Surah Ali 'Imran 3:55-63 - Quran Translation Commentary

(3:55) When Allah said: 'O `Isa I shall keep the promise made to you¹⁰⁰ and raise you to Me¹⁰¹ and will clear you (of the falsehood) of those who blaspheme¹⁰² and will set those who follow you¹⁰³ above those who have rejected - till the Resurrection Day. Then unto Me is your return and I shall judge between you in (all) those (affairs) in which you were at variance.

(3:56: Then, as for those who disbelieved, I shall chastise them severely both is this world as well as the next; they shall have no helpers.¹⁰⁴

(3:57: As for those who believed and acted righteously, He will give them their reward in full. And Allah does not approve of the transgressors.’

(3:58) These are some of the signs and messages of wisdom that We recite unto you.

(3:59: The likeness of `Isa in Allah’s sight is similar to that of Adam whom He made out of dust and then said unto him: 'Be,’ and He was.¹⁰⁵

(3:60) The truth is from your Lord, therefore be not of the doubters.

(3:61) Therefore, whoso disputes with you over him, after the truth has come to you, tell (them): 'Come. Let us gather together our sons and your sons, our women and your women and our selves and your selves and mutually invoke Allah’s curse on the liers.’¹⁰⁶

(3:62) This indeed is the true account; and there is no god save Allah. And surely, it is Allah who is the Mighty, the Wise.

(3:63) But if they decline then surely Allah is aware of the corrupt.¹⁰⁷

Commentary

100. This then was the "scheme" that Allah alluded to in the last verse.

As to the word muta waffi ka, the meaning according to Matar al Warraq, Ibn Jurayj, Ka`b al Ahbar, Ibn Zubayr and Ibn Zayd is, "I will bring you back from the earth alive." Ibn `Abbas believes, however, that it refers to his natural death. (By which he meant that Allah will raise him up, send him to the world a second time, and then cause him to die a natural death, as states a report in Durr al Mansur: Mufti Shafi`). A third opinion is that by waffa the allusion is to "sleep," a usage not uncommon in the Qur'an. For example (6: 60):

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ [الأنعام : 60]

"It is He who gives you sleep (yata waffakum) in the night and knows what you do in the day."

The word has thus been used perhaps because Jesus is thought to have been lifted up in the state of sleep (Ibn Jarir, Kashshaf, Ibn Kathir).

Majid states: "The original sense of "tawfiyah" is 'to perform a promise,' 'to fulfill a covenant,' and 'to give in full measure.' So the meaning may also be, 'I will fulfill thy span of life,' or 'I will achieve the whole of thy term.'"

Another possible meaning is, "I will cause you to die," and that there has been at this point what is called as taqdim and ta'khir in the sentence. That is, what has been stated in the earlier part has to be assigned to the later part, so that the translation of the whole verse should be as follows: "When (they plotted), Allah said: 'O `Isa I will raise you to Me, will clear you (of the blasphemy) and cause you to die (after you have been sent down again)." This kind of usage is quite common in Arabic language and we have a good example of it from the Qur'an itself which says (20: 129):

وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَبِّكَ لَكَانَ لِزَامًا وَأَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى [طه : 129]

"But for a word that preceded from your Lord, it (i.e., of punishment) would have been fastened (upon them) and it would have been a stated term."

However, that is the literal translation. In fact, there has been a taqdim and ta'khir in the sentence so that it should be translated as: "And but for a word that preceded from your Lord, and (but for a) stated term, it (i.e. the punishment) would have been fastened (upon them)" Razi, Qurtubi and others.

"Again," adds Mufti Shafi`, "we all know that Allah raises a person's soul to Himself at his death. Hence, if it was meant to say that 'We will cause you to die (now),' then there was no need to add 'I am going to raise you up to Me.' The use of the word rafi`u ka indicates that he was raised up body and soul."

