One of the polemic arguments Muslims pose to Christians is that Jesus Christ “prayed like a Muslim” if you’ve never heard this assertion you might become confused. Well, fret not because we’re going to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ was not a Muslim.

The 1st argument is that Jesus Christ while praying fell on His face, Muslims believe this is evidence that Christ is a Muslim. They read the words “fell on his face” and automatically believe Jesus Christ and others found in the Bible prayed like Muslims.^[1]

A few things to point out in this verse, when the Bible speaks of falling on their face it refers to a person laying face down on their stomach, not praying in the same prostration Muslims perform. Another point is in Matthew 26:39 and other verses Jesus Christ is calling God His Father, while Muslims are not allowed to call Allah father. Here are some verses in the Qur’ān which prove that Allah is father to no one.

When Christians pray we call God Father because through the new birth according to the Lord Jesus we’re made children of God (Matthew 5:9, Luke 20:36, John 11:52). The apostle Paul following in the steps of Christ also said we’re the children of God (Romans 8:16, Romans 8:21, Galatians 3:26), additionally, the apostle John also proclaimed that believers in Christ Jesus are children of God (1 John 3:10, 1 John 5:2).

Christians also pray in many ways, we also fall on our face (lay face down), get on our knees, look up to heaven and even pray sitting down. The importance is not on how you pray but just that you do pray. The fact that we call God Father distinguishes us from Muslims.

2nd point is Jesus Christ prayed “looking up to heaven” this destroys the claim that Christ was a Muslim as there are Hadiths which say your eyes will be snatched out if we look toward the sky during prayer.

If this Hadith is authentic, why weren’t the eyes of Jesus Christ snatched away when He prayed looking up to heaven? Many Christians including myself have on multiple occasions looked up to heaven while praying, and what do you know we still have our eyes.

Here we have 3 verses which speak of the Lord Jesus Christ looking up to heaven while He’s praying, Muslims don’t look to heaven when praying. This is solid evidence that Jesus was not a Muslim.

Conclusion

When we examine the Muslim claim against what the Bible says we see that all the lies of Islam die, without lies Islam dies. Jesus Christ called God Father, and the Qur’ān prohibits anyone from calling Allah, father. The Lord Jesus also gazed heavenward while praying this is something Muslims do not do while praying.

Footnotes

[1] The remainder of this article will examine passages from various books of the Bible and compare them to the way Muslims pray. The most recognisable posture in the Muslim prayer is touching the forehead to the ground. It is the apex of a person’s prayer and it is mentioned in the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad as the position in which a believer is as close to God as it is possible to be. “The nearest one comes to his Lord is when he is kowtowing.” Consider the following verses from the Bible. “And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed…” (Matthew 26:39) Aisha Stacey (2014, September 15). MUSLIM PRAYER POSTURES FOUND IN THE BIBLE. Retrieved from https://www.islamreligion.com/