Mary and Jesus in Islam

After Jesus : the “son of God” and “the Trinity”

Jesus Christ never claimed to be the “son of God,” nor did he ever say that he was God. The concept of the Trinity (God the father, God the son, and the Holy Spirit) was foreign to Christianity for about three hundred years. Anyone who conducts a research to find out how this concept crept into the Christian faith will conclude that it is one of several Pagan concepts that somehow found their way to Christianity, the faith not of Christ but of his disciples barring St. Barnabas. A small number of Biblical scholars testify to this fact. Let us read what one of them says:

There is ample evidence in the Bible that the Israelites had always regarded Yahweh (Jahovah) as the Creator of all. Another original characteristic of the Israelite God was that He stood alone, without any family connections, whether consort, son or daughter.[^1]

Such “Israelites” include the apostles of Jesus. Another scholar, Col. J. Garnier, clearly points out to the fact that Pagan gods have incorporated three deities in one god. So is the concept of the Trinity.

It is of importance to notice first that all the various gods and goddesses of the ancients, though known by many names and different characteristics, can yet all be resolved into one of the persons of a Trinity composed of a father, mother and son; and that this fact was well known to the initiated. It should also be observed that the father

[^1] William F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity, Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, New York, 1957, p. 261.

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and the son constantly melt into one; the reason being that there was also a fabled incarnation of the son who, although identified with him, was yet to be his own son by the goddess.[^1]

We will not discuss the Trinity here but will instead concentrate on the concept of Jesus as the “son of God,” a concept more emphasized by St. John than any other disciple, that is to say, if we regard these authors of the Gospels as disciples of Jesus Christ. St. John's Gospel has since the dawn of Christianity been the subject of controversy, debate, and discussion, and it still stands out as quite different from all other Gospels. The credibility of what St. John wrote in his Gospel is doubted by numerous scholars of the Bible in the past and in the present:

I do not think the writer [St. John] distinguished in his own consciousness between what he remembered (or had derived from the reminiscences of others) and what he felt must have been true, and I greatly doubt whether we can distinguish often in that Gospel what is derived from tradition and what is derived from imagination.

In the Pagan theology of the fertility cult, that is, of agricultural propagation, the god is said to be incarnated as his own son to walk upon the earth in human form and be slain and resurrected as the personification of the harvest and plant life. This same Pagan theme occurs in John 1:14 where we read the following: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father), full of grace and truth.”

This clearly reflects the fact that St. John was fully knowledgeable of Pagan doctrines to the extent that he sometimes borrowed his themes from them. We can go on and on highlighting the sharp differences between the Gospel of St. John and those of the other Saints, but this will be an undertaking that will surely be laborious and exhaustive. Let us, instead, read the following from the only true though “unofficial” Gospel:

[^1] Col. J. Garnier, The Worship of the Dead, Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 1904, p. 12.

[^2] History of Christianity in the Light of modern Knowledge, A Collective Work, p. 209.

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Jesus departed from Jerusalem after the Passover, and entered into the borders of Caesarea Philippi[^1]. There the angel Gabriel having told him of the sedition which was beginning among the common people, he asked his disciples, saying, “What do men say of me?” They said, “Some say you are Elijah, others Jeremiah, and others one of the old prophets.”

Jesus asked, “And you, what do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are Messiah, Son of God.” Then Jesus was angry and rebuked him, saying, “Begone and depart from me, because you are the Devil and seek to cause me offence!” And he threatened the eleven, saying, “Woe to you if you believe this, for I have won from God a great curse against those who believe this.” And he was ready to cast away Peter, but the eleven besought Jesus for him, who did not cast him away, but again rebuked him, saying, Beware that you never again say such words, because God would reprobate you.”

Peter wept and said, “Sir, I have spoken foolishly. Beseech God that He pardons me.”

Then said Jesus, “If our God willed not to show himself to Moses His servant, nor to Elijah whom he also loved, nor to any prophet, do you think that God should show Himself to this faithless generation? But know you not that God has created all things of nothing with one single word, and all men have had their origin out of a piece of clay? Now, how shall God have a likeness to man? Woe to those who suffer themselves to be deceived of Satan!”

And having said this, Jesus besought God for Peter, the eleven and Peter weeping, and saying, “So be it. O blessed Lord our God.”

Afterward Jesus departed and went into Galilee in order that this vain opinion which the common folk began to hold

[^1] Caesarea Philippi is an area in north Palestine at the foot of Mt. Hermon built by Philip the Tetrarch.

