"Prophet 'Isa was born in Bayta Lahm, near Bayt al-Maqdis." said Wary, then said, "This is in accordance with the hadith narration narrated by an-Nasaa'i from Anas with marfu' sanad, al-Baihaqiy with his sanad and he validated it from Shaddad bin Aus in marfu' as well. Wahb bin Munabbih Al-Yamani mentioned that when Prophet 'Isa was born, wherever idols were worshiped, the idols were toppled and thrown upside down. Devils took fright but remained unaware of the cause. They rushed to Iblis, who was on his throne in the deep green sea like the throne that had been upon the water, and he veiled himself in imitation of the veils of light before the All Merciful. The devils came to him while six hours of daylight were remained. When Iblis saw their congregation he was frightened, for since he had dispersed them he had never seen all of them together. He had seen them in small groups only. He questioned them, and they told him that something had happened upon earth, and that the idols were turned upside down. These idols were most conducive to human perdition. "We used to enter their insides, address the humans, and contrive to direct them, while the people thought that the idols were speaking to them. When this event occurred, however, it detracted from the stature of the idols, humbling and humiliating them. We fear humans will not worship them anymore. Know, that we did not come to you before crossing land and sea, and doing whatever we could, but we are still utterly ignorant about the cause of what happened."
Iblis told them, "Truly, this is a grave matter. I know it was concealed from me. Stay here." He flew away and was absent for three hours during which time he passed by the place where Prophet 'Isa was bom. When he saw the angels surrounding the spot, he realized that this was where the event had occurred. Iblis wanted to approach it from above. But the angels' heads and shoulders that reached up to heaven were over it. He then tried to reach it from under the earth but the angels' feet were firmly entrenched below-lower than Iblis expected. Thereupon he tried to enter among them, but they shoved him away. Then he returned to his associates, and said to them, "I come to you after crossing the whole earth, east and west, land and sea, the four quarters of the world, and the upper sphere. I managed to do that in three hours." Then informing them about the birth of 'Isa, he said to them, "It was concealed from me. No female womb has ever conceived without my knowledge, and none has given birth without my presence. I am more apt to mislead the newborn than he is to find right guidance. No prophet was ever more calamitous to me and to you than this one.'"
Green Pigeon said, "O Wary, is it true that every new born baby touched by satan?" Wary said, "Narrated Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab, Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying,
مَا مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مَوْلُودٌ إِلاَّ يَمَسُّهُ الشَّيْطَانُ حِينَ يُولَدُ، فَيَسْتَهِلُّ صَارِخًا مِنْ مَسِّ الشَّيْطَانِ، غَيْرَ مَرْيَمَ وَابْنِهَا
'There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, except Maryam and her child." [HR Al-Bukhari 3431]
Green Pigeon asked, "What should we do if that happenned?" Wary reply, "For a baby girl, recite,
اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ"O Allah, I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan"
For a baby boy, recite,
اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أُعِيذُهُ بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ"O Allah, I seek refuge with You for him and for his offspring from the outcast Satan"
Wary continued, "That night a group set out to go to 'Isa, urged by the rise of an unknown star. They had been discussing that the rise of that star was one of the signs of the birth of a child, as indicated in the Book of Daniel . They set out on the road to reach the newborn, and carried gold and frankincense and myrrh. They passed by the king of Palestine. He asked them where they were bound, and they told him. He then asked, "Why of all things this gold, frankincense, and myrrh that you bring as a gift for him?" They replied, "They befit him because gold is the noblest possession, and this prophet is the noblest of his age; myrrh heals wound and fracture , and similarly, this prophet will be raised by Allah to heaven, uniquely in his time." Upon hearing this, the king resolved to kill the child. He told them, "Go, and when you have found him, bring me word , and I shall follow in your footsteps." They departed, and delivered the gifts to Maryam. They wanted to return to the king to bring him word of the place of 'Isa, but an angel met them , saying, "Do not return to him, and do not bring him word of the child's place, for the king wanted to learn of it only to slay the child." Thus they departed by another road.
