Sūrah iii. 37–43: “And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary! verily hath God chosen thee, and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds! O Mary! be devout towards thy Lord, and prostrate thyself, and bow down with those who bow.’ This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To thee, O Muḥammad! do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them when they cast lots with reeds which of them should rear Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed about it. Remember when the angel said, ‘O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God; and he shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when grown up; and he shall be one of the just.’ She said, ‘How, O my Lord! shall I have a son, when man hath not touched me?’ He said, ‘Thus: God will create what He will; when He decreeth a thing, He only saith, “Be,” and it is.’ And He will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel.”

Sūrah xix. 16–21: “And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward, and took a veil to shroud herself from them: and We sent Our spirit to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man. She said: ‘I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.’ He said: ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’ She said: ‘How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.’ He said: ‘So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: “Easy is this with me; and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed.” ’ ”

[In the earlier part of Sūrah iii. the Virgin Mary is spoken of as the daughter of ʿImrān. Commentators say that ʿImrān died before Mary was born. In the traditions it is stated “that the only two persons born into the world who have not been touched of the Devil are Mary and her son Jesus.” Thus teaching not only the Immaculate Conception of Mary, but also of her mother. “When she went eastward,” Ḥusain says, she went out of her house in an eastward direction, in order to perform her ablutions, when Gabriel appeared to her.]

Sūrah xix. 22–34: “And she conceived him, and retired with him to a far-off place. And the throes came upon her by the trunk of a palm. She said: ‘Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!’ And one cried to her from below her: ‘Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:—And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee: it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee. Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye: and shouldst thou see a man, say,—Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.—To no one will I speak this day.’ Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, ‘O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.’ And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, ‘How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?’ It said, ‘Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and He hath made me a prophet; and He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live; and to be dutiful to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved. And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.’”

Sūrah xxiii. 52: “And we appointed the Son and his Mother for a sign; and we prepared an abode in a lofty spot, quiet and watered with springs.”

[Professor Wahl understands this last verse to refer to Paradise, but the Muslim commentators all refer it to the place of abode; and al-Baiẓāwī and Ḥusain say it was either in Jerusalem, or Damascus, or Ramleh! Ḥusain says Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The expression, “O sister of Aaron,” as applied to the Virgin Mary, suggests an anachronism of some consequence, but the commentators get over the difficulty. The Kamālān say it is a figurative expression implying that she was pure and righteous like a sister of Aaron. But al-Baiẓāwī says it means that she was of the tribe of Aaron. European authors suggest that there was a confusion between Miriam the Virgin and Miriam the sister of Moses. Al-Baiẓāwī says: “The palm to which she fled, that she might lean on it in her travail, was a withered trunk, without any head or verdure; and this happened in the winter season, notwithstanding which, it miraculously supplied her with fruits for her refreshment, as is mentioned immediately.” Mr. Sale says: “It has been observed, that the Mohammedan account of the delivery of the Virgin Mary very much resembles that of Latona, as described by the poets, not only in this circumstance of their laying hold on a palm-tree (though some say Latona embraced an olive-tree, or an olive and a palm, or else two laurels), but also in that of their infants speaking; which Apollo is fabled to have done in the womb.” (See Homer, Hymn. in Apoll.; Callimach, Hymn. in Delum.)]

Sūrah iii. 43–46: “And He will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel. ‘Now have I come,’ he will say, ‘to you with a sign from your Lord: Out of clay will I make for you, as it were, the figure of a bird: and I will breathe into it, and it shall become, by God’s leave, a bird. And I will heal the blind, and the leper; and by God’s leave will I quicken the dead; and I will tell you what ye eat, and what ye store up in your houses! Truly in this will be a sign for you, if ye are believers.’ And when Jesus perceived unbelief on their part, He said, ‘Who my helpers with God?’ The apostles said, ‘We will be God’s helpers! We believe in God, and bear thou witness that we are Muslims. O our Lord! we believe in what thou hast sent down, and we follow the apostle; write us up, then, with those who bear witness to him.’ ”

[The commentators al-Jalālān say Jesus made for his disciples a bat, for it is the most perfect of birds in make, and it flew while they looked at it; but when it had gone out of their sight, it fell down dead. That he cured in one day fifty thousand persons, and that he raised Lazarus (ʿĀzar) from the dead; also Shem, the son of Noah, who had been dead 4,000 years, but he died immediately; also the son of an old woman, and the daughter of a tax-collector.]

