A Child Whose Birth Was Miraculous And Who Made A Revolution In His Youth Against Oppression
Maryam was passing her solitary life in a room of Baitul Maqdas engaged in God-worship. Thirteen years of her life passed away in this way. Now youth was approaching her speedily and her devotion to worship accompanied with her radiant face and noble form made her a daughter that was a model of morality for the entire world. At the beginning of the fourteenth year of her life some angels sent by God approached her and told her:
O Maryam, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the Messiah, Isa son of Maryam, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah).
And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones.[1]
When Maryam heard this unseen announcement she prayed to God:
My Lord! When shall there be a son (born) to me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is.
And He will teach him the Book and the wisdom and the Taurat and the Injeel.
And (make him) an apostle to the children of Israel : [2]
On that day when Maryam was taking bath at a far off place where sunrays were falling and which was closed in all directions. Suddenly she could see that a handsome elegant and shapely young man was looking at her standing in front of her. She was frightened and exclaimed fearfully, “I seek God’s protection from your evil. If you have any fear of God, do not stay here and return at once.”
That comely man told Maryam in reply, “Fear not for God has sent me so that I may gift you a pious son.” Maryam said, “How is it possible for me to get a son when no man has ever touched me nor am I a wicked woman.” The angel told her in response, “God has decreed it only due to these virtues of yours and it is easy for God to do so. God wants to give you a son in virginity and to make him His sign and that this may be a kind of mercy from God for people and God has already decreed it from the beginning.”
The Quran words this in the following manner:
And mention Maryam in the Book when she drew aside from her family to an eastern place;
So she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our spirit, and there appeared to her a well-made man.
She said: Surely I fly for refuge from you to the Beneficent God, if you are one guarding (against evil).
He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord: That I will give you a pure boy.
She said: When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste?
He said: Even so; your Lord says: It is easy to Me: and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter which has been decreed.[3]
The angel disappeared after this short dialogue and Maryam became pregnant. When she came to know that she was carrying a child, she came out of her residence and camped at a far off place. Finally when she experienced labor pains she took shelter beneath a date tree, to get some comfort. She was full of anxiety and confusion. She was worrying about this event, which was quite abnormal and unnatural, and no one knew what and how all this happened. But when it will be known how would she make people believe the truth.
She was worrying what would happen to her when people who used to swear about her high morality will see that. She was asking herself as to what will be her reply to the people of Bani Israel and how she would defend herself against the onslaught of taunts which the Jews would hurl. When these thoughts overwhelmed Maryam’s mind, her eyes began to shed tears incessantly and she exclaimed, “Would that I had died before this and would that all had forgotten me forever and I would not have to see these days.” The Quran says:
So she conceived him; then withdrew herself with him to a remote place.
And the throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten![4]
At the moment when Maryam was experiencing extreme anxiety, worry and hunger and thirst had also weakened her terribly she heard a voice from beneath the tree, “O Maryam! Be not gloomy. God has sprouted a spring under your feet. Shake this tree so that God may make it drop fresh dates for you. When you eat these fresh fruits and drink this fresh water your eye will brighten and you will feel cool. Now the time has come for the birth of your baby. When he is born, take him up in your arms. If someone asks you as to wherefrom you brought it, you may tell him: I am on fast of silence today and cannot talk with anyone.
Quran describes this thus:
Then (the child) called out to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely your Lord has made a stream to flow beneath you;
And shake towards you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop on you fresh ripe dates:
So eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent God, so I shall not speak to any man today.[5]
Maryam was the lady who had, by the Command of Almighty God, delivered a baby without even seeing the face of a husband, which indeed was mysterious. Moreover the newborn was as beautiful as a moon, clean, clear, washed with his umbilical cord already cut and he was also already circumcised.
Maryam who was then only thirteen years old embraced her newborn bud affectionately and went towards her village. After observing Almighty Allah’s powerful miracle she had now become strong-hearted and all her worries were wiped out and she attained full peace of mind.
The narrative in Quran continues:
And she came to her people with him, carrying him (with her). They said: O Maryam! Surely you have done a strange thing.[6]
When she arrived in her village and people saw her with newborn child all of them rushed to her and gathered around her speaking bad words to the most virtuous and pious woman of the town. The word spread everywhere like wild fire and within no time and a big crowd of harsh-natured and merciless Jews confronted her. They were full of anger. Those who were the leaders addressed Maryam saying:
O sister of Harun! Your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman.
But she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who was a child in the cradle?
He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet;
And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live;
And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed;
And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life.[7]
Elsewhere the Quran justifies the fatherless birth of Isa (a.s) in the following words:
Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.[8]
This means if God can create Adam from dust without mother and father, can He not create Isa from the womb of his mother without a father? He is Omnipotent.
