"But no Muslim religious leader has yet stressed the crucial gap between divine purposes and dry legalism as powerfully as Jesus did."

"Jesus showed that sacrificing the spirit of religion to literalism leads to horrors, like the stoning of innocent women by bigoted men — as it still happens in some Muslim countries today. He also taught that obsession with outward expressions of piety can nurture a culture of hypocrisy — as is the case in some Muslim communities today. Jesus even defined humanism as a higher value than legalism, famously declaring, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.' Can we Muslims also reason, 'The Shariah is made for man, not man for the Shariah'? Or, like Jesus, can we also suggest that the Kingdom of God — also called 'the Caliphate' — will be established not within any earthly polity, but within our hearts and minds? If Jesus is 'a prophet of Islam,' as we Muslims often proudly say, then we should think on these questions. Because Jesus addressed the very problems that haunt us today and established a prophetic wisdom perfectly fit for our times."

From "What Jesus Can Teach Today’s Muslims," a NYT op-ed by Mustafa Akyol.

Here's his new book: "The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims."