In the Name of Allah, the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful
Who was Jesus (Peace be upon him)
His Origins
Jesus lived about 2,000 years ago in
ancient
zenith. He was not conceived in the usual
way, but
was implanted in the womb of a young
woman
named Mary. God simply commanded, “Be”
and
he was. In this sense, he was “a word”
of God and
a special sign for humanity. In fact,
he was the last
in a long line of religious guides
sent to the Jews.
Mary, The
Blessed
Mary was a righteous woman. Her
mother dedicated
her to God’s service even before she
was born. As
a child, she lived a life marked by
health and
righteousness, which others pointed to in
admiration. She was raised by the wise
Zechariah,
who instilled in her, a beautiful sense
of faith in
God. When she had become a young woman,
Mary
sought to purify herself further before
her Lord.
Knowing that the hustle of life in
the towns was
distracting, she withdrew from her people to a
sanctuary in the East. There she could
meditate
in seclusion and peace. Suddenly, on a
day that
seemed no different from the rest, an
angel of God
visited her, disguised in the likeness of a
human.
Afraid of so strange a sight, Mary
prayed for
protection, but the strange being reassured
her and
declared that he was a messenger from the
Lord
to announce the glad-tidings of a
faultless son. Mary,
astounded, asked how this was possible seeing
that no man had ever touched her. But
the angel
replied, “Your Lord says, it is easy for Me
…”. But
when she felt the little child within
her, she fled her
sanctuary out of fear of what her family
would do or
say when they heard the news. Mary,
however, was
not to face hardship. When in her
despair she cried
out to God for oblivion, a voice
soothed her and
she found shade and a cool spring.
Under a datepalm
in the warmth of late summer, she made
her
dwelling and there bore the child unlike any
other
in human history.
Shortly thereafter, Mary returned to
her community
carrying the child who was to be called Messiah,
Jesus, and son of Mary. When her people
saw her
with the baby in her arms they couldn’t
believe
their eyes, let alone accept her word.
They refused
to believe when she told of an angel
who came
and told her she was chosen above all
other women
to carry this burden. They accused her
of infidelity
and implied that she had ruined the
family name.
Mary, being overwhelmed, simply
motioned towards
the child meekly.
The Miracles
Now the child was the product of a
miracle and
consequently, miraculous things began to happen.
In defense of his mother and of the
truth, the infant
Jesus spoke saying, “I am a servant
of God. He
has given me Scripture and has made me
a
Prophet. He has blessed me wherever I may be
and has made prayer and charity my duty
as long
as I live.” This put the detractors to
rest.
Throughout his youth, Jesus remained
dutiful to
his mother and developed quickly in
intelligence,
wisdom, and piety. He dumfounded the
learned and
was greatly admired by those around him
who
appreciated his talents. He claimed to be a
sign
of God and a Messenger to the
Israelites.
His people had strayed from the
spirit of truth and
placed their trust in legalism, thereby
burying their
sense of mercy beneath dusty scrolls and
rituals.
Finally, when he came of age, Jesus
began to travel
and preach throughout the
a return to the truth of the old
revelations and a
rejection of all that man had added. In his
task he
was supported by the spirit of truth,
the
angel Gabriel.
The Gospel, His Message
He taught that love and mercy
overcome hate and
anger and that only a true and sincere
faith in the
Creator and obedience to His will
can bring a person
salvation in this life as well as in the
next. To
reinforce his message, which was called “Injeel”
(Good News), God granted him the
performance of
miracles. He healed the sick, uplifted the
distressed
and revived the dead. All these things
he did with
the permission of God, never taking
credit for them
himself.
He led a simple and pious life. Soon
he attracted
an inner-circle of devoted followers
who listened to
his teachings with fervor and humility.
These
disciples, among them Peter, Barnabas, and
John
helped him carry the message of Divine
Love to the
people. They helped him in his mission.
A Test of Wills
But no righteous man of God is
without trial and
tribulation. As the message of Jesus began to gain
wider acceptance, a small clique of
hypocrites and
evil men began to plot against him. They
were the
priests and leaders of the Jews whose
position and
wealth depended upon their place as the
sole
interpreters of religion to the masses. They
pursued
him and his followers and eventually
captured him.
Though they abused him, he never
renounced his
faith in the one God. So in their anger
they plotted
to crucify him on a Roman cross. But
Jesus slipped
from their grip at the last moment, and
all the while
they thought they had succeeded. They
were sure
they had killed him but God answered
Jesus’ prayer
and saved him from their schemes.
Confusion
overtook the mob and they might have killed
the
man who betrayed Jesus instead. In any
case, Jesus
escaped from their grasp. Then God removed
Jesus
from this world into another dimension,
to a place
with Him, not to return until a later
time.
With their teacher gone, the devoted
followers of
Jesus tried to maintain the purity
and simplicity of
his teachings. But they were soon
besieged and
overtaken by a flood of Roman and Greek
influences,
which eventually so buried and distorted
the
message of Jesus that only a little of its
truth now
remains. Strange doctrines of Jesus being a
mangod,
of God dying, of saint worship and of
God being
made up of different parts came into
vogue and were
accepted by many of those who took the name
“Christians”
centuries after Jesus.
Conclusion
The only records that have come down
to us
concerning Jesus are some sketchy biographical
material, poorly researched and compiled,
which can
in no way be representative of the
full and accurate
Message of Jesus, the Son of Mary.
The time of the
final and incorruptible Message was not
yet at hand.
It would be left to the last prophet
of God, Muhammad
(peace be
upon him), to clarify the truth from man’s
additions and deletions.
Jesus taught the same eternal
message that was
taught by all the Messengers of God, from
Adam,
on through Noah, Abraham, Moses and
ending with
the mission of God’s last Guidepost to
humanity,
Muhammad (peace be on them all),
whose coming
was foretold by Jesus himself.
Every nation and every people, from
the Aztecs to
the Greeks, have received a Prophet or
a Messenger
from God. Jesus was the last of a series
of
Messengers sent to the Israelites,
but they
consistently strayed from the path of surrender
to
God. Each of the many Messengers spoke a
different
language and followed varied customs. Yet
the core
faith taught by each was the same:
surrender your
imperfect and fickle will to the perfect will
of the Power
that is greater than you. You will then
find the peace
and freedom that only the Creator of
all things can
provide. Then you must do what is right and
good to
your fellow creatures. This way of life
is called Islam
(surrender
to God and find peace).
By Yahiya Emerick