3. According to Islam, who is the father of Jesus Christ?

According to Islamic belief, Jesus was born without a father. Muslim scholars are unanimous on this. It may sound unnatural at first but the Quran explains that just as Adam had no father, Jesus too did not have a father. For the omnipotent Creator, His creation of Jesus was the same as that of Adam’s:

Jesus in the sight of God is like Adam. He created him from dust; then said to him, ‘Be!’ and he was. (Quran 3:59)

It must be understood that though Islam and Christianity hold the same position on the miraculous birth of Jesus, Islam, however does not associate divinity with Jesus Christ. Muslims do not believe Jesus to be the son of God, but rather a prophet just like Abraham, Moses and Muhammad. According to Islamic belief, God has clearly stated in the Quran that He did not beget a son as is believed in the Christian tradition. There is another verse to this effect:

Such was Jesus, the son of Mary. That is the whole truth, about which they still dispute: it does not befit the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! He is far above that: when He decrees something, He says only, ‘Be!’ and it is. (Quran 19:34-35)

The Quran describes the events that took place before Jesus’ birth. An angel appeared to Mary and gave her the glad tiding of the birth of a son. Mary replied that she had no husband and asked how she could have a son. The angel told her that this was what God had ordained:

Recount in the Book how Mary withdrew from her people to an eastern place and kept herself in seclusion from them. We sent her Our angel, who presented himself to her as a full-grown human being. When she saw him, she said, ‘I seek refuge in the compassionate God from you; [do not come near] if you fear the Lord.’ ‘I am only the messenger of your Lord,’ he replied. ‘I shall bestow upon you the gift of a son endowed with purity.’ She said, ‘How can I have a son when no man has touched me; and neither have I been unchaste?’ [The angel] replied, ‘So shall it be; your Lord says, “This is easy for Me; and We shall make him a sign to people and a blessing, from Us. This has been decreed.”’ (Quran 19:16-21)

At another place the Quran says that God breathed His Spirit into Mary before she gave birth to Jesus:

Remember the one who guarded her chastity; so We breathed Our Spirit into her, and made her and her son a sign for all people. (Quran 21:91)

This is why in Islam, Jesus is referred to as ruhullah, or ‘the Spirit of God’ and not ibnullah, or ‘the son of God’.