Virgin Mary and Islam?

[Trimijopulos]

I don't believe that Mary was 'the mother of god,' because it honestly makes no sense.

Well, it makes perfect sense if one has all the necessary information.

The ancient Egyptians had a special term for gods who had both their parents gods. Most probably you know the ankh sign, the symbol of life.
ankh meant “life”, “live”, “viable” and “god by birth”. Most of the gods, however, were born by common women according to the popular traditions from all over the world.

All the above have to do with personal gods. So much Yahweh as Jesus are personal gods (i.e. they are persons not immaterial beings). You are considering god/God an immaterial being and so it is to be expected that you would consider nonsensical the idea that a common woman gave birth to a god. To our ancestors “god” meant “lord”, “nobleman”, a member of the ruling elite, a person with flesh and blood who was raping common women in order to produce slaves.

Philosophers and theologians inherited from the preceding generations only personal gods but they did not like those criminal, rapist gods and so they produced their own tri-omni Gods.

Today we have the immaterial gods of the theologians acting as if they were the personal gods of the popular legends and so not much makes sense, as you said.

 

[JustHappy]

Well, it makes perfect sense if one has all the necessary information.

The ancient Egyptians had a special term for gods who had both their parents gods. Most probably you know the ankh sign, the symbol of life.
ankh meant “life”, “live”, “viable” and “god by birth”. Most of the gods, however, were born by common women according to the popular traditions from all over the world.

All the above have to do with personal gods. So much Yahweh as Jesus are personal gods (i.e. they are persons not immaterial beings). You are considering god/God an immaterial being and so it is to be expected that you would consider nonsensical the idea that a common woman gave birth to a god. To our ancestors “god” meant “lord”, “nobleman”, a member of the ruling elite, a person with flesh and blood who was raping common women in order to produce slaves.

Philosophers and theologians inherited from the preceding generations only personal gods but they did not like those criminal, rapist gods and so they produced their own tri-omni Gods.

Today we have the immaterial gods of the theologians acting as if they were the personal gods of the popular legends and so not much makes sense, as you said.

This is a very selective way to see the history. Even in the Bible it is made clear that there weren't much people who believed in our "imaterialistic" God, but it doesn't mean nobody did. Prophets have come to the people all the time since Adam and Eve. They have tried to teach the people about the real One God, that isn't a creature. That's exactly the reason why it is prohibited to make a picture of God, because we cannot put His characteristics in a picture. It would give a complete wrong image of our God. Just because the infidel people now finally became smart enough to understand that there cannot be multiple gods like for example egyptians or greek thought, doesn't mean they are suddenly smarter than those who believed already in our One God thousands of years ago. Even today most people don't accept our God eventhough He has presented Himself to humanity since the creation of the first man Adam. But research will go on, and if God would give people enough time, they would find their "evidence" of God, but God didn't plan to do so. Scientists need to recognise that by denying the Holy Scriptures, they are placing themselves far behind in understanding the history of humanity and this earth.

 

[Deidre]

Well, it makes perfect sense if one has all the necessary information.

The ancient Egyptians had a special term for gods who had both their parents gods. Most probably you know the ankh sign, the symbol of life.
ankh meant “life”, “live”, “viable” and “god by birth”. Most of the gods, however, were born by common women according to the popular traditions from all over the world.

All the above have to do with personal gods. So much Yahweh as Jesus are personal gods (i.e. they are persons not immaterial beings). You are considering god/God an immaterial being and so it is to be expected that you would consider nonsensical the idea that a common woman gave birth to a god. To our ancestors “god” meant “lord”, “nobleman”, a member of the ruling elite, a person with flesh and blood who was raping common women in order to produce slaves.

Philosophers and theologians inherited from the preceding generations only personal gods but they did not like those criminal, rapist gods and so they produced their own tri-omni Gods.

Today we have the immaterial gods of the theologians acting as if they were the personal gods of the popular legends and so not much makes sense, as you said.

Nietzsche said it best...'is man a blunder of God's, or is God a blunder of man?''

