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Introduction
The exciting phrase: "The one who is born of the Spirit is spirit", was spoken by the Son of Mary, because He was actually born of the Spirit of God. He was eligible to make such an impressive statement. The Qur'an itself confirms this mystery of Christ several times. When Jibril appeared to the Virgin Mary, he confirmed to her that Allah sent him for only one purpose, to give her a blameless, good son:
"He said, 'Anyway, I am the messenger of your Lord, to grant you a pure boy.' " (Sura Maryam 19:19)
قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَنَا رَسُولُ رَبِّكِ لأَهَبَ لَكِ غُلاَماً زَكِيّاً. (سُورَة مَرْيَم ١٩ : ١٩)
The Virgin Mary answered the angel, that no man had touched her, neither lawfully in marriage, nor in rape. She insisted that she was still a virgin; it would be impossible for her to conceive and bear a son. This testimony appears two times in the Qur'an. The virginity of Mary is an unmovable belief in Islam:
"She said, 'How shall I have a son and no man has touched me, neither have I been unchaste.' " (Suras Maryam 19:20; see also Al 'Imran 3:47)
قَالَتْ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلاَمٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيّاً. (سُورَة مَرْيَم ١٩ : ٢٠ ؛ قارن : سُورَة آل عِمْرَان ٣ : ٤٧)
He who reads this verse can believe that Mary was a virgin indeed when she received her Son from the Spirit of Allah.
From Sura al-Anbiya' we can extract more details on how Christ was conceived in the Virgin Mary:
"And she who guarded her virginity: So we breathed into her of our spirit and appointed her and her Son to be a sign to the worlds." (Sura al-Anbiya' 21:91)
وَالَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ رُوحِنَا وَجَعَلْنَاهَا وَابْنَهَا آيَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ. (سُورَة الأَنْبِيَاء ٢١ : ٩١)
This famous verse removes several misunderstandings and clarifies that Christ was not born of Mary through Jibril, as some blasphemers claim, but it was Allah himself who breathed into her of his own Spirit! The Spirit of Allah did not generate Christ through sexual contact but only spiritually. The Almighty did not breathe Jibril, his sent spirit, into Mary, but of his own Spirit. It is reasonable to conclude from this verse that the Son of Mary is also a son by the Spirit of Allah, or the "spiritual" Son of Allah. It would be blasphemous and out of reason to think about a sexual conception of Christ in Mary. No believer would accept such blasphemy.
The Qur'an states 16 times that Allah has no son, and this is true, as long as it means that he has no son sexually:
"3 He (i.e. Allah) did not give birth, and was not born, 4 and no one has ever been his equal." (Sura al-Ikhlas 112:3-4)
٣ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ٤ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ. (سُورَة الإِخْلاَص ١١٢ : ٣ - ٤)
The indwelling of the Son of Mary in his mother was a spiritual act and not a sexual one; therefore, He was born holy and pure. The Qur'an and the traditions confirm that Christ was born immaculate and without sin (Sura Maryam 19:19; see also Sura Al 'Imran 3:36).