Church of Sweden ‘theologian’: Christians should accept Muhammad as prophet to show ‘respect’ for Muslims
MAR 23, 2021 8:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER
Jakob Wirén is unaware of or indifferent to the fact, but he has entangled himself in a contradiction. The prophets of the Judeo-Christian tradition do not contradict one another. But the Qur’an in numerous passages contradicts and presents itself as purporting to correct Christian doctrine. Among those passages are these:
Jesus is not the Son of God and belief in the Trinity is “excess”: “O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter anything concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and his word which he conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and do not say ‘Three.’ Cease! It is better for you! Allah is only One Allah. It is far removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.” — Qur’an 4:171
And: “It is not befitting to Allah that he should beget a son. Glory be to him! When He determines a matter, he only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” — Qur’an 19:35
Jesus was not crucified: “And because of their saying: We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger – they did not kill him or crucify him, but it appeared so to them; and those who disagree concerning it are in doubt about it; they have no knowledge of it except pursuit of a conjecture; they did not kill him for certain.” — Qur’an 4:157
Those who believe in the divinity of Christ are unbelievers: “They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary.” — Qur’an 5:17 (cf. 5:72)
Christians have forgotten part of the divine revelations they received: “From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done.” — Qur’an 5:14
Those who believe that Jesus is God’s Son are accursed: “The Jews call Ezra a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! ” — Qur’an 9:30
Christians who do not accepted Muhammad and the Qur’an are the most vile of created beings: “Nor did those who were given the Scripture become divided until after there had come to them clear evidence. And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion. Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the most vile of created beings.” — Qur’an 98:6
Muslims must fight against and subjugate Christians: “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden what has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” — Qur’an 9:29
Also, a hadith has Muhammad predicting that Jesus will return at the end of the world and break the cross, as it is an insult to Allah’s power to say that he would have allowed one of his prophets to be crucified: “Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, ‘By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, son of Mary [Jesus] will shortly descend amongst you people [Muslims] as a just ruler and will break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizya [a tax taken from the non-Muslims, who are in the protection, of the Muslim government]. Then there will be abundance of money and nobody will accept charitable gifts.’” — Bukhari 3.34.425
So if young Wirén as a Christian accepts Muhammad as a prophet, which word does he take as true? That of the New Testament or that of the Qur’an and Sunnah? And if Christians must acknowledge Muhammad as a prophet to show “respect” for Muslims, must Muslims acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world to show “respect” for Christians? No? Why not?
“Church of Sweden leader: Christians can have Muhammad as a prophet,” translated from “Svenska kyrkan-topp: Kristna kan ha Muhammed som profet,” Fria Tider, March 20, 2021:
DIVERSITY. Can Islam’s chief prophet Muhammad also be a prophet for Christians? Yes, says Jakob Wirén, who is one of the Church of Sweden’s foremost theologians.
It is in a newly published book entitled Making room for the other? as Wirén devotes a chapter to Muhammad and the role he may play for Christian people. Wirén is a theologian and is part of the archbishop’s staff in the Church of Sweden.
Wirén claims that Christians may well consider Muhammad a prophet even for Christians, if only because he was a “defender of monotheism.”
– When it comes to the concept of the prophet, it is quite open. There are prophets and prophecies even after Jesus’ resurrection, not least in the New Testament, he says to the Christian newspaper Dagen.
Wirén believes that it is important for Christians to be able to think of Muhammad as a Christian prophet of “respect” for Muslims. In a follow-up debate article, he laments that so many Christians dislike Muhammad and that “public discourse on Islam is often poisoned by extremism and hatred.”
However, the claim that Muhammad can be regarded as a Christian prophet encounters an opposing party, including Dagens lead writer Fredrik Wenell. “The notion that Muhammad can be a prophet also in the Christian tradition is thus contrary to both the Christian and the Muslim tradition,” he writes, among other things. |
