How Christianity Was Formed from the Islamic Perspective
From the Islamic perspective, Christianity did not begin as a separate religion teaching the divinity of ʿĪsā عليه السلام. Rather, ʿĪsā عليه السلام was a prophet and messenger of Allāh Taʿālā sent specifically to Banū Isrāʾīl. He came to revive the dīn of Mūsā عليه السلام, call people back to tawḥīd, reform corruption and renew sincerity.
ʿĪsā عليه السلام – The Final Chance for the Banū Isrāʾīl
The Qurʾānic name is ʿĪsā عليه السلام. Yā Shā ʿAyn when transliterated into ancient Greek and then Latin became the name Jesus. The Qurʾānic name ʿĪsā عليه السلام is much closer to the Aramaic original.
ʿĪsā عليه السلام was born into a time of Roman rule. Roman paganism was the state religion, and the Jews were a small and persecuted minority. Herod was the Roman appointed Jewish governor of Palestine; he called himself King Herod. Many among Banū Isrāʾīl despised him because of his background, politics, persecution and association with Roman power. He attempted to rebuild the temple of Solomon.
In this time frame, the Jews were the chosen people still, Allāh ﷻ blessed and honoured them with a continuous line of prophets for over 1500 years, a blessing no other nation received. They had a prophet in any era just for them up until ʿĪsāعليه السلام.
At that time, Banū Isrāʾīl had begun to stray from the commandments of Allāh ﷻ. They had become arrogant and attached to worldly authority. Allāh ﷻ gave them one final chance before removing the blessing of continuous prophethood from their line. Up till then the children of Isḥāq عليه السلام were the blessed people. If they redeemed themselves with this one final chance, they would’ve stayed the chosen, blessed people. Allāh ﷻ sent them ʿĪsā عليه السلام, not just a messenger but a rasūl, the mightiest they had ever seen, to revive their īmān and bring them closer to Allāh ﷻ. If they turn their back on the rasūl or conspire to harm or kill the rasūl they would lose that blessing a chosen people, this time.
ʿĪsā عليه السلام lineage traces back through all prophets until Isḥāq عليه السلام. He comes from the family of ʿImrān. ʿImrān was the grandfather of ʿĪsā عليه السلام. This was a righteous family, containing prophets. Zakariyyā عليه السلام was the uncle of Maryam عليها السلام. Maryam عليها السلام mother had made a promise to Allāh ﷻ that the child which she assumed to be a boy was going to be extremely righteous and be raised in the temple. When a girl was born, she wanted to uphold this promise and wanted her to be raised in the temple, so Zakariyyā عليه السلام raised her in a separate part of the temple away from men. Allāh ﷻ blessed Maryam عليها السلام with miraculous provision in the temple such as feasts even though only Zakariyyā عليه السلام had access to the part of the temple where she was. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qurʾān. When Zakariyyā عليه السلام saw the miracles given to Maryam عليها السلام, he asked Allāh ﷻ for a child, and Allāh ﷻ granted him Yaḥyā عليه السلام, the second cousin of ʿĪsā عليه السلام, even though he was 100 and his wife was 90. Then Jibrīl عليه السلام came to Maryam عليها السلام and gave her the glad tidings of a child. She had never touched a man. ʿĪsā عليهالسلام was conceived with no father it was a miracle from Allāh ﷻ. Imām Aḥmad said ʿĪsā عليه السلام became by the word and didn’t become the word.
The Banū Isrāʾīl at the time were not interested in Jannah, the Ākhirah or the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ. They wanted worldly power, political strength and restoration of the kingdom associated with Dāwūd عليه السلام and Sulaymān عليه السلام. They wanted a prophet who would overthrow Herod and Rome for them. ʿĪsā عليه السلام did not come for that purpose. He preached the next life, sincerity, repentance and return to Allāh ﷻ. This message frustrated those who wanted worldly dominance.
ʿĪsā عليه السلام exposed hypocrisy. He challenged religious leaders who had turned worship into outward ritual without sincerity. ʿĪsā عليه السلام kept telling them of their lack of faith to Allāh ﷻ, showing them how they fell short in their own teachings and this irritated them. They didn’t want to hear the message they wanted political power, so they conspired to get rid of him. ʿĪsā عليه السلام called Banū Isrāʾīl to renew their covenant with Allāh ﷻ. His message was met with resistance because the leaders saw him as a threat. They rejected him, accused him, incited others against him and plotted to kill him. This shows the same repeated pattern: Banū Isrāʾīl were blessed with prophets and clear signs, but many had not learned from the mistakes of their ancestors. They went to Herod and the Romans calling ʿĪsā عليه السلام a political revolutionary as a plan to get rid of him. Accusing him of being an evil man who wanted to be king, some Rabbis lied and testified against ʿĪsā عليه السلام.
