Who was Prophet Eesa عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ? - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah al-Ula — The First Sermon

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، وَأَنَّ عِيسَى عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِنْهُ، صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ.

أُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالإِحْسَانِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مُحْسِنُونَ.

The Believers: Correct Belief Without Excess or Deficiency

My brothers and sisters, as Muslims, among the beautiful characteristics of our religion is that we are the believers — al-mu'minoon — and we are called the believers because we believe in all that we are supposed to believe in, in its most correct manner, without any ghuluw, without any excessiveness or transgression, nor do we disbelieve in anything that we are required to believe in. We believe in Allah as we should. We believe in the messengers, all of them, as we should. We believe in the unseen, the angels, the books, the qadr of Allah, the hereafter. This is what it means to be someone that is a mu'min, a believer. And we believe in all of the messengers — to deny one is to become a disbeliever. To deny one prophet of Allah is to become a disbeliever.

Among the tenets of our faith and among the pillars of iman is to believe in the messengers — wa bil-rusul — and that includes, ikhwanifillah, the messenger that I want to speak about today, which is Isa alayhi salam. Prophet Isa alayhi salam — and I'm sure most of you know about him and have heard about him and believe in him and love him as we should.

Our messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said a beautiful statement. He said: "We are closer to Isa than anyone else" —

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3442)

Isa is our prophet. We as Muslims have more claim to him than any other faith, no matter what they say. And we have the correct understanding of who he was. And inshallah in this khutbah I just want to share with you who was Isa alayhi salam, looking at the Quran — how did Allah speak about him?

Prophet Isa and His Connection to Banu Israel

Now, ikhwani fillah, Isa alayhi salam was from the prophets of Banu Israel, which is very interesting. Because to be among a people you must be a descendant from them — but how can Isa be a descendant from Banu Israel when he did not have a father? How can he be a descendant of Banu Israel when he did not have a father? Prophet Muhammad was Quraysh because his father was Quraysh, his grandfather was Quraysh. The thing is, with Isa alayhi salam, we all know he did not have a father, which is because he was born in a miraculous way. But his mother was from Banu Israel — Maryam was from the Banu Israel.

And as we know, in a hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, that one time the Prophet met with the Ansar, and among them he was meeting with a particular tribe, and among them was a young boy, and the Prophet asked about this young boy. And he said, "Well, he's not from our tribe per se, but one of our womenfolk gave birth to him — she married from a different tribe." And he said, "He's among you," meaning you are among the tribe of your mother as well. So Prophet Isa is from Banu Israel because his mother was Banu Israel. That's why he's mentioned among these prophets, but he did not have that paternal lineage because he was born without a father.

The Miracle of Birth Without a Father: Isa and Adam

And one might think: well, that is kind of extraordinary — to be born without a father — that should make him the most special prophet. But there were others that were born without a father as well, and Allah speaks about this in the Quran. Adam alayhi salam — who was his father? Who was his mother? Allah created him without a father nor a mother. And Allah speaks about it in the Quran:

Hawa — our mother, the mother of Ummul Bashar, of humanity — who was her mother and father? The concept that one can be born without any father or mother is something we have seen before, heard of before. Isa wasn't the first one, alayhi salatu wasalam — he wasn't the first one.

So what was the point of this? It was supposed to be a miracle — that the people can see it as a sign of Allah. The birth, the virgin birth of Maryam — the birth of Isa alayhi salam without a father — this whole story was supposed to be a reminder for everyone:

Allah is capable of doing whatever Allah wants, whether that is having creation through conventional means or otherwise. Allah says in the Quran, talking about Maryam and Isa:

"And we have made her, Maryam, and her son, Isa, ayatan — a sign." It was many years ago when Adam was created. Just in case people have forgotten the power of Allah — Allah creates a man without a father — so this is a reminder.

His Family: A Lineage of Prophets

So this is who he was: he was considered from the prophets of Israel, he was born without a father, and he was related to Prophet Yahya alayhi salam — he was the maternal cousin of Prophet Yahya alayhi salam. And his mother Maryam was raised by Yahya's father, Zakariya. This is a whole family of prophets and righteous people, chosen by Allah, like Allah says in the Quran:

Allah has chosen Adam, and Nuh, and the family of Ibrahim, and the family of Imran. Imran was the father of Maryam — the grandfather of Isa alayhi salam from his mother's side.

The Birth of Isa and the Story of Maryam

So now that we know who he is — you all know how he was born. Maryam, a righteous person. The story in Surah Al-Imran and Surah Maryam is very detailed. You have Maryam's mother making a promise to Allah that she will give what she was carrying — a child — "O Allah, this child I give him up to You in service, in the service of Your ibadah." And then she gave birth to a daughter, expecting a son. And she complains to Allah, or speaks to Allah about it, and she mentioned: "O Allah, I have given birth to a girl, and men are not like women, especially when it comes in the field of ibadah." But yet — did she keep her promise? Yes. Maryam became one that grew up in a place of worship, raised by Zakariya alayhi salam.

