exclusively reserved for Jesus, the son of Mary, in both Islam and in
Christianity. This is not unusual in religion. There are certain other honorific
titles which may be applied to more than one prophet, yet being made exclusive
to one by usage: like "Rasulullah", meaning "Messenger of
God", which title is applied to both Moses (19:51) and Jesus (61:6) in the
Holy Quran. Yet "Rasullullah" has become synonymous only with
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, among Muslims. Every prophet is indeed a
"Friend of God", but its Arabic equivalent "Khalillullah" is
exclusively associated with Father Abraham. This does not mean that the others
are not God’s friends. "Kaleemullah", meaning "One who spoke with
Allah" is never used for anyone other than Moses, yet we believe that God
spoke with many of His messengers, including Jesus and Muhammed, may the peace
and blessings of God be upon all His servants. Associating certain titles with
certain personages only, does not make them exclusive or unique in any way. We
honor all in varying terms. Whilst the good news was being announced (verse 45
above) Mary was told that her unborn child will be called Jesus, that he would
be the Christ, a "Word" from God, and that… "He shall speak to
the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the
righteous." (3:46) "At length she brought the (babe) to her people
carrying him. They said: ‘O Mary! truly a strange thing has thou brought!’. ‘O
sister of Aaron!, thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman
unchaste!’ " (The Holy Quran 19:27-28) Jews Amazed There is no Joseph the
carpenter here. The circumstances being peculiar, Mary the mother of Jesus had
retired herself to some remote place in the East (19:16). After the birth of the
child she returns. A. Yusuf Ali, comments in his popular English translation of
the Quran: "The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they
were prepared to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kin for
some time. But now she comes, shamelessly parading a babe in her arms! How she
had disgraced house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood! "Sister of
Aaron": Mary is reminded of her high lineage and the unexceptionable morals
of her father and mother. How, they said, she had fallen, and disgraced the name
of her progenitors! What could Mary do? How could she explain? Would they, in
their censorious mood accept her explanation? All she could do was to point to
the child, who, she knew, was no ordinary child. And the child came to her
rescue. By a miracle he spoke, defended his mother, and preached to an
unbelieving audience." Allah azza wa jall says in the Quran: "But she
pointed to the babe. They said: ‘How can we talk one who is a child in the
cradle?’ He (Jesus) said: ‘I am indeed a servant of Allah (God) : He hath given
me revelation and made me a prophet: ‘and He hath made me blessed wheresoever I
be, and hath enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live. ‘(He hath made
me) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unblest; ‘So Peace is on me the
day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to
life again)’!" (19:29-33) His First Miracle(s) Thus Jesus, peace and
blessings be upon him, defended his mother from the grave calumny and innuendoes
of her enemies. This is the very first miracle attributed to Jesus in the Holy
Quran that, he spoke as an infant from his mother’s arms. Contrast this with his
first miracle in the Christian Bible which occurred when he was over thirty
years of age: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee;
and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples,
to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him,
they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?
mine hour is not yet come.’ His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he
saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after
the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up
to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of
the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water
that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the
water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto
him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well
drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until
now." (John 2:110) Since this miracle, wine has flowed like water in
Christendom. Many reason that what was good for the Master is good enough for
them. Jesus was no "kill-joy" they say. Didn’t he make good potent
wine, that even those "well drunk", those whose senses had been dulled
could make out the difference ? "That the best was kept for the
last.". This was no pure grape juice. It was the same wine that, according
to the Christian Bible, enabled the daughters of Lot to seduce their father
(Genesis 19:32-33).It was the same wine which the Christian is advised to eschew
in Ephesians 5:18 – "And be not drunk with wine…" It is that
innocent (?) 1% potency that eventually leads millions down into the gutter.
America has 10 million drunkards in the midst of 70 million
"born-again" Christians! The Americans call their drunkards
"Problem Drinkers". In South Africa, they are called
"Alcoholics"; drunkard is too strong a word for people to stomach. But
the Prime Minister of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, does not hesitate to call a
spade a spade. He says, "I am not prepared to lead nation of
drunkards", referring to his own people who drink intoxicants. Whether the
water "blushed" or not "seeing" Jesus, we cannot blame him
or his disciples for the drinking habits of his contemporaries. For he had truly
opined, "have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now" (John 16:12). Mankind had not reached the stage of receiving the whole
Truth of Islam. Did he not also say "You cannot put new wine into old
bottles"? (Matthew 9:17). "Mother" or "Woman"?
