By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

Today, let us travel back some two millennia to probe whether December 25 is the birthday of Prophet Jesus (AS) – as those who little about religion and nothing about the Son of Mary have come to believe.
We do not intend to spoil the holiday mood in the West, where Christmas is a time for indulging in all sorts of frivolities, and even depraved parties that are alien to the piety and asceticism of the Virgin-born Messiah.
A glance at the Gospels in circulation among the various sects of Christianity reveals only scanty information of the birth of Jesus and that too unsatisfactory, while nothing is mentioned about the month of December, let alone its 25th day.
Why; because the plain truth is that the Israelites amongst whom he was born followed the lunar calendar, and not the solar calendar of their hated Roman overlords.
It was in 336 AD – over three centuries after the mission of Jesus (AS) – when Emperor Constantine imposed on the heathens of Europe the creed of Paul the Hellenised Jew (in the name of the message of the Messiah who never claimed to be a godson), that the pagan Roman festival of the sun god was declared as Christmas.
Still Christmas, despite its borrowings from the various heathen communities of Europe that include mistletoe twigs, the decorated tree, Santa Claus and the “Christmas Ham” (Jesus and the Israelites considered pork religiously unclean), did not gain currency until another millennium and several centuries.
Whether the revelling masses in the West like it or not, these are the undeniable facts that most devout Christians admit.
This means we have to refer to the right sources for the correct information about Jesus, rather than assume that since the majority subscribes to such a view, one should blindly accept the errors of history.
Thus, it is the holy Qur’an – as the Last and Final Heavenly Scripture – which provides us authentic information about Jesus and other prophets of the past.
“Indeed the case of Jesus with God is like the case of Adam: He created him from dust then said to him “be” and he was. This is the truth from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.” (5:59-60)
“Thus she (Mary) conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. The birth pangs brought her to the trunk of a date palm. She sai ‘I wish I had died before and become a forgotten thing beyond recall’. Thereupon he (the angel) called from below her (saying) do not grieve! Your Lord has made a spring to flow at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm tree; freshly picked dates will drop upon you. Eat, drink and be comforted. Then if you see any human, say, ‘indeed I have vowed a fast to the All-Beneficent, so I will not speak to any human today’. Then carrying him (Jesus) she brought him to her people...” (19:22-27)
In the light of this Ayah and the valuable hadith literature bequeathed by Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt, Jesus was born in Iraq, which is a distant land from Palestine, and where we find in the al-Baratha Mosque near Baghdad a sanctified stone on which Jesus was born. The place abounds in date palms, and there is a spring in it.
We also read in Islamic texts that it was on the 25th of the month of Zi’l-Qa’dah that Jesus was born. T
The most important point is that Jesus, whose alleged crucifixion God Almighty refutes in the Holy Qur’an, gave the tidings of the coming of the Last and Greatest Messenger after him – a hint that also remains in the Gospel of St. John despite the interpolation wrought over the centuries.
In Ayah 6 of Surah Saff, God quotes Jesus (AS) as saying:
“O Children of Israel! Indeed I am the Prophet of Allah to you, to confirm what is before me of the Torah, and to give the tidings of the Prophet to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.”
Here it is important to note that “Ahmad” or “Muhammad”, which mean the “Highly Praised” is Arabic for “Hmda”, the Hebrew/Aramaic word used by Prophet Jesus and which was translated as “Paraclete” in the Greek version of the Gospel and retranslated to “Comforter” in the English translation of St. John’s Gospel.
Sadly, the Israelites distorted facts, and to this day, the accursed Zionists continue to slander the Virgin Mary (SA) and Prophet Jesus (AS).
It is an irony of the dirty politics of the present times that the West has distorted realities through its blind eye towards the archenemies of fundamental beliefs of Christianity, coupled with its hostile posture towards Islam and Muslims.
Unless the West opens up its eyes to facts – and so do the Muslims who have deviated from the path of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAWA) Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt – the Zionists will continue to make use of devilish elements amongst the Christians as well as the heretics amongst the Muslims (the takfiris, traitors, and terrorists), to disturb the peace of the world.
Is there a more reliable source to inform us about missions and goals of the missions of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and Jesus than the Ahl al-Bayt?
Thus, in the same way as we recognize the real Jesus through the Holy Qur’an, we learn about the Prophet of Islam’s actual “Sunnah” and “Seerah” (practice and behaviour) from his Ahl al-Bayt, whose first and foremost member is his dear cousin, ward, son-in-law and Divinely-designated Vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS) – and not the Pauls or Judas Iscariots of Arabia.