Mary and Jesus in Islam

Saint Barnabas Saint Barnabass

According to the Gospel of Matthew, and to be exact Ch. 10, verse 4, the list of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ is as follows: Simon (or Peter), Andrew (Peter's brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James' brother), Philip, Batholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, another Simon who is said to be “a member of `The Zealots,' a subversive political party,” and Judas Iscariot. Why is the name of Saint Barnabas not among them, and how did he come to write his own Gospel, the only one accepted by Muslims as the true Bible?

With all their prejudices, speculations, sectarian motivations, it is unwise to accept what today's or yesterday's Christians tell us about Saint Barnabas and his Bible, or about the other disciples. The Encyclopedia Britannica III, for example, describes those who believed that Christ was human and not divine as heretics, and so do many Christian writers and theologians.

An independent research, therefore, will yield better results, that is for sure. One such research has been undertaken by M.A. Yusseff who published his findings in a very interesting book titled The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gospel of Barnabas, and the New Testament which was published in 1405 A.H./1985 A.D. by the American Trust Publications of Indianapolis, Indiana.[^1] Saint Barnabas was originally called Joseph the Levite or Joses the Levite and is better known as Matthai or Matthias. In the Christian document known as Recognitions, Matthias

[^1] For the benefit of our reader, the full address of the said Publisher is: ATP, 10900 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46231, U.S.A. I think this book ought to be in every personal and public library. May the Almighty bless and reward its author and publisher, Allahomma Aameen.

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is identified as another name for Apostle Barnabas, which is correct. In another document known as Homilies, Barnabas is said to be a personal Apostle of Jesus, “a strict servant of the Law,” and, hence, one of the original twelve Disciples (or Apostles) of Jesus Christ. The Jews, too, list his name among not twelve but five apostles, the remaining four being: Naki, Nester, Buni, and Todah. But we find the name “Lebbacus” among these disciples in Matthew 10:13, that of “Judas son of James” in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13, both contradicting other Biblical accounts; so, which one is correct and which one is not?!

Saint Barnabas was born in Cyprus in the first century A.D. Other references to him are recorded in the Bible in Acts 11:19 and 15:41. He is said as having joined the Jerusalem church “after the alleged crucifixion of Jesus[^1],” which is not true, sold his property, and gave the proceeds as a donation to his community. He founded the church in Antioch (Turkish Antakya), where he preached. Inviting Paul of Tarsus (Turkey) to be his assistant, he undertook missionary activity and then went to Jerusalem. Shortly after 48 A.D., a conflict separated both men, and Barnabas sailed home to Cyprus.

Where did he write his Gospel and when? Nobody seems to know. How did he die? Nobody seems to know, yet he is called a martyr... We are also told that he knew St. Mark. In 488 A.D., his grave was discovered near the Monastery of St. Barnabas in the Cypriot city of Salamis. A copy of his Gospel was found buried with him[^2]. The accurate list of the twelve disciples of Jesus exists in the Gospel of St. Barnabas himself who records the following:

Jesus, having returned to the region of Jerusalem, was found again of the people with exceedingly great joy, and they implored him to abide with them, for his words were not as those of the scribes, but were with power; for they touched the heart.

[^1] This misleading statement exists in Vol. One of the world renown Encyclopedia Britannica III. How many other errors exist in this Encyclopedia?! [^2]That copy was later deposited at the Imperial Library at Vienna. It was at a much later date translated into English and edited by Lonsdale and Laura Ragg.

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Jesus, seeing that great was the multitude of them that returned to their heart for to walk in the law of God, went up into the mountain, and abode all night in prayer. When the day came he descended from the mountain and chose twelve whom he called apostles, among whom is Judas, who was slain upon the cross[^1]. Their names are: Andrew and Peter his brother, fishermen; Barnabas, who wrote this, with Matthew the publican, who sat at the receipt of custom; John and James, son of Zebedee; Thaddaeus and Judas[^2]; Bartholomew and Philip; James, and Judas Iscariot the traitor. To these he always revealed the divine secrets. He made Iscariot Judas his dispenser of that which was given in alms, but he stole the tenth part of everything. (The Gospel of Barnabas 14)

The Gospel of St. Barnabas is the one that contains the true teachings of Jesus Christ; it will be discussed later how it refers to Prophet Muhammed as the “Paraclete,” a Greek word meaning “Messenger” and “Comforter,” in Arabic al-Amin... Even if you set aside the Gospel of St. Barnabas, a good Greek translation of the original text of John 14:16 will read as follows: “And I will Pray the Patera, and he shall give you another Paraclete, so that he may abide with you forever.” The Greek word Patera is erroneously translated as “the Father,” a reference to the Almighty, in a “modern” version of the Bible which gives the following text for John 14:16-17: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever__the Spirit of Truth.”[^3] No man of righteousness has earned the title of “the Spirit of Truth” (in Arabic al-Sadiq) more than Prophet Muhammed. A

[^1] This statement, among many others in the Gospel of St. Barnabas, agrees with what we, Muslims, have in the Holy Qur’an. Jesus Christ was not crucified. Indeed, it was Judas Iscariot who was crucified. Let the Christians of the world stand corrected. But they will never accept this correction simply because it means undermining the very foundation of their present day's creed.

