One law of creation by God relates to the beginning when nothing existed. This law, by which God brought things into being originally, is known in the terminology of the Holy Quran as the law of Ibda' (or origination). It is a manifestation of His Divine power, and only He knows how the creation was originated in the beginning. After that, the second means of creation began, by which God created everything from a pair. This second law of creation is termed the law of I`ada (reproduction or repetition) or the law of Zauj (pairing). These laws have been referred to in the Holy Quran as follows.

The Laws of Origination and Reproduction

[i.]"Surely He originates the creation and reproduces it."

(The Holy Quran, 85:13)

[ii.]"God originates the creation, then reproduces it, then to Him will you be returned."

(30:11)

The Law of Zauj or Pairs

[i.]"Glory be to Him Who created all the pairs, of what the earth grows, and of their own selves, and of that which they do not know."

(36:36)

[ii.]"He has created for you pairs from amongst yourselves, and pairs from amongst cattle. Thus does He cause you to spread."

(42:11)

[iii.]"And We have created you as pairs."

(78:8)

The male-female pairs in man and animals cause the species to propagate.

The Divine Law of Human Birth

[i.]"Then [after the first creation] He made his progeny from an extract of insignificant water [i.e. sperm]."

(32:8)

[ii.]"Surely We have created man from sperm mixed [with ovum]."

(76:2)

[iii.]"O people! Surely We have created you from a male and female."

(49:13)

[iv.]"Let man see what he has been created from. He is created of water pouring forth, coming from between the back and the ribs."

(86:5--7)

[ v.]"Surely He has created the pairs, the male and the female, from the sperm when it is cast."

(53:45,46)

This is the law relating to the creation or birth of a human being as set forth by God in the Holy Quran. No human child can be born contrary to this law of pairs.

No Change in Divine Laws

"And you will not find any change in the laws of God."

(33:62; 35:43)

Neither Jesus nor anyone else is outside this law of God, since the Holy Quran considers Jesus to be a mortal messenger. This is the first ground for holding that the birth of Jesus in fact took place under the law of pairs, as is the case with other human beings, and he was not born without a father. Let alone the question of a human individual being born without a mother or father, if it is supposed for the sake of argument that God could have a son, even that could not happen without the law of pairs, as the Holy Quran says:

"How could God have a son when He has no consort"

(6:101).

As God has clearly laid down in the Holy Quran His law of creation by pairs, unless He equally clearly states that He created Jesus, or some other individual, in contradiction to this law in a novel manner, one must accept that the means by which God brought about his birth were all according to the law of pairs. The issue here is not the unlimited power of God, as to whether He can create a human being without a father, for He has the power to create a human being even without a single parent. The question is only whether it can be proved from the Holy Quran and authentic Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad that God caused Jesus to be born without a father. When God Himself explains a law of creation through pairs, then unless He also says that He demonstrated His power by going against that law in a specific case, we cannot take any event as infringing that law. Our community does not give any importance to this particular issue (of the birth of Jesus); nonetheless, it is the duty of every Muslim to make known his sincerely and honestly drawn conclusions from the Holy Quran. Believing Jesus to have had a father or to have been born of a virgin does not affect our religious beliefs at all, because the issue of Jesus' birth has no place in the fundamentals of the Islamic faith.

As with other prophets, the prophethood of Jesus too must be acknowledged by a Muslim. The details of how and where he was born, where he spent his life, and where he died, are not constituents of faith. These are historical questions, knowledge of which can be acquired by research. In fact, modern research about Jesus has progressed so much that matters previously unknown are no longer secrets. Muslims and Christians have written hundreds of books on these topics.

BIRTH OF JESUS IN QURAN AND HADITH

Birth of Jesus in the Holy Quran

The first chapter of the Holy Quran to deal with the birth of Jesus is The Family of Amran, chapter 3 of the Holy Book. At the outset (3:6) this chapter teaches Muslims the principle that some verses of the Holy Quran are "decisive" or "basic", and some others are "allegorical", "figurative", or not clear-cut, and that the latter type of verse should be interpreted according to the definite, unambiguous teachings of the former type of verse.

At the beginning of the chapter, God has mentioned the spiritual blessings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, that only those who follow the Holy Prophet shall be loved by God. In support of this claim, the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is cited to show how in former times an Israelite woman attained nearness to God by following a prophet. Then the Holy Quran mentions the spiritual favours Mary received due to her following of her prophet.

