Overview
Understanding the Second Coming of Jesus
Islam and Christianity both teach that Jesus is alive with God and will return before the end of the world — one of the deepest agreements between the two faiths. The Quran ties Jesus to “the Hour” and Muslim narrations describe his descent as a just ruler, while the New Testament promises that he will come back the way he ascended. Both traditions insist that no one knows when. The decisive difference is what he returns to do: Christianity awaits him as divine judge, Islam as God’s human servant and Messiah — and that difference distills the whole question of who Jesus is.
notes
The Agreement Nobody Expects
Ask a devout Christian what she is waiting for, and somewhere near the top of the list will be the return of Jesus. Ask a devout Muslim the same question, and you may be surprised to hear the same answer.
But it sits alongside an agreement that startles many people on both sides: the world’s two largest religions both teach that Jesus, the son of Mary, is alive with God and will return before the end of history. No other figure is awaited by so much of humanity.
The aim is that a Christian reader should recognize her own belief in the description of it, and a Muslim reader his — and that both should see clearly where, and why, the two expectations part ways.
But it sits alongside an agreement that startles many people on both sides: the world’s two largest religions both teach that Jesus, the son of Mary, is alive with God and will return before the end of history. No other figure is awaited by so much of humanity.
The aim is that a Christian reader should recognize her own belief in the description of it, and a Muslim reader his — and that both should see clearly where, and why, the two expectations part ways.
notes
The Question Behind the Question
The real questions lie one layer down. What does the Quran itself say, and what comes from hadith — the recorded narrations of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings — and from classical commentary? What did Jesus’ own disciples expect, according to the New Testament? And where do the two pictures overlap? As we will see, they overlap far more than most people on either side assume.
Then comes the decisive question: when he returns, what will he come to do? Will he come as the servant and prophet of God, or as God coming to judge the world? The answer each tradition gives is a compressed summary of everything it believes about who Jesus is. That is why a chapter about the end of the story turns out to be a chapter about the heart of it.
Then comes the decisive question: when he returns, what will he come to do? Will he come as the servant and prophet of God, or as God coming to judge the world? The answer each tradition gives is a compressed summary of everything it believes about who Jesus is. That is why a chapter about the end of the story turns out to be a chapter about the heart of it.
history
Two Communities, One Long Wait
The earliest Muslims and Christians both expected Jesus to return before the final judgment. The traditions differ in detail, but the shared expectation is ancient rather than a modern attempt at agreement.
Christian teaching developed from New Testament promises of Christ's return. Islamic detail comes mainly through rigorously transmitted hadith, while the Quran gives briefer signs connected with Jesus and the Hour. These sources should be distinguished rather than treated as if every detail appears in the Quran.
Christian teaching developed from New Testament promises of Christ's return. Islamic detail comes mainly through rigorously transmitted hadith, while the Quran gives briefer signs connected with Jesus and the Hour. These sources should be distinguished rather than treated as if every detail appears in the Quran.
scripture
What the Quran Says
What the Quran states briefly, the hadith literature fills out with individually identifiable reports. Sahih al-Bukhari 2476 describes the son of Mary descending as a just ruler, breaking the cross, killing swine, and abolishing jizya. Sahih Muslim 2937a places Jesus' descent in the extended account of the Dajjal and Gog and Magog and describes Jesus defeating the Dajjal.
These reports are described rather than quoted at length, but exact locators matter. Details about an era of peace, the length of Jesus' remaining life, marriage, death, or burial occur in different reports with different evaluations and should not be fused into one unnamed narration.
The reports of descent became settled mainstream Sunni doctrine and also appear in Shia eschatological expectation, though the surrounding accounts of the Mahdi and sequence of events differ.
These reports are described rather than quoted at length, but exact locators matter. Details about an era of peace, the length of Jesus' remaining life, marriage, death, or burial occur in different reports with different evaluations and should not be fused into one unnamed narration.
The reports of descent became settled mainstream Sunni doctrine and also appear in Shia eschatological expectation, though the surrounding accounts of the Mahdi and sequence of events differ.
scripture
What the New Testament Says
Acts 1:11 promises that Jesus will return as he ascended. Matthew 24:30 describes the Son of Man coming with power and glory. These passages ground the Christian hope that Jesus returns as king and judge.
The same discourse also warns against date-setting. Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 say that no one knows the Hour, and Mark explicitly includes the Son among those who do not know. Christians commonly explain this through Jesus's human nature; Muslims see it as consistent with a prophet whose knowledge is given by God.
The texts therefore establish both expectation and humility: Jesus returns, but human beings do not control the timetable.
