THE PROPHET ISA (peace be upon him)
The Israelites had settled in the blessed land, Palestine. They ruled for
a long time. They had a vast kingdom. Allah, the Almighty chose many prophets
from among them. They followed the Holy Book, the Torah. The Prophet Dawud
(peace be upon him) and his son Prophet Sulaiman (peace be upon him) won
great popularity as kings and commanded high respect. Their followers believed
in God and led noble lives. As the time passed by, they began to pay less
attention to the teachings of God. They forgot the Divine favours. They
made alterations in the Holy Book according to their own tastes. Most of
the Israelites adopted indecent ways of life and committed major sins. At
that time there existed a powerful kingdom in the world. It was called the
kingdom of Romans. They were polytheists and pagans. They did not worship
one God and prayed to many idols made of stones. The Roman society was divided
into two factions. The ruling class was very strong and arrogant whereas
the ordinary people lived in misery. They were ill-treated as slaves. The
female sex enjoyed no privilege in that era. Palestine, the blessed land
was ruled by Herod, a cruel king. The people disliked him. They were scared
stiff of him. They could not utter a word of complaint against him lest
they should be put to sword.
Allah, the Beneficent, showed His favours and wanted to guide the depraved
humanity to the right oath. He desired to make the people believe in Allah
through miracles. Maryam (Mary) was a beautiful maiden. She was virtuous,
abstemious and chaste. She used to pray to Allah frequently. Site grew
up in the house of prophet Zakariya (peace be upon him) and learnt a good
deal about Allah and His religion.
One night Maryam was engaged in glorifying the Almighty, Allah. Suddenly
she saw a handsome looking young man. She got embarrassed and her face turned
pale. She felt jittery and had goose pimples on her skin. Soon after she
got tranquility of mind. She heard a voice from the invisible world:
"I am an angel of Allah. He has sent me to inform you that you are going
to have a baby."
The Holy Quran Says:
"(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings
of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious
in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).
He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of
the righteous."
(3:45,46)
Maryam was much perplexed. As she was a virgin, it was quite impossible
for her to give birth to baby without entering into matrimonial allegiance
with an opposite sex.
Once again the Angel remarked: It is the Will of Allah, the Almighty that
you should give birth to a fatherless baby. It is easy for Him to do what
He pleases. He has His own reasons. I, however, convey you the good news.
Soon after the Angel vanished. Maryam became wet with perspiration. She
apprehended that her name would be sullied if she gave birth to a baby before
marriage.
The
Holy Quran Says:
"She said:
My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said:
So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. if He decreeth a thing, He
saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom,
and the Torah and the Gospel."
(3:47,48)
After some days Maryam became pregnant. Many people began to level false
accusations against her. They calumniated her for developing contraband
relations with a man. The whole population of the town derided Maryam.
She was feeling terribly ashamed on hearing the baseless charges of slanders.
She had a firm faith in Allah. She was sure that Allah would help her in
washing away a blot on her fair reputation. She prayed to her Lord frequently
to save her honour. The people passed taunting remarks about her every now
and then.
When site was reduced to straits by the mischievous persons, she decided
to leave Nazareth and settle in another town. She went to a locality called
Bethlehem seventy-one miles away from her native town.
She resided near a manger under a palm-tree. Soon after her arrival there
Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ) was born. Maryam washed, cleansed and dressed
him. He looked very beautiful and attractive. Some of the people got wind
of that incident and visited Maryam who gave birth to a fatherless baby.
They also made fun of her and began to ask questions. As Maryam had been
directed by Allah not to utter a single word for three days from the moment
she gave birth to a baby. She complied with the orders and refrained from
talking. When the people pressed her hard to reply to their questions, the
baby began to utter some words to clarify the position of his pious mother.
The listeners were much surprised. They were full of excitement. Isa (Jesus
Christ) claimed to be the Prophet of Allah. He advised the people to follow
the right path and do noble acts. When the people got a convincing proof
regarding the truthfulness and chastity of Maryam, they were much impressed
and amazed.
BACK TO TOP
The birth of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) became a talk of the town.
Herod, the king, got wind of that miracle. He became worried lest people
should obey the directions of the newly born Prophet and neglect his orders.
He issued terrible orders to kill all those babies who art under the age
of two years. The parents became much upset because they thought that they
would be deprived of their affectionate children after the implementation
of those orders. Allah guided Maryam to migrate to Egypt to seek protection
for her baby. She carried out the orders and reached Egypt after a troublesome
journey.
