KHUTAB IV: 4. THE WORD “SON” OR “CHILD” IN THE BIBLE

4. THE WORD “SON” OR “CHILD” IN THE BIBLE

 (ANUMA 12. 12.08)

Bothers in Islam,

          Soon the Christians will celebrate what they call Christmas, the birth of what they call “the Son of God.” This expression is taboo in Islam, even if it is meant metaphorically. Allah said,

وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَلَدًا. لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا. تَكَادُ السَّمَوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ

 وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا. أَنْ دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدًا. وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدًا.إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ

 فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا آَتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًا ( مريم : ٩٣)

And they say: “The Most Gracious (Allah) has begotten

 a son [as the Jews say: ‘Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of God,

and the Christians say that He has begotten a son, ‘Isa (Jesus

 and the pagan Arabs say the He has begotten daughters

  (angels and  others].  Indeed, you have brought forth (said)

a terrible evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost torn,

 and the earth is split asunder, and the mountains fall in

 ruin, That they ascribe a son to the Most Gracious (Allah). 

But it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Gracious

 (Allah) that He should beget a son. There is none in the

 heavens and the earth but comes to the Most

Gracious (Allah) as a slave (Q. 19:88-93)  

After stating in previous verses that Isa (Jesus) a.s. was worshipper and servant of Allah and was born from Maryam (Mary) without a father, Allah refutes the statement of human beings that He has a son. This statement is so terrible, that the heavens are almost torn, the earth is split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruin, out of their high esteem when they hear the terrible statement of man that Allah has a son.

Allah said

  وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ وَلَدًا سُبْحَانَهُ بَلْ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ

 وَالْأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ ( البقرة : ١١٦)

 And they (the Jews, Christians, pagans) say: Allah has begotten

 a son (children or offspring). Glorified is He (above all that they

  associate with Him). Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the

heavens and on earth, and all surrender with

 obedience (in worship) to Him. (Q. 2:116)

Again, Allah said,

قَالُوا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ وَلَدًا سُبْحَانَهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ إِنْ

عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ بِهَذَا أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ( يونس : ٦٨)

 They (Jews, Christians and pagans) say: “Allah has begotten

 a son.” Glory is to Him. He is Rich (Free of all needs). His is

 all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. No

 warrant you have for this. Do you say against Allah

 what you know not? (Q. 10:68)

Allah denounced this allegation, saying:

وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ وَالنَّصَارَى نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ قُلْ فَلِمَ يُعَذِّبُكُمْ

بِذُنُوبِكُمْ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ بَشَرٌ مِمَّنْ خَلَقَ يَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَلِلَّهِ

مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ (المائدة : ١٨)

  (Both) the Jews, and the Christians say: ‘We are the

sons of God and His beloved.’ Say: ‘Why then doth

He punish you for your sins? Nay, ye are but man—of

the men He hath created: He forgiveth whom He

pleaseth, and He punisheth whom He pleaseth;and

 to God belongeth this dominion of the heavens

and the earth, and all that is between; and unto

 Him is the final goal (of all).’ (Qur’ān 5:18)

Allah said further,

مَا كَانَ لِلَّهِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ مِنْ وَلَدٍ سُبْحَانَهُ إِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ

 لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ   (مريم ١٩: ٣٥)

 It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget

 a son. Glorified (and Exalted) is He. When He decrees

 a thing, He only says to it: “Be!” and it is. (Q. 19:35)

In a ḥadīth narrated by Ibn ‘Abbās r.a. the Prophet s.a.w. said in a ḥadīth qudsī, that Allah said,

The son of Adam tells lies against Me though he has no

 right to do so, and he abuses Me though he has no right to do so.

 As for his telling lies against Me, he claims that I cannot recreate

 him as I created him before: and as for his abusing Me: it is

 his statement that I have a son (or offspring). No! Glorified

 I am! I am far from taking a wife or a son (or offspring).