Maryam carried the child on the donkey, went down into Egypt. She spent twelve years there, concealing the child, and nobody saw him. She did not trust anybody to be in contact with him, nor to provide for his sustenance. She would collect the ears of grain as soon as she heard of a harvest. While carrying the cradle on one shoulder, she would carry the vessel containing the ears of corn on the other. Then Prophet 'Isa turned twelve. The first miracle of his witnessed by people occurred when his mother was staying at the home of an Egyptian dignitary (dihqan). A treasure was stolen from him while only poor people were living in his house, yet he did not accuse them. Maryam was saddened by that dignitary's misfortune . When Prophet 'Isa noticed his mother's sadness at the misfortune of their host, he asked her, "O mother, would you like me to guide him to his property ?" She said, "Yes, my son." He then said, "Tell him to assemble the poor men of his home;" whereupon Maryam told the dignitary, and he assembled them.
When they were assembled, Prophet 'Isa approached two of them, one blind, the other crippled. He put the cripple on the shoulder of the blind man and said to him, "Stand up with him." The blind man said, "I am too weak." Prophet 'Isa replied, "How then were you able to do that yesterday?" When they heard his words, they forced the blind man to get up with the cripple. When he stood up carrying the other, the cripple plunged to the window of the treasury. Prophet 'Isa said, "This is how they cheated the landlord yesterday; the blind man used his strength, and the cripple his eyes." The cripple and the blind said, "He is right." And they returned the property to the dignitary . The dignitary replaced it in his treasury, and said, "O Maryam, take half of it." But she replied, "It is against my grain to do so." He said , "Give it to your son." And she replied, "He is even more scrupulous than I." Soon afterward one of the dignitary's sons gave a wedding feast, and all the people of Egypt gathered there. When the feast was over , people from Palestine (Sha'm ) visited him.
The dignitary was not prepared for them. They came, and he had no wine to offer them. When 'Isa saw him worry about it, he entered one of the dignitary's houses in which there were two rows of jars. As he walked by them, Prophet "isa touched the tops of the jars and each jar, to the last of them, became filled with wine. He was twelve years old. Upon seeing what he had done, the people were in awe of him and of the powers that Allah had endowed him with."
Then Allah revealed to his Maryam, "Go up with him to Palestine." She did as commanded , and stayed in Palestine until Prophet 'Isa was thirty years old. Then inspiration came upon him at the age of thirty. His prophethood lasted three years, and then Allah raised him unto Himself."
Green Pegeon asked, "What is the reality of a miracle?" Wary said, "In accepting the truth and reality man's nature has always been of two kinds, firstly, there has been this that the claimant to truth should prove the truth of his claims by bringing forth solid arguments and proofs to substantiated his claims. Secondly, there has been the system where together with such arguments and proofs, there should be from Allah’s side assistance for the truth by such happenings which are against the natural laws of nature and before which man is completely helpless and unable to emulate. This second way creates within the reason and thoughts of man such a reaction that he is forced to admit that this happening taking place at the hands of the claiment to truth i.e. the prophet or messenger, is not his own action but is actually the act of the Power of Allah. This is actually a further proof of the truth brought by the Messenger.
But of the two ways mentioned above the more, effective one is the former in the eyes of those who have a high place in knowledge and rational thought and they are more inclined to accept the truth of the prophet coming with such proofs and arguments and accept his call towards Iman. On the other hand, the people with power and high positions and those under their influence of the general public are more impressed with the second way in which works of miracles are involved. They look upon such acts as being out of this world and a sign from Allah.
