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 (h.q.19:16). after the birth of the child she returns.

"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 the house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood!

"sister of Aaron: Mary is reminded of her high lineage and the unexcep-
tionable 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."
A. Yusuf Ali, comments in his notes 2480-2482 on page 773
of his translation.

but she pointed to the babe.
they said:
"how can we talk
to one
who is a child in the cradle?"
holy quran 19:23
and by a miracle he spoke:

he said: "i am indeed
a servant of god:
he hath given me revelation
and made me a prophet;
"and he hath
made me blessed wheresoever i be,
and he hath
enjoined on me prayer
and charity as long as i live
"(he) hath made me
kind to my mother,
and not overbearing or miserable;
"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)!"
holy quran 19:24-33

HIS FIRST MIRACLE(S)
thus Jesus (pbuh) defended his mother from the grave calumny and innuen-
does 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 occure
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 waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots 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 both 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 2:1-10

since this miracle, wine has flowed like water in Christendom. many a
fool reasons that what was good for his master is good enough for him.
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 w-i-n-e that, according to the Christi
an bible, enabled the daughters of lot to seduce their father (genesis-
19:32-33). it was the same w-i-n-e 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, "i have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot
bear them now" (john 16:12). mankind had not reached the stage of recei-
ving 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 marri-
age feast at Cana, we are told that Jesus (pbuh) behaved insolently to-
wards 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 inju-
ries 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 hat - "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 every ready with
invectives for the elders of his race, and was always itching for a show
down 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
muhummed (pbuh) the messenger of god, is made to absolve Jesus (pbuh)
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 miserable"
holy quran 19:32

on receiving the good news of the birth of a righteous son (end of h.q.
3:46 ), 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: god createth
what he willeth:
when he hath
decreed a plan,
he but saith to it,
'be,' and it is!
"and god will teach him
the book and wisdom,
the law
and the gospel,
holy quran 3:47-48

CHAPTER 5 : QURANIC AND BIBLICAL VERSIONS

MEETING THE REVEREND
one day, i was visiting the "bible house" in Johannesburg, south Africa.
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 bread and my Muslim headgear were an attrac-
tion and a challenge? he inquired about my interest in that costly volu-
me. 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. I
explained to him the very high position that Jesus (pbuh) occupied in the
house of Islam. he seemed sceptical about what i said. i was amazed at
his seeming ignorance, because only retired reverend gentlemen can be-
come supervisors of bible houses in south Africa. i began reciting from
verse 42 of sura 3 -first in Arabic then in English

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 reci-
ted. Rev. Dunkers (for that was his name) sat back and listened with rapt
attention to Allah's kalaam (god's word). 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 believed 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 holy quran
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 honoured
above the women of all nations.
(b) that all that was being said was god's own revelation to muhummed
(c) that Jesus was a "word" from 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.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 in-
dex 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?" -
meaning sexually.

the quranic narrative is:

she said:
"o my lord!
how shall i have a son
when no man hath
touched me?" -meaning sexually.
holy quran 3:47


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 mea-
ning 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 angel answered and said unto 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 going the atheist, the sceptic, the agnostic
stick to beat you with? they may well ask- "how did the holy ghost come
upon Mary?" "how did the highest over shadow her? we know that literally
it does not mean that: that it was an immaculate conception, but the language
used here, is distasteful-gutter language-you agree!? now contrast
this with the language of the quran: the quranic version

he said:(the angel says in reply)
"even so: Allah createth
what he willeth:
when he hath decreed a plan,
he but saith to it,
'be',
and it is!"
holy quran 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 has to will
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. I
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 (pbuh) - 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 muhummed (pbuh) 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 colours to being a
massage 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 god
is that of Adam;
he created him
from dust,
then said to him:
'be':and he was.
holy quran 3:59

"after a description of the high position which Jesus occupies as a pro-
phet, in the preceding verses) we have a repudiation of the dogma that h
was god, or the son of god, or anything 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 father or mother. as far as our physical
bodies are concerned they are mere dust.
in god's sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is. the
greatness of Jesus arose from the divine command "be". for after that he
was - more than dust - a great spiritual leader and teacher."
A. Yusuf Ali's note 398 to verse 59 above.

the logic of it is that, if being born without a male parent entitles
Jesus to being equated with god, then, Adam would have a greater right
to such honour, and this no Christian would readily concede. thus, the
Muslim is made to repudiate the Christian blasphemy.

further, if the Christian splits hairs by arguing that Adam was "created
from the dust of the ground, whereas Jesus was immaculately "begotten"in
the womb of Mary, then let us remind him that, even according to his own
false standards. there is yet another person greater than Jesus, in his
own bible. who is this superman?

PAUL'S INNOVATION
"for this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high god...."
"without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginn-
ing of days, nor end of life..."
Hebrews 7:1&3

here is a candidate for divinity itself, for only god almighty could
possess these qualities. Adam had a beginning (in the garden), Jesus had
a beginning (in the stable); Adam had an end and, claim the Christians,
so had Jesus "and he gave up the ghost". but where is Melchisedec? per-
haps he is hibernating somewhere like Rip Van Winkel.

and what is this "Hebrews"? it is the name of one of the books of the
holy bible, authored by the gallant st. Paul, the self appointed thirteenth
apostle of Christ. Jesus had twelve apostles, but one of them (Judas) had
the devil in him. so the vacancy had to be filled, because of the "twelve"
thrones in heaven which had to be occupied by his disciples to judge the
children of Israel (Luke 22:30).

Saul was a renegade Jew, and the Christians changed his name to "Paul",
probably because "Saul" sounds Jewish. this Paul made such a fine mess
of the teachings of Jesus (pbuh) that he earned for himself the second-
most -coveted position of "the most influential men of history" in the
monumental work of Michael H. Hart. "the 100" or "the top hundred" or the
"greatest hundred in history". Paul outclasses even Jesus because, according
to Michael hart, Paul was the real founder of present-day Christia-
nity. the honour of creating Christianity had to be shared between Paul
and Jesus, and Paul won because he wrote more books of the bible than
any other single author, whereas Jesus did not write a single word.

Paul needed no inspiration to write his hyperboles here and in the rest
of his epistles. did not Hitler's minister of propaganda - Goebbles -
say "the bigger the lie the more likely it is to be believed"? but the
amazing thing about this exaggeration is that no Christian seems to have
read it. every learned man to whom i have shown this verse to, seemed to
be seeing it for the first time. they appear dumbfounded, as described
by the fitting words of Jesus:-

"...seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand." Matthew 13:13

the holy quran also contains a verse which fittingly describes this well
cultivated sickness -

deaf,
dumb and blind,
they will not return (to the path).
holy quran 2:18

THE SONS OF GOD
the Muslim takes strong exception to the Christian dogma that "Jesus is
the only begotten son, begotten not made". this is what the Christian is
made to repeat from childhood in his catechism. i have asked learned -
Christians, again and again as to what they are really trying to emphasize,
when they say "begotten not made".

they know that according to their own God-given (?!) records, god has
sons by the tons:

"....Adam, which was the son of god."
Luke 3:38
"that the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were fair...

"and when the sons of god came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare children to them...."
genesis 6:2&4
"...Israel is my son, even my firstborn:"
exodus 4:22
"...for i (god) and a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
Jeremiah 31:9

"...the lord hath said unto me, (David) thou art my son: this day have
i begotten thee."
psalms 2:7

"for as many as are led by the spirit of god, they are the sons of god."
romans 8:14