In the history of Mary recorded here, the Holy Quran has given three main points of guidance to Muslims. Firstly, the Holy Prophet Muhammad is commanded to announce to people: "If you love God then follow me. God will love you and forgive you your sins" (3:31). It is conveyed in this verse that those who follow the Holy Prophet shall become the lovers and the beloved of God. To prove this assertion, the Quran adds that if you study the histories of the great prophets, such as Noah, Abraham and Moses, you find that amongst their followers there arose many men and women who were loved by God, who were spoken to by Him and guided by Him at every step. The example given is that of Mary. The verses point to her purity of character and devotion to God, even during her childhood and youth. Due to her piety and righteousness, angels used to descend upon her and guide her by disclosing news of the future. The Muslims are told that if they too want angels to descend upon them, and God to speak to them and guide them at every step, like Mary, they should become pure and devoted to worship. And if they follow the Holy Prophet Muhammad perfectly, God would give them the spiritual blessings He bestowed upon Mary. This is one reason for the Quran to give the history of Mary at this point.

Secondly, when God grants His revelation and knowledge of the future to His righteous servants, those people who are worldly-minded and have gone astray from Divine guidance consider these revelations of the holy ones to be based on the recipient's own desires and make many false accusations against the righteous servants of God, as the Jews did against a lady as holy and pure as Mary. When God gave Mary, before her marriage, the news of the birth to her of a great son, this revelation which gave her comfort, and increased her faith, was used by the Jews to level all sorts of false allegations against her. The Holy Quran refuted every one of these charges and not only proved her to be pious, godly and pure, but instituted among the Muslims an honour and title named after her, so that whoever would follow the Holy Prophet Muhammad perfectly and purify his character, in God's sight he would be the like of Mary or the like of the son of Mary. Thus did the Holy Quran not only clear Mary of the Jews' allegations against her, but bestowed upon her a high regard in the religion of Islam. Many righteous saints have there been amongst the Muslims who received from God the title `Mary' and styled themselves as `Mary' or the `son of Mary'.

Prophets' Ancestors in the Holy Quran

The Holy Quran has not just left the matter at explaining the law of procreation through a pair of parents, but where it mentions the prophets collectively, it states that they all had ancestors (on the father's side). We give below a translation of the Urdu rendering of verses 6:83--87 of the Holy Quran by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a very famous Indian Muslim scholar and writer of this century:

"And (look), this was Our argument which We gave to Abraham against his people…And We gave to Abraham, Isaac and (Isaac's son) Jacob. We guided them all to the right way, and had guided Noah before Abraham. And from the descendants of Abraham, We guided David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the doers of good (for their good). And to Zacharias, John the Baptist, Jesus and Ilyas --- all of these were of the righteous. And also to Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah and Lot --- We graced them over the people of the world. And of their fathers and descendants and brothers, many did We guide aright. We elevated them and guided them to the right path."

(Tarjuman al-Quran, vol. i, 1st ed., pp. 433--434)

In the above verses, amongst the prophets whose ancestors are mentioned is included Jesus as having ancestors in the same manner as the other prophets. Had Jesus been born without a father, he could not have been mentioned amongst the prophets whose ancestors are referred to.

Holy Prophet Muhammad's explanation

After the Holy Quran, the next authority is the Holy Prophet Muhammad, to whom this Book was revealed, and who had the best understanding of its meanings. The whole world can err in interpreting a particular point of the Holy Quran, but the Holy Prophet cannot. He is the premier commentator of the Holy Quran, and an explanation given by him has precedence over every other person's explanation. So the verdict that the Holy Prophet gave on the birth of Jesus, during his discussion with the visiting Christian delegation from Najran, must be considered by a Muslim to be the most correct in this matter. This discussion is recorded as follows:

"The commentators of the Holy Quran say that the delegation [of Christians] from Najran came to the Holy Prophet. It consisted of sixty mounted men, of whom fourteen were their prominent men. One of them was called al-Aqib, who was their leader and whose real name was Abdul Masih…A third was Abu Haritha ibn Alqamah, who was their religious head. He was in charge of their schools, and was the most respected of them. He had mastered all their literature, thus acquiring a deep knowledge of their faith. The Roman [Byzantine] emperors held him in high honour and had built churches in his name. These people came for an audience with the Holy Prophet…

"After their prayers, their leaders began talks with the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet asked them to adopt Islam. They replied that they were already following Islam. He told them that they were wrong because they believed God to have a son, and that their worship of the cross and eating the flesh of swine was contrary to Islam. The Christian leaders replied that if Jesus was not the son of God, then who was his father? Thus they continued to debate with the Holy Prophet about Jesus. Eventually, the Holy Prophet asked them: `Do you not know that there is no son but he bears resemblance to his father?' They replied, `Yes.' He said: `Do you not know that our Lord maintains everything, guards and sustains it?' They replied, `Yes.' He said: `Do you not know that Jesus was conceived by a woman as women conceive, and she gave birth to him as women give birth, and fed him as children are fed? And he used to eat food, drink water, and answer the call of nature?' They replied, `Yes.' He said: `Then how can your claim be true.' They could not answer and became silent."

