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The Spirit of Allah
The Story of Our Prophet 'Isa
'Isa sat in the temple, in Jerusalem. He was thirty years of age. He
was tall and thin. He was bare-footed and wore a woolen shirt. He
thought about the fate of his people.
'Isa left the temple and headed for the hills. The shepherds took
their sheep and returned home. The sun was about to set. 'Isa thought
about the children of Israel and asked himself: "How can I guide the
children of Israel to the Light? How can guide them to the right path?"
The sun set, so the shepherds returned to their houses, the sheep to
their yards, birds to their nests, and children to their mothers' laps.
As for 'Isa, he did not return to his house. Why? Because he had no
house.
He slept in the wilderness. He went to the caves in the mountains
when it rained or snowed. When he became hungry, he ate wild plants.
Thus, 'Isa led a life of freedom and asceticism. He feared no one
except Allah. He lived honorable, for he had no ambition in this world.
When the evening came and it was time to sleep, 'Isa put a stone
under his head, lay on his back, and looked at the sky full of stars.
Suddenly, the angel appeared and filled the place with light. He said
to 'Isa: "Allah order you to annouce His message.
Thus, 'Isa assumed the responsiblility of spreading Allah's message.
Allah Almighty supported him.
The Heavenly Announcement
The market was full of people. 'Isa stood up to announce the news of
the Sky. He said bravely: "Children of Israel, I am Allah's apostle to
you. I will verify what is before me of the Torah and give good news of
an Apostle who will come after me, his name is Ahmed."
At that time Fontius Flatos was the ruler of Palestine.
The Caesar ordered the rulers to fulfill the demands of the people in
the occupied regions if they did not harm the security of the Roman
Empire.
The ruler watched closely what was happening in his country.
One day he received reports about what had happened in his country.
It had been mentioned in the reports: "A young man called 'Isa says that
he is Allah's apostle, and that he summons people to follow Allah's
religion and to refrain from corruption.
The Jewish clergymen were displeased with 'Isa's message. Why were
they displeased with 'Isa's message? They were displeased with it
because it summoned people to help the poor and to give food to the
hungry, and because 'Isa said that the Jewish clergymen had distorted
the Torah, and because the Jewish clergy men deceived the poor and took
their belongings as gifts for gods.
At that time some Jews disbelieved in the Day of Judgment and life
after death. They did not believe in reckoning. punishment, and reward.
They did not say that openly. They acted religiously but in reality they
deviated from religion. They showed belief and concealed unbelief.
The Struggle
The Jewish clergymen started their war against 'Isa; they spread
rumors against him and accused him of unbelief. They said with malice:
"If 'Isa is a prophet, then where are his miracles?
Musa had many miracles, then what has 'Isa brought?"
They said obscene words against Maryam.
They accused her while she was chaste.
In the wilderness, 'Isa summoned the children of Israel to believe in
the spirit and to refrain being materialistic.
A Jewish clergy man said: "The spirit is the material that circulates
through our veins."
'Isa, son of Maryam said: "The spirit is Allah's word."
"I do not know what you say," commented the Jewish clergy man.
'Isa bent and took a handful of clay, and then he sked the Jewish
clergyman: "What is this?"
"A handful of clay," answered the Jewish clergyman.
"Does it have spirit?" asked 'Isa.
"No," replied the Jewish clergyman.
"I will make of it a shape like a bird, and then I will blow into it
and it will become a bird with Allah's permission.
The Jewish clergyman said with astonishment: "What do you mean?"
'Isa replied: "I mean that I am able to blow into it and it will turn
into a bird with Allah's permission. That is because Allah gives life to
all creatures, and He has power over all things.
At that moment, 'Isa created a shape like a bird and blew into it.
Suddenly, the handful of clay turned into a white pigeon. The pigeon
clapped its wing and flew away in the blue sky.
'Isa was filled with humbleness for Allah, the Almighty, the Creator.
The Disciples
Did the children of Israel believe in 'Isa? Did they prostrate
themselves to Allah? The answer is certainly 'no'. The Jewish clergymen
increased their malice against 'Isa, and they rumored among the simple
people: "'Isa is an unbelieving young man!"
