Surah An-Nisa 4:153-162 - Quran Translation Commentary

153. (O Prophet !) The people of the Book ask you to cause a Book to descend to them from heaven; indeed they asked Moosa for an even greater thing, for they said: “Show us Allah openly,” but a thunder bolt smote them²⁴³, for their wickedness. Then they chose the calf (for worship) ²⁴⁴ after the clear signs had come to them. Even so We overlooked this. And We bestowed on Moosa evident authority.²⁴⁵

154. And We caused (the Mount) Tur to tower above them for taking of their covenant ²⁴⁶; and We bade them: “Enter the gate making prostration,” ²⁴⁷ and We directed them: “Transgress not the command concerning Sabbath,” ²⁴⁸ and We took from them a firm covenant.²⁴⁹

155. Then (We cursed them) because of their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the revelations of Allah²⁵⁰, and their slaying of the Prophets without justification, and their saying: “Our hearts are covered²⁵¹”, –Nay, but Allah has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not but a little.

156. And (they were accursed) because they rejected faith, and they uttered against Maryam a grave false charge ²⁵²;

157. And because of their saying: “We have slain the Messiah, Eesa son of Maryam, Allah’s messenger²⁵³”–whereas²⁵⁴ they could not slay him nor could they crucify him, but it was made dubious²⁵⁵ to them; and verily, those who have differed about it are in doubt there of ²⁵⁶; they have no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow²⁵⁷; certainly they slew him not.²⁵⁸

158. Nay, Allah raised him up to himself ²⁵⁹, and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise²⁶⁰.

159. And there shall be none among the people of the Book but will believe in him before his death²⁶¹; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them²⁶².

160. Because of the wrong-doing of the Jews²⁶³, We forbade them clean things which were lawful to them before, and because of their much hindering from Allah’s way.

161. And because of their taking interest when they were forbidden it ²⁶⁴, and of their devouring people’s wealth unlawfully. And we have prepared for those of them who disbelieve, a painful punishment²⁶⁵.

162. However those among them who are firm in knowledge²⁶⁶ and who are faithful²⁶⁷ believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you; and who establish salat and pay zakat²⁶⁸, and believe in Allah and in the Last Day; to them shall we soon give a great reward.

Commentary

243. Those who demand things of this nature, want that the reality should appear before them in such a way that they should be able to see it with their physical eyes, and they may not be required to believe in the Unseen. It is quite obvious that this desire and demand of theirs are quite contrary to the wisdom that is behind the creation of man on this earth, and that is that’man should be tested here. and he should make use of his intellect taking into consideration the signs, leading to reality’ in the light of the Divine guidance, and believe in the Unseen Realities. If man is realistic, he would never make such demands, but instead he would try to understand seriously the Divine Scheme that is in force in this world.

‘But a Thunderbolt smote them. For explanation of this event please refer to Note No.75. Surah Baqarah.

244. After leaving Egypt, Bani Israil has worshipped calf. This national common crime of theirs is referred to here. Its details have been described in Surah A’raf, Verses Nos. 148-152, and Surah ,Taha,Verses Nos. 87-98.

245. Allah had granted Moosa the authoritative proof, so that when he would present the directives from Allah; the people might not find any excuse for not accepting them.

From the thrust of the discourse, it is clear that the Prophet of Islam has been given the authoritative proof in the form of Quran and therefore, to accept it as a revelation from Allah, there should be no excuse for the disbelievers or the people of the Book.

246. Please see Note No.88, Surah Baqarah.

247. Please see Note No.89, Surah Baqarah.

248. Please see Note No.78, Surah Baqarah.

249. In recounting the crimes of the Jews, so much wrath has been expressed and the style of narration has become so forceful that the punishment that has been meted out to them is not required to be expressly mentioned. Therefore, what is not mentioned here and is understood, has been put by us in the brackets, that is on account of these crimes they have been cursed by Allah, as if by the expression of the intensity of the wrath, the wrath has over flowed.

250. The purpose of referring to these crimes of Bani Israil is to show that the community whose history is full of such crimes and whose national temperament has become rebellious, and that if such a community demands to see the Quran descending down from the heavens, it should not he surprising at all. They neither want to understand anything nor do they want to accept faith. They are putting up conditions and demands only to avoid accepting the truth.

251.The jews used to say with pride that their own belief was so firm that the presentation of the Prophet had no effect on their hearts, even though to stick to wrong beliefs after the coming of the truth is nothing but obstinacy.

252. The birth of Prophet Eesa (Jesus) was a miracle, as he was born without a father, and he declared of his being a prophet in his cradle during his infancy. Therefore, during his life-time, nobody dared utter the false charge against his holy mother. But subsequently the Jews purposely and with a view to opposing the truth levelled the grave charge against his mother Maryam (Mary).

253. The Jews had become so shameless that they did not feel any pangs in conspiring to kill the great prophet, Jesus, and then they proudly proclaimed that they slew the Prophet. Although this claim of theirs is false because Allah had thwarted their nefarious scheme, but . from their proud claim, the seriousness of their crime and their stone heartedness can be imagined.

