Jesus and Muhammad

Not the prophets or divine figures revered in religious traditions, but the flesh-and-blood men who walked the Arabian Peninsula twenty and fifteen centuries ago.

I would ask them if, during their short time on earth, they ever imagined that centuries later half the world’s population would consider themselves their followers.

I would ask what it feels like to be the most influential voices of all time—in a world where the Internet, Instagram, or TikTok would have been unfathomable.

I would ask what they think of the many misinterpretations throughout history of their messages of love and peace, and of the wars waged in their names.

I would ask what they make of women today holding political and religious leadership roles, something unimaginable in their era under a deeply paternalistic society.

I would ask how they view free love and same-sex relationships, atheism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

I would ask whether they wish they could change anything in their original message—if anything has been distorted or misunderstood through the centuries, if there’s something we believe to be true about their stories that isn’t, or if there’s something untold that deserves to be shared. I would ask if they regret anything.

And finally, I would thank them—for their courage to speak out in the midst of a broken society, and for fighting against evil and injustice with the most powerful weapon humanity possesses: the word.