09-09-2004, 02:27 PM
What Qur'an says about the birth of Jesus (pbuh)? let's check it out...
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(Surah No 3)
42. "And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, chosen thee above (all) the women of creation.
43. O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).
44. This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Mohammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).
45. Behold! The Angels said: O Maryam! Allah giving you glad tidings of a word from Him; His name will be Maseeh Eisa ibn Maryam, Jesus son of Mary, held in honor in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are nearest to Allah.
46. He will speak in the cradle / childhood and in maturity and He will be one of the righteous.
47. She said: O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me? He said: even so, Allah creates what he wills. When He decrees a matter He just says: be and it is
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(Surah 19)
16. Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.
17 She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them: then We sent to her Our angel and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.
18 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah."
19 He said: "Nay I am only a messenger from thy Lord (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son."
20 She said: "How shall I have a son seeing that no man has touched me and I am not unchaste?"
21 He said: "So (it will be): thy Lord saith `That is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': it is a matter (so) decreed."
22 So she conceived him and she retired with him to a remote place.
23 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"
24 But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-free): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;
25 "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.
26 "So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man say `I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being.' "
27 At length she brought the (babe) to her people carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!
28 "O sister of Aaron! thy father was not a man of evil nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"
29 But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
30 He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah (not son of Allaah) : He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
31 "And He hath made me Blessed wheresoever I be and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;
32 "(He) hath made me kind to my mother and not overbearing or miserable;
33 "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)"! 2485
34 Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth about which they (vainly) dispute.
35 It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter He only says to it "Be" and it is. ( 19:16-35)
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The Qur'an acknowledges that Jesus was born without a father. Mary, his mother was chosen by God for this purpose. The Qur'an highly reveres her. Surah 19 of the Qur'an is given her name. She is the only woman who is specifically called by name in the Qur'an (Surah 3:42; cf. 21:91; 66:12; 23:50). In line with other Qur'anic references the designation "son of Mary" serves to remind readers that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. She conceived Jesus through God's creative word. (Surah 3:47).
According to a tradition, Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) said, "When any human being is born, Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead" (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 4, Hadith 506).
The Qur'an denies that God begets or takes to himself offspring (Surah 112). In other places it asks, "How can Allah have a son, when he hath no consort?" (Surah 6:101). Allah "has taken neither a wife nor a son." (Surah 72:3). Such denunciation was directed primarily against the polytheism of the Makkans. However, Muslims use these passages along with passages which deal specifically with heretical trinitarian ideas to condemn the doctrine of the Sonship of Christ as they believe it is taught in Christianity (Surah 19:88-93).
Every messenger of God is a shahid (witness) to the true faith before his people. Jesus' mission as a witness is highlighted in the discourse between him and Almighty God that will take place on the day of judgement but is already written down in the Qur'an, that God will ask him whether he taught people to worship him and his mother beside God. Jesus will certainly deny this and will affirm that he had said, "Worship God, my Lord and your Lord". (Surah 5:116 - 117).
It is thought that the Qur'an also denies the doctrine of the Trinity (Surah 4:171; 5:73,116). However, what it denies is the Trinity that consists of Father, Mother and Son. Nowhere does the Bible suggest that type of trinity or that God is one of three or the third of three. Christians certainly agree that there is no god, but one God. The notion of three gods is as offensive to Christians as to Muslims.
There is nothing in the Bible which could suggest that Jesus ever spoke of Mary being taken as a god beside God. What the Qur'an re-edits is some of the heretical doctrines that were around in those days in Arabia and its neighbouring areas.
It is important to appreciate that Jesus, alone among the founders of the great religions of the world, spoke with authority. Others have claimed to speak the words they have received from God, for example, Moses begins all his teachings with the phrase, "Thus says the LORD". However, Jesus says, "But I say to you...". The people who heard him "were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority" (Luke 4:32). No other prophet spoke with such authority. Prophets claimed to have a deeper insight into the Truth, however Jesus went further by claiming to be the Truth, the source of all Truth. In the light of his claims and deeds the Bible portrays him as the "image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15) and as the living Word of God through whom He has spoken in a way He never did before (Hebrew 1:1-3). Jesus certainly did not go around saying, "I am God". Indeed, he joyfully acknowledged his dependence upon God. However, the things he said and did convinced his contemporaries that he was stepping into the space reserved for God, acting and speaking for him in a way never seen or heard before.
Christians respond that they do not raise a mere human being to the status of being equal with God but that this Jesus before coming into this world existed with God as his Word. As God is, his Word is. It is due to the glory that Jesus had with God before becoming the Son of Mary that Christians believe in him as coexistent and coequal with God. Jesus as the Son of Mary or as Ibn Adam (the Son of Man) is God az-zahir (revealed).