I was a Christian for a long time, and there is beauty in Christianity, Islam, and other religions, as well. But, when I ponder what or who a god might be, it's not anything that other religions have conjured up. Now, I could end up dead wrong. I imagine we'll all know one way or the other someday.

 

[Deidre]

Maybe you should say this is nothing new to Roman faith. "gods" impregnating women has nothing to do with Abrahamic religions. The only thing in Abrahamic religions that returns often is that it is only God who decides when a woman gets pregnant, therefore all children are gifts from God. This has nothing to do with God "impregnating" a woman and getting a own child. Unfortunately Christian faith was hijacked by the Romans, and they gave their own heathen interpretation to everything, like a god (or spirit) going to a woman and having her pregnant. "Gods" getting children, "gods" (or halfgods) being born from women, having multiple entities reigning the godly world together (the father, the son and the holy spirit). These were all addings to Christianity from the Roman and those who followed Roman/Greek believe. This has nothing to do with what Jesus (or any prophet of God) has said, so please don't put these things on Abraham by calling it a common thing for Abrahamic faiths. Abraham was one of the few in his time who believed in the One God and Allmighty God and gave up his life to go to the land of Palestine, only because God told him so. He trusted 100% on our God and would never invent such lies about our God.

The virgin birth of Jesus was a sign for the Jews that the end had come, that God would make an end to this world. Jesus was the last Jewish messenger of God. After the temple was destroyed and the Jews spread over the whole world. There is nothing left of the Jewish people what it once was. Now it's waiting for the messiah to come and reestablish the Throne of David and the Kingdom of God on this earth.

I know. Abraham was willing to kill his kid 'for God.' Yea, he was a stand up guy.
Your post here is so very enlightening.

 

[Trimijopulos]

Nietzsche said it best...'is man a blunder of God's, or is God a blunder of man?''

Nietzsche did not have the required information. There is a little bit of blunder involved but most of it is deceit by both the church and the academy.

I was a Christian for a long time, and there is beauty in Christianity, Islam, and other religions, as well. But, when I ponder what or who a god might be, it's not anything that other religions have conjured up. Now, I could end up dead wrong. I imagine we'll all know one way or the other someday.

Why can’t we know right now?

Do you believe that the illustrious professors of the Universities of Oxford, Heidelberg, Sorbonne etc. etc. lack, as the case was at the time of Nietzsche, the necessary information, or that they have not the required intelligence?

Anyone can use online the libraries of the Universities and thus find out that the information available is quite enough to know what, how, and when everything happened.

They keep silent and thus he who wants to know has to make a research by himself. Unfortunately, the research will take quite a few years for the researcher to reach the point where he would realize that he desperately needs to know what is written in the oldest texts of humanity, the ancient Egyptian texts.

On commencing reading the translations of these texts he will soon find out that the texts have been intentionally mistranslated. Here is an example showing the situation prevailing with the translation of the Pyramid Texts:

The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 436 §789

Note that Faulkner published his translation in 1969 and that Allen’s translation is contemporary.

Faulkner: “This mighty one has been made a spirit for the benefit of(?) his soul.»

Allen: “this controlling power has been akhified for his ba”.

As you see there is nothing to understand. The above is five-word sentence in the hieroglyphic and two out of five words are left without translation.

The researcher would then have to spend some more years learning to translate the hieroglyphic by himself!!

Anyhow, much of the work has already been done. If you are disposed to do a little bit of reading, here is how the soul concept was produced:

The making of the soul concept | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

…how the heavenly gods were made:

The making of heavenly gods | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

…and how the Creator was created:

"Amen"... the creation of the Creator | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

 

[Deidre]

Nietzsche did not have the required information. There is a little bit of blunder involved but most of it is deceit by both the church and the academy.

Why can’t we know right now?

Do you believe that the illustrious professors of the Universities of Oxford, Heidelberg, Sorbonne etc. etc. lack, as the case was at the time of Nietzsche, the necessary information, or that they have not the required intelligence?

