Monday 19 November 2018

Virgin Birth of Messiah (Sura 3:47; 19:20-22)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والصلاة والسلام  على رسوله الكريم
وعلى آله والصحابه اجمعين

One of the modernist deviations from the orthodox creed of Islam is concerning the virgin birth of the Messiah of Nazareth عليه الصلاة والسلام.
Two of the “Synoptic Gospels”, namely Matthew and Luke, affirm the virgin birth of the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit in their respective first chapters. But the solid basis for our belief in his virgin birth is the Holy Quran:
قَالَتْ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ ۖ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ اللَّـهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
She (Mary) said: “My Lord, how can I have a child when no man has touched me?” “Such is Allah. He creates what He will. When He decrees a matter He only says to it ‘Be’ and it becomes.”
(Sura 3:47)

The question of the virgin Mary عليه السلام  makes clear that she wishes to know how she will become pregnant when no man has touched her. The modernists misinterpret this Verse to mean that Allah will bring about the natural means for this to happen, i.e., through saint Mary’s marriage with Joseph the carpenter.
قَالَتْ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا ﴿٢﴾ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ ۖ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مَّقْضِيًّا ﴿٢١﴾  فَحَمَلَتْهُ فَانتَبَذَتْ بِهِ مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا ﴿٢٢﴾
She (Mary) said: “How can I have a boy when no man has touched me and I am not unchaste?” He (Angel) said: “Thus it is. Your Lord says it is easy for Me.” And He will make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter decreed. So she became pregnant with him and she withdrew to a remote place.
(Sura 19:20-22)

Furthermore, one of the strongest proofs that the Qur’an affirms the virgin birth of prophet Jesus عليه السلام is the mentioning of the objection of the people to the virgin Mary after her son عليهما السلام  was born:
فَأَتَتْ بِهِ قَوْمَهَا تَحْمِلُهُ ۖ قَالُوا يَا مَرْيَمُ لَقَدْ جِئْتِ شَيْئًا فَرِيًّا ﴿٢٧﴾ يَا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا ﴿٢٨﴾
So she brought him to her people carrying him. They said: “O Mary, you have done a strange thing. O sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man nor your mother unchaste.”
(Sura 19:27-28)

If, as the modernists argue, Allah had given the glad tidings to the virgin Mary that she would give birth to a pure son عليهما السلام but that it would come about through the male agency, referring to her future marriage to Joseph the carpenter, then the Messiah’s eventual birth would not have elicited such a negative reaction from her people. Their words, as quoted in the Qur’an, make clear that they thought saint Mary عليه السلام had committed fornication (God forbid) hence they reminded her that her parents were virtuous people and they did not expect a girl of her upbringing and background to commit such a deed. The fact of the matter is that the Qur’anic account of the Messiah’s birth is so similar to the narrative present in the Gospel of Luke that it becomes quite apparent the Qur’an is endorsing and affirming the well known idea of the virgin birth. Additionally, this has been the doctrine of the Muslims from the very beginning. Throughout the Qur’an and Hadith, the Messiah is called Isa bin Maryam (Jesus son of Mary). There is never any mention of him having a father, another strong indication of his virgin birth. It was only in modern times, with the expanding influence of modernist, materialist and naturalist thought, that certain Muslim thinkers re-interpreted the Qur’anic narrative and declared that the Messiah عليه السلام had a father. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, G. A. Parwez, and the Lahore Ahmadiyya sect (founded by Maulana Muhammad Ali) are the prominent modernists and naturalists who claimed that the Messiah had a father and was born in the usual way, through the male agency. I shall, in future entries, refute their general arguments ان شاء الله

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