BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM














We Want a Christmas Tree!

by Khadeijah (Stephens) Darwish The Mosque of the Internet www.Allah.com

© 1992 - 2007



All rights reserved.



















































Abraham and Sarah were twins, their family had emigrated to America
earlier on that year. Everything was very different from
the town in which they had grown up where souks bustled
with traders calling out what they had to sell, and the smell
of spices filled the air, as sweet potatoes cooked over an
open range. There were no longer fresh vegetable and fruit
markets where villagers brought the produce they had grown into
town on trucks, carts or bikes. Now, there were supermarkets
with their bright lights, shopping carts and prepackaged
fruit and vegetables. They looked nice, but somehow they didn't
taste the same as the one's in the old country.

Back home Sarah and Abraham always knew when it was time to say
their prayers, because at the corner of nearly every street
was a mosque and the call to prayer would ring throughout
the city like an echo when prayer time arrived. Now, it was
easy to forget it was time for prayer, because there were no
mosques that called the Adhan to remind them, and what was
more the prayer times kept changing!

The twins, Abraham and Sarah, were surprised to find that school
was also different in America. Back home, boys and girls
went to separate schools, but here, they were in the same class
in the same school. It was very strange and they felt shy,
but at least they had each other.

After a little while they started to settle in well and made
some friends, but they missed their grand parents, uncles aunts,
and cousins back home.

It was the end of November, the children had just recovered from
chickenpox. They had not been out of the house for two weeks
or so. First Sarah had caught it and then Abraham. But
now they were better and the doctor told them they could go
back to school. Winter had come early, and their mother had
made a nice warm fire in the living room and the logs of wood
crackled away as the flames danced their way up the chimney.

The twins were tired of watching television and were looking
out of the window at the cars going by -- everything looked
so cold outside! Then, suddenly, little white snow-flakes started
to flutter down from the gray sky above -- they had never
seen snow before and called excitedly for their mother to
come and see.

It wasn't long before everything outside was covered in white.
The street lights flickered, magic filled the air as the snow
sparkled and glistened like tiny diamonds falling from the
sky. The trees and bushes all took on funny shapes -- everything
looked so different.

Sarah and Abraham wanted to go outside and play in the snow,
but it was getting late and their mother told them they must
wait until tomorrow, after all they had only just got over
chickenpox!

Abraham was the first to wake up the next morning. He rushed
to the window to see if the snow was still there. It was! so
he ran into Sarah's room and woke her up to tell her the good
news. She was very excited and together they looked out of
the window at a new world cloaked in white.  The snow had
stopped falling, everywhere looked so beautiful, and the winter's
sun made everything sparkle -- it all looked very inviting!

Just then their mother called: "Sarah, Abraham have you said
your Fajr prayer yet?" With all the excitement they had quite
forgotten, so they quickly made ablution and prayed. When
they came downstairs their breakfast was ready on the table,
and they ate it up in record time.

They wanted to go out and play in the snow -- but they knew they
had to go to school, but, there was a little time. Their
mother gave them their packed lunches and told them to put
them in their school bags. They were so anxious to go outside
in the snow that their mother did not have to tell them to
put their coats and boots on -- they were ready in no time!
Their mother told them that she would drive them to school
that day instead of catching the school bus.

Just then the telephone rang and their mother answered. She seemed
to be talking for such a long time, and the children could
not wait to go outside. Abraham opened the front door and
peered out and a gust of icy wind made their noses twitch.
"Come on Sarah" said Abraham, "we'll wait for Mum outside!"
And as they walked down the garden path they felt the snow
scrunch beneath their feet with a squeaky kind of sound.

Abraham picked up a handful of snow. He made it into a ball and
threw it at Sarah -- it hit her right on top of her hat and
bits of icy cold snow melted and slipped down onto her nose.
This was fun, they thought as they started throwing snowballs
at each other.

All too soon, the front door opened, and their mother with their
school bags in hand, called to them to go to the car and
wait there. They ran over to the snow-covered car and scraped
the snow away from the front and back windows with their
gloves. It was a good thing they had waterproof gloves, but
even so their hands got very cold.

They had just finished removing the snow from the windows when
their mother came, opened the car doors and told the children
to knock their boots together to get rid of the snow before
getting in. Then the children got into the back of the car
but they hadn't had time to scrape the snow away from the
side windows so it looked just as if they were in a house made
of snow. Mother got out, and brushed the side windows clear
and they were ready to go.

