By Laiq Ahmed Atif, President Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Malta
The world is full of life and human beings are the best of creation. It is also natural that every life will end one day as the Holy Quran very rightly mentions:
Every soul shall taste of death. (Al Quran 3:186)
But some people remain alive after their death and they live in the hearts of millions of people for thousands of years; they rule on the minds and hearts’ of millions of people.
The world had seen such influential and remarkable people throughout the human history, but some left unforgettable, impressive and extraordinary marks on the hearts and memories of people.
Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus and Mohammad (peace be upon them all) were among the most influential and extraordinary people of the human history. They gave so much, through out their lives, for the good of mankind.
With the start of December, every year, streets and homes are decorated with colorful lights and designs, and everywhere you can see the colors and trees of Christmas.
Many Companies prepare year long for shopping spree during the holidays. With celebrations in the air, people rush to markets in December, for their shopping, to select gifts for their family, friends and loved ones. Bazaars become filled with people and public is offered variety of goods to shop.
During Christmas time, many people ask, do the Muslims celebrate Christmas?
The simple answer, which almost every Muslim tries to give, is that the Muslims do not celebrate Christmas like the Christians do.
However, the Muslims do cherish the true message of Jesus and benefit from the teachings and exemplary character of Jesus Christ, may peace be on him.
The Muslims hold great love, respect and veneration, not only for Jesus but also for his mother, remembering mother Mary as a paragon of virtue and a role model for themselves, as described in the Holy Quran.
Jesus in the Holy Quran:
One can assess the importance of this by the fact that the Holy Quran, the Divine Book for the Muslims, has mentioned the name of Jesus Christ nearly 25 times and also mentioned his mother the Holy Mary for couple of times, in different chapters of the Holy Quran. The Quran makes it obligatory for the Muslims to believe in all the prophets and messengers of God, including Jesus.
There is no denying the fact that the Holy Quran makes it incumbent on every Muslim to believe in all the prophets, but as Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the IV Caliph of the Promised Messiah, peace be with him, beautifully says:
When he speaks of Jesus Christ or Moses or Krishna or Buddha with veneration and love, he does so because he has no other option. It is a part of the fundamental article of his faith to extend not just a human courtesy, but to genuinely believe in their truth and honor. In the light of this, this article of faith appears to hold an importance of global scale. It establishes inter- religious peace and harmony and genuinely creates an atmosphere of mutual trust and love. Like the Unity of God it holds the intrinsic quality of being irreplaceable — there is no alternative. (An Elementary Study of Islam, P: 23)
The Holy Quran states:
Say ye: ‘We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob and his children, and what was given to Moses and Jesus, and what was given to all other Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between any of them; and to Him we submit ourselves.’ (Al Quran 2:137)
And We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs and strengthened him with the Spirit of holiness. (Al Quran 2:254 / 2:88)
When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives thee glad tidings of a word from Him; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honored in this world and in the next, and of those who are granted nearness to God; ‘And he shall speak to the people in the cradle and when of middle age, and he shall be of the righteous.’ (Al Quran 3:46-47)
Mother Mary in the Holy Quran:
The Holy Quran extended great honor and respect to Mary, to such a high extent that God has named an entire chapter of the Holy Quran by her name, ‘Sura Maryam’, and Maryam is an Arabic name for Mary. The Holy Quran has given a great status to Mary and refutes all the charges raised against her, and says that the mother of Jesus was righteous woman and that Satan had no share in his birth. The Holy Quran states:
And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah has chosen thee and purified thee and chosen thee above the women of all peoples.’ (Al Quran 3:43)
And his mother was a truthful woman. (Al Quran 5:76)
The Holy Quran bears constant testimony about chastity and noble character of mother Mary and condemns the Jews, when they accuse mother Mary:
And because of their (Jews) disbelief and their uttering against Mary a grievous calumny. (Al Quran 4:157)
Furthermore, the Holy Quran pays such great tribute to Mary, that it gives two examples for the Muslim believers, both men and women, as role model, wife of Pharaoh and mother Mary – the mother of Jesus. The Holy Quran says:
And Allah sets forth for those who believe the example of the wife of Pharaoh when she said, ‘My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the Garden; and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from the wrongdoing people;’ And the example of Mary, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her private parts — so We breathed into him (Jesus) of Our Spirit — and she fulfilled in her person the words of her Lord and His Books and was one of the obedient. (Al Quran 66:12-13)
Mary, the mother of Jesus, represents those righteous servants and believers of God, Muslims, who having given up all sin and having made peace with God, are blessed with Divine inspiration.
I believe that it is a true manifestation of love with Jesus and Mary, to exhibit through our deeds, the noble character and example of Jesus and mother Mary, and to live a pure, pious, righteous and virtuous life, striving in the way of God.
