Islam rewrites biblical history. Adam, Abraham, Ishmael, and many other biblical persons are said to be Muslims. Such claims have no basis in reality. Suppose that I were to rewrite Islamic history. I say that Muhammad was a Christian. He was married to one woman for life. He proclaimed Jesus as Son of God. If this lie were told repeatedly for generations, some people might come to believe it. But it would still be a lie.
Claiming that Jesus is a Muslim prophet who will honor Islamic teaching on the Day of Judgment stretches imagination to the breaking point. The Quran plainly teaches that acknowledging God’s Son is blasphemy. But the emphatic message of the Gospels is that Jesus is indeed God’s unique Son. And in many instances Jesus himself is the one affirming his deity.
Jesus comes to the Jordan and asks John the Baptist to immerse him in the river. John hesitates. He feels so unworthy. But Jesus insists. And when he “was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'” (Matt. 3:16-17).
Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi. He asks his disciples to tell him what they think of him. Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). And does Jesus rebuke Peter for saying this? Quite the opposite. Jesus answers, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona [son of John]! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (v. 17).
Jesus is on trial before the Jewish supreme court (the Sanhedrin). The high priest asks him under oath to either confess or deny his identity: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61). And what is the answer? Jesus says, “I am; and you will see the Son of man [a Messianic title] sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (v. 62).
How can the Jesus of the Gospels possibly be reconciled with the Quranic Jesus? He can’t be. Jesus tells Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Jesus doesn’t say that he is “a way.” He is “the way,” that is, the only way. If this is so, then Muhammad isn’t the way to God or even a way to God. He is leading his followers, but he isn’t leading them to the Father.
So on the Day of Judgment, will Jesus welcome people into the Father’s presence who believe that he and his disciples are all blasphemers? I’m glad to say that I’m not the Judge! Jesus holds that distinction (2 Cor. 5:10). Here is what he tells the Jewish authorities: “You will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he” (John 8:24).