The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims

Author(s): Mustafa Akyol

Religion/Spirituality

"A welcome expansion of the fragile territory known as common ground." --The New York Times


When Reza Aslan's bestsellerZealot came out in 2013, there was criticism that he hadn't addressed his Muslim faith while writing the origin story of Christianity. In fact, Ross Douthat ofTheNew York Times wrote that "if Aslan had actually written in defense of the Islamic view of Jesus, that would have been something provocative and new."


Mustafa Akyol'sThe Islamic Jesus is that book.


The Islamic Jesus reveals startling new truths about Islam in the context of the first Muslims and the early origins of Christianity. Muslims and the first Christians--the Jewish followers of Jesus--saw Jesus as not divine but rather as a prophet and human Messiah and that salvation comes from faithand good works, not merely as faith, as Christians would later emphasize. What Akyol seeks to reveal are how these core beliefs of Jewish Christianity, which got lost in history as a heresy, emerged in a new religion born in 7th Arabia: Islam.


Akyol exposes this extraordinary historical connection between Judaism, Jewish Christianity and Islam--a major mystery unexplored by academia. From Jesus' Jewish followers to the Nazarenes and Ebionites to the Qu'ran's stories of Mary and Jesus,The Islamic Jesus will reveal links between religions that seem so contrary today. It will also call on Muslims to discover their own Jesus, at a time when they are troubled by their own Pharisees and Zealots.


Product Information

General Fields

  • : 9781250199355
  • : St. Martin's Press
  • : Saint Martin's Griffin
  • : October 2018
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Mustafa Akyol
  • : Paperback