“And when I inspired the Apostles that they should believe [pg 656] in Him and in my Apostle, they said, ‘We believe; do thou bear witness that we are resigned.’ ”
[116.] And when God said, “O Jesus, son of Mary! is it thou who dost say to men, take me and my mother for two gods, beside God?” He said: “I celebrate thy praise! what ails me that I should say what I have no right to? If I had said it, Thou wouldest have known it; Thou knowest what is in my soul, but I know not what is in Thy soul; verily Thou art one who knoweth the unseen. I never told them save what Thou didst bid me, ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord,’ and I was a witness against them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst take me away to Thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over all.”…
Surah IV, 152.
Relation of Islam to Judaism and Christianity.
[152.] The people of the Book will ask thee to bring down for them a book from heaven; but they asked Moses a greater thing than that, for they said, “Show us God openly”; but the thunderbolt caught them in their injustice. Then they took a calf, after what had come to them of manifest signs; but we pardoned that, and gave Moses obvious authority. And we held over them the mountain at their compact, and said to them, “Enter ye the door adoring,” and we said to them, “Transgress not on the Sabbath day,” and we took from them a rigid compact.
But for that they broke their compact, and for their misbelief in God's signs, and for their killing the prophets undeservedly, and for their saying, “Our hearts are uncircumcised”—nay, God hath stamped on them their misbelief, so that they cannot believe, except a few—and for their misbelief, and for their saying about Mary a mighty calumny, and for their saying, “Verily we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of God,” but they did not kill Him, and they did not crucify Him, but a similitude was made for [pg 657] them. And verily, those who differ about Him are in doubt concerning Him; they have no knowledge concerning Him, but only follow an opinion. They did not kill Him, for sure! nay God raised Him up unto Himself; for God is mighty and wise!…
[164.] O ye people of the Book! do not exceed in your religion, nor say against God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is but the apostle of God and His Word, which He cast into Mary and a spirit from Him; believe then in God and His apostles, and say not “Three.” Have done! it were better for you. God is only one God, celebrated be His praise that He should beget a Son!
Surah LVI.
The delights of heaven and the pains of hell.
This description of the future life has been taken as characteristic of the religion of Mohammed, but not quite fairly. It is simply the Bedouin's idea of complete happiness, and is by no means characteristic of the religion as the whole.