The opinion therefore, that prevailed among the Companions was that it refers to the death that Ibn Maryam will encounter at the end of his second mission on earth. This is based on several ahadith one of which, (that enjoys the tawatur status: Thanwi) says:

"إنَّ عِيسَى لمَْ يَمُتْ، وَإنَّه رَاجِع إلَيْكُمْ قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْقَيامَةِ"

"`Isa did not die. He is going to come back to you before the end of the world." (Ibn Hajr has pointed out that there is consensus of the Ummah over the issue: Mufti Shafi`).

The above hadith is in Ibn abi Hatim.

Another tradition has been transmitted by Abu Hurayrah who reports the Prophet as having said:

الأنبياء أخوة لعلات وأمهاتهم شتى وأنا أولى الناس بعيسى ابن مريم وإنه نازل فاعرفه فإنه رجل ينزع الى الحمرة والبياض كأن رأسه يقطر وإن لم يصبه بلة وإنه يدق الصليب ويقتل الخنزير ويفيض المال ويضع الجزية وإن الله يهلك في زمانه الملل كلها غير الإسلام ويهلك الله المسيح الضال الأعور الكذاب ويلقي الله الأمنة حتى يرعى الأسد مع الإبل والنمر مع البقر والذئاب مع الغنم ويلعب الصبيان مع الحيات لا يضر بعضهم بعضا ) - صحيح ابن حبان بتحقيق الأرناؤوط - مطابق للمطبوع - (15 / 225) - قال شعيب الأرنؤوط : إسناده صحيح على شرط مسلم

"Prophets are brothers, sons of different mothers, but of a common father (i.e. descendants of a single male: Au.). They brought down one and the same religion. I'm closest to `Isa ibn Maryam. And he is going to descend again. When you see him, you will recognize him. He will be a man of medium height of hue fair and red. He will be long of hair parted at the center which, as if letting down droplets even though not wet. He will break the cross, destroy the pig, distribute wealth and fight the people over Islam until no other religion will remain on the earth. It is during his tenure that the misguiding Masih al Dajjal, the great liar, will be destroyed and peace will prevail on the earth so that lions will go about with camels, panthers with cows, wolves with sheep and children will play with snakes. They will not harm each other. He will tarry on the earth for forty years and will then die. The Muslims will pray over him and bury him" (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir and others).

101. Majid quotes De Bunsen from Islam, or True Christianity, p. 143, f.n.: "A similar conception was promulgated by the earliest gnostics, Corinthus, Basilides, Carpociates, and others."

102. This cleansing was accomplished by our Prophet Muhammad who cleared the baseless allegation of impropriety on the part of Maryam alleged by the Jews (Ma`arif).

103. Qatadah, Rabi`, Ibn Jurayj and Hasan believe that the allusion is to those who will follow Islam. Accordingly, adds Shawkani, we have the hadith which says:

"لاَ تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمّتِي ظَاهِرِينَ عَلَى الْحَقّ. لاَ يَضُرّهُمْ مَنْ خَذَلَهُمْ. حَتّىَ يَأْتِيَ أَمْرُ اللّهِ وَهُمْ كَذَلِكَ"

"A group of my followers will remain having the upper hand over the truth ("battling with the unbelievers," says another version: Au.). Those opposed to them will do them no harm. Thus will be the situation until the Day of Judgment."

Ibn Zayd however believed that it is the Christians that are meant who shall have an upper hand over the Jews until the Day of Judgment (Ibn Jarir).

Thanwi states: "As for the establishment of the state of Israel near the end of the world as foretold in the traditions of the Prophet, (at the time of Thanwi's writing the state of Israel was not yet established: Au.), well, firstly it will be a short lived one: maybe forty days. Such states have been established earlier also during the `Abbasid period as recorded by the historian Al Mas`udi. Further, it will not enjoy a peaceful existence. An anarchic existence obviously, is no existence proper."

"Moreover," asks Mufti Shafi`, "is the present state of Israel anything more than an American and European colony and a springboard?!"