Anyway, the blessed birth of Isa (a.s) was graceful and praiseworthy and he lived a noble life. God almighty had arranged from the unseen that no harm should visit him till he became twelve years old. During this little age he was holding serious discussions with great scholars of Bani Israel about Taurat with regard to bodily resurrection and accounting of deeds in the Hereafter.[9]
In the beginning, the scholars of Bani Israel, who were very proud of their intelligence and knowledge, felt insulted to talk with a young boy but by and by they began to be convinced that this twelve-year-old boy was full of high quality knowledge and was also very steadfast in his intentions; that he was quite different from other boys. His words and deeds were much higher in excellence than their scholars.
These discussions and dialogues proved very heavy for the Jew scholars. They became envious of him and got up not only to oppose him in every way but also to harm him seriously. Obviously the Jewish scholars had considered themselves to be the protectors of the religion of Prophet Musa. They were issuing commandments and were branding their own decisions the religion of Musa. Thus they were ruling over the community of Musa (a.s). How could they tolerate a situation wherein in a twelve-year-old should try to reform them and oblige them to listen to his words and follow him?
So when Isa saw that opposition to his propagation was intensifying and the misleaders of Bani Israel fanned fire of vengeance against him, he thought it not advisable to take further risks. So he left the limits of Baitul Maqdas and went out.
After sometime, God commanded him to announce his messengership and prophethood. So he did accordingly. Then he raised his voice against the oppression and corruption spread by the Jews and rebelled against the wrong judgments and partial decisions of their courts. He took up the mission of guiding God’s creation and took steps to rejuvenate the religion of Musa (a.s) by making efforts to issue orders and decrees according to the original Taurat.
In his efforts for propagation of religion, Prophet Isa did not stay at any single place but continued to move from one place to another, inviting Bani Israel towards the religion of God and exposing those who were doing injustice to people to earn their own selfish material benefits. By and by a group of clean-hearted people entered his group and accepted his leadership. Among them were twelve persons who stayed with him all the time. All of them were intelligent, young and youthful men.
In those days Palestine was a very vast country, which included today’s Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Palestine then was upto the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Prophet Isa visited each and every place of this vast land. He recited before people the original commandments of Torah, which was revealed to Musa (a.s) by God and called upon the masses to follow the religion of Musa (a.s). He also pointed out to them what alterations were made by selfish persons and advised the masses against obeying the incorrect orders. In short, the youthful Isa raised his voice against the exploitation of the religion of Prophet Musa and spread God’s original commands throughout the vast territory of Palestine painstakingly.
The people of Bani Israel were totally hypocrites, pretenders, impostors and oppressors. They demanded that Isa (a.s) should show miracles to prove the truth of his claim of Messengership. So Almighty God gave miracles to Isa (a.s) whereby he could restore health to the lepers and eyesight to born blinds. God also gave him the knowledge of the unseen whereby he could know what was being consumed and what was stored in the houses of the people.
Bani Israel could see that besides these miracles Isa had very strong arguments and his words were convincing logic, which no one could refute. Therefore it made them extremely angry and revengeful because they were losing their leadership and political power. So they decided to kill Isa (a.s) with a view to ensure the continuance of their luxurious lives. Isa (a.s) also knew their intentions. Therefore he went into hiding. The Jewish leaders sought the help of the Caesar of Rome who was then ruling Palestine. With his assistance the Jews spread a wide network of spies all around to find out Isa (a.s). A selfish
Jew named Judas Iscariot, who was among Isa’s followers, informed the Jews where Isa was staying.
Bani Israel ’s intelligence personnel in charge of this task followed Judas right upto the house where Isa was hiding. First Judas himself entered that house alone. But just see the Might of the Almighty God. He could not find Isa there. God had saved His messenger from being killed at the hands of the enemies. Isa (a.s) was only thirty-two years old then.
Then Judas came out to tell the secret service men that Isa was not there. But the evil fellow did not know anything about Divine chastisement. God made him to look exactly like Isa before the eyes of the police. So they arrested him at once. Judas yelled and yelled that he was not Isa; that his name was Judas Iscariot that it was only he who had spied on their behalf and told them that Isa was hiding here. But no one listened to what he said. They dragged him to the gallows and hanged him in public.
The Jews thought for sure that they had crucified Isa and thus stemmed the rising influence of his propagation and his teachings. But they were in delusion (and will remain so forever) because the youthful and courageous Isa who was God’s prophet had foiled all of their devilish plans and had awakened the people. So with the passing of time his Book, Injeel, continued to be popular more and more and the awe of Jews went on decreasing.
After hanging Judas Iscariot the Jews understood and believed that they had killed Isa. So those among them who were extremely stone hearted and most mischievous hate-mongers uttered against Maryam a grievous calumny. And said:
Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Maryam, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.
Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.[10]
References
[1] Surah Aale Imran 3:45-46
[2] Surah Aale Imran 3:47-49
[3] Surah Maryam 19:16-21
[4] Surah Maryam 19:22-23
[5] Surah Maryam 19:24-26
[6] Surah Maryam 19:27
[7] Surah Maryam 19:28-33
[8] Surah Aale Imran 3:59
[9]The Jews did not believe in physical resurrection
[10] Surah Nisa 4:157-158
