Of Da Vinci Code and The Qur'an

Of Da Vinci Code and The Qur'an



Much has been said about the Da Vinci Code. Al Jazeera carried the
news about Christian groups across the globe protesting against the
soon-to-be-released film based on the best-selling novel. Though it
has sparked far less controversy than The Passion of the Christ, many
Christian groups were upset with its blasphemous message. Some however
have argued otherwise; any movie that puts Jesus at the centre of
cultural debate is something Christians ought to be interested in.
It was not until Reuters reported that powerful Islamic clerics from
the All-India Sunni Jamiyat-ul-Ulema joined in with the Christians
saying the Da Vinci Code is blasphemous and it spreads lies about
Jesus that I feel compelled to write. Without going into the details
and intricacies of the plot, according to The Da Vinci Code, Jesus
Christ was neither the divine Son of God nor the only way of
salvation. Rather, Jesus was a mortal Prophet who had survived
crucifixion, married Mary Magdalene and had children with her. The
concept of divinity of Jesus was a conspiracy created from a meeting
of bishops in 325AD, at the city of Nicea in modern-day Turkey. There,
the author argues, church leaders who wanted to consolidate their
power base created a divine Christ and an infallible Scripture=97both
novelties that had never before existed among Christians.

Jesus: A Mortal Prophet
Now what does the Qur'an have to say regarding Jesus? From the
beginning of life on earth, divine guidance was bestowed on humanity
through the agency of the prophets. The monotheistic message formed
the core of revelation; whenever it suffered from change for example
from human editing, it was reconfirmed through a new prophet and
revelation. This process continued until humanity was ready for a
final universal revelation in the form of the Qur'an. From an Islamic
perspective, all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad (Peace be upon
them), are prophets of Islam. Jesus Christ was one of them and came
before Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets.
The Qur'an inculcates a deep respect for Mary and her son, but never
places them above humanity. To the contrary, the Qur'an stresses their
very humanity:

"Christ, the son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger; many were the
Messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of
truth. They had to eat food [to subsist]. See how Allah does make His
Signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from
the truth!" Qur'an, 5: 75

Furthermore, Jesus Christ's humanity is emphasized every time he is
called the "son of Mary", or when he is described as a "servant" who
is a recipient of Allah's favors and as a prophet whose vocation is to
call the people to worship the only Lord that exists:

"=85fear Allah and obey me. For Allah, He is my Lord and your Lord: so
worship ye Him: this is a straight way." Qur'an, 43:64


The "Crucifixion"!

The Da Vinci Code had shaken the foundation of the Christian faith,
which is built on a dogma: the death of Jesus on the cross, his
resurrection, and his bodily ascension to heaven. The Qur'an too has
categorically rejects this dogma: "They killed him not nor crucified
him." Qur'an, 4:157

Some Muslim scholars have attempted in vain to paint this episode in
the colors borrowed from the Christians. But do the Qur'anic
injunctions warrant this interpretation? The Qur'an says:

"An that they said [in boast], "We killed Christ Jesus the son of
Mary, the Messenger of Allah"-but they killed him not, nor crucified
him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ
therein are full of doubts, with no certain knowledge, but only
conjecture to follow, for a surety they killed him not.
Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power,
Wise." Qur'an, 4: 157


Several legends emerged in the attempt to interpret this verse. "But
so it was made to appear to them," sparked human imagination. Muhammad
Asad in his commentary on the crucifixion story in his magnum opus "
The Message of the Qur'an" said: "The Qur'an categorically denies the
story of the crucifixion of Jesus." He further goes on to explain:
"There exist, among Muslims, many fanciful legends telling us that at
the last moment, God substituted for Jesus a person closely resembling
him (according to some accounts, that person was Judas), who was
subsequently crucified in his place. However, none of these legends
find the slightest support in the Qur'an or in authentic Traditions,
and the stories produced in this connection by the classical
commentators must be summarily rejected. They represent no more than
confused attempts at "harmonizing" the Qur'anic statement that Jesus
was not crucified with the graphic description, in the Gospels, of his
crucifixion. The story of the crucifixion as such has been succinctly
explained in the Qur'anic phrase walakin shubbiha lahum, which I
render as "but it only appeared to them as if it had been so" -
implying that in the course of time, long after the time of Jesus, a
legend had somehow grown (probably under the then-powerful influence
of Mithraistic beliefs) to the effect that he had died on the cross in
order to atone for the "original sin" with which mankind is allegedly
burdened; and this legend became so firmly established among the
latter-day followers of Jesus that even his enemies, the Jews, began
to believe it - albeit in a derogatory sense (for crucifixion was, in
those times, a heinous form of death-penalty reserved for the lowest
of criminals)."

He also rejects the theory of the bodily ascension of Jesus and
explains that the verb rafa'ahu (lit., "he raised him" or "elevated
him"), as in verses 4:158 and 3:55, "has always, whenever the act of
raf ("elevating") a human being is attributed to God, the meaning of
"honoring" or "exalting". Nowhere in the Qur'an is there any warrant
for the popular belief that God has "taken up" Jesus bodily, in his
lifetime, into Heaven. The expression "God exalted him unto Himself"
in the above verse (4:158) denotes the elevation of Jesus to the realm
of God's Special Grace - a blessing in which all Prophets partake - as
is evident from 19:57 where the verb rafa'nahu ("we exalted him") is
used with regard to the Prophet Idris (see also Muhammad Abduh in
Manar III, 316f and VI 20f)."=20
Using the application of the same rules of interpretation, Shaykh
Muhammad Shaltut came to the following conclusion: "There is nothing
in the Qur'an, nor in the sacred traditions of the Prophet, which
endorses the correctness of the belief to the contentment of heart
that Jesus was taken up to heaven with his body and is alive there
even now . . ." (Al-Risalah, Cairo, vol. 10 no. 462, p. 515).
The fact that Jesus has died is further apparent from verse:=20
"And Muhammad is only an apostle, all of the (other) apostles have
passed away before him: if, then, he dies or is slain, will you turn
about on your heels?" Qur'an, 3: 144
It is clearly indicated in this verse that Prophet Muhammad was
mortal; all the Prophets before him (including Jesus) were mortals and
that all the Prophets before Prophet Muhammad had died.





Conclusion
Having analyzed the main thrust of Da Vinci Code from the Qur'anic
perspective, I find it rather intriguing that the Muslim clerics in
India were so vociferous in their views calling for the banning of the
much-anticipated movie. The notion that Jesus is a mere human being
and that he survived crucifixion is more in line with the way the
Qur'an had described one of the most revered Prophet. He was destined,
like other human beings, to be born, to die and to be resurrected.=20

"So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the Day
that I shall be raised up to life [again]." Qur'an, 19:33

"And verily, We sent apostles (to mankind) before thee, and We
appointed for
them wives and offspring, and it was not (given) to any apostle to
produce a miracle save at God's behest. For every age has had its
revelation."
Qur'an, 13: 38