THE PROPHET ISA (peace be upon him)
The Israelites had settled in the blessed land, Palestine. They ruled for a long time.
They had a vast kingdom. Allah, the Almighty chose many prophets from among them. They
followed the Holy Book, the Torah. The Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) and his son
Prophet Sulaiman (peace be upon him) won great popularity as kings and commanded high
respect. Their followers believed in God and led noble lives. As the time passed by, they
began to pay less attention to the teachings of God. They forgot the Divine favours. They
made alterations in the Holy Book according to their own tastes. Most of the Israelites
adopted indecent ways of life and committed major sins. At that time there existed a
powerful kingdom in the world. It was called the kingdom of Romans. They were polytheists
and pagans. They did not worship one God and prayed to many idols made of stones. The
Roman society was divided into two factions. The ruling class was very strong and arrogant
whereas the ordinary people lived in misery. They were ill-treated as slaves. The female
sex enjoyed no privilege in that era. Palestine, the blessed land was ruled by Herod, a
cruel king. The people disliked him. They were scared stiff of him. They could not utter a
word of complaint against him lest they should be put to sword.
Allah, the Beneficent, showed His favours and wanted to guide the depraved humanity to the
right oath. He desired to make the people believe in Allah through miracles. Maryam (Mary)
was a beautiful maiden. She was virtuous, abstemious and chaste. She used to pray to Allah
frequently. Site grew up in the house of prophet Zakariyya (peace be upon him) and learnt
a good deal about Allah and His religion.
One night Maryam was engaged in glorifying the Almighty, Allah. Suddenly she saw a
handsome looking young man. She got embarrassed and her face turned pale. She felt jittery
and had goose pimples on her skin. Soon after she got tranquillity of mind. She heard a
voice from the invisible world:
"I am an angel of Allah. He has sent me to inform you that you are going to have a
baby."
Maryam was much perplexed. As she was a virgin, it was quite impossible for her to give
birth to baby without entering into matrimonial allegiance with an opposite sex.
Once again the Angel remarked: It is the Will of Allah, the Almighty that you should give
birth to a fatherless baby. It is easy for Him to do what He pleases. He has His own
reasons. I, however, convey you the good news. Soon after the Angel vanished. Maryam
became wet with perspiration. She apprehended that her name would be sullied if she gave
birth to a baby before marriage.
After some days Maryam became pregnant. Many people began to level false accusations
against her. They calumniated her for developing contraband relations with a man. The
whole population of the town derided Maryam. She was feeling terribly ashamed on hearing
the baseless charges of slanders. She had a firm faith in Allah. She was sure that Allah
would help her in washing away a blot on her fair reputation. She prayed to her Lord
frequently to save her honour. The people passed taunting remarks about her every now and
then.
When site was reduced to straits by the mischievous persons, she decided to leave Nazareth
and settle in another town. She went to a locality called Bethlehem seventy-one miles away
from her native town.
She resided near a manger under a palm-tree. Soon after her arrival there Prophet Isa
(Jesus Christ) was born. Maryam washed, cleansed and dressed him. He looked very beautiful
and attractive. Some of the people got wind of that incident and visited Maryam who gave
birth to a fatherless baby. They also made fun of her and began to ask questions. As
Maryam had been directed by Allah not to utter a single word for three days from the
moment she gave birth to a baby. She complied with the orders and refrained from talking.
When the people pressed her hard to reply to their questions, the baby began to utter some
words to clarify the position of his pious mother. The listeners were much surprised. They
were full of excitement. Isa (Jesus Christ) claimed to be the Prophet of Allah. He advised
the people to follow the right path and do noble acts. When the people got a convincing
proof regarding the truthfulness and chastity of Maryam, they were much impressed and
amazed.
The birth of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) became a talk of the town. Herod, the king,
got wind of that miracle. He became worried lest people should obey the directions of the
newly born Prophet and neglect his orders. He issued terrible orders to kill all those
babies who art under the age of two years. The parents became much upset because they
thought that they would be deprived of their affectionate children after the
implementation of those orders. Allah guided Maryam to migrate to Egypt to seek protection
for her baby. She carried out the orders and reached Egypt after a troublesome journey.