The death of ʿĪsā عليه السلام, The crucifixion, The resurrection, The truth
Christianity believes that the Romans and Herod caught Jesus and that he died on the cross and was resurrected and upon resurrection told his followers to carry on teaching the message, this being the majority accepted biblical story.
The Qurʾān talks about how the Banū Isrāʾīl boasted they killed Jesus, but they didn’t kill nor crucify him. The Qurʾān states how it was made to appear that this had happened, this is adamant in the Qurʾān. It is adamant he was not killed or anything otherwise is speaking in guesswork. Historically Jesus followers fled as they would have been killed so the only people who saw the whole arresting and crucifixion was the Banū Isrāʾīl. What we know for sure is that Allāh ﷻ raised ʿĪsā عليه السلام up to himself.
Theres two ways how Muslim historians describe what really happened. Majority of historians say Allāh ﷻ substituted someone to be on the cross instead of ʿĪsā عليه السلام, most say it was Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Allāh ﷻ made him look like Jesus and the Romans took him; this was done because he deserved death. The other interpretation is that one of the disciples of Jesus volunteered to become that entity. In early Christianity a small group of Christians believed someone else was on the cross that wasn’t Jesus, called Gnostic Christians.
After ʿĪsā عليه السلام raised
ʿĪsā عليه السلام never taught modern Christianity doctrine. Because the Jews were persecuted and didn’t have power no respect and because the followers of Jesus dissipated when he was raised up, this allowed for bizarre theories to become mainstream. It allowed for not known things to become known.
After Allāh ﷻ raised ʿĪsā عليه السلام, his followers entered a period of confusion and persecution. His disciples were scattered and feared being killed. Within a generation, people began to argue: who exactly was ʿĪsā عليه السلام? One group remained close to the original truth. They believed he was the Messiah, a noble prophet, a servant of Allāh ﷻ and a follower of the law of Mūsā عليه السلام. These early followers are often called Jewish Christians or Messianic Jews by modern historians. From the Islamic perspective, they were closest to the real message of ʿĪsā عليه السلام. This was followed by the 12 disciples. Barnabas is an example of those associated with this original understanding: that ʿĪsā عليهالسلام was a prophet and not God. This group believed that ʿĪsā عليه السلام came to revive the dīn of Mūsā عليه السلام, not to preach a completely new theology.
Paul – The Misguiding
Then came Paul. Paul became a major cause of doctrinal change. He had not been a disciple of ʿĪsā عليه السلام during his mission and had originally been a persecutor of early Christians. He later claimed that he saw Jesus after the resurrection and was made a disciple. Paul who never met Jesus claimed to be a disciple of Jesus, after Jesus was raised to the heavens, he became Christian. He had charisma, power, contacts and wealth. So, Paul became the main propagator of a version of Christianity that even the disciples didn’t agree with. The New Testament even mentions the clash between the disciples and Paul, Paul wins. Even so Paul didn’t even preach the Trinity, this came later.
Paul taught a very different version of Christianity. He made belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus central. He taught that Jesus had come to abrogate the law and that followers no longer had to observe the law in the same way. He preached you don’t have to follow the law, just believe in Jesus. He preached you don’t have to follow the law of God, no ṣalāh, no zakāh, no rituals all you need to do is believe. This contradicted the life of ʿĪsā عليه السلام himself, who lived as a Jew, upheld the Tawrāh, was circumcised and did not eat pork. Paul argued that Gentile converts did not have to accept circumcision and many parts of the Mosaic law.
This became a major clash between Paul and the disciples. Galatians notes that a “Judaizing” group taught that converts had to observe circumcision and Mosaic prescriptions, while Paul defended his apostolic authority and opposed them. From the Islamic perspective, this was a turning point. Paul preached that belief was enough and that the law was no longer binding in the same way. He abolished circumcision for Gentile converts and set aside kosher laws. He also preached a global mission to all people, whereas ʿĪsā عليه السلام himself was sent to Banū Isrāʾīl and reaffirmed the Tawrāh. This made Paul’s version easier for Romans and Gentiles to embrace.