[^2] The reader can easily see that there were two men among the disciples of Jesus named Judas; one of them was crucified, so he was rewarded in heaven, and the other was not, so he was rewarded by the Romans for his treachery. The latter is Judas Iscariot.

[^3] The Great News: The New Testament (Colorado Springs, Colorado: International Bible Society, 1984).

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good scholar of Greek will do better than that; he will translate Patera into “Nourisher” or “Sustainer,” and Paraclete into “Comforter,” al-Amin in Arabic, a title given to Prophet Muhammed even before he had started his prophetic mission. The translation of what John has in 14:16-17 should instead run as follows:

And I will request the Nourisher (God) to send you another Messenger, so that he may be (your) guide always, the inspired, the Truthful, whom the world at large will not welcome because it will not comprehend or appreciate him, but you (believers) will recognize him. He will dwell with you and (his message) will find a place in your hearts.

A testimony to the truth of the statement saying “... and (his message) will find a place in your hearts” is that most converts to Islam used to follow one sect of Christianity or another. Upon acceptance of Islam, such converts do not abandon Christ; they simply rediscover him and get to know the real Christ whose message has been and is still being distorted. The best Christians in the world are the Muslims. Muslims wholeheartedly honour Jesus Christ and his true and pristine message presented by Prophet Muhammed; read the following verses of the Holy Qur'an and see for yourself how such message is described:

Allah said: O Jesus! I am going to terminate the period of your stay (on earth) and cause you to ascend unto Me and purify you of those who disbelieve and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the Day of Resurrection... (Qur’an, 3:55)

Carefully examine the above verse especially this portion: “... and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the Day of Resurrection” and see how the Almighty raises the status of those who follow Jesus above those who disbelieve in him till the Day of Judgment. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and who follow his pristine message are none other than the Muslims, whereas the rest may be divided into two groups: 1) those who have distorted the message of Jesus Christ and lied about it one generation after another and are still doing so, and 2) the Jews who disbelieved in him and in his message and disbelieved in his virgin birth. Although the Jews now

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are the masters of the world, thanks to the West in general and to the U.S. in particular, but such power they will not keep forever. They will eventually weaken because the promise of the Almighty is true and irreversible; they will be exposed for what they really are: the anti-Christ, the Dajjal, the disseminator of falsehood through their absolute control over the news and information media.

Let us go back to the argument about the Paraclete. This is not the first time such an argument is raised. `Allama al-Majlisi records an incident narrated by al-Hasan ibn Muhammed al-Nawfali involving Imam Ali ibn Mousa al-Rida debating with a Catholic about the authenticity of the existing four Gospels comprising the Bible. It went on as follows:

The Imam asked the Catholic, “O Christian! Are you familiar with a statement in the Bible wherein Jesus says, `I am going to my Lord and your Lord, and the Paraclete is coming who shall testify to my truth just as I testified for him, and he shall explain everything to you, and he shall be the one to expose all the sins of nations, and he shall be the one to smash the pillar of apostasy'?”[^1] The Catholic said, “We admit all what you have just quoted of the Bible.” The Imam asked him, “Do you testify that such a statement is actually fixed in the Bible?” “Yes,” said the Catholic. Imam al-Rida said,

“O Catholic! Could you tell me about the first Bible, how you lost it then found it, and who put your existing Bible together?” The Catholic said, “We did not lose the Bible except for one single day then we found it fresh; John and Matthew brought it back to us.” Imam al-Rida said, “How little your knowledge of the Bible and its scholars is! If such is your claim, then why do you dispute with one another about the Bible? Rather, controversy has always revolved around the Bible which is in

[^1] This is a rough translation of the original Arabic text. A thorough research of the Bible may yield better results and reveal the exact Biblical verse to which the Imam was referring. Unfortunately, the Imam did not specify which of the four Gospels he was quoting. Consulting a Bible in Arabic may also produce the same anticipated result: the number of the exact verse and the name of the Gospel which the Imam had in mind.

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your hands today. Had it been the same as the first one was, you would not have thus disputed (with one another) about it, but I shall inform you of such controversy myself.”

