So it is Christmas again, and I wish all my readers the choicest greetings. I have previously posted some of my reflections on Christmas as a Scottish Muslim. Here in Egypt it will be celebrated by the Coptic community on 7th January, and it is also a national holiday. Idris Tawfiq, who was a Catholic priest before becoming a Muslim, has also presented his thoughts on the occasion at Reading Islam.

On a related note, I have noticed an increase in usage lately of the phrase “The Muslim Jesus”. Former Cambridge professor Tarif Khalidi wrote a fascinating compilation of Muslim traditions related to the Prophet Jesus (on whom be peace), and there was an ITV documentary broadcast in 2007 by the same title. Emel magazine has given this title to its latest issue, as did – more surprisingly – the New Statesman magazine of 14th December 2009. The latter featured an in-depth, very interesting article by Mehdi Hasan in which he outlined Islamic doctrine concerning this great prophet, and explored its significance in the field of inter-religious dialogue.

One particularly interesting excerpt that chimes with my experience:

But the real significance of Mary is that Islam considers her a virgin and endorses the Christian concept of the Virgin Birth. “She was the chosen woman, chosen to give birth to Jesus, without a husband,” says Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam in Leicester and assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). This is the orthodox Islamic position and, paradoxically, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr notes in ‘The Heart of Islam’, “respect for such teachings is so strong among Muslims that today, in interreligious dialogues with Christians . . . Muslims are often left defending traditional . . . Christian doctrines such as the miraculous birth of Christ before modernist interpreters would reduce them to metaphors.”

For what it’s worth, I question how effective the expression “Muslim Jesus” actually is, as it seems to miss the point that religious people today, like millions throughout history, have exerted their efforts to understand the implications of this unique man’s short life on earth and the message he brought. Indeed, this struggle was manifested in the earliest days in divisions between competing sects – which repeatedly turned towards violence and oppression. Did each group have its own Jesus, or was there a greater truth at stake?

To Muslims, Jesus (on whom be peace) is an example to be followed, a perfect worshipper of Almighty God. This is what we must contribute to the discourse first and foremost, as we understand Islam (wilful submission to God) to be the religion of Jesus and all prophets and their followers. Thus we expect all religious people to seek to be the best “small-m muslims” they can be, even if they do not agree with us that this consists in being a “big-M Muslim” who follows Muhammad, the successor to Jesus – peace be upon them.