They plotted to kill him. 'Isa saw unbelief in their eyes, so he
said: "Who will be my helpers in Allah's way?"
So twelve men rose and said: "We are helpers (in the way) of Allah."
Then they looked at the sky and said: Our Lord, we have believed in
what you have revealed and we followed the apostle, so write us down
with those who bear witness."
Azir
Our prophet 'Isa had a friend called 'Azir. 'Azir was a believing
young man, so 'Isa loved him very much.
One day 'Isa went to 'Azir's house and asked about him. A woman came
out weeping and saying: "'Azir died and was buried three days ago!"
Our prophet 'Isa asked the woman: "Do you want to see 'Azir?"
The believing mother answered: "Yes, Allah's Spirit!"
'Isa said: "Tomorrow, I will come and give him life with Allah's
permisison.
In the early morning, 'Isa came and said to the mother: "Come with me
to his grave."
'Isa stood by the grave, looked at the sky, begged Allah, and said
with firm faith: "'Azir, wake up!"
Suddenly, the dust moved aside, the grave split open, and 'Azir came
out of it.
The mother embraced her son with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Our prophet 'Isa asked 'Azir: "Do you want to stay with your mother?"
'Azir replied: "Yes, Allah's Word!"
'Isa explained: "Allah has given you a new life. You will marry, and
Allah will grant you good children."
The Heavenly Food
Allah inspired the disciples to believe in Him and His apostle, and
they said: "We have believed, and bear witness that we have submitted
(to You)."
The disciples followed 'Isa, son of Maryam. They believed in him and
supported him. They were a small army, but they were strong.
'Isa was notable here and in the hereafter. He was so believing that
Allah accepted all his supplications.
'Isa asked Allah for miracles to make people believe in Him.
'Isa was like a good shepherd who took care of his sheep and
protected them from wolves. The poor from among the children of Israel
were like lost sheep. The hypocrites were like wolves; they took the
poor and taught them to disbelieve in the message of 'Isa (A.S.).
One day 'Isa and his disciples went to the nearby hills. They wanted
to spread faith among the people of the villages.
They sat by a fountain. 'Isa began washing the disciples feet. So the
disciples asked him: "Why are you washing our feet, Allah's apostle?"
'Isa said humbly: "I want you to treat people as I treat you; I want
you to serve them as I serve you."
The disciples became hungry. 'Isa satisfied his hunger with some wild
plants, but the disciples were unable to do that. 'Isa renounced this
world, he taught himself how to control his stomach.
The disciples said to each other: "'Isa created a bird from the clay
with Allah's permission. He gave life to 'Azir with Allah's permission,
so he is able to ask Allah to send us food from the sky."
For this reason, they asked him: "'Isa, son of Maryam, can your lord
send us food from the sky?"
For this reason, they asked him: "'Isa, son of Maryam, can your Lord
send us food from the sky?"
'Isa was moved, so he asked himself: "Do they doubt Allah's power?"
Then he said to them: "Fear Allah if you are believers!"
They said: "We desire that we should eat of it, and that our hearts
should be at rest, and that we may know that you have spoken the truth
to us and that we may be of the witnesses to it."
They wanted to say: "We want food from the sky so that our hearts are
sure of it, and we will bear witness to this miracle before all the
people. Therefore, the food will be another proof of truthfulness for
you, 'Isa. Moreover, we want to get the blessing of heavenly food."
'Isa(A.S.) kept silent, his bright face became sad, and his eyes
blazed with heavenly light.
'Isa prostrated himself to Allah, the Lord of heavens, and then he
looked at the blue sky and said from the bottom of his heart:
"Our Lord, send down to us food from heaven, which should be an ever
recurring happiness to the first of us and the last of us, and a sign
from You, and grant us means of subsistence, and You are the best of the
providers."
Heavenly light blazed and covered the place. 'Isa (A.S.) and the
disciples heard Allah's voice saying to them: "Surely, I will sent it
down to you, but whoever shall disbelieve afterwards from among you
surely I will chastise him with a chastisement with which I will not
chastise any one among the nations."
