Why do Muslims disagree with Christians about the divinity of Jesus if they claim that Allah is the same god as the Christian God?

Answer 1

Answer

This is a contradiction within Islamic Theology that traces back to the argument that Jesus is not divine (Q: 9:31 and 19:35-36) and the argument that the God that the Muslims worship is the same as the Jewish and Christian God (Q: 29:46). Given that Christology is a critical and fundamental component of Christian, this appears to be a contradiction, since then the Islamic God and the Christian God are not the same entity. There are two general arguments that act contrarily to this. The religious Islamic argument is that the majority of Christians today have distorted the teachings of Jesus to create the current Christology which is not in accordance with the original teachings of Jesus. Therefore, the Christian God, as commonly understood, is based on an incorrect understanding of Jesus and his relation to God.

The second argument is more secular and effectively ascribes an Arab authorship of the Qur'an as opposed to a Divine Authorship. Under this view, Muhammad was discussing the Christianity he was familiar with, which were, even by that time, heresies. Several of these heresies taught that Jesus was not himself a divinity and it was these views of Jesus that were incorporated into the Islamic narrative. In contrast to the hubristic nature of the Islamic religious argument, in that it suggests that Muslims know better than Christians what Christianity is supposed to be, the religious argument also fails to address the historical flaw of the Qur'an in not addressing Christology properly. If God had revealed the Qur'an, then God would have known that the Nicene Creed and Christology had been formalized over 200 years before the Qur'an was revealed and would easily taken this into account. If the Qur'an was written by a person or group of people who were constrained by their local knowledge, then the Qur'an's understanding of Christianity exclusively from heresies makes perfect sense.

Verses Cited Above - All citations are to Sahih International

Q: 9:31:They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah , and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.

Q: 19:35-36: It is not [befitting] for Allah to take a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, "Be," and it is. [Jesus said], "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path."

Q: 29:46: And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."

Answer 2

Muslims view Jesus as a prophet and their god is one entity. Christians believe in the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) and so Jesus is more than a prophet.

Answer 3

The two issues are unrelated. God (Allah) is one entity; Jesus Christ is someone different.