Q&A: Did Jesus Have 12 Disciples According to Islam? | Dr. Shabir Ally

You asked, we answered! A viewer asked how many followers Jesus had according to Islam. Dr. Shabir Ally explains that the Quran refers to disciples, but doesn't mention a specific number. He says that the gospels mention 12, but this number may be symbolic, referring to the 12 tribes of Israel. He says it's not clear how many followers Jesus had, but it likely wasn't a large number, as Christianity wasn't a large religion at the time.

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[sevillaful]

Dr Shabir is my favourite scholar. He is amazing Mashallah. I'm so glad I found this channel

[گرشاهجاوید]

as always very interesting god blessed

[sheerinshemiran]

I forgot to mention it also says in the Bible his disciples. Prophet Jesus peace be upon him had his close best friends that were his disciples. They walk and follow the teachings of Prophet Jesus peace be upon him. In the Bible it is mentioned that they were 12 disciples allegedly. But in Islam it is not mentioned.

[moek]

In Luke 6:13 it is stated that Jesus chose 12 from his disciples “whom he named apostles, ” and in Mark 6:30 the Twelve are called Apostles

Moses also had 12 apostles. How one can refute that Prophet Mohammad also appointed a lineage of 12 imaams, is beyond me.

[bryanbradley]

I flew a donkey from Washington to New York....

[christianfrommuslim]

Jesus had many disciples, including women. However, there were 12 that were specially trained. He told them in John 15:27 they were called to spend much time with him so that they could testify for him. Also, according to Leviticus 5:1 of the Law of Moses, someone who knows about a public charge must share what they know. These two reasons are why Jesus' main disciples spoke and wrote about him.

Jesus commanded his followers to spread his teachings and salvation through words, not force. This is why Christians get into trouble in regions where they are not allowed to freely share about him (like most Muslim countries). They must choose between obeying their Lord or the laws of men.

[احمدگیلانی-شط]

I think it would be more fitting to the channel's name to answer some of the questions with explicit "there is no (clear) clue in Quran" and then proceed with ideas of Islamic scholars which could be their own or borrowed from other religions.
Here, emphasize on absence of Quranic indications might be more important than explaining other ideas.

[kum_negerg]

I think the question is from Islamic perspective but the answer is from the Bible why?
If it’s not mentioned in the Quran better to say it is not mentioned

[phenomenalplayz]

Interesting question. I have a lot of questions to Dr. Shabir ally. But I don't get chance to question :(

[shahrukhgilani]

I read in Tafsir Tabari that they were around 19

[GalaxiaTokyo]

I don't understand how scholars doubt that there were 12 disciples. It is one of the most consistent details in the New Testament. It is mentioned in the four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistle of Paul, and it is affirmed by all of christian tradition. The lists of the 12 disciples are pretty much the same in the the three synoptic gospels, and 9 of them are explicitly mentioned in the gospel of John. Furthermore, I agree with Bart Ehrman in that this passage has a solid historical basis: "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'" (Matthew 19:28). What is striking about this passage is that, because Judas Iscariot is one of the twelve disciples by Matthew's own accout, then in that scene Jesus is basically promising heaven also to Judas, which in retrospective is of course an outrageous thing to say. The fact that such a "mistake" by Jesus is preserved in the gospel, is a sign of its authenticity, and by extention of the historicity of twelve disciples.

Saying that because 12 is a symbolic number that means they just made up the twelve disciples is absurd. On the one hand, Jesus, who knows the old testament by heart and is very keen to the fulfillment of the law and prophecies, would have all the reason to knowingly act in symbolic manner himself. And on the other hand, all numbers are associated with one symbol of other (there are 4 angels in the throne of god, the earth was created in 7 days, 8 is associated with resurrection, there are 10 commandments, 12 tribes, etc). Just about any number of disciples could have been interpreted in a symbolic way.

[Bznpb]

In understand you said that because of shias, you're impartial all times but you lie in this

[rajeshshetty]

One should listen to debate between Shabbir and Jay Dyer .

[MC-tory]

Shabir Ally,

EDITED: First of all, scholars have confirmed it was 12 *apostles* . If you are appealing to the synoptic gospels to argue scholars are *not* sure how many apostles Jesus had, it’s simply excuses to discredit the truth about what the canonical gospels already confirm.

Jesus had many disciples or followers. However, he only had 12 apostles, which is different.

[gamerjj]

1:44 what ?
What is there problem with names of th twelve.
Jesus had many disciples.

[christyjeplin]

If i have every penny everytime this so called peaceful religion trying to explain other religions, ill be rich

[wtxohnthao]

The 12 disciples lived and died horrible deaths. Reasons why? They taught Jesus was God, and that he died and rose again on the 3rd day. And to say we must ignore the Gospels because Muhammad got a different revelation doesn't mean the Quran is correct. Muhammad confirmed the Gospels and the Torah to be the words of Allah and never judged the Quran by them. So Muslims after Muhammad had to start doing the homework and finding out Muhammad was wrong and to keep Muhammad relevant. They had to say the Gospels and Torah are corrupted. Because the original Quranic manuscripts from the time of Muhammad were burned after his death because there were different versions that did not agree. And what ever was left of the Quran was compiled together. And even to this day, there are over 30 different Arabic Qurans that doesn't agree. Just like the original scribes and greatest reciters of the Quran who knew Muhammad. They didn't agree with each other. But believe what you want to believe. Because I'm not going to believe a man who came 600+ years after the 12 disciples who willingly suffered and died for the name of Jesus.

[ronaldmagdayao]

Muslim islam interview with a Muslim islam it's a nice 🙂🙂🙂

[Ryan_Nath]

jesus in islam isn't our Lord Jesus. If you want to know about Jesus then read the gospels

[Preppyxxgirls]

Law lecturer: Alphabet is the parent of Google.
Muslim student: but how can Alphabet be a parent it doesn’t have a wife?