Mary and Jesus in Islam

Book excerpt: YASIN T. AL-JIBOURI is an Iraqi-American writer, author, editor and translator who has as many as 54 titles to his credit. Details of these works and of his other activities are provided in the Preface to this book as well as front cover images of some of these works on pages 46-75. He holds a Masters' degree in English from an American university, and he taught English in his home country, Iraq, and in Saudi Arabia and the United States. Presently, he is writing his major work titled Allah: The Concept of God in Islam in two volumes as well as A Dictionary of Islamic Terms, also in two volumes. This book is an attempt to bring Christians and Muslims of the world closer to each other, to bridge the gap between, to establish an alliance among them, so that they may together be able to face the challenges of the present and of the future. One of these challenges is extremism, the new menacing plague that is endangering the lives of so many people from both creeds and from others. Knowledge, right and accurate knowledge, is powerful, and such power can be put to good use: to clear misconceptions, remove doubts and suspicions and establish trust and understanding among followers of both creeds. Philosophically, this book cites many first-hand references to prove that, unfortunately, present day Christianity, regardless of any of its many denominations, has truly distanced itself from the original word preached by Jesus Christ. It traces the times and circumstances when concepts of "son of God", "Holy Trinity" and "salvation" crept into Christianity and distorted the pristine faith brought by Christ. At the same time, it highlights Qur'anic verses that beautifully paint a portrait of Jesus Christ and his saintly virgin mother, Mary, testifying to the truth brought by Christ, to his miracles, guidance and truth. The information is presented in a flowing style that captures the attention of any reader, including one who just is looking for a good story to enjoy.