Jesus Christ and his Beloved Mother

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                          Bi ismillahi al rahman al rahim

sorry but i could not give a direct link to the following

Jesus Christ The Son of Mary and his Most Beloved Mother   

Translation of a talk given in Arabic 

at D�r al-Fatw� in Beirut , Lebanon 

on 10 January 2003 by the Shaykh 

AL-SAYYID AL-HABIB `ALI JAFRI OF YEMEN

Translated by GF Haddad - 

[email protected] - Dhul-Qi`da 1423 

Note: D�r al-Fatw� in Beirut is the chief Sunni body in charge of
giving fatw� in the Republic of Lebanon and comprises an Islamic
University that delivers bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in
the Shar�`a. 

[Subheadings and emphases added by the translator] 

{Glory belongs to God Who has sent down upon His servant the Book
and has not assigned unto it any crookedness} (18:1). I bear witness
that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and I bear witness
that our liege-lord Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. All�h bless
and greet and lavish His benediction upon him and upon his forefathers
and brethren among the Prophets and Messengers - our liege-lords
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the intervening Prophets, and upon his
House and Companions and those that follow them faithfully until the
Day of Judgment! 

THE HONOR AND PURPOSE OF RELIGION 

To proceed: God Most High, the Exalted, has granted us immense
honor and chosen us for this magnificent Religion, the Religion of
Islam which He was well-pleased to make the seal of all religions, the
Religion that is right and true for all times and all places. One that
belongs to such a Religion prepares himself for a most important task
and tremendous mission: excellence in bringing forth to the people of
the earth the manifest proofs for the discourses, the directives, and
the manifold guidance of heaven. 

Thus, the greatness of this Religion is that it has come to
prepare its adherents and followers for an immense task, the most
important task in this existence: to warn the people of the earth
against the errors in which they live and which signify, in this world,
great destructive strife and dissension and all sorts of diseases and
problems while they signify, in the next world, great hindrance from
the convoy of the blessed whom God the Most Glorious chooses for His
good pleasure. This is our mission. 

COMPREHENSION (FIQH) OF THE MISSION 

When the Muslim and the Believer becomes fully aware and
comprehends his mission, he is then able to understand others with that
comprehension of his mission. And to the extent that the Muslim and the
Believer only dimly understands the greatness of the mission with which
God entrusted him exclusively of others, he is hardly able to
understand well and widen the scope of his relationship with creatures
in all their variety. 

When we say "hardly able" we do not only mean the wrong behavior
that stems from inflexibility, prejudice, and extremism. We are saying
that he is hardly able to understand in all the senses of being hardly
able to understand, whether through inflexibility, or wronging others,
or harming them without any justification, or, on the other hand,
because of a debility he finds in himself which causes him to lose
touch with his own mission. >From this debility follows the
dissolution of his personality into his connection to his surroundings
in this world. He is liquefied just like a liquid. He takes the form
and color of his container and cannot have the least influence on
others. Both matters are wrong. 

THE VASTNESS OF COMPREHENSION 

However, when the Believer fears God and fully comprehends the
gravity of his mission, he realizes that his Religion is the one vast
Religion: vast - vast! - and comprehensive. If he comprehends how to
inter-relate with it, he becomes vast enough for the folk of the earth
and the folk of the heaven in his connection and his relationship. 

THE MEANING OF "BECOMING VAST" HERE IS TO GIVE EACH AND EVERY
THING ITS DUE RIGHT; EXCELLENCE IN CONVEYING THE MESSAGE OF GOD
REGARDING THE PATH OF RIGHT; EXCELLENCE IN TREADING THE PATH OF RIGHT;
EXCELLENCE IN DEALING WITH THE SCALE OF THE SACRED LAW BOTH TOWARD
THOSE WHO ACT EXCELLENTLY AND THOSE WHO ACT WRONG - WHETHER SUCH BE
ALLIES OR ENEMIES - WITHOUT THE LEAST PART NOR GAIN IN ALL THIS FOR THE
EGO. 