Sūrah v. 112–115: “Remember when the Apostles said: ‘O Jesus, Son of Mary! is thy Lord able to send down a furnished table to us out of Heaven?’ He said: ‘Fear God if ye be believers.’ They said: ‘We desire to eat therefrom, and to have our hearts assured; and to know that thou hast indeed spoken truth to us, and to be witnesses thereof.’ Jesus, Son of Mary, said: ‘O God, our Lord! send down a table to us out of Heaven, that it may become a recurring festival to us, to the first of us and to the last of us, and a sign from thee; and do thou nourish us, for thou art the best of nourishers.’ And God said: ‘Verily, I will cause it to descend unto you; but whoever among you after that shall disbelieve, I will surely chastise him with a chastisement wherewith I will not chastise any other creature.’ ”

[Mr. Sale, in his commentary on this miracle, says (quoting from al-Baiẓāwī):—“This miracle is thus related by the commentators. Jesus having, at the request of his followers, asked it of God, a red table immediately descended in their sight, between two clouds, and was set before them. Whereupon he rose up, and having made the ablution, prayed, and then took off the cloth which covered the table, saying, ‘In the name of God, the best provider of food!’ What the provisions were, with which this table was furnished, is a matter wherein the expositors are not agreed. One will have them to be nine cakes of bread and nine fishes; another, bread and flesh; another, all sorts of food, except flesh; another, all sorts of food, except bread and flesh; another, all except bread and fish; another, one fish, which had the taste of all manner of food; and another, fruits of paradise; but the most received tradition is, that when the table was uncovered, there appeared a fish ready dressed, without scales or prickly fins, dropping with fat, having salt placed at its head, and vinegar at its tail, and round it all sorts of herbs, except leeks, and five loaves of bread, on one of which there were olives; on the second, honey; on the third, butter; on the fourth, cheese; and on the fifth, dried flesh. They add, that Jesus, at the request of the apostles, showed them another miracle, by restoring the fish to life, and causing its scales and fins to return to it; at which the standers-by, being affrighted, he caused it to become as it was before: that one thousand three hundred men and women, all afflicted with bodily infirmities or poverty, ate of these provisions, and were satisfied, the fish remaining whole as it was at first; that then the table flew up to heaven in the sight of all; and everyone who had partaken of this food were delivered from their infirmities and misfortunes; and that it continued to descend for forty days together, at dinner-time, and stood on the ground till the sun declined, and was then taken up into the clouds. Some of the Mohammedan writers are of opinion that this table did not really descend, but that it was only a parable; but most think the words of the Koran are plain to the contrary. A further tradition is, that several men were changed into swine for disbelieving this miracle, and attributing it to magic art; or, as others pretend, for stealing some of the victuals from off it.”]

Sūrah lvii. 26, 27: “And of old sent we Noah and Abraham, and on their seed conferred the gift of prophecy, and the Book; and some of them we guided aright; but many were evil doers. Then we caused our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and we caused Jesus the son of Mary to follow them; and we gave him the Evangel and we put into the hearts of those who followed him kindness and compassion: but as to the monastic life, they invented it themselves. The desire only of pleasing God did we prescribe to them, and this they observed not as it ought to have been observed: but to such of them as believed gave we their reward, though many of them were perverse.”

Sūrah v. 50, 51: “And in the footsteps of the prophets caused we Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow, confirming the law which was before him: and we gave him the Evangel with its guidance and light, confirmatory of the preceding Law; a guidance and warning to those who fear God;—And that the people of the Evangel may judge according to what God hath sent down therein. And whoso will not judge by what God hath sent down—such are the perverse.”

Sūrah ii. 81: “Moreover, to Moses gave we ‘the Book,’ and we raised up apostles after him; and to Jesus, son of Mary, gave we clear proofs of his mission, and strengthened him by the Holy Spirit. So oft then as an apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire not, swell ye with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay others?”

Sūrah ii. 254: “Some of the apostles we have endowed more highly than others: Those to whom God hath spoken, He hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to Jesus the Son of Mary we gave manifest signs, and we strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. And if God had pleased, they who came after them would not have wrangled, after the clear signs had reached them. But into disputes they fell: some of them believed, and some were infidels; yet if God had pleased, they would not have thus wrangled: but God doth what he will.”

Sūrah lxi. 6: “And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘O children of Israel! of a truth I am God’s apostle to you to confirm the law which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall come after me whose name shall be Aḥmad!’ But when he (Aḥmad) presented himself with clear proofs of his mission, they said, ‘This is manifest sorcery!’ ”

Sūrah vi. 85: “And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias: all were just persons.”

