In each December, specifically the 25th of December, most Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, better known as “Christmas”.
Though there is no evidence from the Bible itself that Jesus was born
on the 25th of December, the specific day on which he was born per se is not subject to much controversy between Christians and Muslims.
Having no authentic proof that Jesus was
born on this very day, Muslims do not bother themselves a lot with
Christmas itself as a baseless observance. They rather object to many
Christian beliefs based on this occasion.
In this article, I will highlight the main differences between Christians and Muslims regarding the birth of Jesus.
For example, though we notice amazing
similarity between the biblical verses and their Qur’anic counterparts
dealing with the miraculous birth of Jesus, the conclusions drawn from
each scripture are worlds apart.
In the New Testament, we read the following biblical verses:
But the angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and
give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,”
Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God. (Luke 1:30-35)
In the Qur’an, we read the following verses:
And
[mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed God has chosen you and
purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds. O Mary, be
devoutly obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow
[in prayer].”… [And mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed God
gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the
Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the
Hereafter and among those brought near [to God]. He will speak to the
people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.” She
said, “My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?”
[The angel] said, “Such is God; He creates what He wills. When He
decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. And He will teach
him writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel. And [make him] a
messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], ‘Indeed I have come
to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay
[that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it
becomes a bird by permission of God. And I cure the blind and the leper,
and I give life to the dead – by permission of God. And I inform you of
what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a
sign for you, if you are believers. And [I have come] confirming what
was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of what was
forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so
fear God and obey me. Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship
Him. That is the straight path.”… Indeed, the example of Jesus to God is
like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,”
and he was. The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the
doubters. Then whoever argues with you about it after [this] knowledge
has come to you – say, “Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our
women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then supplicate
earnestly [together] and invoke the curse of God upon the liars [among
us].” Indeed, this is the true narration. And there is no deity except
God. And indeed, God is the Exalted in Might, the Wise… Say, “O People
of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you –
that we will not worship except God and not associate anything with Him
and not take one another as lords instead of God.” But if they turn
away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].”…
It is not for a human [prophet] that God should give him the Scripture
and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people, “Be
servants to me rather than God,” but [instead, he would say], “Be pious
scholars of the Lord because of what you have taught of the Scripture
and because of what you have studied.” Nor could he order you to take
the angels and prophets as lords. Would he order you to disbelief after
you had been Muslims?… Say, “We have believed in God and in what was
revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob,
and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the
prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them,
and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.” (Aal `Imran 3:42-84)
The verses of the Qur’an corroborate most of the content of the
verses of the Bible to the exclusion of the following two parts: “and
will be called the Son of the Most High” and “So, the holy one to be
born will be called the Son of God.”
The above two parts are subject to
strong objections on the part of Muslims who offer convincing evidence
and present reasonable arguments. For example, the status of Mary is of
paramount importance. It is ironic that the Bible is silent on this very
significant point.
Is Mary the wife or concubine of God? If
she is the mother of God or the son of God, Jesus, why is she not a
goddess? How can a human being give birth to a god to be worshiped by
fellow human beings, including herself? Why is she not worshiped at
least as the mother of the Son of God?
Can a sexual relationship between God and a human being be so free
and unregulated like this? The Abrahamic religions teach that
intercourse cannot take place outside marriage; otherwise it will be
considered an act of fornication or adultery.
Marriage is a decent framework of intercourse. Was God so indecent
that He impregnated a woman outside marriage, or did He marry her? How
can God marry or have intercourse with one of His servants?
The process through which Mary was
caused to give birth to Jesus is devoid of direct contact between Mary
and God. Both the Bible and the Qur’an tell us that Mary was impregnated
extraordinarily, without sexual intervention either on the part of God
or anybody else. How come Jesus is attributed to God as a son?
The Bible makes no mention of any carnal
intercourse. It just says that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” According to the very
wording of the Bible, Jesus was created by the power of God like all of
us.
About the mechanism of the birth of
Jesus, more than once, the Qur’an says that Jesus was created as an
embryo by a blow in Mary’s womb. In the Qur’an, we read the following
verses:
And
[mention] the one who guarded her chastity, so We blew into her
[garment] through Our angel [Gabriel], and We made her and her son a
sign for the worlds. (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:91)
And
[the example of] Mary, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her
chastity, so We blew into [her garment] through Our angel, and she
believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the
devoutly obedient. (At-Tahrim 66:12)
It is noteworthy that, by the same blow
as Jesus’, all mankind was created in the first place. In the Qur’an, we
read the following verses:
And
[mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, “I will
create a human being out of clay from an altered black mud. And when I
have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then
fall down to him in prostration.” (Al-Hijr 15:29)
And
He began the creation of man from clay. Then He made his posterity out
of the extract of a liquid disdained. Then He proportioned him and
breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and
vision and hearts; little are you grateful. (As-Sajdah 32:7-9)
While Jesus had a miraculous birth,
being born by a female without a male, Eve had an equally miraculous
birth, being created from a male only without a female, and Adam had a
more miraculous creation, being fashioned without a male as a father or a
female as a mother.
In this respect, the Qur’an says:
Indeed,
the example of Jesus to God is like the example of Adam. He created Him
from dust (soil); then He said to him, “Be,” and he was. (Al-`Imran 3: 59).
The Bible itself refers to someone other
than God as the father of Jesus. In the Bible, we read: “The Lord God
will give him the throne of his father David.” That is to say it is
apparently that Jesus cannot have both God and David as fathers. It is
crystal clear that this is a metaphorical, figurative usage. Neither God
nor David can really be the father of Jesus.
Similarly, more than once, the Bible
refers to several people other than Jesus as sons of God. In the Bible,
we read: “And thou (Moses) shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord,
Israel is my son, even my firstborn.” (Exodus 4:22)
There are many similar instances like
the following verses: II Samuel 7:13-14, I Chronicles 22:10, Deuteronomy
14:1, Romans 8:19 and Psalm 2:7.
Post a Comment