For*: Points of View*, Ilford, Essex Monday, January 26, 2009
The Birth of Jesus Christ ? the Koranic View *I extend my sincere, heartfelt gratitude to the organisers for giving me this opportunity to speak to you this evening. It is indeed an honour for someone like myself who is under no illusion whatsoever of being an expert; I pride myself in being a student of Religion and it is in this humble capacity that I stand here to present to you what, in my opinion, the Koranic view of the birth of Jesus Christ is.* *I do not intend, let alone profess, to show or prove the Koran?s supremacy over the Bible, or any other scripture for that matter. I will merely present the Koran?s view on the subject from an intellectual and academic perspective. * *In view of the shortage of time at my disposal, I shall not enter into the Science-Religion controversy on the matter. I shall not discuss various theories about the birth of Jesus, such as the view that the ?sin? of Mary and Joseph, in the Jewish clergy?s eyes, was that they consummated their marriage disregarding the time traditionally set for it so that their first child should be born at a certain time of the year if he (if it was a male child) was to be the rightful heir of his family?s mantle of priestly leadership. Nor I shall dwell on the *Tiberius Abdes Pantera, *a Roman soldier angle.[1]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn1>However, I may touch briefly on the ?miraculous? nature of the event because this has a direct bearing on the subject under discussion. * Introduction: An overwhelming majority of Christians, as well as Muslims, believe in the Immaculate Conception doctrine. The basis of this belief is the Bible and the Koran for Christians and Muslims, respectively. The Bible contains this story, as most of us might already know, in the *Gospels *of* Matthew [1:18 ? 25]* and *Luke [1:26 ? 2:7]*.[2]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn2>The other two books of the New Testament, *Mark* and *John*, do not touch upon the subject. In the Koran, the story is found mainly in Chapter 3, *Aal e ?Imraan** ?* The Family of Imran, verses *42 ? 51*, and Chapter 19, *Maryam* * ? *Mary, verses *16 ? 34*. The Biblical account, as given in the English Bible, is very clear about the immaculate birth of Jesus; it so obviously literal that it is very difficult to interpret it otherwise (figuratively or allegorically). The Koranic account, however, *may be* different. *The problem of translation* Before proceeding further, however, we must ponder on the problem of translation. It is desirable because our language of communication this evening ? English ? is different from that of the Koran ? Arabic. I hope most of you will agree with me when I say that, despite our wondrous advances in technology in recent times, we still have literally hundreds of languages currently in use around the world and that we still need to translate a foreign language into ours to understand its meaning. Generally, the process of translation serves very well its basic function of transferring meanings of one language to another. But, more often than not, some of the original meaning is lost in the process. This is evident even in the case of the concrete. For example, if the very ordinary, everyday English word ?table? was translated into Urdu (*maze*) or Arabic (*taawala*), it will have to be specified whether the original term referred to a material article with a top and some legs or to its applied sense of either a list of items or a layer of subterranean water. The problem is much more acute in the case of the abstract, especially concepts, for the simple reason that ideas are intricately interwoven with a particular culture. Therefore, almost invariably, a simple translation of an abstract idea fails to carry the *exact *meaning of the original over to another language. This difficulty is nowhere more obvious than in the domain of religion; so it is with the Koran. It manifests itself even in the most simple and common utterances. *Allahu akbar *is a widely-known phrase, taken from the Koran, [3]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn3>of the Muslim world forming a part of *azaan *(the Call for daily ritual prayers). It is invariably translated as ?God is great.? Firstly, the verb to be (*is*) is non-existent in the original phrase, which consists of only two words and, strictly speaking, should only be translated as ?God great.? Secondly, the adjective *akbar *is not in the First degree but is in the Comparative and, as such, should be translated as ?greater.?[4]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn4>Thus, the phrase in question should be rendered in English as ?God (is) greater / (the) greatest.? Please allow me the liberty of presenting one example of many from the Judeo-Christian sphere. The well-known legend of the patriarch Abraham being cast into a fiery oven and miraculously saved finds its origins in *The Old Testament, **Genesis 15:7* where it says: ?I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.?