non-muslims about islam have spread this in order that
people who claim to love and revere jesus think twice about islam. let us embark on a
journey to see where jesus (pbuh) fits in islam. this is in no way an insult or an attack on
any other religion mentioned in this article, as many christians who i have discussed with
seem to find anything against what they believe (whether the answer lies in the bible or
not) as an attack on their faith. this is in no way intended to discredit any faith it rather
shows the position of prophet jesus (pbuh) in islam as compared to judaism and
christianity.

in my first article "what is islam and who are muslims" as you may have read, islam is
based on 5 pillars.

primary islamic belief:

the first being the two declarations of faith (belief in the one true god), in arabic referred
to as the shahadatain. the belief that there is none worthy of worship except allah the one
true god and belief that mohamed (peace be upon him) is his last and final messenger.
this is the first and foremost pillar of islam. this pillar carries with it 6 fundamental pre-
requisites, any of which if one denies, he is not a muslim. the 6 pre-requisites of faith are
as follows.

1. faith in allah the one god

2. faith in his angels.
3. faith in his books.
4. faith in his messengers. (all of them)
5. faith in the day of judgment
6. faith in pre destiny, that allah destined every thing. whether is good or bad.

as you can see i have bolded pre-requisite number 4 which says clearly that muslims as a
tenet of faith should believe in all the prophet without exception from prophet adam, way
through to prophet mohamed (peace be upon them all) including the prophet jesus and in
many places in the bible he is referred to as a prophet. so a muslim cannot consider
himself a muslim if he does not believe in jesus (pbuh). so we can see that this is just a lie
and deception from some people who, may be, out of the fear of the spread of islam have
made it out to be anti jesus. this here is evidence that this claim is baseless and has no leg
to stand on. having cleared this issue we have to also clarify that many deviant people
again in order to make islam look anti jesus (pbuh), have taken jewish belief and ascribed
it to muslim belief and the person who is ignorant of islam is non the wiser, thus believes
that islam does not believe in jesus (pbuh) or to be more appropriate that islam, rather
than revere him, they make out islam has no place for him and despises the prophet jesus
(pbuh).our dear prophet mohamed (pbuh) said: (v.5:46) narrated abu hurairah [radhi-yallâhu
'anhu]: i heard allâh's messenger [sal-allâhu 'alayhi wa sallam] saying, "i am the nearest of all the people
to the son of maryam (mary), and all the prophets are paternal brothers, and there has been no prophet
between me and him [i.e., 'Îsâ (jesus)]." [sahih al-bukhâri, 4/3442 (o.p.651)]

let us make a little comparison between what jewish scriptures say about the dear prophet
jesus (pbuh)) before we move forward to where jesus peace be upon him fits in islam.

what the talmud says about jesus (pbuh):

according to the jewish talmud, a scripture that is revered by the jews, far greater than the
torah. this study is based on the jewish-authorized, english translation of the babylonian
talmud: the soncino edition. unless otherwise indicated.
here is the link i advise to check for your selves, as i know many may no agree with here
and think i am attack the jewish religion.
http://www.come-and-hear.com/tcontents.html
according to the jewish talmud jesus was referred to as balaam
(belo'-am [denotes without the people] belo'am, i.e., he has no portion
in the future world together with other people), ( balah'am, (or [h] bala'-'am, 'he devoured
the people,' aruch).

in many places he was referred to as ben pandera or ben stada as well as balaam.

rabbinical sources also regard jesus as the “son of pandera” [hebr.], although it is
noteworthy that he is called also “ben stada” [hebr.] (shab. 104b; sanh. 67a).

