Where is 'before Allah'?

We try to understand the meaning of a

central statement about Jesus in Al-i Imran 3:59. Vers 59 compares the two prophets Adam and Jesus: 'The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.' Muslim commentators see this as a correction of the Christian perception of Jesus' nature - his birth corresponds to the creation of the original man Adam, and because nobody claims divinity for Adam due to his extraordinary creation, Jesus must not be understood as possessing a divine nature either. Muslim authors believe that the comparison focuses on the respective earthly conception of the two men and come to the conclusion that the creation of Adam was even more extraordinary than the conception of Jesus. Since the comparison in Al-i Imran 3:59 refers to God's command '"Be!" [kun], and there he was [fe-yekûn(u)]' we analysed the meaning of this group of words in the Qur'an. There is no question which of Adam's states is ment to be compared in Al-i Imran 3:59: It is his state right at the time when God created him with the words 'Be!' and announced him as His representative to the watching angels. It is more challenging to be sure about Jesus' state in this comparison. At his conception and birth (hereafter abbreviated as 'C-Bʼ), Jesus resembles the newly created Khalif Adam only to a very limited extent. Since the resurrection of human beings is explicitly brough about with God's command '"Be!" and it/he/she/ was', and in several instances is compared to the first creation (e.g. Yunus 10:4), the comparison in Al-i Imran 3:59 could just as well refer to the resurrection (not the birth) of Jesus. In this blog, we turn to a closer examination of the grammar and context of Al-i Imran 3:59 in order to be able to decide whether the intention in the comparison between Adam and Jesus is more about Jesus' birth or Jesus' resurrection.

''inda' an Adverb of Place

This decision obviously also depends on the adverb ʻʻindaʼ, which is translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali as ʻbefore Godʼ.1 'ʼinda' is an adverb of place and rank. The many different ways that word is rendered in English translations of 3:59 indicates the difficulty in determining the exact meaning of that adverb.2 ʼIt is a word used for the meaning of closeness; sometimes it is used in relation to place, sometimes in relation to belief. Sometimes it is used in relation to position and degree.ʼ In some instances it can also mean 'according to someone's judgement'.3  Jesus' state ʻbefore Godʼ can thus express either (i) a specific place, (ii) a specific rank, (iii) a specific position or (iv) a perceived truth.

It is in a position of ʻimmediate proximity to Godʼ, in which Adam was created at a time before he had to descend to earth. This position was characterised by the fact that it was a different reality to the one on earth: God Himself forms Adam from mud; God Himself blows His own spirit into Adam; God personally teaches Adam the names of all things, bypassing the angels' customary role on earth of delivering divine messages; God personally demands the obedience of the angels and Iblis to Adam through the outward sign of prostration; and God himself invites Adam and his wife to partake of the fruits in the garden (e.g., Bakara 2:30-35). God does all this Himself, without the help of angels or any other mediators, in complete contrast to the reality experienced on earth. Because these events take place in immidiate proximity to God - i.e. 'before God' -, God does not have to overcome any distance to reach Adam. There is no need for a translation from the divine sphere into human reality. The contact between God and man is immediate. Adam's elevated position is highlighted by God's choice to place him over the angels and satan who have to prostrate before him in obedience. Adam is closer to God than all other beings in respect to God's teaching Adam the names of all things. The creation of Adam takes place both in a geographical sense and in relation to his position as God's representative 'in immediated proximity to Godʼ. Certainly, the geographical and positional closeness to God results also in a perceived reality: In God's sight Adam is considered as earth's khalif despite the angels' objections (Bakara 2:30). Only after his disobedience to God must Adam descend from his place of happiness 'before Godʼ to the earth:

'Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time"’’ (Bakara 2:36).

Adam's original creation actually took place in a state 'before Godʼ, it fulfils the whole spectrum of meanings of the word 'inda'. The consequence for eating the forbidden fruit results in a state removed from 'before God'. However, humans will only remain for a limited period of time in that lower state. God promises that one day all humans 'must return' 'unto God' (Maide 5:105).