Anyone can use online the libraries of the Universities and thus find out that the information available is quite enough to know what, how, and when everything happened.

They keep silent and thus he who wants to know has to make a research by himself. Unfortunately, the research will take quite a few years for the researcher to reach the point where he would realize that he desperately needs to know what is written in the oldest texts of humanity, the ancient Egyptian texts.

On commencing reading the translations of these texts he will soon find out that the texts have been intentionally mistranslated. Here is an example showing the situation prevailing with the translation of the Pyramid Texts:

The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 436 §789

Note that Faulkner published his translation in 1969 and that Allen’s translation is contemporary.

Faulkner: “This mighty one has been made a spirit for the benefit of(?) his soul.»

Allen: “this controlling power has been akhified for his ba”.

As you see there is nothing to understand. The above is five-word sentence in the hieroglyphic and two out of five words are left without translation.

The researcher would then have to spend some more years learning to translate the hieroglyphic by himself!!

Anyhow, much of the work has already been done. If you are disposed to do a little bit of reading, here is how the soul concept was produced:

The making of the soul concept | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

…how the heavenly gods were made:

The making of heavenly gods | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

…and how the Creator was created:

"Amen"... the creation of the Creator | Dimitrios Trimijopulos - Academia.edu

I don't know about you, but I don't need a library, or a set of 'illustrious' professors to help me find answers to my own life, what works for me, and my own interpretation of God.

You're an anti-theist?

 

[Trimijopulos]

I don't know about you, but I don't need a library, or a set of 'illustrious' professors to help me find answers to my own life, what works for me, and my own interpretation of God.

You do not need a library?
How did you find out about deism? Through the Holy Spirit?

You're an anti-theist?

It says so under my avatar. Doesn’t it?

 

[Deidre]

You do not need a library?
How did you find out about deism? Through the Holy Spirit?

It says so under my avatar. Doesn’t it?

I don't care what you think.

 

[Smart_Guy]

By the way, her name was mentioned so many times in the Quran (more than 30 I think) and all respectfully.

 

[Desert Snake]

Ah, ok. Yea, I was reading about miracles, and this could be one such miracle.
I guess to me, it is not 'necessary' for the central doctrine of Islam. This is something for me to sort out in my head. It's not a huge thing, I didn't like it at all in Christianity, because the tenet of Mary's virginity...led to other things I didn't like, such as Jesus being considered divine, and the resurrection, and an entire religion coming about to worship a man who told his followers not to worship him. lol

The virgin birth isn't ''necessary'' for Xianity, either. The humanness of Mary subverts the necessity of a purely Deific inception, ie manifestation, of Jesus. The nature of Jesus is of the father; this is not dependent on a complete lack of 'human' nature, otherwise Jesus could not be divine. The divinity implies a nature that is unlike ours; Jesus is not a ''deified'' man, rather a manifested Deity.
Jesus is unlike Mary.

 

[Deidre]

The virgin birth isn't ''necessary'' for Xianity, either. The humanness of Mary subverts the necessity of a purely Deific inception, ie manifestation, of Jesus. The nature of Jesus is of the father; this is not dependent on a complete lack of 'human' nature, otherwise Jesus could not be divine. The divinity implies a nature that is unlike ours; Jesus is not a ''deified'' man, rather a manifested Deity.
Jesus is unlike Mary.

No objective evidence to back this up, but that's one way to see it.

 

[muhammad_isa]

..I imagine we'll all know one way or the other someday..

Yes .. probably sooner than we imagine..

Jesus, son of Mary, will return soon .. He will descend from the heavens, possibly on a mosque in Damascus (Syria) .. but somewhere in the area, I feel sure!

The global atmosphere is becoming 'charged', and Syria hosts a number of groups intent on war & destruction .. who's right?
Almighty God knows best .. and Jesus, peace be with HIm, is a prophet of God! There is reason enough

 

[JustHappy]

Yes .. probably sooner than we imagine..

Jesus, son of Mary, will return soon .. He will descend from the heavens, possibly on a mosque in Damascus (Syria) .. but somewhere in the area, I feel sure!

