Before his birth, angels came to Maryam with news of “a word from Him”: 'Îsâ (peace be upon him).
His name is the Messiah, 'Îsâ son of Maryam, honoured in this world and the next, and among those brought near.
She asked how, when no man had touched her. The answer: Allah creates what He wills. He says “Be”, and it is.
Her people accused her. She pointed to the child, and the newborn spoke: “I am the servant of Allah.”
“He has made me blessed wherever I am, and enjoined on me prayer and zakât as long as I live,
and dutiful to my mother. He has not made me a wretched tyrant.
And peace is on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive.”
The Prophet ﷺ said that only three spoke in the cradle, and he named 'Îsâ first.
Count what he says of himself: a servant, given a Book, a prophet, told to pray. Each word shows he depends on Allah.
And he speaks of “the day I die”. Yet the One who deserves worship does not die.
For Ibn Kathîr, who reads 4:159 this way, that day is still to come: he will die after his return.
That is 'Îsâ son of Maryam: the word of truth, about which they dispute.
It is not for Allah to take a son. Glory be to Him!
The Messiah, 'Îsâ son of Maryam, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word, which He directed to Maryam,
and a spirit from Him.
And do not say: “Three.”
Allah is only one God.
“His word”: he was created by Allah's word “Be!”, without a father, as the angel told Maryam (3:47).
Indeed, the example of 'Îsâ with Allah is like that of Adam. He created him from dust, then said to him “Be”, and he was.
Having no father is a wonder. Having no father and no mother is greater still. And no one calls Adam a god.
The Prophet ﷺ said: I am the closest of people to the son of Maryam. The prophets are brothers.
“And there was no prophet between him and me.” Six centuries separate them, with no prophet in between.
“The prophets are brothers: their mothers are different, and their religion is one.”
He ﷺ also said: whoever testifies that 'Îsâ is Allah's servant and messenger, His word and a spirit from Him,
with the testimony of faith, and that Paradise and Hell are true, Allah will admit him into Paradise.
Muslims and Christians agree on much about him: his mother, his miracles, his return.
They part on one question: who is he? His first words already answer it.
Every word 'Îsâ said about himself said the same thing: I belong to Allah.
Tonight, read 19:30-33 aloud, and count what he says of himself.