Answer
Asalamu Alaikum,
Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.
Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:
Transcript:
Aisha Khaja: Dr. Shabir, the question that we have today is about a verse in the Bible–John 14:6, where it says, “Jesus answered I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. Does the Quran have a similar verse?
Dr. Shabir Ally: In order to answer directly, I have to explain a few points. First, from a Muslim point of view, there is no objection to the belief that Jesus is the way to God. And we believe that prophets in general show the way to God. And so, Jesus being one of the great prophets of God, naturally has pointed out the way.
And if you want to approach God, in the time of Jesus, that is the way to go–the way pointed out by Jesus. We would say that the verse shows that Jesus is the way, not the destination. And the destination is the ultimate God that we all worship.
In that passage, God is referred to as Father. That’s not how we refer to God in the Islamic faith.
Father is mentioned in the Old Testament and in the New, referring to God, perhaps to show the compassionate love that God has for human beings.
And while that love and compassion is mentioned in the Quran as well, that term is not used, perhaps because of the misunderstanding that arose in history about God’s relationship to His prophets and messengers. In the Islamic faith, God is the Creator of all, not the father of anyone.
And this is really stressed the Islamic faith. Now, as to how do we approach God nowadays? Do we have a verse in the Quran that shows that we have the right way to approach God?
Well, I would point to the third chapter, the Quran 31st verse, which says, {Qul in kuntum tuhibboona Allaha faittabiAAoonee}. Here the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is being directed to say to people, “if you love God, then follow me”.
So, the way to express our love for God, to really approach God, is to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
He’s not God. He’s just a servant and messenger of the Almighty God. But he, like prophets before him, he shows the way to worship God and the way to approach God. And being the Messenger for our time, he shows us now how we are to approach and follow God.
And the Quran shows that there has been a continuity among the messages of the great prophets. So, there’s a continuity between the message of Jesus and the message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
And for Muslims there was no competition between these messages. We follow all of the prophets indirectly by following our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) directly.
I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.
Walaikum Asalam.
Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:
Loving Jesus or Muhammad: Can I Have Both?