The warm breath of the children soon made crystals form on the
inside of the windows -- this had never happened to them before.
Not long after the car was nice and warm and the crystals
melted and the children reached school on time. They kissed
their mother, said: "As-Salamu alaykum" and went inside.

The school bell rang and the children settled down to work. Time
just flew by and it was nearly time to go home when Mrs.
Short, their teacher, told them that tomorrow they would decorate
the classroom ready for Christmas. This was a new word
for the children, they had never heard it before, so they
asked their friends what it meant.

Jane, Sarah's friend told her that Christmas was the time she
liked most; everyone made their houses look pretty with paper
chains, tinsel, lights and a Christmas tree. There were parties
and everyone got presents. Jane was surprised that Sarah
had never heard of Christmas, but Sarah told her that although
she had never heard of Christmas they had something like
it back home called Eid, which is the time they celebrated
the end of the fast of Ramadan and that there was another
Eid to celebrate the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

In the meantime, Abraham went to Mrs. Short and told her that
he did not understand what Christmas was, so Mrs. Short told
him that it was the day they celebrated Jesus' birthday. It
sounded good Abraham and he wondered why they had not heard
of it back home, after all everyone there knew about Prophet
Jesus.

The next day, Mrs. Short arrived at school carrying two large
boxes. Abraham rushed to open the door for her, she thanked
him and went into the classroom and put the boxes on her desk.

The school bell rang and the children settled down in their places.
Mrs. Short opened the first box and took out lots of
pretty things and the children set about pinning the decorations
around the classroom, yes, it looked just like Eid back
home.

Now that they had finished decorating the classroom Mrs. Short
told the children she had a surprise for them, but she had
to go out to her car to fetch it. She told the children that
they had to be good and left Abraham in charge of the class.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Short returned with a tree. That's
funny thought Sarah, I thought Mrs. Short was going to get a
nice surprise, why had she brought a tree into the classroom?
Abraham looked surprised as well while the rest of the class
cried out: "Oh look, a Christmas Tree!" The twins could
not understand what all the excitement was about -- it was funny
to have a tree inside!

Mrs. Short placed the tree firmly on a stand. Then she went back
to her desk, opened the other box and took out some tiny
lights, brightly colored balls, ornaments, and more tinsel.
The children decorated the tree and Mrs. Short arranged the
tiny lights on its branches. Once they had finished decorating
it, Mrs. Short switched on the tiny lights. The little lights,
in all their colors flashed on and off and everyone clapped.
Abraham and Sarah just stood and stared at the tree,
it was the first time they had ever seen a tree decorated like
this and it looked so beautiful.

That afternoon on the way home from school, Sarah and Abraham
could not stop talking about the Christmas tree and decided
they were going to ask their parents if they could have one.

The school bus slowed down outside their house, and the children
got off and turned to wave to their friends on the bus as
they ran up the path, kicking the snow up into the air as
they went.

Mother was waiting for them at the door, but the children forgot
to say "As-Salamu alaykum", all they could think about was
the Christmas tree. "Mummy, mummy," they cried, "can we have
a Christmas Tree. We've got one in our classroom at school,
it looks so pretty, please Mummy, please?" "Calm down, calm
down!" said mother, "come in and take off your coats, have
your tea, and we will talk about it when daddy comes home."

The children ate their tea then did their homework. They had
just finished their homework when they heard the sound of a
car in the driveway -- daddy was home! The children rushed to
the doorway and waited for their father. Soon they heard his
footsteps coming nearer so they opened the door but as they
rushed to give him a big kiss and hug they knocked his brief
case out of his hand. "As-Salamu alaykum" their father said,
"what's all this?" Both children started to speak at the
same time and their father could not understand a word they
were saying. "Just a minute, let me take my coat off and warm
up." He took his coat off and hung it up and Sarah raced
to bring him a pair of nice warm slippers to put on. "Now children,
tell me one at a time what you were saying." Abraham
said: "Oh daddy, today we put up decorations in our classroom,
and Mrs. Short brought a Christmas tree and we decorated
it with lights and lots of pretty things -- can we have a
Christmas tree, please daddy, please!"

