19. PROPHETS’ DU‘Ā (PRAYER) IN THE QUR’ĀN (13)
13. ‘Īsā
(Jesus) a.s.
The name of Jesus
Christ is mentioned in the Qur’ān 59 times: as ‘Īsā 25 times[1],
as “the Messiah” (al-Masīḥ) his title 11 times[2]
and as “the son of Mary” (Ibn Maryam)
23 times.[3]
He was mentioned as “Jesus son of Mary” (‘Īsā
ibn Maryam) 13 times[4]; as “the Messiah the son of Mary” (al-Masīḥ ibn Maryam) 6 times;[5]
as “the Messiah Jesus son of Mary” (al-Masīḥ ‘Īsā ibn Maryam) 3 times.[6]
His name is mentioned in 13 sūrahs (chapters) of the Qur’ān. Although no
sūrah (chapter) in the Qur’ān bears
his name such as sūrat Yunus (Jonah, chapter 10), sūrat Yusuf (Joseph, chapter
12), sūrat Ibrahim (Abraham, chapter 14), two chapters deal briefly with him
and his background, namely, sūrat Āl ‘Imrān (the Family of Imran, chapter 3),
and sūrat Maryam (Mary, chapter 19).
The sūrah which mentions
his names most is sūrat al-Mā’idah (the Table Spread, chapter 5). The name is
taken from the verse 114 in which Prophet ‘Īsā’s disciples called al-Ḥawāriyyūn
asked him to ask Allah to send down to them a table spread with food from
heaven. He told them to fear Allah, if they were indeed believers. Allah
revealed to the Prophet s.a.w. this incident as follows:
إِذْ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ
هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا
مَائِدَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ قَالَ
اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ. قَالُوا نُرِيدُ أَنْ نَأْكُلَ مِنْهَا
وَتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُنَا وَنَعْلَمَ أَنْ قَدْ
صَدَقْتَنَا وَنَكُونَ عَلَيْهَا مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ (المائدة:112)
And (remember) when the disciples said: “O ‘Īsā,
son
of Maryam! Can your
Lord send down to us a table spread
(with food) from heaven?” ‘Īsā
said: “Fear Allah,
if you are indeed believers.” (Q. 5:112)
Instead of هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ (hal yastaṭī‘u rabbuka,
“Can your Lord…”) a variant reading reads هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ رَبَّكَ (hal
tastaṭī‘u rabbaka “Can you (ask) your Lord...)" which was also revealed to the Prophet, and was the reading several outstanding Companions of
him, such as ‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Ā’ishah, and Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal. In this variant
reading there is no change in the consonantal skeleton. As both readings are
correct, it means that one of ‘Īsā’s disciples asked him: “Can your Lord send
down to us a table spread…”, whereas another person asked: “Can you ask your Lord
to send down to us a table spread…” We notice here that unlike the followers
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. who never asked any miracle as evidence, it
was non-believers who asked it, as well as Prophet ‘Isā’s own disciples who
apparently had not yet strong faith in him, or at least to increase their
faith. If they really believed that Allah could send down to them a table
spread, then will He do it if you asked Him? So, it is here the matter of
Allah’s willingness which they doubted, not His ability which they were
certain.
With regard to the second reading, ‘Īsā’s disciples
doubted his willingness to ask Allah to send down to them a table spread. ‘Īsā
told them to fear Allah, and not to ask for it, as it might become a trial for
them, but trust in Allah for their provisions, if they truly were believers. (They
said:)
قَالُوا نُرِيدُ أَنْ نَأْكُلَ مِنْهَا
وَتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُنَا وَنَعْلَمَ أَنْ قَدْ
صَدَقْتَنَا وَنَكُونَ عَلَيْهَا مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ
(المائدة:113)
They said: “We wish to
eat thereof and to satisfy our hearts
(to be stronger in Faith), and to know that
you have indeed told
us the
truth and that we ourselves be its witness.” (Q. 5:133)
Then
Prophet ‘Īsā a.s. made his prayer:
قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا أَنْزِلْ عَلَيْنَا
مَائِدَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيدًا
لِأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِنْكَ
وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ (المائدة:114)
‘Isā (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: “O Allah, our
Lord! Send us
from the heaven a
table spread (with food) that
there may be for us - for the first and
the last of us – a festival
and a sign
from You; and provide us with sustenance,
for You are the Best sustainers.” (Q. 5:114)[7]
Allah accepted his
prayer with a threat, that if anyone after that disbelieved He would punish him
severely He had never punished anyone before. )He
said:(
قَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي مُنَزِّلُهَا عَلَيْكُمْ فَمَنْ
يَكْفُرْ بَعْدُ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ
عَذَابًا لَا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَدًا مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ
(المائدة:115)
Allah said: “I am going to send it down to
you, but if any of you after that disbelieves, then I will punish him with a
torment such as I have not inflicted on anyone among (all) mankind and jinn (Q. 5:115).