 (Ṣaḥīḥ Al-BukhārÌī  6/4482)

Where, then, the “Son of God” statement did originally come from?  Rudolf Bultmann, former Professor of New Testament in the University of Marburg, (West) Germany, suggested “that the title ‘Son of God’ was given currency by Hellenistic converts.  In the Hellenistic world ‘Son of God’ was a title given to kings (of Egypt, for example) who were believed to be descended from gods.  In the first century A.D. the title was being accorded also to Roman emperors.  In the Greco-Roman world the term was used even more widely, and anybody who was believed to possess miraculous power might be called ‘Son of God.’ Bultmann argues that although the primitive Church may sometimes have used the title ‘Son of God’ of Jesus as a synonym for Messiah (Christ), its wide use in the New Testament is derived from Hellenistic usage.  Since it connoted a wonder worker who has physical descent from a god, it was a distortion of the early Christian tradition, and is an instance, Bultmann maintains, of the Hellenization of primitive Christianity.”  (See E.G. Jay, Ph.D., Son of Man Son of God, p. 45).

 Like “father,” which is not dealt with in this khutbah, and might be dealt with in another khutbah, the word “son” or “child” is also used metaphorically in the Bible for different kinds of people, either as the son of God, the son of the devil, or the son of any other thing.  Some examples are as follows:

1.  Adam as the son of God.  Starting the genealogy of Jesus as (supposed to be) the son of Joseph, Luke ended with “… the son of Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:23-38).  As Adam had no father, he became the son of God, and so was Jesus.

2.  Solomon as the son of God.  God spoke to David about his son Solomon, saying: “I will be his father, and he shall be my son…” (Samuel II 7:14).

3.  Noble or strong people as sons of God, as in the following verse: “That the sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose” (Genesis 6:2).  See also Genesis 6:4 and Job 1:6.  The greatest leaders and heroes of Rome were considered sons of gods. See E.G. Jay, Ph.D., Son of Man Son of God, p. 13.  Some Roman emperors were even considered gods. Julius Caesar (101 - 44 B.C.), after the success of his military campaigns, became so popular among his people that they heralded him as a god. His successor, Octavian (63 B.C. - 14 C.E.), “allowed himself to be addressed as “deus” (god, deity) and “divus” (divine) during his principate as the Emperor Augustus (27 B.C. - A.D. 14).” ( Ibid., p. 19).  Even after his death, Augustus was still honoured as a god.

4.  Israel (Jacob) and his descendants, the Israelites, as the children of God as in the following verse: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hosea 11:1).  See also Hosea 1:1, Isaiah 1:2, 30:1, 43:6, 45:11, and 62:8, Jeremiah 10:20, Ezekiel 15:20-21, Deuteronomy 32:19-20, Job 38:7, and Psalm 29:1.

5.  The Christian believers as the children of God; Jesus said about them in the Last Day: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of resurrection” (Luke 20:36). See also Galatians 4:6-7, Acts 17:27-29 and Matthew 12:50. If the Christians are “the children of God,” then they become Jesus’ brothers and sisters, as he himself was also “the son of God.” Stretching forth his hand toward his disciples, he said: “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:49-50).

6.  Every righteous servant of God as a son of God, whether a Christian or not.  David said: “ …who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” (Psalms 89:6; see also Matthew 5:9, 44-45. Romans 8:14, Revelation 21:7, and Corinthians II 6:18).

7.  Evil people as the sons of the devil and the generation of vipers.  Paul said: “… thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).  Jesus said: “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?” (Matthew 12:34).

8.  Job’s people as children of fools and of base men. Job said about them: “They were children of fools, yea, children of base men; they were viler than the earth.” (Job 30:8).

9.  The Israelites as the children of Zion, as in the following verse: “Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.” (Psalm 149:2).

10.    The natives of Jerusalem as its sons and daughters, when God said to it: “Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, who thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured…” (Ezekiel 16:20).

11.    A proselyte as the child of hell.  Jesus said: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15).

          The expression “son” is still used metaphorically, such as the proverb, “Every man is the son of his own works,” indicating personal responsibility. The dog or bitch is called “Man’s best friend”, and yet, a bad person is called sometimes metaphorically as its son. Children belonging to a certain school are called “school children” (Ind. “anak sekolah], and the ship crew are called in Indonesian “anak kapal” which literally means “children of the ship”, and neither the school nor the ship are their parents.          (ANUMA 12.12.08)

 Reference:             

‘Abd Allāh al-‘Alamī, كِتَابُ سَلاسِلِ المُنَاظَرَةِ اْلإسْلامِيَّةِ النَّصْرَانِيَّةِ بَيْنَ شَيْخٍ وَ قِسِّيسٍ  (Series of Controversies between a Muslim Savant and a Christian Priest) (Damascus: N.p., 1970), pp. 87-116. 

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

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