Their father sat himself down in the chair near the fire and
told them: "Children, when we came to America, we noticed that
lots of things were different from back home. We are Muslims
and Christmas is a Christian celebration and we don't celebrate
it." "But daddy!" Abraham protested, "its the birthday
of Prophet Jesus, why can't we celebrate it and have a Christmas
tree?" "No, Abraham, Christians say it is the birthday
of Prophet Jesus, but it is not." "But daddy, Mrs. Short
at school said it is!!" said Abraham. "Well, I am afraid she
is wrong this time."

Sarah and Abraham were very upset, they wanted a Christmas tree
more than anything. Sarah started to cry, Abraham forgot
his manners and started shouting. In fact they were so naughty
they were sent to bed early and they didn't even say their
prayers!

As their mother tucked them into bed she reminded them of the
lovely time they had at Eid, but this did not help, they could
not understand why their father would not let them have
a Christmas tree with lights that flashed on and off.

At last they dropped off to sleep, but as Abraham slept he sobbed.
Suddenly, Abraham's bedroom was full of light. Abraham
sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, blinked and stared. There,
sitting in the corner of the room on his prayer mat was something,
or someone very, very unusual. "Who are you, what are
you, go away or else I will scream!" said the bewildered Abraham.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startled you. I am a jinn,
you have heard about my kind in the Koran," he replied. "Do
you remember the story of Prophet Sulayman and the jinn who
brought the throne of the Queen of Sheba to him in the twinkling
of an eye?" asked the jinn. "Yes," replied Abraham,
"Well, my great-great-great, I can't remember how many greats,
but one of my great-grandfathers was there!" "Really," blurted
Abraham, "That's really awesome," said Abraham, "but what
are you doing in my bedroom?"

The jinn smiled with a smile that spread from ear to ear. "I
was on my way to the Californian desert, when I popped down
your chimney to warm up, and overheard you and your father talking
about Christmas, I also heard all the fuss you were making.
I know it's hard for children to understand about Christmas,
especially as people make it look so nice. That is why
I decided it was my duty to tell you children two stories,"
said the jinn. "Go and tell Sarah to come here and I will
tell them to you."

Abraham went to Sarah's bedroom and woke her up -- she was still
upset but when Abraham told her about the jinn she was very
excited, she had never seen a jinn before. She jumped out
of bed, put on her dressing gown, and together the children
crept quietly back to Abraham's bedroom.

As the children peered around the bedroom door they saw the jinn
still sitting on the prayer mat and as he looked up he gave
them one of his big smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

"As-Salamu alaykum," said the jinn. "Wa laykum as-Salaam," replied
the children. Although Sarah was excited, she was also
a little bit shy. The jinn told the children that his name
was Arafat ibn Jabel Arafat which means Arafat, the son of the
Mount of Arafat. He told them that he had been given that
name, because like his father he had been born not far from
Mount Arafat, however, because he had grown to be rather big,
his friends called him Jabel. Sarah asked: "Is that the mountain
people go to on pilgrimage?" "Yes," said Jabel, "I am
glad you know about it. Come and sit down by me and I will
tell you two stories."

"The first story," said Jabel "is about Christmas celebrations
and the decorations you have been talking about and making
at school. I know you have been wondering why Muslims don't
celebrate Christmas even though we love Prophet Jesus, peace
be upon him. Well, I am going to tell you the reason why we
don't celebrate it, and how the idea of Christmas and its
celebrations all started. You are going to be quite surprised
with what you are going to hear!"

"It all started a very long time ago, way before the time of
Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, and many years
after Allah had taken Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, to
the heavens.

At that time, Constantine was Emperor of Roman. He became so
famous that a city in Turkey was named after him, it was called
Constantinople, but today it has been renamed Istanbul.

When Constantine became Emperor of Rome many people envied him
because they wanted to be the Emperor, and so there were always
uprisings somewhere in the Roman Empire.

Most Romans were pagans, they worshiped lots of false gods carved
out of stone. Some of these gods, the Romans said, had
sons and daughters. Other Romans, like Constantine, worshiped
the sun or even the moon." "That's silly," said Sarah, "didn't
they realize that the statues were useless and made by
people? "You are right Sarah, I am glad you realize that," said
Jabel. "To get back to the story, Constantinople was full
of temples to those pagan gods. There were lots of very big
statues everywhere but like I said, the god Constantine worshiped
was the sun and on December, 25th each year there were
special celebrations in honor of its birth.

