By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

Today, the 25th of December, is celebrated by most Christian sects as the birthday of the Virgin-born Jesus (peace upon him). The various versions of the Gospels in circulation amongst the Christians, whether these books are regarded as canonical or non-canonical – depending upon the Church the Christians follow – do not mention this date, or for that matter any other date.
Moreover, Jesus was born amongst the monotheistic Israelites who followed the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar of their Roman overlords.
Biblical scholars acknowledge that December 25 was the day of Bacchanal festivities in the pagan Roman Empire, and when Europe was Christianized several centuries after the birth and departure of Jesus without the gentiles (non-Jews) having any information about him the day was fixed as the birthday of the Messiah.
So when and where was the Son of Mary born?
Let us first wish our Christian friends a happy Christmas, and utilize this opportunity to search Islamic texts for the answer. It is worth noting that Islam regards Jesus as one of the Five Greatest Prophets of God – the other Four being Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the Last and the Greatest of them all, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
According to the Holy Qur’an, which we Muslims believe as God’s final revelation to mankind and free from any interpolation as was the fate of the previously revealed heavenly scriptures, like the Torah and the Evangel, Jesus neither claimed to be the son of God, nor was he crucified. He will reappear in the end times as deputy to Imam Mahdi in the global government of peace and justice.
Once when a learned Christian came to Hijaz in quest of his investigations on Abrahamic religions, he was introduced to Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). To his surprise he found the Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt more knowledgeable of the Judeo-Christian texts than he himself. After explaining the dynamics of Islam, the 7th Imam said:
“I will inform you of something that only a few people know who have read the scriptures. Tell me the day on which Mary conceived, and the hour of the day, and the day and the hour on which Mary gave birth to Jesus?”
The Christian scholar was confused and confessed: I do not know.
Imam Kazem (AS) said: “The day on which Mary conceived was Friday. It was noon, and it was the day the Ruh al-Amin (the Trustworthy Spirit – Gabriel) came down to her (from God with tidings of a boy to be born to her). There is no festival better than this for Muslims… Allah Almighty magnified it, and Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) magnified it and ordered that Friday should be a holiday.”
The Imam continued: “Do you know beside which river Mary gave birth to Jesus?” The Christian scholar said: No.
Imam Kazem (AS) said: “It was the Euphrates, and beside it were date palms and grape vines.”
In view of the Imam’s description, the place of the birth of Jesus cannot be Palestine which doesn’t have such geographical features.
It is worth noting that in Bethlehem there are no date palms, Moreover Mary had withdrawn to a secluded and far off place as the time of delivery approached, in order to be safe from the slanders of the Jews.
That is the reason when she returned to her hometown with Jesus, the Jews who had long deviated from the path of Moses and the other Prophets, started accusations against her, but Almighty Allah empowered the infant in her arms to remove any doubt about the virginity of his mother by miraculously speaking:
“He (Jesus) said, ‘Indeed I am a servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet.” (Holy Qur’an, Surah Maryam, Ayah 30)
As for the date and the lunar month in which Jesus was born, a famous narration from the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), completes the dialogue which his father Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) had with the Christian.
The Muslim scholar Hassan ibn Ali al-Washsha has informed us: I was with my father and I was a youth. We spent the night with Imam Reza (AS). It was the night of the 25th of Zil-Qa’dah and he (the Imam) said to my father:
“On the night of the 25th of Zi’l-Qa’dah Abraham was born and on it Jesus the son of Mary was born, and on it the (dry) earth beneath the Ka‘ba appeared for the first time and was made to spread. Whoever fasts on that day, it is as if he has fasted for sixty months.”
Could it mean that the 25th of the lunar month was transformed into the 25th of December as the birthday of Jesus when the Roman Empire became Christian?
This is a matter for scholars to research. As for the birth of Prophet Jesus without the association of any male for his mother, Islamic texts again come to our rescue. Abu Baseer narrates: I said to Abu Abdullah – the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) – Why did Allah create Jesus without any father and created the other people by fathers and mothers? He (the Imam) replied:
“So the people would know of His power and precision, and would know that He has power to create a creature without (involvement of) a male. Likewise, He has power to create one without a male or female, and He, the Mighty and Magnificent, did that so it would be known that He has power over all things.”
For some three decades Jesus preached the message of monotheism, inviting the ever-rebellious Israelites to the path of God Almighty, but only a few of them endorsed his mission, including his prophecy of the coming of the Last and Greatest Prophet, as the Lord Most High informs us in the Holy Qur’an (61:6):
“And when Jesus son of Mary said: ‘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 good news of the Prophet who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.”
Interestingly, despite the tampering done with the Christian scriptures, the Gospel of St. John (18:7-14) had preserved this prophecy of Jesus:
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of Truth (Comforter), is come, he will guide into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
Jesus in his native Semitic language referred to Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) as “Hmda” (Ahmad in Arabic), a word translated as Paraclete in the Greek version of the Bible and Comforter in the English translation.
Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the hypocrite who had sneaked amongst his disciples, but God lifted the Messiah to the heavens. The Romans mistook Judas for Jesus and crucified him.
“And for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Prophet of Allah’ —though they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them. Indeed those who differ concerning him are surely in doubt about him: they do not have any knowledge of that beyond following conjectures, and certainly they did not kill him.” (Holy Qur’an 4:157)