The Israelites had settled in the blessed land, Palestine. They ruled
for a long time. They had a vast kingdom. Allah, the Almighty chose
many prophets from among them. They followed the Holy Book, theTorah.
The Prophet Dawood (PBUH)and his sonProphet Sulaiman(peace be upon
him) won great popularity as kings and commanded high respect. Their
followers believed in God and led noble lives. As the time passed by,
they began topay less attention to the teachingsof God. Theyforgot the
Divinefavors. They madealterations in the Holy Bookaccording to their
own tastes. Most of the Israelites adopted indecent ways of life and
committed major sins.
At that time there existed a powerful kingdom in the world. It was
called the kingdom ofRomans. They were polytheists and pagans. They
did not worship one God and prayed to many idols made of stones. The
Roman society was divided into two factions. The ruling class was very
strong and arrogant whereas the ordinary people lived in misery. They
were ill-treated as slaves. The female sex enjoyed no privilege in
that era. Palestine, the blessed land was ruled by Herod, a cruel
king. The people disliked him. They were scared stiff of him. They
could not utter a word of complaint against him lest they should be
put to sword.
Birth of Prophet Isa (PBUH)
Allah, the Beneficent,showed His favorsand wanted to guide the
depraved humanity to the right oath. He desired to make the people
believe in Allah through miracles.Maryam (Mary)was a beautiful maiden.
She was virtuous, abstemious and chaste. She used to pray to Allah
(SWT) frequently. She grew up in the house of Prophet Zakariyya (peace
be upon him) and learnt a good deal about Allah and His religion.
One night Maryam was engaged inglorifying the Almighty, Allah.
Suddenly she saw a handsome looking young man. She got embarrassed and
her face turned pale. She felt jittery and had goose pimples on her
skin. Soon after she got tranquility of mind. She heard a voice from
the invisible world:
"I am an angel of Allah. He has sent me to inform you that you are
going to have a baby."
Maryam was much perplexed. As she was a virgin, it was quite
impossible for her to give birth to baby without entering into
matrimonial allegiance with an opposite sex.
Once again the Angel remarked: It is the Will of Allah, the Almighty
that you should give birth to a fatherless baby. It is easy for Him to
do what He pleases. He has His own reasons. I, however, convey you the
good news. Soon after the Angel vanished. Maryam became wet with
perspiration. She apprehended that her name would be sullied if she
gave birth to a baby before marriage.
After some days Maryam became pregnant. Many people began to level
false accusations against her. They calumniated her for developing
contraband relations with a man. The whole population of the town
derided Maryam. She was feeling terribly ashamed on hearing the
baseless charges of slanders. She had a firm faith in Allah. She was
sure that Allah would help her in washing away a blot on her fair
reputation. She prayed to her Lord frequently to save her honor. The
people passed taunting remarks about her every now and then.
When she wasreduced to straitsby the mischievous persons, she decided
to leave Nazareth and settle in another town. She went to a locality
calledBethlehem, seventy-one miles away from her native town.
She resided near a manger under a palm-tree. Soon after her arrival
there,Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ) (PBUH)was born. Maryam washed,
cleansed and dressed him. He lookedvery beautiful and attractive. Some
of the people got wind of that incident and visited Maryam who gave
birth to afatherless baby.
They also made fun of her and began to ask questions. As Maryam had
beendirected by Allahnot to utter a single word for three days from
the moment she gave birth to a baby. She complied with the orders and
refrained from talking. When the people pressed her hard to reply to
their questions, the baby began to utter some words to clarify the
position of his pious mother. The listeners were much surprised. They
were full of excitement.
Isa (Jesus Christ) claimed to be the Prophet of Allah. He advised the
people to follow the right path and do noble acts. When the people got
a convincing proof regarding the truthfulness and chastity of Maryam,
they were much impressed and amazed.
The birth of Prophet Isa (Peace Be Upon Him) became a talk of the
town.Herod, the king, got wind of that miracle. He became worried lest
people should obey the directions of the newly born Prophet and
neglect his orders. He issued terrible orders to kill all those babies
who art under the age of two years. The parents became much upset
because they thought that they would be deprived of their affectionate
children after the implementation of those orders. Allah guided Maryam
tomigrate to Egyptto seek protection for her baby. She carried out the
orders and reached Egypt after a troublesome journey.
