From Jesus to Muhammad: Similarities Between Early Christianity and Islam

The book presented to the reader was written to answer many important questions, both classical and modern. It should come as no surprise that many earlier books comparing Islam and Christianity were written from a Christian point of view — indeed, even in scholarly research, Islam has often been viewed through the lens of Christian religion and belief. This is why, in the 1960s, the well-known Harvard scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith wrote The Meaning and End of Religion, questioning the validity of the very concept of "religion"; he rightly observed that Islam, for instance, describes itself as din (faith), a term whose meaning is broader than the Latin religare/religere. Din generally encompasses the political, social, and economic code for the welfare of humanity, while "religion" denotes merely a kind of inner belief.

Unlike the works mentioned above, From Jesus to Muhammad, by Elena Trenchevska-Chekovikj and Timurlenk Chekovikj, presents an entirely different point of view. It was not written to "refute" any other religion, but above all to present the truth about early religious history. At the outset, the authors depict the background of early Christianity and attempt to reconstruct the true teaching of Isa (Jesus). Today, thanks to the apocrypha and the availability of other early writings, we can see other narratives of Christianity that are far from the "canonical" one. Such narratives are nothing new: already in the second century CE — before the Council of Nicaea — many religious groups presented themselves as the true followers of Jesus. The authors trace this story using a wide variety of sources, showing how political motives shaped the development of Christianity. Many parts of the book are devoted to the person of Isa and to the development of his image in both Christianity and Islam. When we compare the Qur'anic portrayal of Isa with early Christian sources, we find many striking similarities — for example, the Qur'anic account of a bird formed from clay and brought to life. This shows that the early life of Isa remains one of history's great mysteries; and since the Qur'an itself gives only a brief account of it, no one has real grounds to speculate further. This is why the book calls us not toward polemics, but toward the sacred texts that offer believers the most authoritative accounts.

For Muslims, all the prophets — those named in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Qur'an, as well as those whose names remain unknown to us — called people to the worship of the One God. This is why Muslims, throughout every period of Islamic history, have taken an interest in other religions — not to "refute" them, but to show that the root of religion is monotheism, and that polytheism is merely a later invention.