who is balaam?
now, who was balaam who "practised enchantment by means of his membrum"?
originally, the old testament balaam was a prophet from the heathen tribes who was
hired to curse the israelites on their journey from egypt (numbers 22-24). balaam
refused that commission, blessing the israelites instead. later, he earned the wrath of the
israelites and was slain by them (numbers 31:8). mention of balaam occurs thereafter in
the books of deuteronomy, joshua, nehemiah, and micah, sometimes as a wicked man,
sometimes as good.
in the opinion of many modern rabbinical scholars, "balaam" was often used by the
sages as an alias or code word for jesus of nazareth. for example, consider this
statement about balaam from the prestigious jewish encyclopedia:
henceforth he became the type of false prophets seducing men to lewdness
and obscene idolatrous practices (rev. ii. 14; ii peter ii. 15; jude 11; abot. v.
19). the name 'nicolaitanes,' given to the christian heretics 'holding the
doctrine of balaam' (rev. ii. 6, 15), is probably derived from the grecized
form of balaam, [hebr. char.] = [greek char.], and hence also the
pseudonym given to jesus in sanh. 106b and git. 57a.
the jewish encyclopedia's article on jesus contains much information about various
pseudonyms used for jesus in the talmud, including "balaam," "son of pandera," and
"ben stada."
why would the sages use a code word for jesus of nazareth? perhaps to avoid
confrontations with the christian establishment. by disguising unflattering remarks
about jesus, only those inside the circle of talmud believers would understand;
christians, if they ever saw the material, would miss the significance. an example is
given by rabbi rodkinson in his book, the history of the talmud. in 1239 a.d., jewish
apostates brought charges in rome that the talmud contained sacrilegious sayings about
jesus and his mother. rabbi jechial answered the charges (in part) by denying that the
talmud contained any mention of jesus of nazareth:
let us see what it has to say about jesus. may i warn you that some of the stuff said about
the prophet jesus in the talmud is not very pleasant at all as we shall see. read the
footnotes that accompany each of the quoted verses.

in tractate sanhedrin folio 105a it says:

balaam denotes that he corrupted a people. the son of beor [denotes] that he committed
bestiality.
further it says:
now only balaam will not enter [the future world], but other [heathens] will enter. r.
eliezer said, the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget god, the
wicked shall be turned into hell.

it continues:

now, that wicked man [balaam] too gave a sign for himself [that he would not enter the
future world by saying, let me die the death of the righteous32 — meaning, if i die the
death of the righteous [i.e., a natural death], my last end will be like his;33 but if not [i.e.,
if i die a violent death], then behold i go unto my people.
r. johanan said: balaam limped on one foot, as it is written, and he walked haltingly.

it also says in the same section;

he practised enchantment by means of his membrum. (penis)

and also in the footnotes it says:

it was stated, mar zutra said: he practised enchantment by means of his membrum. mar
the son of rabina said: he committed bestiality with his ass. the view that he practised
enchantment by means of his membrum is as was stated. the view that he committed
bestiality with his ass

in sanhedrin 106 a it refers to mary the mother of jesus as playing the harlot with
carpenters
r. papa observed: this is what men say, 'she who was the descendant of princes and
governors, played the harlot with carpenters.'42( 'shipdraggers,' (v. rashi). herford, christianity in
the talmud, p. 48, suggests that balaam is frequently used in the talmud as a type for jesus (v. also pp. 64-
70). though no name is mentioned to shew which woman is meant, the mother of jesus may be alluded to,
which theory is strengthened by the statement that she mated with a carpenter. (the munich ms. has [h] in
the margin instead of [h], i.e., singular instead of plural.) )

tractate sanhedrin106b goes on to mock the prophet jesus who according the judeo-
christian beliefs died at the young age of 33 years old:
bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,4 [it follows that] he was
thirty-three or thirty-four years old.

in tracate shabbat 104 b it refers to jesus as mentioned above as son of stada( ben stada),
this is what is says:
he who scratches a mark on his flesh, [etc.] it was taught. r. eliezer said to the sages: but did not ben stada
bring forth witchcraft from egypt by means of scratches18 [in the form of charms] upon his flesh?19 he was
a fool, answered they, and proof cannot be adduced from fools.20

in tractate sanhedrin 43a it says:

it was taught: on the eve of the passover yeshu34 was hanged. for forty days before the execution took
place, a herald went forth and cried, 'he is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and
enticed israel to apostacy. any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on
his behalf.' but since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the passover!

