Sunday, 25 December 2016
The Wise Men from the East according to Muslim Sources
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Shaykh Ka’b al-Ahbar (r.a.) narrated a version of the story of the “Wise Men from the East.” He said, “That night, people went out repairing to him because of a star which had risen. They had been told formerly in the Book of Daniel that the rising of that star would be one of the signs of him who was to be born. So, they went out seeking him, and took with them gold, myrrh, and frankincense. They passed one of the kings of Syria who asked them, ‘Where are you making for?’ and they told him about that. He asked, ‘What is the meaning of the myrrh, gold, and frankincense? Will you present him with these things?’
They replied, ‘Those represent him, because gold is the lord of all goods, similarly this prophet is the lord of the people of his time; and because what is broken and wounded is put right with myrrh, similarly Allah will Heal, by this prophet, all who are infirm and ill; and because the smoke of frankincense and no other smoke enters Heaven, similarly Allah will Raise this prophet and no other prophet of his time to Heaven.’
When they said that to that king, he decided to kill him, so he said to them, ‘Go away, and when you learn where he is, tell me about that, for I wish the same with respect to him as you do.’
They set off until they came to Mary (a.s.) and gave her the present that was with them. And they desired to return to that king to tell him where he was, but an angel met them and said to them, ‘Do not return to him and do not tell him where he is, for he only wanted to kill him.’ So, they went off another way.”
The Gospels state that it was Herod Agrippa, the usurper king of Israel and Roman puppet, who wanted Jesus (a.s.) killed and for that, he perpetrated the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem. However, Palestine was also considered part of the Greater Syria region.