Then Allah informed Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. that in
the Day of Resurrection Allah would ask ‘Isā a.s., whether he told
people to worship him, he and his mother Maryam, as two gods beside Allah.
‘Isā would answer
that he never did that, and even if he did it Allah would surely have known it…
‘Isā said only what Allah had ordered him to say, to worship Allah his Lord and
the Lord of people… and if Allah punished them they were His slaves, but if He
forgave them He was the All-Mighty, the All-Wise (Q. 5:116-118). The worship of
Mary, although rejected by the Protestants, was widely practised in the early
Churches.
One
of the main differences between Christianity and Islam is the belief in the
crucifixion of ‘Isā a.s. without which Christianity would crumble. For
the Christians Jesus died on the cross to redeem the sins of human beings; no
crucifixion means no redemption. Islam denied it. The Qur’ān revealed:
And because of their saying (in boast), “We killed
Messiah
‘Isā (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger
of Allah,”
– but they
killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared
so to
them[the resemblance of ‘Isā (Jesus) was put over another
man (and
they killed that man)], and those who differ therein
are full of doubts. They have no (certain)
knowledge, they
follow
nothing but conjecture. For surely, they killed him
not [i.e., ‘Isā
(Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)]: But Allah
raised him [‘Isā (Jesus)] up (with his body and
soul) to
Himself (and he is in the heavens). And Allah is
Ever All-Powerful, All Wise. (Q. 4:157, 158).
This
statement of the Qur’ān was confirmed by the Bible discovered in 1945 at Naj’ Hammādi
(نجع
حمادي) in
the highlands of Egypt and its texts were distributed by UNESCO in 1975 which
runs as follows:
It was another person who drank the bitterness and
vinegar,
and not I.
And it was another (Simon Peter) who carried the cross
on his
shoulders; [8]
and it was yet another who placed a crown
of thorns
upon his head.[9]
Meanwhile, I [Jesus] was
above, laughing at their ignorance.
Some early Christian sects did not believe that Jesus was
killed on the cross, such as the Basilidans who believed that someone else was
substituted for him. This view was supported by the Gospel of Barnabas. This
was also the view of some classical Qur’ān commentators, such as Ibn Kathīr who
said that on that Friday evening he and his twelve, thirteen, or seventeen of
his companions were in the house when it was surrounded by the soldiers who
wanted to arrest him, to crucify him, and made him wear a crown of thorn. He
said to his companions: “Who volunteers to be made to look like me, for which
he will be my companion in Paradise?” A young man volunteered, but ‘Isa thought
he was too young. He asked the question again and again, and the young man kept
telling him he was ready to volunteer. ‘Īsā agreed, and Allah made the young
man look exactly like ‘Īsā. A hole opened in the roof of the house, and ‘Īsā
was made to sleep and ascended to heaven. His companions in the house saw him
ascending to heaven. Then they went out of the house, and the young man who
look like ‘Īsā was arrested and crucified.[10] Allah
talked about this in another verse, as follows:
إِذْ
قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ ...(آل
عمران:55)
And (remember) when
Allah said: “O ‘Īsā! I will
take you and raise you to Myself…” (Q. 3:55)
The
meaning of مُتَوَفِّيكَ according to Muhammad Asad,
“I shall cause thee to die”, according to A.Y. Ali, “I will take you,”
according to M. Pickthall, “I am gathering thee.” The Arab expression تَوَفَّاه الله means “Allah has taken him unto Him.” The term could mean
“sleep” as well as “death.” The English proverb says” “Sleep is the twin-brother
of death.” Allah said,
اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنْفُسَ
حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَى
عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ
الْأُخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمّىً ... (الزمر:42)
It is Allah Who
takes away the souls at the time of their
death, and those that die not during their
sleep. He
keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained
death and
sends the rest for a
term appointed… (Q.