They stayed away from home for twelve years. The Prophet Isa (PBUH)
grew up gradually andAllah gave him a good deal of wisdom and
knowledge. In the meantime Herod passed away and the people took a
sigh of relief. Maryam felt a great pleasure. She picked up her
belongings and proceeded towards the blessed land again. She, along
with her baby reached there after a long journey.
Miracles of Prophet Isa
The Prophet Isa (PBUH) was handsome and dignified. When he had
attained the age of thirty years, he began topreach the religion of
Allah. Most of the people were not convinced and thus he was exposed
to ridicules. The Prophet Isa (PBUH) entreated Allah to grant him
amiraculous power to impress the people. Allah gave him that power. He
showed many miracles whichwon the heartsof the people. Gradually they
became his followers and began to believe in him and his message.
*.One day Prophet Isa (PBUH) was preaching to a large gathering.
Heexhorted the people to believe in Allahand follow His religion. Most
of them turned a deaf ear to his instructions. The Prophet Isa (PBUH)
tried toconvince them with a miracle. He took some wet clay in his
hand and made the statue of a bird with it. He blew his breath on the
clay. It became a real bird with wings, eyes and legs by Allah's
power. It flew up chirping in the sky. The people looked at the bird
but could hardly believe their eyes. They were wonder struck at the
sight of this miracle. They were so impressed that they began to take
the oath of allegiance to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
*.The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) kept on preaching and many
people began to believe in true religion. One day a man came limping
towards him. He had suffered fromleprosy. He was looking terrible due
to lumps on his face. His fingers were crooked and he had lost some
toes. The people were scared of him. They detested him but the heart
of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was bleeding for the wretched man.
The diseased man said in the weak tone: Cure me, cure me. I am
disgusted with my life. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) knelt
andsupplicated for his recovery. He patted at his shoulders. He
recovered and his face became clear. All the lumps vanished in the
twinkling of an eye. The crowd was much amazed at the sight of this
miracle. Every one was much impressed. The people began tofollow the
teachingsof the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
*.One day the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was going through the
street which was narrow and winding. He came across a man who wasblind
and dumb. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) decided to show mercy to
him because he was kind-hearted. He put his hand on the shoulder of
the man. The blind man opened his eyes andAllah restored his eye
sight. Moreover he was endowed with the power of talking. He expressed
a deep sense of gratitude for the kindness shown by the Prophet Isa
(peace be upon him). This miracle impressed the spectators and they
began to follow the teachings of Allah.
*.A man, Lazaruspassed awayand his sisters, Mary and Martha fell into
melancholy and extinction. They were making preparations to perform
burial ceremonies. The mourners flocked at the residence of the
deceased. Suddenly the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) appeared on the
scene. He knelt down andstarted to pray to Almighty Allah.
After a short time Lazarus was revived by the grace of Allah. He got
up and began to talk. Every one jumped out or joy. They began to
acknowledge the supreme power of their Lord. The Prophet Isa (peace be
upon him) came to remind the people of the teachings of the other
Prophets. He advised the people tobelieve in Allahandpray to Himonly.
He asked themnot to indulgein back-biting,oppression, sinfulness and
impiety. He directed his followers to donoble deeds. He taught them to
be loving and tolerant. He also had his own revelations. The Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) hadtwelve discipleswho assisted him in
preaching. They helped him inspreading the religion of Allahduring the
life of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) and afterwards.
Crucifiction of Prophet Isa (Jesus) (PBUH)
The preaching work by Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)lasted for three
years. A considerable number of people began to follow him. They
adopted good ways of life. TheRomans and the Jewswere much worried
because of the prevailing influence of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
and his disciples. They feared lest they should rise in revolt against
them. They decided Isa, the Prophetto be crucified.
Allah Almighty loved his Prophet. He wanted to save him. On the other
hand the Romans made a heavy big cross of wood to put their plan into
practice. There was a large gathering and the soldiers were standing
all around where Isa, the Prophet was supposed to be crucified. Even
those people who were against the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace be
upon him) were feeling queasy inside. They did not agree with the idea
of crucifying him.
Allah (SWT) ordered someone whobore resemblance to Prophet Isa(peace
be upon him) totake the place of the Propheton the cross. In fact the
man who wasanalogous to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was
crucifiedand his own life was saved in this manner.
Most of the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) are still in
the Gospel but some of the things written in the Bible arenot in
original form. They were changed and some additions as well as
subtractions have been made in his teachings.
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