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WHAT DOES MESSIAH MEAN IN ISLAM?

Forty Five years ago, I was sitting at Shehab Mosque in a Beirut neighborhood, Lebanon. I was helping the imam, Sheikh Abdul Sami Al Shareef with his Quranic studies session after the sunset prayers. I was the youngest among the several older people who gathered in a circle to hear Shiekh Al Shareef interpret the Quran and the statements of Muhammad. Since I was the youngest and the only one who could read better than the older people in the dim light, I was given the honor of reading to the group.
It was a passage from the Quran that talked about Jesus and His mother the Virgin Mary. Jesus was described as Issa Al Massih (Arabic for the Messiah). Young and inquisitive, I stopped reading and asked my sheikh about the meaning of Massih (Messiah).
The sheikh who was in his eighties and the graduate of the most prestigious Sunni Muslim seminary in the world, Al Azhar, paused for a few second. Then the learned imam gave the following answers.
First opinion, it might mean flat-footed. Second opinion, it might mean the one who toured the earth or sojourned, because Jesus travelled a lot. Third, since the word Massih might be derived from the verb “massaha” which means “to wipe,” it might mean that he wiped pain from the face of the earth when He lived among people. Fourth, we might not know… Allahu A’lam (“God knows better;” an Arabic expression devout Muslims and scholars usually finish their verdicts with).
The Quran borrowed the term Messiah and emptied it from its powerful meaning. Below is an article about the real meaning of the word Massih (Messiah):
http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/what-does-messiah-mean

Hesham Shehab

Hicham [pronounced HESHAAM] grew up in a world of bitter animosity between Muslims and Christians, which he experienced personally in a physical attack when only about 7. By age 13 he was recruited by an extremist Muslim group and later fought against Christians in the 1975 war in Lebanon. He was preparing to become a Muslim Preacher (Imam) when a car accident laid him up for a year. In 1980, in his first semester in college, his brother was killed by Christian militia. Hicham's response was to study by day, and by night take out his revenge in attacks on Christians. However, hearing the Sermon on the Mount, in a course of cultural studies (in college), brought him to faith. Later, Hicham earned an M.A. in the history of the Arabs and did Ph.D studies in the history of Islam. Hicham finished his pastoral education at Concordia, Fort Wayne, IN, and is currently in the Ph. D program there. Presently, Hicham, and ordained LCMS minister, pastors Salam Christian Fellowship and works as a missionary to the Muslims with the Lutheran Church in Illinois.