(The author of this article is the Editor in Chief of Al-Balaagh, a bi-monthly published from Lenasia, South Africa. He is a widely known Muslim writer, author of several books, and a journalist. In August 2001 he received an Award of Honor for his 50 years of extraordinary service in the cause of Islam. He has written more than 30,000 letters in 50 years at the rate of 3 to 5 letters a night - to various people around the world, answering their queries, or thanking them for something).

Jesus Christ has now come for the SECOND time in this column! In our previous article (Jesus Christ: Dead or Alive) we had written about the Prophet of Allah - a normal human being-who lived, married, had children, and died a natural death. All this we PROVED from Allah's Word, the Holy Qur'an.

However, the Ummat of Rasoolullah (S), still in the stranglehold of the mullah, just would NOT accept what Allah says. They give preference to the mullah, over and above Allah!

Thus Al-Balaagh received questions from local, national and international readers of Al-Balaagh, plus the Internet surfers who had read our article on the Internet, disputing what they had read. The common question had to do with the following verse:

"The likeness of Jesus with Allah is truly

As the likeness of Adam. He created him

From dust, then said to him, Be, and he was." (3: 58)

This verse is used by the believers in the "Virgin Birth" of Christ to assert that "this conclusively proves" that just as Adam had no father, likewise Jesus had no father! This, however, is a fallacy. The verse refers to the fact that "Adam"-which stands for mankind generally, and all men-is created from dust. That is the similitude of Jesus and Adam. The similitude does not extend to Jesus being born without a father… because Adam was born without father AND mother, whereas Jesus had a mother.



KUN FAYAKOON

The other aspect relating to the similarity of Adam and Jesus is the following Command of Allah: "Kun Fayakoon- Be, and it is. "This command is used in 3:47 for Jesus's birth, and conveys the SAME meaning as that mentioned about Adam's creation. This is a further aspect where Jesus is likened to Adam, that is, in their creation with the Will (Law) of Allah. BOTH were created by His Command of " Kun Fayakoon"… That is why "the likeness of Jesus with Allah is truly as the likeness of Adam" (3:58)

AQAAID / BELIEFS

The theologians insist that to believe in Christ's virgin birth, his ascension to the heavens and his second coming to earth, etc. are all part and parcel of a Muslim's faith/beliefs, and if he does not believe in all of these, then he is "out of pale of Islam". Since our madrasah days this has been drummed into our heads by the mullahs. Nothing, of course, could be farther from the truth!

A Muslim, in order to be a Muslim, has to believe in the following FIVE Ajzaa (parts, constituents, ingredients):- "Righteous is the one who believes in (i) ALLAH; (ii) the LAST DAY; (iii) the ANGELS; (iv) the BOOKS; (v) the PROPHETS. " (2: 177).

And again:-

"And whoever disbelieves in: (i) ALLAH; (ii) His ANGELS; (iii) His BOOKS; (iv) His PROPHETS; (v) the LAST DAY, he indeed strays far away." (4: 136)

Thus, the inescapable, indispensable ingredients of a Muslim's Aqaaid (Beliefs) - without which he does not remain a Muslim - are (1) Allah; (2) Angels; (3) Books; (4) Prophets, and (5) Last Day.

Pray, WHERE ON EARTH does belief in Jesus's virgin birth, his ascension and secondcoming feature and fit into this System of Aqaaid (beliefs) which Allah Himself has enumerated in the Holy Qur'an? Let us THINK, for Allah has given us the brains to THINK - and DON'T allow any mullah to think for your, because according to the mullah's teachings and "learning", a Muslim is NOT ALLOWWED TO THINK AT ALL: he must just accept BLINDLY what his village mullah tells him to believe. This is called "Taqleed", or BLIND FOLLOWING. In fact in the theology of the mullah, the mullah himself is actually FORBIDDEN to think; he must NOT use his God-given faculty of thinking and REASONING! And yet the Qur'an is full of exhortations like "think", "ponder", "reason", "cogitate". Which means that the mullah does NOT care, nor has any regard, for Allah's Commands in the Qur'an! To him man-made Hadith is more than sufficient and far MORE important than the Holy Qur'an !!



CHRISTIAN BELIEFS

The virgin birth of Christ, his ascension into the Heavens where he is sitting on the Right Hand side of God, his second coming to earth (called "parousia" in Christian theology),etc., are, all of them CHRISTIAN (repeat CHRISTIAN!) beliefs and have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam and Muslims! These are all fanciful FAIRY TALES that were introduced into our Hadith literature by the enemies of our DEEN (the Christians and Jews), and via the Hadith they crept stealthily into our System of Beliefs! The Qur'an, happily and blessedly, is totally free from these Christian accretions! Allama Iqbal (RA) refers to this when he said:

"Reality (Truth) got lost in NONSENSE!"