However, not all the people living in the Roman Empire were pagans,
there was another group, people who refused to worship
the pagan gods. They were called Christians. But, there were
two kinds of Christians. One group followed the true teachings
of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, and worshiped One
God and knew another prophet would be sent later on, these
people were called Nazarenes." "Oh, I know," said Abraham, "they
were waiting for Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be
upon him." "Yes, that's right Abraham," said Jabel.

Jabel continued, "the other kind of Christians followed a man
called Paul who never met Prophet Jesus and claimed, that God
was one of three persons; may Allah forgive me for repeating
this, it is a terrible thing to say," said Jabel. "You see,
when Paul first went to Greece he had difficulty preaching.
The Greeks worshiped three gods, joined them together and
said they worshiped one god.

Now Paul had an idea, if he referred to Prophet Jesus as being
the son of God and then added the Holy Spirit there would
be three in one, and that would make his preaching easier for
them to accept. His idea worked, and people started to listen
but he made a very big mistake, because we know that Prophet
Jesus always taught that God, Allah, is One and does not
have a son or any other one or thing else with Him.

Constantine was a very confused man, he saw the true followers
of Prophet Jesus as a threat to his power. As for the other
kind of Christians, they could be tolerated, because, like
I said before, their idea of three gods in one, was similar
to the religions of Roman. However, there were more true Christians
than the other kind."

"Why did Constantine think the true Christians or should I say
Nazarenes were a threat to his power," asked Abraham. "Well,
like I mentioned, their numbers were growing, and he was
afraid they might rise up against him -- there had already been
twelve emperors in recent years and on average, each one
only ruled for three years -- all of them died in a mysterious
manner. Neither the Nazarenes nor the followers of Paul
had anything to do with these mysterious deaths, the Emperors
were murdered by greedy people, some of whom wanted to become
the next Emperor. Needless to say Constantine wanted to
be the Emperor of Rome for a long time!"

Jabel continued: "The Nazarenes were people who obeyed Allah
and didn't much care about the Emperor. Emperors of Roman before
Constantine had trouble accepting the two parties as well
and would throw them to hungry lions because they refused
to worship the gods of Rome." "Oh, how cruel!" said Sarah.
"Yes," said Jabel, "those emperors were not nice people at all,
however, they were dedicated to their beliefs and refused
to give them up and would rather be martyred than become pagans.

Now, Constantine was determined to stamp out the Nazarenes, so
he devised a plan. Both parties had books which they called
Gospels, some of them reported the true sayings of Jesus,
whereas others contained the teachings of Paul and others who
followed his false teachings of three gods in one which they
called the trinity.

Constantine had an idea, so he pretended to convert. The next
thing he did was to declare that it was time that both parties
be united and share the same belief, and it was through
this declaration that Constantine set his plot in motion.

Not long after, Constantine invited all the arch-bishops, bishops
and notable clergy to a council meeting at a place called
Nicea. He ordered them to bring their gospels with them so
that they might debate with one another and then he would
determine who was right. He also told them that once the matter
was decided their gospels would be made into one book, which
is what Christians today call the "New Testament".

The most influential arch-bishop who taught the true teachings
of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, was a man named Arius.
He was a very good man and knew the teachings of Prophet Jesus
well. Needless to say the bishops welcomed Constantine's
proposal and journeyed from far and wide to attend the great
council over which the Emperor was to preside.

Arius wasn't too happy about Constantine presiding over the council
as he wasn't thoroughly convinced about Constantine's
conversion. However, Arius was a truthful, convincing speaker
and felt that the truth he was about to present would be
very clear and simple for all to understand and that through
it he would unite them all in the worship of One God.

The day of the great council arrived. The bishops and clergy
with their books sat down before, Constantine, Emperor of Rome.
There were more Nazarenes at the council meeting than the
followers of Paul, and when arch-bishop Arius spoke it was
clear that he spoke the truth.

Now this bothered Constantine, he had hoped that the followers
of Paul would win the day, but now he realized it wasn't going
to turn out like that, however, he was too clever to show
his true feelings.

It was time for Constantine to fall back on another plan he had
devised just in case things did not go in his favor. He ordered
the bishops and clergy to leave all their gospels on
top of the conference table and told them he would let God decide
overnight which were authentic. He told them that he would
ask God would remove the false teachings from the table
and that the books remaining on the table the following morning
would from then on be the official books.

