Vocabulary

Word (kalima): It is that which reveals what is hidden and internal, through any means.(271) Words are also called (kalima) because they express hidden thoughts, and anything else that reveals the unseen is a word, as words are established for the spirits of meanings.(272)

God describes the glad tidings of the Messiah (a.s.) to Mary with the term “word” (kalima), which has a specific equivalent in every culture and language.

Many meanings have been suggested for “word” (kalima);(273) but apparently in this verse, Jesus (a.s.) is intended, as in other verses God has also called Jesus (a.s.) the divine word: “Indeed, the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God and His Word”.(274)

The Messiah (al-Masīḥ): “Masḥ” means to wipe something with the hand and remove its trace, and sometimes it is used for one of these two meanings; for example, they say “masaḥtu yadī bil-mindīl” (I wiped my hand with the handkerchief). A silver coin that has become smooth from being passed hand to hand is also called masīḥ, meaning wiped. “Masḥ al-arḍ” means to measure its area, and traveling and tourism are expressed as masḥ.

Several reasons have been suggested for naming Jesus (a.s.) as “the Messiah” (al-Masīḥ) including: 1. He traveled extensively on earth, as in his time some groups were known as travelers due to their journeys on earth. 2. He would touch and heal those with skin diseases. 3. At the time of his birth, his body was anointed, meaning oily. 4. Messiah (Masīḥ) in Arabic is the same as Mashūḥ in Hebrew, just as in Hebrew, the word Mūsā is Mūshī.(275) Messiah in the Torah is Mashīḥ.(276)

Amīn al-Islām Ṭabarsī has also mentioned many possibilities regarding the reason for naming the Messiah (a.s.): 1. Blessing and grace were bestowed upon him. 2. He was purified from sins. 3. He was anointed with blessed olive oil. 4. At the time of Jesus’s (a.s.) birth, Gabriel (a.s.) passed his wing over him to protect him from Satan. 5. For God’s sake, he would pass his hand over orphans’ heads. 6. He would pass his hand over blind eyes, and they would regain sight. 7. He would not pass his hand over any sick person except that they would be healed.(277)

On this basis, the esteemed Professor Shaʿrānī says: If Messiah (Masīḥ) is in the form of faʿīl meaning mafʿūl (the one who is anointed), its application to Jesus is either because he was purified from impurities; or because he was anointed with blessing and grace; or because at birth Gabriel anointed him with his wing to protect him from Satan’s whispers. However, if faʿīl is in the meaning of the doer (meaning “the one who anoints”), his naming was because he would heal the sick by touching them.(278) Thus, it can be said that Messiah, which is the Arabized form of the word “Mashīḥ”(279) and has also been used to mean “Mamsūḥ”,(280) either means that God gave him the hand of blessing, meaning divine mercy’s touch was bestowed upon him; or it means that his hand was a manifestation of divine blessing, such that wherever it reached, it brought blessing and life, as he said: “He has made me blessed, wherever I may be”.(281)

Note: The reason for naming is mostly based on wisdom rather than cause, otherwise since these mentioned aspects were also found in other prophets, they too should have been given the title “Messiah.”

Wajīhan (“eminent”): The word wajīh, like chief (raʾīs), is derived from the natural order: just as among the organs and limbs, the head guides other organs, in conventional matters too, when a group of people are engaged in a common task, they consider one person as their head and call them chief. Wajh (face) is also called by this name because it is the noblest organ of the body, and when humans converse with each other, they face each other and become muwājah (face-to-face).(282)

Kahlan (“middle-aged”): Kahl is in contrast to childhood and means reaching full physical and mental strength, which occurs around the age of thirty. However, the application of kāhil to the upper back (aʿlā al-ẓahr) is due to its firmness and elevation, and its distinction from soft and delicate organs. In the verse under discussion, kahl is contrasted with the weak small child who is in the cradle and is not capable of anything, not even speaking.(283)

It has been said that kahl is someone whose hair has begun to show grey on their head and face (man wakhaṭahu al-shayb).(284)