[5]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn5>The word *Ur* in Babylonian means ?city?, for example *Ur*-Shalim?the City of Peace, today?s Jerusalem. We know that the Chaldean city Ur was the hometown of Abraham and that, when he found life difficult there, he migrated to the area now known as Palestine. In Babylonian, there is another word *Or*resembling very closely in speech *Ur*. The term *Or *means ?light?? or ?fire.? Many years later, Jonathan ben Uzziel, a Jewish commentator, not knowing Babylonian, translated verse *15:*7 as: ?I am the Lord that delivered thee out of the fiery oven of the Chaldees.? [6]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn6> Let us now turn to the question: What is the Koranic view of the birth of Jesus Christ? The Koranic view of the birth of Jesus Christ As far as my study of the Koranic account in *3:42-51* and *19:16-43 *is concerned, the Quran is supportive of a ?normal human birth? at best, and confusing at worst. That is to say, *both *views may be derived from the passages in question. *View 1 (Conventional):* If one reads the two passages and takes them at face value, the inevitable conclusion is that Jesus was born of immaculate conception, i.e. he was the product of a virgin (Mary) and the Holy Spirit, the divine energy of God. In other words, he had no human male as father; the pregnancy of Mary was a miracle. It is supported mainly by utterances like the one in *3:47* by Mary, ?O Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?? And also by what the angel says in response: ?Even so; Allah creates what He Wills; when He has decreed a matter, He but says to it, ?Be,? and it is!? Further support to this view is lent by *19:20*, where exactly the same surprised utterance by Mary is repeated with the addition of the phrase ?..and I am no transgressor.? Consolidation of this view comes with the angel?s response in *19:21*: ?He said, ?So (will it be): your Lord says, ?That is easy for Me?.?? This view is also supported by some other verses, for example in Sura *Al-Ambiyaa** ? **21:91*, where it says without mentioning Mary by name but very obviously referring to her: ?And her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her from Our Spirit[7]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn7>, and We made her and her son a sign for all peoples.?* *A lot of credence is also derived from the Biblical accounts already mentioned. In fact, except a few details, the Koranic account echoes the Biblical story almost verbatim. *A point of interest*? just to tickle the intellectual nerves of who may be interested enough to feel intrigued ? is that the concept of Immaculate Conception is not unique to Jesus Christ. Researchers have identified a number of mythical, legendary and historical personages *before* Jesus to have been born of a virgin ? the Hindu god Chrishna, Quexalcote of Mexico, Quirinus of Rome, and Osiris of Egypt among others.[8]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn8> *View 2 (Modern): * This is the view which I favour though it goes against the conventional view held by the dominating majority of Muslims. This view holds that Jesus Christ was born a normal human child, the product of a normal human sexual union between a man and a woman. The Koran, though naming Mary of the family of Imran[9]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn9>as his mother, makes no mention of Joseph, the Biblical figure betrothed to Mary.[10]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn10>Examining the Koranic text, we note that the fact of a non-human, divine, immaculate birth of Jesus is not mentioned in specific, clear terms. In *3:47* and * 19:20*, Mary?s utterance of surprise and disbelief ? ??no man has touched me?? could also have been an expression of the fact that, up to that moment, she had not been married and, after this angelic episode she *did *marry and conceived the child in the normal human way. Some other events related to this episode could also support this modern view if *not taken literally*. For instance, the expression المھد -literally, ?cradle ? can be taken as ?childhood? in 3:46 where the angel gives Mary glad tidings of a son (ویکلم الناس فی المھد). [11]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn11> Later in the story, when the child had been born, and objections were raised and questions were asked over the unexpected birth, she pointed to the child for a response. Here again, the objectors used the word المھدby saying۔۔۔