KHUTAB XI: 16. THE CHRISTMAS
16. THE CHRISTMAS
On the 25th of December every year most of the Christians celebrate the
Christmas day, the birth day of Jesus Christ. Christian scholars know that that
date was not the real birthday of Jesus Christ, but the birthday of the god man
Attis and the sun god called Mithra, (Mitra in India Vedic religion, Mihr in
Persian, Ra, or Re in ancient Egypt, and in Babylon he was identified with Shamash;
shams in Arabic means “sun”).
The
ancient Phrygo-Roman god Attis, was parallel to Jesus, such as: Attis was born on December
25th of the Virgin Nana, was a shepherd, (like Jesus the "Good
Shepherd"), was considered the "only begotten son," and the
saviour slain for the salvation of mankind. He served as both the Divine Son
and the Father. He was "crucified" on a tree on "Black Friday.”
He descended into the underworld, and after three days, he was resurrected on
March 25th as the "Most High God."
Mithra has some
characters in common with those of Jesus, such as: Mithra was born on December
25th of the virgin Anahita. As a baby he was placed in a manger and attended by
shepherds. He had twelve companions or
disciples, performed miracles, and sacrificed himself for world peace. He ascended to heaven in his solar cart. Like
Jesus he was also viewed as the Good Shepherd, the "Way, the Truth and the
Light," the Redeemer, the Saviour, and the Messiah. He is omniscient, he
sees all, hears all, and knows all. His sacred day was Sunday. His birth date
coincided with a pre-existent Pagan Roman holiday, Saturnalia (an ancient Roman
festival in honour of deity Saturn, held from 17 to 23 December).
The Roman emperor realized Christianity could unite the Romans and
strengthen the empire. In the Church Council of Nicaea (on the site of modern
Turkey Iznik) which took place in 325 CE where 2.048 bishops with various views
about the personality of Jesus, the Emperor Constantine interfered and
supported the view of 318 bishops in the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus
against the views of about 1.700
bishops.
In order to encourage the Romans to embrace Christianity, Emperor
Constantine adopted it as the official religion of the empire, and he himself
embraced Christianity. In 336 he adopted and Christianised the festival as the
birthday of Jesus as “the sun of Righteousness” so that the Romans could
continue celebrating on the 25th of December, singing and dancing the whole
night.
What we have is Biblical Jesus, not the historical Jesus. According to
Rev. Dr. Charles Anderson Scott there was no material available for the life of
historical Jesus. However, Christian scholars generally regarded as having been
born between 7 and 4 BCE.
Out of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke
mentioned the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem; it was in the time of King Herod
according to Matthew (Matthew 2:1), whereas according to Luke he was born in
the time of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1). Luke did mention that it was John the
Baptist rather than Jesus who was born in the time of King Herod (Luke 1:5).
Luke said when Jesus was
born: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch their flocks at night.” (Luke 2:8).
The wise men saw a star and said: “We saw his star in the east and have
come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2). So, according to the Bible, Jesus was born
at night with a clear sky and where shepherds tended their sheep at night,
rather in the day time. These indicated that it was not in winter (December),
but most probably in summer where it was very hot in the day time to tend
sheep, so that the shepherds tended their sheep at night with a clear sky.
According to Jewish
tradition Jesus was born in Aylūl (between July and September). The Qur’an
mentioned that Mary heard a voice telling her not to grieve as Allah had
provided a water stream under her, and to shake the trunk of date palm towards her, so that fresh ripe
dates would fall down upon her (Q. 19:24-25). This would not have been in
Winter, but in Spring or Summer. Many believed that he had been born in about
the month of August between 7 and 4 BCE.
Shaykh Muḥammad Abū Zahrah (1316-1394/1898-1974) mentions 44 parallels
between Krishna and Jesus in his book Comparative Religions, both were
considered son of God by their respective followers. Nine of them are as
follows:
People knew the birth of Krishna through a star appearing in the sky (تَارِيْخُ الْهْنْد, vol. 2, pp. 37, 367) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the wise
men saw a star in the East, and came to Jerusalem to find and worship him
(Matthew 2:1-2).
When Krishna was born
the earth glorified God, the moon illuminated the earth, spirits chanted, the
angels dozed off in happiness, and the clouds sang with melodious tone happily.
(Vishnu Purana, p. 502). (When Jesus was born) “Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and telling them that “… a
Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
Nanda, the suitor of
Devaki, Krishna’s mother, heard a voice from the sky telling him to take the
baby and his mother to take refuge to Kakoli and to cross the river Jumna, as
the king wanted to kill him (Vishnu Purana, 3).