sanhderin107b in the footnotes also claim:

ii kings v, 27. the uncensored edition continues: what of r. joshua b. perahjah? — when king jannai slew
our rabbis, r. joshua b. perahjah (and jesus) fled to alexandria of egypt. on the resumption of peace, simeon
b. shetach sent to him: 'from me, (jerusalem) the holy city, to thee, alexandria of egypt (my sister). my
husband dwelleth within thee and i am desolate.' he arose, went, and found himself in a certain inn, where
great honour was shewn him. 'how beautiful is this acsania!' (the word denotes both inn and innkeeper. r.
joshua used it in the first sense; the answer assumes the second to be meant.) thereupon (jesus) observed,
'rabbi, her eyes are narrow.' 'wretch,' he rebuked him, 'dost thou thus engage thyself.' he sounded four
hundred trumpets and excommunicated him. he (jesus) came before him many times pleading, 'receive me!'
but he would pay no heed to him. one day he (r. joshua) was reciting the shema', when jesus came before
him. he intended to receive him and made a sign to him. he (jesus) thinking that it was to repel him, went,
put up a brick, and worshipped it. 'repent,' said he (r. joshua) to him. he replied, 'i have thus learned from
thee: he who sins and causes others to sin is not afforded the means of repentance.' and a master has said,
'jesus the nazarene practised magic and led israel astray.' for a full discussion of this passage and
attempted explanation of this anachronism making jesus a contemporary of king jannai (104-78 b.c.e.). v.
herford, op. cit. 51ff. [the tradition of an early jesus was also known to epiphanius

tractate sanhedrin folio 56a

7. the whole day [of the trial] the witnesses are examined by means of a substitute
for the divine name, thus, 'may jose smite jose.'1 the witnesses, in giving testimony, do
not state that they heard the accused say, 'may he slay himself', uttering the actual divine name, but
use the word 'jose' as a substitute for the divine name. 'jose' is chosen as a substitute, because it
contains four letters, like the actual tetragrammaton, which must have been used by the
blasphemer for him to be punished. moreover, the numerical value of 'jose' is the same as of
elohim [81]. according to levy, s.v. [h], the first jose [h] stands for jesus ([h], son), and the second
is an abbreviation of [h], joseph, the father, by which, however, god was to be understood. the
 witnesses were accordingly asked whether the accused in his blasphemy had set jesus above god.
(r. joshua b. karha, the author of this saying, lived at a time when judeo-christians ascribed more
power to jesus than to god.)
tractate gittin folio 57a claims balaam (jesus is burning in boiling hot excrement)

he then went and raised balaam by incantations. he asked him: who is in repute in the
other world? he replied: israel. what then, he said, about joining them? he replied: thou
shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.1 he then asked: what
is your punishment? he replied: with boiling hot semen.2 he then went and raised by
incantations the sinners of israel.3 he asked them: who is in repute in the other world?
they replied: israel. what about joining them? they replied: seek their welfare, seek not
their harm. whoever touches them touches the apple of his eye. he said: what is your
punishment? they replied: with boiling hot excrement, since a master has said: whoever
mocks at the words of the sages is punished with boiling hot excrement.

the jewish encyclopedia vol.vii http://www.come-and-hear.com/je/je_170.html

jesus (continued)
it is the tendency of all these sources to belittle the person of jesus by ascribing to him
illegitimate birth, magic, and a shameful death.

it was necessary for the jews to insist on the illegitimacy of jesus as against the davidic
descent claimed by the christian church. magic may have been ascribed him over against
the miracles recorded in the gospels; and the degrading fate both on earth and hereafter of
which the legends speak may be simply directed against the ideas of the assumption and
the resurrection of jesus.

