Praise be to `Allaah, the Creator of the universe Who exists without time and place. May `Allaah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and all of the Prophets.
The five greatest Prophets and Messengers are referred to as `u-lul-^azm and in order of rank they are Muhammad, `Ibraaheem, Moosaa, ^Eesaa and Nooh, sallallaahu ^alayhim wa sallam.
The mother of Prophet ^Ee-saa ﷺ was called Mar-yam bint ^Im-raan (Mar-yam the daughter of ^Im-raan). ^Im-raan was a pious scholar and his wife was called Han-nah. Maryam was not a Prophet, but a very pious woman (a waliyyah) and was raised by Prophet Za-ka-riy-yaa ﷺ, the husband of Lady Maryam’s sister called `Ee-shaa^.
`Allaah created Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ without a father just as `Allaah created Prophet `Aa-dam ﷺ (and Haw-waa`) without a father or mother.
One day, Lady Maryam went on an errand and while she was outside alone she became worried by the sight of a young man approaching her. Lady Maryam said to him, «I seek the protection of `Allaah from you and if you are a pious person, you will not harm me». This was in fact angel Jibreel who had the appearance of a young man with a bright face. Angel Jibreel said to her, «I am a Messenger from your Lord Who sent me to give you the glad tidings of having a son who will be pious and far from sin». Lady Maryam replied, «How would this occur, when no man has ever touched me and I am not a fornicator?» Jibreel informed her, «This is what `Allaah eternally willed to occur and nothing can change the will of `Allaah. Creating a child without a father is not difficult for `Allaah». Jibreel then blew into the clothing of Lady Maryam and the soul of ^Eesaa entered her womb through her mouth. Lady Maryam then became pregnant and it was said she was 13 years old at the time.
Later when the signs of pregnancy became apparent on her, her cousin, Yoosuf, a carpenter, was disturbed and did not know how to interpret that matter. If he wanted to accuse her he would remember how pious she was. If he wanted to declare her innocence, he would see the signs of pregnancy. So he decided to open the subject with her indirectly. He asked her, «O Maryam, tell me, would plants grow without seeds? Would trees grow without rainfall? Would there be a child without a male?» To all these questions Maryam said «Yes». Then she asked him, «Did you not know `Allaah made the plants emerge without seeds the day He created them? Did you not know `Allaah created the trees the first time without rain? Did you not know `Allaah created `Aadam and Hawwaa` (Eve) without a father or a mother?» Yoosuf knew all these things and when she responded in this way, he felt assured of her innocence and that this was something special given to her by `Allaah. Due to the signs of pregnancy showing on her, Lady Maryam left her people for fear of them accusing her of zinaa (fornication). After a full 9 month pregnancy, when the pains of labour started, Lady Maryam went and sat next to the trunk of a dead palm tree.
Maryam ^alayhaa-salaam wished that she had already died because of what she thought people might say about her. Jibreel then appeared and told her not to worry. Jibreel informed her that `Allaah had created a small stream next to her from which she should drink and to shake the dead palm tree, so that moist dates would fall next to her. Jibreel told her to be happy and if people asked her about the baby that she should indicate that she had made a vow not to speak to any person. After Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ was born in Baytu-lahm (Bethlehem) his mother eventually carried him back to her people. When they saw her, they started asking about him and implying that she had committed zinaa, but she simply pointed at the baby, as if to say, «Talk to him». ^Eesaa was 40 days old at the time, so they said, «How can we speak to a baby?»
`Allaah then created within ^Eesaa the ability to speak with the clarity of an adult and he said as is mentioned in `ayahs 30-33 of Soorah Maryam (S19):
قَالَ اِنِّیۡ عَبْدُ اللہِ ؕ۟ اٰتٰىنِیَ الْکِتٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِیۡ نَبِیًّا ﴿۳۰﴾
وَّ جَعَلَنِیۡ مُبَارَکًا اَیۡنَ مَا کُنۡتُ ۪ وَاَوْصٰىنِیۡ بِالصَّلٰوۃِ وَ الزَّکٰوۃِ مَا دُمْتُ حَیًّا ﴿۪۳۱﴾
وَّ بَرًّۢا بِوٰلِدَتِیۡ ۫ وَلَمْ یَجْعَلْنِیۡ جَبَّارًا شَقِیًّا ﴿۳۲﴾
وَالسَّلٰمُ عَلَیَّ یَوْمَ وُلِدۡتُّ وَ یَوْمَ اَمُوۡتُ وَ یَوْمَ اُبْعَثُ حَیًّا ﴿۳۳﴾
This means: ^Eesaa said, «Indeed I am the slave of `Allaah. `Allaah will reveal a Book to me and make me a Prophet. `Allaah will bless me wherever I will be and will prescribe for me to pray and give zakaah for as long as I live. And `Allaah has ordered me to treat my mother kindly and `Allaah will not make me a sinful tyrant. May peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die and the day I shall be resurrected».