The Imam went on to state the following:

“Be informed that when the first Bible was lost, the Christians gathered around their scholars and said to them, `Jesus son of Mary has been killed, and we do not know where the Bible is. You are the scholars; so, what do you have with you?' Luke and Mark said to them, `We have learned the Bible by heart; so, do not grieve in its regard, and do not forsake the churches, for we shall recite to you one Gospel after another on each Sunday till we put it all together.' Luke, Mark, John and Matthew sat together, and they put this Bible of yours for you after you had lost the first (original) one. These four men were students of the early disciples; are you aware of that?!” The Catholic answered, “This I did not know and now I do. It is also now clear to me how much you know about the Bible, and I have heard from you things with which I was familiar and to which my heart testifies to be the truth.

I have, therefore, gained a better understanding.” Imam al-Rida then said to him, “How do you, then, find the testimony of these men?” “Accurate,” said the Catholic, “since they are the scholars of the Bible, and everything to which they testified is the truth.” Imam al-Rida then turned to al-Mamoon and his company and said, “Bear witness to what he has just said.” They said, “We testify.” Then the Imam turned to the Catholic and said, “I challenge you to swear by the son and his mother whether you know if Matthew had said, `The Messiah is David son of Abraham son of Isaac son of Jacob son of Yehuda son of Khadrun', and that Mark said about the lineage of Jesus son of Mary that he was `The word of God which He placed in the human body, so it became human', and that Luke said, `Jesus son of Mary and his mother were humans of flesh and blood, so the Holy Spirit entered into them'. Then you testify that Jesus had himself said the following about his creation, `I tell you the truth: None ascends the heavens except that he

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descends therefrom except the man who rides the camel, the seal of the prophets, for he shall ascend to the heavens then shall he descend;' so, what do you say about that?” The Catholic said, “This is the speech of Jesus, and we do not deny it.” Imam al-Rida said, “If so, what do you say about the testimony of Luke, Mark, and Matthew with regard to Jesus and what they had attributed to him?” The Catholic said, “They lied about Jesus...” Imam al-Rida turned to the audience and said, “O people! Has he not (a moment ago) testified to their truthfulness and said that they were the scholars of the Bible and what they said is the truth?!” The Catholic said to the Imam, “O scholar of the Muslims!

I would like you to excuse me from having to discuss these men.” After a while, the Imam turned to that Catholic high-ranking cleric, an archbishop, and said, “In the Bible, it is written: `The son of the virtuous woman is departing, and the Paraclete is coming after him, and he shall lighten the burdens and explain everything to you, and he shall testify for me as I have testified to you. I have brought you the parables, and he shall bring you the interpretation.' Do you believe that such a text exists in the Bible?” The Catholic answered in the affirmative. [^1]

The Holy Qur'an, moreover, tells us in Surat al-Saff (Ch. 61) that “Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! I am the prophet of Allah to you testifying to that which is before me of the Torah and giving the glad tidings of a Prophet who will come after me; his name is Ahmed; but when he came to them with clear arguments, they said: This is clear magic” (Qur'an, 61:6). Compare this Qur'anic verse with the following text in the Gospel of St. Barnabas:

Thereupon said the disciples, “O master, it is thus written in the book of Moses, that in Isaac was the promise made.”

[^1] al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 14, pp. 331-333. Again, since this text is my translation from the Arabic original, the Imam's quotations may not be exact. Consulting a Bible written in Arabic will be worthwhile and will provide the numbers of the chapters and verses to which the Imam here refers. Unfortunately, I do not at the moment have a copy of the Bible in Arabic.

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Jesus answered with a groan, “It is so written, but Moses wrote it not, nor Joshua, but rather our rabbins, who fear not God. Verily, I say to you that if you consider the words of the angel Gabriel, you shall discover the malice of our scribes and doctors. For the angel said: `Abraham, all the world shall know how God loves you, but how shall the world know the love that you bear to God? Assuredly it is necessary that you do something for the love of God.' Abraham answered, `Behold the servant of God, ready to do all that which God shall will.'

“Then spoke God, saying to Abraham, `Take your son, your firstborn Ishmael, and come up the mountain to sacrifice him.' How is Isaac firstborn, if when Isaac was born Ishmael was seven years old?”

Then answered Jesus, “Verily I say to you that Satan ever seeks to annul the laws of God. Therefore he with his followers, hypocrites and evildoers, the former with false doctrine, the latter with lewd living, today have contaminated almost all things, so that scarcely is the truth found. Woe to the hypocrites, for the praises of this world shall turn for them into insults and torments in hell.

