Jesus (PBUH) – A Great Prophet of God
Dec 25, 2017 10:25 UTC
Today the 25th of December is celebrated by most Christian sects as the birthday of the virgin-born Jesus (Peace be upon him). The various versions of the Gospels in circulation amongst the Christians, whether these books are regarded as canonical or non-canonical – depending upon the Church the Christians follow – do not mention this date, or for that matter any other date, for the birth of Jesus.
Moreover, Prophet Jesus (Peace be upon him) was born amongst the Israelites who followed the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar of their Roman overlords.
Even Biblical scholars acknowledge that December 25 was actually the day of bacchanal festivities in the pagan Roman Empire, and when Europe became Christian, several centuries after the birth and departure of Jesus without the gentiles or non-Jews having any information about him, the day was fixed as the birthday of the Messiah.
So the question arises: When was the Son of Mary born?
Let us first wish our Christian friends a happy Christmas, and utilize this opportunity to search Islamic texts for the answer. It is worth noting that Islam regards Jesus as one of the Five Greatest Prophets of God – the other Four being Noah, Abraham, Moses and the Last and the Greatest of them all, Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
According to the holy Qur’an, which we Muslims believe as God’s final revelation to mankind and free from any interpolation as was the fate of the previously revealed heavenly scriptures, like the Torah and the Evangel, Jesus neither claimed to be the son of God, nor was he crucified, as alleged.
Once when a learned Christian came to Hijaz in quest of his investigations on Abrahamic religions, he was introduced to Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
To his surprise he found the Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt more knowledgeable of the Judeo-Christian texts than he himself. After explaining the dynamics of Islam, the 7th Imam said:
“I will inform you of something that only a few people who have read the scriptures know. Tell me the day on which Mary conceived, and the hour of the day, and the day and the hour on which Mary gave birth to Jesus?”
The Christian scholar was confused and confessed: “I do not know.”
Imam Kazem (AS) said: “The day on which Mary conceived, it was Friday at noon. That was the day the Ruh al-Amin (or the trustworthy spirit) came down –to her from God with tidings of a boy to be born to her. There is no festival better than this for Muslims… Allah Almighty magnified it, and Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) magnified it and ordered that Friday should be a holiday.”
The Imam continued: “Do you know beside which river Mary gave birth to Jesus?”
The Christian scholar said, “No.”
Imam Kazem (AS) said: “It was the Euphrates, and beside it were date palms and grape vines.”
It is interesting to note that in Bethlehem there are no date palms, and moreover Mary had withdrawn to a secluded and far off place as the time of the delivery approached, in order to be safe from the slanders of the Jews. That is the reason when she returned to her hometown with Jesus (peace upon him), Almighty Allah empowered the infant in the cradle to remove any doubt about the chastity and virginity of his mother, by saying, as is evident by ayah 30 of Surah Maryam of the holy Qur’an:
“He (Jesus) said, ‘Indeed I am a servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.”
As for the date and the lunar month in which Jesus was born, a famous narration from the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), completes the dialogue which his father Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) had with the Christian scholar.
The Muslim scholar Hassan ibn Ali al-Washsha has informed us: I was with my father and I was a youth, and we spent the night with Imam Reza (AS). It was the night of the 25th of Zil-Qa’dah and he said to my father:
“On the night of the 25th of Zi’l-Qa’dah Abraham was born and on it Jesus the son of Mary was born, and on it the (dry) earth beneath the Ka‘ba appeared for the first time and was made to spread; whoever fasts on that day, it is as if he were to fast for sixty months.”
These words ought to remove any doubt about the correct information of the life and message of Prophet Jesus (peace upon him).
It is worth noting that Arabs and the Israelites followed the same lunar calendar with slight differences. Could it mean that the 25th of the lunar month was transformed into the 25th of December as the birthday of Jesus when the Roman Empire became Christian?
This is a matter for scholars to research. As for the birth of Prophet Jesus without the association of any male for his mother, Islamic texts again come to our rescue.
Abu Baseer narrates: “I said to Abu Abdullah – the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) – Why did Allah create Jesus without any father and created the other people by fathers and mothers?’ He replied: “So that the people would know all of His power and its perfection; and so that they would know that He has power to create a creature without (the involvement of) a male. Likewise, He has power to create one without a male or female, and He, the Mighty and Magnificent, did that so it would be known that He has power over all things.”
What a rational description by the Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt regarding Jesus, who preached his mission in Jerusalem or Bayt al-Moqaddas, where many of the past prophets had dwelled.
Jesus invited the deviated Israelites to the path of Allah, and urged them to give up their wicked and evil ways. He was merely thirty-three years old and in the prime of manhood, when Judas Iscariot, the hypocrite who had sneaked amongst his disciples, betrayed him to the Romans. But the Romans who had no proper idea of Jesus mistook Judas himself for the Messiah, and crucified him, making the ever-rebellious exult in joy that Jesus was killed. Allah lifted Jesus alive to the heavens, and that is the reason the holy Qur’an says in ayah 157 of Surah an-Nisa:
“And for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Prophet of Allah’ —though they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them. Indeed those who differ concerning him are surely in doubt about him: they do not have any knowledge of that beyond following conjectures, and certainly they did not kill him.”
Sadly, the teachings of Jesus, the Prophet of Peace, have been distorted beyond recognition by those who have turned him into ‘son of god’, when he never made any such blasphemous claim.
It is an undeniable fact that today’s self-styled Christian powers, like the Americans and West Europeans, feel no inhibitions in lusting for war, bloodshed, oppression, depriving people and nations of their inalienable rights, indulgence in the most sinful pleasures of the flesh, destabilizing countries – such as Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Palestine – by supporting Takfiri terrorist outfits and the Zionists.
US president, Donald Trump, who claims to be a Christian, but tramples the teachings of Jesus under his feet by supporting the Zionists and gifting them the sacred city of Jerusalem, is certainly an Antichrist. No wonder the Israelites, or more properly those who rejected the mission of the Messiah and became Zionists – continue to slander Jesus and his chaste mother, whose spotless purity the holy Qur’an confirms. In view of these facts, it is rather strange for the Christian World to kowtow to the despicable Zionists and the illegal entity called Israel, while indulging in the most absurd phobia against Islam and Muslims. It seems, depravity has deprived minds in the West of any of spirituality and moral values, as is evident in their Bacchanal celebration of Christmas.
In conclusion we draw the attention of our readers to the prophecy of Jesus concerning the mission of Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
Jesus in his native Semitic language referred to as Hmda, a word translated as Paraclete in the Greek version of the Bible or Comforter in the English translation of St. John’s Gospel. In Arabic this word means Ahmad or Highly Praised One. The Holy Qur’an has preserved the original words of the Messiah in ayah 6 of Surah Saff as follows:
“O Children of Israel! Indeed I am the Prophet of Allah to you, to confirm what is before me of the Torah, and to give the tidings of the Prophet to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.”
At the end of our programme, we again heartily greet our Christian listeners and present them what the holy Qur’an has said in ayahs 34 and 35 of Surah Maryam about the Messiah:
“That is Jesus, son of Mary, the Word of the Truth, concerning whom they are in doubt. It is not for God to take a son. Immaculate is He! When He decides on a matter, He just says to it, “Be” and “it is”.
AS/ME