Contact Us

THE FINAL MISSION (Chapter Three)

 

WHO WAS JESUS?

     What was the real nature of Jesus? Why was he singled out from among the Prophets to be born so miraculously?

There are many disputes about these issues even among the believers. Some non-believers suggest that Mary had actually conceived the baby with Joseph the Carpenter, and that the story of the Immaculate Conception was invented by the desperate couple to hide an ugly sin. At the opposite end of the spectrum, many believers have espoused the idea that Jesus was himself God, the Son of God, part of a divine Trinity. Other disputants have gone as far to claim that Jesus actually had no form at all, that he appeared among us only as an apparition.

The Koran reveals the true nature of Jesus. God created the Messiah in the identical manner that Adam had been created: He breathed His spirit into the physical matter of our world. Is this puzzling? It is not, especially if one remembers that every human being is a breath of God's spirit.

Chapter of Adoration (As-Sajda)
6. Such is He, the Knower of all things hidden and open, the Exalted in power, the Merciful;
7. He who created all things in the best way. He began the creation of man from clay,
8. And made the progeny of man from a quintessence of base fluid.
9. But He fashioned man in due proportion, and breathed into him of His spirit...

     Jesus indeed could have been born in the normal fashion, as were the other Prophets. God created Jesus as a sign to all people, as evidence of His will. It is enough for a man who believes in the only God not to question His works. God is the giver of all form.

The Chapter of The Believers (AI Muminun)
50. And We made the son of Mary and his mother as a Sign. We gave them both shelter on high ground, afforded them rest and security, and furnished them with sustenance.

The Chapter of the Prophets (AI Anbiyaa)
91. And remember her who guarded her chastity. We breathed life into her from Our spirit, and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples.

Chapter of the Family of Imran (Surat Imran)
59. In front of God, Jesus is similar in nature to Adam; God created him out of dust, then said to him, BE, and he was.
60. The Truth comes from your Lord alone, so do not be among those who doubt.
61. If anyone disputes in this matter with you, now after you have received the full knowledge, you should say, Come, let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, and then let us earnestly pray. Invoke the curse of God on those who lie.
62. This is the true account. There is but One God, who is indeed the exalted in power and wisdom.
63. If they turn back, God has full knowledge of those who do mischief.

     The lesson of the significance of Jesus' birth is repeated several times throughout the Koran, as the quotations illustrate. God intended that we learn from the miracle, as indeed the purpose of every one of God's miracles is to teach mankind. The lesson here is the omnipotent power of His will. He says BE and it is. The believers had strayed from the true path, and the Prophet Jesus was born in a miraculous fashion, sent to guide those willing to correct their mistakes.

It is interesting to note the admonition contained in this quotation. For those who persist in lies and mischief even after learning of the blessed mission of the Prophet, they will then be cursed. This formula of redemption or condemnation is repeated as a constant motif throughout all of the scriptures of the believers.

Let us return to the point in the "Chapter of Mary" where the new mother was face to face with her accusers. Let us be fair to those poor souls. All of us would leap to the same conclusion about a young woman with no husband who had appeared suddenly with a babe in her arms, as we are all guided by the logic of human affairs. But in this matter, the divine logic had prevailed, as the innocent girl had followed the instructions of the angel messenger from God.

The Chapter of Mary (Surat Mariam)
29. But Mary simply pointed to the baby. The others asked, Should we talk to one who is still a child in the cradle?
30. And then the child Jesus himself replied, I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me a revelation and made me a Prophet.
31. He has blessed wherever I be, and has commanded me to prayer and charity as long as I live.
32. He has made me kind to my mother, and neither violent nor pitying my fate.
33. So Peace is on me from the day I was born to the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life again!
34. Such was Jesus the son of Mary. It is a statement of truth, about which men might vainly dispute.
35. It is not befitting the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory to Him, when He determines a matter, He only says, BE, and it is. 

     A child talking and instructing his elders in the scriptures? Working great miracles? The Jews could only be amazed at the character and nature of Jesus, a child who could work such wonders, who had been created by an act of God, as was Adam.

     The phrase "I am indeed a servant of God" surely should clarify the confusion for many People of the Book regarding the nature of Jesus. Was his personality human or divine? The answer supplied by Islamic revelation is divinely simple: Jesus was created by God, and was sent to us like the other Prophets, in human form. His mother was neither sinner nor herself the Mother of God. Rather she was a pious girl destined by her innocence to give birth to the baby Jesus.

     The Gospel of Luke also refers to the childhood preaching of Jesus. The family went every year to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. The year that Jesus was twelve, he remained behind without the knowledge of his parents. When Mary and Joseph could not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. After three days, they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of learned doctors, answering their questions! All who heard him were amazed at the understanding displayed by his answers. Mary was relieved to find Jesus and asked him why he had dealt with them in such a fashion. He replied by asking them why they did not know where to find him, as they should have known that he would be in his Father's house.

     The usage of paternal and filial titles which are quoted in the Christian Gospels should never have been misconstrued as Jesus declaring his divinity. The process of scriptural translation from Aramaic and Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, and on to English, has transpired over two millennium. The original intent of Jesus' words was shifted and shaded by the selection of words in translation which lent credence to the argumentative theologians and politicians who formatted the New Testament.