The purpose of the mission of a prophet and a messenger, is to bring guidance to the world and to teach mankind the path of religion. The Prophet by means of Revelation received from Allah delivers this task and shows the path towards truth by bringing forth arguments and proofs. He does not make the claim that nature and control of the Celestial spheres are under his control but, in fact, repeatedly announces that he is a mere bringer of glad tidings and warnings from Allah’s side, coming to call mankind towards Allah. He says clearly, ”I am a human being and an ambassador of Allah. Nothing more." Thus it seems only natural that his claim towards the truth should be examined and so also his knowledge, his upbringing and his personality. But it is quite illogical that demands should be made of him to produce miracles, unnatural occurrences and to make extravagant insterally impossible demands of him. It will be almost like demanding from a skilled physician to prove his skill in the medical field that he should with a magicians knock produce a smart book case or a wooden toy. This seems foolish because the physician never made the claim that he is a smart iron-smith or a black smith. His claim is only to provide healing for the sick for their bodily ills. Similarly the prophets of Allah do not make the claims that they have the power to control and manage the world. They only claim that they are the doctors of the spiritual illnesses of man.
However, it has been the Sunnat of Allah that when for the guidance of any person or for the well-fare of ail humanity, a prophet has been sent, such a prophet has always been endowed with solid arguments and proofs and miracles. On the one side, with the aid of Revelation from Allah cpmes forth with commands and prohibitions, regarding the life on earth and pertaining to the life hereafter, producing a beautiful system of laws. On the other hand, he also comes forth with some Divine Signs, to show the people to prove his coming from Allah side, according to the needs of the hour and expedience. Moreover, every prophet has been given these special signs (miracles) which according to the era in which he lives. According to the intellectual progress of the time and the special features of that nation and the country, these miracles are shown in such a manner that the people of the time are unable to imitate or mulate. If at such a time obstinacy and prejudice do not interfere, then because of being acquainted with their own arts and specialities, these people would beforced to admit that whatever they see happening in front of them of miracles is not of the handiwork of man, and could only by forthcoming from Allah.
For example, during the era of Prophet Ibrahim, alayhissalam, there was a lot of interest in Astronomy and Chemistry. Then also the people used to associate the movement of the heavenly bodies with their own conditions and used to consider the heavenly bodies as having an influence on their lives. Hence they even went so far as to worship those bodies instead of worshipping Allah. The biggest of these heavenly bodies was the sun because it produced both light and heat, both of which were looked upon as being of the utmost importance for the continues life of the world and its existence. Hence they considered the fire to be the manifestation of the sun and worshipped fire. Moreover they were also quite aware of the special qualities of things and their effects and were also quite aware of the chemical composition of various elements of nature.
For the reason Allah sent Prophet Ibrahim, alayhissalam, for the guidance of his people and to call them to the worship of Allah and gave him such clear arguments and proofs with which to prove the wrong of their beliefs and to call them away firm the adoration of external features and to remove the custom of ignorance from their beliefs. Allah said,
On the other hand, when the star-worshipping king and the people were beaten by Prophet Ibrahim's arguments and proofs, decided to cast him into flaming fire, the Creator whose service Prophet Ibrahim had rendered just said to the fire,وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَا آتَيْنَاهَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَاتٍ مَنْ نَشَاءُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ"And that was Our [conclusive] argument which We gave Ibrahim against his people. We raise by degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Rabb is Wise and Knowing." – (QS.6:83)
In this manner manner, Allah showed His power by bringing about this miracle which caused a tremendous upheaval in the court of the polytheists, which made the whole crowd unable to respond to it, causing them to remain beaten, defeated and humiliated.يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ"O fire, be coolness and safety upon Ibrahim." – (QS.21:69)
وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الأخْسَرِينَ"And they intended for him harm, but We made them the greatest losers." – (QS.21:70)Another example is this that in the era of Prophet Musa, alayhissalam, the art of magic was a very important art, which had an important position in Egyptian society. The Egyptians were skilled Magicians and well versed in this art. For this reason Prophet Musa was granted the Torah and with it also the 'shining hand' and 'the staff which turned into a snake." When Prophet Musa in combat with the Egyptian magicians, exhibited the miracles which Allah had granted him, the magician on seeing these 'signs from Allah exclaimed "This is not magic or sorcery. This is something apart from sorcery. This is something beyond the ability of man." Allah said,
This was something which Allah has exhibited for the support of his true Messenger at the hands of that messenger. Those sorcerers were fully aware of the reality of magic. They then fearlessly declared in front of Pharaoh that from that day onwards they believed in the God of Musa and Aaron, alayhimassalam.فَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سُجَّدًا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى"So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, 'We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Musa.'" – (QS.20:70)
In the time of Prophet 'Isa, alayhissalam, there was great interest and emphasis on medical science and on physics. People were greatly influenced by the Greek expertise in these sciences and for many decades the doctors and philosophers of Greece were exhibiting their expertise in these fields, impressing all towns and lands. But at the same time the people were far removed from the belief in the oneness of god and the correct teaching of the true religion. And so also was the Children of Israel, gone astray from the true path of faith although they were the people who prided themselves as being of the same off-spring as the prophets of old.