INCOMPREHENSION CAUSED BY THE EGO 

Every inability that any creature on the face of the earth
experiences in fully comprehending [the Religion] in the sense of
understanding how to inter-relate with others around him - mostly human
beings but also jinn, inanimate forms, vegetation, and animals - every
such inability is caused only because such a person has contented
himself with his egotism and his exclusive attachment to the demands of
his ego. THE STRONGER THE EGO BECOMES IN MAKING ONE DO ITS WILL OR
FULFILL ITS DEMANDS AND ITS LUSTS, THE WEAKER DOES ONE BECOME IN
UNDERSTANDING HIS SURROUNDINGS WHETHER IN PERCEPTION (FAHMAN) OR
ABILITY (TA'AHHULAN). 

Thus, the weakening of comprehension is connected with
perception; and the weakening of comprehension is connected with
ability. Perception is the basis, after which it produces interaction
(ta`�mul). 

THE COMPREHENSIVE GOODNESS OF ISLAM 

Also among the manifestations of the magnificence, vastness,
preparedness (tahayyu'), and suitability (sal�hiyya) of this Religion
for action in every context of time and place: the fact that this
Religion has produced excellence in all of its past ages; guided us to
connect us to everything right and good in what has passed; and
assigned for us in this a golden rule by which we know how to produce
everything right and good in all things to come. 

This is why our Religion is the only Religion that comprehends
the totality of the Prophets and Messengers in belief, confirmation,
loyalty, and love. You do not find any of the other religions believing
in all the Prophets. You only find, here, an exception of this Prophet,
there, an exception of that Prophet, and there, yet other exceptions.
As for us, the Muslims, God has made it religion for us to have
complete belief and faith in the message of all the Messengers and the
Prophethood of all the Prophets. More than that: the belief of any
given believer among us becomes invalid if he does not believe in the
Prophethood of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Noah and other of the Prophets
whom God Most High mentioned in His Book. 

The vastness of acceptance we just mentioned makes our Religion
encompassing and comprehensive (j�mi`). It is the quintessence
(khul�sa) of what the Prophets have conveyed and enjoined to their
respective communities. Anyone of us that reads and recites the Qur'�n
with contemplation of and affect from the magnificent greatness of that
Book, will find news from our liege-lord Noah; before him, our
liege-lord Adam; after them, H�d; after him, S�lih; after him, Abraham;
after him, Moses; just as the news do come regarding our liege-lord the
Christ - upon our Prophet and upon him the best blessings and
salutations of peace! 

MUHAMMAD THE QUINTESSENCE OF PROPHETS 

What is the purpose of all this in the context of our receiving our
guidance from our liege-lord Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace?
Would it not be enough that the news come to us [only] regarding our
liege-lord Muhammad? No, because THE ORIGIN OF THE NEWS CONCERNING OUR
LIEGE-LORD MUHAMMAD IS A VAST CAPACITY OR RECIPIENCY (SI`A) INTO WHICH
WAS POURED THE QUINTESSENCE OF WHAT ALL THE PROPHETS BROUGHT SO THAT IT
WOULD BE EMBODIED IN THE PERSON OF OUR LIEGE-LORD MUHAMMAD. The
blessings of my Lord and His salutations of peace upon him and his
House! 

On this basis we can know the high rank of our liege-lord the
Christ, upon him peace. On this basis we can know the high rank of his
mother - Mary, upon her peace. Thus do we know that the two of them
have received an exalted rank in the presence of God Most Glorious and
Exalted. We also know that our liege-lord Jesus stands out from the
rest of the Prophets, in our relationship with him, with a special
characteristic. 

OUR SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PROPHETS 

Our relationship with the entirety of our liege-lords the Prophets
consists in belief, love, faith, and the learning of lessons and
wisdoms from their stories, the reports that come from them, and their
lives. We may hear, for example, that the father of Prophets, our
liege-lord Abraham, upon him peace, stands out in his connection to us,
in a way, because Primordial Monotheism (al-han�fiyya) is ascribed to
him; also, because he is one of the forefathers of our liege-lord
Muhammad - upon him blessings and peace; and because he actually
supplicated for God to send Muhammad at the end of times. 

Moses, upon him peace, obtained a special characteristic in his
connection to us in the fact that he is the one that advised our
liege-lord Muhammad - upon him blessings and peace - to ask God Most
Glorious and Exalted for leniency when the prayer was made obligatory -
fifty daily prayers. 