Sūrah iv. 157: “And there shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe in him (Jesus) before his death, and in the day of judgment he shall be a witness against them.”

Sūrah iii. 44: “And I have come to attest the law which was before me; and to allow you part of that which had been forbidden you; and I come to you with a sign from your Lord: Fear God, then, and obey me; of a truth God is my Lord, and your Lord: Therefore worship Him. This is a right way.”

Sūrah iii. 47–50: “And the Jews plotted, and God plotted: But of those who plot is God the best. Remember when God said, ‘O Jesus! verily I will cause thee to die, and will take thee up to myself and deliver thee from those who believe not; and I will place those who follow thee above those who believe not, until the Day of Resurrection. Then, to me is your return, and wherein ye differ will I decide between you. And as to those who believe not, I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and in the next; and none shall they have to help them.’ But as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, He will pay them their recompense. God loveth not the doers of evil.”

Sūrah iv. 155, 156: “And for their unbelief [are the Jews cursed]—and for their having spoken against Mary a grievous calumny,—And for their saying, ‘Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an Apostle of God.’ Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. And they who differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and they really did not slay him, but God took him up to Himself. And God is Mighty, Wise!”

[Sale, in his notes on the Qurʾān, says: “The person crucified some will have to be a spy that was sent to entrap him; others that it was one Titian, who by the direction of Judas entered in at a window of the house where Jesus was, to kill him; and others that it was Judas himself, who agreed with the rulers of the Jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver, and led those who were sent to take him. They add, that Jesus, after his crucifixion in effigy, was sent down again to the earth to comfort his mother and disciples and acquaint them how the Jews were deceived, and was then taken up a second time into heaven. It is supposed by several that this story was an original invention of Moḥammad’s; but they are certainly mistaken: for several sectaries held the same opinion long before his time. The Basilidians, in the very beginning of Christianity, denied that Christ himself suffered, but [asserted] that Simon the Cirenean was crucified in his place. The Corinthians before them, and the Carpocratians next (to name no more of those who affirmed Jesus to have been a mere man), did believe the same thing, that it was not himself, but one of his followers, very like him, that was crucified. Photius tells us that he read a book entitled The Journeys of the Apostles, relating the acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul; and among other things contained therein this was one, that Christ was not crucified, but another in his stead, and that therefore he laughed at his crucifiers, or those who thought they had crucified him.” The “Cross of Christ” is the missing link in the Muslim’s creed; for we have in Islām the great anomaly of a religion which rejects the doctrine of a sacrifice for sin, whilst its great central feast is a Feast of Sacrifice. It is related by the Muslim historian al-Wāqidī, that Muḥammad had such repugnance to the sign of the cross that he destroyed everything brought to his house with that figure upon it.]

Sūrah xix. 35, 36: “That is Jesus the son of Mary, the word of truth (Qaulu ʾl-Ḥaqq), whereon ye do dispute! God could not take to Himself a son! Celebrated be His praise! When He decrees a matter He only says to it, ‘BE,’ and it is; and verily God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him: this is the right way. But the sects have differed among themselves.”

Sūrah iii. 51, 52: “These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee. Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God. He created Him of dust: He then said to him, ‘Be’—and he was.”

Sūrah xliii. 57–65: “And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine power, lo! thy people cried out for joy thereat: And they said, ‘Are our gods or is he the better?’ They put this forth to thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a contentious people. Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured, and proposed as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel; and if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed you on earth: and he shall be a sign of the last hour; doubt not then of it, and follow ye me: this is the right way; and let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe. And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, ‘Now am I come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye God, therefore, and obey me. Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore, worship ye him: this is a right way.’ But the different parties fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day!”

Sūrah ix. 30: “The Jews say Ezra is the Son of God; and the Christians say that the Messiah is the Son of God; that is what they say with their mouths imitating the sayings of those who misbelieved before—God fight them!—How they lie!”

