Islam for Christians

The Mahdi is a figure from the hadith... a man from Muhammad's family who will come before Jesus comes... again. The Mahdi is a curiosity for some Muslims, dogma for others, and the source of religious imagination for those who dream of a world beyond Islamic orthodoxy.

Episodes will now be released twice a month rather than the four you may be used to...

For two years after Uhud, both sides avoid major battles and fight on the outskirts of Arabia. A second Battle of Badr is planned but never happens, but it becomes obvious that these sides will fight, and only one can be master of the peninsula.

When the sky splits open, and when the stars fall away, and when the seas burst forth, and when the graves spill out, then each soul will know what it has sent forth or left behind. O humanity! What has emboldened you against your Lord, the Most Generous, Who created you, fashioned you, and perfected your design, moulding you in whatever form He willed? But no! In fact, you deny the ˹final˺ Judgme...

What the Quran has to say on Jesus and the end times.

He who gets back his charity is like a dog which vomits, and then returns to that and eats it.

The seeds for 1400 years of Jewish-Muslim enmity are planted as Muhammad takes action against a tribe he sees as disloyal and dangerous. This was a first in Muslim history, but for the Jews it was just another in a countless number of expulsions through out time. From Assyria to Babylon to Rome to Spain to Russia to Uganda... this is a familiar pattern - with an ironic twist from the conflict in m...

Surah 83 continued, focusing in a few more words unique in the Quran.

If the Christian story is wrong... then what exactly is right? If Jesus did not suffer, die, get buried and rise from the dead on the third day -- then what is the Islamic story? There are many theories but little certainty.

The Messenger of Allah said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe, and the believer is the one from whom the people's lives and wealth are safe."

Wrapping up the Battle of Uhud. Who won? The Quran gives one answer, and also downgrades the expected strength of a Muslim warrior.

Woe unto the defrauders: Those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it full, But if they measure unto them or weight for them, they cause them loss. Do such (men) not consider that they will be raised again Unto an Awful Day, The day when (all) mankind stand before the Lord of the Worlds? Nay, but the record of the vile is in Sijjin Ah! what will convey unto thee what Sijjin is! A wr...

The difficulty of the cross has spouted different non-Christian interpretations throughout the years... including a very old heresy called Docetism. Muslims, as believers in the holiness of Jesus, need a much more detailed accounting for Jesus and the cross than Jews.... however, the Quran has little to say on the subject.

"I heard Anas bin Malik narrating that the Prophet said: 'There are three things, whoever attains them will find therein a sweetness of faith: When he loves a person, and only loves him for the sake of Allah; when Allah and His Messenger are dearer to him than all else; and when he would prefer to be thrown into the fire rather to go back to the disbelief from which Allah has saved him.'"

Hamza's body is mutilated.... Quryashi allies recoil at the battlefield mutilation... the battlefield victors leave for Mecca... why they left... an alternate theory on what happened at Uhud.

When the heaven is split asunder And attentive to her Lord in fear, And when the earth is spread out And hath cast out all that was in her, and is empty And attentive to her Lord in fear! Thou, verily, O man, art working toward thy Lord a work which thou wilt meet (in His presence). Then whoso is given his account in his right hand He truly will receive an easy reckoning And will return unto his f...

Jesus as the Word of God. What does that mean anyway? And what does it mean in Islam? Well... it's complicated.

We witnessed along with Allah's Messenger the Khaibar (campaign). Allah's Messenger told his companions about a man who claimed to be a Muslim, "This man is from the people of the Fire." When the battle started, the man fought very bravely and received a great number of wounds and got crippled. On that, a man from among the companions of the Prophet came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you know w...

The Muslim army begins to win the battle... then suffers an unlikely setback. Muhammad give his archers a clear directive: “Whether we are winning or losing you stay where you are. If you see us plundering a defeated army and wish to have a share of it… stay where you are. If you see us dying and want to help us… stay where you are.” Some listen, some don't, and the battle takes a chaotic turn. Mu...

By the sky full of constellations, and the promised Day of Judgment and the witness and what is witnessed! Condemned are the makers of the ditch— the fire pit, filled with fuel— when they sat around it, watching what they had ˹ordered to be˺ done to the believers, who they resented for no reason other than belief in Allah—the Almighty, the Praiseworthy— the One to Whom belongs the kingdom of the h...

Jesus as the Son of God. What is a son, anyway? How would it have been seen in Muhammad's world? And what is the function of Jesus -- a special prophet born of a virgin -- within Islam? If Jesus is not the Son of God... then what is He?

Sunan an-Nasa'i 5013 It was narrated from Qatadah that: He heard Anas say: "The Messenger of Allah said: 'None of you has believed until I am dearer to him than his son, his father and all the people.'"

The armies line up at the foot of Mount Uhud, and the Muslims find yet another great position to fight. The armies fight while 50 key archers protect the flanks, rendering the Meccan cavalry useless. Hamza falls in the battle, basically assassinated by a well-paid slave. And the moment of truth arrives for the 50 archers who could make or break the Muslim army.

God gives solace to Muhammad... and hints at the nature of why evil appears to thrive. Lo! they plot a plot (against thee, O Muhammad) And I plot a plot (against them). So give a respite to the disbelievers. Deal thou gently with them for a while.

Giving a broad take on Jesus' role in Islam, and his importance (or lack thereof) in Islamic theology. A preview of the rest of the Jesus episodes.