قالوا کیف نکلم من کان فی المھد صبیا in *19:29* ? ?They said, ?How can we talk to one who is / was in the cradle?? Now, there are two points to be considered here. One, that if taken * idiomatically*, the objectors were saying, ?How can we talk to a person who, to us, is no more than a child? How can he know more than we do? He is young and inexperienced and still has to learn a lot. It is below our status to talk to him.? The other point is about the word کان. This Arabic term is the equivalent of the English ?was? for a male [for a singular female, the term is کانت]. If the term in this verse is translated as ?was?, it has to be taken as an idiom meaning: ?How can we talk to the one who, up to recently, was a child?? However, the term is also used in the present tense for ?is?. But there, it is used to emphasise the significance of the event/thing in question. For example, the Koranic verses like *33:5*۔۔۔وکان اللہ غفورا رحیما the term cannot be translated as ?was? simply because God is still present with His attributes of forgiveness and mercy. So, even if we take the term کانin *19:29* as the present tense (is), it is for emphasising the fact of the child/youth?s inexperience and unsuitability for the elders to engage in a dialogue with him. *A key point*in support of this view comes from the Koranic verse *3:59*where it says: ان مثل عیسی عند اللہ کمثل آدم ۔ خلقہ من تراب ثم قال لہ کن فیکون - ?The similitude of Jesus before Allah is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ?Be?: and he was.? Interestingly, the conventional view also takes its support from this verse. The logic is that God is presenting the example of the creation of Adam as the proof of His infinite powers to do anything at anytime; if He was able to create Adam without a father and a mother, it was easier for Him to create Jesus without a father. Here, we must consider a couple of points. One: the example cited (creation of Adam) does not *exactly *coincide with the event in that Adam had neither parent whereas Jesus had one. Two: this example assumes the factuality of the Biblical ? as well as the Koranic ? legend of the creation of the first human being; it also assumes that, like the Bible, the term آدم? Adam ? applies to one individual. In fact, from the Koranic perspective, it is evident that the term is applied to ?mankind.? Therefore, what the verse in question (3:59) is saying is: ?The birth of Jesus is like that of any other man. Just as the entire human species had its origin in dust, so did Jesus. His birth was not immaculate but ordinary and normal.? An interesting point is that in the example in 3:59, only Adam is cited ? he was certainly not unique in manner of birth, Eve was created the same way! This also supports the view that in 3:59, the term آدمshould be taken to mean ?mankind? and should be written with a lower case ?a? not capital.[12]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn12> *Summary: * In a summary, the Koranic view of the birth of Jesus Christ, as I see it is as follows: A woman of the family of ?Imran vowed to God to dedicate her expected child* *for the service of the temple (3:35). She was a bit dismayed when she delivered a girl, who was named *Maryam* (Mary), but kept her vow (3:36). Maryam was put under the guardianship of *Zakaria*? Zechariah - (3:38). By the time she attained maturity, Maryam was convinced of the true *deen *(monotheistic religion of Abraham) and decided to initiate dissent against the false, unholy and unreligious Jewish customs of the time for the emancipation of women (3:42, 43). She decided to rebel against the unnatural and ridiculous practice of celibacy imposed by the religious establishment. After much thought, she took courage and got married and decided to start a family who would carry on the Divine Mission (3:45-54 and 19:16-21). For fear of reprisals she went away for the pregnancy. She gave birth to a boy (19:22-26) and raised him away from her people. At length the boy (Jesus) grew into a fine man and was appointed Messenger by God. Then they came back to their people. In the eyes of the religion of the day, she had committed a great sin ? no less than fornication, so the community in general, and the priests in particular, were furious (19:28). She asked them to speak to her son. They said, ?How can we speak to one who *was* (not a long time ago) just an infant?? (19:29). Jesus said, ?I am indeed a servant of Allah: he hath given me Revelation (*kitaab*) and made me a prophet (*nabi*). And he hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me *salaa* and * zakaa*as long as I live.?