Sūrah iii. 72, 73: “And some truly are there among them who torture the Scriptures with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the Scripture, yet it is not from the Scripture. And they say, ‘This is from God’; yet it is not from God: and they utter a lie against God, and they know they do so. It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures and the Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should say to his followers, ‘Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of God’; but rather, ‘Be ye perfect in things pertaining to God, since ye know the Scriptures, and have studied deep.’ ”

Sūrah v. 19: “Infidels now are they who say, ‘Verily God is the Messiah Ibn Maryam (son of Mary)! Say: And who could aught obtain from God, if he chose to destroy the Messiah Ibn Maryam, and his mother, and all who are on the earth together?’ ”

There is a remarkable Ḥadīs̤ related by Anas, which inadvertently proves that, whilst Muḥammad admitted his own sinfulness, as well as that of other prophets, he could not charge our Lord with sin. It is as follows: “The Prophet of God said, ‘In the Day of Resurrection Muslims will not be able to move, and they will be greatly distressed, and will say, “Would to God that we had asked Him to create some one to intercede for us, that we might be taken from this place, and be delivered from tribulation and sorrow?” Then these men will go to Adam, and will say, “Thou art the father of all men, God created thee with His hand, and made thee a dweller in Paradise, and ordered His angels to prostrate themselves before thee, and taught thee the names of all things. Ask grace for us we pray thee!” And Adam will say, “I am not of that degree of eminence you suppose, for I committed a sin in eating of the grain which was forbidden. Go to Noah, the Prophet, he was the first who was sent by God to the unbelievers on the face of the earth.” Then they will go to Noah and ask for intercession, and he will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the sin which he committed in asking the Lord for the deliverance of his son (Hūd), not knowing whether it was a right request or not; and he will say, “Go to Abraham, who is the Friend of God.” Then they will go to Abraham, and he will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the three occasions upon which he told lies in the world; and he will say, “Go to Moses, who is the servant to whom God gave His law, and whom He allowed to converse with Him.” And they will go to Moses, and Moses will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the sin which he committed in slaying a man, and he will say, “Go to Jesus, He is the servant of God, the Apostle of God, the Spirit of God, and the Word of God.” Then they will go to Jesus, and He will say, “Go to Muḥammad who is a servant, whose sins God has forgiven both first and last.” Then the Muslims will come to me, and I will ask permission to go into God’s presence and intercede for them.’ ” (Mishkāt, book xxiii. ch. xii.)

[In dealing with Muḥammadans the Christian missionary must not treat their system as though the teachings of Islām were precisely those of the modern Socinians (we speak of the modern Socinians, for both the Socini, uncle and nephew, admitted the miraculous conception of Christ, and said he ought to be worshipped). Islām admits of the miraculous conception of Christ, and that He is the “Word” which God “conveyed into Mary”; and whilst the other five great prophets are but “the chosen,” “the preacher,” “the friend,” “the converser with,” and “the messenger of” God, Jesus is admitted to be the “Spirit of God.” He is the greatest miracle worker of all the prophets; and whilst Muḥammad is dead and buried, and saw corruption, all Muslim divines admit that Jesus “saw no corruption,” and still lives with a human body in Paradise.

Moreover, it is said in the Ḥadīs̤ that the Ḥaqīqatu ʾl-Muḥammadīyah or the Nūr-i-Muḥammad, “the essence, or light of Muḥammad,” was created before all things which were made by God. The pre-existence of the divine “Word which was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” is not, therefore, an idea foreign to the Muslim mind.]

Sūrah v. 76–79: “They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily, God is the Messiah, the son of Mary’; but the Messiah said, ‘O children of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord; verily, he who associates aught with God, God hath forbidden him Paradise, and his resort is the Fire, and the unjust shall have none to help them.’ They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily, God is the third of three, for there is no God but one; and if they do not desist from what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve amongst them grievous woe. Will they not turn again towards God and ask pardon of Him? for God is forgiving and merciful.’ The Messiah, the son of Mary, is only a prophet! Prophets before him have passed away; and his mother was a confessor; they used both to eat food. See how we explain to them the signs, yet see how they turn aside!”

Sūrah iv. 169: “O ye people of the Book! overstep not bounds in your religion; and of God, speak only truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and His Word which he conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit from Him. Believe, therefore, in God and His apostles, and say not, ‘Three’: (i.e. there is a Trinity)—Forbear—it will be better for you. God is only one God! Far be it from His glory that He should have a son! His, whatever is in the Heavens, and whatever is in the Earth! And God is a sufficient Guardian.”