That night, Constantine's men gathered together all the gospels
that spoke of the Oneness of Allah and burned them. The next
morning when the bishops gathered, the Nazarenes realized
they had been tricked -- none of their gospels were left on
the table! Arius protested and accused Constantine of deceit,
but it was no good -- the damage had been done." "Didn't
they have other real gospels, like we have real copies of the
Koran?" asked Sarah. "Oh, Sarah, there were a few, but you
see in those days everything had to be written down by hand,
and that took a long time, so you can see there weren't many
of them," said Jabel, "but I will get to that in a minute."

"Arius and the rest of the Nazarenes left the conference in disgust.
However, Constantine realized these bishops knew their
scriptures very well and that he could not allow them to
return home where they would continue to preach, so he arranged
to have them all murdered. He also decreed that anyone found
in possession of the true gospels would be put to death
and their gospels burned.

Meanwhile, back at the conference, a creed was drawn up by the
followers of Paul." "What's a creed," asked Abraham. "A creed
is something that you bear witness too," answered Jabel,
"Now, I understand," said Abraham, "Its like our shahadah 'I
bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and Muhammad
is His Prophet.'" "In a way," replied Jabel, "but, you must
remember they did not believe in One God, so you really can't
compare it to ours. By the way, the creed they devised
that day still forms part of their prayers in church each Sunday,
its called the Nicene Creed."

"What you have told is very interesting Jabel, but what has this
got to do with Christmas?" asked Abraham. "Well, from that
time onwards, Constantine declared that Christians should
celebrate the birth of Jesus on the same day the pagan Romans
celebrated the birth of the sun god, the most popular god
of the Roman Empire and that day was on December 25th, which
Christians, now call Christmas day." "Oh, I would hate Prophet
Jesus to be part of that," said Sarah. "Has it been like
this ever since Constantine?" asked Abraham. "No, things changed,
but they didn't get any better, I'll tell you about
that in a minute."

Constantine continued to rule the Roman Empire for a long time,
and the life of a Trinitarian Christian became much easier.
Just before he died, his sister who had become a follower
of Prophet Jesus but had kept it secret, tried to convince
him he was wrong, but the damage was done.

As time passed the great Empire of Rome fell, it became more
corrupt than ever and it just got too big to control! As for
the Trinitarian Christians, they traveled across Europe preaching
the doctrine Paul had taught, many were people trying
to do good, but their belief was wrong. However, they too had
problems preaching their religion and so they included part
of the pagan rituals into Christianity." "How do you mean?"
asked Sarah. "A good question," replied Jabel. "Well, there
are many, but let's just take one example, an example which
seems to attract you.

In a part of the United Kingdom called Wales, there were pagans
called Druids. Each year in December when the days were short
and the nights long they would worship their pagan god
by tying apples and other gifts onto the branches of a tree.

The Germans did something similar, but they used a fir tree which
you know as a Christmas Tree. To the pagans, fir trees
were also a sign that winter would end and warmth would once
more return to the earth so they would decorate the trees with
lots of different trinkets, masks and hold a party around
it. When these people accepted Christianity, they continued
with this pagan ritual but renamed it, and so it became part
of the Christmas celebrations.

The Germans were not content with just the tree however, they
invented another story which has been passed down right up
until this day. The story they invented was that on Christmas
Eve -- that's the night they claimed Prophet Jesus was born
-- his mother, Lady Mary, and the angels fly over the countryside,
so, they place a candle in their windows to guide them
and leave some food for them on a table, rather like the
pagan tree offerings in the old days. Of course, the Germans
weren't the only ones to invent stories, each country has
their own, the Spanish have a similar story."

"Oh, that's horrid," said Sarah. "Prophet Jesus was such a good,
pure person how could they do even think of even connecting
him to those pagan things!" "Well I guess they just did
not think what they were doing," replied Jabel, "now you know
why your parents don't want you to have a Christmas tree."

"Well, now that I understand the origins of a Christmas tree
I don't want one, do you Sarah?" asked Abraham. "No, I agree
with you!" said Sarah.

"Before I go," said Jabel, "I am going to tell you the second
story which is the real story about the birth of Prophet Jesus,
peace be upon him. Perhaps tomorrow, or the next day you
might like to read it for yourself in the Holy Koran.

