Surah Aal-i-Imraan (3) — Ayah 59

(Ayah 59) ➊ { اِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيْسٰى … : } From the beginning of this Surah up to here (i.e., from the first verse to 59), it was revealed regarding the delegation of Najran. During their debate with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), this delegation argued for the {’’ بُنُوَّة ‘‘} (Jesus being the son of Allah) on the basis that he was born without a father. In this verse, Allah Almighty refuted this by stating that if being born without a father could be proof of being the son of Allah, then Adam (peace be upon him), who was created without both a mother and a father, would be even more deserving of being called the son of Allah. However, this belief is completely false. In reality, Allah Almighty manifested His perfect power by creating Jesus (peace be upon him) from {’’ كُنْ ‘‘} just as He did with Adam (peace be upon him). (Ibn Kathir)
➋ In {”مِنْ تُرَابٍ“}, the tanween is for reduction or disparagement, therefore it has been translated as "a little dust."

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

59. Indeed, the example of Jesus in the sight of Allah is like that of Adam [55]. He created him from dust, then said to him, "Be," and he was.

[55]
The Delegation of Najran and the Divinity of Jesus:

With this verse, the refutation of the Christians’ belief in the divinity of the Messiah begins. In the latter part of 8 AH, Makkah was conquered, and in 9 AH, the delegations of the Arabs began arriving in Madinah. Some of them came to accept Islam, and some to learn about Islam. Thus, during this period, a delegation of Christians from Najran also came to Madinah. Najran is a region between Hijaz and Yemen, where there was a republican government of Christians. At that time, this region included 73 settlements and had more than one hundred thousand fighting men. This government was under the command of three chiefs. One was called ‘Aaqib’, who was considered the leader of the nation. The second was called ‘Sayyid’, who supervised their political and social affairs, and the third was called ‘Saqaf’ (bishop or archpriest), who was their religious leader. All three chiefs were included in this delegation. At that time, the name of the ‘Aaqib’ was Abdul Maseeh, the ‘Sayyid’ was Ayham, and the archpriest was Abu al-Harith bin Alqamah. The three chiefs brought sixty men with them and reached Madinah. These people did not want to fight, because by now a strong government of the Muslims had been established. However, they were not willing to accept Islam either. Their religious leader, Abu al-Harith bin Alqamah, was an Arab by descent. He also understood the reality, but merely for worldly interests, he had become the archpriest. He was an intelligent and shrewd man. Therefore, the Christians had honored him greatly and bestowed wealth and status upon him. The purpose of their arrival was only to defeat the Muslims in debate and argument. Thus, as soon as they arrived, they began to debate with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the subject of the divinity of Jesus. Their line of reasoning was that when you people accept that Jesus ؑ was born miraculously without a father, and you also accept that the Jews could not kill him and that he was raised up to the heavens, then these attributes cannot belong to any servant. Also, you accept him as the Word of Allah and the Spirit of Allah, so what greater proof of his divinity could there be? The blessed habit of the Prophet ﷺ was that when such a situation arose, instead of responding immediately, he would wait for revelation. Thus, he clearly told them that he would answer these matters when revelation came from Allah. On this occasion, about thirty verses of this Surah were revealed, in which the birth of Yahya and ‘Isa (peace be upon them) is mentioned in detail, and in them is a complete refutation of the belief in the divinity of the Messiah. The summary is that if the birth of Jesus ؑ was miraculous, it can be called a manifestation of Allah’s power. What is his own merit in this that he should be considered divine? And if Jesus ؑ used to raise the dead, he clearly said that he did so by Allah’s permission. The same is the case with his being raised up; Allah alone saved him from the Jews and raised him up to Himself. Jesus ؑ was even in need of help himself, so how could he become divine?

The Similarity Between Jesus and Adam:

The next day, when the Prophet ﷺ recited these verses to them, they raised another question regarding the sonship of the Messiah and said: Tell us, if Jesus ؑ is not the son of Allah, then who was his father? The mentioned verse is in response to this question of theirs. Allah Almighty said that if the absence of a father can be proof of Allah’s sonship or divinity, then Adam ؑ is more deserving of divinity than Jesus ؑ, because he had neither a father nor a mother. But you do not consider him divine, so why do you consider Jesus as such? But since these people had not come to seek guidance or to accept Islam, and only wanted to prove the truth of their religion through stubborn argument and debate, therefore, in the next verse, Allah Almighty gave a clear decision regarding them: if they do not desist from stubborn argument and are so confident in the truth of their religion, then let them engage in Mubahalah (mutual imprecation), so that this dispute may be settled. Allama Inayatullah Sahib Athari, who is greatly influenced by Sir Syed and therefore denies miracles, after a lengthy discussion in his book ‘Uyoon Zamzam’, says: “The reason for the similarity between Adam and Jesus was in their being earthly, that no earthly being can be divine. If someone asks, if this is the reason for the similarity, then all the descendants of Adam are equal in being earthly. Then what is the distinction between Adam ؑ and Jesus ؑ?” Also, was it Allah’s intention to explain this reason for similarity to the Christians of Najran, whose claim was that Jesus was not human, but divine?