39:42).
By studying the above verse Prof. Arthur Allison, President of British
Society for Psychological and Spiritual Studies reverted to Islam before the
Rector of al-Azhar at that time, Shaykh Jād al-Ḥaqq, the Minister of Awqāf of
Egypt, and changed his name from “Arthur” to “Abdullah.”
In other words, when we sleep Allah takes our souls to Him, and return
them back to our bodies when we are awake. But when we die, Allah keeps our
souls with Him. Therefore, the verse mentioned above does not support the idea
that Jesus died on the cross, then Allah sent him to heaven, as claimed by the Christians.
The history Prophet ‘Īsā (Jesus) a.s. is shrouded by mystery from his birth to his
ascension to heaven. The Injīl believed by Muslims as the revelation
from Allah to him, is not the New Testament we are having now, which was “written”
much later by people (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) who had never seen him.
)CIVIC, 28 November,
2014)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ (
تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ(
تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ(
الراغب الإصفهاني (ت. 452 هـ) . مفردات ألفاظ القرآن .
Abu Khalil, Dr. Shauqi . Atlas of the
Qur’ān. Riyadh, Darussalam, 2003
Ali, A.Yusuf.
The Meanings of the Holy Qur’ān
Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the
Qur’ān.
Holy Bible: New International Version, 1973
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot
[1] See Q. 2:87, 136, 253; 3:45, 52, 55, 59, 84; 4:157,
163, 171; 5:46, 78, 110, 112, 114, 116; 6:85; 19:34; 33:7; 42:13; 43:63; 57:27;
61:6, 14.
[2] See Q. 3:45; 4:157, 171, 172; 5:17 (twice), 72
(twice), 75; 9:30, 31.
[3] See Q. 2:87, 253; 3:45; 4:157, 171; 5: 17 (twice),
46, 72, 75, 78, 110, 112, 114, 116; 9:31; 19:34; 25:50; 33:7; 43:57; 57:27;
61:6, 14.
[4] See Q. 2:87, 253; 5:46, 78, 110, 112, 114, 116; 19:34;
33:7; 57:27; 61:6, 14.
[5] See Q. 5:17 (twice), 72 (twice), 75; 9:31.
[6] See Q. 3:45; 4:157, 171.
[7] According to Muhammad Asad this prayer for heavenly mā’idah
(repast, table spread) “might possibly be an echo of the request for daily
bread contained in the Lord’s Prayer (cf. Matthew vi, 11), since, in religious
terminology, every benefit that accrues to man is “sent down from heaven” –
that is, by God – even I f it comes into being through man’s own effort. But …
the manner in which the disciples are said to have asked for the “repast” …
seems to point to a request for ‘a miracle’ which would assure them of God’s
acceptance of their faith.” Asad,
Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān, p. 168, n. 137.
[8] According to John 19:17 it was Jesus who carried his
own cross.
[9] According to John 19:2 it was the soldiers who put a
crown of thorn on his head.
[10] The Gospel of Barnabas stated that instead of Jesus
the soldiers mistakenly arrested Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve ‘Īsā’s
disciples who betrayed him, as Judas's appearance was transformed to that of
Jesus'. According to Biblical accounts Judas died in many different ways: a.
Judas returned the money to the priests and committed suicide by hanging
himself (Matthew 27:3–10). b. “…Judas bought a field: there he fell
headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.” (Acts 1:18).
c. Papias, the early Christian leader: “Judas walked about in this world a sad example
of impiety; for his body having swollen to such an extent that he could not
pass where a chariot could pass easily, he was crushed by the chariot, so that
his bowels gushed out.” (Papias Fragment
3, 1742-1744). Due to this discrepancy, C. S. Lewis rejected the view that
every account in the Scripture has to be historical truth. “The Gospel of
Judas” discovered near Beni Masah, Egypt, during the 1970s, described the story
of Jesus's death from the viewpoint of Judas. An article entitled “The Gospel
of Judas” in the US National Geographic Magazine (May edition, 2006),
stated in its introduction, “"An ancient text lost for 1,700 years says
Christ's betrayer was his truest disciple".