[13]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_edn13> Finally, allow me to take a few more minutes to make a last point in support of the ordinary human birth of Jesus Christ. It is believed by an overwhelming majority of Christians and Muslims that the immaculate conception of Jesus was a miracle among many others reported in the holy books. I ask a very simple and basic question: What was the purpose of miracles in general, and that of the immaculate conception of Jesus in particular? The most obvious answer is: to convince people of the truthfulness of the divine message brought by an apostle and the authority and validity of his appointment to the Godly mission.But, the sad fact is that these extraordinary events proved unsuccessful in meeting their objective. Abraham, despite having performed the ?miracles? of the birds and of his escape from the fire, was expelled from his home town of Ur. The Pharaoh, along with several of his soldiers and officers, chased Moses and his Israelites out of Egypt despite having witnessed his ?miracles? of the Staff and the White Hand. Jesus was a failure in his mission despite raising the dead, healing the ill, and walking on water. He was still arrested and put on the cross. Christianity did not take roots as a faith until the Roman emperor Constantine converted some three hundred years* after* Jesus? death! Therefore, I take the position that those events taken as ?miracles? were not so as they failed in achieving their purpose. So was the case with the birth of Jesus ? it was not immaculate but ordinary and human. Thank you. Khalid Sayyed, P?boro. ------------------------------ NOTES & REFERENCES [1]Tabor, James D., *The Jesus Dynasty,* Harper Element (2007), Harper Collins, London. [2]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref2> *The New English Bible, *Penguin Books, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press (1970). In Luke, the account is interrupted, at 1:57?80, by the account of the birth of John, the Baptist. [3]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref3>29:45, and several others. [4]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref4>In Arabic, the First degree ?great? should be translated as *kabeer *(m) and *kabeera *(f); from *A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic *by Hans Wehr (ed. J M Cowan 1974), Libraire du Liban, Beirut and Macdonald & Evans Ltd., London. [5]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref5> *The New English Bible, *Penguin Books, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press (1970). [6]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref6>St. Clair-Tisdall, *The Sources of Islam, *as in The Origins of the Koran (1998), p. 243, Ibn Warraq (ed.), Prometheus Books, New York, USA. Clair-Tisdall supports this explanation with an example from the English language ? that of the word ?post.? A Persian noticing the departure of an Englishman?s post may note in his diary that ?the gentleman had lost his skin (which is what the word means in Persian)!? [7]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref7>It must be pointed out that the Koranic ?Spirit? is not the same as the Christian ?Holy Spirit.? [8]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref8>Kersey Graves, *The World?s Sixteen Crucified Saviours *? 2001 (first published 1875), Adventures Unlimited Press, Kempton, Illinois, USA. The entire list is long but a few more names are: Pharaoh Amenkept III, Ra ? the Egyptian sun god, Romulus ? the legendary founder of Rome, and Mithras ? the ancient Persian god. [9]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref9>The Koran: 66:12. [10]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref10>Matthew 1:18. [11]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref11>In fact, Abdallah Yousuf Ali, one of the most respected translators of the Koran in modern times, does translate المھدas ?childhood.? [12]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref12>Surely, it raises a couple of other interesting and intriguing questions about the Koranic concepts of the birth of mankind and the origin of Life as well as the Universe; what the Quran means by creating mankind from dust, etc. Because of limitations of time, we propose to discuss those points on another occasion. [13]<http://www.toluislam.com/index.pl/qdl?func=editSubmission&wid=104&sid=1570#_ednref13>Jesus, or anyone for that matter, could not be born of a virgin (without a physical father) as it is against the law of Nature (35:11), which never changes (17:77). Even God would need a consort (*saahiba) *to produce children! (6:101). To God, the birth of Jesus was just like the birth of an ordinary human being (3: 58). --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Asalam o Alaikum, You Are Receiving This Message, Because You Are A Member Of FOCUS ON ISLAM, A Google Group [..:: The Best Group For Nice Islamic Mails ::..] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ You can Post Your Comments and Suggestions to Me [Moderator of this Group] on this email address: [email protected] To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/focusonislam/ To post messages/mails to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Please forward our Mails to Your friends, and convence them to join our Group. 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