Chapter Four : The Good News

” ‘Behold!’ the angels said: ‘O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidingsof a word from him: his name will be Jesus, the son of Mary; held inhonorin this world and the hereafter; and (of the company of) those nearestto Allah.” (3:45)

“Nearest to God,” not physically nor geographically, butspiritually.Compare this with “And (Jesus) sat on the right hand of God.”(Mark 16:19). The bulk of Christendom has misunderstood this verse aswellas many others in the Bible. They imagine the Father (God) sitting on athrone, a glorified chair, and His Son, Jesus, sitting on His righthandside. Can you conjure up the picture? If you do, you have strayed fromthe true knowledge of God. He is no old Father Christmas. He is beyondthe imagination of the mind of man. He exists. He is real, but He isnotlike anything we can think of, or imagine.

In eastern languages “right hand” meant a place of honor,which the Holy Quran more fittingly describes as “In the company ofthose nearest to Allah.” The above verse confirms that Jesus is theChrist. and that he is the Word which God bestowed upon Mary. Again,theChristian reads into these words, a meaning which they do not carry.Theyequate the word “Christ” with the idea of a god-incarnate; andthe “Word” of God to be God.

“Christ” Not a Name

The word “Christ” is derived from the Hebrew word Messiah,Arabic Maseeh. Root word masaha, meaning “to rub”,”to massage”, “to anoint”. Priests and kings were anointedwhen being consecrated to their offices. But in its translated Grecianform, “Christ” seems unique: befitting Jesus only.

Christians like to translate names into their own language; like Cephasto “Peter” , Messiah to “Christ”. How do theydo that? Very easily. Messiah in Hebrew means “Anointed”.The Greek word for anointed is Christos. Just lop off the ‘os’fromChristos, and you are left with “Christ”; a uniquename!

Christos means “Anointed”, and anointed means appointedin its religious connotation. Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him,wasappointed (anointed) at his baptism by John the Baptist, as God’sMessenger.Every prophet of God is so anointed or appointed. The Holy Bible isrepletewith the “anointed” ones. In the original Hebrew, he was madea Messiah. Let us keep to the English translation “anointed.”

Not only were prophets and priests and kings anointed (Christos-ed),but horns, and cherubs and lamp-posts also.

“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar …”(Genesis 31:13)

“If the priest that is anointed do sin …” (Leviticus4:3)

“And Moses… anointed the tabernacle and all things thatwas therein…” (Leviticus 8:100)

“..the Lord shall…exalt the horn of his anointed”(I Samuel 2:10)

“Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus…” (Isaiah45:1)

“Thou art the anointed cherub…” (Ezekiel 28:14)

There are an hundred more such references in the Holy Bible. Everytimeyou come across the word “anointed” in your Bible, you can takeit that that word would be christos in the Greek translations,andif you take the same liberty with the word that the Christians havedone,you will have Christ Cherub, Christ Cyrus, Christ Priest and ChristPillar,…etc.

Some Titles Exclusive

Although, every prophet of God is an anointed one of God, a Messiah,the title Maseeh or Messiah, or its translation”Christ”is exclusively reserved for Jesus, the son of Mary, in both Islam andinChristianity. This is not unusual in religion. There are certain otherhonorific titles which may be applied to more than one prophet, yetbeingmade exclusive to one by usage: like “Rasulullah”, meaning”Messenger of God”, which title is applied to both Moses (19:51)and Jesus (61:6) in the Holy Quran. Yet “Rasullullah”has become synonymous only with Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, amongMuslims.

Every prophet is indeed a “Friend of God”, but its Arabicequivalent “Khalillullah” is exclusively associated withFather Abraham. This does not mean that the others are not God’sfriends.”Kaleemullah”, meaning “One who spoke with Allah”is never used for anyone other than Moses, yet we believe that Godspokewith many of His messengers, including Jesus and Muhammed, may thepeaceand blessings of God be upon all His servants. Associating certaintitleswith certain personages only, does not make them exclusive or unique inany way. We honor all in varying terms.

Whilst the good news was being announced (verse 45 above) Mary wastoldthat her unborn child will be called Jesus, that he would be theChrist,a “Word” from God, and that…

“He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Andhe shall be (of the company) of the righteous.” (3:46)

“At length she brought the (babe) to her people carrying him. Theysaid: ‘O Mary! truly a strange thing has thou brought!’. ‘O sister ofAaron!,thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!’ “(The Holy Quran 19:27-28)

Jews Amazed

There is no Joseph the carpenter here. The circumstances beingpeculiar,Mary the mother of Jesus had retired herself to some remote place intheEast (19:16). After the birth of the child she returns.

