JESUS VS. MUHAMMAD: 33 Striking Differences

JESUS VS. MUHAMMAD: 33 Striking Differences

1) Their Sin:

Firstly, Jesus, according to the Biblical record, was sinless whilst Mohammad, according to the Koranic record, was sinful. In Mecca Muhammad received a command about his sin:

“Then have patience (O Muhammad). Lo! the promise of Allah is true. And ask forgiveness of thy sin and hymn the praise of thy Lord at fall of night and in the early hours.”(Surah 40:55)

2) Their tombs:

It is a historical fact that Jesus’ tomb was found to be empty by some of his women followers, as the Austrian scholar Jacob Kremer notes: “By far most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements concerning the empty tomb.” Yet Muhammad’s body is still in his grave. Although Muslims may claim that his soul has gone to heaven none to my knowledge claims that his tomb is empty or that he was bodily raised like Jesus.

3) Their deaths:

According to the Biblical and Koranic records respectively Jesus died for the sins of the world whilst Muhammad died from poisoning.

4) Their dealing with sexual sins:

In Surah 24:2 Mohammad says:

“The fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. [This punishment is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime (illegal sex), but if married persons commit it (illegal sex), the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allah’s law.”

Muhammad as portrayed within the Koran and within the Hadiths paints a rather brutal scene, yet we see a vast difference with Jesus. Firstly, Jesus explains why there are vices such as adultery. In the Sermon on the Mount, regarding the sins of adultery and lust, he says:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27-28)

5) Their Violence:

Jesus sets a very high standard for his followers to emulate if they are to “take up his cross and follow” him (Matthew 16:24). When Jesus was interrogated by the authorities he says:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36)

Muhammad paints for us an altogether different picture as, which the Koran attests to, he committed assassinations, as well as threatened to murder over ten people. These threats stemmed from the fact these people offended him in some way, some, for example, wrote satirical poems about him. In Surah 33:60-61 Muhammad says:

“If the hypocrites, the sick of heart, and those who spread lies in the city [Medina] do not desist, We shall arouse you [Prophet] against them, and then they will only be your neighbors in this city for a short while. They will be rejected wherever they are found, and then seized and killed.”

6) Their confrontation with Satan:

Sayyid Abul A’La Maududi, a well-known Islamic commentator, says that the hadiths on Muhammad’s bewitchment, and influences from magic, are evident: “As far as the historical aspect is concerned, the incident of the Holy Prophet’s being affected by magic is absolutely confirmed.” According to the Hadith traditions Muhammad was negatively affected by magic.

On the hand Jesus exercised a great authority over powers of darkness, as well as took Satan head on. In Luke 4:33-35 we read on Jesus’ encounter with a demon:

“In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God! “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.”

7) Their religious freedom:

Jesus says: “If anyone comes after [follows] me” . . . (Matthew 17:24). Jesus let people decide for themselves, if they refuse to follow him then so be it. The word “if” implies freedom in choosing to either accept the way of Jesus or to reject it. Unlike Muhammad there was no army or power that tried to force people to believe.

Whereas Muhammad forcefully imposes his will, we read in Surah 9:5:

“Then, when the months made unlawful for fighting expire, kill the mushriks [polytheists] wherever you find them, and seize them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish Salat [prayer five times a day] and pay the Zakat dues [charity tax], then let them go their way.” (Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur’an, vol. 2, p. 175; insertions mine).

8) Muhammad said that Allah does not love those who reject Islam (Koran 30:45, 3:32, 22:38), whereas Jesus said that God loves everyone whether they believe in him or not (John 3:16). The Christian God is all loving and is unconditional in his love, whereas Allah’s love is strictly conditional.

9) Jesus condemned stealing: “Thou shall not steal” (Matthew 19:18), whereas Muhammad permitted stealing from unbelievers: “The people felt hungry and captured some camels and sheep (as booty)” (Bukhari 44:668).

10) Muhammad permits lying (Sahih Muslim 6303, Bukhari 49:857) whilst Jesus does not: “Thou shalt not bear false witness” (Matthew 19:18).

11) Jesus never owned slavers, or traded them, whereas Muhammad did: “Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Sell him to me” (Sahih Muslim 3901).

12) Whereas Jesus preached forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-22, 5:38), Muhammad did not. We saw above that he assassinated those who mocked or ridiculed him.

13) Muhammad taught revenge: “If then anyone transgresses the prohibition against you, Transgress ye likewise against him” (Koran 2:194), whereas Jesus did not: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39).

14) Their personal and private relationships differed greatly. Jesus was celibate, whereas Muhammad Married 13 wives and kept sex slaves (Bukhari 5:268, Koran 33:50).

