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Glorification
of Eesa(alaihissalam)
by Qur’an and Islam
By Riaz-ul-Hasan Noori
The
above prophecies have fully been realised in the Prophet of Islam. The whole
Qur’an consists of what he heard from Jibreel, and delivered it to mankind.
Now let us see how Qur’an glorifies Jesus Christ (alaihissalam). Just as true Christianity is the fulfilment of Old Testament revelation, similarity Islam is the fulfilment of Old Testament and New Testament revelations. Qur’an proclaims his Messiahship, virgin birth miracle and describes in details the other miracles performed by him. Jesus (alaihissalam) while a babe in the cradle proclaimed, “Lo! I am the slave of Allah, He hath given me the scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet and hath made me blessed whosesoever I may be…. Peace on me the day I was born and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised (XIX-29-33).
The
Qur’an quotes Jesus (alaihissalam) as saying, “Lo! I come unto you with a
sign from your Lord Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird,
and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah’s leave. I heal him who was
blind, and the leper and I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave. And I announce
unto you what you eat and what you store in your houses. Lo! Herein verily is a
portent for you, if ye are to be believers”. (III: 46-49). About his virgin
birth, the Qur’an declares, “Lo! The likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the
likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said to him: Be and he is.
(Verse 59-ibid).
According to the New Testament the chosen apostles of Jesus Christ, all
betrayed and left him; one of them ran away naked and Peter denied him thrice.
Jesus Christ himself was ridiculed, degraded, beaten and they spat upon him and
finally crucified him. Before crucification, he was very depressed and cried
with a loud voice, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me.”
On the other hand there is not a single word in Qur’an in Islamic literature about the betrayal of the apostles. From the Qur’an it appears that the apostles were very pious, brave and faithful persons, and of very high character as can be expected of the chosen pupils of such a holy and great Prophet. Again Jesus (alaihissalam) never complained to God and neither was he caught and degraded. The persons who came to arrest him did not know him by face; this is also proved from New Testament; so they mistook some one else for him, arrested and crucified this other man in place of Jesus (alaihissalam).
Islam
glorifies all the Prophets in general and Jesus Christ in Particular
Glorification of the teachings of Jesus Christ (alaihissalam).
Jesus
Christ declared that even enemies should be loved. Now Qur’an praises those
who give preference over themselves to others in the following verse:
But
give them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their own lot.
(59: 9)
Before
the battle of Badr, the Muslims had the possession of the source of water, but
even the enemies were allowed to get water from this source according to their
need. (Seerat Ibn Hisham: 1: 620).
After
the battle, the Holy Prophet (sallallaho alaihi wasallam) ordered his men to
treat the captured soldiers of the enemy nicely. As a result the Muslims ate
themselves low quality dates and entertained the prisoners with the best quality
food available. When the prisoners expressed their surprise for this
preferential treatment, they were told that it was being done as per
instructions (Majma-Az-zawaid: 6: 86).
Several
times people came to kill the Holy Prophet; they were always pardoned. He (sallallaho
aliahi wasallam) also pardoned the Jews who invited the Holy Prophet for dinner
and served him with poisoned food.
After the battle of Uhad when He (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) was very severely wounded and his teeth were also broken, he (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) prayed to Allah, “Oh Allah: Pardon then since they know not.” Then he (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) said, “He who does not show mercy to others, God will also not show mercy to him.” (Shibli: Seerat-un-Nabi Vol. 2 Page 385).
In
following Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) many great
Muslims in history have pardoned their murderers e.g. Hassan (radhiallaho unho),
Caliph Umar-Bin-Abdul Aziz (radhiallaho unho) etc.
Imam
Tahawi quotes the Holy Prophet (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) as saying, “During
war, do not kill, women, children, old people or labourers”. From this
according to Tahawi, some theologians have concluded that if the enemy takes
refuge in fort along with women and children, then Muslim armies cannot throw
cannon balls or bombard the fort if there is likelihood of these women and
children being killed. (Tahawi: Sharhah Maa’ni-ul-Aasar: 3: 222: Cairo). Thus
we see that a fundamentalist Muslim ruler cannot use atom bomb on his enemies
and no Muslim can ever be a terrorist.
Ibn-i-Huberah
was the deputy during the reign of Abbasides. Once a murderer was brought before
him who had killed some one in a fit of rage. He recognised this man, who had
beaten him while he was a student and as a result he had lost sight of one of
his eyes. The deputy in order to do a good turn to one who had harmed him so
much; paid the blood money from his pocket and released him. He further gave him
50 gold pieces as well. (Ibn-ul-Ammad-al-Hanbli: Shazarat-uz-zahib Vol. IV: P.
194).
Babar
pardoned a Rajput who had come to kill him. There are innumerable instances.
Once some people asked the Prophet (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) to curse the enemies. He was very angry and said, “I have come as a symbol of kindness and mercy and not for cursing people.” (Mishkat: Hadith No. 5812). According to Nawa-I-Waqt dated 7th Nov. 1992; A father in Saudi Arabia pardoned his son’s murderer just a few minutes before he was to be beheaded.
