Truth about Jesus The Messiah and His Miracles
Ismaili Teachings on the Reality of Jesus and Acts of Spiritual Healing
Ta’wīl of Qur’ān 3:45 - Esoteric and Spiritual Meaning of The Messiah (al-Masīḥ)
[al-Qāḍī al-Nu‘mān writes in his book on Ismaili esoteric interpretation, Asās al-Ta’wīl:]
His [i.e. God’s] saying [about Jesus], “His name is the Messiah” (al-masīḥ) (Q 3:45) means that he [i.e. Jesus] “polishes” or “clears” (yamsaḥ) the apparent (ẓāhir) and the hidden (bāṭin). In Arabic, the term masḥ means to clear, remove or wipe away something. This is why we pray for the sick by saying masaḥa llāh ḍarrak, or “may God remove (masaḥa) your ailment,” in the sense of, “may He remove it from you and purge you of its affliction.”
In this manner, Jesus removed (masaḥa) the impurities of those who responded to him, that is, the ailments of their faith, whether apparent (ẓāhir) or hidden (bāṭin). This is why he is called a masīḥ or “messiah”; and he too was clear and pure of such things.
Shafique N. Virani, “Hierohistory in Qāḍī l-Nuʿmān’s Foundation of Symbolic Interpretation (Asās al-Ta’wīl ): The Birth of Jesus.” Chap. 5. In Studies in Islamic Historiography. Edited by Sami G. Massoud. Islamic History and Civilization, pp. 164-165.
Question 505
In the wise Qur’ān the complete name Ḥazrat ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ in verse (3:45) is “al-Masīḥu ‘Īsā ibnu Maryam”. The word al-Masīḥ is mentioned in eleven different places of the Qur’ān and it was granted by Allāh. Please tell us its meanings.
Answer
Scholars hold different opinions in this connection. Nonetheless, it is true that when Ḥazrat ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ touched the lepers they were cured, and thus, he is called al-Masīḥ, i.e. the one who touches.
Ḥazrat ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ al-Masīḥ was the living supreme Name of Allāh in his time, and according to the du‘ā’-yi nūr (the prayer of light), waves of light were running in his personality. Thus, if spiritual diseases have been cured by the luminous currents of the Nāṭiq [i.e. Law-giving Prophet] the Asās [i.e. Foundation or First Imam after the Nāṭiq] and the Imām, why should one be surprised by him curing the lepers!
‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Ṣanādiq-i Jawāhir, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Caskets of Pearls, vol. 2, Question 505, p. 2.
Sūrah-yi Āl-i ‘Imrān (Family of Imran)
And [God] will make him [i.e. Jesus] a messenger unto the Children of Israel, (saying): ‘Lo! I come unto you with a sign from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah's permission. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah's permission....’
Ta’wīl of Qur’an 3:49 & 5:110 - Jesus’ Miracles of Spiritual and Intellectual Healing
The gist of what is said in verse 3:49 is that Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ [Prophet Jesus] in his time used to make a figure of a bird out of clay and used to breathe ism-i a‘ẓam [the supreme name (of God)] into it and it used to become a bird by Allāh’s command. He also used to heal those born blind, lepers and used to raise the dead by Allāh’s command.
In the above-mentioned miracles, the ta’wīl of the clay is the status of a mu’min [faithful believer], and that of bird is an angel and a spiritual entity (rūḥānī). The ta’wīl of making clay, mixing water with dust, is to mix ‘ilmu'l-yaqīn (knowledge of certainty) with the belief and faith of a mu’min, and that of making a figure of a bird out of clay is creating the capacity and zeal for angelicity and spirituality in that mu’min. The ta’wīl of breathing into the figure of the bird is to grant the dhikr [remembrance] of ism-i a‘ẓam and special ‘ibādat [worship] to a prepared mu’min, and that of becoming a bird is the spiritual birth of a mu’min, namely, the beginning of the angelic and spiritual life and the flight in the world of spirituality.
The ta’wīl of healing the one born blind is to grant the open inner eye to a new Muslim, giving him the above mentioned kind of spiritual training. The ta’wīl of healing a leper is to improve (the condition of) a mu’min who is trapped in the extremely intense light and white luminousness in the beginning of spirituality. And the ta’wīl of raising the dead is to revive spiritually and restore to their previous position those who used to live in the life of the spirit of faith (rūḥu'l-īmān) and then had died with respect to rūḥu'l-īmān. This is the ta’wīl and wisdom of the above-mentioned miracles of Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾.
