# Was Jesus born without a father according to the Quran?

*Mary married to Joseph, and 'how can He have a child without a consort?'*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hiu1gjszg1e/s/5/
- Date: 2020-10-13 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Discussion on Miracles: A fallacy against God | Mufti Abu Layth (13:38–19:49)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIU1GJSzg1E&t=818s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hiu1gjszg1e/

**Topics:** Jesus in the Quran; How to read the Quran

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth leans to the scholars who hold Jesus had a natural birth, arguing that the verse refuting God having a child only works if every human is born of two parents.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he would be in line with the scholars who say Jesus was of natural birth.

**Evidence, his words at 16:44:** “to make it coherent to me that makes sense that hmm you know i i'd be in line with those scholars that say well no you know that jesus was of natural birth” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIU1GJSzg1E&t=1004s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says it is widely held, even by Christians, that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and that the question is whether the birth was supernatural. He says the attitude that God can do anything goes against the Quran, which says God has set things that do not change and points to the signs in nature, which only works if nature is constant. He cites the verse that God cannot have a child when He has no female companion, saying it affirms that human children come from two and that a virgin birth would make it an argument against God's own argument. He says he would be in line with the scholars who hold Jesus was of natural birth. The caller suggests the verse shows only that God, unlike humans, needs no partner, and Mufti replies that the verse refutes the Christian claim only if all human babies are born of two.

## Sources and names cited

- Isa (Jesus)
- Maryam (Mary)
- Joseph, husband of Mary
- Quran 6:101 (how can He have a child when He has no companion; he calls it Medinan): https://quran.com/6/101
- the virgin birth

## Transcript (machine tier, 13:38–19:49)

[12:58] within this dean and to me it stood the test now yes my interpretations may then vary from other people so what does that like like maybe you know it doesn't it's not the same kind of uh it does like i don't believe in the hocus pocus kind of stuff or not i know hocus pocus sounds denigrating but let's say i don't believe in the woohoo kind of stuff anyway but putting that aside nothing collapsed nothing not even these stories in the quran not even the belief on let's say the afterlife or the belief in god or the belief in messengers or in revelation

[13:38] nothing collapsed now coming to this actual question um about first just and then i'll come back but about i'm pretty sure i mean i i i'd like to say there's a consensus but i i don't know if people disagree but generally it is a widely held belief that maryam was married to joseph there is no generally people don't dispute that generally speaking as far as i'm aware now that they all accept even the christians except she was married at that time to joseph

[14:16] the question is they say that this birth was a virgin birth so they're not saying that she never she wasn't betrothed to joseph they're saying that what it is is that no but there was no natural um you know intervention here this was an unnatural super sorry not unnatural supernatural uh procreation that god just created in this case the y chromosome you know within her and it just happened there it was it was like that now and then that comes back to your question that why can't god do it

[14:54] he's god after all you know he can do anything but then you see i would say that that attitude of saying god can do anything actually goes against the verses of the quran it's not that god can but that he won't because that look i've set things and i'm not going to change them like they will be as they are when allah says things like look why don't you you want to see god's signs you know the signs of god look into the horizon look into this look that can only work if nature is static in its

[15:34] if tomorrow the rules of nature are changing then there's no point observing nature because you know it's going to change every leap year for example now then the biggest the i've said that the biggest is in suratul i believe the verse allah says himself that look they say that allah has taken a son you know and allah says but how can this be when he does not have a female partner

[16:08] how can he have a child he doesn't have a partner now this allah is affirming by that logic that you see to have that child you would need to because if allah is just saying look how can i have a baby when i don't have a female partner but i can really just do anything i want anyway right then that that goes against allah's own argument against him because but allah is saying look in this world are human beings not all born of two so where is my female partner

[16:44] and he did not have a female companion how can he have a wallet but if we hold here the belief that well actually you can because in this example you did it so it defies that is an argument of god against god so to hold think to make it coherent to me that makes sense that hmm you know i i'd be in line with those scholars that say well no you know that jesus was of natural birth so in that verse you're saying god is questioning himself no so in this verse allah is refuting

[17:23] the christians so he is saying that and he's he's telling he obviously the verse is being revealed to as revelation 2 to the audience and it's saying that they say that you know he has has a child that he's taken a child and allah says that he's he's condemning them saying how could god have taken oh how could god have a child when he does not have walam he does not have a female consort a female companion now that verse

[18:02] shows that actually allah is enforcing this law of nature that for humans there must be a male and female they must be a modern father could it also be to show that you know uh that humans are limited but you know allah is not could it also mean that because as humans we say that in order to create we need to have a male and a female but for god for allah it doesn't could it also we interpret that way yeah but then that would be an argument against god himself how so because he's saying to them how could he have a child

[18:42] how can like let's so god is saying how can i have a child when i haven't got a female and we're not a couple so now if you say well the answer is because you don't need to be a couple because you can just have one anyway so that i've just kind of cursed myself these are the questions that the christians or other people were asking right no not questions so the christians are clearly claiming that mary you know jesus is the divine son of god so allah is refuting this belief in this verse of the quran

[19:21] uh and this is a madina verse now allah is saying that how can he have a child and he's not a couple he doesn't have he's not a couple so if we hold now pause that if we hold the belief well to have a human child you don't need to be a couple then that refutes god's verse here because this verse only stands if all human babies are born of two

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment HIU1GJSzg1E/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hiu1gjszg1e/s/5/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.