Friday, June 13, 2025

Did Jesus Ever Call Himself the “Servant of Allah”?

A Scholarly Challenge to the Quran’s Claims in Light of Pre-Islamic Gospel Evidence

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute

Introduction

The Qur’an makes several assertions about Jesus (ʿĪsā) that are not only absent from the canonical Gospels but, in many cases, contradict the historical and textual evidence available from pre-Islamic Christian sources. Qur’an 19:30 presents Jesus as speaking from the cradle, declaring, “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah.” This article invites a rigorous academic debate and challenges Muslim scholars, apologists, and theologians to provide verifiable, pre-Islamic, non-Quranic textual exhibits where Jesus refers to himself as the "servant of Allah," calls Allah his "Father," or in any way substantiates the specific Islamic claims about his identity and mission.

1. Text of Qur’an 19:30 and Its Claim

“He [Jesus] said: ‘Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet.’”
(Qur’an 19:30, Sahih International)

This verse ascribes to Jesus the explicit statement that he is the “servant (ʿabd) of Allah” (عبد الله), a theological construct central to Islamic Christology. The same surah continues to outline Islamic teachings about Jesus, none of which are present in the Gospel record.

2. The Challenge: Where in the Gospel Did Jesus Ever Say This?

A. Examining the Pre-Islamic Christian Texts

Canonical Gospels:

In all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Jesus never uses the phrase “I am the servant of Allah.”
The New Testament Greek uses “theos” (God), and Jesus consistently refers to God as “Father”—not as “Allah.”
No passage records Jesus speaking from the cradle or making prophetic pronouncements as an infant (a motif unique to later apocryphal traditions and the Qur’an).

Non-Canonical Early Christian Writings (Before Islam):

No extant Gospel or apostolic tradition pre-dating the Qur’an contains the phrase “Jesus is the servant of Allah,” or Jesus calling God “Allah.”
Early apocryphal texts (e.g., Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of James) include legendary infancy narratives but never use Islamic terminology, nor do they present Jesus as the “servant of Allah.”

B. On the Use of “Allah” as God’s Name in Christian Scripture

The term “Allah” is the Arabic rendering of “God,” but its theological content in Islam is distinct from the Judeo-Christian understanding of God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
In the earliest Syriac and Aramaic Christian communities, God is called “Alaha” (ܐܠܗܐ) or “Elohim” (אֱלֹהִים) but never “Allah” in the precise Qur’anic sense.

C. Jesus’ Own Words About His Relationship with God

Jesus refers to God as “Father” over 165 times in the New Testament (see John 5:17-18, Matthew 6:9, Mark 14:36).
Jesus says, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
Jesus never says, “I am the servant of Allah.”
Nowhere does Jesus refer to “Allah” as his Father.

D. Historical and Linguistic Incongruities

The Quran’s retroactive ascription of Islamic terminology and concepts to Jesus is anachronistic, as the word “Allah” was not used in first-century Palestine by Jews or Christians in the way it is employed in Islam.
The Gospels are rooted in a Jewish monotheistic context that used “Abba” (Father) and “YHWH” (the LORD), not “Allah.”

3. Qur’an as an Ahistorical Rewriting? A Call for Muslim Exhibits

A. Challenge to Islamic Apologetics

If the Qur’an is truly a continuation of prior revelation, there must be pre-Islamic, extra-Qur’anic, textual exhibits where Jesus explicitly makes these claims.
Where is the evidence from any manuscript, papyrus, parchment, or Christian oral tradition prior to the 7th century that Jesus declared himself “the servant of Allah” or called Allah his Father?

B. Review of Early Christian Writings

Patristic Writings: Church Fathers such as Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, who were closest in time to Jesus and the apostles, never mention such words attributed to Jesus.
Jewish Historical Records: Josephus and other first-century Jewish historians do not record Jesus making such declarations.
Roman Sources: No Roman or Greek historian prior to Islam attributes to Jesus a servant relationship to Allah.

4. Analysis: Are the Quranic Claims Fabricated?

A. Fabrication or Borrowed Legends?

The assertion that Jesus spoke as an infant is found only in late, non-canonical apocryphal texts (e.g., Arabic Infancy Gospel, written centuries after Christ and likely after the rise of Islam).
The Qur’an’s depiction of Jesus often mirrors and sometimes modifies these legendary sources, which lack apostolic authority and were never recognized by mainstream Christianity.

B. Theological Implications

Invented Testimony: If the Qur’an cannot produce a single pre-Islamic exhibit for its claims about Jesus, then it stands as a book promoting narratives unsupported by historical evidence.
Contradiction of the Gospel Record: The core Christian confession about Jesus’ identity (as Son, not merely servant) is not only different but irreconcilable with the Islamic claim.

5. Conclusion and Debate: The Qur’an as a False Doctrine Promoting Inventions

A. Summary

No pre-Islamic Gospel, canonical or apocryphal, records Jesus as the “servant of Allah.”
No manuscript or oral tradition predating the Qur’an calls Allah the Father of Jesus, nor does Jesus call God “Allah.”
The claims in Qur’an 19:30 and related verses have no historical, textual, or theological precedent outside of the Qur’an itself.

B. The Scholarly Challenge

We challenge Muslim apologists and scholars to produce:

Any documented Gospel or historical Christian source written before the birth of Muhammad, containing Jesus’ own declaration as the “servant of Allah.”
Any pre-Islamic Christian record of Jesus referring to Allah as his Father.
Any verifiable, objective exhibit that supports the Qur’an’s claims about Jesus outside of Islamic scripture.

If such evidence cannot be produced, it is intellectually honest and academically necessary to conclude:

The Qur’an has fabricated claims about Jesus that are not rooted in history.
Islamic Christology is built on retroactive invention, not revelation.
Therefore, the Qur’an must be critically examined and exposed as a doctrine that promotes legends as truth, without verified historical evidence.

References

The Holy Bible, New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
Infancy Gospel of Thomas; Protoevangelium of James (non-canonical)
Early Church Fathers: Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews
Bruce, F.F., The Canon of Scripture.
Reynolds, Gabriel Said, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Subtext.
Cragg, Kenneth, Jesus and the Muslim: An Exploration.

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba
Shimba Theological Institute

This article is an open invitation to academic debate. Muslims are challenged to provide exhibits or retract the false claim that Jesus called himself the “servant of Allah” or ever referred to Allah as his Father, according to any source preceding the Qur’an.