An Islamic View On The Return Of Jesus (Isa A S)

Shaykh Imran Hosein

(5 stars; 1 reviews)

Although they claimed to be the âchosenâ people, they failed the divine test and slandered an innocent virgin. And when the baby grew to be a man, and declared he was the Messiah, they rejected him because they considered him a bastard and because âa bastard shall not enter the congregation of the Lordâ (Deuteronomy, 23:2). The urgent lesson to be learnt in the event of the miraculous birth of Maryâs son, an event which the Qurâan has described in detail, is that there is a great difference between âseeing with two eyesââthe âexternalâ and âinternalâ, and âseeing with only oneââthe âexternalâ. In a world in which lies and deception are being used to re-colonize the non-European world, it is important that we penetrate beyond external appearances to reach the internal reality of eventsâ particularly those like 9/11 that are used to launch a so-called âwar on terrorâ. Only spiritual insight can penetrate the world todayâhence the urgent need for spiritual revolution. The Qurâan has recorded the event when Maryâs mother âvowed to gift her unborn child to the templeâ: Behold! a woman of âImran said: âO my Lord! I do dedicate unto Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: so accept this of me: for Thou hearest and knowest all things.â (Qurâan, Ale âImran, 3:35) She hoped for a baby-boy, hence she was disappointed when a baby-girl was born. But Allah Most High responded to declare that no male could be like (i.e., the equal of) this female: When she was delivered, she said: âO my Lord! behold! I am delivered of a female child!â - and Allah knew best what she brought forth - and no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected.â (Qurâan, Ale âImran, 3:36) While Mary lived in the temple in Zachariahâs custody, she often stayed in a room known as âThe Holy of Holiesâ (Mehrab in the Qurâan) where holy relics were kept, and which only the Chief Rabbi could enter. Yet when Zachariah entered the room one day he found her with food. âWhere did you get this food?â She replied, âAllah sent it for me.â Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty; to the care of Zakariya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (her) chamber to see her, he found her supplied with food. He asked: âO Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?â She said: âFrom Allah: for Allah provides sustenance to whom He pleases, without measure.â (Qurâan, Ale âImran, 3:37) News of this miracle spread. And so, in addition to her reputation for learning and virtue, she was now even more famous. Indeed she was âthe best of all the women of the worldâ: Behold! the angels said: âO Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee, chosen thee above all the women of the world.â (Qurâan, Ale âImran 3:42) At the age of puberty she could no longer be allowed to live in the temple and was sent back home. It was shortly after that, when she was about 13 or 14 years of age, the Angel Gabriel appeared before her, and that event was also was recorded in the Qurâan: âRelate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. 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. She said: âI seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah.â He said: âNay, I am only a Messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.â She said: âHow shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?â He said: âSo (it will be): thy Lord saith, âThat is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Usâ: it is matter (so) decreed.â So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree: she cried (in her anguish) âAh! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!â But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): âGrieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; âAnd shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree; it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. âSo eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, âI have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into no talk with any human beingââ At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: âO Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! âO sister of Aaron! thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!â But she pointed to the babe. They said: âHow can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?â He said: âI am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; âAnd He hath made me blessed where-so-ever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live: â(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; âSo 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)!â Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.â (Qurâan, Maryam, 19:16-34) The people responded to the baby speaking from the cradle by declaring: âThis is sheer magic,â and they then slandered her!