The birth of ^Isa (Jesus) peace be upon him.
The great scholar Ibn Jarir and other scholars narrated that one day, Maryam ran out of water. She asked her cousin, Yusuf, to go with her to get some water. He declined, saying he had his water for that day. So Maryam went to fetch water alone. There, she found Angel Jibril, whom Allah had sent to her in the shape of a man. Thinking he was a human who might harm her, she asked refuge with Allah from him. Jibril told her, ‘’I am the Messenger of your Lord to you. I was sent to give you a pious child who is pure from sins.'' Maryam told him, ‘’How would I have a son? I have no husband, and I am not an adultress or a fornicator.'' Jibril told her, ‘’Creating a son without a father is an easy matter to Allah. Allah will make him for the people a sign of the Power of Allah. He will send him as a mercy from Him and an endowment to the those who follow him and believe in him. Creating him is a matter Allah willed and destined, so it will not be blocked or changed.''
Jibril blew the soul of ^Isa into Maryam and ^Isa’s soul entered into her womb. Maryam became pregnant with ^Isa, peace be upon him. There is a difference of opinion as to the term of her pregnancy. Some scholars said it was nine months long, some said eight, and some said otherwise. However, when the signs of pregnancy became apparent on her, her cousin, Yusuf, the Carpenter, was disturbed and did not know how to interpret that matter. He knew how pious she was, so he could not accuse her of fornication. On the other hand, the signs of pregnancy called for attributing fornication to her. So he decided to open the subject with her. He asked her, ‘’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 that Allah made the plants emerge without seeds on the day He created them? Did you not know that Allah created the trees the first time without rain? Did you not know that Allah created Adam and Hawwa' (Eve) without a father or a mother?'' Yusuf 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 Allah .
When the signs of her pregnancy became apparent, Maryam went away from her people. The pangs of birth led her to the trunk of a dead palm tree. Out of her shyness from the people, and fearing they would accuse her of having done an ugly act, she wished she was dead and not a trace of her could be found. Jibril called her to comfort her. He told her that Allah made a small river run under her from which she could drink, and should she shake the trunk of the dead palm tree next to her, it would turn green. Then moist dates would fall down, from which she could eat and be nourished. Jibril told her that when she faced her people with her son to tell anyone who questioned her about him that she had made a vow not to talk to any human for that day. That day, Maryam gave birth to her son, ^Isa, peace be upon him. Forty (40) days later she carried him back to her people. They accused her of having fornicated. In response, Maryam pointed to her son, telling them to talk to him. They were angered at this and thought she was mocking them by asking them to speak with a 40-day old baby lying in a small cradle. At this, Allah made ^Isa speak. He said:
30 قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا
31 وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا
32 وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا
33 وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا
which are verses 30-33 of Surat Maryam and mean: [I am a slave of Allah. He will reveal the Book to me and make me a prophet. He blessed me wherever I am. In the rules revealed to me there will be a special attention given to Prayers and Zakah. Allah has predestined that I will be kind to my mother and not a tyrant with a bad ending. Peace was on me the day I was born. Peace will be on me on the day I will die and on the day I will be resurrected.]
When Maryam's people heard that, they refrained from harming her or Prophet Zakariyya, about whom they had made ugly accusations. After baby ^Isa spoke these words, he did not speak again until he became at an age when children normally begin to speak. ^Isa's speaking from the cradle was a preparation and a sign of his creed and coming prophethood, when he would call the people to believe in Allah, the One Who does not have a partner, and to believe in the message of ^Isa -that he was the slave and messenger of Allah. The first words he spoke were, ‘’I am the slave of Allah.''