A. Yusuf Ali, comments in his popular English translation of theQuran:

“The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they wereprepared to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kinfor some time. But now she comes, shamelessly parading a babe in herarms!How she had disgraced house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood!

“Sister of Aaron”: Mary is reminded of her high lineage andthe unexceptionable morals of her father and mother. How, they said,shehad fallen, and disgraced the name of her progenitors!

What could Mary do? How could she explain? Would they, in theircensoriousmood accept her explanation? All she could do was to point to thechild,who, she knew, was no ordinary child. And the child came to her rescue.By a miracle he spoke, defended his mother, and preached to anunbelievingaudience.”

Allah azza wa jall says in the Quran:

“But she pointed to the babe. They said: ‘How can we talk one whois a child in the cradle?’ He (Jesus) said: ‘I am indeed a servant ofAllah(God) : He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet: ‘and He hathmade me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me prayer andcharityas long as I live. ‘(He hath made me) kind to my mother, and notoverbearingor unblest; ‘So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die,and the day that I shall be raised up to life again)’!” (19:29-33)

His First Miracle(s)

Thus Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, defended his motherfromthe grave calumny and innuendoes of her enemies. This is the very firstmiracle attributed to Jesus in the Holy Quran that, he spoke as aninfantfrom his mother’s arms. Contrast this with his first miracle in theChristianBible which occurred when he was over thirty years of age:

“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; andthe mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and hisdisciples,to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saithuntohim, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, what have I to dowith thee? mine hour is not yet come.’ His mother saith unto theservants,Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews,containingtwo or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water potswith water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith untothem,Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bareit.When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine,andknew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)thegovernor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Everyman at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have welldrunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wineuntilnow.” (John 2:110)

Since this miracle, wine has flowed like water in Christendom. Manyreason that what was good for the Master is good enough for them. Jesuswas no “kill-joy” they say. Didn’t he make good potent wine,that even those “well drunk”, those whose senses had been dulledcould make out the difference ? “That the best was kept for the last.”.This was no pure grape juice. It was the same wine that,accordingto the Christian Bible, enabled the daughters of Lot to seduce theirfather(Genesis 19:32-33).It was the same wine which the Christian isadvisedto eschew in Ephesians 5:18 – “And be not drunk with wine…”

It is that innocent (?) 1% potency that eventually leads millionsdowninto the gutter. America has 10 million drunkards in the midst of 70million”born-again” Christians! The Americans call their drunkards”Problem Drinkers”. In South Africa, they are called “Alcoholics”;drunkard is too strong a word for people to stomach.

But the Prime Minister of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, does nothesitateto call a spade a spade. He says, “I am not prepared to lead nationof drunkards”, referring to his own people who drink intoxicants.

Whether the water “blushed” or not “seeing” Jesus,we cannot blame him or his disciples for the drinking habits of hiscontemporaries.For he had truly opined, “have yet many things to say unto you, butye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). Mankind had not reached thestage of receiving the whole Truth of Islam. Did he not also say “Youcannot put new wine into old bottles”? (Matthew 9:17).

“Mother” or “Woman”?

According to St. John, in the fourth verse above, describing themarriagefeast at Cana, we are told that Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him,behaved insolently towards his mother. He calls her “woman,”and to rub more salt into the wound he is made to say “what have Ito do with thee?” What connection is there between you and me, orwhat have I got to do with you? Could he have forgotten that this very”woman” had carried him for nine months, and perhaps suckledhim for 2 years, and had borne endless insults and injuries on accountof him? Is she not his mother? Is there no word in his language for”mother”?

Strange as it may seem, that while the missionaries boast abouttheirmaster’s humility, meekness and long-suffering, they call him the”Princeof Peace” and they sing that “he was led to the slaughter likea lamb, and like a sheep who before his shearer is dumb, he opened nothis mouth”, yet they proudly record in the same breath, that he wasever ready with invectives for the elders of his race, and was alwaysitchingfor a showdown i.e. if their records are true:

“Ye hypocrites!”

“Ye wicked and adulterous generation!”

“Ye whited sephulcres!”

“Ye generation of vipers!”

and now to his mother: “Woman…”

Jesus Defended

Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, the Messenger ofGod,is made to absolve Jesus from the false charges and calumnies of hisenemies.

“And He (God Almighty) hath made me (Jesus) kind to my mother,and not overbearing or unblest” (19:31).

