(9) Nabīyu ʾllāh (نبى الله), “The Prophet of God.” [Sūrah xix. 31]: “He hath made me a Prophet.”
(10) Wajīhun fī ʾd-dunyā wa ʾl-āk͟hirah (وجيه فى الدنيا والاخرة), “Illustrious in this world and in the next,” namely, as al-Baiẓāwī explains it, “in this world as a Prophet, in the next as an Intercessor.” [Sūrah iii. 40].
In order to present the somewhat incoherent narrative of the Qurʾān in a systematic form, we shall arrange its history of the Lord Jesus into (1) The Annunciation of the Virgin, (2) The Birth of Jesus, (3) His Miracles, (4) His Mission, (5) His Crucifixion, (6) His Divinity and Sinlessness, (7) The Trinity, (8) His Second Coming (as taught in the Traditions), (9) His Exaltation in Heaven. From a perusal of these selections it will be seen that Muḥammad taught that Jesus was miraculously born of the Virgin Mary, who was sister of Aaron and the daughter of ʿImrān, near the trunk of a palm tree. That the Jews charged the Virgin with being unchaste; but the babe, speaking in his cradle, vindicated his mother’s honour. That Jesus performed miracles, giving life to a clay figure of a bird, healing the blind, curing the leper, quickening the dead, and bringing down a table from heaven “as a festival and a sign.” That he (Jesus) was specially commissioned as the Apostle or Prophet of God to confirm the Law and to reveal the Gospel. That he proclaimed his mission with many manifest signs, being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. That he foretold the advent of another Prophet, whose name should be Aḥmad. That the Jews intended to crucify him, but God deceived them, for they did not crucify Jesus, but only his likeness. That he is now in one of the stages of celestial bliss. That after he left this earth his disciples disputed amongst themselves, some calling him a God, and making him one of a Trinity of the “Father, the Mother, and the Son.” That he will come again at the last day, and will slay Antichrist, kill all the swine, break the Cross, remove the poll-tax from the infidels. That he will reign as a just king for forty-five years, marry, and have children, and die and be buried near Muḥammad at al-Madīnah, between the graves of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.
I.—The Annunciation of the Virgin.
[Sūrah iii. 37–43]: “And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary! verily hath God chosen thee, and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds! O Mary! be devout towards thy Lord, and prostrate thyself, and bow down with those who bow.’ This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To thee, O Muḥammad! do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them when they cast lots with reeds which of them should rear Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed about it. Remember when the angel said, ‘O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God; and he shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when grown up; and he shall be one of the just.’ She said, ‘How, O my Lord! shall I have a son, when man hath not touched me?’ He said, ‘Thus: God will create what He will; when He decreeth a thing, He only saith, “Be,” and it is.’ And He will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel.”
[Sūrah xix. 16–21]: “And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward, and took a veil to shroud herself from them: and We sent Our spirit to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man. She said: ‘I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.’ He said: ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’ She said: ‘How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.’ He said: ‘So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: “Easy is this with me; and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed.” ’ ”
[In the earlier part of [Sūrah iii]. the Virgin Mary is spoken of as the daughter of ʿImrān. Commentators say that ʿImrān died before Mary was born. In the traditions it is stated “that the only two persons born into the world who have not been touched of the Devil are Mary and her son Jesus.” Thus teaching not only the Immaculate Conception of Mary, but also of her mother. “When she went eastward,” Ḥusain says, she went out of her house in an eastward direction, in order to perform her ablutions, when Gabriel appeared to her.]
II.—The Birth of Jesus.
[Sūrah xix. 22–34]: “And she conceived him, and retired with him to a far-off place. And the throes came upon her by the trunk of a palm. She said: ‘Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!’ And one cried to her from below her: ‘Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:—And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee: it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee. Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye: and shouldst thou see a man, say,—Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.—To no one will I speak this day.’ Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, ‘O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.’ And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, ‘How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?’ It said, ‘Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and He hath made me a prophet; and He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live; and to be dutiful to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved. And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.’”
[Sūrah xxiii. 52]: “And we appointed the Son and his Mother for a sign; and we prepared an abode in a lofty spot, quiet and watered with springs.”