The same discourse also warns against date-setting. Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 say that no one knows the Hour, and Mark explicitly includes the Son among those who do not know. Christians commonly explain this through Jesus's human nature; Muslims see it as consistent with a prophet whose knowledge is given by God.
The texts therefore establish both expectation and humility: Jesus returns, but human beings do not control the timetable.
Key passage
Bible
who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
Acts 1:11
Version: World English Bible
argument
Shared Waiting, Different Roles
Both traditions expect a real return of Jesus, the defeat of grave falsehood, justice before the end, and a final reckoning known fully only to God.
The decisive difference is Jesus's role. Christianity awaits the divine Son returning in glory. Islam awaits the human Messiah returning by God's command, correcting false beliefs about himself, ruling justly, and worshiping God. His return does not promote him into divinity; it completes his prophetic mission.
This makes the second coming a concentrated version of the larger debate. Is Jesus the returning God, or God's returning Messiah? Islam's answer preserves his honor and his servanthood together.
The decisive difference is Jesus's role. Christianity awaits the divine Son returning in glory. Islam awaits the human Messiah returning by God's command, correcting false beliefs about himself, ruling justly, and worshiping God. His return does not promote him into divinity; it completes his prophetic mission.
This makes the second coming a concentrated version of the larger debate. Is Jesus the returning God, or God's returning Messiah? Islam's answer preserves his honor and his servanthood together.
interpretation
Common Misconceptions
"The Quran gives a complete second-coming narrative." It gives brief indications; most detail comes from hadith and should be attributed accordingly.
"Jesus's return proves he is God." Returning by God's command no more proves divinity than a miraculous birth or resurrection does by itself.
"Islam expects Muhammad to return instead." Mainstream Islam expects Jesus, son of Mary, to descend; Muhammad remains the final prophet and does not return before resurrection.
"The date can be calculated." Both traditions contain clear warnings against claiming knowledge of the Hour.
"Jesus's return proves he is God." Returning by God's command no more proves divinity than a miraculous birth or resurrection does by itself.
"Islam expects Muhammad to return instead." Mainstream Islam expects Jesus, son of Mary, to descend; Muhammad remains the final prophet and does not return before resurrection.
"The date can be calculated." Both traditions contain clear warnings against claiming knowledge of the Hour.
argument
The Islamic Conclusion
Jesus's return is an Islamic affirmation of his extraordinary place among the prophets. It is also a correction: the Messiah returns as God's servant, not as a rival object of worship.
The practical lesson is not speculation about dates. It is readiness—faith in God, repentance, justice, and loyalty to the truth Jesus taught.
The practical lesson is not speculation about dates. It is readiness—faith in God, repentance, justice, and loyalty to the truth Jesus taught.
summary
Key Takeaways: The Second Coming of Jesus
Islam and Christianity both teach that Jesus is alive with God and will return before the end of the world — one of the deepest agreements between the two faiths. The Quran ties Jesus to “the Hour” and Muslim narrations describe his descent as a just ruler, while the New Testament promises that he will come back the way he ascended. Both traditions insist that no one knows when. The decisive difference is what he returns to do: Christianity awaits him as divine judge, Islam as God’s human servant and Messiah — and that difference distills the whole question of who Jesus is.
notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do Muslims believe Jesus will return?
A: Yes. The return of Jesus is mainstream doctrine in both Sunni and Shia Islam, grounded in Quran 43:61 and 4:159 as classically interpreted and in numerous narrations in the most authenticated hadith collections.
Q: Does the Quran explicitly describe the second coming?
A: The Quran’s references are brief: it calls Jesus “knowledge of the Hour” (43:61) and says the People of the Scripture will believe in him “before his death” (4:159). Reading these as his return is the dominant classical interpretation; the detailed picture of his descent comes from hadith.
Q: Will Jesus bring a new revelation when he returns?
A: No. Mainstream Muslim teaching holds that he returns as a prophet God already sent, ruling by the final revelation rather than bringing a new one, so his return does not conflict with Muhammad being the final prophet.
Q: What do Christians expect Jesus to do at his return?
A: Historic Christian creeds affirm that Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Christians differ among themselves over surrounding details such as a rapture or a literal millennium, but the visible return itself is common ground.
Q: Does anyone know when Jesus will return?
A: No. In Mark 13:32 Jesus says that no one knows that day or hour — not the angels, nor the Son, but only the Father — and the Quran places knowledge of the Hour with God alone. Both traditions command readiness, not date-setting.
Q: Why does Jesus not knowing the hour matter for theology?