Now the question arises whether the Chief of the Prophets, Ḥazrat Muḥammad Muṣṭafā⁽ˢ⁾ also performed such miracles, or not? You will certainly reply, why not? For, he possessed all the perfect qualities of all the prophets and was the closest friend of God. These ta’wīlī miracles are such that they are related not only to the Prophet, but also to the holy Imāms.
‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Qur’ān awr Rūḥāniyyat, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, The Qur’ān and Spirituality, 24-25.
It is among the realities of the Qur’ān that Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ was manifesting the same Divine Spirit breathed into Ḥazrat-i Ādam⁽ᶜ⁾ and which manifests from the Divine Word. Thus, from the following verse you can determine what kind of miracles manifest from the Perfect Men into whom the Divine or Holy Spirit is breathed. See the verse: “When Allāh will say: O ‘Īsā, son of Maryam! Remember My favour on you and your mother; how I helped you with the Holy Spirit, so that you spoke to the people in the cradle and when grown up, and how I taught you the Book and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you made out of clay the likeness of a bird by My permission (idhn), and breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission, and you healed those born blind and the lepers by My permission; and when you raised the dead (from the graves) by My permission” (5:110).
The ta’wīl of the above-mentioned miracles of Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ is as follows: When the luminous birth of Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ took place in the personal world of the ḥudūd-i dīn [hierarchy of religion], he started to speak immediately in their personal world. This continued and when he became mature, he started to show spiritual miracles in their personal worlds. The Book, or al-kitāb, is that living light whose signs (āyāt) are the Pen, the Tablet and the Writing (raqīm). This Book contains profound wisdom and all heavenly Books.
Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ gave ism-i a‘ẓam to the ḥudūd-i dīn. One Qur’ānic name of ism-i a‘ẓam is “idhnu’llāh (God’s permission)”, through which at the station of [the angel of death] ‘Izrā’īl⁽ᶜ⁾ (maqām-i ‘Izrā’īl), his personality became an image and a mould into which the Holy Spirit was cast and consequently an angel like him came into existence and began to fly. To heal a person born blind means to bring someone who is lost, to the straight path and to give him the inner eye by God’s permission. A leper means someone who has remained in the initial light of spirituality* for a long time and who does not realise that its real stages are further ahead, and particularly someone who has seen this light without the Imām of the time’s guidance. Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ used to help such people to progress further in the stages of spirituality. This is the ta’wīl of healing a leper. The ta’wīl of raising the dead from the graves is that, the particles of soul used to resurrect from the living graveyards of human beings and come towards Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ when he was passing through the personal resurrection.
* Translator’s footnote: If someone practices arduous mystical exercises without faith in and guidance of True Guide, he can undoubtedly see the light of the dissolving carnal of animal soul. This is the place where deviation from the straight path reaches its climax, because most people consider this God’s light.
‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Gang-i Girān-Māyah, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Precious Treasure, 78-79.
Ta’wīl of Jesus Breathing Life into a Clay Bird
Interpreting certain Qur’ānic verses on Adam and Jesus (Q 3:49 and 59; 15:29; 38:72), Ja‘far b. Manṣūr [al-Yaman] compares the actions of Jesus and God, in kneading clay and breathing life into it, to the process of initiating hierarchy members into higher ranks. According to this interpretation, the Adam depicted in these verses was initiated by God (by whom Ja‘far b. Manṣūr means the Imām of his age) from the mustajīb-ship to a rank even higher than that of other dignitaries.
According to Ja‘far b. Manṣūr, these dignitaries were the angels in the Qur’ān who originally refused to recognize Adam. In this process of initiation, God (the Imām of his age) kneaded “the clay” (by which is meant the mustajīb [Adam]), with His two hands (His spiritual substance [māddatu-hu] and “support” [ta’yīdu-hu]) and led him to a “spiritual birth” (al-wilādah al-rūḥānīyah).
This process was not carried out by any lāḥiq or lieutenant playing the role of an initiator or spiritual parent, but by the Imām of the age himself. This is, Ja‘far b. Manṣūr implies, the inner meaning of Adam’s birth without parents, i.e., parents in this scheme representing of course the lieutenants. These lieutenants play the role of initiators in the elevation of the members of the hierarchy: their role is compared to parentage in the initiation as spiritual rebirth.