Paul preached sonship because ʿĪsā عليه السلام had no father. From the Islamic perspective, this reasoning is false. Ādam عليه السلام had neither father nor mother, yet no one claims he is the son of Allāh ﷻ. ʿĪsā عليه السلام was created by Allāhﷻ’s command as a miracle, not as a divine being. At this stage, Paul did not yet preach the full doctrine of Trinity as later Christianity would define it. One group became Pauline Christians: they said Jesus was the son of God and that the law was abrogated, but the doctrine of Trinity developed later. Another group remained closer to Jewish Christianity. Other groups developed mystical or gnostic interpretations. Some gnostic Christians even viewed the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament as different, showing how far some groups moved from prophetic tawḥīd. But Paul himself preached a new ideology and theology, so the Romans embraced it.
A Pivotal Time in Christianity – Constantine
Eventually, early Church Fathers developed more formal theological language. Tertullian, writing around the late second and early third century, became important in the development of Latin Trinitarian terminology. The word Trinity is associated with the Latin Trinitas and the development of Christian doctrine over time. Trinity means, God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The term homoousios comes from the Greek “Homos” meaning same and “Ousia” meaning essence or substance. The term is central to the Trinity and means the affirmation of Jesus sharing the same divine nature of God.
300 years after Jesus Constantine made Christianity the state religion, he chose to adopt the Pauline version of Christianity and going even further in choosing a very bizarre small version that believed in the Trinity, sonship and redemption that goes back to Roman paganism. He banned any other version and killed them and forced Pauline upon everyone in the Roman empire. From the Constantine version, the 3 main modern versions spouted. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. By the time of Constantine all the branches and sects of Christianity were fighting each other; the Jewish, Pauline and Gnostic being the main three.
Nicene Creed
The major turning point came with Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea to resolve the Arian controversy. He gathered all the bishops of the world. Some bishops said there were one, two or three divine beings in Christianity. Arius was an Alexandrian presbyter who taught that Christ was not divine in the same way as God but was a created being but also said he had aspects of divinity later on. Constantine made the Nicene creed; this decrees that there are three that rule in heaven but are one. Three essences of the same being. Arius being the main opponent to the creed, Constantine ordered his execution, he fled down south.
The Nicene creed spread to the Roman empire and became a foundation for later mainstream Christianity. Catholic, Orthodox and many Protestant branches trace themselves through Nicene Christianity, and the creed remains widely accepted among them. All branches pre-Nicene creed doesn’t exist anymore. Nicene Christianity was later made the state church of the Roman Empire under Theodosius I through the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE. The Edict of Thessalonica made Nicene Christianity the state church and condemned other Christian creeds such as Arianism.
From the Islamic perspective, this imperial process is significant because it shows how doctrine became tied to political power. Constantine supported the Nicene side and Arius was condemned as a heretic. Arius fled and that his followers were pushed out.
There is mention a theory that al-Najāshī, the king of Abyssinia, may have been influenced by Arian or non-Nicene Christian branches that remained, which could help explain why he recognised the message of Islam so quickly and said that it came from the same source as the message of ʿĪsā عليه السلام. The theory says perhaps some of those influences remained in Africa. Arianism taught that Jesus was created and not divine like God, making it relatively closer to Islam than Nicene doctrine. Arianism was the faith of al-Andalus before Islam, making some people more receptive to Islamic tawḥīd.
The story of Salmān al-Fārisī رضي الله عنه also supports the idea that remnants of sincere Christian monotheism existed before Islam. He met righteous Christian teachers one after another, but by the end, those original Christians had almost disappeared. His journey eventually led him to the Prophet ﷺ. This shows that sincere seekers of truth existed among Christians, even if mainstream doctrine had become corrupted.
After the Nicene Council
Modern Christianity, from the Islamic perspective, therefore developed through multiple stages: Jewish Christianity, Pauline Christianity, gnostic interpretations, Arian disputes, Nicene councils, imperial enforcement and later denominational divisions. The Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant branches all inherit much of the Nicene framework, even though they differ on many issues. After the Nicene council there were many councils and each time a mini civil war between branches that broke away, including Coptic and Protestant divisions. Even these branches all agreed on one thing: the Nicene Creed.
These repeated divisions show that Christian theology developed through continuing argument. In contrast, Allāh ﷻprotected the Muslim Ummah in its core ʿaqīdah: Muslim sectarian disputes often centred on leadership, law or secondary theological questions, but the fundamental identity of Allāh ﷻ as One, without son or partner, remained clear. Our main arguments between sects are in who should have been the first Caliph after Nabī ﷺ passed, even though this is a very important topic, we should be grateful to Allāh ﷻ. The Christians didn’t even know who God was, each few generations added a theology and solidified it. The Qurʾān came to the Arabs who had no idea of this information about the Christians and tells them the truth about the Trinity beliefs and misguidance. These Christians who taught misguidance were uncertain themselves yet forced people to believe what they taught.