^Eesaa ﷺ was a pious child and he memorised the Tawraah at a young age. When he was a young boy, his mother took him to Egypt, where he went to school and learned how to write. When he was 12 years old they both returned to Palestine. ^Eesaa ﷺ remained a pious person into adulthood and throughout his life.
When ^Eesaa ﷺ was 30 years old, `Allaah revealed to him the `Injeel which contained new rules and thus he became a Prophet (nabiyy) who was a Messenger (rasool). The followers of ^Eesaa ﷺ were Muslims who worshipped `Allaah alone and believed that ^Eesaa ﷺ was a man created by God. Twelve believers in particular supported ^Eesaa ﷺ and they are known as the Ha-waa-riy-yoon. Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ sent them to different cities to call people to the worship of `Allaah alone. The followers of ^Eesaa ﷺ were Muslims and they used to make wudoo`, pray, fast and give zakaah. When ^Eesaa ﷺ was 33 years old, some Jewish people wanted to have him killed. `An-Nasaa`iyy narrated from ^Abdullaah `ibn ^Abbaas that he said, «When the Jews wanted to kill ^Eesaa the son of Maryam, `Allaah revealed their plot to him, so he gathered together his closest companions and said to them, «Some of you will commit kufr after me. Who among you will be made to look like me, be killed in my place and be my companion in Paradise?» The youngest one among them stood up and said, «I». Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ then asked a second and third time and each time the youngest said, «I». ^Eesaa ﷺ then said to him, «You are the one who will be made to look like me, killed in my place and be my companion in paradise». `Allaah then raised Prophet ^Eesaa to the sky through an opening in the roof of the house. The Jews came in and saw the one who was made to resemble Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ and took him and killed him. They then boasted that they had killed ^Eesaa ﷺ, but `Allaah made it clear in the Qur`aan that they did not kill or crucify ^Eesaa ﷺ, but rather they mistook him for someone else.
Despite the fact that ^Eesaa ﷺ ate, drank, slept, walked and talked, and called people to worship `Allaah alone, some time later, a few people started claiming that ^Eesaa was the son of God and that he was God on Earth. Among the first to propagate this was a man called Paul who said he had seen a powerful light which had spoken to him informing him of this matter. Around 200 years after Prophet ^Eesaa was raised to the second sky more and more people started adopting the corrupt belief that Jesus was God on Earth. Thus the Christians grew larger in number than the Muslims, i.e. those who believed that Jesus was a Prophet of God. Around 300 years after ^Eesaa was raised to the sky, a man called Constantine, who was an idol worshipper, decided to start worshipping Jesus along with some other Christians. Constantine helped destroy the original Injeel and promoted the spread of changed copies of the `Injeel. Hence, Constantine spread the worshipping of Jesus, claiming that this was the worship of God. The Muslim followers of Prophet ^Eesaa continued to decrease in number and because of their persecution, they started to take refuge in the mountains. However, their numbers continued to dwindle. Around 5 years before Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the revelation, the last true Muslim follower of Prophet ^Eesaa died.
It is never permissible to say `Allaah has a mother, a son or children, even metaphorically. `Al-Bukhaariyy narrated in his Saheeh that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that `Allaah ta^aalaa revealed:
يَشْتُمُنِي ابْنُ آدَمَ … شَتْمُهُ إِيَّايَ قَوْلُهُ إِنَّ لِيْ وَلَدًا
This means, «Some people insult Me... their insulting Me is when they say that I have a son». This attribution of a son can be permissible in relation to the creation, but it is an abhorrent lie and never permissible to be attributed to `Allaah.
`Allaah revealed in Soorah Maryam (S19), verses 88-92:
وَقَالُوا اتَّـخَذَ الرَّحْـمٰنُ وَلَدًا (88)
لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا (89)
تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ وَتَـخِرُّ الْـجِبَالُ هَدًّا (90)
أَنْ دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْـمٰنِ وَلَدًا (91)
وَمَا يَنْبَغِيْ لِلرَّحْـمٰنِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدًا (92)
This means: «Those who attribute a son to `Allaah certainly preach a monstrous falsehood, such that the very Skies almost crack, the Earth almost cleaves apart and the mountains almost crumble to pieces at their ascribing a son to `Allaah. It is not befitting that `Allaah be attributed with having a son».
Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ spent his time calling people to worship `Allaah alone. He was not attached to the worldly things, such that he wore clothes that were unwoven, ate plants that grew in the wild and slept wherever night fell, even if it was in an open field. Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ was blessed with many miracles. Among them was, by the power of `Allaah, bringing a dead king back to life and curing the blind and leprous. Hence, Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ was a Prophet of God and it was an obligation upon those who claimed to follow Prophet Moosaa to follow him, but instead many of them belied him and as such committed kufr.
Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ told his followers that after him would come a Prophet named `Ahmad, i.e. Prophet Muhammad and that he should be followed.
Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ is alive now in the second sky and before the Day of Judgement he will come down from the Sky to the Earth and live on it for 40 years. `Islaam will be widespread throughout the world and he will rule according to the rules revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is mentioned that Prophet ^Eesaa ﷺ will get married, have children and after dying be buried next to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
We have a strong connection to Prophet ^Eesaa and we love him, but out of loving him we do not imitate the non-Muslims. This is because `Aboo Daawood in his book `As-Sunan narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ
This literally means: «The one who imitates other people is one of them».
In other words if someone imitates the non-Muslims in something that is specific to the non-Muslims and if this thing is an enormous sin, then the one imitating would be committing an enormous sin, and if it is kufr then the one imitating would be committing kufr.
Even though celebrating the birth of honourable people is not something specific to the non-Muslims, we do not celebrate the birth of Prophet ^Eesaa because we do not know when he was born and we cannot follow the non-Muslims on the basis that we are celebrating the birth of Prophet ^Eesaa.
Similarly, we do not celebrate Halloween, because the Prophet ﷺ never celebrated Halloween, nor did he tell others to celebrate it and nor is there anything within it that was encouraged by the religion. Likewise the companions and their followers never celebrated it or told others to celebrate it. Hence, this is not something that was started by the Muslims nor was it something practised by the Muslims. Rather it is something that was started by the non-Muslims and it is not permissible for Muslims to imitate them. Similarly, the commemoration of Valentine’s Day, Easter, Bonfire Night, Christmas and Diwali, New Year’s Day (on the 1st of January), April Fool’s Day and the like were never commemorated or encouraged by the Prophet ﷺ or his followers and nor is there anything within them that was encouraged by the religion, thus it is not permissible for us to commemorate them. Moreover, some of these celebrations include harming others such as by knocking on people’s doors and playing tricks on them.
Instead Muslims need to focus on behaving in a good way with others such that this will attract them to `Islaam. For example, the Qur`aan praised some Muslims who gave food to non-Muslims and the Prophet ﷺ sometimes visited non-Muslims who were sick. Thus in the Qur`aan and the hadeeth there is guidance for us on how to deal with non-Muslims in our community. Those who are sincere about improving community cohesion, should ask themselves, when was the last time that they shared their food with a non-Muslim, when was the last time that they visited a non-Muslim who was sick.
Muslims have special days every week and throughout the year. For example, the Prophet ﷺ would fast every Monday because this is the day upon which he was born. And Friday was the day on which Prophet `Aadam ﷺ was created. Hence, we have multiple times each week during which we can celebrate. Likewise Muslims are encouraged to celebrate the two ^Eeds as well as certain other days in the Islamic Calendar. ^Eedul-Fitr is on the 1st of Shawwaal and ^Eedul-`ad-haa is on the 10th of Dhul-hijjah.
Among the other blessed days is the 10th of Muharram during which many amazing things happened, although a very sad event also took place which was the murder of Husayn, radiyallaahu ^anhu, the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ.
Among the blessed days is the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at one or more time during the year, but which is typically celebrated during the month of Rabee^unil-`Awwal. As part of this celebration Muslims thank `Allaah for having sent the Prophet ﷺ by doing good deeds such as reciting the Qur`aan, giving religious lessons as well as doing other good deeds that comply with the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.
Among the blessed days is the 27th of Rajab which relates to the Prophet ﷺ going on a miraculous night journey to Jerusalem and then to Paradise and beyond. These journeys are referred to as `Al-`Israa` and `Al-Mi^raaj, respectively. Among the blessed days is the 15th of Sha^baan (nisfu-sha^baan) during which the Prophet ﷺ encouraged the Muslims to put extra effort in worship during its night and to fast during its day.
Among the blessed nights is laylatul-qadr, the Night of `Al-Qadr, which is one among the nights of Ramadaan. If one worships during this one night, one would get more reward than 1,000 months of worship. Among the blessed days is the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah, which is called the Day of ^Arafah during which we are encouraged to fast. Hence, there are many blessed days during the Islamic calendar.
Muslims should be keen to follow the Prophet ﷺ and the companions, not keen to imitate the religious and cultural practices of non-Muslims and other individuals who do not care about their Hereafter. May `Allaah, by the blessings of `Islaam, enable us to see the Prophet in our dreams.