They stayed away from home for twelve years. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon
him) grew up gradually and Allah gave him a good deal of wisdom and knowledge.
In the meantime Herod passed away and the people took a sigh of relief.
Maryam felt a great pleasure. She picked up her belongings and proceeded
towards the blessed land again. She, along with her baby reached there after
a long journey.
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was handsome and dignified. When he
had attained the age of thirty years, he began to preach the religion of
Allah. Most of the people were not convinced and thus he was exposed to
ridicules. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) entreated Allah to grant
him a miraculous power to impress the people. Allah gave him that power.
He showed many miracles which won the hearts of the people. Gradually they
became his followers and began to believe in him and his message.
One day Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was preaching to a large gathering.
He exhorted the people to believe in Allah and follow His religion. Most
of them turned a deaf ear to his instructions. The Prophet Isa (peace be
upon him) tried to convince them with a miracle. He took some wet clay in
his hand and made the statue of a bird with it. He blew his breath on the
clay. It became a real bird with wings, eyes and legs by Allah's power.
It flew up chirping in the sky. The people looked at the bird but could
hardly believe their eyes. They were wonder struck at the sight of this
miracle. They were so impressed that they began to take the oath of allegiance
to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) kept on preaching and many people began
to believe in true religion. One day a man came limping towards him. He
had suffered from leprosy. He was looking terrible due to lumps on his face.
His fingers were crooked and he had lost some toes. The people were scared
of him. They detested him but the heart of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
was bleeding for the wretched man. The diseased man said in the weak tone:
Cure me, cure me. I am disgusted with my life. The Prophet Isa (peace be
upon him) knelt and supplicated for his recovery. He patted at his shoulders.
He recovered and his face became clear. All the lumps vanished in the twinkling
of an eye. The crowd was much amazed at the sight of this miracle. Every
one was much impressed. The people began to follow the teachings of the
Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
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One day the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was going through the street
which was narrow and winding. He came across a man who was blind and dumb.
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) decided to show mercy to him because
he was kind-hearted. He put his hand on the shoulder of the man. The blind
man opened his eyes and Allah restored his eye sight. Moreover he was endowed
with the power of talking. He expressed a deep sense of gratitude for the
kindness shown by the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). This miracle impressed
the spectators and they began to follow the teachings of Allah.
A man, Lazarus passed away and his sisters, Mary and Martha fell into melancholy
and extinction. They were making preparations to perform burial ceremonies.
The mourners flocked at the residence of the deceased. Suddenly the Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) appeared on the scene. He knelt down and started
to pray to Almighty Allah. After a short time Lazarus was revived by the
grace of Allah. He got up and began to talk. Every one jumped out or joy.
They began to acknowledge the supreme power of their Lord. The Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) came to remind the people of the teachings of the
other Prophets. He advised the people to believe in Allah and pray to Him
only. He asked them not to indulge in back-biting, oppression, sinfulness
and impiety. He directed his followers to do noble deeds. He taught them
to be loving and tolerant. He also had his own revelations. The Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) had twelve disciples who assisted him in preaching.
They helped him in spreading the religion of Allah during the life of Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) and afterwards.
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The preaching work by Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) lasted for three years.
A considerable number of people began to follow him. They adopted good
ways of life. The Romans and the Jews were much worried because of the prevailing
influence of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) and his disciples. They feared
lest they should rise in revolt against them. They decided Isa, the Prophet
to be crucified.
The Holy Qur'an says:
"And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and
Allah is the best of schemers."
(3:54)
Allah loved his Prophet. He wanted to save him. On the other hand the Romans
made a heavy big cross of wood to put their plan into practice. There was
a large gathering and the soldiers were standing all around where Isa, the
Prophet was supposed to be crucified. Even those people who were against
the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) were feeling queasy inside.
They did not agree with the idea of crucifying him. Allah ordered some
one who bore resemblance to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) to take the place
of the Prophet on the cross. In fact the man who was analogous to Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) was crucified and his own life was saved in this
manner.
In The Holy Qur'an Allah Say:
And
because of their saying: We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger
They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those
who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof
save pursuit of a conjecture ;they slew him not for certain, But Allah
took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, wise. There is not one of
the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and
on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.
(Surah 4:Verse 157,158,159)
Most of the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace
be upon him) are still in the Gospel but some of the things written in the
Bible are not in original form. They were changed and some additions as
well as subtractions have been made in his teachings.
The Prophet
Muhammad Sal Allaho Alehe Wasallam