However, our liege-lord the Christ, upon him peace, stands out in
his connection to this Community of Isl�m (Umma). Together with the
lessons we take from God Most High in the Qur'�n and from the words of
the Beloved in the Sunna - God bless and greet him and his House and
Companions - in the reports about our liege-lord Jesus, the jihad of
our liege-lord Jesus, the high character of our liege-lord Jesus, the
values of our liege-lord Jesus, the immense rank of our liege-lord
Jesus before his Lord, the superlative knowledge of our liege-lord
Jesus which he received from his Lord, in addition, WE, THE MASSES OF
THE MUSLIMS, HAVE A SPECIAL CONNECTION WITH A CERTAIN GREAT MISSION OF
OUR LIEGE-LORD THE CHRIST. 

OUR SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHRIST JESUS 

This great mission is that, among the major signs of the final Hour
and among the keys of the huge deliverance that will dawn upon this
Community of Isl�m, there will come a time on this earth when the call
to the pre-morning prayer will be raised in Damascus - at the white
minaret East of Damascus; the im�m will want to step forward to lead
the prayer when - lo and behold! - the people will watch in
astonishment while our liege-lord Jesus descends from the heaven, his
two hands resting on the wings of the angels, his head seemingly
dripping with water, wearing clothes which our liege-lord Muhammad -
upon him blessings and peace - described in great detail. He said that
the color of his clothes resembled saffron dye, as if his clothes had
been dyed with saffron and wars. 

Our Prophet Muhammad - upon him blessings and peace - described
for us the very appearance of the clothes in which Jesus would descend!
Such vestmentary description signifies nothing other than additional
emphasis on reflection, perception, and discernment (dhawq) for the
meaning of our connection with this great master who was thus honored
by his Lord. 

THE DESCENT OF JESUS 

He will descend. When the Im�m Muhammad al-Mahd� - a scion of the
Prophetic House - sees him as he was readying himself to lead the
prayer, he will move back and say to our liege-lord Jesus: "Step
forward, Spirit from God!" 

It has been mentioned in the had�th that the breath of our
liege-lord Jesus, the day he descends, does not encounter a disbeliever
whose belief is despaired of, except that disbeliever will die on the
spot. This is due to the greatness of the spiritual state in which our
liege-lord Jesus will descend: a heavenly state for one beloved of God
among God's servants whom He caused to perdure in the nearest heaven
for more than two thousand years, after which he descends to this
earth. Hence, as stated in the had�th narrated by al-Tirmidh�, he does
not breathe one breath except every disbeliever this breath reaches
will die on the spot, and his breath reaches the extent of his gaze.
That is, when our liege-lord Jesus descends upon this earth, his breath
will reach as far as his eyes can see. 

JESUS AND THE MAHDI 

When our liege-lord the Mahd� sees him he will move back and say:
"Step forward, Spirit from God!" Jesus will say: "The call to prayer
was raised but for you, therefore, step forward!" Then our liege-lord
Jesus will pray behind our liege-lord al-Mahd�. Because of this, it was
said that among the immense merits of this Community of Isl�m is that a
Prophet beloved of God and brought near Him - one of the Messengers of
High Resolve (ul�l-`azm) - will pray behind an individual from this
Community. 

After the dawn prayer, our liege-lord the Mahd� will step back
and hand over the leadership of the Community of Isl�m to our
liege-lord Jesus. When our liege-lord Jesus receives the leadership of
the Community he will take up the flag and prepare the army to march to
Jerusalem so as to seize it back and return it to truth and guidance
and light. 

THE GREAT DECEIVER (DAJJAL) 

In that time the Great Deceiver or Dajj�l will have appeared. All
the uproar and loud cries of the voices of money and materialism in the
world today, in all their manifestations, are only preliminaries for
the Dajj�l. Everything that you see in this world producing weak souls
and raising entire generations with the most tenuous of links to
principles and values - people made into worldly automatons,
worshippers of the world, their sole concern the world, their thought
the world, their religion the world, their consciences the world - when
the people are ripe in this sense, the Dajj�l will emerge onto this
world in the form of a missionary - a reformist missionary. 