"This Ummat lost its way in narrations."

And where did the Christians get hold of all these beliefs? From Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Mithraic MYTHOLOGIES!! Those who are given to the pursuit of knowledge, can easily refer to these mythologies of thousands of years ago and come to the right conclusions, thus eliminating the confusion created in their minds by the mullah fraternity and the entire Hadith literature! Allah's Pure, Unadulterated Qur'an stands out as the sentinel of Truth, and demolishes all these Hadith -Fairy-Tales!

One very interesting point intrigues us: if Jesus (peace be on him) is with God in the heavens, then this means that we have established a locality (a place of residence) for Allah (SWT)- the Fourth Heaven. And since, according to the Qur'an, Allah is as near to us as our jugular vein, so this means that Jesus, too, is "as near to us as our jugular vein", seeing that he is with God, according to the mullahs and the Christians! The inference here is that wherever God is Jesus is with Him !! Can we now see how inane, insane and absolutely preposterous is this Christian belief that has crept in amongst Muslims via the Hadith?!



REJECTING THE HADITH

The mullahs have made the acceptance and revering of Hadith as an integral part of our Deen and Eemaan, and the sine qua non of our being Muslims. This is not in the least true. The late Maulawi Husain Ahmad Madani, a leading light of the Deoband Daarul Uloom and a Shaikhul Hadith there, had this to say about the Hadith:-

"The Holy Qur'an has been copied successfully from Rasoolullah (S). In other words, its copyists in every age were plentiful, so that there remains NO possibility at all of any error or untruth (in the Qur'an). That is why the rejecter of the Qur'an is a Kaafir. But as far as the Ahadith are concerned - whether Qudsi or Ghair Qudsi- their copyists are not many. That is why it is possible for MISTAKES and LIES to have crept into Ahadith. Ahadith, furthermore, are NOT conclusively proved to be true, and thus anyone who rejects them is NOT a Kaafir." (MAKTOOB No. 38, Shaikhul Islam, Maulawi Husain Ahmad Madani; Vol. 1, p. 100. Pub. Istiqlal Press, Lahore).

The great Sheikh Mahmood Shaltut, Rector of Al-Azhar University, Cairo, said the following in his world-renowned Fatwa:-

"Any person who denies his (Jesus's) bodily ascent and his continuance in physical existence in the heavens and his descent in the latter ages, does not deny a fact that can be established by clear, conclusive arguments. Thus he is not outside the faith of Islam, and it is absolutely WRONG to consider him an apostate. He is perfectly a Muslim. If he dies, he dies the death of a believer and like believers his funeral prayer must be said and he must be buried in the Muslim cemetery. His faith is decidedly faultless in the eyes of God. And God knows the conditions of His servants." (Al-Risaalah, Cairo, Vol. 10, No.462, p.515).



SUMMATION



We have to make up our mind whether we believe what Allah says in the Qur'an or whether man-made Hadith (written 250 years AFTER our Nabi's demise) should be given preference and priority over and above Allah's Word.

· Allah says: All Prophets BEFORE Muhammad (S) have died.(3: 143)

We say: NO, Jesus is still alive-never mind what the Qur'an says.

· Allah says: Jesus had WIFE AND CHILDREN. (13: 38)

We say: Jesus is still going to come back to earth, and only thereafter will he get married and have children.

· Allah says: Jesus had a father. And he had children. (6:85-87)

We say: No, Jesus did NOT have a father, nor any children.

· Allah says: He did NOT grant everlasting life to any mortal. (21: 34)

We say: Yes, He did give Jesus eternal life, that why he is sitting on the Right Hand side of God. Allah is Eternal, so Jesus who is sitting with Allah, is also Eternal!!



· Allah says: that even though He (Who is the Absolute Master of the Cosmos and entire Universe Who can do anything) cannot have a son unless He has a consort. (6: 102)

We say: that Bibi Maryam CAN, and DID have a son without a consort!

* * * * *

At every step, therefore, we DEFY Allah and DENY His verses, in spite of the fact that He has set everything out so clearly, lucidly and logically in the Qur'an, which we stubbornly refuse to believe and understand. Thus in a sort of Divine "frustration", Allah exclaims:

"But what IS the matter with these people that they make NO EFFORT (whatsoever) to understand ANYTHING? (4: 78).

Indeed! To exercise the mind, to THINK, is a great effort! Rather continue to believe in whatever our Molly Saps have taught us. It is easier! Why should we look for light and enlightenment of the Qur'an when we are quite, quite happy to be groping in the darkness of Hadith?

"That darkness was good/preferable, because our feet were (firmly) "on Course";

Light (enlightenment) has brought me very far away from (my) destination!"

We can easily forgive a child that is afraid of the Dark. The real tragedy, however, is when men are afraid of the LIGHT!