Jesus Christ—Arabic = Isa ‘l-Masih; Isa bin Maryam. Isa. In the Holy Qur’an, Jesus Christ is spoken of with the following names and titles:
Isa ("Jesus")—Al-Baidawi says it is the same as the Hebrew Ishu’ and derived from Al-Ayas, "white mingled with red," or "reddish brown."
Isa bin Maryam—"Jesus son of Mary," from whom he was born by the Power of Allah.
Al-Masih—"The Messiah" (Holy Qur’an 3:40). "His name shall be Messiah Jesus." Al Kamalan, the commentators, say he is called Al-Masih either because he was both blessed and anointed by the Angel Gabriel, or because whomsoever Jesus touched he healed.
Kalima tu’llah—"The Word of Allah (God)." (Holy Qur’an 4:169) "His Word." Husain says, by this expression is meant he who was born at the express fiat of Allah. (Holy Qur’an 19:36) "He says only Be and it is."
Qaulu’l-Haqq—"The Word of Truth." (Holy Qur’an 19:35) Some commentators say this reference is to the statement made being "the Word of Truth," while others take it as a reference to Jesus himself, "The Word of Truth."
Ruhun min Allah—"A spirit from Allah (God)." (Holy Qur’an 4:169) "A spirit from Him." Al-Baidawi says it is a spirit that proceeds from Allah. The Title Ruhu’llah is the special kalimah (name) for Jesus Christ.
Rasulu’llah—"The Messenger of Allah." (Prophet; Messenger of Allah). (Holy Qur’an 4:169)
Abdu’llah—"The Servant of Allah." (Holy Qur’an 19:31) —"Verily I am the servant of Allah."
Nabi yu’llah—"The Prophet of Allah." (Holy Qur’an 19:31) —"He has made me a Nabi (Prophet)."
Wajihun fi’d-dunya wa’l-akhirah—"Illustrious in this world and in the next." (Holy Qur’an 3:40)
The Annunciation of Mary
Holy Qur’an 3:42-49—"And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary, verily Allah has chosen thee, and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds! O Mary! Be devout towards thy Lord, and prostrate thyself and bow down with those who bow.’ This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To thee, (O Muhammad!) do we reveal it; for thou was not with them when they cast lots with reeds which or them should rear Mary; nor was thou with them when they disputed about it. Remember when the Angel said ‘O Mary! Verily Allah announced to thee the Word from Him: His name Messiah Jesus Son of Mary, Illustrious in this world, and in the next, and of those who have near access to Allah: and he shall speak to men when in the cradle and when grown up; and he shall be one of the just.’ She said, ‘How, O my Lord! Shall I have a son, when man has not touched me?’ He said: ‘Thus Allah will create what he will; when He decreed a thing, He only says Be and it is.’"
Holy Qur’an 19:16-21—"And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from he family, eastward and took a veil to shroud herself from them: and we sent Our Spirit to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man. She said: ‘I flee for refuge from thee to the Lord of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, be gone from me!’ He said: ‘I am only a Messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’ She said: ‘How can I have a son, when man has never touched me? And I am not unchaste.’ He said: ‘So shall it be.’ Thy Lord has said: easy is this with me; and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed."
It is said that Mary is spoken of as the daughter of Imran. Commentators say that Imran died before Mary was born. In the Traditions, it is stated that "the only two persons born into the world who have not been touched by the devil are Mary and her son Jesus," thus, teaching the Immaculate Conception, of Mary.
When Mary went eastward, "she went out of her house in an eastward direction, in order to perform her ablution, when Gabriel appeared to her."
