Jesus has been acknowledged as the son of Mary in the Quran and in the Bible. Accordingly, Jesus is the only human being to be born of a virgin, and conceived through the Holy Spirit. Is this belief the same as the Islamic belief?
In the Qur’an, there is no room left for doubt that Jesus was born without a father.[1] In Biblical texts, Joseph has been mentioned,[2] whereas in the Islamic text, there is neither any mention of Joseph nor of Mary’s marriage. We have no doubt that Jesus was born without any human intervention. In fact, it is so critical that for a Muslim to deny this fact, is actually a statement of disbelief, and it implies that the person has left Islam.
In Christian versions, there is a lot more room for doubt, because I have met and studied under Christian theologians who do not believe in the immaculate conception, but were still considered Christian theologians. In Islam, it is a black and white issue, no grey area at all.
According to the Bible, Eve was born from Adam. I don’t know of any other woman who was born from a man! I would have to accept then that even Eve was God in a female form if I had to use the same argument as used in the case of Jesus. Eve's birth from Adam is beyond Jesus' birth from Mary because he still came through the regular channels that we know of. Even modern scientists are talking about how to stimulate a female ovum and replicate it without the agency of sperms. I do not know if they have done it, but the possibility exists that the female ovum contains enough of DNA to reproduce.
The birth of Jesus in an Islamic perspective is the completion of the four methods by which humans are created:
- A human created without father and mother, i.e., Adam. The Quran says, while talking about Jesus, that Adam was born without a father and mother and that he was created by God, to drive home the idea that this is just a mode of creation.
- God created Eve without a mother.
- God created humans with a father and a mother.
- God created Jesus without a father.
This does not take any of them out of the state of humanity. From the Muslim perspective when we say that God can do all things, we do put a condition, that God can do all things that are befitting of God. If we say that God can do all things, then we can say God can die or be born which would mean that God could not be in existence for some time and then come back into existence which is something unconceivable. When we use the statement "God is able to do all things", it implies that God can do all Godly things, things that befit Him.[3]
References:
[1] “And she (Mary )took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man. She said, "Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah ." He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy." She said, "How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" He said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.' So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place.” [Surah Maryam verses 18 – 22]
[2] Matthew 1:16-2:23; Luke 1:22-2:52
[3] Dr. B Philips, Did God Become Man?, p 5
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