15) Muhammad had sex with a nine year old (Bukhari 5:268, Koran 33:50) whereas Jesus never had sex with children.

16) The peace factor of their teachings were staunchly antithetical, according to Muhammad jihad in the way of Allah elevates one’s position in Paradise by a hundredfold (Muslim 4645), whereas Jesus says: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

17) Their approaches to women was different. Jesus forgave prostitutes, and even had women followers. However, Muhammad murdered women (Ibn Ishaq 819, 995).

18) Jesus never commanded or ordered combat campaigns or war on unbelievers, whereas Muhammad order at least 65 such campaigns in the final ten years of his life (Ibn Ishaq).

19) In those final years Muhammad killed many captives in battle: “ Then a man drew his sword and cut off his son’s foot so that he fell down and Umayya [the boy’s father] let out a cry such as I have never heard… They hewed them to pieces with their swords until they were dead.” (Ibn Ishaq 451, Ishaq/Hisham 449), whereas Jesus never captured or killed anyone.

20) Jesus never enslaved women or ever raped them, whereas Muhammad did (Abu Dawood 2150, Koran 4:24).

21) Muhammad was never tortured, but did torture others (Muslim 4131, Ibn Ishaq 436, 595, 734, 764), whereas Jesus never tortured anyone, but was tortured himself.

22) Jesus instructs us to love and pray for them (Matthew 5:44), whereas Muhammad did not: “And fight them until there is no more persecution and religions is only for Allah” (Koran 8:39)

23) Muhammad celebrated and blessed the murder of a half-blind man (al-Tabari 1440), whereas Jesus healed a blind man (Mark 8:28).

24) Muhammad and Jesus had an antithetical views on what were the greatest commandments. According to Jesus the greatest commandments were to “Love God and love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:34-40), whereas Muhammad believed that it was “Belief in Allah and Jihad (holy war) in His cause” (Muslim 1:149).

25) Muhammad demanded the protection of armed bodyguards, even in a house of worship (Koran 4:102), whereas Jesus did not (John 18:10-12).

26) While Jesus gave his life for others (John 18:11), Muhammad had others give their lives to him (Sahih Muslim 4413).

27) Although we have already seen many of Muhammad’s murderous tendencies we also see that he consented to the crucifying of others (Koran 5:33, Muslim 16:4131), where Jesus was himself crucified to save mankind from its sinful nature.

28) While Jesus’ followers were persecuted and never used force, Muhammad’s followers, and many to this day, forcefully persecute and execute those who do not believe.

29) According to Muhammad: “He who fights that Allah’s word should be superior fights in Allah’s cause” (Bukhari 53:355), whilst Jesus instructs his followers to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Matthew 15:16).

30) While Jesus’ followers gave their possessions to those in need (Acts 2:44-5),Muhammad’s followers stole, and lived off the wealth of others. Many times Muhammad in his war against Mecca he hijacked caravans that transported goods in the desert.

31) While Muhammad emphasizes his kingdom on Earth: “And Allah has made you heirs to their land and their dwellings and their property” (Koran 33:27), Jesus declares that his kingdom is not of the world: “Mine is not a kingdom of this world” (John 18:36, Luke 14:33)

32) Jesus’ followers shared their faith proudly yet with gentleness and kindness (1 Peter 3:15), whereas Muhammad’s followers were instructed to Kill, convert or subjugate Christians and Jews (Koran 9:29). Both teachings respectively stem from Jesus and Muhammad themselves.

33) Whereas Jesus’ legacy was that of mercy, forgiveness, love and righteousness, Mohammad’s was not. The Islamic texts instruct men to beat their disobedient wives (Koran 4:34, Sahih Muslim 2127), whilst the Christian texts instruct men: “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them” (Colossians 3:19).

Conclusion:

I think what these 33 above points have shown is just how different Jesus and Muhammad were as people, how much their messages differed, and how antithetical their teachings were to one another. We can also see the legacies they have left within the activities of their followers. While it is very common for Muslim Jihadists to strike terror into the hearts of people via terrorism, we see an altogether different picture with Christians who give their lives to helping those in need, and thus are often killed for doing so. Such activities stem from the very founder of each of the religions. In my view I don’t think Jesus and Muhammad are even remotely comparable to each other, it is probably an insult to Jesus to compare him to Muhammad. I also think if we had to choose between the two of them and who really was the one bearing God’s true message it would be, without even batting an eyelid, Jesus through-and-through. Nevertheless, in concluding Wafa Sultan, who labels herself as a Muslim but does not adhere to Islam, says:

“The problem with Christians is they aren’t as good as Jesus.  But thank God most Muslims are better than Muhammad.”