Pagan influences in modern Christian customs, such as Christmas having connections to pagan, Celtic and Nordic traditions. This shows that later Christianity absorbed cultural practices that were not taught by ʿĪsā عليه السلام.
Therefore, from the Islamic perspective, Christianity was formed through gradual departure from the original tawḥīd taught by ʿĪsā عليه السلام. The departure included exaggerating the status of ʿĪsā عليه السلام, claiming divinity or sonship for him, adopting Trinity, weakening or abandoning revealed law, introducing monasticism and invented devotional practices, giving religious leaders authority beyond revelation, and allowing imperial politics to define doctrine.
How the Christians Were Led Astray
On the Day of Judgement Allāh ﷻ will ask ʿĪsā عليه السلام if he preached to mankind to worship him and Maryam عليهاالسلام. He said he would never, he would never say anything which Allāh ﷻ did not tell him to. In Sūrah Māʾidah ʿĪsā عليهالسلام asks Allāh ﷻ to forgive all his Christian followers indirectly. Allāh ﷻ has made the hearts of the Christians who truly follow Jesus’ tender unlike the followers of Mūsā عليه السلام (the Jews) who are arrogant.
The Christians were led astray primarily through ghuluww — excess in religion. Their original love for ʿĪsā عليه السلام was not wrong. Loving prophets is part of īmān. The misguidance came when love crossed the limits of revelation and became worship.
1) The first major error was exaggerating ʿĪsā عليه السلام beyond prophethood. Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله explains that the Christians elevated ʿĪsā عليه السلام above the rank Allāh ﷻ gave him, raising him from prophethood to divinity and worshipping him as Allāh ﷻ is worshipped.
2) The second error was sonship. The Qurʾān repeatedly rejects the claim that Allāh ﷻ has a son. Allāh ﷻ is not like His creation. He does not beget, nor is He begotten. To claim a son for Allāh ﷻ is to misunderstand His absolute oneness and transcendence.
3) The third error was Trinity. Sūrah al-Nisāʾ, verse 171, says:
“Do not say Three.”
Maʿāriful Qurʾān explains that the Christians at the time of revelation were divided into doctrinal groups: some said the Messiah was God, some said he was the son of God, and some held a form of Trinity. The Qurʾān addresses these claims separately and jointly, establishing that ʿĪsā عليه السلام was a human being born to Maryam عليها السلام and a true messenger of Allāh ﷻ.
Sūrah al-Māʾidah, verse 72 onward, strongly condemns those who say that Allāh ﷻ is the Messiah, son of Maryam, or that Allāh ﷻ is one of three. From the Islamic perspective, preaching Trinity is kufr because it violates pure tawḥīd.
4) The fourth error was misunderstanding Qurʾānic descriptions such as “His word” and “a spirit from Him.”Christians may use these phrases to argue for divinity, but Maʿāriful Qurʾān explains that neither phrase means ʿĪsā عليه السلام is part of Allāh ﷻ. “His word” refers to the command Kun, and “a spirit from Him” is an attribution of honour.
5) The fifth error was invented monasticism, known as rahbāniyyah. The Qurʾān mentions monasticism in Sūrah al-Ḥadīd, verse 27, as something they invented and which Allāh ﷻ did not prescribe in that form. Some Christians adopted self-imposed hardship, celibacy and withdrawal from normal life, thinking this was closeness to Allāh ﷻ. But devotion not grounded in revelation becomes misguidance.
6) The sixth error was giving religious leaders authority beyond revelation. Sūrah al-Tawbah, verse 31, criticises those who took rabbis and monks as lords besides Allāh ﷻ. The Prophet ﷺ explained to ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim رضي اللهعنه that this happened when people obeyed their scholars in changing ḥalāl and ḥarām.
7) The seventh error was confusion over the identity of ʿĪsā عليه السلام. After he was raised, his followers were immersed in confusion. Some said he was a prophet. Some said he was the son of God. Some developed mystical beliefs. Some debated whether there was one, two or three. Some groups remained close to tawḥīd, but over time the Pauline and later Nicene versions became dominant.
8) The eighth error was the worship or semi-worship of Maryam عليها السلام in lived Christian practice. Sūrah al-Māʾidah, verse 116, describes Allāh ﷻ asking ʿĪsā عليه السلام on the Day of Judgement:
“Did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allāh ﷻ?’”