According to St. John, in the fourth verse above, describing the marriage feast
at Cana, we are told that Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, behaved
insolently towards his mother. He calls her "woman," and to rub more
salt into the wound he is made to say "what have I to do with thee?"
What connection is there between you and me, or what have I got to do with you?
Could he have forgotten that this very "woman" had carried him for
nine months, and perhaps suckled him for 2 years, and had borne endless insults
and injuries on account of him? Is she not his mother? Is there no word in his
language for "mother"? Strange as it may seem, that while the
missionaries boast about their master’s humility, meekness and long-suffering,
they call him the "Prince of Peace" and they sing that "he was
led to the slaughter like a lamb, and like a sheep who before his shearer is
dumb, he opened not his mouth", yet they proudly record in the same breath,
that he was ever ready with invectives for the elders of his race, and was
always itching for a showdown i.e. if their records are true: "Ye
hypocrites!" "Ye wicked and adulterous generation!" "Ye
whited sephulcres!" "Ye generation of vipers!" and now to his
mother: "Woman…" Jesus Defended Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa
sallam, the Messenger of God, is made to absolve Jesus from the false charges
and calumnies of his enemies. "And He (God Almighty) hath made me (Jesus)
kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unblest" (19:31). On receiving
the good news of the birth of a righteous son Mary responds: "She said: ‘O
My Lord! how shall I have a son, when no man hath touched me?" The angel
says in reply: "He said: ‘Even so: Allah (God) createth what He willeth:
when He hath decreed a matter He but sayth o it ‘Be,’ and it is! And Allah (God)
will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah (Law) and the Gospel,"
(3:47-48). Chapter Five : Quranic and Biblical Versions Meeting the Reverend I
was visiting the "Bible House" in Johannesburg. Whilst browsing
through the stacks of Bibles and religious books, I picked up an Indonesian
Bible and had just taken in hand a Greek – English New Testament, a large,
expensive volume. I had not realized that I was being observed by the supervisor
of the Bible House. Casually, he walked up to me. Perhaps my beard and my Muslim
headgear were an attraction and a challenge? He inquired about my interest in
that costly volume. I explained that as a student of comparative religion, I had
need for such a book. He invited me to have tea with him in his office. It was
very kind of him and I accepted. Over the cup of tea, I explained to him the
Muslim belief in Jesus, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I explained to
him the high position that Jesus occupied in the House of Islam. He seemed
skeptical about what I said. I was amazed at his seeming ignorance, because only
retired Reverend gentlemen can become Supervisors of Bible Houses in South
Africa. I began reciting from verse 42 of chapters 3 of the Holy Quran:
"’Behold!’ The angels said: ‘O Mary, Allah hath chosen thee…’" I
wanted the Reverend to listen, not only to the meaning of the Quran, but also to
the music of its cadences when the original Arabic was recited. Rev. Dunkers
(for that was his name) sat back and listened with rapt attention to
"Allah’s Words". When I reached the end of verse 49, the Reverend
commented that the Quranic message was like that of his own Bible. He said, he
saw no difference between what he behaved as a Christian, and what I had read to
him. I said: "that was true". If he had come across these verses in
the English language alone without their Arabic equivalent, side by side, he
would not have been able to guess in a hundred years that he was reading the
Holy Quran. If he were a Protestant, he would have thought that he was reading
the Roman Catholic Version, if he had not seen one, or the Jehovah’s Witness
Version or the Greek Orthodox Version, or the hundred and one other versions
that he might not have seen; but he would never have guessed that he was reading
the Quranic version. The Christian would be reading here, in the Quran,
everything he wanted to hear about Jesus, but in a most noble, elevated and
sublime language. He could not help being moved by it. In these eight terse
verses from 42 to 49 we are told: (a) That Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a
virtuous woman, and honored above the women of all nations. (b) That all that
was being said was God’s own Revelation to mankind. (c) That Jesus was the
"Word" of God. (d) That he was the Christ that the Jews were waiting
for. (e) That God will empower this Jesus to perform miracles even in infancy.