Hannah and Imran were very pious Jews. They had been married
for a long time but had no children. Then, one day Hannah decided
to ask Allah to let her have a child and promised Him
that if she had a child she would dedicate it to His service.

Allah in His Mercy accepted Hannah's prayer and she became pregnant.
However, before Hannah gave birth, her husband died,
so he never saw the child he longed for. It was because of
Hannah's promise that she thought the baby would be a boy, because
only boys were permitted to serve in the Temple of Jerusalem.

You can imagine her surprise when she gave birth to a little
girl and said: 'Lord, I have given birth to her, a female ...
and I have called her Mary, protect her and all her descendants
from satan, the accursed one.' Once again Allah accepted
her supplication and Mary grew up to be a very good, pious
child. In fact, she was so well mannered and pious that when
it was time for her mother to take her to the Temple to fulfill
her promise to Allah, the High Priests could not believe
their eyes and each of them was anxious to take charge of
her!

Zachariah, who was a Prophet and one of the High Priests of the
Temple, told the other priests that he had more right to
be Mary's guardian because his wife was Mary's aunt, therefore
he was related to her. The other High Priests protested,
so it was agreed that they would go down to the river Jordan
and cast straws into it, and whosoevers straw floated upright
would be Mary's guardian.

Upon reaching the river Jordan each cast their straw into the
water and much to Prophet Zachariah's great happiness, his
was the only one to float upright.

The matter was decided, Mary's new guardian was her uncle, Prophet
Zachariah. Prophet Zachariah had no children of his own
and hastily built a special room upstairs in the Temple for
her. No one was permitted to enter the room except Zachariah.

Mary was very happy there and spent her time worshiping Allah
and giving thanks to Him. At meal times Zachariah would take
food to her, but on many occasions, much to his surprise,
he would find that she had already been given fruit -- not just
seasonal fruit, but fruit which grew out of season. When
he asked her where it came from she replied: 'It is from Allah,
truly, Allah provides whomsoever He will without reckoning.'

Zachariah was so happy with his niece that it made him think.
He thought about Hannah and how despite her age, she had supplicated
to Allah for a child and He had heard her prayer and
given her this lovely child. He realized that Allah is indeed
capable of giving a child even when would-be parents are
old, so he supplicated to Allah, and Angel Gabriel came to
him with news saying: 'Allah gives you glad tidings of John,
who shall confirm the Word of Allah. He shall be a master
and chaste, a Prophet and from the righteous.' Zachariah asked
to be given a sign of this wonderful news, so Gabriel told
him that his sign would be that he would not speak to people
except by signs for three days.

Before Gabriel left he instructed Zachariah to remember Allah
at all times and to exalt Him in the evening and at dawn, and
some time later, Zachariah became a father and named his
son John who was also destined to be a Prophet.

In the meantime, Mary was growing in piety more and more each
day. Then, one day Angel Gabriel, the Spirit of Purity, was
sent to her in the likeness of a man and when she saw him she
was very afraid. Gabriel told her not to be afraid because
he had been sent to her from Allah. He told her: 'Allah gives
you glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name is Messiah,
Jesus, the son of Mary. He shall be honored in this world
and in the next, and he shall be among those who are close.
He shall speak to people in his cradle and when he is aged,
and shall be righteous.' Mary was surprised and asked: 'Lord,
how can I bear a child when no human has touched me?' He
replied: 'Such is the Will of Allah, He creates whom He will,
when He decrees a thing, He only says: "Be" and it is.'

Gabriel told Mary that her son, Jesus, would be given his own
Book from Allah, the Gospel of Jesus, and that he would be
taught wisdom and the Torah. Then he breathed into Mary and
she conceived.

The months went by and it was nearing the time for Jesus to be
born. One day, Mary left her room in the Temple and when she
reached a date tree she felt a sudden pain and knew that
it would not be long until she gave birth. Mary was anxious
and said: 'Oh, would that I had died before this and become
a thing forgotten!' Just then, a voice called from below her
and said: 'Do not sorrow, your Lord has provided a rivulet
below you, and shake the trunk of this palm-tree it will drop
fresh ripe dates upon you. Therefore, eat, drink and be comforted.
If you meet any mortal say to him: 'I have vowed a
fast to the Merciful and will not speak with anyone today.'"

