Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:109-115 - Quran Translation Commentary

109. On the day when Allah will assemble all the messengers and will ask: “What reply did you get? ”²⁵⁹ They will say: “We have no knowledge; only You know all that is hidden.”²⁶⁰

110. (That day) when Allah will say: “O Eesa, son of Maryam ! ²⁶¹ Remember My favour to you and to your mother , when I helped you with the holy spirit ,²⁶² you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity;²⁶³ and when I taught you the Book and wisdom, and the Torah and the Injeel; and when you made out of clay the shape of a bird by My command, and you breathed into it and it became a bird by My command;²⁶⁴ and you healed those born blind and the lepers by My command;²⁶⁵ and when you raised the dead by My command;²⁶⁶ and when I restrained (the hands of) Bani Israil from (harming) you,²⁶⁷ when you went to them with clear signs, and those of them, who disbelieved said: “This is nothing but clear magic.”²⁶⁸

111. And when I inspired²⁶⁹ the disciples to believe in Me and in My messenger, they said: “We believe and bear witness that we are Muslim.”²⁷⁰.

112. When the disciples said: “O Eesa, son of Maryam ! Can your Lord send down for us a tray of food from heaven?”²⁷¹ He said: “Fear Allah,²⁷² if you are true believers.”

113. They said: “We wish to eat from that and satisfy our hearts, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth, and that we may be witnesses thereof ?²⁷³

114. Eesa, son of Maryam, said: “O Allah our Lord ! ²⁷⁴ Send down for us a tray of food from heaven, that it may be a festival for us – for the first and last of us ²⁷⁵–and a sign from You. And give us sustenance, and You are the Best of Sustainers.”²⁷⁶

115. Allah said: “I will surely send it down to you,²⁷⁷ and whoever of you disbelieves after that then verily I will punish him with a punishment such as I have not inflicted on any one among all the people.”²⁷⁸

Commentary

259. That is: All the Prophets that have been sent down to this world by Allah will be gathered in His court on the Day of Judgment, and He will ask them as to what response was received by them from the people to the Divine message that they conveyed to them.

260. It does not mean that the Prophets would express ignorance about the response that they received from their followers, because at different places in the Quran it is mentioned that they would give witness about the response from their communities. What the verse in question means is that seeing the grandeur of the Divine Court they will express their helplessness that in the presence of the Knower of all secrets their knowledge has no significance. This answer will be quite appropriate because the question pertains not only to the rejectors of the faith but also to the communities of the prophets. therefore. they will express their ignorance of the fact that after their departure from the world whether their followers made any changes in their teachings and if they did, what sort of changes they were.

261. What Allah will say to the prophets. especially to prophet Eesa (Jesus), is being stated here.

262. The explanation of the Holy Spirit has been given in Note No. 110 and No.405 Surah Baqarah.

263. See Notes Nos. 68 and 69, Surah Aal-i- Imran.

264. The miracle of creating a live bird from the clay was performed by prophet Eesa by the command of Allah only. The breath of life was blown into their bodies with the command of God only, that is prophet Eesa had no power to instil or breathe life into the birds of clay, but it was a manifestation of the power of Allah.

265. This miracle of prophet Eesa is recorded in the Bible as under:

“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth...As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing So they again said to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him since he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.” (John 9: 1 to 17)

“And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ When he saw them he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;” (Luke 17: 12 to 15)

266. That is: He used to bring dead person back to life. This miracle is also recorded in the Injeel: “While he was still speaking, a man from the rulers house came and said, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.’ But Jesus on hearing this answered him, ‘Do not fear; only believe, and she shall be well.’ And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called saying,’Child, arise.’ And her spirit returned, and she got up at once; and he directed that something should be given her to eat.” (Luke 8: 49 to 55)

267. That is: He saved him from the conspiracies of Bani Israil. They were not successful in crucifying him. For further explanation see Note No.81, Surah Aal-i-Imran.

268. They termed these miracles of prophet Eesa as manifestations of magic, although no magician has ever brought to life a dead person, nor gave sight to a blind man; nor could a magician prove himself to be a man of such high and noble character .

269. That is: The suggestion was put in the hearts of the disciples of Christ that they should accept faith and become Muslim. In other words their faith and belief in God and His messenger was a result of the guidance given by Allah.

The explanation of disciples (hawarieen) has been given in Note No.77, Surah Al-i-Imran.

270. It shows that the religion of the disciples of Christ was Islam and not Christianity, and they believed in Allah, and not Christ, to be the God. The falsehood that the Christians have ascribed to them against this belief are mere inventions, and on the Day of Judgment all this falsehood will be exposed.

271. By saying ‘Can your Lord send down’ the disciples did not mean that they had doubts whether the Lord had the power to do it or not, because the disciples were sincere believers, and there is no question about their being doubtful about Allah’s power. What they meant was that whether sending down a tray with food for them would be in accordance with the wisdom of God, whether His wisdom would decide in favour of sending down a tray with food for them in a miraculous manner.

272. That is: While demanding such an extraordinary thing, fear Allah; if He grants you your request, He will subject you to a very hard trial.

273. From this statement of the disciples it appears that they had not demanded the sending down of the tray with food, but they had only made a request. And from their saying that they wished to eat from that, it is clear that they must have said it at a time when they must have been troubled with acute hunger. Dawatul Qur’an 383 S.5 r r r r S.5 384 Dawatul Qur’an

274. These praying words prove that the Christ did not address Allah as his Father, but that he used to call Him as His Lord and that of the others. Thus it refutes the statement of the Bible that the Christ used to address God as his Father.

275. That is: This sending down of this sustenance, food from the heaven would become an occasion for celebration as a festival for all the people of his ummah.

By the first ones are meant those people of the Christ’s ummah who were living in his time and by the last ones are those who came after him. By festival is not meant merely an event for celebration but an event that may be remembered by the coming generations also.

Although this event is not recorded in the Bible with clarity or detail, but the description of the Last Supper in the Bible makes it an important event, and it is a well known event for the Christians. Possibly this Last Supper may be the same event as this sending down of the tray with food. It is likely that the people of Injeel might have forgotten the details, but a mention of the table spread is there in this event:

“And on the first day of Unleavened Bread ............... And when it was evening he came with the twelve. And as they were at table eating, Jesus said ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. ‘They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed...And as they were eating, he took bread, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body! And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave in to them and they all drank of it .” (Mark 14: 12 to 23)

It is also learnt from the Bible that this event took place on a Friday in the evening. (And on that very day in the night prophet Eesa was raised up to heaven). This appears to be the origin of the Good Friday that is being celebrated by the Christians, that on that day the Christ had taken his last supper in the evening:

“and after Good Friday is a special day for the administration of the Lord.’s supper. –(The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church P-571).

276. In these words of prayer Prophet Eesa has attributed this sign (miracle) to Allah only, as also the sustenance. That is, to effect miracles and to provide sustenance is the act of Allah. In this attribute of His, neither Christ is a partner with Him nor any other being.

277. It signifies that Allah had decided upon to send down the tray with food, and therefore, It must have come down, and a majority of the commentators are of this opinion.

278. If even after seeing such a clear and open sign. anyone disbelieves. then his disbelief will be the greatest among all the people of the world, and therefore, he will be liable to get the severest punishment.

Allah will say: “This is a day on which the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness; theirs are gardens with rivers flowing beneath, they will live therein for ever; Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah,” This is the great success. (Al-Quran)