Deliverance from the Cross — Page 5
I BIRTH The Jews rejected Jesus principally because they held that his birth was not legitimate. The Quran recites this calumny of the Jews among their major sins, as is said: "And their uttering against Mary a grievous calumny". (an-Nisa',4:157) They upbraided her: "Mary, thou hast perpetrated an abominable thing. . . Thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother an unchaste woman”. (Maryam, 19:28-29) The gospel account is that an angel appeared to Mary and conveyed to her the glad tidings that she would bear a son. It is said in Luke: "The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner 5