A Muslim View of Jesus' Power and Holiness

"It is my conviction that Christianity began to lose its power of sanctification as it lost its Eastern home and character. It was in this Eastern piety and spiritual dynamism of the holy desert fathers tat Islam was born and nourished. It was not dogma but holiness, victory against demonic spirits of uncleanness, which spoke to the needs of men and women. We dismiss as a bit of Eastern superstition that Jesus cast out unclean spirits. Yet it was this piety of healing and sanctification, whose ultimate source Jesus was, that played an important role in the life of the society of the ancient Near East, and that can once again rejuvenate the materialistic society of out world today."

--Mahmoud Ayoub, A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue, 77