Ibn Kathir comments: What happened after `Isa b. Maryam was lifted up to the heavens is that his followers broke into groups and sects. Some remained steadfast believing that he was a Prophet and a slave of Allah, but others declared him a son of God. Yet another sect declared that he was God himself, while others began to say that he was the third of the three. Such was the situation until a Roman king called Constantine entered into Christianity some three hundred and odd years after Christ. He incorporated many new creeds into the Christian faith while declaring some (older ones) annulled. It was during his time that they declared pork lawful, began to pray facing the East, and built Churches. They persecuted the Jews. That was the situation until Allah raised his last Messenger whose followers, by virtue of belief in Christ as a Messenger of Allah, proved themselves nearest to him. Allah gave them victory over their adversaries and they wrested control of the Syrian territories from them. Later they shall also capture Constantinople. Thus, Allah's word came true that the Muslims will have an upper hand over them until the Day of Judgment.

104. This applies generally to all kinds of unbelievers including the Jews who have been punished with ignominy and wretchedness and subservience to the people until the Day of Judgment. This does not mean that the Muslims are not punished. They are. But it is not a result of the curse or out of anger, rather, out of mercy and as a means of expiation of their sins (Thanwi).

105. "The birth of Jesus was surely an extraordinary event by any measure. But what is so strange about it when compared to the creation of Adam, peace on him? (The strange things is that) the people of the Book were arguing and disputing (with the Prophet) over Jesus because of his miraculous birth and had built beliefs and fetishes around his person for the sole reason that he was born without a father. But these were the very people who also believed that Adam was created out of dust, without attributing divinity or godhead to him" (Sayyid Qutb).

Majid notes: "The divinity of Jesus has been denied by some ancient Christian sects themselves. 'Arius taught that the Son of God was a created being. There was a time when He did not exist.' (Encycl. Brit. II, p. 598) Paul of Samosata also held that "Jesus Christ," begotten of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin, was a mere man. But “the man" was anointed by the Holy Ghost and for the same reason was called Christ ... Though the Logo was in Christ, it did not invest him with divinity’ (XI p. 171).

106. Accordingly, the Prophet invited members of the Najran delegation, that was then camped in Madinah and disputing with him over Jesus' divinity, to participate in the mutual invocation of Allah's curse (mubahala). They agreed. But when he came out with `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn, they backed out, having been warned by their elders of the seriousness of the consequences, if Muhammad were to be a true Prophet. One account has it that it was a Jew who advised them not to face the challenge (Ibn Jarir).

Razi, Qurtubi, Alusi, Shawkani and others are with Ibn Kathir, who, quoting Ibn Ishaq and Bayhaqi, gives a detailed account of the Christian delegation of Najran that visited Madinah in the early years after Hijrah. (According to the report of Bayhaqi, the Prophet had written them a letter asking them to either submit to Allah or pay tribute; failing both, they would face the sword). Herewith is a shortened account: "They were sixty riders led by three men, one of whom was a Bishop. They entered at `Asr time and wore such expensive clothes as the Madinans had never seen before, nor did they later. (According to Bayhaqi's version they wore golden jewelry and the Prophet did not answer to their salutation. They sought the help of his Companions and were told by `Ali that their golden jewelry could be the cause. They stripped themselves of them and went to see him. He received them saying: "By Allah. Earlier they had the Devil accompanying them.") They were allowed to offer their prayers in the Prophet's mosque itself and they did that facing the East. Then they entered into discussions with the Prophet who offered them plain guidance against their complex beliefs. He told them to desist from their assertion that Jesus was the son of God and a third person of the Trinity. But they side tracked him into arguments that had no basis in reason or revelation. Finally, he told them: "Submit yourselves." They said, "We have submitted." He insisted, "You have not submitted, so submit." They replied, "Indeed we submitted before you did." He told them, "You lie. Your assertion that God has a son, your worship of the Cross and your eating of the pork hold you back from submission." They were taken aback and asked him in vexation. "Then who was his father, Muhammad." Thereat Allah sent down a detailed account of Jesus as contained in the first eighty verses of this surah. When that failed to convince them they were asked to bring their men and face the Prophet in mutual invocation of Allah's curse on the liar. They did not respond. Rather, they agreed to pay the tribute. (According to a report, when the Bishop who was with them saw the Prophet, Hasan, Husayn, followed by Fatimah with `Ali at the rear, coming out to meet them in the mubahala, he said: "By God. I see faces that, were they to ask Allah to move a mountain, He would move it. Do not go out to meet him in this challenge": Zamakhshari, Alusi).

