Jesus, son of Mary
Learn the true story of a dark-skinned Palestinian Jew, living under imperial occupation, born to, and raised by, a single mother. Peace be upon them.
Unlearn the fable of a white Jesus; free yourself from the whitewashed, weaponized mythologies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In this online spiritual intensive, I will conduct a full tafseer (exegesis) of Sura Maryam. The Qur’an’s nineteenth chapter focuses on the stories of Jesus, John the Baptist, and Zachary, as well as the women in their lives, the Virgin Mary, her Mother Anne, and her cousin Elizabeth—peace be upon them all. With women at the heart of its stories, Sura Maryam offers an excellent opening onto an Islamic vision of gender equity.
But this is a tafseer class taught by a historian of Islam and Africa, so it will not just be liturgical, but historical. Learn why the teachings of Jesus and John were so threatening to the Roman Empire. Discover how the so-called ‘Curse of Ham,’ was fabricated to justify oppression of dark-skinned Canaanites, the ancestors of modern Palestinians. This supposed ‘curse’ was then later utilized Christians, Muslims, and Jews to justify the enslavement of Africans.
The intertwined roots of our contemporary oppression run deep. Deeply anti-racist in its orientation, Sura Maryam argues explicitly against such rubbish, affirming that prophethood was a gift to all humanity not just one race, tribe, or even religious community. Sura Maryam thus also powerfully counters chauvinistic claims of salvic exclusionism; namely the idea that God has a preferred chosen people on the one hand, or that God made a human sacrifice to wash away sins with blood.
This course is based on traditional – especially West African Sufi – Muslim tafseer sources, along with contemporary historical research. But medieval Arab exegetes were almost entirely unaware that the Qur’an frequently comments specifically on ideas and narratives in the Ethiopian Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the Mandaen book of John the Baptist. In Jesus, son of Mary we will examine the connection between Sufi traditions and these ancient gnostic teachings.
The last of the Palestinian prophets, John and Jesus were both targeted by the Roman Empire for the emancipatory potential of their spiritual teachings. What passes for religious teaching today – in Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and many other communities – is a false political ideology designed instead to justify racism, imperialism, exploitation, and misogyny. A deep reading of Sura Maryam can help reveal the deep connection between spirituality and social justice in the Qur’an, and help us get free from internal and external oppressors.
Session Dates and Time
12/23/23 | 11AM - 1:00PM, 1:30PM - 3:30PM