the earliest authenticated passage ascribing illegitimate birth to jesus is that in yeb. iv. 3.
the mysterious phrase (“that man”) cited in this passage as occurring in a family register
which b. simeon ben azza is said to have found seems to indicate that it refers to jesus
the mysterious phrase (“that man”) cited in this passage as occurring in a family register
which b. simeon ben azza is said to have found seems to indicate that it refers to jesus
(see derenbourg in “r.e. j.” i. 293), and here occur also the two expressions so often
applied to jesus in later literature—[hebr.] (= “that anonymous one,” the name of jesus
being avoided) and [hebr.] (= “bastard”: adding that the seducer was a soldier by the
name of panthera

the incident of jesus concerning the dispute with the scribes was copied by the rabbinical
sources…all the ‘toledot” editions contain a similar story of a dispute which jesus carried
on with the scribes, who, on the ground of that dispute, declared him to be a bastard.

so far, according to what we have read, i myself as muslim would not be happy and be
offended with way the prophet jesus is being referred to here. this is not at all the way
islam portrays the prophet jesus(pbuh). i am sure many will share the same opinion and
may be some may not. again i repeat this is not intended to attack any body’s faith or
belief, but just a comparative analysis.
after seeing the jewish belief concerning the prophet jesus (pbuh) intensively let us have a
look at what the bible says:

what the bible says about prophet jesus (pbuh):

if we look into the ot we see 2 very important verses that when they are complemented
with the new testament verses could reveal something crucial about the bible says about
jesus (pbuh). some people may not agree with me on this but i am sure many would too.
the ot says:

de 21:22 and if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to
death, and thou hang him on a tree:
de 21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury
him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of god;) that thy land be not defiled,
which the lord thy god giveth thee for an inheritance.

looking at these two verses from the ot we go to the nt in the book of acts where peter
refers to jesus (pbuh) as being hung on a tree:
acts 5
29 then peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey god rather than
men.
30 the god of our fathers raised up jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 him hath god exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour, for to give
repentance to israel, and forgiveness of sins.
acts 10
38 how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy ghost and with power: who went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for god was with him.
39 and we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the jews, and in
jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
40 him god raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
acts 13
28 and though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they pilate that he should
be slain.
29 and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the
tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
30 but god raised him from the dead:

1 peter 2
23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 for ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls.
then st paul in galatians reminds us that jesus was hung on a tree and the one hung on a
tree is cursed.
ga 3:13 christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.
the relevance here is not whether jesus (pbuh) was crucified on a tree or cross, but the
issue of the curse on those who are. why would paul have to make such a statement to the
galatians, where he insinuates that one of the greatest prophets who walked this earth was
cursed? he specifies too that it is written making reference to the verses in the ot.
for me as a muslim i find such a statement outrageous about the dear prophet jesus, can
anyone even entertain the idea that prophet jesus was cursed to even think about such
outrage even for a minute is not acceptable. can a christian accept the idea that according
to their belief their god or the son of their god (as they put it) was cursed? muslims do not
agree that he was crucified at all let alone hung on a tree and if, as the bible puts it, for he
that is hanged is accursed of god or cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. it is
rather odd that the religion that he was supposedly have preached, in the book that those
who say they follow him, actually claim he was cursed. you may not agree with me or
may be you will, if i say that this concept comes from paul’s jewish upbringing and his
jewish belief as we can read above what they jews of his time thought and wrote about
him. i am certain, paul, being a jew must have had talmudic teachings form his teacher
gamael that he should bring up such a statement in his gospel. as we see below the same
statement is in the gemara of the talmud (sanhedrin 45b) gemara. our rabbis taught:
[scripture states,] and if he be put to death, then thou shalt hang him on a tree:45 i might
think that all who are put to death are to be hanged: therefore scripture states, for he is
hanged [because of] a curse against god.46 thanks for the reminder st paul

so i insist in not believing the prophet jesus (pbuh) was crucified or hung in anyway what
so ever because if hanging in anyway made him accursed then i suppose even the
christian would feel better at heart to accept the muslim view that he could not have been
cursed. again i repeat this is not a means of discrediting the christian faith or any other
faith, but just facts that many people do not know and need to know.