(Asbab Nuzul al-Quran by Allama Abul Hasan Ali Neshapuri, 2^nd edition, p. 53)

Therefore, in reply to the Christians' questions as to who was Jesus' father, the Holy Prophet Muhammad silenced them and rendered them speechless by expressing the view (as it appears to us) that Jesus had a father. Had the Holy Prophet believed that Jesus was born of a virgin, he could not have given this reply. This discussion between the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the Christian delegation from Najran is recorded in almost all standard classical commentaries of the Holy Quran such as Tafsir Ibn Jarir, Tafsir Kabir, etc.

Mary's marriage in the Holy Quran

After all this proof, there was no need to mention specifically events such as Mary's marriage, but to provide a conclusive argument to the people of the world, the Holy Quran has also mentioned this. It tells us that before Mary's birth her mother had dedicated the child in the womb to Divine service in the Temple. When Mary was born, her mother prayed to God thus:

"I have named her Mary, and I seek protection in Thee for her and her offspring from the devil."

(The Quran, 3:36)

From this prayer it appears that, despite the fact that she devoted Mary to the Temple, it was not her intention that her daughter should remain a spinster for life. Rather, she knew that on growing up Mary would marry and have children. So she prayed not only for Mary but also for her offspring. When Mary reached the age of training, her mother gave her in the charge of Zacharias at the Temple. Under him she received the best spiritual upbringing, and upon reaching youth, prayers were enjoined upon her. As the Quran records:

"O Mary! obey thy Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow down."

(3:43)

After this, the Holy Quran mentions that guardianship about which there arose a dispute. The Quran is a very orderly Book, and here all the events are narrated in chronological sequence. First Mary's birth is mentioned, then her being entrusted to the charge of Zacharias, then her righteousness, purity and saintliness, and then the command to her to obey God and keep up prayer. These events lead up to her reaching adulthood.

Then, that guardianship is mentioned which means entering into matrimony. It was necessary to deal with the question of marriage when a girl reached adulthood, but as she had been devoted to the Temple, neither they, nor her parents could propose a match. As was customary, it was decided by casting lots as to who should take charge of her as his wife. Such a decision was believed to be the Divine verdict. And as Mary was well-known for her piety and noble character, it was natural that many should contend to have her as wife.

While all these matters were being discussed, it was natural that, hearing about them, all sorts of worries should arise in Mary's mind. So God set her mind at rest through His angels and gave her the happy news of a great son. She expressed astonishment at this prophecy in the words:

"How can I have a son when no man has touched me, nor have I been unchaste."

(19:20)

As she was not married at the time, or because there were hindrances in her way as one dedicated to the Temple, or because the sudden news of a son before marriage would be astonishing for a virgin, Mary expressed surprise as to how this would happen. The angel replied: "God says, It shall be so," i.e. it would be according to the natural law of mating that is being referred to. In other words, all the obstacles will be removed and she would be married, and the child would be born in the chaste manner. This same point has been mentioned twice elsewhere in the Holy Quran:

[i.]"And Mary, daughter of Amran, who guarded her chastity [by marriage --- ahsanat]."

(66:12)

[ii.]"And she who guarded her chastity [by marriage --- ahsanat]."

(21:91)

In these verses, Mary's marriage is mentioned, for the Arabic word ahsanat is used to mean 'marry'. In the Holy Quran the words muhsanat, muhsineen, and tahassun-an (all from the root h-s-n) mean, respectively, 'married women', 'men who enter into marriage with women', and 'to marry'. In the light of this, the words ahsanat farja-ha occurring in the above two verses mean that Mary guarded her chastity by marriage.

It is incorrect to assert that these words mean that Mary guarded her chastity by remaining a virgin. Muhammad Asad, a distinguished present-day Muslim scholar, in his English translation and commentary of the Quran, entitled Message of the Quran, comments on these words as follows:

"…it is to be borne in mind that the term ihsan…has the tropical meaning of `abstinence from what is unlawful or reprehensible', and especially from illicit sexual intercourse…thus, for instance, the terms muhsan and muhsanah are used elsewhere in the Quran to describe, respectively, a man or a woman who is `fortified (by marriage) against unchastity'. Hence the expression allati ahsanat farjaha occurring in the above verse as well as in 66:12 with reference to Mary, is but meant to stress her outstanding chastity and complete abstinence, in thought as well as deed, from anything unlawful or morally reprehensible."

(Note 87 on verse 21:91, p. 500)

Hence this expression is applicable to remaining chaste by marriage as Asad says.

In short, the Holy Quran has discussed all aspects of the issue of the birth of Jesus, without leaving anything out, and said, in our view, that he was not born without a father, but had a father, as did all prophets, and as do all human beings.

These are a few points of principle about Jesus' birth which we have concluded from the Holy Quran. If you disagree with our conclusions, please ponder over the Holy Quran because it invites everyone to think and reflect upon it. However, as the Holy Quran is a clear and decisive Book, please do not let alien beliefs influence you, for the Holy Quran is far and above these.