with gifts, some above others: To one of
them Allah spoke; others He raised to
degrees (of honour); to Jesus the son of
Mary We gave clear (Signs), and
strengthened him with the holy spirit’’
(Sura 2:253).
[ 26 ]See Suras 2:87, 2:253, 3:49, 3:53,
4:157, 4:171, 5:75, 5:111, 57:27, and
61:6.
[ 27 ]Here we can see a remarkable
similarity to the words of Elizabeth in
Luke 1:42,45: ‘‘Most blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit
of your womb....Blessed are you who
believed that what was spoken to you
by the Lord would be fulfilled.’’ This is
most likely yet another Christian
influence that seeped into Muhammad’s
thought.