Likewise, just as with the Imām of Adam’s age, the fifth Nāṭiq, Jesus, “kneaded” the “clay” (i.e., mustajīb) with the “water”, an act which is interpreted as ‘ilm al-ta’wīl (the knowledge of esoteric interpretation). Then he made it a living “bird” which here stands for the person initiated into the rank of dā‘ī muṭlaq (authorized missionary). This is, Ja‘far b. Manṣūr implies, the meaning of verse Q 3:59, which stresses the resemblance of Jesus to Adam (“Truly, the image of Jesus, in God’s sight, is as Adam’s image”).
Thus, Ja‘far b. Manṣūr contends that a Nāṭiq and an Imām, who are compared to God, may occasionally elevate low-ranked members of the hierarchy to a higher rank by bypassing the spiritual parentage of lieutenants.
Shin Nomoto, Early Ismā‘īlī Thought on Prophecy According to the Kitāb al-Iṣlāḥ by Abū Hātim al-Rāzī (unpublished Ph.D Thesis, McGill University), 279-280.
Question 95
What is the ta’wīl of when Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ used to make a figure of a bird from clay, then used to breathe something into it, it used to become a bird by the permission of God?
Answer
Dust and clay, which in Arabic are called turāb and ṭīn respectively, signify two ranks of mu’mins. One is the rank of belief (‘aqīdah) or faith (īmān) of an elementary nature, which has essential importance for the people of da‘wat – which is exemplified by dust. The other is that of the faith with some knowledge, which is exemplified by clay. Thus the ta’wīl of Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ making a bird’s figure from clay, is that he used to appoint a mu’min with faith and some knowledge to the rank of ma’dhūn, at which time the latter was nothing but a silent figure of that rank. However, when Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ breathed something into this figure it used to become a bird by God’s permission. This means that, step by step, Ḥazrat-i ‘Īsā⁽ᶜ⁾ was breathing the soul of knowledge of ta’yīd (spiritual help) into this ma’dhūn and he was becoming a spiritual bird, i.e., a soul or an angel. The holy Prophet had given Mawlā ‘Alī⁽ᶜ⁾ the title of Abū Turāb (the father of dust). The ta’wīl of this title is that after the holy Prophet⁽ˢ⁾, Mawlā ‘Alī⁽ᶜ⁾ was the spiritual father of the faithful men and women, for dust means the people of faith as mentioned above.
‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Rūḥ Kya Hai?, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, What is Soul?, 75.
The Father and the Son: Is Jesus the Son of God?
[Ḥakīm Nāṣir-i Khusraw writes in his Kitāb Jami‘ al-Ḥikmatayn:]
We say that the sun of the macrocosm is at the level of the heart of the microcosm, which is man, and that the moon of the macrocosm is at the level of the brain in the microcosm. The five planets in the macrocosm, which philosophers call ‘the great man’ (insān-i kabīr), are on a level with the five senses in man, whom they call ‘the little world’. I mean that Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury in this world are at the rank of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch in man. And since man in his body is the child of the macrocosm and in his soul the child of Universal Soul, then the macrocosm is, as it were, the body of the Universal Soul with all those implements (ālat-hā) which we have mentioned. It was with this in mind that Jesus, son of Mary —upon him be peace — said, ‘I am going to my father who is in heaven.’ What he meant was that ‘My individual soul is returning to the Universal Soul which is in heaven.’ The ignorant in his community imagined that he said, ‘I am the son of God.’
Eric Ormsby, Between Reason and Revelation: Twin Wisdoms Reconciled. An annotated English translation of Nāṣir-i Khusraw’s Kitāb Jami‘ al-Ḥikmatayn, p. 248.
[Hamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī writes in his Rāhat al-‘Aql:]
…the [spiritual] Intellects of the abode of ibdā‘ [transcendent world of origination, i.e., the spiritual world] purify the souls in the corporeal world and reach the souls once their essences (dhawāt) are purged of the evil of natural urges and gains perfection for them, and goodness and awe and elevation, and purifies them and treats them with mercy such as a father treats his child. That is why Jesus the son of Mary, God’s blessings be with him, said: “I am the son of the One in heaven.”
Sayeh Meisami, Knowledge and Power in the Philosophies of Hamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī and Mullā Sadrā Shīrāzī [bracketed text inserted], p. 44.
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