Excellent food came down from heaven. It had bread and meat. Its
flavor traveled through space, so the hungry and the poor came to 'Isa.
They found with him excellent food, so they ate and drank and went away.
At the Beach
Our prophet 'Isa (A.S.) went to the beach to visit the fishermen.
Seeing 'Isa, the fishermen cheered: "The teacher has come!"
They were sad because they threw their nets into the see, but all
their attempts came to nothing.
Some fishermaen sat at the beach; some sat on their boats and looked
at 'Isa with sadness; so they folded their sails and were hopeless.
'Isa embarked a boat and ordered the fishermaen to go fishing.
The fishermen raised their sails and followed the boat of 'Isa
(A.S.).
'Isa ordered the fishermen to stop at a certain place in the Blue Sea
and to throw their nets into the water. A surprising thing occurred! The
fishermen drew their nets and they were full of fish. They went on
fishing till their boats were full of fish.
The fishermen thanked Allah for that and returned to the beach.
The Healing
One day one of the disciples asked our prophet 'Isa to go with him to
his house. 'Isa accepted and went with the disciple.
On his way there, 'Isa saw a young man wailing and some people
mocking him. The young man was dumb and deaf. He did not hear anything,
so he was not able to speak. However, he looked at the people with
perplexity when the laughed at him.
'Isa put the palm of his hand on the young man's ear and he was able
to hear. The people were astonished when they knew that the youne man
was able to hear, so some of them believed in 'Isa and followed him.
Then 'Isa went to his friend's house.
In the morning, 'Isa heard some people hitting the door with stones,
so he went out to see what was happening.
When 'Isa went out, he saw a leprous person walking and some people
hitting him with stones to force him to leave the village.
The people hit the leprous person with stones from far and felt
disgust at seeing him.
'Isa put the palm of his hand on the leprous person's face and healed
him of his disease.
As for the people, they pushed one another to touch 'Isa's hand to be
blessed by it.
The Plot
'Isa devoted his life to helping the poor, the miserable, and the
needy. He guided the people to the right path and gave them good news of
the most honorable Prophet, Mohammed (S.A.W.), whom he called the
Comforter. He said to them: "As for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom
Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and remind you
of what I have said to you."(John's Gospel).
'Isa read to the people what had been mentioned in the Torah; he read
to them what Allah, the Glorified, said to Musa (A.S.): "I will appoint
to them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my
words in his mouth, so he will tell them about all what I will entrust
to him."(Torah,the Deuteronomy).
For this reason, the Jewish soothsayers bore malice agaist 'Isa and
provoked the people to kill him. They rumored that 'Isa was a magician,
and that he turned away from Musa's religion.
One day, while 'Isa and his disciples were sitting in the temple, the
Jews rushed to kill him. Thus, Filatos, the ruler, ordered the police to
arrest him to protect him from the wickedness of the Jews and to know
his view and message.
'Isa was taken to the palace, and the mob followed him, so Filatos
came out of his palace to ask them about the reason why they were
indignant with 'Isa.
The mob shouted everywhere: "'Isa is an unbeliever, apostate, and a
traitor!"
Thus, the bodyguards closed the gate of the palace. Then Filatos
consider carefully 'Isa's face. He saw his eyes blazing with love and
peace, so he said to himself: "Surely, this young man has sincere
views."
Then Filatos asked 'Isa: "Do you provoke people against my
government?"
'Isa answered with confidence: "No, I don't. I ask them to think
about the Creator of the world, to treat each other kindly, and to serve
Allah, the One and Only."
Filatos had read the Greek philosophers' views, so he understood that
'Isa's views would not endanger Rome.
For this reason, the bodyguards opened the gate of the palace and
released 'Isa.
As for the Jews, they rumored that 'Isa had impressed his views on
the ruler, and that the ruler wanted to betray the Caesar.
The Jews were wicked; they were not satisfied with spreading rumors,
so they sent letters t the Caeaar to remove the ruler from office.