And the story continues. An interesting point: she makes du'a to Allah — "O Allah, I ask You to protect her, Maryam, and her offspring" — which is who? Isa. Our messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned an interesting statement. He said: every child, when they are born, they cry — and this is because the Shaytan touches them — except for two: Maryam and Isa. Allah accepted her du'a.

So Isa is born — and this is a known story — and when he was born she was worried that she would be seen as a woman that committed fornication. "Where did this child come from? How are you bringing us a child with no father?" But she was a righteous woman. And Allah, when He gave her this child, Jibreel came to her in the form of a man and said to her that he was sent by Allah to give her a pure son, a righteous child.

And among the descriptions in the Quran of Isa alayhi salam — she gives birth, she brings him back, and this is one of the first miracles we see about Isa alayhi salam. When they ask her — they said to her: "O sister of Harun." Now, "sister" means what? Sister of Harun. But Harun was years before Maryam — so why are they calling her the sister of Harun? She was similar to Harun in her worship, she was similar to Harun in her devotion, so they used to call her "sister of Harun." So they say: "Your father was a great man, your mother wasn't someone that would sleep around — how dare you bring a child to us?" And then she was commanded to point — and then Isa spoke as a child. Isa spoke as a child. And what did he say?

"I am a servant of Allah" — and he gave a beautiful sermon as a child, as a baby. One of the first miracles you'll see from Isa alayhi salam. But there are many more that are mentioned in the Quran and in the Sunnah.

Speaking as an Infant — Not Unique to Isa Alone

What's interesting is — perhaps this is the reason why Isa should be raised above all the prophets? He spoke as a baby. What was the one before? He was created without a father — but we have been told in the Quran he wasn't the only one. So if he deserves to be worshipped because he had no father, then we should probably worship who? Adam as well. But that's not the case. Well, he spoke as a baby — he's not the only one that spoke as a baby as well. The Prophet said in a hadith: there were three that spoke as children, and it's a famous hadith.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3436; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2550)

One of them was the sahibu Jurayj — the companion of Jurayj — and I've spoken about Jurayj and his companion in a story in a previous khutbah. But there were three that the Prophet mentioned that spoke as infants, and Prophet Isa was among them. And this was among his miracles.

Isa Ate Food: A Sign He Was Not Divine

Now, when Allah speaks about Isa alayhi salam, He mentions that he would eat — and what is the significance of mentioning that he would eat? That he needed sustenance. That he wasn't one that was to be deified — if he needed to eat to survive, he cannot be God. And that's why Allah said:

Him and his mother would eat food — meaning they were in need, meaning they were people, regular people. Now when we say "regular people," they were the most righteous — Isa being a prophet of Allah, among the greatest prophets, and Maryam being a Siddiqah.

The Correct Belief: Abd Allah wa Rasuluh

Now that being said, ikhwani fillah, this is a very important fact that we must remember regarding all the prophets: they are all عباد الله — servants of Allah, worshippers of Allah. Meaning:

عبد فلا يُعبد — he is a servant of Allah, thus he must not be worshipped.
ورسول فلا يُكذَّب — he is a messenger of Allah, thus he must not be denied or disbelieved in.

Now among the things Allah mentions about Isa in the Quran that comes often is who he was. He said to the people:

So he was a messenger. As Muslims, we are right there in the middle — we believe he was a servant of Allah and among the greatest messengers. So we don't deny him like the Jews did, nor do we deify him like the Nasara did. And this is the wasatiyyah of Islam.

Isa Among the Ulul Azm: The Five Greatest Prophets

He is among the Ulul Azm of the prophets. Now what does Ulul Azm mean? There are five prophets or messengers that are seen as more beloved to Allah, more righteous than the rest. And the most righteous prophet — Sayyid al-Bashar, the best of the best — is Rasulullah Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, followed by Ibrahim, the Khalil of Allah, followed by Musa — Kalimullah — followed by Isa — Ruhullah wa Kalimatuhu — and Prophet Nuh alayhi salam. These are the five greatest prophets and Isa is right there among them. Thus he deserves this great status, he deserves to be mentioned, he deserves to be learned more about — who he was.

Isa as a Sign of the Hour

Among the interesting things Allah says about Isa alayhi salam in the Quran is:

"Indeed he is among the signs of the Hour." How is Isa among the signs of the Hour? He will come back, and his coming back will be a sign that Judgment Day is near.

