CLUE
1: Mother Anne and Baby Mary
Anne
(Hannah) prayed for GOD to give her a baby and promised in return to
dedicate him in
service
to
Solomon’s Temple
(in Jerusalem,
the place where al-Aqsa mosque now stands). When she gave birth to a
daughter,
she said.
..."My
Lord, I have delivered a female." And GOD was most knowing of
what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female.
“And
I have named her Mary (Maryam), and I seek refuge in You for her and
her descendants from the expelled Satan." [Quran 3:36]
(INTERESTING
FACT: Mary is 1 of 8 people to have a chapter named after them
(Qur’an, Chapter 19))
CLUE
2: Mary’s Miracles
Mary
grew up in the private prayer chamber (al-MiHrab) of Solomon’s
Temple praying and prostrating to GOD day and night.
Only
the head priest; prophet Zechariah, had access to her chamber but
sometimes he found her with fresh fruits! When Zechariah would ask
“who provided you with these fruits”? Mary would reply “GOD
provides to whom He wills”.
He
understood that Mary had been favoured by GOD above all women and he
spent more time teaching her in GOD’s laws.
“Behold!
The angels said: “O Mary! GOD has chosen you and purified you -
chosen you above the women of all nations” (Quran 3:42)
CLUE
3: Angel Gabriel visits Virgin Mary
Mary
was praying one day and angel Gabriel (Jibreel) appeared in the form
of a well-built man with a bright, shining face. Mary, now a young
teenager, was scared and tried to run away from him!
"Verily!
I seek refuge from you in the Most Merciful if you do fear GOD."
(The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord,
announcing to you the gift of a righteous son." She said: "How
can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"
He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: That is easy for Me:
And (We wish) to appoint him (Jesus
and his
virgin birth)
as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter decreed,
(Quran 19: 18-21)
GOD
breathed His Spirit
(RouH)
into Mary while she was still
a virgin.
Pregnant
Mary left the temple and went back to her home town, Nazareth, to be
with her family and hide from the public in a simple farm house.
Joseph the Carpenter was surprised when he heard her story.
He
questioned her: “Can a tree come to grow without a seed?" Mary
said: "Yes, the one which GOD created for the first time."
He
asked her again: "Is it possible to have a child without a male
partner?" She said: "Yes, GOD created Adam without male or
female”
CLUE
4: Birth of Jesus
After
a
few months,
Mary’s
womb
grew heavy and
she left Nazareth, not knowing where to go.
Mary,
when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. (Quran
19:17)
On
the way she
sat
down under
a palm tree
and
gave birth to a son;
Jesus (3isa).
During
the pains
of childbirth
she cried out:
"I wish I had died before this happened and had vanished into
nothingness!"
A
voice nearby replied: "Grieve
not, your Lord has placed a rivulet below, and shake the trunk of
this tree, And shake towards yourself
the
trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you.
So
eat and drink and regain the strength you have lost; and be of good
cheer, for what you see is the power of GOD,
Who made the dry palm tree regain life, in order to provide food for
you."
CLUE
5: Baby Jesus
Mary
returned to the temple. As she had expected, her arrival with a baby
in her arms made people suspicious. The rabbi’s started accused
her: 'This is a terrible sin that you have committed."
Mary
put her finger to her lips and pointed to the baby.
They
said "How can we speak to a baby?" Then Jesus performed
his first miracle and spoke
“I
am indeed a slave of God. He has given me the Book and made me
a Prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be. And He
has enjoined upon me prayers, and to pay the alms, as long as I live
and (He has made me) kind to my mother, and He has not made me
insolent, unblessed. And may Peace be upon me the day I was
born, and the day I die, and on the Day I shall be raised to life.”
(Quran 19:30-33)
Most
of the rabbis thought it was a trick but the chief Rabbi, Prophet
Zechariah, believed
the
miracle and Mary’s virgin
birth.
“He
shall speak to people while still in the cradle, and in manhood, and
he shall be from the righteous.” (Quran 3:46)
CLUE 6:
Prophet Zachariah prays for a child
Prophet
Zechariah was a
descendent of Aaron and righteous priest in charge of the Temple
services (khutbah). He was 92 years old and his wife, Elizabeth, was
too old to have children. However, inspired by the miracles he had
seen with Mary, he prayed to GOD for a child.