254. From here to the end of verse no.159, ‘witness against them’, is a parenthetical sentence. Since a reference to the killing of Prophet Eesa has been made, Allah interrupted the main narration and expressed the correct position.

255. This verse refutes the claim of the Jews that they crucified the Messiah, they neither slew him nor crucified him, but the fact is that Allah raised him up to Himself with safety and by his being raised up suddenly, the actual position had become dubious for them. To defame him and to defeat his mission, they concocted the imaginary story of his being crucified, and they spread this propaganda so widely that even the Christians were deceived by this deception. The Christians, in order to prove Jesus to be an oppressed person and to construct the edifice of the belief of penance, not only accepted this propaganda as true but included it in the Bible also, even though this matter was a cause for pride for the Jews and a cause for shame for the Christians. Quran has added to the honour of Prophet Eesa by unveiling the reality about the crucifixion of the Christ. As regards the question as to how the doubt was created, it is difficult to ascertain the exact happening. In this connection it is better to be content with what the Quran says in outlines instead of making wild guesses. At that time Bait-ul-Maqdis was being ruled by the Romans, and the learned men of the Jews and their leading men had conspired and had provoked the Romans against the Christ, and had prepared them to arrest and crucify him. The weapon used by them for provoking the Roman against the Christ was the baseless charge that he was claiming to be the king of the Jews.

256. By those who differed are meant the Christians.

257. It shows that when the Quran was being revealed there were severe differences among the Christians about the crucifixion of the Christ. The obvious proof of it is found in the Bible, in which the events describing the crucifixion of the Christ, and his resurrection from the grave have become a puzzle. From the description in the Bible it becomes quite clear that it is unable to present the reality about those events. On this account the Christians have invented very strange theories about the death of the Christ. Accordingly one theory known as Docetism, does not recognise that Prophet Eesa had a material body. This unrealistic mentality led them to believe that he was not a creation of God, but (we seek Allah’s refuge) His son’ All concepts were the product of the later years. The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics states:

“One would have thought that the first and second Christian generations would at any rate have had no doubt about our Lord’s real manhood.” -(Ency. Of Reli. & Ethics, Vol. IV P. 832).

It was possible to show anyone who accepted the story of His life in the Gospels’ that he was a real man, subject to the normal conditions of human life.”-(ERE VOl. IV P. 833). This admission is also there in the Bible that Besilides believed that Simon was crucified by mistake:

“Irenaeus says that Besilides’ account of the Crucifixion was that Simon of Cyrene was crucified by mistake.”-(ERE Vol.IV P.833).

As for the story of prophet Eesa’s reviving and coming out of the grave, this story has been narrated in the Bible in different ways. From the style of its narration it is obvious that these are merely hearsay stories which have been collected, and which have no more reality than an imaginary story. For example in the Bible of John it is stated:

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stopped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Saying this she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek’? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away ! Jesus said to her, “Mary” She turned and said to him in Hebrew. ‘Rab-bo ni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,’ Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20: 11-18)

(It may be noted that the Mary mentioned here is not the mother of prophet Eesa but another Mary.) But in the Bible of Luke there is no mention of Maryam’s seeing the Christ standing near the grave, but this story is narrated as follows:

“And did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels: who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” (Luke 24 :.23 -24)

According to this narration the women saw the angels in the dream and the angels had informed that the Christ was alive, which means that it was not their eye-witness account.

Similarly there is also no mention in the Bible of Mark that these women had seen the Christ standing near the grave, but there is this description:

“And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid:” (Mark 16:8) In these Bibles claims have been made that the disciples saw the Christ, after his death, in Galile, along with the statement that some doubted it:

“And when they saw him they worshipped him: but some doubted”. (Matthew 28:17)

And the Bible of Mark states:

“Afterward he appeared to the eleven of them selves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” (Mark 16:14)

And in John’s Bible it is mentioned that the Christ appeared among his disciples after eight days. Besides, this is also narrated that.

“This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” (John 21:14)

This uncertain, indefinite and confused narration in the Bible is a clear proof that the story of Christ’s being buried and his resurrection is nothing more than a confused dream. The narration is so much confused that the Bible’s commentator himself states:

“There are however numerous critical problems about the story (see Taylor 602 ff ) especially when it is compared in details with the accounts in the other Gospels.” —(Peake’s commentary on the Bible, p.818).

And the Commentator of Mark’s Bible has even said about the last chapter of the Bible of Mark that originally it is not the part of the Bible of Mark:

“It is now generally agreed that 9-20 are not an original part of MK. They are not found in the oldest MSS and indeed were apparently not in the copies used by Mt. and LK.” (Do)

Similarly about the last chapter (No.21) of Yuhanna’s Bible the commentator writes that this addition has been made by the editor himself: “It was a supplement added by the evangelist himself .” (Do P. 867).

In short the tale of Prophet Eesa’s resurrection from the grave is an imaginary tale, and then it has no more remained a mere tale but has become a basic belief of Christianity, on which the edifice of the entire Christian theology has been erected. But the Quran by its realistic narration that the Christ was neither killed nor was he crucified and that Allah had raised him up to Himself. demolishes the edifice of the Christian theological theory.

