The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 180
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH Moses, makes a special mention of Jesus. The reason for this lies in the fact that somehow or other, the Jews accepted all those Prophets who appeared prior to Jesus, but they stubbornly refused to accept him. It was, therefore, in the fitness of things that particular mention should have been made of Jesus, and it should have been declared that he was as good and as holy a Prophet as so many others who had gone before him and in whom the Jews had believed, inasmuch as he possessed, in common with them, that characteristic Spirit of Holiness which distinguished God's Prophets from other men of the world. The most powerful proof of the truth of the claims of Jesus as a Prophet was his being favoured with Signs and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and this is the very proof on the basis of which the Jews had believed in the previous Prophets. The (manifest Signs) and (the Spirit of Holiness) have been mentioned here not because they were the unique characteristics of Jesus, but because both these evidences, which must accompany every true Prophet, were denied him by the Jews. From Matt. 12:38-40, it is apparent that the Jews denied that Jesus showed any Sign, while from Luke 11:15 and Matt. 10:25 we learn that, according to the Jews, Jesus, far from being favoured with the Holy Spirit, was influenced by the Evil Spirit and was (God forbid!) himself a devil. That (manifest Signs) and (the Spirit of Holiness) are the 180 PT. 1 common characteristics of all the Prophets of God and not an exclusive distinction of Jesus is apparent from other verses of the Quran as well. Says the Quran: That was because their Messengers came to them with y (manifest Signs) but they disbelieved; so Allah seized them. Surely, He is strong and severe in chastising (40:23). Also see 2:100. And elsewhere the Quran says about the Holy Prophet, Say, the (Spirit of Holiness) has brought it (the Quran) down from thy Lord with truth that He may strengthen those who believe and as a guidance and glad tidings for Muslims (16:103). The Quran goes still further and declares that the Spirit of Holiness descends not only on Prophets but also on true believers (58:23). In this connection we have also the testimony of the Holy Prophet who is reported to have said to the poet Hassan, "Reply, O Ḥassān (to the disbelievers), on behalf of the Prophet of God, and O God, help Thou Ḥassān with i. e. the Spirit of Holiness" (Bukhārī & Muslim). Hassan also declares in a couplet of his that i. e. the Holy Spirit was always with the Muslims. Says he: و جبريل رسول الله فينا و روح القدس ليس له كفاء "And Gabriel, the Messenger of God, is among us and the Spirit of Holiness has no match" (Muslim). From the above it is clear that (manifest Signs) and (the Spirit of Holiness) are not the exclusive privileges of Jesus but were