Al-i İmran 3:59 talks primarily about Jesus' state 'before Godʼ, which then is compared with Adam's state at the time of his creation, that is Adam's state 'before God' which was canceled with his descent to earth: 'the nature of Jesus [before God] is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of dust and then said unto him, "Be" - and he is.ʼ (Muhammad Asad). The question to be answered is what stage of Jesus' life most resembles a state 'before God' as the one Adam experienced at the time of his creation. Interestingly, The last station mentioned in Jesus' life before Al-i Imran 3:59 is his exaltation unto God (see Al-i İmran 3:55) which could also be described as his return to God: 'when God said: "Jesus, (as your mission has ended) I will take you back (to Myself) and raise you up to Myself' (3:55; Ali Unal). The brief interruption in the narrative about Jesus' life between Al-i İmran 3:55 and 3:59 does not indicate a change in theme, but is merely a context-motivated, small insertion, a brief digression from the main theme: people react differently to Jesus' departure from earth and exaltation to God. Depending on their reaction they will be treatet in the afterlife: Some react with unbelief which will be punished (3:56); others with faith which will be rewarded (3:58). After this brief digression, Muhammad returns in 3:58 to the topic dealt with in 3:33-55: ʻThis is what we rehearse unto thee of the Signs and the Message of Wisdomʼ (Al-i İmran 3:58). The theme of verse 55 is continued in verse 59 exactly where it was left off: 'Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; ...ʼ' (3:55). And 3:59 explains the state in which Jesus finds himself in this raised position: ʻ... [Verily] The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam ...ʼ. If we leave aside the insertion (3:55b-58), the text reads naturally:

‘'Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; ... [Verily] The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he wasʼ (Al-i Imran 3:55a+59).

In such a reading, the comparison between Jesus and Adam does not concern Jesus' birth, but rather Jesus' state after his call from earth to God - precisely, his state 'before God'.

Muslim interpreters rightly point out that the place 'before Godʼ is difficult to localise, and that ultimately every event on earth happens as 'before God' - in the sense of 'in the sight of God' (see Asad). Many assume that 'before God' means an elevated position in God's eyes, rather than the geographical location of God, who encompasses the whole universe and cannot be localised in an exact geographical point. Nevertheless, it is clear from the context and the grammar that this cannot be a normal earthly place, because Jesus has just left earthly life behind and has been raised by God ʻto God (to Me)ʼ (Al-i İmran 3:55) - according to Paret 'into heaven'4. ʻTo Godʼ explains precisely why Jesus did not continue to dwell visibly and physically among men. The expression describes 'whereʼ Jesus has been removed to from the earth, whether that includes only his spirit or also his body. Whatever may be meant by ʻto Godʼ (v.55) – place, rank, position or perceived truth – ʻbefore Godʼ (v.59) is the correct description of this extraordinary state of Jesus after his departure from earth. Jesus' life on earth was brought to an end, while he entered into a state 'before Godʼ. Also for proponents of the view that the place to which Jesus was exalted is not heaven, but rather a ʻspiritual sphereʼ5, it is clear that 3:55 is not talking about Jesus' normal existence on earth.

Independent of the question as to whether Jesus' exaltation ʻto Godʼ and his sojourn ʻbefore Godʼ is a physical or merely spiritual experience in heaven, an elevated position in the eyes of God or some other spiritual sphere, we nevertheless on the basis of Al-i Iramn 3:55 can say with certainty that Jesus was in a state ʻbefore Godʼ after departing from this earth.

Could the same be said about Jesus 'C-B'? Did it also take place 'before God'? Interestingly, in the account on Jesus' earthly 'C-B' there is not even one reference found that it would have taken place 'before Godʼ. Rather, the narrative of these events always expresses distance from God: at the conception, the angel comes to Mary at a geographical'place in the Eastʼ on this earth to which she had withdrawn (Meryem 19:16). The interpreters assume that it is either a room in the eastern part of the temple in Jerusalem or the house of her parents.6 The coming of the angel is described in the following words: ʻAnd we sent our spirit to herʼ (Al-i İmran 3:17). God overcomes the distance to Mary by sending an angel, just as he came to other people without them first having to go ʻtoʼ and thus ʼbeforeʼ God. Muslim experts assume that the angel also brought the Spirit of God to Mary7. Once again, God overcomes the distance between himself and Mary through the mediation of the angel. Mary even withdraws further when she prepares herself for giving birth: 'So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place'

