Isa

Isa AS (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام), the son of Maryam, peace be upon him, is one of the most honoured messengers in the Qur'an. He is named in fifteen surahs.

The first thing to say plainly is what the Qur'an says plainly. He is the son of Maryam. He is a messenger. He is a servant of Allah. He is not the son of God. The Qur'an states this in a verse that closes any door for misreading.

O People of the Book, do not exceed limits in your religion or say about Allah anything except the truth. The Messiah, Isa, son of Maryam, was only a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Maryam and a spirit from Him. (Qur'an 4:171)

A messenger. A word from Allah. A spirit from Him. Kalimatuhu, His word, means He commanded kun, be, and the conception happened. Ruhun minhu, a spirit from Him, means a noble soul Allah created. Not a part of Allah. Allah has no parts. He is One.

Hold this. Then read the rest.

A word from Allah

Maryam AS was a young woman dedicated to the service of the temple in Jerusalem. She lived in worship. The Qur'an describes the day the angel came to her.

He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you a pure boy." (Qur'an 19:19)

She asked the natural question. How can I have a son when no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste. The angel answered.

He said, "Thus it will be. Your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decreed.'" (Qur'an 19:21)

She conceived. She withdrew to a distant place. When the labour came she said I wish I had died before this and been forgotten (Qur'an 19:23), because she knew what her people would say.

Allah comforted her. A voice from beneath her told her not to grieve. A stream had been put under her. A date-palm above her dropped fresh dates when she shook its trunk. She was told to eat, drink, be glad, and take a vow of silence so the baby could speak for her.

She brought the baby back to her people. They accused her. She pointed to the baby. They mocked her. How can we speak to one in the cradle, a child. (Qur'an 19:29.) Then the baby spoke.

He said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet." (Qur'an 19:30)

Inni abdullah. I am the servant of Allah. The first words of Isa AS in the Qur'an. He named his own station before anyone could mistake it. A servant. Not a son. The whole introduction sits inside the mercy that introduces Allah by name, and the cousin who came before him was the prophet Yahya, son of Zakariyya.

The miracles

Allah gave Isa AS signs unlike those given to any other prophet. The Qur'an preserves them in his own voice, spoken to the Bani Israil.

Indeed, I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I design for you from clay the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah. And I cure the blind and the leper and I bring the dead to life, by the permission of Allah. (Qur'an 3:49)

Three times in two lines Isa AS adds bi-idhnillah. By the permission of Allah. He made the limit of his own miracles part of his own announcement. He was not generating these signs. Allah was performing them through him. Every miracle came with a tag back to its Source.

He was sent with the Injil, the gospel revealed to him, confirming the Tawrah before it.

The table from heaven

His disciples, the hawariyyun, asked him for a sign they could see. They wanted Allah to send down a table laden with food.

Isa, son of Maryam, said, "O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a table from the heaven to be for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from You. And provide for us, and You are the best of providers." (Qur'an 5:114)

Allah sent it. The surah Al-Ma'idah, the Table, is named for this scene. The table came down with a warning that anyone who disbelieved after such a sign would be punished as no one had been before. Mercy and weight in one moment.

The raising

The Bani Israil who rejected him plotted to kill him. The Qur'an states what happened plainly.

And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them. And they certainly did not kill him. Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. (Qur'an 4:157-158)

This is the position of the Qur'an. They did not kill him. They did not crucify him. Allah raised him alive to the heavens. He is alive with his Lord. He will return at the end of times, descend, break the cross of those who claimed his death, and confirm the tawhid he preached. He will live, die a natural death, and be buried in Madinah, near the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari 3448, Sahih Muslim 155).

The conversation Allah will hold with him

In Surah Al-Ma'idah, Allah preserves a future scene. On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will ask Isa AS directly.

And when Allah will say, "O Isa, son of Maryam, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?'" (Qur'an 5:116)

Isa AS will answer.

Glory be to You. It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is in myself and I do not know what is in Yours. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen. I said not to them except what You commanded me, to worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. (Qur'an 5:116-117)

Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. He never told anyone to take him as a god. He never told anyone to take his mother as a god. The same message every messenger before him carried. La ilaha illa Allah.

What this teaches the reader

Three small things.

One. The Qur'an protects the language of tawhid around Isa AS more carefully than around any other prophet, because his community deviated more than any other. Read about him with the Qur'an's exact words. Servant. Messenger. Word from Allah. Not a son of God. Allah has no son. Lam yalid wa lam yulad (Qur'an 112:3). He was not begotten and He does not beget.

Two. Every miracle of Isa AS came with bi-idhnillah. By the permission of Allah. When Allah gives you any ability, tag it back to Him. Attribution is the difference between worship and self-worship.

Three. He is coming back. His return is part of our aqidah. He will descend, break the cross, kill the Dajjal, and rule with justice. The Day of Resurrection is closer the more time passes. Live like it is.