We hold great respect and affection for Jesus and Mary in our hearts. We wish “Merry Christmas” to all our Christian brothers and sisters.
Additionally, we wish a wonderful year of 2013, full of blessings, peace, prosperity, health and happiness; and of peace and blessings of Allah, for the entire humanity. Amen
The above is very good informative article. Jesus and his mother have been mentioned in very good words in the Quran. They have been mentioned as a sign (ayat). Sign is something for which a person is remembered forever. This prophesy of the Quran has been proved true.
The calendar in the name of Jesus a.s. is used all over the world by all nations,all faith people. There may be other signs too….
Jesus has been called:
1. A word from Allah. (kalimatu Allah)
2. A Mercy from Allah (Rahmat u Allah)
3. A sign from Allah ( Ayat u Allah )
4. A prophet from Allah (Nabi Allah)
5. A messenger from Allah (Rasool Allah)
6. A servant of Allah (Abdullah)
7. A spirit from Allah (Roohullah).
These titles (or near about) are described in various places in the Quran,some (i.e. sign and mercy) in Chapter 19. He is not son of Allah (IbnAllah) in the Quran.
Jesus a.s. is just one word from Allah. There are millions and billion words (Kalimaat) of Allah and he is just one good word from Allah. Al Hamdu Lillah.
Merry Christmas!
Dear Christians, did you know?
Mary (pbuh), the mother of Jesus (is mentioned as Maryam) more in the Qur’an than in the entire New Testament.
She enjoys a singularly distinguished and honored position among women in the Qur’an. Proof comes from the fact that an entire Surah (chapter) in the Qur’an is titled upon her “Maryam” (Mary), which is the only Surah in the whole of the Holy Qur’an named after a woman.
Again she is the only woman directly named in the Qur’an and declared to be a Sign of God to mankind;[Quran 23:50] as one who “guarded her chastity”;[Quran 66:12] an obedient one;[Quran 66:12] chosen of her mother and dedicated to God whilst still in the womb; [Quran 3:36] uniquely (amongst women) accepted into service by God;[Quran 3:37]
Mary is also called a Chosen One;[Quran 3:42] a Purified One;[Quran 3:42] a Truthful one;[Quran 5:75] her child conceived through “a Word from God”;[Quran 3:45] and “exalted above all women of The Worlds”. [Quran 3:42]
The Holy Qur’an puts down:
And remember when the angels said: O Mary, Allah has chosen thee and purified thee and chosen thee above the women of all peoples. (3:43)
The Holy Qur’an testifies the chastity of Mary and says, And the example of Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity – … and she fulfilled in her person the words of her Lord and His Books and was one of the obedient. (Ch. 66: Vs. 13)
What excellent praise!
The Holy Quran affirms the virgin birth of Jesus, and repudiates the notion that Mary was not pious. It relates detailed narrative accounts of Maryam (Mary) in two places Surah 3 [at 3:35] and Surah 19 [at 19:16] These state beliefs in both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Virgin birth of Jesus. The account given in Surah 19 [Quran 19:1] of the Qur’an is nearly identical with that in the Gospel.
The Holy Qur’an defends Jesus (as) against the charges laid on him by the Jews and present proofs of a blessed life, painless death & successful mission of his.
Muslims look upon the source of Bible as holy and divine and its medium as truthful men. And here is a verse of Al-Quran which confirms this statement:
Say: We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob, and his children, and what was given to Moses and Jesus, and what was given to all other prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between any of them; and to Him we submit ourselves. (Al Quran 2:137)
I cannot understand why we should not wish “Merry Christmas” to the Christians. It is their festival. They celebrate it. It is up to us to wish them well or keep away from them. It would mean that non-Muslims should not wish us well on Eid occasions. There should be no “EID MUBARAK” from non-Muslims for us. That seems to be a bad thing, bad way of life.
We can go deep into this matter. Shall we say Salaam to non-Muslims or not? This world is a global village now. I feel that it is not the policy of Islam to keep away from the affairs of the world.
We shall never adopt the pagan ways of the polytheists. But we shall always talk to them and to all non-Muslims and atheists. When we meet and talk, it is natural to be the first to greet others in our way or in the way they want to greeted.
Jesus is Ayat u Allah, i.e. Ayat u Allah li annas, a sign for the whole mankind. Allah does not want Jesus name to be forgotten or obliterated from the world. We see that a calendar is working in the world in the name of Jesus (Starting from his date of birth or assumed to be starting from his date of birth). That calendar is related to Jesus a.s. All Muslims and Hindus and Jews and Japanese (all people of the world) are bound to use that calendar, whether they like it or not. That appears to be a good sign for the sake of Jesus a.s. from Allah.