Thus
most of the true and fundamentalist Muslims have been glorifying Jesus Christ
and his teachings by following his commands in actual practice, according to the
Sunnah of Muhammad (sallallaho aliahi wasallam).
Terrorism:
No Muslim can ever be terrorist as long as he has faith in the great lawgiver
Muhammad (sallallaho aliahi wasallam). By terrorism we mean planting bombs in
public places and killing innocent civilians among them, women and children.
The
Holy Prophet (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) has given the law that even in war the
women and children of the enemies should never be killed. Allah laid down the
Divine eternal law for Muslims, Jesus and Christians, in fact for all humanity.
Describing the case of the two sons of Adam when one killed the other who was
innocent Qur’an says:
For
that cause we decreed for the children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human
being for other than man-slaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if
he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if
he had saved the life of all mankind. (5 : 32)
From the above it is clear that no devout Muslim can dare to be a cause of death of women, children and innocent males. As for as tourists are concerned, they come to the host country according to a pact of security and every Muslim is bound to look after his safety according to the Divine law as given by the Holy Prophet, “Even the most lowly Muslims will strive for their safety”.
So the idea of harming the tourist cannot even come to the mind of a Muslim, since his Divine duty is to guard them and save them from all harm. The Holy Prophet (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) once declared that if any Muslim will harm any of them; on the day of Judgment, he himself will appeal and advocate the case of the non-Muslim against the (so-called) Muslim before Allah.
It
may be added that this Divine law does not apply to spies or terrorists who may
come in the garb of tourists or the like.
If
there has been any case of terrorism against tourists, it has nothing to do with
fundamentalism. There are many westernised Muslims in all Muslim countries that
have adopted western culture and civilisation in varying degrees. Alas! Almost
all Muslim countries instead of adopting Qur’an and Sunnah as the Supreme Law,
they are following western laws and culture.
The
Muslims believe in all the Prophets (sallallaho aliahi wasallam) as singles,
great and holy, including David and Solomon the ancestors of Virgin Mary. All
Muslims love and respect Jesus (alaihissalam) the great Prophet and are still
waiting for his second coming in glory to rule the whole earth and establish the
kingdom of Allah, we have before us the History written by the famous Muslim
scholar Ibn-I-Kathir.
He
has a chapter about Eesa (alaihissalam). After his sacred name, he writes: The
Best Peace be on him.
Today
the western civilisation is a mixture of perverted Christianity, Paganism and
Satanism. Some modern Muslims have also adopted it and are following this
civilisation in many ways.
Bertrand
Russell writes:
The
history of Japan should have taught the West caution. But Western civilisation
with all its intelligence is as blind in its operation as an avalanche, and must
take its course to what dire conclusion, I dare not guess. (The Autobiography of
Bertrand Russell: 2: 254: Bantam Book, 1969)
And
at last I began to feel that all politics are inspired by a grinning devil,
teaching the energetic and quick-witted to torture submissive populations for
the profit of pocket or power or theory. (p. 145 ibid)
If
there were gods, how could I bear to be not a god? Therefore there are no gods.
So says Nietzsche’s Zarathustra. God must be dethroned to make room for
earthly tyrants.
The
love of power is a part of normal human nature, but power-philosophies are, in a
certain precise sense, insane. (Power : 175: Allen & Unwin, 1967)
Napoleon
remained Antichrist, but an Antichrist to be imitated, not merely to be
abhorred. Nietzsche, who accepted the compromise, remarked with ghoulish joy
that the classical age of war is coming, and that we owe this boon, not to the
French Revolution, but to Napoleon. And in this way nationalism, Satanism, and
hero-worship, the legacy of Byron, became part of the complex soul of Germany.
(A History of Western Philosophy: 752: A Clarion Book, 1967)
In
former days, men sold themselves to the Devil to acquire magical powers.
Nowadays they acquire these powers from science, and find themselves compelled
to become devils. There is no hope for the world unless power can be tamed, and
brought into the service, not of this or that group of fanatical tyrants, but of
the whole human race, white and yellow and black, fascist and communist and
democrat; for science has made it inevitable that all must live or all must die.
(Power : 24)
The
Philosophies that have been inspired by scientific technique are power
philosophies, and tend to regard everything non-human as mere raw material. Ends
are no longer considered; only the skilfulness of the process is valued. This
also is a form of madness. It is, in our day, the most dangerous form, and the
one against which a sane philosophy should provide an antidote.
The
problem of a durable and satisfactory social order can only be solved by
combining the solidity of the Roman Empire with the idealism of Saint
Augustine’s City of God. To achieve this a new philosophy will be needed. (A
History of Western Philosophy : 494, 495)
In
the East, men are subject to different laws according to the religion they
profess. Something of this kind is necessary if any semblance of liberty is to
exist where there is great divergence in beliefs.
(Political Ideals: 53)