Ruhullah — The Spirit of Allah: Understanding This Title

Among the ways Allah describes him in the Quran is that he is Ruhullah — the spirit of Allah. Now this might confuse some people. What's going on there? Ikhwani fillah, we all have spirits. This is the ruh — that which gives us life. It's blown into you when you are a fetus in your mother's womb and it leaves you when you die. It is your soul, it is your spirit, it is your ruh. And we don't have a lot of information about the ruh. Allah says in the Quran:

We don't know much about its nature. What is it? That which gives us life and leaves us. But there are some things that we were told about it. Among the things that we know is our ruh — that which makes us who we are, allows us to speak, to walk around, to live — and when it leaves us we drop dead — was created before our bodies. The arwah were created before the ajsam. So they existed before this body.

Someone gave an example — like a phone and a SIM card, Allah knows best — they can exist separately. The phone has no good function unless you put the SIM card in. This is the ruh. It leaves you when you die. But interestingly enough, there is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he said:

"The souls are like troops that have come together — those who knew each other previously will have a connection." Now what does this mean? We mentioned earlier that your ruh existed before. Have you ever had the feeling when you met someone you've never met before and you have an instant connection — you can talk for hours? And someone you meet and there isn't that connection? Or someone you're related to but you don't really get along, and there isn't any enmity, you just don't click? The reason for this is that the Prophet ﷺ explained — the arwah that knew each other, or were near each other, or have met before — they were put into bodies that have that connection.

And this is why — I believe it was Ibn Hajar — that said from the lessons we learn from this hadith: if you meet someone and you don't instantly click, or you feel like عندك نفرة منه — that you don't get along — then that is probably because your arwah are meeting for the first time. So you shouldn't just write that person off. No — you need to overcome that, give the person a chance. This is the first impression. It's very interesting.

So the ruh — we don't have a lot of information about it. Coming back to Prophet Isa ﷺ — Allah calls him Ruhullah, the spirit of Allah. And some people think: "Well, he's mentioned in conjunction with Allah, thus it must mean something more." No, ikhwani fillah. It is the same thing as when we say Baytullah — the house of Allah. The house of Allah means the place we worship Allah. This idafah — Ruhullah, Baytullah — or when Prophet Salih said about the she-camel: Naqatullah — the camel of Allah — it doesn't mean that it is something from Allah in a different way. It is from the creation of Allah, but it's mentioned here in conjunction with Allah because it is special, because it's being honored.

Kalimatullah — The Word of Allah

This is why we say Ruhullah wa Kalimatuhu — and he was the word of Allah. Isa was the word of Allah. What does this mean? It means he was created not through the conventional way of conceiving, but with Allah saying كن — Allah said "Be," and he was. So the word is كن. This is why you hear often:

The one whose command — when Allah wants something to happen — Allah just says كن and it is. Isa came from the word كن — "Be" — and he was. This is what it means that he is the word of Allah. Ruhullah wa Kalimatuhu. So we believe he is Ruhullah, we believe he is Kalimatullah, we believe that he was this person described in the Quran.

The Message of Isa: Tawhid, Salah, Zakah, and Good Character

What was his message, ikhwani fillah? Allah says in the Quran that his message was:

He called to pray, to give charity — this was the message of Isa. And before that — worship Allah alone — ربي وربكم — "Your Lord and my Lord." His message was tawhid, his message was salah, his message was zakah. And بر بوالدتي — Isa's message was to be good to your parents. He said: I will be as good as I can, and as beautiful, to my mother.

And another thing that is mentioned in the Quran is that he said:

So Isa said: "I came here to confirm that which came before" — which is the message of Musa, the Tawrah — "and to also give you the glad tidings of a messenger to come" — which was Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. This was his da'wah — it was tawhid, it was salah, it was zakah, it was birr al-walidayn, it was mubashiran bi-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Was Isa Killed? — The Quran's Clear Answer

Now among the things that we should know about Isa alayhi salam — of course, which is discussed often — is his death. Or rather: did he die? He didn't die. Of course he didn't die. Allah saved him from the conspiracy of the Yahud. So Isa was a prophet and he was walking among the Banu Israel, and he had hawariyyun — disciples — and he was calling them and teaching them about Allah, about the laws of Allah. He was given a book called the Injil. And then some people didn't like his message — just like they didn't like the message of Prophet Muhammad, just like Musa had enemies — Isa alayhi salam had enemies as well, and they tried to kill him.

Now it is interesting that there are two accounts of what led to the eventual crucifixion narrative and Allah's taking of him. We know who was behind it — it was the Yahud that didn't like his message, denied him to be a prophet, and wanted to kill him. But there are two narrations mentioned. One is that among his disciples was a man that betrayed him — and what I'm talking about here involves the akhbar al-Banu Israel, so these are things that we can relate but not necessarily confirm. Whenever the Sahabah relate these things, there's a caveat.

