Jesus (a.s.) & the Thieves in Egypt

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah Wahb ibn Munabbih asw-Swana’ani adz-Dzamari (r.a.) was a Muslim muhadditsin of Dzamar, two day’s journey from Sana’a, in Yemen.  He passed away at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arab authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 CE.  He is counted amongst the tabi’in and narrated Isra’iliyyat. 

Shaykh Wahb ibn Munabbih (r.a.) said, “The first sign which the people saw from Jesus (a.s.) was that his mother was living in the house of a village headman in the land of Egypt, to which Joseph the carpenter had brought her when he went with her to Egypt, and the poor used to repair to that headman’s house.  Some money belonging to that headman was stolen from his treasury, but he did not suspect the poor, and Mary (a.s.) was grieved over the affliction of that headman.  When Jesus (a.s.) saw his mother’s grief over her host's affliction he asked her, ‘Mother, do you want me to guide him to his money?’ 

She replied, ‘Yes, my son.’ 

He said, ‘Tell him to gather the poor for me in his house.’  So, Mary (a.s.) said that to the headman and he gathered the poor for him.  When they had collected, he went to two of them, one of whom was blind and the other lame, and lifted the lame man on to the blind man's shoulder, and said to him, ‘Rise up with him.’ 

The blind man replied, ‘I am too weak for that.’ 

Jesus (a.s.) said to him, ‘How is it you were strong enough for it yesterday?’  When they heard him saying that, they beat the blind man until he arose, and when he stood up, the lame man reached to the window of the treasury.  Then Jesus (a.s.) said to the headman, ‘Thus they schemed against your property yesterday, because the blind man sought the help of his strength and the lame man of his eyes.’ 

Then the blind man and the lame man said, ‘He has spoken the truth, by Allah!’ and restored all his money to the headman. 

He took it and put it in his treasury and said, ‘O Mary, take half of it.’ 

She replied, ‘I was not Created for that.’ 

The headman said, ‘Then give it to your son.’ 

She replied, ‘He is greater in rank than I.’” 

Soon after, the headman gave a marriage-feast for a son of his.  He prepared a feast for him and gathered all the people of Egypt to it and was feeding them for two months.  Then when that came to an end some people from Syria visited him, but the headman did not know about them until they arrived and on that day, he had no wine.  When Jesus (a.s.) saw his concern about that, he entered one of the headman's houses in which were two rows of jars and Jesus (a.s.) passed his hand over their mouths while he was walking by; and every time he passed his hand over a jar it became full of wine, until Jesus (a.s.) came to the last of them.  And at that time, he was twelve years old. 

It is important to note that most Muslim scholars doubt the existence of Joseph and do not believe that Mary (a.s.) was betrothed or ever married.  Like the Catholics, they agree she was a virgin, and left this world a virgin.  According to the Gospels, the miracle of the transmutation of the water into wine occurred in Canaan, not Egypt.


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