Jesus, One of the Five Great Prophets of God
The famous Islamic scholar Seyyed ibn Tawous, says: "When Prophet Jesus was born, a group of Wise Men came to Mary and said, ‘we study the stars and are astronomers; when your son came into the world we saw a star emerge on the horizon, and found out that his star is similar to those of the kingship of the Prophets that will not be taken away from him until God raises him to the sky…Thus, we have come from the east by following the star until we saw it over the head of your son. We have brought worthy presents for your son, such as gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Gold is the best element of the world and as long as your son is alive he is the best of mankind. Myrrh is a panacea for pains and your son would heal the pains. As for the frankincense, its fragrant smoke would rise towards the sky, and similarly would Jesus be taken towards the sky."
The Qur’an tells us a lot of wonderful things about Jesus. As a result, Muslims love Jesus, honour him, believe in him, and consider him one of the five great Prophets – the other four being Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the last and greatest of them all, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In fact, no Muslim can be a Muslim unless he or she believes in Jesus (PBUH). The Qur’an says he was sent for the guidance of the Israelites and to implement justice, equity, fraternity, and moral values in society. There is a Surah titled “Mary” in the honour of the Messiah’s Virgin mother, Mary (peace upon her). The Qur’an says that Jesus spoke while still a baby in the cradle, and that he healed the blind and the leper by God’s leave, and that he raised the dead by God’s leave.
The Almighty admonishes those who entertain the absurd belief that Jesus was son of God, and the holy Qur’an cites quotations from the Messiah that he never claimed to be such a thing, which is certainly blasphemy. The fact is that the pure monotheistic teachings of Jesus were distorted by faithless people. The concept of Trinity is also denounced as sacrilegious by the holy Qur’an, as is evident by verses 88 to 93 of Surah Mary.
“They say, ‘The All-Beneficent has taken a son!’ You have certainly advanced something hideous! The heavens are about to be rent apart at it, the earth to split open, and the mountains to collapse into bits. It does not behoove the All-Beneficent to take a son. There is none in the heavens and the earth but he comes to the All-beneficent as a servant.”
In Surah Ma'edah, verses 72 and 73, God also tells us:
“They are certainly faithless who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary.’ But the Messiah had said, ‘O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed whoever ascribes partners to Allah, Allah shall forbid him [entry into] paradise, and his refuge shall be the Fire, and the wrongdoers will not have any helpers.’ They are certainly faithless who say, ‘Allah is the third [person] of a trinity,’ while there is no god except the One God. If they do not relinquish what they say, there shall befall the faithless among them a painful punishment.”
The Qur’an goes on to say that on the Day of Judgment God will ask Jesus whether he claimed to be a son of God and Jesus will say he never said such a blasphemous thing. Here we produce verses116 and 117 of Surah Ma'edah in this regard:
“And when Allah will say, ‘O Jesus son of Mary! Was it you who said to the people, ‘‘Take me and my mother for gods besides Allah’’?’ He will say, ‘Immaculate are You! It does not behoove me to say what I have no right to [say]. Had I said it, You would certainly have known it: You know whatever is in myself, and I do not know what is in Your Self. Indeed You are knower of all that is Unseen.
“I did not say to them [anything] except what You had commanded me [to say]: ‘‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’’ And I was a witness to them so long as I was among them. But when You had taken me away, You Yourself were watchful over them, and You are witness to all things.”
In Surah Nisa, verses 171 to 172, God Almighty informs us:
“O People of the Book! Do not exceed the bounds in your religion, and do not attribute anything to Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Prophet of Allah, and His Word that He cast toward Mary and a spirit from Him. So have faith in Allah and His prophets, and do not say, ‘[God is] a trinity.’ Relinquish [such a creed]! That is better for you. Allah is but the One God. He is far too immaculate to have any son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and Allah suffices as trustee. The Messiah would never disdain being a servant of Allah, nor would the angels brought near [to Him]. And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant, He will gather them all toward Him.”
The holy Qur’an has indeed preserved the gist of the pure monotheistic message of Jesus, including the prophecy about the coming of the Last and Greatest of all Divine Messenger, that is, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), whose name he mentioned in his native Hebrew as Hmda or the Praiseworthy One, and which in Arabic means “Ahmad”. As a matter of fact this prophecy is still found in the version of the Gospel according to St. John, where the future Prophet has been named in the Greek translation as “Paraclete”, while King James’ English translation has used the word “Comforter”. In ayah 61 of Surah Saff of the holy Qur’an, this is confirmed with the words:
“And when Jesus son of Mary said, ‘O Children of Israel! Indeed I am the Prophet of Allah to you, to confirm what is before me of the Torah, and to give the good news of an apostle who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.’”
The Qur’an also refutes the claim that Jesus was crucified, and calls it sheer distortion. Jesus, who was thirty years of age, when by Divine Commandment he was lifted to the heavens to be safe from the plots of the Israelites, strove for peace, fraternity, justice, and moral values in society. This is proven by Verses 157 to 159 of Surah Nisa, which says:
“And for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the apostle of Allah’ ””though they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them. Indeed those who differ concerning him are surely in doubt about him: they do not have any knowledge of that beyond following conjectures, and certainly they did not kill him.
“Rather Allah raised him up toward Himself, and Allah is all-mighty, all-wise. There is none among the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.”
Source: irib.ir
Other links:
Ancient Prophets: The True Story of Jesus Part 1
