Felicitations on the auspicious birth anniversary of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) to all those who seek his great example to lead a peaceful, meaningful and selfless life in this world.

O Allah You have created us to witness Your Mercy and share it with the world.  As Your Prophet, Muhammad (pbuh&hf) has taught us, “Have mercy upon those on the earth, He who is in the heaven will have mercy upon you”. O Allah let us show our mercy to others, so we can receive and enjoy Your Mercy.

Jesus (pbuh), one of the greatest

According to Islam, God sent many prophets to guide mankind towards truth and prosperity. From among them five were the greatest and universal messengers who were Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them.

Muslims cannot be Muslims unless they believe in all the messengers of God: “Say, we believe in God and that which was revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob, and the tribes and that which was entrusted unto Moses and Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them and unto Him we have submitted” (Quran, 3:84).

As Jesus (peace be upon him) is one of the great messengers of God, to show our gratitude toward him whenever we mention him we always say “peace be upon him”.

Islam is not a completely new religion, rather it is the continuation of the same truth sent by God throughout the human history with many prophets and messengers according to the needs of their time and era. That is why we have countless similarities among all Godly religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In Quran

Jesus (pbuh), using his name and various titles has been discussed 38 times in the Noble Quran as an exemplary figure for mankind. Not only Jesus (pbuh) but his mother Mary/Maryam (pbuh) too is highly revered in Islam and considered amongst one of the four greatest women in Islam. “Behold! The angel said: ‘God has chosen you and purified you and has chosen you above the women of the nations. O Mary! God gives you the good news of a word from Him, whose name shall be Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the hereafter, and one of those brought near to God” (3:42).

Furthermore, the 19th chapter of the Quran has been named after Mary/Maryam (pbuh) and is called Surah Maryam.

Jesus Christ’s miraculous birth, speaking out in the cradle to protect the chastity of his mother and proclaim his Prophethood, the title of ‘the word of God’, his miracles like curing incurable diseases, bringing the dead to life etc. are some other characteristics which are widely discussed in the Holy Quran.

However, Quran strongly rejects his and any human’s divinity, the concept of being the son of God. “Say: ‘He is Allah, the One, Allah is He on Whom all depend, He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none equal to Him. (Quran Ch.112)

Islam also believes that Jesus (pbuh) was never crucified or killed, “and they killed him not for sure. Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is mighty, wise.” (Quran: 4:158)

In Islamic culture and traditions

There is no surprise, that the names Isa and Maryam (Jesus and Mary (pbuh) are extremely common among Muslims, and perhaps even more common than among Christians.

Imam Husain (pbuh), one of the most influential figures and symbol of fighting injustice in Islam has been referred to as the “inheritor of Jesus (pbuh”. [To learn more about Imam Husain (pbuh) please visit the following link: https://whoishussain.org/ ]

 

Muslims believe that he is alive and under the protection of God. However, before the end of the time he will reappear along with Imam Mahdi (pbuh) a descendent and the 12^th successor of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf) to remove the tyranny and corruption from the surface of the earth establish the eternal peace, justice and love.

I am concluding this brief article by quoting two maxims from him:

1. It is reported that Abu ‘Abd Allah, [Imam Sadiq pbuh], Peace be upon him, said: “The Messiah, Peace be upon him, used to say: ‘He who has many worries, his body becomes sick; he who is ill-tempered, his self becomes his torment; he who often talks, often stumbles; he who often lies, loses his worth; he who quarrels with people, loses his dignity.’ (Bihar al-anwar. xiv. 318)
2. It is reported that he [Jesus (‘a)] passed by a carcass with his disciples. Then the disciples said: “How putrid the smell of this dog is!” Then Jesus (‘a) said: “How intense is the whiteness of his teeth!” (Bihar al-anwar, xiv, 327) [To find more beautiful sayings of Jesus as reported by islamic authorities please refer to: http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol13-no3/words-word-god-jesus-christ-speaks-through-shii-narrations/words-jesus#divine-omnipotence.]

 

For any questions or details, or to further explore Islam feel free to contact me at my email address: [email protected]