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The Story of Jesus in the Quran – part 4

The Story of Jesus in the Quran, Part 4

 

In our study of verses related to Prophet Jesus, we will notice that the verses are directly related to the purpose of the Quran which establishes the Absoluteness of the Creator of the Universe. The Quran emphasizes on the life after the passing of prophet Jesus where a controversial Christian doctrine developed in terms of defining or describing God and Jesus.

The objective is not to compare religions or compete with them. Unfortunately, there are debates that go on comparing religions. Every religion should fundamentally present its truth.  There are common points in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Quran serves as correcting the misunderstandings in Christian/Judaic traditions which are pointed out and thus corrected.

The Judaic side is mostly satisfied without much emphasis on the belief system, the Christians are satisfied with faith in Jesus as the savior. The Quran, as its main purpose, presents belief aspects in God that must be Absolute. 

Very heavy debates go on between Christianity and Islam, or Judaism and Christianity, one undermining the religion of the other. The real enemy that is growing is the secular understanding of the world, not believing in God at all. The religions are not addressing this but criticize and undermine each other when they can actually present the truth. 

We will study How Jesus is regarded by some people and how the Quran presents Jesus in the following verses:

19:88 They say: “The Most Merciful has taken to Himself a son!”

The words are carefully chosen such as the  usage of the word  “Ar’Rahman” (Most Merciful) and “walad” translated as son.

Let’s look at the word “walad” by referring to the section “Ikhlas” of the Quran where the terms “Ahad” and “Samad” are present. They refer to a being having an Individual Personality, unlike anything of this universe; we cannot give it a form but such a being must exist. “Samad” refers to – by which kind of qualities do we describe this Absolute Being. Everything in the universe needs an Absolute Being as its Creator but this Absolute Being needs nothing.  

For example, what makes a book? If there was no meaningful knowledge inscribed in it, it would not be called a book. When the information is written on the sheets of paper, it becomes a book. The author must inscribe his qualities in the book. Similarly, the universe can also be seen as a book. Now how is this Absolute being manifesting his Absolute qualities in a transient form that we experience here. That transformation is represented by what the Qur’an names “angels”, which are also created, as the performers of the Will of the Creator.  The universe is so meaningful that this transformation of the meaningful Qualities of its Creator is called the angelic side of the universe.

Unlike the book, the universe is not published once but continuously being published in a renewed form. Do I need to see the author who wrote a book? No, the book tells me that it has an author who is the one that expressed his/her knowledge in the book. The universe thus tells me that it has an Author possessing a myriad of qualities.

“Samad” – everything needs Him to come into creation. He doesn’t need anything to exist and to give existence to other beings that we observe within this universe. 

“Lam Ya lid” is tied to never giving birth to anything like itself. “Wa lam Yu Lad”, never being born out of something. The notion of “Walad” refers to what is given birth by a being inheriting the qualities of the one who gave birth to it.

With the understanding of “walad” as giving birth we can translate the verse (19: 88) as: They say, the Most Merciful has given birth to something, thus bequeathing His Absolute Divine Qualities to the child.

Giving birth – is a simplification of the explanation of the Absoluteness of God whose qualities are coming down into the practical side of human beings. In our practical terms, we say the mother gave birth to the child where the child is of the nature of the mother. Taking the understanding of “Samad“ which is the explanation of “Ahad” in section “Ikhlas”, indicates that He has not given birth to anything, no birth given which is like His own nature. He must not be created and cannot give existence to anything like Him i.e. an Absolute being.  Anything and anybody of this universe that is in need cannot be described as Absolute.

Mother cannot be the source of the existence of the baby, she is just like the paper of the book, a means for manifesting qualities. Mother is created, the baby is created, the giving of birth process is created. The common denomination is being created and thus in need of being created. 

Regarding the usage of terms such as relative and absolute – knowledge of God must be Absolute, my understanding of this knowledge is relative. If anyone claims to have absolute knowledge then that would be God. Witnessing the universe as evidence is the doctrine in Islam; whereas in Christianity the doctrine is human faith without the universe as evidence. The belief system that the Quran presents is always with the witnessing of the universe. It encourages the use of feelings, intellect, and reasoning by witnessing the universe. The Quran and the universe cannot be separated, they belong to the same Creator. The universe is the witness, speech in act form, of the same Source as the written form of Quran, that is called “Mushaf”. The Qualities of the Creator are manifesting themselves in the universe, the same Qualities of the Speaker, God, are manifesting themselves in the “Mushaf,” the written form of the Word of God. Hence, like any of the beings which has a beginning and an end and is subject to the order of the universe, Jesus according to the Qur’an can only be likened to a “Mushaf” which is a written, created form of “the Word of God.”

Debates on whether science conflicts with religion is ridiculous. Science is engaged and interacts with the universe; the message of the Quran also asks to interact/look/investigate the universe – there is no conflict in this matter. It is when the interpretations are made is where the Quranic guidance comes into correcting us, pointing in the right direction. It asks us to use our intellect, reasoning and feelings when investigating the universe. The usage of words “tafakkur”, “tadabbur” , “ulool albab” are all related to the universe as well as to the Speech of God, the Revelations. 

Referring back to the verse “Ar’Rahman” has taken a son means, a like of Himself of the same nature – He created something like Himself. Absolute cannot create another Absolute – logical fallacy, it is an oxymoron. Is there anything in the universe that possesses Absolute qualities, can give existence to something without being itself given existence? If there is anything in this universe that is able to create something then that thing must be Absolute. However, in this universe we see that everything is in need to be created. The “cause,” as we call it, is not creating the “effect.” No part of this universe has the quality to create, therefore, not being a cause of the existence of anything.

One may say Jesus had the quality to create in the form of miracles that he performed and demonstrated. All prophetic miracles must be created by one possessing Absolute qualities. All miracles performed by prophets just like everything else in creation are created with God’s permission, “bi izni’Allah”. Through the prophets’ hands, their touching something or praying to God to create something in an unaccustomed way of our experience of this order of the universe, the creative command must be given by One who possesses Absolute qualities. The extraordinary creation is for us to understand that this individual is employed by the Owner of the universe, called God, and by creating the miracles the claim of the Messengers of God is approved by Him. No one else can create anything. It is extraordinary for me because it is not the customary way that I see things happening. 

In the arguments that go on between religions, we have to see that they are arguing using relative understandings, their interpretations. Don’t accuse the sources/scriptures but peoples’ interpretations. Most arguments are in the political, socio-economic sphere and not theological. I can take a scripture and interpret based on the theological arguments and come up with my interpretation. A student of the Quran can study the other scripture based on theology and see that the other scriptures are mentioning an Absolute God. Without interpreting within our capacity, there is no other way to have access to any text/book. Whatever the capacity we use is created and cannot be Absolute but relative, I have to admit this. The Source of creation, the universe cannot be relative but Absolute. This is the point that the story of Jesus keeps reminding us.




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