He will appear among the people then he will acquire fame and
more fame. Many miracles will show at his hands. He will claim
Prophethood. Then he will claim Divinity - our refuge is All�h! We
might very nearly have to envisage or imagine that a Muslim can
actually follow some misshapen creature walking this earth and whom he
will consider his Divine Lord! 

However, the Most Beloved - God bless and greet him and his
Family - told us about the Dajj�l. He said he might enter an all-Muslim
town and then exit it, all its population now disbelievers! God is our
refuge from such a thing! Someone asked, what is the reason? It was
said that the reason is that he will go to people whose hearts have
grown attached to love of the world and whose entire identities have
thoroughly mixed with the world and its train. For such, "whoever pays
leads" (man yadfa` yutba`)! 

This is what the people are being trained for today. They are
being prepared for the Dajj�l and his sovereignty. They are being
educated today - in their economy, their politics, their societies,
their relationships, their commerce, their undertakings and
derelictions - all on the debilitated foundation that is the attachment
of hearts to trivial worldly interests. 

Whoever pays leads. For this was it related that the Dajj�l will
roam the earth. God will permit that people be tried at his hands. He
will have control of their sustenance - agriculture, food, water - to
the point he will say, "O heaven, rain!" and rain will pour; "O earth,
sprout!" and vegetation will grow; "O plantations, bear fruit!" and
fruit will ripen; "O living one, die! O dead one, rise!" and the dead
will rise. God will grant him these displays and watch those whose
hearts have latched upon externalities (maz�hir) be seduced while those
whose hearts have latched upon the Hidden and Manifest (al-b�tin
al-z�hir) remain oblivious to all but Him. 

It was related that the Dajj�l will roam the entire earth. It was
related from the Beloved that he said: "Let none of you ever wish to
meet the Arch-Deceiver!" In addition to the extreme gravity of the
warnings of the Beloved against the Dajj�l, he even said that there had
never been any Prophet except he warned his people about the strife of
the Dajj�l. Indeed, IN EVERY PRAYER, AFTER RECITING THE FINAL
WITNESSING OF FAITH (TASHAHHUD) AND THE BENEDICTION UPON HIS PURE SELF,
HE WOULD SEEK REFUGE IN HIS LORD FROM "THE TRIAL (FITNA) OF LIFE AND
THE TRIAL OF DEATH AND THE TRIAL OF THE ARCH-DECEIVER MASIKH." May God
save us and you from his trial! 

He - upon him blessings and peace - insisted so much on the
terrible gravity of the Dajj�l's strife before the Companions that some
of them said, "We believed he was already among the date-trees of
Mad�na." They believed he had arrived and would appear any moment among
the people because of the fear caused by the reports of the Prophet -
upon him blessings and peace - about him. 

THE DIVINE PROTECTION 

Despite these incessant warnings and the fear caused by this
forthcoming strife, the Messenger of God - upon him blessings and peace
- said: "Whoever recites S�rat al-Kahf the night before Jumu`a and its
day, God will protect him from the strife of Dajj�l." 

O Messenger of God! You told us of a calamity that would shake
the entire earth - a man that would control the world from East to
West, roaming the earth, in his hand many of the powers that cause
these calamities. The people of faith will experience hunger, poverty,
distress. Then you said, after warning us of this terrible disaster
that would befall us - so great that the Companions themselves thought
the Dajj�l had almost come out - that the remedy is to recite S�rat
al-Kahf the night before Jumu`a and its day? One S�ra of the Qur'�n
containing one hundred and ten verses. Are you telling me that if I
recite it, I will be safe from this huge disaster? 

He says yes! So that you would understand that the greatness of
this safety and salvation are linked to God Most High. WE ARE A
COMMUNITY OF ISLAM WHOSE SALVATION AND SAFETY AND PRESERVATION DO NOT
DEPEND ON SHORT-SIGHTED EXTERNALITIES AND POWERS NOR ON THEIR "MOVERS
AND SHAKERS". We are a Community whose paths of salvation in the world
and the hereafter consist in the attachment of our hearts to this most
glorious Book, in the arousal of feelings in our hearts telling us of
the greatness of the message that comes from God. There is no Muslim
that regularly reads S�rat al-Kahf every night before Jumu`a and every
day of Jumu`a except he obtains a guarantee from the Beloved Elect -
upon him blessings and peace - regarding his salvation from the trial
of the Dajj�l. 