On receiving the good news of the birth of a righteous son Maryresponds:

“She said: ‘O My Lord! how shall I have a son, when no man hathtouched me?”

The angel says in reply:

“He said: ‘Even so: Allah (God) createth what He willeth: whenHe hath decreed a matter He but sayth o it ‘Be,’ and it is! And Allah(God)will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah (Law) and the Gospel,”(3:47-48).

Chapter Five : Quranic andBiblical Versions

Meeting the Reverend

I was visiting the “Bible House” in Johannesburg. Whilst browsingthrough the stacks of Bibles and religious books, I picked up anIndonesianBible and had just taken in hand a Greek – English New Testament, alarge,expensive volume. I had not realized that I was being observed by thesupervisorof the Bible House. Casually, he walked up to me. Perhaps my beard andmy Muslim headgear were an attraction and a challenge? He inquiredaboutmy interest in that costly volume. I explained that as a student ofcomparativereligion, I had need for such a book. He invited me to have tea withhimin his office. It was very kind of him and I accepted.

Over the cup of tea, I explained to him the Muslim belief in Jesus,peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I explained to him the highpositionthat Jesus occupied in the House of Islam. He seemed skeptical aboutwhatI said. I was amazed at his seeming ignorance, because only retiredReverendgentlemen can become Supervisors of Bible Houses in South Africa. Ibeganreciting from verse 42 of chapters 3 of the Holy Quran:

“‘Behold!’ The angels said: ‘O Mary, Allah hath chosen thee…'”

I wanted the Reverend to listen, not only to the meaning of theQuran,but also to the music of its cadences when the original Arabic wasrecited.Rev. Dunkers (for that was his name) sat back and listened with raptattentionto “Allah’s Words”.

When I reached the end of verse 49, the Reverend commented that theQuranic message was like that of his own Bible. He said, he saw nodifferencebetween what he behaved as a Christian, and what I had read to him. Isaid:”that was true”. If he had come across these verses in the Englishlanguage alone without their Arabic equivalent, side by side, he wouldnot have been able to guess in a hundred years that he was reading theHoly Quran. If he were a Protestant, he would have thought that he wasreading the Roman Catholic Version, if he had not seen one, or theJehovah’sWitness Version or the Greek Orthodox Version, or the hundred and oneotherversions that he might not have seen; but he would never have guessedthathe was reading the Quranic version.

The Christian would be reading here, in the Quran, everything hewantedto hear about Jesus, but in a most noble, elevated and sublimelanguage.He could not help being moved by it.

In these eight terse verses from 42 to 49 we are told:(a) That Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virtuous woman, andhonoredabove the women of all nations. (b) That all that was being said was God’s own Revelation to mankind.(c) That Jesus was the “Word” of God. (d) That he was the Christ that the Jews were waiting for. (e) That God will empower this Jesus to perform miracles even ininfancy.(f) That Jesus was born miraculously, without any male intervention.(g) That God will vouchsafe him Revelation. (h) That he will give life to the dead by God’s permission, and thathe will heal those born blind and the lepers by God’s permission, …etc.

“Chalk and Cheese”

The most fervent Christian cannot take exception to a singlestatementor word here. But the difference between the Biblical and the Quranicnarrativesis that between “chalk and cheese”. “To me they are identical,what is the difference?” the Reverend asked. I know that in theiressentials both the stories agree in their details, but when wescrutinizethem closely we will discover that the difference between them isstaggering.

Now compare the miraculous conception as announced in verse 47 oftheHoly Quran with what the Holy Bible says:

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise: When as his motherMary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, (ashusbandand wife) she was found with child of the holy ghost.”(Matthew1:18)

Master Dramatizer

The eminent Billy Graham from the United States of Americadramatizedthis verse in front of 40,000 people in King Park, Durban, with hisindexfinger sticking out and swinging his outstretched arm from right toleft,he said: “And the Holy Ghost came and impregnated Mary!” On theother hand St. Luke tells us the very same thing but less crudely. Hesays,that when the annunciation was made, Mary was perturbed. Her naturalreactionwas :

“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34)meaning sexually.

The Quranic narrative is:

“She said: O my Lord! how shall I have a son when no man hathtouchedme?” (3:47) meaning sexually.

In essence there is no difference between these two statements”seeingI know not a man” and “when no man hath touched me”. Boththe quotations have an identical meaning. It is simply a choice ofdifferentwords meaning the same thing. But the respective replies to Mary’s pleain the two Books (the Quran and the Bible) are revealing.