A: Muslims argue that a being who does not know the hour is not the all-knowing God, which fits the Islamic view of Jesus as an honored human prophet. Christian theology answers that Christ spoke from his limited human nature; Muslims reply that this reading is required by the doctrine rather than by the text.
A: Yes. The return of Jesus is mainstream doctrine in both Sunni and Shia Islam, grounded in Quran 43:61 and 4:159 as classically interpreted and in numerous narrations in the most authenticated hadith collections.
Q: Does the Quran explicitly describe the second coming?
A: The Quran’s references are brief: it calls Jesus “knowledge of the Hour” (43:61) and says the People of the Scripture will believe in him “before his death” (4:159). Reading these as his return is the dominant classical interpretation; the detailed picture of his descent comes from hadith.
Q: Will Jesus bring a new revelation when he returns?
A: No. Mainstream Muslim teaching holds that he returns as a prophet God already sent, ruling by the final revelation rather than bringing a new one, so his return does not conflict with Muhammad being the final prophet.
Q: What do Christians expect Jesus to do at his return?
A: Historic Christian creeds affirm that Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Christians differ among themselves over surrounding details such as a rapture or a literal millennium, but the visible return itself is common ground.
Q: Does anyone know when Jesus will return?
A: No. In Mark 13:32 Jesus says that no one knows that day or hour — not the angels, nor the Son, but only the Father — and the Quran places knowledge of the Hour with God alone. Both traditions command readiness, not date-setting.
Q: Why does Jesus not knowing the hour matter for theology?
A: Muslims argue that a being who does not know the hour is not the all-knowing God, which fits the Islamic view of Jesus as an honored human prophet. Christian theology answers that Christ spoke from his limited human nature; Muslims reply that this reading is required by the doctrine rather than by the text.
Key passage
Quran
وَإِنَّهُۥ لَعِلْمٌۭ لِّلسَّاعَةِ فَلَا تَمْتَرُنَّ بِهَا وَٱتَّبِعُونِ ۚ هَٰذَا صِرَٰطٌۭ مُّسْتَقِيمٌۭ
سورة الزخرف · الآية ٦١
And indeed, Jesus will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path.
Quran 43:61
Translation: Saheeh International
sources
Further Reading
Selected sources and further reading:
Jesus in the Qur'an — Geoffrey Parrinder. A respected Christian scholar’s survey of every Quranic passage about Jesus, including the verses on his being raised and his link to the Hour.The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature — Tarif Khalidi. An anthology showing how deeply Muslim civilization revered and remembered Jesus across the centuries.Jesus: Prophet of Islam — Muhammad 'Ata ur-Rahim and Ahmad Thomson. A Muslim argument for Jesus as prophet rather than incarnate God, engaging Christian history and doctrine.Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium — Bart D. Ehrman. A secular historian’s reconstruction of Jesus as a preacher of the coming kingdom — useful background on the earliest Christian expectation of the end.
Jesus in the Qur'an — Geoffrey Parrinder. A respected Christian scholar’s survey of every Quranic passage about Jesus, including the verses on his being raised and his link to the Hour.The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature — Tarif Khalidi. An anthology showing how deeply Muslim civilization revered and remembered Jesus across the centuries.Jesus: Prophet of Islam — Muhammad 'Ata ur-Rahim and Ahmad Thomson. A Muslim argument for Jesus as prophet rather than incarnate God, engaging Christian history and doctrine.Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium — Bart D. Ehrman. A secular historian’s reconstruction of Jesus as a preacher of the coming kingdom — useful background on the earliest Christian expectation of the end.
Sources
Sources and further reading
Primary texts and works cited in this article.
The Quran — Tanzil Uthmani text with Saheeh International translation
quran
Source linkUthmani-script Arabic text from Tanzil with the Saheeh International English translation.
The Holy Bible, World English Bible (public domain)
bible
Source linkPublic-domain English translation from the World English Bible.
Jesus in the Qur'an
book | Geoffrey Parrinder
A respected Christian scholar’s survey of every Quranic passage about Jesus, including the verses on his being raised and his link to the Hour.
The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature
book | Tarif Khalidi
A Cambridge-published collection showing how deeply Jesus is woven into Islamic devotional literature.
Jesus: Prophet of Islam
book | Muhammad 'Ata ur-Rahim and Ahmad Thomson
A Muslim argument for Jesus as prophet rather than incarnate God, engaging Christian history and doctrine.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
book | Bart D. Ehrman
A secular historian’s reconstruction of Jesus as a preacher of the coming kingdom — useful background on the earliest Christian expectation of the end.