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نُورCodex of Light All prophets

A prophet · link 24 of 25 in the chain

عيسى

Isa

Word of Allah, son of Maryam · one of the five of firm resolve

Born of no father, speaking from the cradle, healing by Allah's leave; a servant, a miracle, and he will return.

The story

His mother is the only woman named in the Qur'an, and an entire surah carries her name. To Maryam, the devoted of the sanctuary, the angel came in perfect human form with a sentence that rearranged nature: a pure boy, without a father. 'How?' she asked, and received the answer that had once made Sarah laugh and Zakariyya tremble: 'It is easy for Me' (19:21). The Qur'an sets his creation beside Adam's: dust, then 'Be', and he was (3:59).

She withdrew, and the pains drove her to the trunk of a palm tree, where heaven's care arrived as practical as a midwife: do not grieve, a stream at your feet, shake the trunk for fresh ripe dates (19:24-26). When she carried the child back to a city sharpening its tongues, her defense was the baby himself. From the cradle he spoke the creed of his whole life: 'Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet' (19:30). Servant first, before miracle, before mission.

Grown, he confirmed the Torah, lightened burdens, and worked wonders the Qur'an lists with a refrain attached like a seal: by Allah's leave. Clay birds breathed into life, the blind and the leper healed, the dead raised, each 'bi idhnillah' (3:49), power on loan, never owned. His disciples asked for a table from heaven and were given it with a warning attached (5:112-115); his people split between deniers and those who worshipped him, the two errors he was sent between.

The Qur'an is precise about his end: 'they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them... rather, Allah raised him to Himself' (4:157-158). He is alive, and his return is 'knowledge of the Hour' (43:61). On the Last Day he will disown every claim of divinity made in his name in one of scripture's most tender dialogues: 'I said to them only what You commanded me: worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord' (5:117). The final Prophet ﷺ called him his closest brother: one mother-faith, different mothers, no prophet between the two of them.

The Qur'an on it

From the cradle: 'Indeed, I am the servant of Allah.' The first word of the miracle child is servanthood.

Qur'an 19:30

The wonders, each stamped 'by Allah's leave': the bird of clay, the healed, the raised.

Qur'an 3:49

'The example of Isa is like that of Adam: He created him from dust.' The parallel that answers the mystery.

Qur'an 3:59

'They did not kill him, nor crucify him... rather, Allah raised him to Himself.'

Qur'an 4:157

'And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour.' The return.

Qur'an 43:61

His answer on the Last Day: 'I said to them only what You commanded me: worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.'

Qur'an 5:117

The narrations

The Prophet ﷺ said: I am the closest of people to Isa son of Maryam in this world and the next; the prophets are brothers, their mothers differ and their religion is one, and there is no prophet between me and him.

Sahih al-Bukhari

By the One in whose hand is my soul, the son of Maryam will soon descend among you as a just judge; he will break the cross, kill the swine, and abolish the tribute, and wealth will overflow until no one accepts it.

Sahih Muslim

In numbers

The journey

  1. The annunciation
  2. The palm and the stream
  3. Speech from the cradle
  4. Wonders by Allah's leave
  5. The table from heaven
  6. Raised, not crucified
  7. The return

Read beside it

The words

On the Path

People beside it