258.That is : That the jews could not at all kill the Christ is a fact without any shadow of doubt.

259.Please see Note No. 82, Surah Aal-i- Imran.

260. The purpose of referring to the two attributes of Allah is to point out that the raising up of the Christ towards the heaven is an extraordinary event and it is the manifestation of Allah’s extraordinary power and His wisdom.

261.That is: when the Christ would die his physical and natural death, then all the people of the Book, living at the time, whether Jews or Chrisitians would have believed in his prophethood.

In the Hadith, Prophet has explained that the Christ would reappear near about the time of the Doomsday and would kill the greatest leader of the Jews of that time, the Conspirator Dajjal, after which all the people of the Book, will embrace Islam at the hands of the Christ, and there will not remain in the world jewry nor Christianity. There will be Islam and only Islam.

Some of the authentic traditions concerning the reappearance of the Christ are given below:

“Abu Huraira narrates that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said: ‘By the’ Being in whose hands my soul is, the son of Maryam will come among you as a just ruler then he will break the cross and will kill the swine and will terminate fighting : (at the times there will be so much of wealth that there will be none to accept it. At that time one prostration ( for God ) will be better then the world and its contents. After narrating this Abu Huraira said that if you want to confirm this, read the verse Wa In-min ahlil kitab... ( No. 159 Surah Nisa ). Bukhari Kitab Ahadithil Anbiya ).

“Nawas bin Sama’an narrates that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi wa sallam) has said: ‘In the meantime (when Dajjal would be creating mischief) Allah will send Masih, the son of Maryam, and he will descend, clothed in two yellow- coloured sheets, resting his hands on the arms of two angels, in the eastern part of Damascus near the white minaret, When he will bend his head it would appear as if pearls are falling. Every infidel that would come in contact with his breath will instantly die, and his breath will reach as far as the limit of his sight. Then he will pursue Dajjal and will seize him near the gate of (the city of) Ludd and will kill him. “ -(Muslim , Kitabul Fitan).

“Majma’ bin Jariyya narrates that he has heard the Messenger of Allah saying that the son of Maryam would kill Dajjal at the door of Ludd.” -(Tirmizi– Abwabul Fitan)

These traditions and others like these show that the reappearance of the Christ, that would take place in the last periods of the world will be for accomplishing a specific task, that is to kill Dajjal, and to defeat the mischief created by him. From the said verse of the Quran it appears that the specific purpose of reappearance of the Christ uuuu S.4 306 Dawatul Qur’an is to refute the claim of the Jews that they killed him, and also to refute the wrong beliefs of the Christians particularly the one claiming Christ to be the son of God.

It would also provide a further proof of the prophethood of Eesa and the truth of Quran and so that physical death of the Christ, which has not so far taken place, may take place on this earth. It may be noted that Prophet Eesa (Alai hissalam) had come before Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and Muslims believe in the prophethood of the last prophet. The reappearance of Christ in the last years of the world will not be as a new prophet therefore his reappearance does not in any way affect the belief in the Prophet Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) being the last of the prophets.

It should also be noted that the Christ will not begin to claim anything, but he will achieve the purpose for which he would be re-sent. His success in this mission will itself proclaim that he is Eesa, son of Maryam. Therefore Muslims will have no difficulty in recognising him. If this reality is clearly understood; then man can be secure against the mischief that is coming in the form of Qadiyanism, etc. and the claims of some men to be Christ etc.

262. On the Day of Judgment the witness that will be given by prophet Eesa has been narrated in detail in Surah Maidah.Verses Nos. 116 -117.

263.The parenthetical sentence ended above. From here begins the topic which was left off at verse no.155.

264. The command of forbidding taking of interest (usury) is found in the Bible even today. We have already reproduced the extracts in Note No.456 of Surah Baqarah.

265.The crimes of the Jews have been described up to here. The idea is to show that if this community, which had been so rebellious, shows so much obstinacy in believing in Quran, then what is surprising in that ! Allah warns them that those who would show obstinacy in sticking to disbelief, very painful punishment has been prepared for them.

266. Means those learned men who had a firm and correct knowledge of the religion. They were distinct from the generality of the Jewish learned men on account of their words and practice, their conduct and character. Due to their regard for truth, they were fortunate in being guided to believe in the truth of Quran.

267. Means those people who were not very learned but who were righteous and good natured. When they heard the call of the Quran they believed in it.

268. The Jews had given up both the salat and zakat (prayer and compulsory charity). This resulted in their giving up the religion itself. Only those people remained attached to religion who were offering prayers and zakat. Only such people came forward to accept the truth of Quran. In other words this was the blessing of the salat and zakat that they were guided to accept the truth. It shows that wherever these two basic pillars of the religion are given up, it results in the giving up of the religion.

Verily, We have sent revelation to you as We sent revelation to Nooh (Noah) and the messengers after him. We also sent revelation to Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and the children of Yaqub (the tribes)to Eesa, Ayub (Job), Yunus (Jonah), Harun (Aaron) and Sulaiman. And, We gave Zaboor (psalms) to Dawood (David). (Al-Quran)