(f) That Jesus was born miraculously, without any male intervention. (g) That
God will vouchsafe him Revelation. (h) That he will give life to the dead by
God’s permission, and that he will heal those born blind and the lepers by God’s
permission, … etc. "Chalk and Cheese" The most fervent Christian
cannot take exception to a single statement or word here. But the difference
between the Biblical and the Quranic narratives is that between "chalk and
cheese". "To me they are identical, what is the difference?" the
Reverend asked. I know that in their essentials both the stories agree in their
details, but when we scrutinize them closely we will discover that the
difference between them is staggering. Now compare the miraculous conception as
announced in verse 47 of the Holy Quran with what the Holy Bible says: "Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph, before they came together, (as husband and wife) she was found with
child of the holy ghost."(Matthew 1:18) Master Dramatizer The eminent Billy
Graham from the United States of America dramatized this verse in front of
40,000 people in King Park, Durban, with his index finger sticking out and
swinging his outstretched arm from right to left, he said: "And the Holy
Ghost came and impregnated Mary!" On the other hand St. Luke tells us the
very same thing but less crudely. He says, that when the annunciation was made,
Mary was perturbed. Her natural reaction was : "How shall this be, seeing I
know not a man?" (Luke 1:34) meaning sexually. The Quranic narrative is:
"She said: O my Lord! how shall I have a son when no man hath touched
me?" (3:47) meaning sexually. In essence there is no difference between
these two statements "seeing I know not a man" and "when no man
hath touched me". Both the quotations have an identical meaning. It is
simply a choice of different words meaning the same thing. But the respective
replies to Mary’s plea in the two Books (the Quran and the Bible) are revealing.
The Biblical Version Says the Bible: "And the angle answered and said into
her : ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee" (Luke 1:35) Can’t you see that you are giving the atheist,
the skeptic, the agnostic a stick to beat you with? They may well ask "How
did the Holy Ghost come upon Mary?" "How did the Highest overshadow
her?" We know that literally it does not mean that: that it was an
immaculate conception, but the language used here, is distasteful. Now contrast
this with the language of the Quran: The Quranic Version "He said (the
angel says in reply): ‘Even so: Allah (God) createth what He willeth: when He
hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, ‘Be,’ and it is!’ " (3:47) This is
the Muslim concept of the birth of Jesus. For God to create a Jesus, without a
human father, He merely has to will it. If He wants to create a million Jesus’
without fathers or mothers, He merely wills them into existence. He does not
have to take seeds and transfer them, like men or animals by contact or
artificial insemination . He wills everything into being by His word of command
"Be" and "It is". There is nothing new in what I am telling
you, I reminded the Reverend. It is in the very first Book of your Holy Bible,
Genesis 1:3 "And God said…" What did He say? He said "Be"
and "It was". He did not have to articulate the words. This is our way
of understanding the word "Be", that He willed everything into being.
Choice for His Daughter "Between these two versions of the birth of Jesus,
the Quranic version and the Biblical version, which would you prefer to give
your daughter ?" I asked the supervisor of the Bible House. He bowed his
head down in humility and admitted "The Quranic Version." How can
"a forgery" or "an imitation", as it is alleged of the Quran,
be better than the genuine, the original, as it is claimed for the Bible? It can
never be, unless this Revelation to Muhammed is what it, itself, claims to be
viz. The pure and holy Word of God! There are a hundred different tests that the
unprejudiced seeker after truth can apply to the Holy Quran and it will qualify
with flying colors to being a Message from on High. Like Adam Does the
miraculous birth of Jesus make him a God or a "begotten" son of God?
No! says the Holy Quran: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah (God) is
that of Adam; He created him from dust then said to him: ‘Be’, and he was."
(3:59) Yusuf Ali, comments in his notes in the Quran translation: "After a
description of the high position which Jesus occupies as a prophet in the
preceding verses we have a repudiation of the dogma that he was God, or the son
of God, or any thing more than man. If it is said that he was born without a
human father, Adam was also so born. Indeed Adam was born without either a human