In Islam ,Jesus is a messenger of God
Jesus is one of the greatest messengers of God,sent to the people of Israel.He is not Son or God came in the form of a man to die on the cross in order to atone for the original sin (built -in guilt )with which mankind is burdened.He is simply a man,chosen to preach the Gospel to his people, which mainly to love and cease to do evil .He was born from a chaste woman ,called Mary,without a father. When he grew up enough and started to teach the Oneness of God (Tawhid),Jews charged him with blasphemy by twisting his own words. They succeeded to stir up the Romans against him.Consequently,he was sentenced to death but the Romans plan was thwarted because God uplifted Jesus into heaven alive .
The fanciful legend which still exists among Muslims which says that at the last moment God replaced Jesus by an other person closely resembling him is groundless.The Quran was clear about that:
{but it only appeared to them as if it had been so }Quran 4:157 .
.On the way to his final destination,Jesus lost large quantity of his blood which caused by the nailing stuff:He was forced to carry his own cross to a place where it was supposed to kill him. When they saw that his head was bent down and looked pale,they thought he was died .After that, they laid him down on a big stone in a new rock tomb in a garden.Secretly ,under cover of the darkness,Nicodemus,a disciple of Jesus, went there to anoint him according to the Jews burial costumes. Jesus awoke and appeared to Mary Magdalene later.
{That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;}" Quran 4:156-158 .
After his uplift into heaven ,various disputations, doubts, conjectures were made to interpret his sudden departure .The Orthodox-Christian Churches interpret the event as an atonement and they make an essential point in their doctrines that Jesus ,on the third day,rose with wounds intact, walked around and ate with his beloved disciples, and finally,when the time was nigh ,he returned back to where he descended from.
It is worth to mention also that some of the early Christian sects like Basilidans share with Islam almost the same belief that Jesus was not killed on the cross ,but they differ when they say that someone else was substituted for Jesus.The Gnostic Christianity believes that Jesus never had a real natural body like us, but only a phantom body(a spirit appeared in human form),and the crucifixion was only an illusion and not real(He appeared to suffer). The Marcionites (144 - 3rd century CE) believe that Jesus was never born.
Allah Almighty clears Jesus of such a charge or lies.The real followers of Jesus nowadays are those who don't believe in him as God or Son. All of the dissensions about dogma and faith will disappear when we stand before Allah.
{ Behold! Allah said: O Jesus! I will take thee And raise thee to Myself And clear thee (of the falsehoods) Of those who blaspheme; I will make those Who follow thee superior To those who reject faith, To the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, And I will judge Between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.} Quran 3:55.
One final point that needs to be made concerning Jesus is his return.We ,Muslims, believe that he will be sent back at the end of time to fight the evil of the Devil (Dajal )and his army.After killing the (Dajal ),he will live forty years on earth and then die.
Narrated AbuHurayrah: "The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus (peace_be_upon_him). He will descent (to the earth). When you see him, recognise him: a man of medium height, reddish fair, wearing two light yellow garments, looking as if drops were falling down from his head though it will not be wet. He will fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizyah. Allah will perish all religions except Islam. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him.(Book 37,Number 4310)1.
In nutshell,Christ is a messenger and word of God .He was not crucified nor died for anyone's sins.He will return to fight and defeat the Antichrist(Dajal) and his army and then die natural death.
Footnote:
Quranic verses are taken from the website:
http://www.muslimaccess.com/quraan/translations/index.asp
1.http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/abudawud/037-sat.php