So there are two accounts: one is that Yahudha — or Judas — started disbelieving in Isa and pointed to where he was for the people that eventually wanted to kill him. And then Allah's punishment came upon him. And this is where we go back to the story of the Quran:

They didn't kill Isa alayhi salam. They didn't put him on the cross. But it was made to appear like that to them — meaning there was a person that Allah made to resemble how Isa looked, and he was killed. And this was Judas — or Yahudha — himself. And Allah knows best.

There's another story that is mentioned — related by Ibn Abbas as a mawquf, meaning it is mentioned from him and is not a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ — and Ibn Kathir mentioned this as well. That Isa alayhi salam knew they were coming after him. He knew that they were trying to kill him. And he was sitting with his companions, his disciples, and he told them: "Which one among you is willing to sacrifice himself on my behalf? And he will be given Jannah." And then a young man stood up and said: "I am willing to sacrifice myself so that I can be with you in Jannah." And then Prophet Isa didn't want this particular individual because he was young, and he said: "No, you sit down — who else?" But then he stood up again. And finally it was him that was made to appear like Isa, and he was the one that was killed on the cross — making him a martyr for Isa's sake, for Allah's sake. And he will be promised a lofty station in Jannah. And Allah knows best — was it the one that betrayed him, or was it this young man that believed in him?

The thing is, these types of stories — and it looks like even this story is from the Isra'iliyyat — they can be relayed, but we cannot necessarily believe in them the same way we believe in the statements of the Quran and the Sunnah. And Allah knows best.

Khutbah al-Thaniyah — The Second Sermon

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، وَلِكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ، وَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ.

Ikhwani fillah — I apologize if this is going longer than it should. One of the main things as Muslims we believe in is the return of Isa alayhi salam, because he was not killed. We just mentioned that. And Allah says in the Quran and confirms in the Quran that he was saved:

And he ascended towards Allah — Allah raised him up. And we know that Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam met Isa alayhi salam in the Night Journey. And we know that he will come back.

How Do We Know He Will Return? — Quranic Evidence

How do you know he will come back? It is in the Quran. Two ayahs refer to this. One is:

That he is among the signs of the Hour. And another ayah refers to the People of the Book believing in him before his death — so Isa will come back and then the People of the Book will believe in him. And there are many ahadith of course that refer to the coming back of Isa alayhi salam as well. And we must believe that he will come back.

The Return of Isa: Descent, the Dajjal, and the Era of Peace

And when he comes back, he will come back during a difficult period — because it is a time where the Dajjal is present, where the Mahdi is also present. And the Prophet ﷺ said that he will come back during Fajr time. He will descend from the heavens during Fajr time, holding the wings of two angels, his hair dripping — water dripping from his hair as if he just had a shower. And he will descend during Fajr time. And the Mahdi will be present with the believers. And where will this be? It will be in Damascus — in the east of Damascus, at the Minaret al-Bayda. This is what the Prophet ﷺ described.

He will come back. And then of course, when the Muslims see him, when the Mahdi sees him, they will tell him: "Lead the prayer." But he will be led — he will pray in the rows, he will not lead that prayer. And the Prophet ﷺ described how he looked: saying that he had a reddish-white skin color, and that he was someone that was not too tall nor too short.

And when he comes, this is when he will start looking for the Dajjal. And he will find him in Palestine and eventually kill him. And as soon as the Dajjal — who was creating chaos and havoc around the world — sees him, he will shrink. And then Isa ﷺ will kill him. And this is when years of prosperity will come. Isa will become the leader. The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith he will be a just judge, a just ruler. And it will be a time of affluence — food will be in abundance, and people will have, and it will be a time of peace and prosperity.

When Isa ﷺ comes back, he will remain for about 7 years — and then he will die at the age of 40. When you combine all of the ahadith — because there is one hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said Isa will stay on the earth for 40 years, and another narration mentions 7 — the scholars had to reconcile those two. And the understanding is that he was raised by Allah at the age of 33, and when he comes back for 7 years, that gives you 40.

Conclusion

I'll conclude here inshallah. There is much to say about our beloved Prophet Isa ﷺ — and one khutbah isn't enough, one lecture isn't enough. And I encourage all of you: learn more about the Prophets. Learn more about our Messenger and the others, and Prophet Isa — because they are your Prophets, they are your heroes. These stories are our legacies. We should learn from them and take lessons from them. So inshallah I conclude here.

صَلُّوا عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا كَمَا أُمِرْتُمْ، وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَثْنَى وَقَالَ:

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ.