In Islam, Jesus () is believed to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God and the Messiah sent to guide the Children of Israel () with a book called the .
In the Quran, Jesus is described as the Messiah (), miraculously born of a virgin, performing miracles, accompanied by his disciples, rejected by the Jewish religious establishment, but not as crucified or dying on the cross (nor resurrected), rather as miraculously saved by God and ascending into heaven.
The Quran places Jesus among the greatest prophets, and mentions him with various titles. The prophethood of Jesus is preceded by that of Yahya and succeeded by Muhammad, the latter of whom Jesus is reported to have prophesied by using the name Ahmad.
There is a variety of variable interpretations in Islam about Jesus Christ. Mainstream interpretations of the Quran lack the Orthodox Christian philosophy theological concepts of Christology regarding divine hypostasis, so to many it appears the Quran rejects Christ because in the Christian view of the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ as God incarnate being a man, or as the literal Son of God in human flesh, as it apparently denies the doctrine of the divine humanity of Jesus as God in several verses, and also insinuates that Jesus Christ did not claim to be personally God (God the Father). Muslims believe that Jesus' original message was altered (), after his being raised alive. The monotheism () of Jesus is emphasized in the Quran. Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is also called a Muslim, as he preached that his followers should adopt the 'straight path' (). Jesus is attributed with a vast number of miracles in Islamic tradition.
In traditional Islamic eschatology, it is claimed that Jesus Christ will return in the Second Coming with Imam Mahdi to kill the ('The False Messiah'), after which with the ancient tribes Gog and Magog () would disperse. After these creatures would miraculously perish, Imam Mahdi and Jesus would rule the entire world, establish peace and justice, and die after a reign of 40 years. Some Muslims believe that he would then be buried alongside Muhammad at the fourth reserved tomb of the Green Dome in Medina. These are apocryphal traditions related to hadith-based traditions.
The place where Jesus is believed to return, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, is highly esteemed by Muslims as the fourth holiest site of Islam. Jesus Christ is widely venerated in Sufism, with numerous ascetic and mystic literature written and recited about the most important historical Jewish Christian-Islamic prophet-messenger to these Abrahamic faiths.
Birth
Islam's account of Jesus begins with a prologue narrated several times in the Quran which first describes the birth of his mother, Mary, and her service in the Jerusalem temple while under the care of the prophet Zechariah, who would become the father of Yahya (John the Baptist). The Quran's birth narrative of Jesus begins at and . This birth narrative has been recounted with certain variations and detailed additions by Islamic historians over the centuries. In the matter of the virgin birth of Jesus, while Islamic theology affirms Mary as a pure vessel, it does not follow the concept of Immaculate Conception as related to Mary's birth in some Christian traditions.
Annunciation
Islamic exegesis affirms the virginal birth of Jesus – similarly to the Gospel account and occurring in Bethlehem. The narrative of the virgin birth opens with an announcement to Mary by the angel Gabriel while Mary is being raised in the Temple after having been pledged to God by her mother. Gabriel states she is honored over all women of all nations and has brought her glad tidings of a pure son.
Gabriel declares the son is to be named Jesus, the Messiah, proclaiming he will be called a great prophet. Mary, asking how she could conceive and have a child when no man had touched her, was answered by the angel that God can decree what he wills, and that it shall come to pass.
The narrative from the Quran continues with Mary, overcome by the pains of childbirth, being provided with a stream of water under her feet from which she could drink, and with a palm tree which she could shake so ripe dates would fall and be enjoyed. After giving birth, Mary carries the baby Jesus back to the temple and is asked by the temple elders about the child. Having been commanded by Gabriel to a vow of silence, she points to the infant Jesus and the infant proclaims:
Jesus speaking from the cradle is one of six miracles attributed to him in the Quran, an account which is also found in the Syriac Infancy Gospel, a sixth-century work. According to various hadiths, Jesus and Mary did not cry at birth.