at this point let us analyse what the quran says about the prophet jesus (pbuh).

the islamic view:

before we proceed any further let me mention that as you may have noticed that every
where, where i have mentioned the name of any prophet including the prophet jesus
(pbuh) i have added next to it either (peace be upon him) or (pbuh) which is the
abbreviation. this adds to the explanation above muslims revering all the prophets as part
of the pre requisites of faith and proves that muslims cannot be muslims without
believing in jesus as well as all other prophets. every time their name is mentioned we
send peace and blessing upon them, in other words we ask god to send peace and
blessings upon them. concerning the title of prophet given to jesus (pbuh) as i keep
referring to him as, even the staunchest christian cannot deny he was a prophet, as the
bible says
ac 2:30 therefore being a prophet, and knowing that god had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up christ to sit on his
throne;
joh 4:19 the woman saith unto him, sir, i perceive that thou art a prophet.
joh 4:44 for jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
joh 7:40 many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, of a truth this is
the prophet.

and there are many other references in the bible that jesus (pbuh) son of mary was a
prophet. so by referring to jesus as just a prophet, is in no way belittling him (as i have
been accused of many times in the past).
allah says in the quran:

[004:171] o people of the scripture (christians)! do not exceed the limits in your
religion, nor say of allâh aught but the truth. the messiah 'Îsâ (jesus), son of
maryam (mary), was (no more than) a messenger of allâh and his word, ("be!" –
and he was) which he bestowed on maryam (mary) and a spirit (rûh) created by
him; so believe in allâh and his messengers.

jesus (pbuh) in islam is referred to as issa (his arabic name) son of mary, evidently he was
not the son of joseph and nor that of god, he had no father so it is rightly so to call him
the son of his mother mary. the quran compares issa son of mary to adam (peace be upon
them all) because god created jesus just like adam and jesus (pbuh) did not create
himself.
the noble quran:

[003:059] verily, the likeness of 'Îsâ (jesus) before allâh is the likeness of adam. he
created him from dust, then (he) said to him: "be!" – and he was.

islam reveres the prophet jesus (pbuh) even before his birth; his mother mary is held in
high esteems in islam and is considered among the greatest women of paradise. the fact
that she was pious, god had chosen her out of all women to carry and give birth to one of
the greatest prophets and it was going to be a miraculous birth.

[003:042] and (remember) when the angels said: "o maryam (mary)! verily, allâh
has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above
the women of the 'Âlamîn (mankind and jinn) (of her lifetime)."

[003:043] "o maryam (mary)! submit yourself with obedience to your lord (allâh, by
worshipping none but him alone) and prostrate yourself, and bow down along with
ar-râkî'ûn (those who bow down)."

the quran shares the same opinion as the bible on the issue that she was visited by the
angel gabriel and given the glad tiding of bearing a child. just like many other verses
from the quran where we can find similarities in the bible too. unlike the talmudic claim
of here being a whore who lay with carpenters.

lu 1: 30 and the angel said unto her, fear not, mary: for thou hast found favour with god.
31 and, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name jesus.
32 he shall be great, and shall be called the son of the highest: and the lord god shall give
unto him the throne of his father david:
33 and he shall reign over the house of jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be
no end.then said
34 mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing i know not a man?

[003:045] (remember) when the angels said: "o maryam (mary)! verily, allâh gives
you the glad tidings of a word ["be!" – and he was! i.e. 'Îsâ (jesus) the son of
maryam (mary)] from him, his name will be the messiah 'Îsâ (jesus), the son of
maryam (mary), held in honour in this world and in the hereafter, and will be one of
those who are near to allâh."

[003:047] she said: "o my lord! how shall i have a son when no man has touched
me." he said: "so (it will be) for allâh creates what he wills. when he has decreed
something, he says to it only: "be!" – and it is.

so we see the reverence of jesus and his mother from the islamic point of view,
starts way before his birth, in the quran there is even a whole chapter dedicated to
mary mother of jesus(pbut) but we will not go into all that now. also the quran
reveres prophet jesus (pbhu) to such an extent that according to the quran he
performs miracles by the will of god, some that are not even mentioned in the bible.
according to islam he performed miracles from his birth by the will of allah. bearing
in mind his birth itself was a great sign a great miracle from god

[003:046] "he will speak to the people, in the cradle and in manhood, and he
will be one of the righteous."

