Manama: A prominent Saudi religious scholar has joined in the online conversation about whether Muslims loved Jesus.
“We love Jesus who was miraculously conceived by a single word from God ‘Be’; a man of honor in this life and the next,” Shaikh Adel Al Kilani posted under the hashtag “#Do_Muslims_Love_Jesus”
The scholar’s statement triggered a wide range of comments on social media ranging from full support to outright criticism.
Those who supported him argued that Al Kilani was clear about the high significance of Jesus for Muslims and about how he is seen as a prophet, and not as the son of God.
“We thank Shaikh Al Kilani for joining in the debate and clarifying the stance of Muslims, especially that many Christians are not genuinely aware of the tenets of our religion,” he posted.
Another user said that all believers loved Jesus and there should be no doubt about it.
“All Muslims, I included, love Muslims and we believe in his miracles. However, we do not see him as the son of God since God has no son or daughter or father or mother,” Basil posted.
Ghazi said that the question whether Muslims loved Jesus should not have been asked in the first place.
“There is no issue here and they are stating the obvious. We do love Jesus and we do love his mother. We are not against humanity as some people claim. Our religion is very clear about prophets,” he posted.
Abu Humood said that Muslims “love Jesus, maybe much more than Christians do.”
Those who opposed Al Kilani said that the scholar and other Muslims should not engage themselves in such debates.
“I wonder whether Shaikh Al Kilani made the statement because Christians these days celebrate Christmas and I wonder what he wants to achieve,” a user posted under the moniker “Ismak”.
Musammam, another user, said that maybe it was time to ask the question “Do Christians love Mohammad?”
The hashtag triggered a wide range of comments.
“We believe in him as a Prophet of Allah and believe in his Book of the Gospel,” Dr Fawzan posted. “The call for Monotheism was the essence of the Message of Jesus (PBUH).”
Nadia said that she was a Muslim and loved Jesus.
“I also believe that God is One has no son, and Jesus is His messenger,” she posted.
For Pato, “Islam is the only religion that calls for believing in all the prophets with no discrimination between them.”
Nayef Al Sahfe said that “we love Jesus and believe that he’s a messenger of Allah and this belief is one of the pillars of the Islamic faith.”