It was related from both Ibn Mas`�d and al-Hasan al-Basr� that
they received the news or rather heard the rumor that the Dajj�l had
come out. Al-Hasan laughed. He was asked "What makes you laugh?" He
replied: "If he came out now, the boys of al-Basra would play with him
the way they play with a foot ball." Why? Because in the time in which
al-Hasan and Ibn Mas`�d were told of this rumor, the people had a firm
foothold in certitude in their relationship with God. The sway of the
Dajj�l and his power cannot in the least affect hearts upon which the
lights of certitude have dawned. THE SWAY OF THE DAJJAL HOLDS ONLY OVER
HEARTS WHOSE CERTITUDE HAS WILTED AND WHOSE ATTACHMENT TO EVANESCENT
MATTERS HAVE GROWN STRONG. 

THE INVINCIBILITY OF MADINA 

It was related that the Dajj�l would roam the earth and that when
he reaches Mad�na the Radiant - upon its dweller the best blessings and
greetings of peace! - and desires to enter it, the angels will stand in
front of him at the gates of Mad�na and bar his passage. They will
stand in front of him at a place the Messenger of All�h - upon him
blessings and peace - has named for us - al-Jurf - a place known today
in Mad�na al-Munawwara. He will stand on a mountain there and look
toward the Mosque of the Beloved and his grave, saying: "Look there, at
that white building: that is the palace of Ahmad ." He will try to
enter but will be unable. Some of his followers will bring some people.
The Prophet - upon him blessings and peace - said that when the Dajj�l
stands at the gates of Mad�na, Mad�na will shake three times; at that
time, anyone in whose heart remain hypocrisy and dissemblance or other
than firm attachment to God Most High shall be corrupted and follow the
Dajj�l. One of the narrations specifies they will reach eighty
thousand. God is our refuge from that! 

THE RIGHTEOUS WITNESS 

Some of the soldiers of the Dajj�l will seize a man from among the
righteous whom they think to be a common person. They will stand him
before the Dajj�l who will say to him: "Do you believe that I am your
Lord?" He will reply: "No! You are none other than the Arch-Deceiver."
He will say: "I am your Lord!" "No! You are the Dajj�l!" He will say:
"I am your Lord!" "No! You are the Dajj�l!" He will then order for a
saw to be brought. The saw will be placed in the middle of the
righteous man's head and he will be sawed in half until he becomes two
separate pieces and the horses will pass between the two. Then the
Dajj�l will give an order. He will be brought back together again and
the Dajj�l will pass his hand over him, after which he will live a
second time, by the power of God. When he comes alive the Dajj�l will
look at him, thinking that he has definitely gained control over him,
and say: "I have caused you to die and caused you to come alive again.
Do you now believe that I am your Lord?" The man will reply: "My
certitude has only increased that you are the Dajj�l of whom the
Messenger of All�h - upon him blessings and peace - told us!" He will
order him to be killed but will be unable to do so anymore. 

THE KILLING OF THE DAJJAL 

Just as the Dajj�l orders the righteous man to be killed he will
hear a voice crying out: "The Spirit from God, Jesus, has descended!"
When the Dajj�l hears the name of our liege-lord `Is� he will shake and
tremble in fear. He will rush to Palestine . There, the army of our
liege-lord Jesus and our liege-lord al-Mahd� will meet the army of the
Dajj�l at the gate of Ludd. When the Dajj�l looks and sees our
liege-lord Jesus, upon him peace, surrounded with a halo of light, the
Dajj�l will melt - as mentioned in the had�th - just as salt melts in
water. Our liege-lord Jesus will approach him and so will our
liege-lord al-Mahd�. They will strike him with their two swords and
kill him. 

