Was Jesus (as) the Son of God?

No. Jesus (as) was born miraculously without a father, but God does not beget; He creates. Jesus (as) was a great prophet and the Messiah, and “Son of God” is a figurative expression for nearness to God.

Any conversation on this question should begin with one clarification: what exactly is meant by son? Without it the meaning keeps shifting, and people talk past each other.

If sonship is meant physically, a contradiction arises. A child receives its make-up from mother and father. Mary was a human being of flesh and blood. God, however, is not made of matter; He has no body that He could pass on. Moreover, a son has a beginning, but God has none. If father and son differed in their attributes, they would not be the same being. If they were the same, there would be no father and no son.

The Holy Qur’an confirms the miraculous birth of Jesus (as) without a father. But a miracle is an act of creation by God, not an act of begetting. The verse about Adam makes this clear: Adam had neither father nor mother, and yet no one regards him as God. Jesus (as), too, was created by God’s command, like everything else.

The Bible itself already uses “son of God” as an image. There the children of Israel and other devout people are also called children of God. What is meant is closeness to God and love, not descent. In this sense Jesus (as) was very near to God.

For Muslims, Jesus (as) remains a great prophet and the Messiah. Seeing him as a human being does not diminish him. Making him God adds nothing to him; it only endangers faith in the one God whom Jesus (as) himself preached.