[Ibn `Abbas said, as in Bukhari: 'Had Abu Jahl thrown the camel's intestines over the Prophet (as he had intended) he would have been arrested by the angels before everyone's eyes. Had the Jews wished to die they would have died and seen their place in the Fire. And had (the Christians) faced the Prophet in the mubahala they would have gone back home to discover their families and property destroyed'].

"When they had agreed to pay the tribute they asked the Prophet to send one of his trusted men to settle some of their disputes in Najran. He told them he would do so the next day. (According to another version reported by `Umar ibn al Khattab, the next day `Umar straightened his back and stretched his neck upward in order to be visible to the Prophet. The Prophet however ordered Abu `Ubaydah to rise up saying: 'This is the amin (trustworthy) of this Ummah.'"

Shawkani adds: "Hakim has reported the following, declaring it authentic, as has Bayhaqi, both of whom quote Ibn `Abbas. The Prophet said: 'This is ikhlas (testimony of Allah's oneness), and pointed to his index finger; this is supplication, and raised his two hands (with palms stretched) up to the shoulders; and this is ibtihal, and stretched forward full his two hands (in front of him in a straight line: Au.).'"

Majid quotes Muir at this point: "We cannot but see throughout the earnestness of Muhammad's belief, and his conviction that a spiritual illumination had been vouchsafed to him, bringing with it knowledge and certainty where to the Christians, as he conceived, all was speculation and conjecture (p. 460)."

At this juncture most commentators have also refuted notions of the Shi`ah who use this verse to prove that `Ali was superior to all prophets except Muhammad. The argument is constructed by them in the following manner: The Qur'an said, 'Come. Let us gather together our sons and your sons, our women and your women and our selves and your selves and then (earnestly) pray and lay the curse of Allah on those who lie.' In reply, the Prophet came out with Hasan, Husayn, Fatimah and `Ali. Now, `Ali did not come under 'our sons' nor under 'our women.' Therefore, he came under the category of 'our selves.' This means he was at least equal to the Prophet in status. Now, since the Prophet was superior to all other Prophets and Messengers, it goes to prove that `Ali was also superior to all Prophets and Messengers. Further, the verse also proves, say the Shi`ah, that he was a Messenger himself and hence deserved the khilafah immediately after the death of our Prophet.

However, since the argument is quite ingenious, and amusing too, we leave out the refutation (Au.).

Thanwi, nevertheless, adds that the Shi`ah forget that the Qur'an used "faqtulu anfusakum" (2: 54) and meant "faqtulu qawmakum."

107. Sayyid Qutub writes: "This world cannot run right without there being a single God managing its affairs. The Qur'an says:

لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا [الأنبياء : 22]

'Had there been many gods (in the heavens and the earth) surely the two would have met with destruction.' The most blatant attempt by man is his efforts to split godhead by way of accepting the worship of man by man, the making of laws of life for them, and the setting up of values for them. Whoever claimed anything of these things, claimed divinity for himself, and set himself up as a god besides Allah.

"Further, corruption never occurs on the earth on a greater scale than when there are more than one god on it claiming godhead on this pattern: when a man from the mankind claims for himself the right of obedience, the right to dictate laws to others, and the right to set up values for them. This is the claim to godhead and divinity that does not require the words (of Fir`awn): 'I am your supreme Lord' to be spoken."