The importance of December 25

December 25 is a time of great activity every year – in Pakistan to celebrate the birth of our dear leader, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and for Christians all over the world, to celebrate the birth of Hazrat Esa (AS), one of our most revered prophets.
We Muslims consider him to be a Messenger of Allah, a prophet like the prophets who were sent earlier and like the last of the prophets, Mohammed (pbuh). In the Holy Quran, Hazrat Esa (AS) has been mentioned 93 times, Hazrat Musa (AS) 136 times and Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) 69 times. Our Holy Prophet (pbuh) has been mentioned by name only four times (A’le Imran, Ahzab, Muhammed, Al-Fatah and, once, as Ahmad (pbuh) in Surah Saff. However, the Quran has many indirect references to our Holy Prophet (pbuh).
The life of Hazrat Esa (AS) was full of miracles, viz his birth from a virgin mother – Hazrat Maryam (AS) – speaking to the people from the cradle to prove the innocence of his mother, making a bird of clay and turning it into a real, flying bird, bringing the dead back to life, curing the blind and lepers, getting a table from heaven laden with delicacies, knowing what people had just eaten and what they had in store for the coming days, etc. All these miracles have been described in detail in Surah A’le Imran and Surah Al-Maida.
Almighty Allah also revealed the holy book of Injel (the Bible) through him. Unfortunately, over time, many changes were made to the traditions that were passed down and to the original scripts, and now there are many variations, each claiming to be the most authentic and accurate.
Impressed and influenced by the many miracles performed by Hazrat Esa (AS), Christians began considering him to be the son of Allah (God forbid). Together with the Holy Spirit of God, they created the doctrine of the Trinity, which is rejected by Islam. In Islam we believe Hazrat Esa (AS) to be human, like all the other prophets before him who preached the oneness of God and that salvation was only possible through submission to Allah’s will and by worshipping Him alone.
Thus, Muslims totally reject the idea of Hazrat Esa (AS) being the son of God or part of the Holy Trinity. To us it is ‘shirk’ to associate partners with God and thereby rejecting the oneness of Allah, an unpardonable sin. In Surah Al-Maida the Quran clearly says: “They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Maryam. Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Esa, the son of Maryam, or his mother or everyone on earth And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills and Allah is over all things competent”.
Our Holy Prophet, Mohammed (pbuh), called Hazrat Esa “Ruh-Ullah” - the spirit of Allah. We believe that Hazrat Esa (AS) was a precursor to our Holy Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and that he had announced the latter’s coming after him under the name of Ahmad (we consider Ahmed as Mohammad from the h-m-d tri-consonantal root).
Most Western scholars, Jews and Christians alike, believe that Hazrat Esa (AS) was crucified by the Jews. We Muslims do not believe this because Almighty Allah bodily raised him to heaven. We believe that Allah transformed another person, Simone of Cyrene, the leader of the Jews who wanted to kill Hazrat Esa (AS), to appear identical in likeness to Hazrat Esa (AS) and that he was crucified in his stead.
According to Islamic tradition (Muslim and Bokhari), Hazrat Esa (AS) will descend from heaven in the midst of the wars fought by Imam Mehdi against Dajjal (false prophet). This descent will be in Damascus and Hazrat Esa will be wearing yellow robes. He will offer prayers behind Imam Mehdi and then join him in the war against Dajjal and will kill him. All will believe him to be a prophet and then there will be one united community – viz Islam.
After the death of Imam Mehdi, Hazrat Esa (AS) will take over leadership. Gog and Magog (Yajuj and Majuj), who were confined to an area by Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS), will break the barrier and play havoc on earth. Allah, in response to the prayers of Hazrat Esa (AS) will kill them all by sending down a type of worm in the back of their necks. After ruling for about 40 years, Hazrat Esa (AS) will expire. Muslims will then offer namaz-e-jamaza and will bury him in Masjid Nabvi, next to the graves of our Prophet (pbuh), Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) and Hazrat Omar (RA).
The point I am trying to make here is that the December 25 is not important to us only because of it being the date of the birth of our great, dear leader, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, but also due to the fact that it is the date of the birth of a very important prophet – Hazrat Esa (AS). Unfortunately, we have come to believe that it is a purely Christian festival. Few of us realise that, despite huge differences, there are also many common factors. There can be no compulsion in religion. Each of us is responsible for our own deeds and there will be rewards for the good ones and chastisement for the bad ones.
The Almighty has been very kind to us in giving us Quaid-e-Azam on December 25, 1876. It was due to his excellent leadership, intelligence, wisdom and perseverance that he managed to unite the Muslims of the Subcontinent on a single platform to demand – and obtain – Pakistan against all odds.
We should also remember that it was the visionary Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who educated Muslims at Aligarh Muslim University to become Quaid-e-Azam’s stalwarts to achieve the creation of Pakistan. All neutral observers and historians are unanimous in their opinion that Quaid-e-Azam owed his success to the educated Muslims of UP.
Allama Iqbal provided spiritual guidance to the Muslims and urged them to support Quaid-e-Azam. While Quaid-e-Azam gave us Pakistan, my colleagues and I are proud to have provided it with an impregnable defence by giving it nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. May Almighty Allah shower His blessings on Quaid-e-Azam and his colleagues, on all those who sacrificed their lives for Pakistan and on those who gave it security – Ameen.

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