Children of Abraham[1]

Richard L. Shafer

 

November and December are times of great celebrations among Jews, Muslims and Christians.  As you read this column, our Muslim sisters and brothers will have completed their celebration of Ramadan and finished their festival days called Eid ul-Fitr.   We in America will have celebrated Thanksgiving.  Our Jewish neighbors will have completed their annual cycle of weekly Torah readings in October,[2] a time of great celebration.  Jews walk around the synagogue carrying Torahs and participate in plenty of high-spirited singing and dancing. As many people as possible are given the honor of carrying a Torah scroll in these processions. This aspect of the holiday is known as Simkhat Torah, which means, "Rejoicing in the Torah."  Now, preparations for Chanukah[3], the Jewish festival of rededication, are beginning.  This year, Chanukah begins on December 20th, lasting through the 28th.

 

This month we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  We’ll tell the stories of his birth, sing carols, and watch our children in plays depicting that evening in Bethlehem.  We’ll give gifts, eat special (and huge) meals, and most of us will feel the special joy that this season of good will among all people brings.

Many of us Christians don’t know that the Qur’an[4] or holy book of Islam includes a version of the story of Jesus’ birth.  In the third chapter or “surah”:

“The angels said to Mary: 'Allah bids you rejoice in a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. He shall be noble in this world and in the next, and shall be favored by Allah. He shall preach to men in his cradle and in the prime of manhood, and shall lead a righteous life.'
Surah 3:45-46

Here’s one translation of the Christmas story[5].  Allah is speaking through the Prophet:

 

“And you shall recount in the Book the story of Mary: how she left her people and betook herself to a solitary place to the east.

“We sent to her Our spirit in the semblance of a full-grown man. And when she saw him she said: 'May the Merciful defend me from you! If you fear the Lord, leave me and go your way.'

“'I am the messenger of your Lord,' he replied, 'and have come to give you a holy son.'

“'How shall I bear a child,' she answered, 'when I am a virgin, untouched by man?'

“'Such is the will of your Lord,' he replied. 'That is no difficult thing for Him. "He shall be a sign to mankind," says the Lord, "and a blessing from Ourself. This is Our decree."'

“Thereupon she conceived him, and retired to a far-off place. And when she felt the throes of childbirth she lay down by the trunk of a palm-tree, crying: 'Oh, would that I had died and passed into oblivion!'

“But a voice from below cried out to her: 'Do not despair. Your Lord has provided a brook that runs at your feet, and if you shake the trunk of this palm-tree it will drop fresh ripe dates in your lap. Therefore rejoice. Eat and drink, and should you meet any mortal say to him: "I have vowed a fast to the Merciful and will not speak with any man today."'

“Carrying the child, she came to her people, who said to her: 'This is indeed a strange thing! Sister of Aaron, your father was never a whore-monger, nor was your mother a harlot.'

“She made a sign to them, pointing to the child. But they replied: 'How can we speak with a babe in the cradle?' Whereupon he spoke and said: 'I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Gospel and ordained me a prophet. His blessing is upon me wherever I go, and He has commanded me to be steadfast in prayer and to give alms to the poor as long as I shall live. He has exhorted me to honor my mother and has purged me of vanity and wickedness. I was blessed on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day of my death; and may peace be upon me on the day when I shall be raised to life.'

So far, so good, but then comes the statement that separates believing Muslims from believing Christians:

“Such was Jesus, the son of Mary. That is the whole truth, which they are unwilling to accept. Allah forbid that He Himself should beget a son! When He decrees a thing He need only say: 'Be,' and it is. “[6]

So there’s the Christmas story as told through the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.  Muslims don’t worship Jesus as the Son of God.  They don’t worship Mary as the mother of Jesus.  They don’t worship the Prophet Muhammad.  However, Muslims do revere all three, and many more, including all the prophets of the Old Testament. 

So in that spirit of reverence, we can celebrate the blessings of Christmas with all whose spiritual heritage descend from Abraham:  Peace and Good Will among all people!
 

Copyright Richard L. Shafer

 


[1] (Ed. Note: This is one of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings, beliefs and practices of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.  In the Torah, Genesis 16 and 17, we read about Abraham and Sarah, father and mother of Isaac, father of Jacob, from whom the twelve tribes of Israel descended.  They form our spiritual heritage as Jews and Christians.  Abraham also fathered Ishmael with Hagar, Sarah’s handmaiden, 14 years earlier.  From Ishmael descended Muhammad, who would become the Prophet of Islam.  These three great monotheistic faiths worship the same God, the God of Abraham, known by various names in the various faiths.  In Islam, God is called Allah, translated from the Arabic as “The God.”)

[2] They read the last Torah portion, and then proceed immediately to the first chapter of Genesis, reminding themselves that the Torah is a circle, and never ends. See http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday0.htm#AllDates

 

[3] See http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm for a discussion of the miracle of oil for the lights.

[4] Generally known in this country as Koran, the word in Arabic means “The Recitation.”

[5] Translation found at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dbates/koran3.htm

 

[6] Sura 19:13-36, the 19th “chapter” of the Qur’an, entitled “Mary.”