The Birth of Jesus
Holy Qur’an 19:22-24—"And she conceived him, and retired with him to a far-off place. She said: ‘Oh, would that I had died before this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!’ And one cried to her from below her: ‘Grieve not thou, thy Lord have provided a streamlet at thy feet; and shake the trunk of the palm tree toward thee: It will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee; eat and drink and be of cheerful eye: and should thou see a man, say: verily, I have vowed abstinence to Allah most Merciful. To no one I shall speak this day!’ Then she came with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said: ‘O Mary! Now has thou done a strange thing! O’ sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor was thy mother unchaste.’ And she was made a sign to them, pointing toward the babe. They said, ‘How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?’ He (Jesus) said, ‘Verily I am a servant of Allah (God); He has given me the Book, and He has made me a Prophet (Nabi); And He has made me blessed wherever I may be and has enjoined on me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live; and to be dutiful to her that birthed me; and He hath not made me proud, depraved. And the peace of Allah was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.’ This is Isa (Jesus), the son of Maryam, A Word of Truth, and which they (vainly) dispute."
Holy Qur’an 23: 50— "And we appointed the son (Jesus) and his mother for a sign: and we prepared an abode in a lofty spot, quiet and watered with springs."
Some Muslim commentators refer to the place of abode as Jerusalem, Damascus, Ramleh, or Bethlehem.
The palm tree that she (Mary) shook was withered without any head or fruit and this happened in the winter season. It miraculously supplied her with fruits for her refreshment, immediately.
The Miracles of Jesus
Holy Qur’an 3:48-49—"And He will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Injil; and he shall be a Prophet to the Children of Israel. ‘Now have I come to you with a sign from your Lord: Out of clay will I make for you, as it were, the figure of a bird, and I will breathe into it, and it shall become, by Allah’s leave, a bird. And I shall heal the blind, and the leper, and by Allah’s leave, I will quicken the dead, and I will tell you what ye eat, and what ye store up in houses! Truly, in this will be a sign for you if ye are believers.’"
Holy Qur’an 3:52-53— "And when Jesus perceived unbelief on their part, He said, ‘who will be my helpers with Allah?’ The disciples said ‘We will be Allah’s helpers! We believe in Allah and bear thou witness that we are Muslims. O, our Lord! We believe in what thou has sent down, and we follow the Apostle: write us up with those who bear witness to him.’"
The commentators say that Jesus made for the disciples the most perfect of birds, and it flew while they looked at it; that he cured 50,000 persons in one day; he raised Lazarus (Azar) from the dead, and the son of an old woman, and the daughter of a tax-collector.
Holy Qur’an 5:112-115— "Remember when the disciples said: ‘O Jesus, Son of Mary! Is the Lord able to send down a furnished table to us out of heaven?’ He said: ‘Fear Allah if ye are believers.’ They said: We desire to eat therefrom and to have our hearts assured; and to know that thou hast indeed spoken truth to us, and to be witnesses thereof.’ Jesus, son of Mary, said: ‘O Allah, our Lord! Send down a table to us out of heaven, that it may become a recurring festival to us, to the first of us and the last of us, and a sign from Thee; and nourish us, for thou art the best of nourishers.’ And Allah said: ‘Verily I will cause it to descend unto you; but whosoever among you after that shall disbelieve, I will surely chastise him with a chastisement wherewith I will not chastise any others.’"
This miracle is related by the commentators as follows: Jesus son of Mary, at the request of his followers, asked it of Allah, a red table immediately descended in their sign, between two clouds, and was set before them. Whereupon he rose up, and having made the ablution, prayed, and then took off the cloth which covered the table, saying, ‘In the name of Allah, the best provider of food!’ According to some commentators, the provisions with which the table was furnished were: a fish ready dressed, without scales or prickly fins, dripping with fat, having salt placed at his head, and vinegar at its tail, and round it all sorts of herbs, except leeks, and five loaves of bread; on one loaf, there were olives; on the second, honey; on the third, butter; on the fourth, cheese; and on the fifth, dried flesh (no swine—pig, ham, etc.—these things never touched his blessed lips).
