Belief in Prophets: Part 4

A MUSLIM’S BELIEFS REGARDING JESUS

1. He was one of the greatest of Allah’s messengers and one of those held in high esteem. Indeed, he is one of the messengers Allah describes in the Qur’an as having ‘firm resolve’, namely, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon all of them. About these prophets, the Qur’an states, “We made a covenant with all the Prophets – with you and with Noah and Abraham and Moses and Jesus son of Mary – We made a binding covenant with them.” (Al-Ahzaab, 7)
2. He was a mere human being with no divine attributes whatsoever, whom Almighty Allah sent to guide the Children of Israel and supported with a number of miracles, as the Qur’an states, “He is only a slave on whom We bestowed Our blessing and whom We made an example for the tribe of Israel.” (Az-Zukhruf, 59) He never ordered his people to take him and his mother, Mary, as gods besides Allah; he only told them to do as Allah commanded him to tell them: “Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” (Al-Maa’idah, 117)
3. Muslims believe that Jesus ﷺ was one of the greatest of Allah’s messengers, that he had no divine attributes whatsoever and that he was neither killed, nor crucified.
4. He was the son of Mary, a chaste, pious and truthful virgin who entirely devoted herself to the worship of Allah. She gave birth to Jesus after miraculously conceiving him without a human father, his likeness in this being as that of Adam, as the Qur’an states, “The likeness of Jesus in Allah’s sight is the same as Adam. He created him from earth and then He said to him, ‘Be!’ and he was.” (Aal-‛Imraan, 59)
5. There was no prophet between him and Muhammad r. In fact, Jesus u gave the good news of the advent of Prophet Muhammad r, as the Qur’an states, “And when Jesus son of Mary said, ‘O Children of Israel, I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming the Torah which came before me and giving you the good news of a Messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmad.’ When he brought them the Clear Signs, they said, ‘This is downright magic.’” (As-Saff, 6)
6. We believe in the miracles he performed by Allah’s permission, such as his ability to heal the lepers, bringing dead people back to life and informing his people of what they ate and stored in their houses, all by Allah’s permission. Allah gave him the ability to perform such miracles to prove he was a true prophet who came with a divine message from his Lord.
7. A person will not be considered a true believer unless he believes that Jesus u was Allah’s servant and messenger and strongly rejects the false statements Jews make about him and which Allah dismiss as untrue. He must al strongly reject the Christian beliefs about Jesus, who have gone far astray for taking him and his mother as gods besides Allah, claiming that he was the son of God or adopting the doctrine of the Trinity, referring to Allah as “the third of three”. Glorified is He and High Exalted above what they say!
8. He was neither killed, nor crucified; instead, he was raised up by Allah to heaven. In fact, Allah gave someone else Jesus’ appearance, causing everyone to believe that Jesus was crucified. The Qur’an says about this, “And their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.’ They did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to seem so to them. Those who argue about him are in doubt about it. They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture. They did not really kill him. Allah raised him up to Himself. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in him before he dies; and on the Day of Rising he will be a witness against them.” (An-Nisaa’, 157-59) In this way, Allah ﷻ protected him and raised Him to heaven. He will eventually return to earth towards the end of the world, rule by Muhammad’s law; then he will die and be buried, and will eventually be resurrected, like all human beings, as the Qur’an states, “From it We created you, to it We will return you, and from it We will bring you forth a second time.” (Taa Haa, 55)

SOME MIRACLES INDICATING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

In the event that Hazrat Musa struck a stone with his stick and twelve springs of water gushed from the stone (al-Baqara, 60.), which is a miracle of Hazrat Musa, there is a sign that people can extract water through an instrument from hidden underground water resources. Today’s science found the drill. That verse indicates the drill and further.

The Miracles of Hazrat Eesa reviving the dead, curing the people born blind and the people with speckled skins (Aal-e-Imran, 49.) show that remedies can be found even for the most chronic diseases. That verse shows and encourages more than the level mankind reached in medicine today.

In the verse O Fire! Be thou cool, and (a means of)) safety for Abraham! (al-Anbiya. 69.), there is a sign for science and technology. Accordingly, it is understood that out of materials like fire resistant amianthus (rock wool) Allah hid under the earth, clothes and other fire resistant thins can be made.

The verses informing us the miracles of the prophets indicate science and art, apart from their literal meaning. It is possible to understand different things from a verse. Absolute obedience to prophets is ordered in the Quran. So the Quran encourages men to learn science by these verses. Since the purpose of men’s creation is to fully worship their Creator, men can only perform full worshipping by the sciences and information he learns.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED PROPHETS?

Although people can understand the existence and oneness of Allah by reasoning, they cannot fully understand the attributes peculiar to Him. They cannot know how to worship Him. They cannot understand the affairs and responsibility of the hereafter. They need to be informed about them by Allah.

Allah sent people prophets to meet their needs about those issues. He taught people all of the issues that they need to know through His prophets.

If no prophets had been sent, people would not have been responsible for any religious judgments except knowing the existence and oneness of Allah. According to some Kalam scholars, they would not have been responsible for even understanding the existence and oneness of Allah. As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a verse:

“Nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent a messenger (to give warning).” (al-Isra, 15)

Human beings knew nothing; they learned everything, every art and skill from prophets. Prophets taught the mankind the ways of being happy and living peacefully in the world and in the hereafter, the principles of getting on well with one another, ethics and good manners.

BENEFITS OF BELIEF IN ALLAH’S MESSENGERS

Belief in Allah’s messengers has a number of benefits, including the following:

1. Awareness of Allah’s care for His slaves for sending messengers to them to guide them to the right path and show them how to worship Allah. Indeed, the human mind cannot possibly do this. Addressing Prophet Muhammad r, Allah ﷻ says, “We have only sent you as a mercy to all the worlds.” (Al-Anbiyaa’, 107)
2. Showing gratefulness to Allah for this great blessing.
3. Showing love for Allah’s messengers, holding them in high esteem and adequately praising them for delivering Allah’s message to their people and giving them good counsel.
4. Following the guidance contained in the message which the messengers have brought from Allah, namely, to worship Allah alone without associating any partners with Him in worship and adhering to the dictates of this message. This will bring about happiness for the believers in both this life and in the life to come. The Qur’an says, “Those who follow My guidance will not go astray and will not be wretched. But whoever turns away from My reminder, he will lead a miserable life.” (Taa Haa, 123-24)