The global atmosphere is becoming 'charged', and Syria hosts a number of groups intent on war & destruction .. who's right?
Almighty God knows best .. and Jesus, peace be with HIm, is a prophet of God! There is reason enough

Not everybody agrees on it that Jesus will return to earth. Of course he will be there at the Day of Judgement to witness about what he really taught to the people, but I don't believe he will return to earth in a human body and join the fights.

This believe is mostly based on the hadith (of which we know that it isn't very accurate and contains misunderstandings and errors)

Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 34, Number 425:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, son of Mary (Jesus) will shortly descend amongst you people (Muslims) as a just ruler and will break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizya (a tax taken from the non-Muslims, who are in the protection, of the Muslim government). Then there will be abundance of money and no-body will accept charitable gifts.

In my opinion it means that a messiah like Jesus was will appear under the people. He will teach the way Jesus did, meaning teaching the true meaning of God's religion rather than applying the laws of former scriptures.

According to the Quran Jesus would be a sign of the hour

Surat Az-Zukhruf 43:61:
And indeed, Jesus will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path.

Where I don't agree with this translation, since it implies by using the future tense that Jesus would return and become a sign of the Hour. In the actual arabic text it just says: "and indeed he (is) knowledge of the hour, so be not in doubt ... etc." (...و إنه، لعلم للساعة)

It can be translated as "will be" as well, but must not necessarily. In my opinion Jesus was a sign to the Jews that the "end of the world" was definitely decided by God to come. Jesus was the last prophet sent to the Jews to be a sign for them that God really would put an end to all injustice. After Jesus, God completely abandoned the Jewish people, leaving them as a prey for everyone. The holy temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans and the Jewish people spread over the world. There was no such thing like a Jewish state anymore or a land ruled by the Jews.

I think the Jewish interpretation of the old texts is not that false that they are still waiting for the messiah to come to reestablish the throne of David and the Kingdom of God. They just seem to forget, eventhough it is made very clear in the Bible, that this won't be a kingdom of ethnic Jews anymore, but a kingdom for all who believe in and serve our Only True God. This can be Jews, Muslims, Christians or anyone else who follows the true religion of God. He won't exclude anybody who believes in Him and is loyal to Him.

The current state of Israel is, in my eyes, nothing more than a modern revolution attempt of the ethnic Jews. With help of western powers they found themselves stronger than the people living in the land of Palestine in that time, but they forgot that they never can be stronger than God. God has given them a last chance to show if they really believe in Him, but rather than trying to establish the Kingdom of God and make preparations for the messiah to come, they exclude everybody that is not of Jewish descent. They don't look if somebody believes in God to give someone a home is Israel but prefer atheist Jewish descendants before other people believing in our One and Only God like Muslims and Christians. So how could this state ever be the forerunner of the Kingdom of God if believing in God is not important to become part of it. Once again the Jews showed that they have forgotten about God.

The final punishment of God will come soon though. It will come when they least expect it, and even the western countries won't be able to protect them against God. When finally the messiah will arrive, they desired for so long time, the people of Israel will be of the first whom he (the messiah) will reject and fight against. Because the promises of God will come true, but most people don't have the patience to wait for it.

 

[muhammad_isa]

Not everybody agrees on it that Jesus will return to earth. Of course he will be there at the Day of Judgement to witness about what he really taught to the people, but I don't believe he will return to earth in a human body and join the fights.
...
This believe is mostly based on the hadith

Mmm .. I see .. while I agree with you that it's not a good idea to take all hadiths as literal/accurate, one has to take them in conjunction with knowledge from as many other sources as possible..

When finally the messiah will arrive, they desired for so long time, the people of Israel will be of the first whom he (the messiah) will reject and fight against. Because the promises of God will come true, but most people don't have the patience to wait for it.

Mmm .. is/was Jesus, peace be with him, the messiah/christ or not?
I understand that he is !
Wouldn't that strenghen the belief that Jesus will indeed return. I also believe that the book of revelation in the Bible has roots in Jewish apocalyptic text.

While I'm not 100% sure of Jesus' return to earth, it seems very likely correct when we look at all the information available to us. How is it possible that the world can be become unified without Divine intervention?
As there are no more new prophets to come, this means that the only representative that will be trusted is Jesus! That is how the mahdi (leader of the Believers) will have supreme authority.

Glory be to God .. He is the Best of planners

 

[JustHappy]

Mmm .. I see .. while I agree with you that it's not a good idea to take all hadiths as literal/accurate, one has to take them in conjunction with knowledge from as many other sources as possible..

Mmm .. is/was Jesus, peace be with him, the messiah/christ or not?
I understand that he is !
Wouldn't that strenghen the belief that Jesus will indeed return. I also believe that the book of revelation in the Bible has roots in Jewish apocalyptic text.

While I'm not 100% sure of Jesus' return to earth, it seems very likely correct when we look at all the information available to us. How is it possible that the world can be become unified without Divine intervention?
As there are no more new prophets to come, this means that the only representative that will be trusted is Jesus! That is how the mahdi (leader of the Believers) will have supreme authority.

Glory be to God .. He is the Best of planners

In my eyes Jesus was indeed the messiah and a man of great wisdom about life and God. I think we can agree on this.

We might discuss further though about how we see the coming Day of Judgement and what events we expect to take place. Interpretations of the prophesying texts telling what events will take place at the "end of times" differ a lot. Some think magical things will happen, others see it in a more methaphorical way. Nobody can know for sure. Only God knows what He has planed for us.

In the Bible it says in Zacharias 4:12-14:
And I answered the second time, and said unto him: 'What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?' And he answered me and said: 'Knowest thou not what these are?' And I said: 'No, my lord.' Then said he: 'These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.'

This text indicates that there will be two "anointed ones" or "messiahs", eventhough the word messiah is not used in the Hebrew text in this part, it means basically the same.

In Zacharias 2:3-4 it says:
And the LORD showed me four craftsmen. Then said I: 'What come these to do?' And he spoke, saying: 'These--the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head--these then are come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.'

Here we see that God intends to send 4 people or messengers to frighten the unbelieving people that scattered His people. This can mean warn for God's punishment or really fight them literally. In Jewish traditions these craftmen are interpreted as being "messiah ben David", "messiah ben Joseph", "Eliya" and "the reightious priest Melchizedek". You see that also Jews expected (still expect) 2 messiahs to arrive, and not only one. Christians try to put all these titles (besides Eliya) upon Jesus to make him THE messiah and the ONLY one to expect, but already the coming of Mohamed has shown that this is a wrong interpretation. Now muslims try to claim that Mohamed is the last prophet of God, but I believe this is just as wrong as the Christians trying to proclaim Jesus as being the last sent by God.

My interpretation would be as follows:
Eliya = John the Baptist
Messiah ben Joseph = Jesus
Melchizedek = Mohamed (Melchizedek praised especially Abraham and his Lord and was not an ethnical Jew, just as Mohamed wasn't an ethnical Jew and praised the religion of Abraham. Like is said in the Quran 3:95: Say, " Allah has told the truth. So follow the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not of the polytheists.")
Messiah ben David = the coming messiah who will reestablish the throne of David and the Kingdom of God

In my opinion what will happen is that God will make an end to all evil and injustice. He will punish all evil people like He repeats hundreds of times in both Quran and Bible. I think that the meaning of Mohamed being the seal of the prophets means that he closes a certain era in history of mankind. He was the last of the warners God sent to us. The coming messiah (I see the mahdi and messiah as the same person) will establish a new era and open a new book in the history of mankind. He will not come to warn for the Day of Judgement anymore but rather punish those who don't believe and really establish God's Kingdom. The idea that Jesus has to return, because he is the one with supreme (devine) authority and he is THE messiah is in my opinion a misunderstanding of Christians that possibly has influenced many muslims as well.