Otherwise, sign cannot be any mark on his body or face. Sign is usually something great which is apparent and visible (known) to many people.
In this materialistic world we should try to remember the prophets by various ways. The best way is to remember them and to discuss and describe their virtues.
I cannot say why we should not wish the Christians well with simple words of “Merry Christmas. Merry X-mas.” It does not harm or hurt us and it does not cost much. It carries a lot of good will in it. Merry Christmas wa Assalam…
Dear Server Sahib! Assalamo Alaikum WR WK
I never said we should not extend Xmas greetings in reciprocation. As a true Ahmadi Muslim we must show our sincere feelings to share our friends(s) happiness no matter which faith or religion they may belong to. I agree with you that we should initiate in extending Salam to them as well. I practice this. Yes, non-Muslims are most welcome to first greet us on EID etc but they are not obliged to do that so the vice versa. And if they do not greet us on EID it is by no means a BAD OF LIFE or BAD THING. Rasoolallah SAW or Sahaba RA never looked for or sought non-Muslims greetings on EID. There is not even any comparison between Islamic celebrations (note that I do not call them festivals) and other religions festivals. Islamic celebrations require mandatorily a close and devout sacrifice before a celebration becomes due & that is exclusive.
Tell me one thing what about handshaking between cross gender? Do you initiate or not? If not, don’t you think it is a BAD WAY OF LIFE? And if you do then you are extremely violating Islamic teachings. One more thing you should also know that some people from another religion (I cannot name them here) do have some greetings even involving saluting idols so what will you do then? If you do not reciprocate it is termed as BAD WAY of LIFE.
From where did you get this idea that Jesus AS is a sign for whole mankind? Totally wrong! This blessing is only with Muhammad SAW. Even Christians do not claim to prove Jesus deputation for whole mankind from Bible.
Very interestingly! You have tried to show Jesus greatness by Gregorian calendar prevalence; I am wondering why you not quoted English or French supremacy as an evidence for Christianity truthfulness! If these kinds of things are ascertained to support the claim of a faith then where will you fit unmatched Chinese nation population OR unprecedented quality and quantity of Egypt Pharos archaeologies?
Gregorian calendar is just a calendar and there were and are many other calendars in use to date. Only reason it is mostly and widely used because of geostrategic expansion of nations worldwide who use it. It is nothing to do with Jesus. It is only Qur’an that removed all false charges from the Jesus persona and elevated his stature. Before that Christians were helplessly defending Jesus and Mary characters.
Wassalam and Regards!
@Ahmed.
Dear Ahmed,Thanks for your comments. I present a part of my old post again, with references:
The calendar in the name of Jesus a.s. is used all over the world by all nations,all faith people. There may be other signs too….
Jesus has been called:
1. A word from Allah. (kalimatu Allah) verse 3:46
2. A Mercy from Allah (Rahmat u Allah)Verse 19:22.
3. A sign from Allah ( Ayat u Allah )Verse 19:22.
4. A prophet from Allah (Nabi Allah)Verse 19:31.
5. A messenger from Allah (Rasool Allah) verse 3:50 and 61:7
6. A servant of Allah (Abdullah)verse 19:31
7. A spirit from Allah (Roohullah).verse 4:172
Isa a.s. has been called a sign for the mankind (verse 19:22) Ayatan Li Annas. It means he is ayatu Allah e Li annas, meaning a sign from Allah for all mankind. Of course his teaching was for the children of Israel only i.e. the the Jews.
I clearly see one sign of Jesus (a.s.) in the world even today. That is a calendar in his name called C.E. Can you please feel something in that as a remembrance of Isa a.s. The whole world, whatever faith or denomination, Germans, British, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Indians, Afriqans all are bound to use that calendar starting with (near about) the birth of Isa a.s.
Perhaps you do not give much importance to that. But I do. Allah has made that to happen for the sake of Isa a.s.
Celebrating Christmas or not is a different thing. Let the Christians celebrate, we just wish them well on that occasion.
We must give importance to all prophets of Allah, to all things related to them. Muhammad s.a.w.s. is the Chief prophet. He has taught us these things. He has authenticated the truth of all prophets and told us to be kind to all people. Celebration of Isa a.s. birth is a good thing for us (whoever may do it) because it will prove that he was a human being, a man.
I hope I have explained a few things. I am not a scholar.
Why do u say jesus or mary..it id deformd name of Maryiam and Eesaah (Alayhissalaam)..keep to the real word! why people dont keep the right and prefers to say and use the wrong terms! Dont look for excuses and say becoz of other religions they pronouce better than muslims arabic words if we show them.