Sūrah v. 116, 117: “And when God shall say—‘O Jesus, Son of Mary: hast thou said unto mankind—“Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside God?” ’ He shall say—‘Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say that which I know to be not the truth; had I said that, verily thou wouldest have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen! I spake not to them aught but that which thou didst bid me—“Worship God, my Lord and your Lord”; and I was a witness against them so long as I was amongst them: but when Thou didst take me away to Thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over all.’ ”

From the text of the Qurʾān it appears that Muḥammad thought the Holy Trinity of the Christians consisted of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin; and historians tell us that there existed in Arabia a sect called Collyridians, who considered the Virgin Mary a divine person, and offered in worship to her a cake called Collyris; it is, therefore, not improbable that Muḥammad obtained his perverted notion of the Holy Trinity from the existence of this sect. From the expression “they both ate food,” we must conclude that Muḥammad had but a sensuous idea of the Trinity in Unity, and had never been instructed in the orthodox faith with reference to this dogma.

Al-Baiẓāwī (A.H. 685), in his commentary on Sūrah iv. 169, says: “Say not there are Three,” that is, “Do not say there are three Gods,” namely, Allāh and al-Masīḥ and Maryam; or “Do not say God is Three,” meaning that there are Three Aqānīm (اقانيم‎) or Essences—Ab (Father), Ibn (Son), and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds (Holy Spirit), and interpreting it thus: Ab, the Ẕāt or Essence; Ibn, the ʿIlm or Knowledge; and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds, the Ḥayāt or Life of God.

Ḥusain (A.H. 900) quotes al-Baiẓāwī, and offers no opinion of his own.

The Jalālān (A.H. 911) say “Three” means Allāh and ʿĪsā and his Mother.

The word generally used by Muḥammadan writers for the Trinity is at-Tas̤līs̤ (التثليث‎). [TRINITY.]

The Qurʾān has no definite teaching on the subject, but the Traditions have. (See Mishkātu ʾl-Maṣābīḥ, book xxiii. ch. vi.)

Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said, “I swear by God, it is near, when Jesus, son of Mary, will descend from the heavens upon your people, a just king, and he will break the cross, and will kill the swine, and will remove the poll-tax from the unenfranchised; and there will be great wealth in his time, so much that nobody will accept of it; and in that time, one prostration in prayer will be better than the world and everything in it.”

And Abū Hurairah said, “If ye doubt about this coming to pass, then read this verse (Sūrah iv. 157), and there shall not be one of those who have received the Scriptures who shall not believe in Him (Jesus) before His death.”

Abū Hurairah again relates that the Prophet said, “I swear by God, Jesus son of Mary will come down, a just king; he will kill the swine, and break the cross, and remove the poll-tax from the unenfranchised; and camels will not be rode in his time on account of the immensity of wealth, and man’s being in want of nothing; and verily enmity, hatred and malice will go from man; and verily, Jesus will call people to wealth, and nobody will take it.”

Jābir relates that the Prophet said: “A section of my people will always fight for the true religion, and will be victorious, unto the resurrection. Then Jesus son of Mary will come down; and the prince of my people will say to him, ‘Come in front, and say prayers for us.’ And he will say to him, ‘I shall not act as Imām, because some of you are princes over others.’ And Jesus will say this from respect to my people.”

ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn ʿAmr relates that the Prophet said: “Jesus will come down to the earth, and will marry and have children, and will stay on the earth forty-five years, and then die, and be buried in my place of burial; and I and Jesus shall rise up from one place, between Abū-Bakr and ʿUmar.” [HUJRAH.]

There is some difference of opinion as to where Jesus Christ now is. All Muslim divines agree that “he saw no corruption,” but they differ as to the exact stage of celestial bliss in which he resides in the body. According to a tradition by Qatādah (Mishkāt, book xxiv. ch. vii.), Muḥammad said, on the night of the Miʿrāj or celestial journey, he saw John and Jesus in the second heaven. The Jalālān agree with this tradition. But in the commentary known as the Jāmiʿu ʾl-Bayān (vol. i. 656) it is said he is in the third region of bliss; whilst some say he is in the fourth.

The disciples of Jesus are called in the Qurʾān al-Ḥawārīyūn, a word which seems to be derived from an Ethiopic root, signifying “to send,” but which al-Baiẓāwī says means “white ones,” and that it was given to the disciples of Jesus either because they were holy and sincere men or because they wore white clothes. It is noticeable that not one of the twelve apostles is mentioned by name in the Qurʾān. In the story told of disciples visiting the city (of Antioch), three disciples are mentioned, and commentators say they were John, Jude and Simon. [See Sūrah xxxvi. 13, 19—HABIB THE CARPENTER.] John the Baptist and his father Zacharias are mentioned. (Sūrahs xix. 7, xxi. 90.)