What do Jewish people believe about Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad?

Speaking as a Jew, I can give you my thoughts. They may not be shared by everyone.

Jesus was a nice Jewish boy who went astray, but he made a success of himself, so that’s not altogether bad. I’m happy, I guess, that he and came from the same belief system and properly shared some of the same background. I don’t buy the whole “son of god” shtick – that seems like great PR but not a whole lot of fact. And the whole “gone for three days” thing is just no credible.

I don’t think of Muhammad at all. For me (and a lot of Jews), he came later and was sort of a copy-cat. He wasn’t, and isn’t relevant to Judaism and what made it into a religion. He couldn’t – he came a thousand years later. When I think of Muhammad, I mostly think of all the crazies who want to kill me in Muhammad’s name.

As for Abraham – he’s one of dozens of important guys who made Judaism what it is – but we don’t think that he’s more important that Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Saul, Solomon, Joshua, Noah, or anyone else. All these guys had a historical role, but it’s not like Abraham is any more important than anyone else.

@elbanditoroso I think of Jesus as a very nice Jewish boy – pious and observant. The so-called Lord’s Prayer is the Kaddish, which Jesus was likely saying in memory of one or more parent(s). The man’s teachings about humanism are really just ancient Judaic concepts.

Abraham, Muhammad, and Jesus had one important thing in common – they were all circumcised. Abraham was the first. He was also an old man at the time, not a baby, so that wouldn’t have been an easy ordeal for him.

I think of Abraham as the father of the Jews. His son Isaac continued the Jewish line. Abraham’s son Ismael is how the Muslim religion developed.

Jesus was a nice Jewish boy. Spiritual, and loved his mother, and felt protective of her. He was killed on the cross, like so many others back in that day. He was one of many who either claimed to be the Messiah, or people said was the Messiah. I’m not so sure Jesus claimed such a thing, I think people around him liked that story, and later Paul spread the word. For some reason the story of Jesus being the son of God, and the Messiah stuck, while other men claiming the same thing didn’t

Muhammad know nothing about, but the Muslims feel he is important. That’s fine with me.

All I care about with religion is that people interpret their religion in a way that gives them peace, and that they pick and choose the nice parts.

That’s what I believe, but if you want to know how the Jewish religion or the Rabbis think about those three people, you can always google of course. I also would recommend The Idiots guide to Judaism. I especially like the Idiots Guide to Jewish History and Culture. It has some chapters about the religion and Jesus and other players, and then a whole bunch about the culture, and it’s funny, and some interesting statistics.

@JLeslie _ For some reason the story of Jesus being the son of God, and the Messiah stuck_
I would look at the Roman Emperor Constantine for consolidating, codifying and spreading those stories.

@Yetanotheruser – that’s what I meant by good public relations work. Constantine needed a heroic figure to build his mythology on; Jesus was a good, interesting candidate (and there was the added benefit that he was dead), and so the stories began. Somewhat like Michael Jackson, who became more beloved after his death.

^^What are you saying????

That Michael Jackson was a messiah?? or Jesus was a pedoph.. liked children??

@rojo – actually there’s this link

But no, all I was saying is that Jackson’s reputation enlarged after his death.

Interesting link, thanks I was just funnin’ with you

What does Jackson’s reputation enlarged mean? He already was loved by millions. The people who believed he was inappropriate with children still thought that after his death.

@JLeslie True. I certainly didn’t think highly of him. I loved his music but somewhere along the way he unraveled big time. I think many admired the talent but not necessarily the man.
This was a great question. I’m not Jewish but it is interesting to get another faiths view. I do like the view that Jesus was a nice Jewish boy who loved his mama.

@Pandora I think a lot of Christians think Jewish people don’t acknowledge Jesus’ existence at all. Do you think that’s the case? Jesus is still important in Judaism, but just not the son of God nor God himself.

For me, I can never understand Jesus as God, it doesn’t make sense to me. God is God. But, I’m Jewish, and atheist, and so it’s confusing to me. I understand it better now that many jelly friends have taken the time to answer questions I had about Christianity, which I really appreciate. Fluther has been great as a source for me to understand Christian beliefs.

