There is a name the Qur’an gives to Issa al-Masih that no other prophet receives.
Kalimatullah. The Word of Allah.
Not a word from Allah. Not a word about Allah. The Word of Allah. The Word that Allah Himself is.
يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ
“O People of the Book, do not go to extremes in your religion, and say nothing about Allah except the truth. Truly the Messiah Issa, son of Maryam, was the messenger of Allah and His Word, which He bestowed upon Maryam, and a Spirit from Him.”
Surah An-Nisa 4:171 | quran.com/4/171
What is a word?
A word is the expression of a thought. It is how what is inside a mind becomes knowable to others. Before the word is spoken, the thought exists only within. When the word is spoken, what was inside becomes accessible outside.
When Allah speaks a word, He does not merely send a message. He expresses Himself. He makes what is within Him knowable.
So what is the Qur’an saying when it calls Issa the Word of Allah?
It is saying that Issa al-Masih is not merely a messenger who carried words from Allah. He is the expression of Allah Himself. What Allah is, made knowable. What was within Allah, sent into human history at a specific moment, in a specific person.
This is why Surah 3:45 says his name was Messiah Issa even before he was born. The Word existed before it was spoken. The expression existed before it was expressed.
إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ
“Behold! The angels said: O Maryam! Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah Issa.”
Surah Al-Imran 3:45 | quran.com/3/45
Is this not what is said about the Qur’an as well?
Sit with this carefully. The Qur’an is the speech of Allah, recited by a prophet and written down. It is the word of Allah in the sense of words spoken by Allah.
But Issa is called Kalimatullah in a different sense. He is not the record of what Allah said. He was bestowed upon Maryam. He was a Spirit from Allah. He existed before his birth. He was named before he was born.
These descriptions do not apply to a book. They apply to a person. And the Qur’an applies them to one person only.
From the Injil
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Injil, John 1:1-3,14 | bible.com/bible/111/JHN.1.1
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word became flesh. The Qur’an calls him Kalimatullah. The Injil calls him the Word. Two books, different centuries, different languages. The same title. The same person.
A Parable
A great king ruled a vast kingdom but lived far from most of his people. For generations, messengers had carried his words to the distant provinces. The people knew what the king had said. They had read his letters. They had memorized his instructions. But they did not know him.
One year the king came himself. He walked through the markets. He sat at people’s tables. He spoke to them face to face.
The people who had studied the king’s letters all their lives found, when they met him, that he was far more than the letters had been able to contain. The letters were true. But the person was more than the letters.
One old scholar who had devoted fifty years to the study of the king’s letters sat with the king for an afternoon. Afterward, someone asked him: was he what you expected?
The scholar said: He was everything the letters said. And the letters were not enough.
Kalimatullah. The Word of Allah. Given only to Issa in all the Qur’an.
If Issa is the Word of Allah, what is Allah showing us about Himself through him?
That is a question worth taking to your prayer.