Jesus Is Muslim!!!!

"Jesus is Muslim!!!"

This was the title of the lecture at the community college at Dupage County in Illinois, College of Dupage (COD), organized by the Muslim Student Association (MSA) on April 30.
More than 100 people were there, including professors, but mostly Muslims, and some converts to Islam, with a self-imposed segregation between males and females in seating arrangements. In addition, two tables, one for boys, and one for girls, each on a different side of the room, were set for refreshments. They wanted to make sure that boy and girls would not mix.
A disciple of the late famous South African Muslim apologist Ahmed Deedat, Isra, a veiled woman in her late thirties who hails from New York, gave the presentation. She tried to prove from the Bible that Jesus practiced the religion of Muhammad, who preached Islam around 600 years after Christ walked the earth.
As usual with minorities in the US, the lecturer was handled with kid gloves by Christians in the audience. No body dared ask the question whether the lady lecturer was being anachronistic or not, especially at the start.
The lecturer asked who understood the title of the lecture ("Jesus is Muslim"). I had to throw something at her. So, I said: "First, I am glad that you used the present tense of the verb to be (is) in the title of the lecture, which means that you believe that Jesus is alive. Secondly, if Islam is submission to the will of God, and you say that Jesus submitted to the will of his Father and went to the cross, then, in this sense you may say he is Muslim."
She ignored the issue of the crucifixion and reiterated that since Jesus submitted to the will of God in many ways, then "Jesus is a Muslim."
The atmosphere was so tense, and the moderator started to look at me with great animosity, avoiding my raised hand all the time.
Then, the lecturer asked the question: "What was Jesus' first miracle?"
A Christian in the audience said that it was changing water to wine. She commented: "No. According to the Quran, Jesus' spoke in the cradle in order to defend his mother against the accusation of adultery."
The lecturer quoted the chapter entitled Mary in the Quran:
[19.27] And she came to her people with him, carrying him [baby Jesus] (with her). They said: O Marium! surely you have done a strange thing.
[19.28 ] O sister of Haroun! Your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman.
[19.29] But she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who was a child in the cradle?
[19.30 ] He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet;
[19.31] And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live;
[19.32] And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed;
[19.33] And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life.
[19.34] Such is Isa, son of Marium; (this is) the saying of truth about which they dispute.
In order to draw the attention of female students, she commented: "Note how Jesus defends his mother in the Quran, while in the New Testament he calls her 'woman' rudely."
Second Premise: Jesus called God his father and the father of his followers, and never claimed that he is God.
She quoted John 20: 17, when Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Jesus at the tomb:
Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
Third Premise: Jesus fasted like Muslims. She quoted Matthew 6: 16- 18
16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The lecturer commented that Muhammad gave his followers the same commandments whenever they fast.
Fourth Premise: Jesus prayed like Muslims pray. She quoted Matthew 26: 39
" And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed (…)"
"Have you seen how Muslims pray? They prostrate themselves like Jesus did."

Fifth Premise: "Jesus greeted his disciple like Muslims do: Peace be with you, which is in Arabic Assalamu Alaykum."
The lecturer quoted John 20: 19:
Jesus came and stood among them and said, " Peace be with you!"
After the lecturer finished her presentation, she took questions and avoided my raised hand again and again, until the audience commented saying, "This guy has been waiting for ever."
After waiting "forever," I thought that there was no point in arguing with her as long as she picked and chose from the Bible. So, I decided to ask the question which was like the elephant in the room:
"The title of your lecture and your premises makes me put the thesis of your presentation in a different way: Instead of saying that Jesus is Muslim, why don't you ask the question: 'Was Muhammad Jewish?'"
Then I added quickly before she had the chance to answer my question:
"Muhammad prayed towards Jerusalem, before his emigration to Medina. He prayed twice a day, like Jews, before his emigration too. In addition, Muhammad fasted Yum Kippur, and fasted twice a week like Pharisees."
Then a Christian sitting next to me mentioned that the Quran abounds with biblical stories and narratives from the apocrypha.
She was fit to be tied, and glared at me saying: "Mister, why don't you gather some people, set some platform, and give a lecture?"
Well…as if she truly foretold my plans: Starting the first student club of its kind, "Muslims for the Messiah," I will certainly do that.
By Hicham Chehab