And so, the baby Jesus was born during the season of the date
harvest.

Mary made her way to her people carrying her precious baby son.
When her people saw her and the baby they were shocked and
exclaimed: 'O Mary, you have done a monstrous thing. O sister
of Aaron, your father was never a man of evil, nor was your
mother unchaste.' So she pointed to her baby as she had
been told, but they asked: 'How can we speak with a baby in
a cradle?' Then Jesus spoke saying: 'I am the worshipper of
Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. He made
me blessed wherever I go, and He has ordered me to pray and
give alms as long as I live. He has made me kind to my mother;
He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. Peace be upon
me the day I was born and on the day I die; and on the day
when I shall be raised up alive.'

Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom and received from Allah His
Book, the Gospel of Jesus." "Oh, I didn't know Prophet Jesus
had his own Gospel," said Sarah. "Yes, he did my young friend,
but later on it was lost." "Will it ever be found Jabel?"
asked Abraham. "Yes, just before the end of the world. Prophet
Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, told us in his
Hadith that it lies hidden in a cave near Antioch, but no
one will be able to find it until it is time," replied Jabel.

"There are lots and lots of stories about Prophet Jesus in the
Koran, and we know that all of them are true because Allah
has promised to protect the Holy Koran so that no one can ever
change His Word." "Aren't we lucky to know the real story,"
exclaimed Sarah. "Yes," replied Abraham, "you know in a
funny way, I am so glad we made such a fuss about wanting a
Christmas tree, because, we would never have got to know Jabel
and the real meaning of Christmas and the Christmas Tree.
Thank you Jabel, I wish you would come and live with us!" "My
dear young friends, that's very nice of you, and I have really
enjoyed being with you, but its too cold for me here and
I must be on my way to the desert, you know jinns like to
be nice and hot because we were made from fire. I guess you
don't want a Christmas tree after all now!" said Jabel. Sarah
and Abraham answered at the same time "Oh, no Jabel, even
though it might look pretty." "Well that's good to hear," said
Jabel "now its time for you to go to sleep and for me to
be on my way."

"Jabel, please come back again some time, you know so much and
its fun learning from you," said Sarah and Abraham. "Very
well, my young friends, when I'm passing by next time, I will
pop in - as-Salamu alaykum." Within a flash Jabel was gone
and Sarah and Abraham went back to bed.

The next morning, when Sarah and Abraham got up, they said their
prayers and went downstairs for breakfast. When they got
downstairs, their father had not yet left for work and mother
was setting the table. They ran up to their parents, said:
"As-Salamu alaykum" and gave them both a big hug and apologized
for being so rude the night before. Then, they smiled
at one another and much to their parent's surprise told them
they didn't want a Christmas tree after all!

Their parents could not believe their ears after all the fuss
last night and so the children told them all about Jabel's
visit which really amazed their parents -- they had never seen
a jinn!

"Well," said their father, "I am glad you understand why we don't
celebrate Christmas, but I have a good idea. To many people
this is a season with no religious significance these days
but they do a lot of good by feeding the poor and giving
them useful gifts, such as clothing to keep them warm.  Prophet
Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, encouraged us to
give to the poor, so this weekend we can go shopping and buy
some food and gifts to give to those in need. There are some
little booklets in the Mosque about Islam, I will ask Maulana
Ahmad after Jummah if I can have some and when we wrap
our gifts up we can pop one in with each gift." "Oh, that's
a great idea," said Abraham and Sarah together, "we can't wait
for Saturday!"



THE END







Readings from the Holy Koran concerning:

The Conception of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him:

Chapter 3 verse 42

Chapter 3 verses 45 - 49 The Birth of Prophet Jesus, peace be
upon him:

Chapter 19 verses 23 -34 The Identity of Prophet Jesus, peace
be upon him:

Chapter 3 verse 59

Chapter 3 verse 84

Chapter 3 verses 171 - 172 The Question Allah will ask Jesus:

Chapter 5 verse 116 Prophecies of Jesus and the Miracles given
to him:

Chapter 3:49 Chapter 5:112 The Plot to Kill Prophet Jesus, peace
be upon him:

Chapter 3 verse 55

Chapter 4 verses 157 - 158 What was the Mission of Prophet Jesus?

Chapter 5 verse 46

Chapter 43 verses 63 - 64 Chapter 61 verse 6



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