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In the first years of the prophethood of Muhammad, his people the Muslims were gravely persecuted by their pagan Arab neighbours. Muhammad himself, belonging to a powerful clan, was protected – his enemies could not risk blood-feud – but his followers in other clans were not so lucky. Muhammad sent them out of Arabia for their own protection. They went to Abyssinia, modern day Ethiopia, and requested sanctuary from the Negus, the Christian king there.
But the enemies of Islam sent emissaries and gifts to the Negus to persuade him to reject the Muslims. Calling his bishops to him, he summoned the Muslims and asked: “What is this religion for which you have separated from your people without entering my religion or that of any other community?”
Ja‘far b. Abi Talib, the cousin of Muhammad, explained that they were called out of idolatry by the God of Abraham, who sent the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad to lead the Arabs to the worship of the one true God, worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. The Negus asked them is they could give him anything which the prophet had received from God and Ja‘far recited a portion of the Koran about the Virgin Mary. By God, the Negus wept until his beard was wet, and his bishops wept until their scrolls were wet, when they heard what he recited. Then the Negus said, “Truly, this and what Jesus brought both came from the same niche.” And he refused to hand over the Muslims to their enemies.
The following day the emissaries told the Negus that the Muslims said a terrible thing about Jesus: that he was only a created being. The king sent for them and asked them, “What is it that you have said about Jesus, Son of Mary?” Ja‘far said “We say of him what our Prophet has brought us: that he is the servant of God, and His messenger, His spirit, and His word, which He sent into Mary the blessed virgin.” The Negus took a twig from the ground, and said, “By God, Jesus does not exceed what you have said about him by this twig.”
Some of his patricians around him snorted, but he said, “Though they snort, by God, go freely, for you are safe in my land. Whoever curses you will be fined. Not for a mountain of gold would I let one of you be hurt.”
The story retold here is recorded in the hadith (the accounts of the events of Muhammad's life). It is not likely to be historically accurate in all details. Nevertheless, it is an account of one of the very first events in the history of Islam and shows the respect that Islam shows for the Virgin Mary and Jesus, whom Muslims acknowledge as the Messiah. According to Islam, Jews, Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters in faith by virtue of their mutual worship of the God of Abraham; together, Jews, Christians and Muslims are known to Islam as ‘People of the Book'. Portions in italics are translations of the original Arabic.
The famous Madonna of Vladimir: it is considered by many to be the most perfect example of the icon of loving-kindness.
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Bismillahi rahmani rahimIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the MercifulAnd make mention of Mary in the Scripture, … We sent unto her Our spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art God fearing. He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste! He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a place. And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Thy Lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee, and shake the trunk of the palm tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. So eat and drink and be consoled. … Then she brought him [Jesus] to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. Oh sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. Then she pointed to him. They said How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, and hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and alms giving so long as I remain alive, and (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. The Holy Koran , excerpted from Surah Maryam, v.16-34.
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Graeme Castleman
