As
is well known, Jesus Christ (pbuh) is one of the most popular and
controversial personalities in history. To some, he is seen as God, to
others he is the son of God. Muslims in particular, however, view Jesus
Christ as a messenger of God, who was sent to spread God’s word and obey
his commands, as did Moses (pbuh), Noah (pbuh), Abraham (pbuh) and
those who were sent before him, as well as Muhammad (pbuh) who was sent
after him. Muslims have a most honourable regard for Jesus, and belief
in him is a condition of Islam.
While it may come as a surprise to
some, the Qur’an is in fact a great source for anyone wishing to learn
about Jesus Christ! The Qur’an speaks with utmost respect and beauty of
this Holy Messenger and his mother Mary.
There is no doubt that
there are people who are sceptical about the Qur’an and consider it the
written word of Muhammad, and it is the duty of a Muslim to acknowledge
and respect all opinions, so long as they can be logically and fairly
proven.
There are also people who deny the Prophets and the
miracles that came with them. Among those are the miracles of the
creation of Adam and Jesus Christ. God's response to those rejecting
such miracles is:
(Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, "Be," and he was.) [Al-Imran: 59].
In
examining this verse, we notice that God Almighty tells us that Jesus
Christ, like Adam (pbuh), was created without a father. Similarly, both
were Prophets, and both presented a miracle in the way in which their
exemplary morals and behaviour were different from those of ordinary
people. This is the Islamic argument; that Jesus cannot be regarded as
divine simply because he had no father, because if that holds true, then
Adam must also be considered divine as he had neither a father nor a
mother.
But the question is: How can this verse really convince
someone who simply rejects the Qur’an as the true word of God? After
all, a sceptic has every right to be sceptical, but along with this
scepticism comes a right upon him to seek proof in order to erase any
doubt beyond question! So is there any physical proof for the truth of
these words? Is there something, within this verse, that can tangibly
prove the proposed similarities between Jesus and Adam? No judgment is
made in the words to follow; this is left for the reader to contemplate.
What
is interesting is that this connection between Jesus and Adam is not
merely confined to the meaning of the verse as explained above. This
connection even exists with regards to the various mentions of both
Jesus and Adam in the Qur’an.
To explain further, if we look for
the word ‘Jesus’ in the Qur’an, we find that it is mentioned 25 times in
the Qur’an. Similarly, if we look at the mention of ‘Adam’ in the
Qur’an, we find, again, that it is mentioned exactly 25 times!
It
is only natural for an atheist, probably even a Muslim, to consider this
a coincidence. Therefore, we must look further, and see whether God
Almighty has deposited in this verse any consistent numerical symmetry
that could destroy any possibility of coincidence.
Now, reflecting
on the various verses where Jesus and Adam are mentioned, we find that
the previous verse – (Verily, the likeness of Jesus before Allah is the
likeness of Adam) - is the only verse in the Qur’an where both Jesus and
Adam were mentioned collectively. In no other verse do the two names
meet; this gives the verse a pivotal importance in our discussion.
Furthermore,
and amazingly enough, the number of times the word Adam was mentioned
from the beginning of the Qur’an up to and including this crucial verse
is 7 times, and the number of times Jesus was mentioned from the
beginning of the Qur’an up to and including this verse is also 7 times!
That's
not all! The 19th occurrence of the word Adam appears in chapter 19
"Mary". At the same time, the 19th occurrence of the word Jesus appears
also in chapter 19 "Mary"!
To better illustrate this beautiful
consistency, each of the 25 verses mentioning Jesus and Adam are listed
below in their order of appearance in the Qur’an:
The
above facts demonstrate the accurateness of the Qur’an in its depiction
of Jesus and Adam, not only in terms of meaning, but also in terms of
context and numerical symmetry. Both prophets are mentioned 25 times,
and the sole place where they meet together is at the point where both
happen to be mentioned for precisely the seventh time. In addition,
anyone who reads the Qur’an will note that this is not a deliberate play
on words to simply preserve consistency; meaning and context are never
lost throughout the verses of this Holy Book.
Finally, this is
simply one out of thousands of similar examples that have been
discovered in the Qur’an, and the question is whether all these can come
by chance? Or is it in fact God Almighty who preserved this perfect
balance? This is left to the reader’s discretion, but regardless the
answer, the ever-present challenge of the Qur’an to all of mankind and
angels still resonates today:
(Say: If the
whole of mankind and the Jinns were to gather together to produce the
like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if
they backed up each other with help and support.) [Al-Isra’: 88].
References: -
The Holy Quran - Revelation of Allah - Jehovah God
-
www.qurancomplex.com King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Glorious Quran
-
Readverse - Best search engine of the Quran