An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to take the child Jesus
and his mother Mary to Egypt, for king Herod wanted to kill him (Matthew 2:13)
When the king heard
the birth of a divinely baby Krishna, he ordered to kill every male baby born
on the same night he was born (دوان, p. 280). King Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus, asked the
wise men his location, so that “I too may go and worship him.” As the Magi (wise men) did not tell him, he
ordered to kill every boy born in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years
old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi (wise
men) (Matthew 2:8, 13, 16)
Khrishna was the beginning, the middle and the
end of everything. (دوان, p. 282). Jesus said: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is,
and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation, 1:8)
Krishna said: “I am
the light of the sun and the moon, I am the light in the flame, and I am the
light of everything that shines and the light of the lights will not be in the
darkness.’ (M. Williams. The Religions of the Pagan Indians, p. 213). “When
Jesus spoke again to the people, he said: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
(John 8:12).
Krishna said: “I am the one who
sustains the world, its place of refuge, and its way” (دوان, p. 283). Jesus answered
[Thomas]. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Krishna said: “I
am the right of the right, I am the Beginning, the Middle, the End, the
Eternal, the Creator of everything, and I am [the cause of] its annihilation
and destruction.” (M. Williams. The Religions of the Pagan Indians,
p. 213). [John said: ] “When I saw him [Jesus] I fell at his feet as though
dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the
First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive for
ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’”(Revelation
1:17-18)
Krishna will come in
the Last Day. He will appear as a knight
equipped with weapon riding on a grey horse. When he came the sun and the moon
would become dark, the earth would shake and the stars would fall down from the
sky (دوان, 282). When Jesus will come, “the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly
bodies will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29)
Shaykh
Muḥammad Abū Zahrah mentions 46 parallels between Buddha and Jesus in his book مُحَاضَرَاتٌ فِيْ مُقَارَنَات الأَدْيَان (Comparative
Study of Religions)[1]
both of them were considered son of God by their respective followers. We
mention here ten only of them, as follows:
When
the wise men knew the secret of Buddha’s divinity they greeted him and called
him god (دوان, p. 290). When the wise men saw the baby
Jesus they greeted him and called him god (Matthew 2:1-11)
When
Buddha felt the difficulty of travelling he decided to worship and to lead a
devout life, Mara the Satan appeared to test him. (دوان, p. 292) When Jesus
started preaching Satan appeared to him to test him (Matthew 4:1-8)
Mara the Satan told Krishna:
“Do not spend your live in religious deeds, as you would be the king of the
world within seven days.” (دوان, p. 292). Satan said: “All
this [the kingdoms of the world and their splendour] I will give you, if you
will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:1-9)
Buddha did not care
what Mara said. Instead, he said to him: “Go away from me!.” (دوان, p. 292). “Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is
written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10).
When Mara the Satan
stopped testing Buddha the sky rained with flowers and perfumes filling the air
with their fragrance (دوان, p. 292) “Then the devil left him, and
angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:11)
And Buddha ascended to heaven with his body
after he has finished his work on the earth (دوان, p. 293). “…, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a
cloud had him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
Buddha will come
again to the earth, and will bring back peace and blessing on it (دوان, p. 293). “Men of
Galilee,” they (the two men dressed in white) said, “Why do you stand
here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven”
(Acts 1:10)
Buddha is the Alpha
and the Omega; he has no end, the great being, the eternal. (دوان, p. 293). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the word was God.” (John 1:1)
Buddha said to his
beloved disciple Ananda: “There is no doubt that my words will never
disappear at all, even if the heavens fell into the earth, and the world was
swallowed, the ocean became dry, and the Soumer (سومر) mountain crashed and cut into pieces” (Bill, History of Buddhdism, p. 11). Jesus
said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
(Matthew 24:35)
When Buddha insisted
in leading a devout life while he was riding on his horse Kamthaka the angels
spread his way with flowers. ([R. Spence] Hardy, The Legends and Theories of
the Buddhists, p. 13). When Jesus entered Jerusalem some people spread
their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread
them on the road (Matthew 2:18).
The
main similarities among the three (Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus) are: They all
ascended to heaven seen by many people. They will return to the earth. They all
claimed to be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of everything.
(CIVIC, 23 December, 2016)
المصادر:
المكتبة الشاملة
محمد أبو زهرة: مُحَاضَرَاتٌ فِيْ مُقَارَنَاتِ
الأَدْيَان: الْقِسْمُ الأَوَّل, الدِّيَانَاتُ الْقَدِيْمَة
Holy Bible: New
International Version
Collier’s
Encyclopaedia, “Christmas”
http://www.hope-of-israel.org/cmas1.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jckr1.htm
http://www.truthbeknown.com/attis.html
http://www.truthbeknown.com/mithra.htm
[1]The book was the collection of his lectures at the
Institute of Islamic Studies in Cairo in early 60s and was published in 1965.
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