“I therefore say to you that the messenger of God is a splendor that shall give gladness to nearly all that God has made, for he is adorned with the spirit of understanding and of counsel, the spirit of wisdom and might, the spirit of fear and love (of God), the spirit of prudence and temperance. He is adorned with the spirit of charity and mercy, the spirit of justice and piety, the spirit of gentleness and patience, which he has received from God three times more than He has given to all his creatures. O blessed time, when he shall come to the world. Believe me that I have seen him and have done him reverence, even as every prophet has seen him. Seeing that of his spirit God gives to them prophecy. And when I saw him my soul was filled with consolation, saying, O Muhammed, God be with you, and may he make me worthy to untie your shoe

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latchet, for obtaining this I shall be a great prophet and holy one of God.” (The Gospel of Barnabas 44)

“... unworthy to untie your latchet” above brings to memory what St. Mark said in 1:7: “And this was his message: `After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” The speaker is undoubtedly Jesus and the one whose coming he is predicting is none other than Prophet Muhammed. But people look at things and make them appear as they would like them to. Such is the truth which all other disciples, with the exception of Barnabas, had deliberately hidden.

The reader is encouraged to obtain a copy of the Gospel of Saint Barnabas[^1] and compare it with other existing Bibles, be they those accepted by the Catholics or those endorsed by the Protestants and judge for himself as to how much distortion the message of Christ has suffered and is still suffering...

Al-Dahhak has said that the disciples (in Arabic hawariyyun) were called so due to their pure hearts. Apparently he gave them more credit than they deserve, seeing how much distortion they inflicted on the message of Jesus even as early as the very first century. As a matter of fact, one very famous Christian writer, George Bernard Shaw, described these disciples very well when he said the following on p. 72 of The Adventures of a Black Girl in Her Search for God: “Jesus could be reproached for having chosen his disciples very unwisely if we could believe that he had any real choice.

There are moments when one is tempted to say that there was not one Christian among them and that Judas was the only one who showed any gleams of common sense.” Imagine! Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak has said that they were called so because their faces were shining with the mark of adoration, its glow and whiteness. The Arabic root word, hur, means: intense whiteness. Al-Hasan has said that it means “supporters” or “helpers,” while Qatadah thinks that it means “the ones most fit to be successors of their master.”

[^1] Since there is no copyright on The Gospel of Barnabas, the copy of it which I consulted for the writing of this book does not contain the Publisher's name or the place or date of publication.

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Did those disciples or apostles deserve all these compliments? Let us examine how they dealt with their master:

The night preceding the “imprisonment” of Jesus Christ was truly a testing night for the faith of those disciples. On that night, those disciples joined him in his concealment. Jesus knew perfectly well what they were; so, he recommended them to devote themselves to prayer so that they might not fail the test. On that occasion, they made a great profession of faith and integrity. One said, “I will shed my blood where a drop of your perspiration falls.

” Another said, “I will die before anyone hurts a hair of your body.” Despite all these protests and professions, they could not keep even the night's vigil along with Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Stay here with me keeping the night's vigil along with me...” Then he came to the disciples and saw them fallen asleep. He then said to Peter, “Can you not keep even a moment's vigil with me? Keep vigil and keep yourself engaged in prayers lest you should fail the test...” Then, coming out again, he saw them sleeping the second time, and their eyes were heavy with sleep..., and he saw them the third time sleeping. If you have a copy of The New Testament in Today's English Version (third edition, New York), turn to p. 73 and see for yourself.

Ibn `Abbas has said that they were fishermen. Some of them were. Jesus passed by them once and asked them what they were doing. “Fishing,” said they. He asked them, “Would you like to come with me so we may fish for people?” They asked him, “How can that be?!” He said, “We invite them to the way of Allah.” They asked him who he was, and he answered them that he was Jesus son of Mary, a servant and messenger of Allah. “Is there any other prophet whose status is higher than yours?” they asked him. “Yes,” he answered, “the Arabian Prophet,” so they followed him, believed in him, and joined his march.

This is what we, Muslims, would like to think of these disciples, but how do Christians look at us? Contrary to what we, Muslims, are taught by our Islamic code of ethics, Christians do not recognize our religion or any other religion besides theirs. To them, anyone who does not recognize Jesus as the “son of God,” His “only begotten son,” and who is not baptized, can have no place in heaven.

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Adherents of all religions in the world, and those who have no religion, have the right to wishful thinking. Compare this with the tolerance Islam demonstrates in the following verse of Surat al-Baqara and judge for yourself:

Surely those who believe (Muslims), and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans[^1] (Sabians), whoever believes in God and in the Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. (2:62) Such is the tolerance of Islam, and such is the perfect code of Islamic ethics.

[^1] Some Arab writers say that the Sabeans were a certain sect of unbelievers who worshipped the stars secretly and openly professed to be Christians. According to others, they are followers of the religion of Sabi' son of Seth son of Adam, which is more accurate, for the Holy Qur’an includes them in the above quoted verse among the believers. Other writers say that their religion is pretty much what Christianity teaches except that their qibla was towards the south. Still others say that they followed the religion of Prophet Noah, and surely Allah knows best.