[003:048] and he (allâh) will teach him ['Îsâ (jesus)] the book and al-hikmah (i.e.
the sunnah, the faultless speech of the prophets, wisdom), (and) the taurât (torah)
and the injîl (gospel).

so according to the talmud his mother committed adultery with carpenters, this is narrated
in the quran too how after she had given him birth and came back to her people how they
(the jews) accused her of such a horrendous crime and sin. islam gives the answer to this.
how can one of the most pious women who they all knew she was a virgin, have
committed adultery?

[004:156] and because of their (jews) disbelief and uttering against maryam (mary
['alayhas-salâm]) a grave false charge (that she has committed illegal sexual
intercourse);

[019:027] then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. they said:
"o maryam (mary)! indeed you have brought a thing fariyy (a mighty thing). (tafsir
at-tabari)

[019:028] "o sister (i.e. the like) of hârûn (aaron)! your father was not a man who
used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman." i just need to point out
that (v.19:28) this hârûn (aaron) is not the brother of mûsâ (moses), but he was another pious man at the time of
maryam (mary).

[019:030] he ['Îsâ (jesus)] said: "verily, i am a slave of allâh, he has given

me the scripture and made me a prophet;"

[019:031] "and he has made me blessed wheresoever i be, and has

enjoined on me salât (prayer) and zakât (obligatory charity), as long as i
live."

[019:032] "and dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest.

so as we can see in chapter 19:30 that he spoke in the cradle to defend his mother against
those horrendous false charges of adultery. we also have another miracle mentioned in the
quran which exalts the position of the prophet jesus (pbuh) as a great prophet that
performed miracles by the will of god alone.

[005:110] (remember) when allâh will say (on the day of resurrection): "o 'Îsâ
(jesus), son of maryam (mary)! remember my favour to you and to your mother
when i supported you with rûh-ul-qudus [jibrâîl (gabriel)] so that you spoke to the
people in the cradle and in maturity; and when i taught you writing, al-hikmah (the
power of understanding), the taurât (torah) and the injîl (gospel); and when you
made out of the clay, a figure like that of a bird, by my permission, and you breathed
into it, and it became a bird by my permission, and you healed those born blind, and
the lepers by my permission, and when you brought forth the dead by my
permission; and when i restrained the children of israel from you (when they
resolved to kill you) as you came to them with clear proofs, and the disbelievers
among them said: 'this is nothing but evident magic."'

so there it is the prophet jesus (pbuh), according to the quran, apart from all the
other miracles it mentions and that the bible mentions too, which he performed by
the leave of god alone, he also designed birds out of clay and blew life into them.
these two miracles are not found anywhere in the bible or shall we say the canonized
gospels, however if we look in to the apocrypha (the hidden books and texts which
many christians do not believe in) we ca see a similarity of these verses there.
the infancy gospel of thomas
greek text a

ii. 1 this little child jesus when he was five years old was playing at the ford of a brook:
and he gathered together the waters that flowed there into pools, and made them
straightway clean, and commanded them by his word alone. 2 and having made soft
clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows.
4 and joseph came to the place and saw: and cried out to him, saying: wherefore doest
thou these things on the sabbath, which it is not lawful to do? but jesus clapped his
hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: go! and the sparrows
took their flight and went away chirping.
greek text b: says the same thing too:
iii. 1 now jesus made of that clay twelve sparrows: and it was the sabbath day. and a
child ran and told joseph, saying: behold, thy child playeth about the brook, and hath
made sparrows of the clay, which is not lawful. 2 and he when he heard it went and said
to the child: wherefore doest thou so and profaneth the sabbath? but jesus answered him
not, but looked upon the sparrows and said: go ye, take your flight, and remember
me in your life. and at the word they took flight and went up into the air.

