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  • 12/27/2011

Jesus: An Islamic Perspective

part 3

jesus-christ

"The most invisible dimension of the human being reflects the divine light directly, while the bodily or visible dimension reflects it only dimly or not at all." (Chittick, William. Article, 'The Concept of Human Perfection.')

Man has to pull aside this veil of the corporeal or material self. Shunning it he is able to let his invisible dimension reflect the light that it so wants to see. This spirit of God which resides in man longs for a reunion with its original, it reaches out and makes man's soul restless to cleanse itself of all that is not God. As man lays away his corporeal vestments his inner being sees more clearly. It gains a vision which sees what was previously unseen. Gates of knowledge are opened up to it and before such a person will be laid out the secrets of the realities underlying the Universe. The distance between man and God has been bridged by such people.

"My servant continues drawing near to Me ... until I love him, and when I love him, I am the Hearing through which he hears, the Sight through which he sees, the Hand through which he grasps, and the Foot through which he walks." (Hadith Qudsi)

Such men have been chosen to represent God in every way, they see through Him, hear through Him, walk, grasp, think, love ... their every faculty has been captured and they have shackled themselves to the 'robe of His Majesty'.

"My God I have fixed the fingers of my love to the ends of thy cords ... My God these are the reins of my soul-I have bound them with the ties of Thy will." (Ali ibn Abi Talib. Supplications. London; Mohammadi Trust. pgs. 10 & 12)

One who has achieved this proximity to God is known in Islamic terminology as 'Insaan al-Kamil' or the perfect (or perfected) man. It is in this context that Jesus must be viewed. He is called in the Qur'an, a sign (ayat) of God. The Prophets of God are generally all given this designation. They are all (from Adam to Muhammad) signposts marking the path to God, each one addressing both the universal nature of man and the specific contingencies of his time.

Jesus is a signpost who links man back to his original ancestor (Adam). The Qur'an says:

"The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be' and he was." (Qur'an. Ch. 3 v.59)

So in the very act of his creation, a link is forged with the origins of mankind. The Qur'an also says of Jesus that:

"The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is the apostle of God, and His Word, which He projected unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him" (Qur'an. Ch. 4 v.170)

The "Word" is God's creative Word (with which He also created Adam), the "Spirit" is the Divine Spirit (which he also breathed into Adam). Thus Jesus is created according to the mould of Adam - but he is as Adam was before the fall from Paradise, before Adam was put into this world, where God's presence is veiled and must be sought through signs. Thus Jesus, from the moment of his miraculous conception to the time he is taken up to God, is one who was "Insaan al-Kamil".


Other Links:

Jesus (A.S.) Rediscovered (part 1)  

Jesus (A.S.) Rediscovered (part 2)   

Jesus in Islam-part 1    

Birth of Jesus (A.S)    

Birth of the Soul of God   

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