Easter

Jesus Saves! About this, Muslims and Christians agree.

This weekend, many Christians and even non-Christians observe Easter, either as a religious or secular/traditional event. To Christians, Easter is a remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (as) after his execution by crucifixion. The most commonly held date according to some Christian sources for the execution of Jesus is Friday, April 7, 30 CE, which would put the date associated with his resurrection as April 9. But, even the four gospels in the New Testament do not agree entirely on the events of the crucifixion and resurrection and their timings, with the Gospel of John account differing significantly from the other three in many respects. So far, nothing has been found in historic sources or through archaeological research that clearly indicates much about the life or death of Jesus.

The date of Easter observance was set by the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE as the first Sunday after the first Paschal full moon after March 20. March 20 was the date of the Spring Equinox in 325 CE. Orthodox Christians modify this rule slightly compared to other Christians by using the Julian instead of the Gregorian calendar, and using the Nicaea calculation only if the date comes after Passover (14 Nisan on the Jewish calendar). The date of the execution is believed to have occurred after Passover, which Christians consider as a symbol of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Passover is the observance of an event mentioned in Exodus, when God visited plagues on Egypt, including the killing of firstborn sons. Hebrew followers of Moses (as) who marked their doorsteps with lamb's blood were passed-over for this plague.

There are a few opinions about the origin of the term "Easter", most of which address ancient pagan religious observances. "Easter" is said to come from the name of the goddess of fertility Ishtar/Eostre/Austron. This pagan connection shows up in many modern Easter practices - both secular and religious - such as eating hot cross buns, the symbols of rabbits and eggs, Easter lilies, sunrise services, and Easter candles, traditions that appear to have origins in the worship of Ishtar in the season of the Spring Equinox. Some people do make a connection between the figure of Isthar Ishtar and Biblical figures - she speculated in some sources to be the Queen Semiramis, the wife of Nimrud, great-grandson of Prophet Noah (as).

Nimrud (or Nimrod)  - whose name means "the rebel", according to the Bible and legend gathered from many sources, was a disbelieving powerful tyrant, head of an occult mystery religion, and founder of great but corrupt cities like Babel and Nineveh. When he died, his wife deified him as a Sun-God,  later known by such names as Baal and Molech. She later had an illegitimate son, Tammuz, whom she claimed was the resurrected Nimrud supernaturally conceived.

Since pagans associated this resurrection story with the Ishtar festivals around the Spring Equinox, and Spring is the season in which the execution and resurrection of Jesus (as) are purported to have occurred, it was a natural fit for the two resurrection observances to comingle as pagans became Christians, leading to the Easter we know today.

Easter is largely considered the most important observance on the Christian calendar today, because it is associated with the belief in Jesus's (as) role as savior. Generally speaking, many Christians believe that no human being can live a good enough life to warrant entry into God's presence in heaven. Further, God is Just, so every sin must be paid for or punished. In order that humans have access to Heaven and aren't all doomed to Hell by their sinful natures, through His Mercy, God wills and accepts the death of Jesus, the only sinless person ever to live (a proof of his divine nature), as payment for the sins of all those who believe and acknowledge this "Gospel Truth." Therefore, they celebrate his (as) rising from the dead as the completion and acceptance by God of this sacrifice, and thus as the guarantee of their after-lives in Heaven rather than Hell.

While Christians generally cite the divinity of Jesus (as) as key to the way he saves, Muslims consider deification of Jesus (as) as an obstacle to knowing God and His true salvation Good News. Muslims, like Christians, regard Jesus (as) as savior, but not through a redemptive sacrifice. Islam rejects a few essential notions in the Christian salvation concept:

1. According to some Islamic sources, all prophets (as), and not just Jesus (as), lived sinless lives, and this trait is an indication of a messenger or guide of God, but not of divinity or godhood. The purpose of all these messengers and guides is to demonstrate and teach how to live a good life via example and delivery of God's guidance, and sinlessness is an important trait in being able to serve as a proper guide and example.  Sinlessness does not mean absolute perfection or super-humanness, however.  Most people admit they could commit and succeed at getting through one day without committing anything they understood to be sin.  Many Muslims believe that the best among us can do so day after day.

2. Muslims believe God can forgive sins by simply doing so, and has not chosen to constrict His forgiveness to the method of a blood sacrifice of a sinless or divine person. Salvation is in essence a meeting between a human's approaching God by trying to live a sinless and ideal life according to God's guidance, and the Love and Mercy of God turning to His Creation with forgiveness. No one is guaranteed salvation by claiming a certain set of beliefs, but people's actions, beliefs and intentions will all be weighed with both Justice and Mercy.

3. According to the orthodox interpretations of Qur'an and other Islamic sources, Jesus (as) was not crucified, and did not die for anyone's sins. He has not died yet, and was raised alive and will return. There is some suggestion that a crucifixion or attempt did take place, but it was a case of a scapegoat or mistaken identity - some have said this person was Judas.  However, the matter is not clear, and the Qur'an indicates that people have speculated about what happened and built a house of cards on speculation.

On these latter points of being raised alive and returning, as well as many other awesome aspects of Jesus' (as) nature, such as virgin birth and performance of miracles, Muslims and Christians tend to agree or at least have a lot of similarity/commonality in belief. Thus, the primary differences between Muslims and Christians about the historical Jesus (as) are only his divinity and his death - but these differences contribute to considerably different conclusions about salvation.

Christians claim Jesus (as) as their savior, and Muslims do, too. In that sense, Muslims are Christians. But in the same sense, Muslims could also be called 'Abrahamans', 'Mosans', 'Noahans, and even the politically incorrect 'Mohamedans'. Muslims claim all the sinless prophets and guides as saviors, through their deliverance of God's message to mankind, as well as perhaps through intercession. Therefore, applying the name of any one of them alone is incomplete as a reference to Muslims. The universal message that all the prophets delivered and which instructs mankind about knowing and approaching God, distinguishing truth from falsehood, and distinguishing right from wrong actions, is what Muslims consider as the "Gospel" that Jesus (as) delivered and that saves.

In the Qur'an, Christians are mentioned as the closest in faith to the Muslims because of the shared lineage of guidance both faiths recognize from Adam to Jesus.  The Qur'an makes examples of Jesus (as) and other prophets extensively. We learn and apply the teachings from all of them and not Mohamed (saw) alone. However, we are not limited to the Bible or Qur'an for knowing and following Jesus (as). Shia hadith collections and surviving apocryphal texts are other sources on Jesus (as) worthy of study for Muslims and Christians alike, each to be understood within the context of their individual limitations. Some of the sayings in Shia sources attributed to or about Jesus (as) are also contained in the Gospels of the Christians, while others would be found as relatively unique to a Christian reader, related from Ahlul-bayt (as), but not commonly found in Christian sources, if at all. Al-Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen translated the most comprehensive collection available in English, Jesus (as) Through the Qur'an and Shi'ite Narrations. In the Easter season, Muslims and Christians can expand their understandings of Jesus(as) and better apply his universal message by delving into more than just the Qur'an or the New Testament for his teachings, or by seeking to extend open hands to each other in solidarity, acknowledging that our love and connection to God by way of Jesus (as) is something we share, regardless of some differences in the details.