The Islam Compass

Did Muhammad ﷺ Come After Jesus for a Reason?

If Jesus was a true prophet, why would God send another?

Jesus in Islam6 min

This is the right question, and Christians are right to press it. If Jesus brought the truth, what was left to be said?

Islam's answer has two parts. First, Muhammad ﷺ did not bring a different message. Second, he was sent because the message Jesus brought had, in the six centuries between them, been changed in ways that reached its core — and because the time had come for the message to be sent to all people, in a form protected from change.

He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein.…
Qur'an — Surah Ash-Shura 42:13Translation: Saheeh International

The same message

Every prophet in the Qur'an, from Noah to Jesus, is recorded as teaching the same thing: worship God alone, obey His messenger, prepare to meet Him. Muhammad ﷺ taught exactly this. He is described not as a founder but as the seal — the last of a line, confirming what came before.

Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
Qur'an — Surah Al-Ahzab 33:40Translation: Saheeh International

What changed

By the seventh century, the Qur'an says, the followers of Jesus had come to worship him alongside God — the very thing he had not taught. The Gospel as he received it was no longer available in its original form. And the message, which Jesus himself had brought to the Children of Israel, had never been sent as a final, universal, preserved revelation to all humanity. Muhammad ﷺ was sent to restore, to correct, and to complete.

O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much.…
Qur'an — Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:15Translation: Saheeh International

Did Jesus foretell him?

The Qur'an says he did. Muslims have also long pointed to passages in the Bible — Deuteronomy's promise of a prophet 'like Moses' from among the brothers of Israel, and Jesus's promise in John of a Paraclete or 'Helper' to come — as consistent with this. Christians read these passages differently (as Joshua or Jesus, and as the Holy Spirit respectively), and we state that plainly. The Qur'anic claim does not rest on the biblical passages; the passages are offered for a Christian reader to consider.

  • Qur'anQur'an 61:6
  • Qur'anQur'an 7:157
  • Comparative religionDeuteronomy 18:18 (Bible, ESV)"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers…" — Christians generally read this of Jesus.
  • Comparative religionJohn 16:7 (Bible, ESV)The promise of the Helper (Paraclete) — Christians read this of the Holy Spirit.
And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad."…
Qur'an — Surah As-Saf 61:6Translation: Saheeh International

The invitation

Islam does not ask a Christian to abandon Jesus. It asks them to follow him further — to the God he worshipped, in the way he worshipped, and to accept the messenger the Qur'an says he foretold. The Qur'an speaks of Christians who did precisely that when they heard the Qur'an, and describes their tears.

And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they have recognized of the truth. They say, "Our Lord, we have believed, so register us among the witnesses."
Qur'an — Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:83Translation: Saheeh International

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Sources & References

12 cited

Religious content here follows the Qur'an, the authentic Sunnah, and the established scholarship of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. Qur'an citations link to the verse; hadith carry collection and number; Tafsir and historical claims name the work. Where something could not be verified, it is not published.

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