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concerning him might be extinguished. (The Gospel of Barnabas 70)

This agrees with what we, Muslims, have in our Holy Qur'an where Christ will on the Day of Judgment deny having required people to worship him and his mother besides the One and Only God: Allah will say (on the Day of Judgment): O Jesus son of Mary! Did you say to men: Take me and my mother for two gods besides God? He will say: Glory to You! It did not befit me to say what I had no right to say; had I said it, You would indeed have known it; You know what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in Your mind; surely You are the great One Who knows the unseen. (5:116)

In fact, the Holy Qur'an strongly condemns those who attribute godhead to Jesus or call him “the son of God,” labelling them as apostates, disbelievers in Him:

Certainly they disbelieve those who say: Surely God is the Messiah son of Mary, and the Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel! I worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Surely whoever associates (others) with God, then God has forbidden him from (entering) the garden, and his abode is the fire, and there shall be no helpers for the unjust. Certainly they disbelieve those who say: Surely God is the third (person) of the three[^1]; and there is no god but the One God, and if they do not desist from what they say, a painful chastisement shall befall those among them who disbelieve. Will they not then turn to God and His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving, Merciful. The Messiah son of Mary is but a prophet; prophets before him have indeed passed away, and his mother was a truthful woman; they both used to eat food. See how We make the Signs clear to them, then behold how they are turned away (from the right track)! (5:72-75)

[^1] This is the Almighty's reference to the concept of the Trinity. Advocates of the Trinity claim that the God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

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Allah Almighty has also said the following Qur'anic verses in this regard:

The Jews say: Uzair[^1] is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away! (9:30)

O People of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah son of Mary is only a prophet of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Mary and a spirit from Him; believe, therefore, in Allah and in His prophets, and do not say Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only One God: far be it from His Glory that He should have a son; whatever in the heavens and in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector. The Messiah does by no means disdain that he should be a servant of Allah, nor do the angels who are near to Him, and whoever disdains His service and is proud, He will gather them all together to Him.

As for those who believe and do good deeds, He will pay them fully their rewards and give them more out of His Grace; as for those who disdain and are proud, He will chastise them with a painful chastisement. And they shall not find for themselves besides Allah a guardian or a helper. (4:171-173)

[^1] Uzair is Arabic for Hebrew Ezra. This is the only verse in the Holy Qur’an where such a reference is made. Who is this alleged Jewish “son of God”? After the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnessar, the Torah was lost. Since there was none who remembered the law when the Jews returned from captivity, God raised up Ezra from the dead a hundred years after his death. When the Jews saw him thus raised from the dead, they said he must be the son of God. This is the contested view of some scholars.

This raising from the dead is confused with another incident which actually took place to someone else and which is narrated in the Holy Qur’an in 2:261. It involves Bal`am (Balam) ibn Ba`u,-r, a learned Israelite, who passed by a dead town (some say Antioch or one of its suburbs) and wondered how God would bring it back to life. The Almighty caused him to die then raised him back to life to see for himself that He can do anything at all.

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Surely the likeness of Jesus is with Allah as the likeness of Adam: He created him from dust then said to him: Be! and he was. (3:59)

All praise is due to Allah Who revealed the Book to His servant (Muh,.ammed) and did not make in it any crookedness, rightly directing, so that he might give warning of a severe punishment from Him and give glad tidings to the believers who do good deeds that they shall have a goodly reward (Paradise), staying in it forever. And warn those who say: Allah has taken a son. They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers; a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie. (18:1-5)

They say: Allah has taken a son! Glory to Him; He is the self-Sufficient; His is whatever in the heavens and in the earth; you have no authority for this; do you say against Allah what you do not know? Say: Those who forge a lie against Allah shall not be successful. (It is only) a provision in this world, then to Us shall be their return, then shall We make them taste a severe punishment because they disbelieved. (10:68-70)

And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is surely the best of planners. And 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 (the charges of) those who disbelieve and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve till the Day of Resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, so I shall decide between you concerning that in which you differed. (3:54-55)

In the following verses, the Almighty starts by chastising the Jews then the Christians:

Therefore, for the breaking of their covenant and their disbelief in the Signs of Allah and their killing the prophets wrongfully and their saying: Our hearts are covered. Nay! Allah set a seal upon them because of their disbelief, so they shall not believe except a few. And for their disbelief, and for

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their having uttered against Mary a grievous calumny. And (for) their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, the prophet of Allah, and they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so, and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge in its regard but only follow conjecture, and surely they did not kill him at all. Nay! Allah took him up to Him, and Allah is Mighty, Wise. And there is not one of the People of the Book but most certainly believes in this before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he (Jesus) shall be a witness against them. (4:155-159)

When Qur'anic texts such as these agree with what St. Barnabas had written in his Gospel, the truth will shine, but how many sincere seekers of the truth are there in our world?