on earth (Meryem 19:22). Mary's withdrawal also refelcts her felt shame. She knew that her relatives and neighbours would not aprove of her as an unmarried woman who was pregnant: later they cry out: what have you done, 'O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!' The actual birth is difficult and Mary feels anything but close to God, as she wants to die (Meryem 19:23) and thus be freed from her earthly suffering and hopefully go to God. It is precisely the perceived absence of God that moves her to express such a wish. It seems to be the voice of her child that draws her attention to the strengthening provided by God and prepares her for the confrontation with the people around her (Meryem 19:24ff.). God is not immediately present. Jesus' way of becoming a human being is extraordinary, but it takes place on this earth and neither in the ʻgeographicalʼ nor 'positional' nor ʻperceivedʼ sense as ’before Godʼ. The only aspect of Jesus' 'C-B' that could possibly be considered to have taken place 'before God' would be the aspect of positional elevation of Jesus and his mother during that process: on the basis of Enbiya 21:91, one might ask oneself with regard to Mary's position, how close to God her sacrificial obedience had elevated her. For Jesus too, after the event of his ‘C-Bʼ, a position of rank 'before Godʼ could be claimed: 'Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah' (Al-i İmran 3:45). However, in both cases their place of honour is not directly connected with the act of Jesus' 'C-B' and therefore cannot be identified with the honoured state of Jesus ‘before God’ referred to by the expression '"Be! and he was'. The traditional Muslim interpretation seems therefore to be very far-fetched compared to the much more plausible identification of Jesus' state ‘before God’ (3:59) with the description of his existence after his departure from earth and exaltation to God (3:55).

As the above discussion shows, it is not the birth of Jesus that takes place in the 'Adamic' sense 'before Godʼ. It is much more convincing to assume that his position after his departure from this earth and his exaltation to God is described as comparable to Adam's state 'before God' at his creation. We therefore understand Al-i Imran 3:59 to mean:

'The nature of Jesus at the time after God had taken him from the earth and exalted him to an honoured place before God, is as the nature of Adam at the time of his extraordinary creation out of dust with God's command, "Be" - and he is.ʼ 

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1 Different translations are found: - ʻbefore Allahʼ: Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Muhammad Musin Khan (in German 'vor': Ahmediyya, Paret, Rassoul, Azhar, Sher Ali/Zimmermann, Sadr-Ud Din, und Fatima Grimm/Ali Ünal); - 'in the sight of Allah': Muhammad Asad, Abdul Mannan Omar, Talal Itani; - 'in reference to God': Ali Ünal; - 'for God': Ahmed Ali; - 'with Allah': Aziz Ahmed, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Faridul Haque, Daryabadi, Muhammad Pickthall, Muhammed Ali Shakir, Shabbir Ahmed; - 'to God': Muhammad Sarwar;

- 'as far as God is concerned': Rashad Khalifa; 2 See Kuranmeali.org, https://www.kuranmeali.com/Kokler.php?kok=%D8%B9%20%D9%86%20%D8%AF&sayfa=1 (visited, 24/05/2022). Although ʼinda theoretically could also be an adverb of time,in the present case this makes no sense in relation to God.

3 https://www.kuranmeali.com/Aciklama.php?id=1016&islem=mufredat (20/06/2022).

4 According to a hadith, Jesus is found in the 3rd heaven: "That the Prophet ... talked to them about the night of his Ascension to the Heavens. He said, "(Then Gabriel took me) and ascended up till he reached the second heaven where he asked for the gate to be opened, but it was asked, ʼWho is it?ʼ Gabriel replied, ʼI am Gabriel.ʼ It was asked, ʼWho is accompanying you?ʼ He replied, ʼMuhammad.ʼ It was asked, ʼHas he been called?ʼ He said, ʼYes.ʼ When we reached over the second heaven, I saw Yahya (i.e. John) and Jesus who were cousins. Gabriel said, ʼThese are John (Yahya) and Jesus, so greet them.ʼ I greeted them and they returned the greeting saying, ʼWelcome, O Pious Brother and Pious Prophet!ʼ" (Bukhari 3430 in https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3430 (04/08/2022)).

5 Jesus ʻremains alive “with God” in a spiritual realm from where he will descend at the end of time in an Islamic version of the Second Comingʼ (Todd Lawson, Crucifixion, ss.2-3).

6 Kurʼan Yolu Tefsiri Cilt: 3 Sayfa: 596 in https://kuran.diyanet.gov.tr/tefsir/Meryem-suresi/2266/16-2 (besucht 19/10/2022).

7 ‘Neticede Allah melek vasıtasıyla ruhu üfleyince Meryem hamile kaldı (krş. Enbiyâ 21/91; Tahrîm 66/12).’ (Kur'an Yolu Tefsiri Cilt: 3 Sayfa: 596 in https://kuran.diyanet.gov.tr/tefsir/Meryem-suresi/2272/22-ayet-tefsiri (besucht: 20/02/2023)).