As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (New International Version, St Luke, 11: 27, 28)
In the Authorized Version, instead of the mother, womb and laps are mentioned. The woman who praises Virgin Mary in this extract seems to be swayed by motherly affection and regrets that she herself has not given birth to and nursed a son like Jesus. She envies Virgin Mary for being the blessed Mother of Jesus Christ.
Jesus replies in a significant manner. In his eyes, loyalty to God is more important than biological kinship. The following extract elucidates this point.
“He replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (St. Matthew, 12:48-50)
The exchange between Jesus Christ and an unknown woman recorded by St. Luke (11:27, 28) is ignored in other Gospels even though the circumstances in which this exchange takes place are recorded in other Gospels. It redounds to the credit of St. Luke that he understood the significance of this exchange and recorded it.
What does Jesus Christ say to the unknown woman? He does not deny that his mother is blessed. By using the word, ‘rather’ he says that it is more true, accurate and precise to say that those people are blessed who hear God’s revelation, commandments and orders and obey them. The unknown woman talked about one blessed mother; Jesus talks about many blessed people. To carry out the will of God and to do what pleases Him should be the ideal goal of an individual life.
The two words which are important in the reply of Jesus are ‘hear’ and ‘obey’. He applies the word ‘hear’ to himself. “The truth that I heard from God” is what Jesus says. (St. John, 8:40) “What I have heard from him (God), I tell the world,” (ibid., 8:26) He also accuses those who reject him in these words, “ He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (ibid., 8:47) As regards the word, ‘obey’, this is what Jesus says, “I always do what pleases him.”(ibid., 8:29)
Jesus belongs to God and so he hears what God says and obeys Him to please Him. He has come to carry out the will of God and to serve Him. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve (God).” (St. Matthew, 20:28, St. Mark 10:45) It is not for nothing that St. Peter described Jesus Christ as a servant of God. (Acts, 3:13)
Virgin Mary is blessed. Jesus Christ is blessed. His followers who hear God’s orders and obey them are also blessed as they subscribe to the belief mentioned in St. John, 17:3. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”That is to say that the one true God has sent Jesus as his Messenger.
It is made abundantly clear to the unknown woman that to be blessed two conditions have to be fulfilled. (1) Hear God’s word. (2) Obey God’s orders. These conditions apply to all times. That is why the historical present tense verb is used. The true followers of Moses and David were blessed in pre-Christian times. What about the followers of Prophet Muhammad?
The extract (St. Luke, 11:27,28) uses present tense for the words “hear” and “obey”. The mother tongue of Jesus, Aramaic, is a Semitic language like Arabic and so may share a common feature with Arabic. For the present tense and the future tense, Arabic uses the same form of the verb. Aramaic may share this feature with Arabic. In such a case, the extract may be translated as follows: “Blessed rather are those who will hear the word of God and will obey it.” If this translation is possible, then Jesus is making a prophecy. Virgin Mary, Jesus and his true followers are blessed and blessed will be those people too who will receive the word of God and obey it.
The Holy Qur’ān is the final word of God. In the light of Jesus’ definition of ‘blessed’, those who hear the Qur’ān and obey it become eligible and qualified to be described as ‘blessed’.
The Qur’ān has this order. “So when the Qur’ān is recited, listen to it carefully, and keep silent so that you may be shown mercy.” (7:204)
The last two verses of the second chapter of the Qur’ān are very special. They were revealed nearly thirteen years after the first revelation. During this momentous period when most severe persecution was unleashed upon the Muslims, they earnestly endeavoured to hear the word of God and obey it to the best of their capacities. The two words that Jesus has used – hear and obey – are paired in the penultimate verse of the second chapter of the Qur’ān. They occur in the context of a prayer, Muslims are taught to pray as follows: “We hear and obey. Our Lord! Grant us Your forgiveness and it is to You that we are destined to return.” (2:285) Syed Iqbal Zaheer translates the first part of prayer in the past tense as ‘obeyed’ and ‘heard’.
“We” in the prayer refers to Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless and greet him) and to his followers. They address God in all humility and sincerity and say that it is the objective of their lives to listen to God and carry out His orders.
Maulana Maudoodi has this comment. “Without going into details, this verse (2:285) gives a gist of the belief system and praxis of Islam which is as follows: To believe in Allah, in His angels; in His Books, to receive all His Prophets as true without differentiating among them (that is to say, without differentiating by accepting some Prophets and rejecting others) and to acknowledge the fact that all have to present themselves before the Judgment-seat of God at long last. These five constitute the basic tenets of Islam. After subscribing to them, the right pattern of behaviour for a Muslim is to accept whatever order he receives from God and to obey it and not to boast about his obedience to God; instead, he should seek Allah’s forgiveness.”
It is servility to God that is conveyed through the statement, we hear and we obey. It is the height of humility to say, “Grant us Your forgiveness”, because servants cannot claim perfection in their act of service, which leaves much to be desired. To seek forgiveness for imperfection or deficiency in service is to go one step further than what is stated in the following, “When you have done everything you were told to do, you should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” (St. Luke, 17:10) Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless and greet him) is advised to ‘extol the praise of God and pray to Him for forgiveness’ (110:3) after receiving Allah’s help and securing victory.
The fear of the Day of Judgment has a salutary effect upon one’s conduct and conscience, and one is obliged to renounce boastfulness and egoism. When it is understood that we have to return to God ultimately to answer why we did not hear and obey Him, we can ill-afford to be ungrateful to Him by turning a deaf ear to His message.
The use of the two words – hear and obey – in such a meaningful prayer, and their assessment in the light of Jesus’ remark, (St. Luke, 11:27,28) point to one conclusion that Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless and greet him) and his followers are blessed, indeed. When Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who (will) hear the word of God and (will) obey it,” it appears as though he is anticipating a large number of people by using the plural word ‘those’. This plurality is borne out by the large following of Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s blessings and peace be unto him).
So hold Allah in awe as much as you can, and hear and obey, and be charitable. This is for your good. And Whoever remains safe from his own greediness, it is such that will prosper. (64:16)
Allah will admit those who obey Allah and His Messenger to the Gardens beneath which rivers flow (48: 17)
Muslims are taught a relevant prayer: O Allah! You exercise full authority over human hearts. Turn our hearts towards unalloyed obedience to you.