Easter and ‘Hijrah’ a victory for believers   Syafaatun Almirzanah ;   The writer, formerly a visiting associate professor at Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, US, lectures at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University and Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta

JAKARTA POST, 19 April 2014

                                      

                                                                                         

                                                             

This week Christians will celebrate Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no single interpretation of Jesus’ resurrection. Some followers of Rudolf Bultmann insist that the resurrection is not a historical event, even though it is certainly presented as so in the gospels, in which one of its manifestations was that Jesus’ tomb was found empty on the first day of the week by several of Jesus’ women followers. Muslims also have multiple interpretations of the resurrection. Unlike many Muslim commentators, the Sufis, while not entirely denying the traditional interpretation, have endeavored to understand Christ as a universal perfect man through whom all religions will be unified and humanity brought nearer to God. The urgency of Jesus’ death is not in the how and when of history, but rather in its meaning to humanity bound to this material plane of existence by lust, greed and anxiety. Hasan Basri entertained that he was taken to heaven, which is “the locus of the grace (karama) of God and the dwelling place of His angels.” (Ismail Haqqi, 318). Sura 4: 158 says “Allah raised him up unto Himself.” Although this verse gives an impression of the story of ascension (mi’raj), the Koran does not elaborate on the resurrection of Jesus. It does not mean, however, that there is nothing we can refer to in it. The New Testament itself does not consider Jesus’ resurrection a single fact by itself or as a separated fact. It says that the event was full of consequences for humankind. Although the Koran does not elaborate on the resurrection, the Koran contains many things that resemble the consequences of the resurrection. In other words, several theological affirmations made by the New Testament based on the resurrection of Jesus, also made by the Koran, and of course, based on different foundations. I will mention several consequences of the resurrection of Jesus from the New Testament that are seen in the Koran as well. The New Testament explains the resurrection as the restoration of Jesus’ reputation by God (David Marshall, 1996). If the crucifixion represented the designation of Jesus in the world and it fails to admit him as “the Lord of Glory” (1 Cor. 2:8), then the resurrection of Jesus represented God’s designation of Jesus, his identity as the son of God (Rom.1:4), Lord and Christ (Act 2:36). The affirmation of the New Testament with regard to Jesus is not the same as the affirmation of the Koran on Muhammad (PbUH) as the Messenger of Allah and not as a Lord of Glory. Nevertheless, the restoration of God’s reputation emphasized by the New Testament to all God’s messengers who were rejected later by their people resembles what is described in the Koran. Like Jesus, who was rejected by the unbelievers (Heb. 12: 3), Muhammad did experience rejection and was mocked by the unbelievers in Mecca, his birthplace. He was humiliated and even considered a liar and possessed by an evil spirit for claiming to be a Prophet (Q. 15:6; 34: 8). After several years, Muhammad left Mecca and stayed in Medina, the move of which was known as a Hijrah event. As the Hijrah was considered a culmination of the rejection of the Messenger sent by God, Hijrah can be compared with the resurrection of Jesus (Marshall, 173). What is, then, the parallel between the Koranic story and the restoration of God’s reputation in Jesus’ resurrection? The answer can be found in the Koran, in which God has defended his Prophet (Muhammad), who was rejected by his people by giving him a military victory against unbelievers after his Hijrah to Medina, especially in the Battle of Badr. Koranic presentation of this victory is understood as an event in which God defended the truth of the mission that was revealed to Muhammad and punished the Meccan people for their denial. The idea that the Battle of Badr was a moment of recovery (or defense) by God in the life of Muhammad was indeed strengthened by the parallel illustrated by the Koran between the battle and the Exodus. Like his predecessor Moses, Muhammad was rejected, but then became a winner (Q. 8: 52; 3: 11). The external (physical) distinction between the resurrection of Jesus and the military victory should not obscure the reality that both events have logical equivalency effects mentioned in both scriptures. The sequence in the New Testament about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the sequences in the Koran on the denial (culminating in Hijrah) with the military victory, resemble each other. Both scriptures emphasize how God defended his chosen servants (Prophets) in this world when they were rejected. The difference is that Muhammad’s victory occurred in this world, while Jesus’ resurrection was not visible in this world and had no effect on human politics. Although his resurrection was manifested by the empty tomb, there was mystery beyond it. The New Testament insists that the resurrection is an event related to the life of all people, but it also is an “open secret” (Marshall, 174). One thing that cannot be ignored is that the real consequence of the resurrection is that it promises believers their future resurrection. Jesus was the one who began this general resurrection and “the first fruits,” as Paul said. In addition, the Koranic teachings on the death and ascension of Jesus, is not an Anti-Christian polemic. It is rather directed at human arrogance, an attitude toward God and His messenger. Happy Easter! ●