Thus, the country was full of chaos. He was afraid that the Jews
would overthrow his government, so he let them behave as they pleased
towards 'Isa.
The Jews were filled with malice against 'Isa. They were as wild as
wolves, so they tried to cut him into pieces with their own teeth. They
wanted to kill him because he brought them humane views and the true
religion Allah revealed to our prophet Musa (A.S.).
The Jewish clergymen held a noisy meeting. In the meeting they
discussed how to arrest 'Isa, son of Maryam, (A.S.).
Thus, the spies went everywhere to look for him, but they did not
find him. The Jewish clergymen were anxious because 'Isa had hidden
himself.
They thought that 'Isa would endanger their interests, so they
allotted expensive prizes to those who would capture him or give
information about him.
Isa's Hardships
'Isa and his mother faced many hardships in this world.
The Jews persecuted Maryam from the day when 'Isa (A.S.) was born.
They did not believe in this miracle, and, besides, they accused Maryam
of corruption when they said: "'Isa's father is a person called Yousif
al-Najjar.
When 'Isa grew up and assumed Allah's message, the Jews persecuted
him everywhere. Now, they provoked the government to kill him, and they
accused the ruler of betraying the Caesar.
The Jews succeeded in getting a green light to kill 'Isa, so they
searched for him everywhere. Meanwhile the Roman ruler ordered his
soldiers to arrest him.
Where did 'Isa go?
'Isa moved secretly from one place to another. He and his followers
spent each night at a different place. One night 'Isa (A.S.) and his
disciples hid in a farm. When they had eaten their food, 'Isa rose to
teach his followers a lesson in humbleness. He washed their hands and
said: "I've done that to be an example to all of you; therefore behave
humbly and modestly towards people."
On that night 'Isa felt treason, so he said: "I want to tell you that
the shepherd will go, the sheep will stay by themselves, and one of you
will disbelieve in me before the rooster crows three times."
Thus, the disciples looked at each other; they saw the eyes of
Yahudha al-Askharyuti blazing with treason.
On that cold winter night, 'Isa and his followers slept except
Yahudha, who went out of the farm.
Yahudha thought of gold and the expensive prizes, so he went to the
temple where the Jewish clergy men sat waiting for news of 'Isa.
Yahudha tole the chief Jewish clergyman about 'Isa and in turn he
took gold.
When the rooster crowed three times, the Jewish clergy men ordered
the Roman soldiers to accompany Yahudha. Yahudha did not want anyone to
recognize him, so he veiled his face.
He walked and the soldiers walked behind him. The people woke when
they hears the soldiers' noise. Tens of soldiers broke into the farm,
and the disciples escaped in all directions.
Allah wanted to punish Yahudha, so he made his face look like 'Isa's.
As for 'Isa, Allah lifted him to the sky and saved him from the Jews'
ugly plot.
The Cross
The Roman soldiers did not find 'Isa. They did not recognized him
because they had not seen him before. During that chaos, they looked at
Yahudha's face which looked like 'Isa's, so they captured Yahudha and
went away.
The Jews want to get rid of 'Isa quickly, so they ordered the Romans
soldiers to crucify Yahudha at the Hill of al-Jaljala and they took him
there and crucified him. Thus, the Jews imagined that the story of 'Isa
was over.
Did the story of 'Isa end?
The asnwer is 'no', for many rumors about his coming were spread.
Perhaps, the rumors were spread by the poor, who loved 'Isa.
However, the Jews were afraid of those rumors because they were not
sure of murdering 'Isa, so they rumored that they had crucified him.
As for the truth, it is what Allah, the Glorified, has mentioned in
the Qur'an:
"And they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared
to them so (like 'Isa..., and they killed him without certainty. Rather,
Allah took him up to himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise."(The Holy
Qur'an,4,157-158)
'Isa will come someday, When will he come?
He will come on the promised day when the twelfth Imam of the holy
Ahl al-Bayt, Imam al-Mahdi (A.S.), of whose coming our prophet Mohammed
(S.A.W.) gave good news, comes.
'Isa will support al-Mahdi, the truth will defeat falsehood, and love
and peace will prevail on earth.