And so when according to Allah's Sunnah, Prophet 'Isa, who chosen to be sent to mankind for their guidance, on the one side he was granted the Injeel (Bible) as his proof and argument, and on the other side, according to the needs of the time, he was also granted a few miracles which were to have such an effect and influence upon the experts of that era, that they on seeing these miracles being performed, would be forced to admit that such an art could not be learnt or acquired but was from Allah for the support and strengthening of the Messenger of Allah.
Of the miracles of Prophet 'Isa performed, there are four which the Qur’an clearly mentions, first, through the command of Allah, he revived the dead back to life; second, through the command of Allah, he gave eye-sight to the blind and healed lepers from leprosy; third, he used to make the form of a bird from clay and blew into it to bring it to life through Allah's command; fourth, he used to tell people what they had eaten and what they had spent and what they had stored up in their houses."
"O Wary, how was the situation of the Jews at that time?" Green Pigeon asked. Wary said, "The complete picture of the Jews and their beliefs and their practical lives is told in the Torah. However the results of their actions is told in the Qur’an in the following words,
Allah also said,وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ وَقَفَّيْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ بِالرُّسُلِ وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لا تَهْوَى أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ"And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed." – (QS.2:87)
وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌ بَلْ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَقَلِيلا مَا يُؤْمِنُونَ"And they said, "Our hearts are wrapped." But, [in fact], Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so little is it that they believe." – (QS.2:88)
Also,إِذْ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا مَائِدَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ قَالَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ"[And remember] when the disciples said, "O 'Isa, Son of Maryam, can your Rabb send down to us a table [spread with food] from the heaven? ['Isa] said," Fear Allah, if you should be believers." – (QS.5:112)
And also,
وَمُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَلأحِلَّ لَكُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَجِئْتُكُمْ بِآيَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ"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 Allah and obey me." – (QS.3:50)
إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِيمٌ
"Indeed, Allah is my Rabb and your Rabb, so worship Him. That is the straight path." – (QS.3:51)
فَلَمَّا أَحَسَّ عِيسَى مِنْهُمُ الْكُفْرَ قَالَ مَنْ أَنْصَارِي إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنْصَارُ اللَّهِ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ"But when 'Isa felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, "Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah ?" The disciples said," We are supporters for Allah . We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]." – (QS.3:52)
Among all peoples there exists such healers, at whose hands and through whose efforts people who have reached the end of their hope for cure from some diseases a cure for their ills. And so also, there was no shortage of such men of philosophy and physics who were experts on the relationship between body and soul. But when Prophet 'Isa without any such means, started toexhibit these miracles without any means, it had a different effect upon various peoples according to their faith and lack of faith. Those who were searches after truth, admitted that those acts were outside the powers of the ordinary man but were in fact a gift to the Nabi from Allah in order to support him and as a proof of him being an emissary from Allah. Those, in whose hearts were arrogance, hatred and jealousy, their prejudice allowed them to exclaim that, "This is but open sorcery."وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ"And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic.'" – (QS.61:6)
The Mufassireen of the Qur’an explain to us, regarding the four miracles mentioned above that when the opponents of Prophet 'Isa rejected him and his call towards guidance and declared his miracles to be sorcery, then by way of mocking him they used to say, "If you are really the Messenger of Allah, then tell us what we have eaten today and what have we left behind." Thereupon Prophet 'Isa answered them seriously, telling them what they ate and what was kept in their homes.
