The Birthday of Jesus Christ Peace be upon him

An Extract from His Eminence’s speech at Abu Al-Nour Mosque
His Eminence Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro, The Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic, in his weekly lecture at Abunnour Mosque in Damascus, spoke about the birthday of Jesus Christ, son of Mary, peace be upon him.
Damascus, Syria
20 December 1996

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We as Muslims have learnt from the Holy Qur’an how to love Jesus, honour him and believe in him as we believe in all of God’s prophets and messengers. We find in the Holy Qur’an the second longest chapter named after Jesus’ family: The Family of Imran, who was the Virgin Mary’s father. The Holy Qur’an also contains another long chapter under the name of Mary, honouring her and speaking about Jesus’ birth.

All that is to indicate that enlightenment consists of successive circles, and that the source of heavenly messages is one despite the diverse legislation. The later legislation came to verify and perfect the former one because of developments over time and so on until the final legislation came with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Almighty God says in the Holy Qur’an:

“And We have revealed the Scripture to you with truth, verifying the previous Scriptures and guarding them in safety.” T.Q., 5:48.

Almighty God says in another verse:

“The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. They all believe in God, His angels, His Scriptures and His messengers. They say, ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers.’” T.Q., 2:285.

He also says:

“Say [O Muslims], ‘We believe in God and that which has been sent to us and that which was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets among his descendants, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and that which was given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit.’” T.Q., 2:136.

The Holy Qur’an is a combination of all heavenly messages and a call for belief in all of God’s prophets and messengers. So we can simply say that the Holy Qur’an encompasses the messages of all prophets starting with Adam and ending with Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them all.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said in one of his traditions, ‘I am the nearest of all people to Jesus, son of Mary.’ Sahih Al-Bukhari.

In another tradition he said, ‘I am the nearest of all people to the son of Mary. Prophets are paternal brothers, and there is no prophet between me and him.’ Sahih Muslim.

Celebrating the birthday of Jesus means to rejoice by reviving his teachings and those of his brother prophets and messengers.

Some of Jesus’ teachings are as follows.

‘Love your Lord with all your heart, mind and ability.’

‘Love your kin as much as you love yourself.’ This includes every human being who likes and does goodness to help the weak and support the oppressed.

This is Jesus’ religion, message and teachings.

So, are Americans and Europeans today Christian? Are they following Christ’s teachings? Do they treat the weak with mercy? Do they treat the needy, hungry and backward nations with help? Do their actions indicate belief in the message of Jesus Christ or disbelief?

Did Europe, who colonised the world, east and west, do that to follow Christ’s teachings or to plunder the resources and treasures of those weak people, enslave their children, dominate their cultures and change their national identity?
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(T.Q. = Translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an)
(pbuh = May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, and may Allah exalt his mention and raise his position more and more)