"O
my Lord, my bones decay, my head is white and hoary, yet in calling
You, O Lord, I have never been deprived.
But
I fear my relatives after me; and my wife is barren. So grant me a
successor of Your own.
Who
will be heir to me, and heir to the house of Jacob; and make him
obedient to You, O Lord"— (Qur'an
19:
4–6)
CLUE
7: Angel Gabriel visits Prophet Zachariah
Prophet
Zechariah’s prayer
was answered
and Angel Gabriel appeared to Prophet Zachariah in the Temple to give
the good news:
"O
Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be ‘Life’
(YaHya
– a.k.a. John (YoHanan) the Baptist):
on none by that name have We conferred distinction before."
He
said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son, when my wife is barren
and I have grown quite decrepit from old age?"
He
said: "So (it will be) thy Lord says,
'that is easy for Me: I did indeed create you
before,
when you
had been nothing!'"
But
Prophet Zechariah still doubted and asked for a clear sign. His sign
and punishment for doubting was that he was unable to speak until the
day the prophecy was fulfilled.
(Zakarya)
said: "O my Lord! give me a Sign." "Thy Sign,"
was the answer, "Shall be that you
shall
speak to no man for three nights."
(Qur'an
19:7)
CLUE
8: Birth of John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus
“And
Zachariah and John, and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the
righteous.(Qur'an,
6:85)
Mary
became pregnant
when
her aunt, Elizabeth
(Zechariah’s wife), was
in her sixth month of pregnancy.
Elizabeth
said
to Mary:
"I can see what is in my womb prostrating to what is in your
womb."
When
Elizabeth
gave birth
to a boy, on the
eighth day
he was circumcised. He was also to be named on that day. Elizabeth
insisted
his name was to be Life
(Yahya – aka John).
The
neighbours and relatives thought
the name
was strange and had not heard it before. They questioned
Zechariah
about it but he
wrote:
"His name is Life
(Yahya – aka John)",
and
as soon as he did, he could speak again.
CLUE
9: Prophet John the Baptist
"0
John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The Torah)." And WE gave him
wisdom while yet a child. And
affection'Ḥanān'
( Affection)
from Us and purity, and he was fearing of GOD . And dutiful to his
parents, and he was not a disobedient tyrant. And peace be upon him
the day he was born and the day he dies and the day he is raised
alive [quran
19:12-15]
John
was very merciful to his parents and all people and creatures. Most
children liked torturing animals but John fed animals with his own
food until none was left. He was vegetarian, only eating fruit,
grass, leaves, herbs and sometimes locusts. The Prophet Muhammad
said: "Shall I not tell you he who had the best food? It is John
son of Zechariah, who joined the beasts at dinner, fearing to mix
with men."
John
loved reading since childhood and he became the wisest and most
knowledgeable man of that time. He wept sorely in fear of GOD. John
wept so much that tears marked his cheeks. When John called people
to worship GOD, he made them cry out of love and truthfulness of his
words.
The
Roman King, Herod, was in love with Salome. On hearing the ruler's
plan, John pronounced that such a marriage would be incest. Salome
was angry and John was executed - his head was cut off!
CLUE
10: Young Jesus works Miracles on the Sabbath
It
was Sabbath, a day of rest: no fire could be lit or extinguished, nor
could females plait their hair. Prophet Moses had commanded that
Saturday be dedicated to the worship of GOD. However, the wisdom
behind the Sabbath and its spirit had gone.
The
Rabbis had made a hundred things unlawful on Saturday even
self-defence or calling a doctor to save a patient who was in bad
condition.
Jesus
was on his way to the temple. Although it was the Sabbath, he reached
out his hand to pick two pieces of fruit to feed a hungry child. He
made a fire for the old women to keep themselves warm from the
freezing air.
“When
this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a
rushing stream… he then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve
sparrows… but Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the
sparrows: “Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now
alive!” And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily.”
(Infancy Gospel of Thomas:2)
“I
create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe
into it and it becomes a bird with GOD’s permission.” (Quran
3:49)