Some say that Jesus, at the request of the disciples showed them another miracle, by restoring the fish to life, and causing its scales and fins to return to it; at which the standers-by, being frightened, he caused it to become as it were before; and 1300 men and women, all afflicted with bodily provisions, and were satisfied, the fish remaining whole as it were at first; then the table flew up to heaven in the sight of all; and everyone who had partaken of this food were delivered from their infirmities and misfortunes. And it continued to descend for forty days at dinner-time and stood on the ground till the sun declined, and then was taken up to the clouds. Al Hamdulillah
The Mission of Jesus
Holy Qur’an 57:26-27—"And of old we sent Noah and Abraham, and on their seed conferred the gift of prophesy, and the Book; and some of them we guided aright; but many were evil doers. Then we caused our Nabis (Prophets) to follow in their footsteps; And we caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow them, and we gave him the Injil and we put into the hearts of those who followed him, kindness and compassion: but as to the monastic life, they invented it themselves. The desire only of pleasing Allah did we describe to them, and this they observed not as it ought to have been observed: but to such of them who believed we gave their reward, though many of them were perverse."
Holy Qur’an 5:50-51—"And in the footsteps of the prophets, We sent Jesus, son of Mary, to follow confirming the Law which was before him: and We gave him the Injil with its guidance and the light, confirmatory of the preceding law; a guidance and warning to those who fear Allah. And that the people of the Injil may judge by what Allah hath sent down, and whosoever judges by other than what Allah has sent down, such are the perverse."
Holy Qur’an 2:87— "Moreover to Moses we gave ‘the Book’ and we raised up prophets after him; and to Jesus, son of Mary, we gave clear proofs of his mission, and strengthened him by the Holy Spirit. So, then, as a prophet comes to you with that which your souls desire not, swell you with pride and arrogance, and treat some as impostors, and slay others?"
Holy Qur’an 2:253— "Some of the Apostles we have endowed more highly than others: Those whom Allah hath spoken, He hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to Jesus, son of Mary, We gave manifest signs, and We strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. And if Allah had pleased, they who came after the clear signs had reached them would not have fought among themselves. But into disputes they fell: some of them believed, and some were infidels; yet, if Allah had pleased, they would not have thus wrangled; but Allah does what He will."
Holy Qur’an 61:6— "And remember when Jesus, son of Mary, said ‘O Children of Israel! Of a truth I am Allah’s Prophet to you to confirm the Law which was given before me, and to announce a Prophet that shall come after me whose name will be Ahmad!’ But when he, Ahmad, presented himself with clear proofs of his mission, they said, ‘this is manifest sorcery!’"
Holy Qur’an 6: 85— "And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias: all were righteous persons."
Holy Qur’an 4:159— "And there shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe in him (Jesus) before his death, and in the Day of Judgement, he shall be a witness against them."
Holy Qur’an 3: 44— "And I have come to confirm the Law which was before me; and to allow you part of that which had been forbidden you; and I come to you with a sign from your Lord; Fear Allah, and obey me; of a truth, Allah is my Lord, and your Lord, therefore, worship Him. This is the right way."
The Crucifixion of Jesus?
Holy Qur’an 3:54-57—"And the Jews plotted and Allah plotted: but of those who plot, Allah is the best. Remember when Allah said, O Jesus! Verily I will cause thee to die, and will take thee up to Myself and deliver thee from those who believe not; and I shall place those who follow thee above those who believe not, until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and wherein ye differ, I will decide between you. And as to those who believe not, I shall chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and in the next; And as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, Allah will pay them their recompense. Allah loveth not the doers of evil."
Holy Qur’an 4:156-158— "And for their unbelief (are the Jews cursed) and for their having spoken against Mary a grievous calumny, and for their saying ‘Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an Apostle of Allah!’ Yet they slew him not, but they had only his likeness. And those who differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and they really did not slay him, but Allah took him up to Himself and Allah is Mightly, Wise!"
*NOTE: Some say the person crucified was a spy that was sent to entrap Jesus; others say that it was Titian, who, by the direction of Judas, entered in at a window of the house where Jesus was, to kill him; and some say it was Judas, himself, who agreed with the rulers of the Jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver and led those who were sent to take him. They add, that Jesus, after the crucifixion in effigy, was sent down again to the earth to comfort his mother and disciples and acquaint them with how the Jews were deceived, and was taken back to heaven a second time.
** The Basilidians, in the very beginning of Christianity denied that Jesus was crucified but asserted that it was Simon the Cirenean who was crucified in his place. The Corinthians, before them, and the Carpocrations also believe the same, that it was not Jesus who was killed, but one of his followers that was crucified.