O nations of the Believers, this matter is not just a story we
hear for our hearts to be moved a little. This is about living, this is
a method one follows, a path one takes, this is a transaction that is
going to take place and in which we are going to be involved. AT THIS
VERY MOMENT THE ARMIES OF THE CHRIST ARE GETTING READY AND SO ARE THE
ARMIES OF THE DAJJAL. THE MEANING OF THIS PREPARATION IS THAT CERTAIN
ATTRIBUTES IN THE HEARTS ARE RISING AND TAKING FIRM ROOT IN THE ARMY OF
TRUTH AND RIGHT WHILE CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES ARE ALSO FORMING IN THE ARMY
OF FALSEHOOD. 

CHRIST, ANTI-CHRIST, AND THE JEWS 

It is also said that the wisdom for which God has the killing of
the Dajj�l take place at the hands of our liege-lord the Christ is that
the Dajj�l is the manifestation of the oppression of materialism while
our liege-lord the Christ is the manifestation of the supremacy of the
spirit in this existence. The Dajj�l is also named "anointed" (mas�h),
but "the anointed arch-liar and deceiver" (al-mas�h al-kadhdh�b
al-dajj�l). He was named mas�h because at some point in his career he
will claim that he is our liege-lord the Christ. 

This is because when the Jews fought the Christ - the spirit from
God - and refused to believe in him and submit to his mission, they
then denied that the Christ had appeared even as it was written in
their books that the Christ would appear. Therefore, they claimed that
our liege-lord Jesus was a great liar - and he is far exalted beyond
their claim! - and they opposed him and tried to kill him. But God
saved him, {They did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a
likeness of that was shown to them} (4:157). 

Then our liege-lord the Christ was raised up to the near heaven -
upon him peace - and the Jews remained as they were, in their belief
that the Christ had not yet come out. They are now waiting for a christ
to come, and their christ is the Dajj�l. About ten years ago or more a
manifestation took place in Tel-Aviv in which a large placard was
hoisted, saying: "Welcome to the impending appearance of the Prince of
Peace." This is the one they claim to be the Christ, but he is the
Arch-Deceiver. 

THE SECRET OF THE CREATION OF JESUS AND MARY 

The entire matter is connected to the days in which God caused our liege-lord Jesus to exist. 

The time in which our lady Mary was born - the purest and most
blessed, upon her peace! - was a time in which the tyranny of
materiality held full sway over the Jews. The interests of the world
dominated them completely. They even altered the word of God for the
purpose of their buying and selling - the rulings of the sacred Law.
God forbade usury in all the dispensations, so they altered the rulings
and made usury permitted to themselves. They made permitted to
themselves much of what God had forbidden them. They made up clouds to
obscure the order of the heavenly call which had been directed to them
for the purpose of running after material concerns. They became slaves
of materialism. 

Among the Jews there remained some righteous souls such as the
Prophets and their entourage and those that affiliated themselves to
them. Among these righteous souls was our lady Hanna the mother of our
lady Mary, upon both of them peace. Hanna was one of the righteous
women, one of the Godwary, worshipful, devoted to prayer and good
works. She had great love for Prophets, saints, and the devotees that
were in Jerusalem . When she became pregnant from her husband, she felt
that she might give birth to a boy and so she vowed that what she
carried in her womb would be dedicated to the service of God. {Lord, I
have vowed to You, in dedication, what is in my womb} ( 3:35 ). She
vowed that the newborn would serve the temple of Jerusalem so as to
become prepared for the service of the Religion. 

HANNA'S VOW 

Look at the effect of intention. What is our goal when we want to
have children, what is our intention? The very deliverance which the
Community awaits, at the hands of our liege-lord Jesus, upon him peace!
- there will be for Hanna an ample portion of its reward and benefit.
For she possessed an intention with God! Look at this fortunate woman
who, when she intended that in her offspring there would be someone who
serves God, someone who would serve this Religion, when she was
truthful in such an intention, God honored her because of her
intention, but not in the way she thought. For she gave birth to a
female child. 

(And when she gave birth to her she said, Lord, I have given
birth to her, a female. And God knows very well what she had given
birth to; the male is not as the female. And I have named her Mary, and
commend her to You with her seed, to protect them from the accursed
Satan( ( 3:36 ). What was the reply? (Her Lord received the child with
gracious favor(. The sum total of what the hearts of the truthful seek
is that their Lord receive them with gracious favor! {Her Lord received
the child with gracious favor, and by His goodness she grew up comely.
Zachariah taking charge of her} ( 3:37 ). The intention of Hanna made
the one she bore to be accepted, even though it was other than what she
had envisaged and wished for, since she had wished for a boy and she
got a girl. 

