A Discussion of the Narrations

1. The Law of Jesus (a.s.) and the Contents of the Gospel

Muḥammad al-Ḥalabī narrates from Abū ʿAbdallāh (a.s.) who said: “There were four hundred years between David and Jesus son of Mary (a.s.). The law of Jesus was that he was sent with monotheism (tawḥīd) and sincerity (ikhlāṣ), and with what Noah, Abraham, and Moses were commanded. The Gospel was revealed to him, and the covenant that was taken from the prophets was taken from him. It was prescribed for him in the scripture to establish prayer along with religion, to command good and forbid evil, to prohibit the prohibited and permit the permissible. In the Gospel were revealed admonitions and parables [and limits], without retribution, prescribed punishments, or inheritance laws. What was revealed to him was a lightening of what had been revealed to Moses (a.s.) in the Torah, and this is God’s word regarding what Jesus son of Mary said to the Children of Israel:”And [I have come] to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you” (3:50). And Jesus commanded those believers who followed him to believe in the law of the Torah and the Gospel.(452)

Note: A. According to this narration, Jesus (a.s.) was sent with monotheism, sincerity, and everything that the previous resolute prophets had been commanded with, and God took a covenant from him as He did from other prophets (a.s.). The content of his law includes establishing prayer, commanding good and forbidding evil, prohibiting the prohibited and permitting the permissible, and his Gospel contains admonitions and parables, but does not contain laws of retribution, prescribed punishments, or inheritance.

Based on the verse under discussion, Jesus (a.s.) made lawful some of the prohibited rules of the Torah and lightened them for the Children of Israel. However, he commanded his followers to believe in the law of the Torah and the Gospel.

B. This noble tradition also clearly shows that the religion of Jesus (a.s.), like the religions of all divine prophets (a.s.), was “Islam” and the difference is only in some minor branches that constitute the “law and way” (sharīʿa wa minhāj).

From the verse “When Jesus brought the manifest proofs, he said, ’I have certainly brought you wisdom, and [I have come] to make clear to you some of the things that you differ about. So be wary of God and obey me’”,(453) it is also evident that after the coming of Jesus (a.s.), the Torah maintained authority among Christianity and the Children of Israel; however, some of its laws were abrogated and the Gospel clarified it.

Fayḍ Kāshānī, in his explanation of this tradition, states that the abrogation of some of the Torah’s rulings does not contradict its confirmation, just as the abrogation of some Qur’anic verses in relation to others does not mean internal contradiction, because the reality of abrogation (naskh) is the end of the duration of the previous ruling and returns to temporal specification.(454) Therefore, at the end of the narration, it is explicitly stated that Christ (a.s.) commanded his followers to believe in the law of the Torah and the Gospel.

C. The denial of prescribed punishments (ḥudūd), retribution (qiṣāṣ), and inheritance laws from the Gospel in this tradition is incompatible with the fact that Christ (a.s.) was among the resolute prophets and a bearer of divine law, as well as with general prophethood, which exists to fulfill human needs. Therefore, the tradition must be explained thus: The law of Christ (a.s.), according to divine approval and the command to maintain, is the same as the law of Moses (a.s.) except in some cases.

The Qur’an speaks of the approval of retribution and its precedent among the Children of Israel: “And in it We prescribed for them: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and retaliation for wounds. Yet whoever remits it out of charity, that shall be an atonement for him. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down—it is they who are the wrongdoers.”(455) And Jesus Christ (a.s.) maintained many of the jurisprudential and legal rulings of Moses (a.s.) by the command of God.

2. Cases of Making Lawful

ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm said regarding His words: “And [I have come] to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you” - this refers to the Sabbath, fats, and the birds that God had forbidden to the Children of Israel.(456)

Note: Hunting on Saturday, fat, and birds (birds with talons) were things that were forbidden to the Children of Israel in the law of Moses (a.s.), and Christ (a.s.) made them lawful.