They stayed away from home for twelve years. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) grew up
gradually and Allah gave him a good deal of wisdom and knowledge. In the meantime Herod
passed away and the people took a sigh of relief. Maryam felt a great pleasure. She picked
up her belongings and proceeded towards the blessed land again. She, along with her baby
reached there after a long journey.
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was handsome and dignified. When he had attained the
age of thirty years, he began to preach the religion of Allah. Most of the people were not
convinced and thus he was exposed to ridicules. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
entreated Allah to grant him a miraculous power to impress the people. Allah gave him that
power. He showed many miracles which won the hearts of the people. Gradually they became
his followers and began to believe in him and his message.
One day Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was preaching to a large gathering. He exhorted
the people to believe in Allah and follow His religion. Most of them turned a deaf ear to
his instructions. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) tried to convince them with a
miracle. He took some wet clay in his hand and made the statue of a bird with it. He blew
his breath on the clay. It became a real bird with wings, eyes and legs by Allah's power.
It flew up chirping in the sky. The people looked at the bird but could hardly believe
their eyes. They were wonder struck at the sight of this miracle. They were so impressed
that they began to take the oath of allegiance to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) kept on preaching and many people began to believe in
true religion. One day a man came limping towards him. He had suffered from leprosy. He
was looking terrible due to lumps on his face. His fingers were crooked and he had lost
some toes. The people were scared of him. They detested him but the heart of Prophet Isa
(peace be upon him) was bleeding for the wretched man. The diseased man said in the weak
tone: Cure me, cure me. I am disgusted with my life. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
knelt and supplicated for his recovery. He patted at his shoulders. He recovered and his
face became clear. All the lumps vanished in the twinkling of an eye. The crowd was much
amazed at the sight of this miracle. Every one was much impressed. The people began to
follow the teachings of the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him).
One day the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) was going through the street which was narrow
and winding. He came across a man who was blind and dumb. The Prophet Isa (peace be upon
him) decided to show mercy to him because he was kind-hearted. He put his hand on the
shoulder of the man. The blind man opened his eyes and Allah restored his eye sight.
Moreover he was endowed with the power of talking. He expressed a deep sense of gratitude
for the kindness shown by the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). This miracle impressed the
spectators and they began to follow the teachings of Allah.
A man, Lazarus passed away and his sisters, Mary and Martha fell into melancholy and
extinction. They were making preparations to perform burial ceremonies. The mourners
flocked at the residence of the deceased. Suddenly the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
appeared on the scene. He knelt down and started to pray to Almighty Allah. After a short
time Lazarus was revived by the grace of Allah. He got up and began to talk. Every one
jumped out or joy. They began to acknowledge the supreme power of their Lord. The Prophet
Isa (peace be upon him) came to remind the people of the teachings of the other Prophets.
He advised the people to believe in Allah and pray to Him only. He asked them not to
indulge in back-biting, oppression, sinfulness and impiety. He directed his followers to
do noble deeds. He taught them to be loving and tolerant. He also had his own revelations.
The Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) had twelve disciples who assisted him in preaching.
They helped him in spreading the religion of Allah during the life of Prophet Isa (peace
be upon him) and afterwards.
The preaching work by Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) lasted for three years. A
considerable number of people began to follow him. They adopted good ways of life. The
Romans and the Jews were much worried because of the prevailing influence of Prophet Isa
(peace be upon him) and his disciples. They feared lest they should rise in revolt against
them. They decided Isa, the Prophet to be crucified.
Allah loved his Prophet. He wanted to save him. On the other hand the Romans made a heavy
big cross of wood to put their plan into practice. There was a large gathering and the
soldiers were standing all around where Isa, the Prophet was supposed to be crucified.
Even those people who were against the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) were
feeling queezy inside. They did not agree with the idea of crucifying him. Allah ordered
some one who bore resemblance to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) to take the place of the
Prophet on the cross. In fact the man who was analogous to Prophet Isa (peace be upon him)
was crucified and his own life was saved in this manner.
Most of the teachings of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) are still in the Gospel but some
of the things written in the Bible are not in original form. They were changed and some
additions as well as subtractions have been made in his teachings.
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