RIGHTEOUS AND TRUTHFUL INTENTIONS ARE NOT IN VAIN IN THE PRESENCE
OF GOD REGARDLESS OF THE JUDICIAL CALCULATIONS OF HUMANKIND AND EVEN IF
HUMAN HOPE AND HUMAN PLANS DID NOT MATERIALIZE. A girl came, but
intentions are never lost in the presence of God - and thousands upon
thousands of men are not worth Mary's foot! 

SECLUSIONS AND MIRACLES OF MARY 

She gave birth to our lady Mary. Our Lady Mary grew up, fed with
purity, light, Godwariness, and righteousness. Those of the Prophets,
saints, and hermits that were in Jerusalem drew lots to see who would
take charge of her. The lot fell to Zachariah. He was a relative of
Mary. Zachariah placed her in a mihrab. The mihrab back then was not
the prayer-niche we know today but consisted in an isolated cell or
tower that had no door nor opening except from the top. It could be
entered only with a ladder from the outside and another ladder down
into it. Zachariah placed her in it. He would bring her food and go.
She practiced her devotions and worship in absolute dedication and
chastity, orienting herself wholly to her Lord in her cell. 

God showed our liege-lord Zachariah certain wonders. {Whenever
Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had
food. He said: O Mary! Whence comes unto you this (food)? She answered:
It is from God. God gives without stint to whom He will. There
Zachariah prayed unto his Lord} ( 3:37 -38). Consider the saying of
God, {There}. Zachariah is a Prophet and therefore better than our lady
Mary who is a truthful saint (Sidd�qa). However, because of the high
rank which our lady Mary gained, upon her peace, she became in a
position to teach one of the Prophets! At that point, one of the
Prophets actually became her pupil in the Religion. 

They said that our liege-lord Zachariah wondered from where the
fruits he found there came. They said he would find with her the fruits
of winter in the summer season and the fruits of summer in the winter
season. He knew full well that no one other than he entered that place
which was shut tight and inaccessible - but, more importantly, such
fruits were not to be found in the land since they were out of season!
She said, {It is from God}. 

Yes, O Prophet of God, the fact of the matter is the certitude
that sustenance is from my Lord and not from any created cause. We do
know that we are commanded to deal with created causes and effects -
however, if created causes and effects have been suppressed, then the
sustenance of God Almighty can never be suppressed! 

{There Zachariah prayed unto his Lord}. He asked for a pious offspring. God gave him our liege-lord John, upon him peace. 

Then came the tremendous event in which God manifested Himself and
for which He had prepared our lady Mary. {And make mention of Mary in
the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber
looking East} ( 19:16 ). The Ulema said that {East} was an allusion to
the Orient from where the sun rose - that is, to the East from her
perspective. The people are accustomed to praise the East because it is
the place from the direction of which the light comes. {When she had
withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East and had chosen
seclusion (hij�b) from them} ( 19:16 -17). They said that the hij�b
meant she hid herself from mankind to dedicated herself to the Divine
worship. After she tasted the sweetness of worship in her cell she
wished to taste the sweetness of worship in her travelling on the
earth. 

ANNUNCIATION 

{Then We sent unto her Our spirit and it assumed for her the
likeness of a perfect man} ( 19:17 ). When she saw our liege-lord
Gabriel, he assumed for her an excellent likeness, the likeness of a
human being. {She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from
you, if you are God fearing. He said: I am only a messenger of your
Lord} ( 19:18 -19). She realized the secret behind his presence - the
receiving of the manifestation (tajall�) that dawned upon her from God.
{That I may bestow on you a faultless son} ( 19:19 ). What is behind
such a gift? {She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has touched
me, neither have I been unchaste! He said: So your Lord said} ( 19:20
-21). 

