Surah Ali 'Imran 3:42-54 - Quran Translation Commentary

44. This is of the tidings of the unseen, which We are revealing to you ⁶⁴, for you were not present with them when they cast lots⁶⁵with their pens as to which of them should be the guardian of Maryam nor were you present with them when they disputed thereupon.

45. And when the angels said: “O Maryam ! Verily , Allah gives you glad tidings of a word from Him: his name will be Masih ( Messiah), Eesa, son of Maryam, ⁶⁶ highly honoured⁶⁷ in this world and the Hereafter, and of the company of those nearest to Allah.

46. And he will speak to the people in his cradle⁶⁸ and in his riper year ⁶⁹ and he will be among the righteous.⁷⁰

47. She said:”O my Lord! How can I have a son when no man has touched me ?” He said: “Thus does Allah create what He wills. when He decides to do a thing, He says: ‘Be’ and it becomes.

48. And Allah will teach him the Book and wisdom⁷¹ and the Taurat and the Injeel.

49. And will send⁷² him down as a messenger to the children of Israil (and when he came to them he said): “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, Verily, I make for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah’s command. And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I bring to life the dead by Allah’s command. And I inform you what you eat and what you store in your houses, surely, therein is a sign for you, if you did believe. ⁷³

50. “And (I have come) to confirm that which is before me of the Torah, ⁷⁴ and to make lawful some of that which was forbidden to you. ⁷⁵ I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear Allah and obey me.

51. “Verily , Allah is my Lord and your Lord too, so worship only Him. That is the straight path.” ⁷⁶

52. So when Eesa perceived in them disbelief, he said: “Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah ?” The Havarees (Companions)⁷⁷ said: We are Allah’s helpers;⁷⁸ we have believed in Allah and bear you witness that we are Muslims.⁷⁹

53. “Our Lord! We have believed in what you have sent down and we followed the Messenger; so write us down among those who bear witness. ⁸⁰

54. And they (Bani Israil) schemed (against the Christ) and Allah countered their scheme, and Allah is the best of devisers.⁸¹

Commentary

62. Allah had chosen Maryam as a means of manifestation of His great Sign, and in this selection He had preferred her to all the women of the world. This was the great honour that was bestowed on Maryam.

63. Refers to congregational prayers. Since Maryam was confined for worship in a place of worship, she was directed to take the advantage of offering prayers in congregation.

64. The address is to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The events which have been mentioned above have been referred to as the tidings of the unseen. because when these events took place the prophet ( P.b.u.h.) was not present nor are these events mentioned in the Torah and Gospel in such details.In these circumstance, to relate these events with such clarity and truth is the clear proof that you (Muhammad !) are the messenger of Allah.

65. In the event of a dispute, when the rights of the parties and their claims are equal, casting lots is permissible. At that time the method of casting lots was to throw the pens in the river and the party whose pen used to return against the flow of the river was considered the winner.

66. Masih ( Messiah) is the title of Prophet Eesa. The mention of his name as Eesa, son of Maryam, shows that he was born without a father and that is why he was mentioned as son of Maryam. Otherwise the usual practice is to mention the name of the child as the son of his father. In the Quran no prophet has been mentioned with the name of his father but with the name of Prophet Eesa generally the name of his mother is mentioned which not only affirms the birth of Jesus without a father but also negates his being the son of god. This arrangement of the name shows that he was the son of Maryam and not of god.

67. Although Prophet Masih would be born without a father but it would bring no blot on his name. He will be illustrious and honourable in this world as well as in the next.

68. Prophet Eesa’s speaking in the cradle was the manifestation of a great sign from Allah, so that the chastity of Maryam and Prophet Eesa’s being honourable and of extraordinary qualities may be established.

69. Reference to the child’s speaking in his riper years has been made to give glad tidings to Maryam that her child is surely going to grow to be a man.

70. That is: Inspite of all these good quali- ties, he will not be a god but will be one of the company of the righteous people

She said:”O my Lord ! How can I have a son when no man has touched me ?” He said: “Thus does Allah create what He wills. when He decides to do a thing, He says: ‘Be’ and it be comes. And Allah will teach him the Book and wisdom and the Taurat and the Injeel. (Al- Quran)

71. By the Book is specially meant the Shariah and by wisdom is meant the spirit of religion. Shariah is the speciality of the Torah (Law) and wisdom of the Injeel (Gospel). Prophet Eesa was the follower of the Shariah of the Prophet Moosa (Moses). He had not come with a new Shariah. However,he presented the spirit of the religion in a very effective way, while the Bani Israil had made it merely a collection of customs and rituals.

72. Sending down a messenger to the Bani Israil does not mean that his message was not for non-Israilis, because the message of the prophets does not distinguish, on the basis of race, nationality, country, etc., between man and man. However, on account of the special circumstances then prevailing their sphere of action was limited, and particularly the objective was, in view of the worsening moral and religious condition of the children of Israil, to communicate to them the reasoning convincingly, so that there may not be any excuse for them That is why the main addressees of his message were the Bani Israil.

73. These were the miracles which Allah had enabled Prophet Eesa to perform so that they might constitute the signs of his being a prophet. Miracle is an extraordinary and mind-boggling happening, which Allah causes to be performed by his prophets, so that the people may be shaken by the occurrence of an extraordinary happening, and may take it as a sign of the prophet being appointed by Allah. The prophet does not perform the miracle on his own but does so by the leave of Allah and with His support, and he also ascribes it to God.

74. Prophet Eesa had not come with a new religion. but he had come with Islam. He did not cancel the Torah but confirmed it and stood fast by it. In the Bible he is reported to have stated: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them,” –(Matthew 5:17)

75. It means: to declare those things lawful and halal which the theologians of the jews, in their extremism and excesses had declared forbidden.haram and which had become undiscardable burden for the Bani Israil. The modifications and changes wrought on the original Shariah of the Torah by the Jewish theologians and the Pharisees were discarded to a very great extent by the Christ and when in this connection they accused him of being irreligious, he did not care at all and unveiled their own false religiosity.

76. In the existing Bible this statement has been ascribed to Prophet Eesa that he had been addressing God as “My Father and Your Father” but Quran denies this and states that he had referred to God as ‘My Lord and Your Lord ! and in very clear words had commanded to worship only Allah and had declared that the straight path leading towards God was His worship only. This shows that in the present Bible the words ‘Father’ for God and ‘son’ for the Christ are the wrong translation of the original words in the Injeel and is a clear alteration that has been effected to prove the divinity of the Christ. Inspite of these alterations, it is also proved from the present Bible that Prophet Eesa considered Allah as his God and also of all the people, for example it is stated in the Injeel of Yuhannah: “I am ascending ..... to my God and your God.” (John 20: 17) “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4: 10)

77. By the Hawarees are meant those who were the companions and sincere supporters of Prophet Eesa. In the present Bible the word disciples is used for them because they used to remain with him under his training, day and night.

78. Allah’s helpers means those who support Allah’s religion, His cause and follow His Messenger .

79. Here it is worth noting that the disciples of the Christ called themselves ‘Muslims’ and not ‘Christians’ because their religion was also Islam and not Christianity.

80. Witness of the facts that we have accepted Eesa as prophet and Islam as our religion.

81. At that time the country was ruled by the Romans. The Jewish theologians accused Prophet Eesa of preventing people from paying the taxes to Caeser and of desiring to become king himself and thus tried to incite the government against him and arranged for his arrest. As against this, the secret plan made by Allah is being mentioned in the following verse.