Editing Jesus in Islam (section)

=== Preaching ===
The Islamic concepts of Jesus' preaching is believed to have originated in [[Kufa]], Iraq, under the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] where the earliest writers of Muslim tradition and scholarship was formulated. The concepts of Jesus and his preaching ministry developed in Kufa was adopted from the early ascetic [[Arianism|Christians of Egypt]] who opposed official church bishopric appointments from Rome.{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=[https://archive.org/details/muslimjesussayin00/page/31 31]–36}}

The earliest stories, numbering about 85, are found in two major collections of [[Asceticism|ascetic]] literature entitled {{transliteration|ar|Kitab al-Zuhd wa'l Raqa'iq}} ('The Book of the Asceticism and Tender Mercies') by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 797), and {{transliteration|ar|Kitab al-Zuhd}} ('The Book of Asceticism') by [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Ibn Hanbal]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 855). These sayings fall into four basic groups:

# eschatological sayings;
# quasi-Gospel sayings;
# ascetic sayings and stories;
# sayings echoing intra-Muslim polemics.{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pE57rmPaM58C&pg=PA31 31]}}

The first group of sayings expands Jesus' [[archetype]] as portrayed in the Quran. The second group of stories, although containing a Gospel core, are expanded with a "distinctly Islamic stamp". The third group, being the largest of the four, portrays Jesus as a patron saint of Muslim asceticism. The last group builds upon the Islamic archetype and Muslim-centric definition of Jesus and his attributes, furthering esoteric ideas regarding terms such as "Spirit of God" and "Word of God" describing Jesus Christ, attributes given to the Islamic view of Jesus Christ as a holy angelic messenger divinely sent from heaven by God to his fleshly incarnation, like an [[Angel of the Lord]] in some other [[Messianic Christian]] traditions.{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pE57rmPaM58C&pg=PA32 32]}}