Muslims say Allah does not have children. How can I get across to them that we Christians do not believe Allah had children by a wife, and that Jesus is not his biological son?
Muslims do not always use the word "son" in a strictly biological sense--as in Arabic walad. There is another word for son, ibn, which does not necessarily imply procreation. Moreover, Muslims may speak of Mohammed as "Father of our nation." This need not imply the citizens are physically descended from Mohammed. In other words, Muslims are as well able to distinguish between literal and metaphorical meanings of words as anyone else.
Their real "beef" with the divinity of Christ is theological. Among the polytheistic Arabian tribes, against whom Mohammed argued, the local gods were said to have wives (consorts), and children by them. 7th century Catholicism worshiped Mary as "mother of God," as she was the mother of Jesus. It takes little imagination to see why Mohammed reacted so strongly against the Christian doctrine. Yet the term "Son of God" never implied Jesus was sired by the Father, or that there was a time when he did not exist (John 8:58). Rather, "Son of God" describes analogically the relationship of Jesus Christ to the Father.
So tell your Muslim friends, "We agree with you. Jesus is not God's literal, biological son"! (But don't stop there!)
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