     How simple God's plan therefore that the codification of His Law as revealed to Mohammed should remain in its original language of transmission, that it should rest unchanged. The lack of revision from the time of the early Christian epoch therefore renders Muslim scripture as a historical source for Christian historians. The unedited nature of Koran gives Muslims confidence in their understanding of the nature of Jesus, which was as a servant of God, as Prophet. One of the great missions of the Koran was to deny the blasphemy gaining currency that Jesus was the Son of God. The Torah and the Gospels never declare the divinity of Jesus.

The Chapter of the Spread Table (Surat al Ma'ida)
 46. ...We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him. We sent to him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light. The confirmation of the Torah that had come before him was a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God.
116. Understand this: God will say, Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to men 'Take me and my mother for two gods beside God?' And Jesus will reply, Yours is the glory! Never could I say what I had no right to say. Had I said such a thing, You would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, though I do not know what is in yours. You know in full all that is hidden.
117. Never did I say to them except what You commanded me to say, which was, 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord'...

     Can our Christian readers understand now why Muslims feel so confident regarding the revelations of Jesus in the Koran? It is obvious that by the beginning of the Islamic era that the dogmatic intrigues regarding the nature of Jesus had already corrupted his message. When believers have deviated from the straight path, God dispatched the Prophets, each in their turn to guide the People of the Book back to Him. Thus did Jesus arrive to preach to the Jews, and thus was the message revealed to Mohammed for the Jews and Christians. Listen! Return to the path of God!

Chapter of the Family of Imran (Surat Imran)
48. (The angel continued), God will teach him the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel,
49. and appoint him a messenger to the Children of Israel, (to proclaim this message):

'I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you, out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe life into it, and it becomes a bird by God's will. And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I bring the dead to life by God's will. And I declare to you what you eat, and what you store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if you did believe.'

I have come to YOU with a SIGN FROM YOUR LORD
     During his period among us, Jesus performed many miracles. How shall we understand such power? For example, a famous miracle of Jesus referred to in the Koran was the moulding a figure of a bird from clay, into which he breathed life into it. A miracle of Jesus? No! The Prophet had invoked God's power to accomplish this feat of fashioning from clay a living being of flesh and feather. This was the same God who created Jesus from a mother without a father. The miracles performed by Jesus should best be understood in this fashion, as visible demonstration of God's power for the believers and unbelievers, that they should all believe.

     This matter of belief and the signs which confirm the Prophet's message were important elements of the mission of Jesus, as illustrated in the next quotation.

Chapter of the Family of Imran (Surat Imran)
50. (1 have come to you) to attest the Torah which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear God, and obey me.
51. It is God who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a way that is straight.
52. When Jesus found them unbelieving, he said, Who will be my helpers in the work of God? The disciples said, We will be helpers of God; we will believe in God, and do bear witness that we are Muslims.
53. Lord God, we believe in what You have revealed, and we follow Your Messenger. Write us down as among those who bear witness.
54. The unbelievers plotted and planned, and God too planned. The best of all planners is God.
55. God declared, Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of the falsehoods of those who blaspheme. I will make those who follow you superior to those who reject faith. On the day of Resurrection, you all shall return to Me, and I will judge between you of the matters on which you dispute.
56. As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with severe chastisement in this world and in the hereafter. Nor will they have anyone to help.
57. As to those who believe and work righteousness, God will pay them in full their just reward; God does not love those who do wrong.

     Moses was sent with the Torah to preach to the Jews. When it came to pass that many of the people of the Book corrupted themselves with indulgence in sensual pleasures and the materialistic life, God sent Jesus to the people of Israel as a messenger and supported him with wonderful miracles. The mission was to guide the believers to the straight path.

     To assist in the dissemination of God's message, the Prophets had disciples to assist them. These helpers were blessed by God to be able to perform these works, though frequently these disciples paid with their mortal lives at the hands of the corrupt.

     Jesus and his disciples were continually embroiled in problems with the Jewish priests of the Temple. Why was this? It had come to pass over time that corruption arose among the believers, as always. During the time of Jesus, the custodians of the temples failed to earn their living by religiously proper means. They were actually pillaging the donations of the faithful to the Temple in an unlawful manner.

     Jesus severely condemned this behaviour. The Temple priests had assumed the mantle of Moses and were using this as the claim to a higher status than the other believers. Jesus, however, preached equality between the People of the Book, denied the superiority of the priestly clan, and proclaimed publicly, 'All are equal before God."

     As we can well imagine, this message and the popularity of Jesus did not sit well with the corrupt among the priests of the Temple. Beyond the threat to illicit income, Jesus also challenged the priests' inflexible orthodox interpretation of Jewish law, such as the observance of the Sabbath. Jesus was preaching and healing on the Sabbath, which the orthodox considered unlawful. 

     The priests plotting against Jesus hoped to trap him on this issue, to prove to the uncertain that the son of Mary could not be a messenger of God, as he was obviously violating what they declared as God's law. 

     The Prophet, however, understood their intentions and confronted them in front of the believers. When the priests accused him of violating the Sabbath, he asked whether it is appropriate to do good or bad things on the holy day. For example, is it allowed to save someone in distress? As it is obvious that God's law would allow such an action, then the servant of God can surely do good works on God's holy day. An essential task of Jesus' mission was "...to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you."