Consider now the presence of food for our lady Mary as she was in
her cell, dedicated to her worship, without means nor sensory cause.
THIS WAS A PREAMBLE SO THAT OUR LADY MARY WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT FOR THE
EXISTENCE OF THE NEWBORN, ALSO, THERE WAS NO PRE-CONDITION OF MEANS.
The matter was not, for our lady Mary, merely a mental apprehension.
Rather, it was a discernment of certitude and of the heart (dhawq
yaq�n� qalb�). For she witnessed and saw with her very eyes the Divine
gift with which human custom and cause-and-effect were breached right
in front of her! After that, she did not consider it strange that a
customary cause be breached in the occurrence of a newborn child for
her. 

BIRTH OF JESUS AND FURTHER TESTS OF MARY 

Then came the time for giving birth. It was said that the spirit
[of the child] was breathed into her, the pregnancy took place, and the
time of birth came all at one and the same time. Do not think this
strange. The matter, from beginning to end, violates custom. The matter
is one of the manifestations of the power of God Almighty! 

When she felt the time of birth had come, {And the pangs of
childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree. She said: Oh,
would that I had died before this and had become a thing of naught,
forgotten!} ( 19:23 ). When she reached this stage, the Ulema pondered
why she had asked for death while she was in the very midst of Divine
generosity. One of them said: "Because she knows that the Israelites
had reached such a lowly state of vile attachment to the world and its
overwhelming lusts and materialism that they would never accept the
sight of God's favor and the breach of customary laws that took place
with Mary." Someone else said, "No, she wished that she had not lived
to see that day only because God had shown her that her son might one
day be worshipped together with God Almighty." 

She gave birth to our liege-lord Jesus - upon our Prophet and
upon him the best blessings and salutations of peace! The lights of
Jesus dawned upon this earth. When he saw the [distraught] state of his
mother he addressed her even as he was in her womb or from below her
[after birth]. He caused her to apprehend another meaning that reminded
her of the magnificence of God Who is with her - High and Exalted! {And
shake the trunk of the palm tree toward you, you will cause ripe dates
to fall upon thee} ( 19:25 ). 

Here we tend to recite this verse without pausing. The palm tree
is solid. It is difficult for a human being to shake it. A strong and
mighty man would hardly budge a palm tree, even a number of men! The
palm tree trunk at the bottom is very large while its top is thin so
that the wind can move it. Try to move a fully grown palm tree at the
bottom of its trunk, you will not be able. How then can a woman in the
weakness of giving birth be able to shake it? Yet this act is demanded
of her and it is not sufficient for her to merely see the Divine
bounty. 

In the first two phases, she saw the Divine gift before her. The
first time was for her schooling. Lo and behold, fruits and sustenance
descended from the heaven and were laid before her without her asking.
The second time she was told that she would give birth without outward
nor sensory cause and without connection to any man, again, without her
asking. Now, it is asked of her that she herself move the palm tree. 

Some of the Ulema said that this was an allusion to the world of
cause and effect and to the fact that mankind is not to leave aside
material means even though they rely on their Causator. This is a fine
explanation. However, there is another meaning. THE CERTITUDE THAT HAD
BUILT UP IN OUR MOST BLESSED LADY MARY - UPON HER PEACE - THE VIRGIN,
HAD TAKEN ROOT IN HER CONSCIENCE WITH SUCH STRENGTH THAT IT WAS NOW
ASKED OF HER TO DO WHAT NO MIND WOULD ACCEPT TO DO WHATSOEVER. 

LESSONS FROM MARY'S CERTITUDE 

The mind says that in such a state there is no way for her to move
the trunk of the palm tree. However, the order or directive came to her
from her own child - a breach of custom in its own right, a newborn
infant speaking - and with this same breach of custom she was ordered
to stretch her hand to do what she knew she was unable to do of her own
power howsoever! And this is a meaning from certitude to which our lady
Mary ascended. 

We own a share of this certitude which we ought to grasp and
follow. When God Most Glorious and Exalted asks us to do something from
which we find our strength falling short, we ought not to procrastinate
obeying the Divine order with the excuse that we are too weak or that
others are stronger. The day the Umma reaches the certitude that when
they are true in helping God, God will help them [47:7] - at that time
the palm trees of existence shall shake for this Community!

Edited by rami