Sinar Harian Newspaper (Malaysia)
Dated 17 July 2018

Section
Light Of Islam

Heading
NOTHING WRONG WITH THE AQEEDAH IN ISLAM

Reported by
Nurul Fatihah Muah

Subheading
Propose slogan to be made precise by using “I am Muslim, and I Follow Jesus as my prophet.”

Content
SHAH ALAM – Slogan “I’m Muslim, and I Follow Jesus” is not against the Aqeedah in Islam. Indeed it helps initiate a good knowledge-based discussion between Muslims and Christians.

Mufti of The Federal States of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri said this is because Jesus and Prophet Isa (AS) are the same person. And that other pieces of evidence which mentioned as two different individuals is not clear.

According to him, Prophet Isa (AS) is used in the Al Quran (Arabic & Malay) whereas in the English translation of the Quran from Abdullah Yusuf Ali, AJ Arberry, Marmaduke Pickthall and others have translated Prophet Isa (AS) as Jesus.

As a Muslim, we believe the Aqeedah from Prophet Adam (AS) until Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the same. All of the prophets brought the same message, i.e. Tawheed. No Muslim is a Muslim if he or she does not believe in Jesus.

On the other hand, precise research on the Bible has shown some similarities of actions done by Jesus which are similar to what Muslims practice today. For example, Muslim men are circumcised and so was Jesus. Jesus used to greet others with “Shalom Aleichem” (Assalamua’laikum). This was directly taken from his Facebook page linked: Al Kafi #780 – Slogan I am Muslim and I Follow Jesus.

Recently, this has gone viral on social media where an individual was spotted wearing the t-shirt bearing the slogan mentioned. This matter has received strong harassment from the netizens.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri based on his statement, clearly indicates what Jesus has done in the past is still practised by Muslims today.

He also said the teachings of Tawheed brought by Jesus was no different from what was taught by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and are still followed until this day.

By that, it means we Muslims follow Jesus from some of his actions and also his Aqeedah.

He said, “We Muslims believe at the end of time, Jesus will descend onto earth and rule according to the Syariah which was brought by Prophet Muhammad (saw). And Jesus will be among his (saw) followers.”

Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri suggested for the slogan to be more precise by changing it to, “I am Muslim, I Follow Jesus as my prophet”. This is to clarify the stance of Muslims that we do not acknowledge Jesus as God or son of God.

“We also received information about this matter ( I am Muslim and I Follow Jesus, Ask Me Why?) was an outreach (dawah) effort by activists from Islamic Education And Research Academy (iERA) which are based in the UK. iERA has many teams across the world which includes Malaysia.”- Mufti of The Federal States of Malaysia

Translated by
Fadhli Burhan
International Outreach Specialist

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Tidak Salah Dengan Akidah Islam

Surat kabar Sinar Harian hari ini menampilkan penjelasan dari Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan mengenai isu yang viral di media sosial baru-baru ini mengenai kumpulan dakwah iERA.

Cara dakwah yang kami pamerkan bukan lah satu perkara baru malah ianya telah pun menular di merata dunia sejak tahun lepas. Ramai juga yang telah memeluk Islam selepas mengetahui kebenaran Jesus menurut Quran dan hadis-hadis sahih. Mungkin di Malaysia pendedahan mengenai Isa AS sebagai Jesus pbuh belum lagi sampai kepada sesetengah masyarakat.

Apapun jua, usaha dakwah ini akan kami akan teruskan untuk mengajak masyarakat secara umum untuk mengenali siapa itu Jesus pbuh dalam Islam.

Jazakumullahu khairan kepada Datuk Seri Ustaz Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri dan juga kumpulan nya atas sokongan dan pencerahan yang padat lagi berhikmah. Dan juga kepada sahabat-sahabat yang telah memberikan respon atau komen-komen positif kepada iERA.

Kami terima cadangan Mufti mengenai “I’m Muslim, I Follow Jesus As My Prophet.”

Semoga Allah menerima usaha dakwah ini dan memberkati bumi Malaysia.