The Biblical Version

Says the Bible:

“And the angle answered and said into her : ‘The Holy Ghost shallcome upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadowthee” (Luke 1:35)

Can’t you see that you are giving the atheist, the skeptic, theagnostica stick to beat you with? They may well ask “How did the Holy Ghostcome upon Mary?” “How did the Highest overshadow her?” Weknow that literally it does not mean that: that it was an immaculateconception,but the language used here, is distasteful. Now contrast this with thelanguage of the Quran:

The Quranic Version

“He said (the angel says in reply): ‘Even so: Allah (God) createthwhat He willeth: when He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, ‘Be,’and it is!’ ” (3:47)

This is the Muslim concept of the birth of Jesus. For God to createa Jesus, without a human father, He merely has to will it. If He wantsto create a million Jesus’ without fathers or mothers, He merely willsthem into existence. He does not have to take seeds and transfer them,like men or animals by contact or artificial insemination . He willseverythinginto being by His word of command “Be” and “It is”.

There is nothing new in what I am telling you, I reminded theReverend.It is in the very first Book of your Holy Bible, Genesis 1:3 “AndGod said…” What did He say? He said “Be” and “Itwas”. He did not have to articulate the words. This is our way ofunderstanding the word “Be”, that He willed everything into being.

Choice for His Daughter

“Between these two versions of the birth of Jesus, the Quranicversion and the Biblical version, which would you prefer to give yourdaughter?” I asked the supervisor of the Bible House. He bowed his head downin humility and admitted “The Quranic Version.”

How can “a forgery” or “an imitation”, as it isalleged of the Quran, be better than the genuine, the original, as itisclaimed for the Bible? It can never be, unless this Revelation toMuhammedis what it, itself, claims to be viz. The pure and holy Word of God!Thereare a hundred different tests that the unprejudiced seeker after truthcan apply to the Holy Quran and it will qualify with flying colors tobeinga Message from on High.

Like Adam

Does the miraculous birth of Jesus make him a God or a “begotten”son of God? No! says the Holy Quran:

“The similitude of Jesus before Allah (God) is that of Adam; Hecreated him from dust then said to him: ‘Be’, and he was.” (3:59)

Yusuf Ali, comments in his notes in the Quran translation:

“After a description of the high position which Jesus occupiesas a prophet in the preceding verses we have a repudiation of the dogmathat he was God, or the son of God, or any thing more than man. If itissaid that he was born without a human father, Adam was also so born.IndeedAdam was born without either a human father or mother. As far as ourphysicalbodies are concerned they are mere dust.

In God’s sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is.Thegreatness of Jesus arose from the divine command ‘Be’: for after thathewas more than dust a great spiritual leader and teacher”

The logic of it is that, if being born without a male parententitlesJesus to being equated with God, then, Adam would have a greater rightto such honor, and this no Christian would readily concede. Thus, theMuslimis made to repudiate the Christian blasphemy.

Further, if the Christian splits hairs by arguing that Adam was”created”from the dust of the ground, whereas Jesus was immaculately “begotten”in the womb of Mary, then let us remind him that, even according to hisown false standards, there is yet another person greater than Jesus, inhis own Bible . Who is this superman?

Paul’s Innovation

“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God…Without father, without mother, without descent, having neitherbeginningof days, nor end of life…” (Hebrews 7:1,3)

Here is a candidate for Divinity itself, for only God Almighty couldpossess these qualities. Adam had a beginning (in the garden), Jesushada beginning (in the stable); Adam had an end and, claim the Christians,so had Jesus “and he gave up the ghost”. But where is Melchisedec?Perhaps he is hibernating somewhere like Rip Van Winkel (a fairy talecharacterwho slept for many ages.)

And what is this “Hebrews”? It is the name of one of the Booksof the Holy Bible, authored by the gallant St. Paul, the self appointedthirteenth apostle of Christ. Jesus had twelve apostles, but one ofthem(Judas) had the Devil in him. So the vacancy had to be filled, becauseof the “twelve” thrones in heaven which had to be occupied byhis disciples to judge the children of Israel (Luke 22:30).

Saul was a renegade Jew, and the Christians changed his name to”Paul”,probably because “Saul” sounds Jewish. This St. Paul made sucha fine mess of the teachings of Jesus, peace blessings be upon him,thathe earned for himself the second most coveted position of “The MostInfluential Men of History” in the monumental work of Michael H. Hart:The 100 or The Top Hundred or the Greatest HundredinHistory. Paul outclasses even Jesus because, according to MichaelHart,Paul was the real founder of present day Christianity. Thehonorof creating Christianity had to be shared between Paul and Jesus, andPaulwon because he wrote more Books of the Bible than any other singleauthor,whereas Jesus did not write a single word.

