 The world of Christianity certainly, at least in theory, celebrates these days and commemorates them. And the occasion of commemoration is, of course, the birth of Christ, Esa, Ibn Mariam, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And we can certainly argue and debate about the historicity of that claim, whether in fact Jesus was born on December 25th or he was born in the summer or the autumn or what have you, sorry, the spring or the summer. Nonetheless, the historical debates aside, the world of Christianity and the world of Christendom celebrate these days and tomorrow specifically as commemorating the birth of Jesus and the birth of their Messiah, the birth of one part of their divinity. And certainly, Islam, there are many forks in the road with regards to our perception and our conceptualization of what Esa, al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam represents and what he means. The, interestingly, the vast majority of things we actually share in common with our Christian neighbors. The vast majority of things we agree on. And this is because in Christianity it's interesting to note or it's worth noting that the persona of Jesus or the persona of Christ can be sort of boiled down to two aspects of his life. One is being, one being the living master, as they say. That is to say, the prophet, the teacher, the guide, the man who had disciples, who was sent to his community, to the Jewish nation, to redeem, to bring about change and so on. He spoke to them as Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, spoke to him. And that aspect of his life is the aspect in which we as Muslims don't take any issue. In fact, we believe, as Christians believe, in his immaculate birth. He was born to a virgin mother, Maryam al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam, worth noting or interesting that, in fact, in Islam, there is an opinion among certain scholars that Maryam al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam was actually a prophet because she qualifies or meets these sort of salient features of Nubuwa. But that's an aside. But nonetheless, we believe in the immaculate birth. We believe in the virgin birth of Christ. We believe that Isa al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam performed numerous miracles, both that are affirmed within Christianity or spoken of in Christianity and affirmed in Islam and in the Quran. He brought back life to the dead. He healed the leper, the ill, the sick, and the diseased, and so on. In fact, Islam would go further and attribute the miracle of the ability to speak from the cradle to the prophet Isa al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam to defend the honor of his mother, the honor of his mother or the accusations that were being made against her for, of course, you know, being bearing a child while being a virgin. And so certainly these are not points of departure, but rather things that we can celebrate as things that we share in common. The belief that Isa al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam is Masih is the Messiah, the Christ, which is another meaning of Messiah. And we can get into the etymology of that. But nonetheless, that also we affirm and that he was strengthened by Ruh al-Quddus by the Holy, by the spirit or the angel Jibril al-Ali, Salatu was-Salaam. These are all things that we affirm and we do not deny. The point of departure between Islam and Christianity really stems from not so much the events that are celebrated right now with regards to the birth of Christ, but rather things that the world of Christianity celebrate during the days of Easter, Good Friday, Sunday of Easter, which is the death and the resurrection of Christ. And this serves as the singular, if you will, and the most significant point of departure between Islam and Christianity is the events of the crucifixion. Well, not so much even the events of the crucifixion as we'll probably see in a little bit, but also, but more importantly, and moreover, the importance of what the crucifixion or the death and the resurrection of Christ represents to Christianity. What does it represent to the Christians? And why is it that Islam takes issue with it? Not just from a historical perspective or calling into doubt the historicity of that claim, but nonetheless, it is the deeper and the more profound metaphysical or ontological implications of the crucifixion of Christ that we as Muslims take issue with. And of course, there is of course the persona of Christ as being part of this divine resurrected Lord, as they say, or the divine aspects of Christ, which of course we also categorically reject. But I would submit that these two in particular, that is to say the crucifixion of Christ and what it represents to Christianity and the need for Christ to be more than human are actually connected because if we examine what exactly the metaphysical and the ontological implications of the crucifixion represent, then we begin to see why Christ has to be more than human because he can't just be a mere mortal because of what exactly is being attributed with regards to the events of the crucifixion. Now what's interesting is that the Quran or the Islam in general as a whole, but the Quran specifically, deals with the crucifixion of Christ, something so, as I said, monumental, the real fork in the road, the real parting of the ways or the point of departure between Islam and Christianity, interestingly only in one particular verse, which according to our own Dr. Ali Atayi, who I'm feeling a little bit of an imposter syndrome here because he is sort of the expert in this field. In fact, a lot of what I've gleaned or I'm speaking about is, comes from his own writings and teachings and talks on the subject, but we have amongst us a leading expert in this field, but it is Ayah Tussalb as he calls it or the Ayah of crucifixion. And this is found in Surah An-Nisa for 157 in which Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, rather categorically, although there is room for interpretation as we'll begin to see, wa ma qataluhu wa ma salabuhu wa lakin shubbiha lahum. Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but rather it was made to appear as such or he was made to appear as such. And the real issue here or what makes or what problematizes this particular verse is this idea of wa lakin shubbiha lahum, that it was made to appear or he was made to appear. That is to say that it was made to appear that he was killed. It was made to appear that he was crucified. Now, again, what I should also note before getting into or at least touch on the multiplicity of views that are available within our own tradition with regards to this idea of the crucifixion, what's important again to note, as I said at the beginning, brothers and sisters, is that the who, what, when, the events of the crucifixion is really not what we, as Muslims, take issue with or contest or contend with or sorry, contest. We can take, we can accommodate even as you'll begin to see according to some of the Mufesidine and some of the scholars, the sort of Christian understanding of the crucifixion as an event or the events of what transpired on that day. But what really we as Muslims take issue with is the implications of the crucifixion. What is it that Christianity and what is it that Christians take from the crucifixion? What does it mean to them and for them? That's of what is of real significant, as I said, difference and disagreement among Islam and Christianity. But again, for the sake of time, it is important that we know that within our own tradition. Now what's interesting is, as I said, not only is this verse one particular verse that deals with the crucifixion of Christ. In fact, there is very little as far as even prophetic literature or the Ahadith themselves are very limited in terms of what they provide in terms of fleshing out what exactly transpired on that day. In fact, very limited as far as Sahih or Marfuah, Ahadith are concerned that speak about the events of the crucifixion themselves. And so what we are left with are traditions and what we are left with are Ahadith or narrations that are sometimes dubious, sometimes weak in authority, but we nonetheless glean or we're able to flush out what exactly happened. But in spite of that and in spite of, and moreover, because of the ambiguity of this idea of what exactly does, but that it was made to appear as such. What does that mean? That the scholars and the Mufassereen offered a multiplicity of views all the way from the sort of standard position that I'm sure most of us are familiar with which is known or is referred to as the substitution theory, if you will. The idea that it was not Christ, it was not Isa' al-Isra' al-Salam that was crucified and killed on that day, but rather it was someone who was substituted in his place. It was made to look, he was made to look. That is to say the person that was crucified, what it was made to look like, he was made to look like Christ or Isa' al-Isra' al-Salam. And this is sort of the standard substitution theory. But what is interesting to note is that that is not the only opinion among the Mufassereen and among the scholars of Islam. In fact, the scholars offer a multiplicity of views ranging from this substitution theory all the way from accepting the fact that Isa' al-Isra' al-Salam could have been crucified and that he was raised after the events of the crucifixion. So there is a plural, there is a multiplicity of views with regard in a spectrum of opinions that our tradition offers. And that's all to say not to get into the semantics of it or what opinion is most authoritative and so on. But what we should know from that is, again, it's not the who, what, when and where. It's not the mechanics, if you will, of the crucifixion or that we as Muslims take issue with. But rather it is the, as I said, and I keep saying the metaphysical and the ontological implications of that. What does that mean? It's a lot of big words there. What means that from the crucifixion of Isa' al-Isra' al-Salam among Christians, what we begin to see is what does that say about the nature of sin? What does that say about the nature of salvation? And what does it say about our human relationship to the divine? That is what the events of the crucifixion and why it is of import within Christianity and why we as Muslims take significant issue with the implications of that because we reject not so much, as I said, the events themselves of the crucifixion, but rather these implications. What does it say about the nature of sin and salvation? What does it say about the nature of the human being and the human relationship to the divine? And so I wanna talk a little bit about that because this idea that in Christianity you have and what the crucifixion represents is the idea of vicarious atonement. And that's again a big word or a big phrase which simply means that the belief that Christ died for one's sins, vicarious atonement, that if I simply believe, and this is again as a Christian, that if you simply believe that Christ died for your sins and the sins of humanity, that is the doorway to salvation. That is how you achieve salvation. That is how you are quote unquote saved in Christianity or you are born again. We have the born again movement within Protestantism. The idea of being born again, that I was not a Christian but now I believe that Christ died for my sins and so I am now born again, resurrected as a Christian. And so again, this is the significant, the idea of vicarious atonement. And this is certainly something that we as Muslims take not only significant issue with but that we categorically reject because we do not believe in vicarious