the exclusive prerogatives that belong to Him alone, the very attributes with which He has described Himself—glorified and exalted be He.

As for the Messiah, peace be upon him, Allah said of him:
“Whenever you shaped out of clay the likeness of a bird—by My permission—then breathed into it and it became a bird—by My permission—and you healed the congenitally blind and the leper—by My permission.” ⦗Al-Ma’idah 110⦘

And the Messiah, peace be upon him, said of himself:
“I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird; then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird, by Allah’s permission. I heal the congenitally blind and the leper, and I bring the dead to life, by Allah’s permission.” ⦗Āl-ʿImrān 49⦘

Thus he mentioned only the fashioning of one specific thing, and even that solely by Allah’s leave. How, then, could this limited creator be identical with the Creator of all?

The second angle:
He fashioned from clay the likeness of a bird—that is, he shaped it in the form of a bird. Such shaping lies within the capacity of ordinary people, for anyone can mold from clay the figure of a bird or any other creature. The difference is that this image-making is forbidden, whereas the Messiah was granted permission by Allah to do it.

The miracle consists in his breathing a soul into it so that, by Allah’s leave, it became a living bird; the miracle is not merely the crafting of it from clay, for that is something others can do as well—and indeed he cursed