ʿĪsā عليه السلام will declare Allāh ﷻ’s perfection and say that he could never say what he had no right to say.
Some Christians object that no official orthodox Christian group technically made Maryam عليها السلام part of the Trinity.
Christians Worshipping Maryam عليها السلام – The Islamic Proof
The first response is that sects have existed that did worship Maryam عليها السلام. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī رحمه الله discusses the issue, and Ibn Ḥazm رحمه الله mentioned a very small group/sect who lived in al-Andalus sometimes referred to as al-Barbarāniyyah, who were said to have believed in the divinity of ʿĪsā عليه السلام and Maryam عليها السلام. Whether such groups were large or disappeared, the Qurʾān is mentioning these groups that didn’t exist anymore.
The second response is that the Qurʾān is not only addressing official creeds written in councils; it is addressing lived religion. Even if official Christianity did not technically call Maryam عليها السلام “God,” many Christians invoked her, prayed to her, used icons and treated her as an object of worship-like devotion. Imām al-Qurṭubī رحمه الله and other scholars explain that the Qurʾān exposes the logical reality of their practice, not merely their official terminology.
This is especially important in the Arabian context. The two major Arab Christian groups known to the Muslims were the Christians of Najrān and the Ghassānids. The delegation of Najrān visited the Prophet ﷺ, while there were interactions between Nabī ﷺ and Ṣaḥābah and the Ghassānids. Arab Christian theology in the fifth and sixth centuries is not always fully documented, but some modern academic work suggests that local Arab Christian beliefs could differ from official Constantinopolitan theology.
Professor Irfan Shahid’s work on Arab Christianity and the influence of John Philoponus, also known as Yaḥyā al-Naḥwī, who died around 570 CE. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy identifies John Philoponus as a Christian philosopher and theologian from Alexandria who lived around 490–570 CE. He mentions the Ghassānids were influenced by the John Philopanus. He had an impact on them and was considered a heretic by Constantinople.
John Philoponus was accused of bordering Tri theistic thinking by opponents. The Ghassānids absorbed this tritheism. Research by C. J. Block argues that Philoponian doctrine influenced South Arabian Christianity and that Najrān were de facto Tri theistic during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime.
The Miraculous Qurʾān
This supports the Islamic argument that the Qurʾān was precise in addressing the actual Christian beliefs and practices present in Arab Christianity, not Constantinople Christianity. The Qurʾān rebuked Christians in the language and reality of the people being addressed. The average Arab in the time of the Prophet ﷺ did not possess deep knowledge of Christian councils and internal doctrinal disputes. Yet the Qurʾān addressed their errors with precision. This itself is a sign of revelation.
Only Allāh ﷻ could've been so precise in speaking to the Arab Christians in the language they know and talks about the other Christianity's. Using the terminology and language to rebuke the Arab version of Christianity; this couldn't come from the average Arabian only Allāh ﷻ’s preciseness. The Qurʾān says the Christians are taking Jesus and Maryam as gods. the Christian says they never called Mary a God, but the response is in Catholicism you find people invoking Mary and idols of her. The Christianity before Protestantism really did take Jesus and Mary as objects of worship. The Qurʾān is talking to them about their lived reality and not their official decrees and councils in Nicene, Constantinople, Rome etc. It’s based on their actions and lived religion in their worship of Mary being a god. So, the Qurʾānic terminology is dealing with the lived reality and belief of the common and especially Arabian Christians and not talking about those official advanced decrees.
Allāh ﷻ placed tenderness in the hearts of sincere Christians. The Qurʾān praises some Christians as having love and humility and being closer in affection to Muslims. This is why the Islamic position is balanced. Islam rejects Christian theology as misguidance, especially Trinity, sonship, divine incarnation and worship of ʿĪsā عليه السلام or Maryam عليهاالسلام. But Islam also recognises that among Christians there are sincere, gentle and pious individuals whose hearts are closer to truth than others.
Therefore, the Christians were led astray because they sought worship and devotion but separated it from sound knowledge. They thought they were honouring ʿĪsā عليه السلام, but in reality, they gave him a rank he never claimed. They thought they were following religion, but much of their doctrine developed after him. This is why the Muslim asks Allāh ﷻ daily not to be from al-ḍāllīn — those who are astray.
ʿĪsā عليه السلام shall return at the end of times. Christians believe he will come as the son of God, we believe he will come as the prophet. All of us will believe the truth of ʿĪsā عليه السلام.
Haseeb | Sanatayn Student