atonement certainly and that salvation comes through another fancy phrase but redemptive suffering, suffering. This redemptive and direct suffering and intercession, that is what we believe in. That is how we as Muslims achieve salvation and to simply boil it down that the individual human being bears the burden of his or her own sin. No other human being, be it Christ or your father or your mother or your parent or your imam or your sheikh, no one else can take your burden of sin and that you face Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with the sins that you have committed and it is your individual responsibility, your direct suffering that is to say the idea of recognizing sin, of seeking toba from that sin and seeking forgiveness in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and asking Allah for his mercy and his love and compassion, that is how we achieve salvation. No vicarious atonement, not only through another intermediary that be it Christ or anyone else, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam even, we don't believe, we believe in the intercession that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam will perform on the day of judgment, but the Prophet did not take our sin away from us. We bear that own individual responsibility and we have that ownership, if you will, of our own salvation, that our own salvation comes from this idea of redemptive suffering, that we suffer through sin, we seek forgiveness from that sin and that is how we are absolved of it, that is how we are redeemed. We do not bear, no one else bears that responsibility for us, but rather we bear that for ourselves. And so this implication, this idea that the human being has the wherewithal, has the individual capacity to not only bear his or her own burden or sin, and the Quran talks about this time and time again, that Allah does not place upon you a burden that you cannot bear or that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not place upon you the burden of another. Again, the individual burden here, the burden of sin, is upon the individual. And so the empowerment, the idea that the human being here is given not only the wherewithal and capacity, but the ability to bear the burden of his or her own sin and then to seek forgiveness in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from that sin. That is to say that salvation, salvation does not come from outside of ourselves, but rather salvation comes from within ourselves. That salvation, we have the ability to achieve salvation through tawba, through our actions, and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala envelops us in his mercy. That is how we as individuals can achieve salvation. Vicarious atonement is not something, is categorically rejected. And hence the, again, whether we take issue with the who, what, where, when about the crucifixion is not of what is importance, but rather what exactly does the crucifixion represent in Christianity is that what we take issue with. And finally to conclude, because I mentioned it at the outset, that within the sort of Christian logic, if you will, or the Christian understanding of this idea of vicarious atonement, then certainly we can imagine that no human being has the ability to bear the sins of all of humanity. And that certainly then by that same logic or the extension of that logic, that that human being, it has to be suprahuman, more than human, has to be divine in nature. And this leads to the sort of divinity of Christ that we find in Christianity. But it stems, as I said, from this idea of vicarious atonement, this idea of what exactly to inspire or the implications of what transpired on or with the crucifixion. And so again, categorically reject the idea of vicarious atonement, hence the divinity of Christ or the need for Christ to be more than a great messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a human being, after all, who lived an earthly existence, who lived an earthly existence and who will then be resurrected before the end times. And we don't have time to get into the eschatology of that or the end times and the return of Christ. But again, this is something that we as Muslims affirm with regards to our Christian neighbors. I say all of this also with the understanding or the context here that we have an opportunity, whether it's at work, whether it's in our own communities where we live, whether it's at school, to engage in a conversation or there are opportunities to discuss our differences with our Christian neighbors, to stand firm on the things that we disagree on and to recognize those things that we celebrate and recognize together with regards to Christ. But why is it that we disagree is I think what is of importance? And I think that was worth noting and I wanted to share that to engage in a conversation, to come to an understanding with our neighbors, to engage in a dialogue so that we can increase understanding of not only each other, but also of what exactly and share what it is that our great faith teaches with regards to not only Isa al-Isra al-Wasaram, but the nature of sin, the nature of salvation, the ability that human beings have, the direct link that the human being is given to the divine, to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No need for vicariously going through someone else or an intermediary to achieve salvation, but that we are empowered by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bear our own sin and to then absolve ourselves and to redeem ourselves from that sin. Please come forward as we sit and as we conclude and we wrap up so we need to accommodate more people. So if you could begin to move forward please. We call upon you to say this in the name of Allah, may He be with you in the hereafter. All praise be due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.