*** Photius states in his book that he read in a book called the Journeys of the Apostles, relating to the Acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul; and among other things contained therein this; that Christ was not crucified, but another in his stead, and that, therefore, he laughed at his crucifiers or those who thought they had crucified him.
Divinity and Sonship of Jesus and His Sinlessness
Holy Qur’an 19:34-37—"That is Jesus, son of Mary, the Word of Truth (Qawlu’l-Haqq) whereon you dispute! Allah could not take to Himself a son! Celebrated be His praise! When He decrees a matter He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. And verily, Jesus said, ‘Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him: This is the right way.’ But the sects have differed among themselves."
Holy Qur’an 3:58-59—"These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee. Verily, Jesus, is as Adam in the sight of Allah. He created him of dust, He then said to him, Be—and he was."
Holy Qur’an 43:57-65— "And when the son of Mary was sent forth as a sign, lo! Thy people cried out for joy thereat. And they said, ‘Are our gods or is he better?’ They put this forth to thee only in the way of dispute. Yea, but they are a quarreling people. Jesus is only a servant whom we favored, and made a sign to the Children of Israel; and if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth angles to succeed you on earth; and he shall be a sign of the Last Hour; doubt not then of it, and follow ye me; this is the right way; and let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe. And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, ‘Now I am come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things which ye differ, I will clear up to you; therefore, worship Allah, and obey my commands; this is the right way;’ but the different parties fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of a painful day!"
Holy Qur’an 9:30—"The Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say the Messiah is the son of Allah; that is what they say with their mouths imitating the saying of the unbelievers before them—Allah fight them! How they lie!"
Holy Qur’an 3:78-79— "And truly among the people of the Book are some who change the ******ures with their tongue, in order that ye may suppose it from the ******ure. And they say: ‘This is from Allah, yet it is not from Allah, and they utter a lie against Allah, and they know they do so.’ It is not fitting that Allah should give him the ******ure and the Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and then he should say to his followers, ‘Be ye worshippers of me as well as of Allah;’ but rather, ‘Be ye perfect in things pertaining to Allah since ye know the ******ure, and have studied deep.’"
Holy Qur’an 5:17—"Infidels now are they who say, ‘Verily Allah is the Messiah son of Mary!’ Say: And who could divert form Allah, if He chose to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother and all who are on the earth together?"
The Trinity
Holy Qur’an 5:72-75—"They misbelieve who say, verily Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary, but the Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel! I worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’ Verily, he who associates partners with Allah, Allah hath forbidden him paradise, and his resort is the fire, and the disbeliever shall have none to help him. They misbelieve who say, ‘verily, Allah is the third of three,’ for there is no Allah, but One; And if they do not desist form what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve amongst them grievous woe. Will they not turn again towards Allah and ask pardon of Him? For Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. The Messiah, the son of Mary, is only a Prophet! Prophets before him have passed away; and his mother was a witness; they, both, used to eat food. See how we explain to you the signs, yet see how they turn away."
Holy Qur’an 4:171— "O ye people of the Book! Overstep not bounds in your religion; and of Allah, speak only truth. Jesus, son of Mary is only a Prophet of Allah, and His Word, which he conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit from Him. Believe, therefore, in Allah and His Prophet, and say not ‘three’ (there is a trinity)—forbear—it will be better for you. Allah is only One Allah! Far be it from His Glory that He should have a son! His is whatever is in the heavens, and whatever is in the earth! And Allah is a sufficient Guardian."
The Second Coming of Jesus
It is in the teachings of the Holy Nabi (Prophet) Muhammad (May Allah’s Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim), Mishkatu’l-Masabih:
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be well pleased with him) relates that when the Nabi Muhammad (May Allah’s Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) said, "I swear by Allah, it is near, when Jesus, son of Mary, will descend from the heavens upon people, a just King, and he will break the cross, and will kill the swine, and will remove the poll-tax from the un-enfranchised; and there will be great wealth, in his time, so much that nobody will accept of it; and in that time, one prostration in prayer will be better than the world and everything in it."