It’s also confusing to me why if someone doesn’t believe Jesus is God, but does believe in God, that for a Christian that isn’t good enough. The Jews created the idea of monotheism. They believed in the Abrahamic God before anyone else. They believe God to be the King and Creator of the universe.

The religions are so similar in so many ways; I think why focus on the differences? I don’t think Jesus or God would want his children fighting over the details of the different religions, but rather He would want his children to be at peace, helping each other through the journey of life. But, it’s also very Jewish to be focused on life on earth, while Christians and Muslims seem to focus on the after life more than we do. I think if there is a God, and He is our Creator, our Father, that he would want all of His creation to be at peace and live each other. Just like siblings in a family. We want our children to get along and love each other, even though each one is different.

In Judaism the Messiah is supposed to usher in the messianic age; a great time of peace. That didn’t seem to happen during or after the life of a Jesus. I guess one could argue we might be measuring time incorrectly. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to get peaceful in a calendar day. Maybe it was supposed to take over 2,000 years? Just like some people argue the “days” it took for God to create the universe aren’t literal calendar days.

Abraham was most certainly a myth. Jesus was probably a myth. Muhammad was most likely real

@gobears Abraham is a fictional; he’s an allegorical character who explains the roots of monotheism and the beginnings of Judaism. Jesus was likely very real, because he was mentioned by at least one non-Christian, Roman historian (I believe it was Josephus?). But, in my own belief system, he was a pious Jewish man who annoyed the Romans, not a deity of any kind. Muhammad seems to be very well-documented.

@Love_my_doggie Maybe. There is some argument that the Josephus testimonies are forged.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Josephus

@gobears Very interesting text.

@gobears Abraham was most certainly a myth. Jesus was probably a myth. Muhammad was most likely real

Just because a person was or was not a real historical figure has no bearing on the mythology that has been created around that person.

@Yetanotheruser No question. But the OP asked, “What do Jewish People believe about…” It’s a silly question in a way in that it’s generalizing an entire population. But I’m stating, as a Jew, what my “belief” is on the three individuals in question.

@gobears I’m viewing the question, and its responses, in the context of Judaism, not “Jewish People.”

I think most of the answers were about what we as individuals think about the three people.

@Love_my_doggie There is no manual for Jews to tell us what to believe about those people.

@gobears That’s my point exactly. There’s no shortage of Judaic laws, responsa, writings, and traditions, but nothing tells a Jewish person how and what to believe.

Actually, the opposite is true. Judaism encourages a person to question, not to follow blindly.

@Love_my_doggie Right. Exactly.

Judaism certainly does have some things that Jews are supposed to believe. We are supposed to believe in G-d (although many of us don’t). That Moses’ prophesies are true and that Moses gave us the Talmud.

There might be others, but I think those are the biggies.

Aside from beliefs, we are supposed to be observant of G-d’s laws. Kosher laws, cleansing rituals, mitzvots, resting on the Sabbath to name a few. It’s true Rabbis and different sects of Judaism interpret some of these laws differently, but you can still generalize somewhat about Judaism for religious Jews.

Oh. Moses never existed either and the Jews were never in Egypt.

Lol.

Jews believe that Jesus was not the messiah. Some believe that he was a prophet, such as Daniel or Jeremiah.

Judaism holds that Abraham, Jesus and Mohamed were real people who lived thousands of years ago. Abraham, the first Jew, fathered Isaac with his wife Sarah and Ismael, the ancestor of Mohamed with Sarah’s servant Hagar. Jesus, a descendant of King David, was regarded as human just as the other people in your question. Judaism does not consider any of these people to be more than mortal humans. Jews do not agree with those who believe Jesus was the Messiah. Judaism holds that the Messiah has not yet come.
Judaism agrees with Islam that Mohamed was a prophet and the founder of Islam.
Jews are a diverse group and as such, they do not all agree on such matters.