The ascension of prophet ^Isa (Jesus) to the sky
When Prophet ^Isa was 33 years old, the blasphemers among the offspring of Israel plotted to kill him, but Allah saved him from their harm. Ibn Abi Hatim and an-Nasa'iyy narrated from the route of lbn ^Abbas that he said:
Prophet ^Isa was in session with twelve of his elite companions in a house. He told them that some of them would blaspheme in the future. Then he asked them, ‘’Who among you would volunteer to be made to look like me, be killed in my place, and be my companion in Paradise.'' The youngest among them stood up and said, ‘’I.'' Prophet ^Isa told him to sit, then repeated his same question. Again, the same young man said, ‘’I.'' Again, Prophet ^Isa told him to sit, then asked the same question. After the same young man volunteered for the third time, Prophet ^Isa told him <<you are the one>>. Prophet ^Isa was raised to the sky from an opening in the ceiling of the house. When the Jews came after Prophet ^Isa , they saw that young man, whom Allah made to look similars to ^Isa. They took him, thinking he was Prophet ^Isa and crucified him
It should be noted here there are two widespread false stories about this matter. In one, it is claimed that one of ^Isa's students was paid a great sum of money to lead those Jews to ^Isa . However Allah made this student look like ^Isa , so they thought he was ^Isa and they crucified him. In another, it is said that the person killed in place of ^Isa was the leader of the Jews. Both of these stories are false.
After Prophet ^Isa was raised to the heaven, his nation lived following his guidance, teaching, and methodology for two hundred (200) years. However, the nation of Prophet ^Isa did not remain steadfast to Islam. Many people who claimed to follow the rules of ^Isa perverted those rules and changed the statements of the Injil. Three hundred (300) years after Prophet ^Isa was raised to the sky, those who were following the ones who had perverted the teachings of Prophet ^Isa became very numerous, and those who were truly following the Religion of Islam were few and weak. After some five hundred (500) years, none of the believing Muslims of ^Isa's nation were left. When Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him began receiving Revelation, he was the only Muslim living among people on Earth, worshipping solely Allah.
Prophet ^Isa's Decent to earth.
Prophet ^Isa peace be upon him, is still alive- in the second heaven- worshipping Allah. He will descend to Earth before the Day of Judgment and his descent will be one of the great signs of the nearing of that Day. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him informed us that ^Isa will descend to Earth at a place on the eastern side of Damascus, with his hands on the wings of two angels. He will meet a group of Muslims getting ready to perform the prayer, with the Mahdiyy as their Imam. The Mahdiyy will ask Prophet ^Isa to lead them in that prayer. However, ^Isa will ask the Mahdiyy to stand Imam for them- as a sign that Prophet ^Isa will rule with the rules revealed to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. After this one time, ^Isa will lead the people in prayers because he has a higher status than the Mahdiyy.
After he descends, Prophet ^Isa will rule the Earth with the Shari^ah of Prophet Muhammad, the Shari^ah which Muslims are ordered to follow until the Judgment Day. He will kill the Dajjal, an ugly, evil blasphemer who claims himself as God, and who misleads many people to blaspheme. Prophet ^Isa will perform Hajj and travel to visit the grave of Prophet Muhammad to salute him. He will greet him by saying, ‘’As-Salamu ^alaykum ya Rasul- Allah '', as narrated by Abu Dawud at-Tayalisiyy and others. This means: ‘’Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah''.
During his time, the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) will appear and cause great destruction to Earth and devastation to Muslims. Prophet ^Isa will take the believers to Mount at-Tur where they will supplicate Allah to relieve them from these people. Allah will answer their du^a' and destroy all the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. After that, Prophet ^Isa will rule the Muslims and there will be a time when peace, comfort, and safety prevail.
After he descends, Prophet ^Isa will live for forty (40) years on Earth. He will marry and have children. Then, he will die and be buried. ^Abdullah Ibn Salam said, ‘’It is written in the original Torah that Prophet ^Isa will be buried next to Prophet Muhammad. '' (in the chamber of Lady ^A'ishah.)
May Allah make us from the companions of prophet ^Isa......If we live till then......Allah Kareem. Imagine being alive during that time and your eyes lay upon prophet ^Isa....What a great honour and endowment from Allah.