The manner in which the Qur’an mentions this last miraculous deed, and if one ponders over it, one comes to know that there is another more deeper meaning in it. That is, that Prophet 'Isa spent much time and effort in advising his people to shun worldly possessions and live an ascetic life-style without love for this world. These who accepted his message, used to follow this advice while others on the other side used to pretend to do so and hypocritically used to gather and store worldly goods. By means of this miracle he was able to uncover this hypocrisy on their part.
Apart from these four miracles, the fact that Prophet 'Isa himself was born without a father, was in itself a great sign and miracles from Allah. However whatever miracles took place at his hands and his immaculate birth was rejected and denied by the Jews out of jealousy. But even today, some scientifically minded persons in Islam also deny these things. Some of them do so not of their own accord but after having come under the influence of European athersto and so that they may not be accused of being religiously influenced and prejudiced. Similarly as far as the giving of life to the dead, they contend that before Qiyamat, Allah will not give life to any dead ones. However the truth of giving life to the dead is no new thing because there were many occasions in the texts where Allah indeed gave life to the dead.
Allah said,
It is a clear mention of giving life to the dead. And so also, there are those who deny Prophet 'Isa being born without a father and they have spent much energy to deny this in their writings. However in spite of the various views on this issue, if one looks at all the textual evidences in the Qur'an in an impartial way, one comes to the conclusion that apart from the over zealous attitudes and excesses of the Christians and the attitude of deficiency of the Jews, the Qur’an wants to stress the story of the immaculate birth of Prophet "isa. The Jews and the Christians chose two apposite viewpoints on this issue.فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا كَذَلِكَ يُحْيِي اللَّهُ الْمَوْتَى وَيُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ"So, We said, 'Strike the slain man with part of it.' Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason." – (QS.2:73)
On the one side the Jews considered him a fraud and a liar and the fabricator of a lie, while the Christians went to the other extreme and called him a God and the son of God, the 3rd person in the trinity. In this regard the Qur’an wants to show that the best way is the middle one and to put forth the correct belief in Prophet 'Isa. That is that Prophet 'Isa is not a false prophet, nor a liar and a fraud, but is Allah's true prophet and messenger, calling people to the path of true guidance. Whatever he has shown of wonder works were not deeds of sorcery but miracles which Allah had worked. His birth was without a father but that does not necessarily make him a God. How can that person be a God who is in need of being born and for his birth is in need of a mother or a father and of all the needs of human beings. Such a person can never be God.
In the Qur'an, an effort is made to disprove and condemn the false beliefs the Jews and Christians hold regarding Prophet 'Isa, alayhissalam, or Jesus. If it had been so that Prophet 'Isa had been bom of a father, the Qur'an would have stressed it from the very beginning as this is the main reason for him being considered a Divine personality. It would have been logical and expected that this belief should have been rejected from the beginning and a statement would have been made that so-and-so is the father of Prophet 'Isa. This would have stopped the spread of the idea of Divinity of Prophet 'Isa in its tracks. Instead the Qur’an goes on to state that even his virgin birth and birth without a father is no proof of any Divinity because, "Verily the similitude of 'Isa before Allah is as that of Adam He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be and he was.'" (QS. 3:59)
Therefore if being born without a father, qualifies him for divinity, then Adam who is bom without father and mother, is more qualified for divinity." Any those persons who have given other wrong interpretations and meanings of certain verses separately in order to reject the idea of Prophet 'Isa being born without a father, they are all wrong because if all those verses are taken together then no other truth comes out of them except that Prophet 'Isa was bom without a father.
And as far as the rational reasoning and logic of this question is concerned, reason too does not consider it impossible to be bom without a father. In fact in this modern age instances have come to the fore where birth takes place in ways apart from the generally accepted manner. And those ways of birth cannot be said to be against the laws of nature because up to now we have not acquired the full knowledge of all the laws of nature. The more man progresses in the field of knowledge, so more and more new aspects of the laws of nature become known to him. Hence very often the very thing which was considered impossible yesterday, has suddenly become quite possible today.
[Part 1]