the first gospel of the infancy of jesus christ says:

chapter 1
the following accounts we found in the book of joseph the high-priest, called by some
caiaphas:
2 he relates, that jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother:
3 mary, i am jesus the son of god, that word which thou didst bring forth according
to the declaration of the angel gabriel to thee, and my father hath sent me for the
salvation of the world.
so we can see here that the elevation and reverence given to the great prophet jesus
(peace be upon him) in islam is not found in the christian nor jewish bibles but actually
similarities are hidden away from the people in the apocrypha and many people are made
not to believe them. as a christian would one not want to revere jesus even more and
agree that he did perform these extra miracles by the will of god? why keep them hidden
or even deny their authenticity. one might say that although as we see in the first infancy
gospel he speaks in the cradle not to defend his mother as mentioned in the quran, but the
idea and concept is there, similarities are there:
[019:030] he ['Îsâ (jesus)] said: "verily, i am a slave of allâh, he has given
me the scripture and made me a prophet;"
i am jesus the son of god, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the
declaration of the angel gabriel to thee, and my father hath sent me for the salvation
of the world.
translations differed as times went by and some concepts were added and removed as far
as the christian texts are concerned but outright the same message is there.
jesus (pbuh) as others before were servants of god, they were sent to serve god son of god
in hebrew means servant of god or close to god:

luke: 69 and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant david;
joh 13:16 verily, verily, i say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he
that is sent greater than he that sent him.
so again islam although, it does not believe in the concept of jesus being god or son of
god but holds him in high esteem among the prophets.
[002.136] say (o muslims): "we believe in allâh and that which has been sent down
to us and that which has been sent down to ibrâhîm (abraham), ismâ'îl (ishmael),
ishâq (isaac), ya'qûb (jacob), and to al-asbât [the offspring of the twelve sons of
ya'qûb (jacob)], and that which has been given to mûsâ (moses) and 'isâ (jesus),
and that which has been given to the prophets from their lord. we make no
distinction between any of them, and to him we have submitted (in islâm)."

in islam the prophet jesus (pbuh) has been given an important role, there are many more
verses in the quran about him and his mother. there are chapters that cover these issues in
full. the second coming of the prophet jesus (pbuh) too is one of the signs of the end of
times. much is said in muslim scriptures (quran and hadeeth {traditions and teachings of
the prophet mohamed (pbuh)}) about him when he lived on this earth and also about his
second coming, to the extent of how he looks like too. too much for me to mention here.
may be i can write more in the future on this issue alone.

conclusion:

so as we have seen above although muslims do not believe that jesus was the son of god
nor god nor was he crucified, but we hold him in very high esteem and not believing what
the bible says about him does not in any way belittle him. the claims that muslims do not
believe in jesus (pbuh), as some would like others to believe is totally false and has no leg
to stand on. muslims love, revere and are the true followers of the true message of jesus
(pbuh).

[002.087] and indeed, we gave mûsâ (moses) the book and followed him up with a
succession of messengers. and we gave 'isâ (jesus), the son of maryam (mary),
clear signs and supported him with rûh-ul-qudus [jibrâîl (gabriel) ['alayhis-salâm]].
is it that whenever there came to you a messenger with what you yourselves desired
not, you grew arrogant? some you disbelieved and some you killed.

[005:046] and in their footsteps, we sent 'Îsâ (jesus), son of maryam (mary),
confirming the taurât (torah) that had come before him, and we gave him the injîl
(gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the taurât (torah) that
had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for al-muttaqûn (the pious. see
v.2:2).

[005:047] let the people of the injîl (gospel) judge by what allâh has revealed
therein. and whosoever does not judge by what allâh has revealed (then) such
(people) are the fâsiqûn [the rebellious i.e. disobedient (of a lesser degree) to allâh].

so until our next meeting i greet you, peace be with those who are righteously
guided.

aboo mohammad