I don't believe the "Day of Judgement" will be the last day of humans in this world, and after some go to heaven, others to hell and remain there "enjoying" themselves in eternity. This is not the reason why God made man. I think God will clean the world to make place for those who do believe in Him and serve Him to build a society of justice on this earth. So mankind will finaly be able to do what mankind was intended for, being to take care of the wellbeing of this earth and praise God for His marvellous creation.

In the Quran it says in surat Ali Imran 3:91:
Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

And in surat Hud 11:118-119:
And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.
Except whom your Lord has given mercy, and for that He created them. But the word of your Lord is to be fulfilled that, "I will surely fill Hell with jinn and men all together."

And in surat Al-Baqarah 2:30-33:
And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."
And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."
They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."
He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."

In my eyes these are all indications that humans were made to serve God by interacting with this world, learn from it and take care for it. If God had wanted to have a new race in heaven to just praise Him like the Angels do, He could have just made a race like that and didn't need us to go through all problems and misery here on earth. There is a reason why we are not like the angels and why we are able to learn ourselves by observing, thinking and trying. Therefore I think humans will have a further future on this earth even beyond the Day of Judgement and of course in that case God will keep communicating with us through messengers. God didn't create the earth and the heavens for nothing or just for humans to spoil it.

Still it's just my interpretation of the texts and the truth is only with God, the Omniscient.

 

[zuhairabs]

The miracalous birth is because there is no male at that time level of Mary(Maryam). All are disbelievers so the Almighty God give Mary(Maryam) a miraculous birth.
Mary was English name the real name is Maryam in Aramaic(original language of bible) and the real name of jesus is Isha(In Aramaic).

 

[Robert.Evans]

I realize that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is honored in Islam, even more so than in the NT. My question is why is it necessary to believe that she was a virgin, if she nor Jesus is taught in Islam, to be "divine?"

In Christianity, it becomes a different focus than in Islam because Jesus is taught to be divine.

Just curious as to why it is believed in Islam that Jesus was the born from a virgin?

I can only speak from my point of view: Miriam was not a virgin on earth. It is the feminine-principle which is within the higher-consciousness of God (and therefore earlier) that is a virgin. She conceived alone from the masculine presence. That was his and her desire to conceive alone.

 

[David1967]

" Surely the idea of Jesus to Allah is like the idea of Adam. Created him from dust, said Be then he Be-ed. "
Soore of Aale Emran, Aaye of 59


I'm very sorry that i cannot give the meaning rightly because of the lack of concepts in the other languages than Arabic.

I understand what you mean.

 

[David1967]

In islam the miracle birth of Allah's servant Isa(Jesus) pbuh is to show people that Allah is able to create whatever He wants. Allah created Adam without parents, He creates us with parents and Isa(Jesus)pbuh without father.

It is to demonstrate the power of Allah swt.
We believe in the miracle birth as it is mentioned in Quran and Sunnah.
However we dont say Maryam(Mary) aleyha salaam continued her life as single woman/as virgin woman.
There is no mention of that in Quran and Sunnah.

The bible does not teach that Mary continued her life as a virgin woman either. You are correct about that.

 

[IsmailHanif]

I realize that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is honored in Islam, even more so than in the NT. My question is why is it necessary to believe that she was a virgin, if she nor Jesus is taught in Islam, to be "divine?"

In Christianity, it becomes a different focus than in Islam because Jesus is taught to be divine.

Just curious as to why it is believed in Islam that Jesus was the born from a virgin?

Peace be upon you!

If you read the Qur'an and the Tafsirs by the scholars who are experts in this field (Mufassirun) i.e., explaining the Qur'an, you will know what the Qur'an has to say about the utterings of Christians.

