Almighty God says, "Behold! the angel said: "O Mary! Almighty God has chosen you and purified you; chosen you above the women of all nations. "O Mary! worship your Lord devoutly; prostrate yourself and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." After mentioning the high place of Mother Mary, Almighty God moves on to mention the birth of Jesus. "Behold! the angel said "O Mary! Almighty God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus the son of Mary held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Almighty God. "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity and he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." She said: "O my Lord! how shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Almighty God creates what He wills; when He has decreed a plan He but says to it `Be' and it is!"
All Christian brothers and sisters can you just guess that the verse, you just read above, are from which version of the Bible? If you have read the Roman Catholic version, you would think it is the Protestant version. And if you read the Protestant version, you would think it is the Roman Catholic version. In fact, these verses are not from the Bible. They are from the Holy Qur'an. Yeah, from the Holy Qur'an! These are the verses from the Qur'an Sura ale Imran Chapter 3 Verses 42-43 & 45-47. At a time when many Christians do not believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus, Islam makes it compulsory on its followers to believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus without any male intervention. A Muslim can not be a Musim, unless he believes in it.
The version of the story of Jesus' birth mentioned in the Qur'an is far more acceptable and honorable than that mentioned in the Bible. For instance, when the Virgin Mary asks the angel that how can she give birth to a son when she has not been touched by any man. The Biblical version says in the Gospel of Luke 1:35, "And the angel answered and said unto her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you." We know that here the words "come upon you" and "overshadow you" do NOT give their literal meaning here. But this wording is really distasteful. While in the Qur'anic version the angel says, "Even so: Almighty God creates what He wills; when He has decreed a plan He but says to it `Be' and it is!"
Chapter 19 of the Holy Qur'an is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus. But there is no such chapter in the Bible. Now the question arises that why did Muhammad (peace be upon him) say that Mary is chosen above the women of the World; why didn't he say that his own mother or his beloved wife or his beloved daughter was chosen above the women of the World? Maybe some would say that he wanted to get some Christian followers. The point, they would be missing is that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) lived in Makkah and Madina all his life. People around him were either Jews, who hated and abused Mother Mary and Jesus or pagans, who also hated Mother Mary and Jesus. So if Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had not defended Jesus and Mary, he might have had more followers from among these people.
But Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) defended Mother Mary and Jesus because Muhammad (pbuh) upon him was a prophet of God and Almighty God revealed all this to him. Exactly as Jesus had prophesied in the Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 12-14, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you unto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me." And Muhammad (peace be upon him) truly glorified Jesus and Mother Mary; that's why there are more than a billion Muslims around the World, who love and revere Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.
So the Muslims believe that Jesus was born miraculously without any male intervention; that Jesus gave life to the dead with God's permission and healed those born blind and lepers. The only difference between Muslims and Christians is that some Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God. But if you read the Bible, there is not a single statement in the complete Bible, where Jesus Christ himself says that words "I am God" or "worship me". Though there was some verses, which are misquoted to prove that Jesus is God. We have already answered all such verses in the post "Did Jesus Claim Divinity?"
