Christmas Story & Message
As you settle down today, please take a moment to read the following Christmas story and take another moment to consider it’s source:
"And mention in the Book (the story of) Maryam (Mary), when she secluded herself from her people to a place towards East,
then she used a barrier to hide herself from them. Then, We sent to her Our Spirit, (Jibra’īl/Gabriel) and he took before her the form of a perfect human being.
She said, ‘I seek the Lord of Mercy’s protection against you: if you have any fear of Him [do not approach]!
but he said, ‘I am but a Message-giver from your Lord, [come] to announce to you the gift of a pure son,
She said, ‘How can I have a son when no man has touched me? I have not been unchaste,
and he said, ‘This is what your Lord said: “It is easy for Me - We shall make him a sign to all people, a blessing from Us.
And so it was ordained: she conceived him. She withdrew to a distant place,
and, when the pains of childbirth drove her to [cling to] the trunk of a palm tree, she exclaimed, ‘I wish I had been dead and forgotten long before all this!
but a voice cried to her from below, ‘Do not worry: your Lord has provided a stream at your feet,
and, if you shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, it will deliver fresh ripe dates for you,
so eat, drink, be glad, and say to anyone you may see: “I have vowed to the Lord of Mercy to abstain from conversation, and I will not talk to anyone today.
She went back to her people carrying the child, and they said, ‘Mary! You have done something terrible!
Sister of Aaron! Your father was not an evil man; your mother was not unchaste!
She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?
But [he] said: ‘I am a servant of God. He has granted me the Scripture; made me a prophet;
made me blessed wherever I may be. He commanded me to pray, to give alms as long as I live,
to cherish my mother. He did not make me domineering or graceless
Peace was on me the day I was born, and will be on me the day I die and the day I am raised to life again.
Such was Jesus, son of Mary. [This is] a statement of the Truth about which they are in doubt."
[19:16-34] Chapter in The Qur'an (19) named Maryam (Mary).
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