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ‌ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ ۚ قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ مِنَ اللَّـهِ شَيْئًا إِنْ أَرَ‌ادَ أَن يُهْلِكَ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْ‌يَمَ وَأُمَّهُ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ جَمِيعًا ۗ وَلِلَّـهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ‌


“They have certainly disbelieved who say that God is the Christ, the son of Mary. Say, “Then who could prevent God at all if He had intended to destroy the Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?” And to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and God is competent over all things.” [5:17]

Imam al-Sa’di, in his book of tafsir, writes:

لما ذكر تعالى أخذ الميثاق على أهل الكتابين، وأنهم لم يقوموا به بل نقضوه، ذكر أقوالهم الشنيعة‏.‏

God mentioned when He took the covenant from the People of the two Books [i.e. Jews and Christians], and that they did not establish their part of it, but rather they negated it. He mentioned some of their outrageous statements.

فذكر قول النصارى، القول الذي ما قاله أحد غيرهم، بأن الله هو المسيح ابن مريم، ووجه شبهتهم أنه ولد من غير أب، فاعتقدوا فيه هذا الاعتقاد الباطل مع أن حواء نظيره، خُلِقَت بلا أم، وآدم أولى منه، خلق بلا أب ولا أم، فهلا ادعوا فيهما الإلهية كما ادعوها في المسيح‏؟‏

So He mentioned the statement of the Christians, the statement which no one other than them said, that God is the Christ, [Jesus] the son of Mary, and their misconceived perception that he was born without a father, so they therefore believe in these false beliefs. [These beliefs are false because if that were so then] Hawa’ [Eve] would be his counterpart- she was created without a mother. And Adam was the first of them; he was created without a father or a mother. So then would they claim divinity for these two just as they have claimed it for the Messiah?

فدل على أن قولهم اتباع هوى من غير برهان ولا شبهة‏.‏ فرد الله عليهم بأدلة عقلية واضحة فقال‏:‏ ‏{‏قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شيئًا إِنْ أَرَادَ أَن يُهْلِكَ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَأُمَّهُ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا‏}‏

This demonstrates that their statement is based upon desires, and not proof or [even] doubts. So Allah refutes them with clear intellectual proofs when He said, “Say, ‘Then who could prevent God at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?’“

فإذا كان المذكورون لا امتناع عندهم يمنعهم لو أراد الله أن يهلكهم، ولا قدرة لهم على ذلك ـ دل على بطلان إلهية من لا يمتنع من الإهلاك، ولا في قوته شيء من الفكاك‏.‏

So the aforementioned people [those who claim divinity for Jesus] cannot deny that – if God wished – He could destroy them, and they have no power against that, showing the falsehood of their gods who cannot prevent their own destruction and who do not have any ability to escape.

ومن الأدلة أن ‏{‏لِلَّهِ‏}‏ وحده ‏{‏مُلْكُ السموات وَالْأَرْضِ‏}‏ يتصرف فيهم بحكمه الكوني والشرعي والجزائي، وهم مملوكون مدبرون، فهل يليق أن يكون المملوك العبد الفقير، إلها معبودا غنيا من كل وجه‏؟‏ هذا من أعظم المحال‏.‏

And this is one of the proofs that “to God” alone “belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth” to dispose of them without any restriction according to His universal wisdom, divine law and requital, while they are owned and under His care – so is it befitting for a god who is worshiped and free of all needs to be a servant who is owned and in need? This is one of the greatest impossibilities.

ولا وجه لاستغرابهم لخلق المسيح عيسى ابن مريم من غير أب، فإن الله ‏{‏يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ‏}‏ إن شاء من أب وأم، كسائر بني آدم، وإن شاء من أب بلا أم، كحواء‏.‏ وإن شاء من أم بلا أب، كعيسى‏.‏ وإن شاء من غير أب ولا أم ‏[‏كآدم‏]‏

And regarding their amazement at the creation of the Christ, Jesus the son of Mary, without a father, then certainly God “creates what He wills“. If He wills someone with a father and a mother, like the rest of the children of Adam [then He can do that], and if He wills someone with a father [i.e., Eve was created from Adam] and not a mother, like Hawa’ [(Eve) then He can do that], and if He wills someone with a mother and not a father, like Jesus [then He can do that], and if He wishes someone without a father or a mother, like Adam [then He can do that].

And, at the last of this verse [5:17] - It states: "and God is competent over all things"

Wa `alaykum as-salaam!