Paul needed no inspiration to write his hyperboles here and in therestof his Epistles. Did not Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Goebbels say:”The bigger the lie the more likely it is to be believed’? But theamazing thing about this exaggeration is that no Christian seems tohaveread it. Every learned man to whom I have shown this verse to, seemedtobe seeing it for the first time. They appear dumbfounded, as describedby the fitting words of Jesus:

“…seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither dothey understand.” (Matthew 13:13)

The Holy Quran also contains a verse which fittingly describes thiswell cultivated sickness:

“Deaf, dumb and blind, will they not return (to the path).”(2:18)

The Sons of God

The Muslim takes strong exception to the Christian dogma that “Jesusis the only begotten son, begotten not made”. This is what theChristianis made to repeat from childhood in his catechism. I have asked learnedChristians, again and again as to what they are really trying toemphasize,when they say: “Begotten not made”.

They know that according to their own God given (?) records, God hassons by the tons:

“…Adam, which was the son of God.”(Luke 3:38)

“That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that theywere fair… And when the sons of God came in unto thedaughtersof men, and they bare children to them…” (Genesis 6: 2,4)

“…Israel is My son, even My firstborn:” (Exodus 4:22)

“…for I (God) am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is Myfirstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:9)

“…the Lord hath said unto me (David): ‘Thou art My son:this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalms 2:7)

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sonsof God.” (Romans 18:14)

Can’t you see that in the language of the Jew, every righteousperson,every Tom, Dick and Harry who followed the Will and Plan of God, was a”Son of God”. It was a metaphorical descriptive term commonlyused among the Jews. The Christian agrees with this reasoning, but goeson to say: “but Jesus was not like that”. Adam was madeby God. Every living thing was made by God, He is the Lord, CherisherandSustainer of all. Metaphorically speaking therefore God is the Fatherofall. But Jesus was the “begotten” son of God, not a createdson of God ?

Begotten Means “Sired”!

In my forty years of practical experience in talking to learnedChristians,not a single one has opened his mouth to hazard an explanation of thephrase”begotten not made”. It had to be an American who daredto explain. He said : “It means, sired by God.” “What!?”I exploded : “Sired by God?” “No, no!” he said,”I am only trying to explain the meaning, I do not believe that Godreally sired a son.”

The sensible Christian says that the words do not literally meanwhatthey say. Then why do you say it? Why are you creating unnecessaryconflictbetween the 1,200,000,000 Christians and a thousand million Muslims ofthe world in making senseless statements?

Reason for Objection

The Muslim takes exception to the word “begotten”, becausebegetting is an animal act, belonging to the lower animal functions ofsex. How can we attribute such a lowly capacity to God? Metaphoricallywe are all the children of God, the good and the bad, and Jesus wouldbecloser to being the son of God than any one of us, because he would bemore faithful to God then any one of us can ever be. From that point ofview he is preeminently the son of God.

Although this pernicious word “begotten” has now unceremoniouslybeen thrown out of the “Most Accurate” version of the Bible,the Revised Standard Version (R.S.V.), its ghost still lingersonin the Christian mind, both black and white. Through its insidiousbrainwashingthe white man is made to feel superior to his black Christian brotherofthe same Church and Denomination. And in turn, the black man is given apermanent inferiority complex through this dogma.

Brain-washed Inferiority

The human mind can’t help reasoning that since the “begotten son”of an African will look like an African, and that of a Chinaman as aChinese,and that of an Indian like an Indian: so the begotten son ofGodaught naturally to look like God. Billions of beautiful pictures andreplicasof this “only begotten son of God” are put in peoples hands.He looks like a European with blonde hair, blue eyes and handsomefeatureslike e one I saw in the “King of Kings” or “The Day of Triumph”or “Jesus of Nazareth”. Remember Jeffrey Hunter? The “Savior”of the Christian is more like a German than a Jew with his polly nose.So naturally, if the son is a white man, the father would also be awhiteman (God?). Hence the darker skinned races of the earth subconsciouslyhave the feeling of inferiory ingrained in their souls as God’s “stepchildren”. No amount of face creams, skin lighteners and hairstraightenerswill erase the inferiority.

God is neither black nor white. He is beyond the imagination of themind of man. Break the mental shackles of a Caucasian (white) man-god,and you have broken the shackles of a permanent inferiority. Butintellectualbondages are harder to shatter: the slave himself fights to retain them.