Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 171

(Ayah 171) ➊ {يٰۤاَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوْا فِيْ دِيْنِكُمْ ……:} Razi writes: After answering the objections of the Jews, now in this verse the objection of the Christians is being refuted. (As stated in Fathur-Rahman) However, some scholars have written that this address is to both the Jews and the Christians, because "ghuluw" means abandoning the path of moderation, and this can be in both excess and deficiency. On one hand, the Christians committed excess regarding the Messiah (peace be upon him) by declaring him the son of Allah, while on the other hand, the Jews went to the extent of denying even his prophethood. The Qur'an explained that both these groups are committing ghuluw. The path of moderation is that Isa (peace be upon him) is neither the son of Allah to be worshipped, nor a false prophet, but rather he is a servant and messenger of Allah. (Qurtubi) Nowadays, a similar kind of ghuluw has also appeared among Muslims, and there are such people who elevate the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the saints of the Ummah so much that they declare them partners in Allah's divinity, and then consider regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as a human being to be the height of disrespect, whereas the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) strictly forbade such ghuluw. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لاَ تُطْرُوْنِيْ كَمَا أَطْرَتِ النَّصَارٰي ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ، فَإِنَّمَا أَنَا عَبْدُهُ فَقُوْلُوْا عَبْدُ اللّٰهِ وَرَسُوْلُهُ ] [بخاری، أحادیث الأنبیاء، باب قول اﷲ تعالٰی: «واذكر في الكتاب مريم ……» : ۳۴۴۵ ] "Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about Isa ibn Maryam. I am only His servant, so call me only the servant of Allah and His messenger."
➋ {وَ كَلِمَتُهٗ اَلْقٰىهَاۤ اِلٰى مَرْيَمَ:} That is, He created him with the word { ”كُنْ“ }, and thus his birth was without a father. This does not mean that the word itself became Isa (peace be upon him), otherwise Adam (peace be upon him) was created from the word { ”كُنْ“ } without both mother and father. Then he too would have to be considered Lord. See Surah Al-Imran (59).
➌ {وَ رُوْحٌ مِّنْهُ:} That is, His created spirit. This attribution is meant to express the greatness of Isa (peace be upon him), otherwise all spirits are created by Allah. He said: « {هَلْ مِنْ خَالِقٍ غَيْرُ اللّٰهِ} » [ فاطر : ۳ ] "Is there any creator other than Allah?" As He said: { ”ھٰذِہٖ نَاقَةُ اللّٰهِ“ } "This is Allah's she-camel," and { ”طَھِّرْ بَيْتِيَ“ } "Purify My house," although Allah is the owner of all she-camels and all houses. This {’’ مِنْ ‘‘} is not for partition, but for indicating the starting point. (Ibn Kathir)
➍ {فَاٰمِنُوْا بِاللّٰهِ وَ رُسُلِهٖ:} That is, Isa (peace be upon him) is also a messenger of Allah, so you should consider him only as Allah's messenger like other prophets, and do not give him the status of divinity (godhood). (Kabir)
➎ {وَ لَا تَقُوْلُوْا ثَلٰثَةٌ: ”ثَلٰثَةٌ“} is the predicate of an omitted subject, i.e., {’’ اٰلِهَتُنَا ثَلاَثَةٌ ‘‘} or {’’اَلْاَقَانِيْمُ ثَلاَثَةٌ ‘‘}, that our gods are three, or the hypostases are three. The subject is omitted because the statements of the Christians are very diverse, although their summary is one: that God is three, but they are not three, they are one. Now, one being can have countless attributes, but Allah, Maryam, and Isa (peace be upon them) are three independent personalities and beings; how did they become one being! The Christians simultaneously accept God as one and also believe in the Trinity. This trinity is also extremely convoluted and incomprehensible. (Kabir) Just as among some Muslims, the belief of [ نُوْرٌ مِّنْ نُوْرِ اللّٰهِ] is extremely misleading, which is clearly against Surah Ikhlas and the entire Qur'an. Sometimes the Christians interpret these three as existence, knowledge, and life, and sometimes they express them as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whereas existence, knowledge, and life are attributes of one being, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three personalities; how did they become one! Then see their blindness: sometimes they say that by Father is meant existence, by Spirit is meant life, and by Son is meant the Messiah (peace be upon him), and they also say that by the Trinity is meant Allah, Maryam, and Isa (peace be upon them). The Qur'an has also mentioned this last statement. See Surah Al-Ma'idah (73, 75, 76, 116). In short, there is no belief more irrational than the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, and there is so much division and disagreement among them on this matter that is not found in any other belief in the world. Therefore, the Qur'an invited them to abandon the confusion of three gods and adopt the pure belief in monotheism.
➏ {اِنَّمَا اللّٰهُ اِلٰهٌ وَّاحِدٌ :} That is, He has no partner, no wife, and no relative; He has neither begotten anyone nor was He begotten.
➐ {لَهٗ مَا فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ مَا فِي الْاَرْضِ:} And the one whom you have declared as His partner is also, like other humans, His owned and created being, and whoever is owned or created cannot be the son or partner of the Creator or Owner.
➑ {وَ كَفٰى بِاللّٰهِ وَكِيْلًا :} That is, what need does He have of a son? Wakil means He Himself is the one who manages all affairs. (Muwaddih)

171. 2 The meaning of "ghuluw" is to exceed the limits regarding something. Just as the Christians did concerning Isa (Jesus) عليه السلام and his mother, that they elevated them from the rank of prophethood and servitude to the rank of divinity and began to worship them like Allah. Similarly, they also, in their display of excess, declared the followers of Isa عليه السلام to be infallible and granted them the authority to declare things lawful and unlawful. As Allah Almighty said: "اِتَّخَذُوْٓا اَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ اَرْبَابًا مِّنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ" 9:31 (They took their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah). According to the hadith, making them lords meant considering what they declared lawful as lawful and what they declared unlawful as unlawful. Whereas this authority belongs only to Allah, but the People of the Book also gave this right to their scholars, etc. In this verse, Allah Almighty forbade the People of the Book from this very excess in religion. The Prophet ﷺ, in view of the Christians' excess, also warned his ummah regarding himself. (لاتطرونی کما اطرت النصاری عیسیٰ ابن مریم ! فانما انا عبدہ، فقولوا : عبد اللہ و رسولہ " (صحیح بخاری۔ کتاب الانبیاء مسند احمد جلد 1 صفحہ 23 نیز دیکھئے مسند احمد جلد 1 صفحہ 153) Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about Isa ibn Maryam عليه السلام; I am only Allah's servant, so call me Allah's servant and messenger. But unfortunately, the Ummah of Muhammad was not safe from this excess either, in which the Christians were involved, and the Ummah of Muhammad also attributed divine qualities to their Prophet and even to righteous servants, which was actually the practice of the Christians. Similarly, instead of considering the scholars and jurists as interpreters and explainers of the religion, they were made lawgivers (those with the authority to legislate). The Prophet ﷺ truly said: "Just as one shoe matches the other, in the same way you will follow the previous nations," meaning you will follow them step by step.

171. 1 The meaning of "Kalimatullah" is that he (Isa عليه السلام) was created by the word "Kun" (Be) without a father, and this word was conveyed to Maryam عليه السلام through Jibril عليه السلام. "Ruhullah" means that (the breath) which Jibril عليه السلام, by Allah's command, blew into the collar of Maryam (peace be upon her), which Allah Almighty made to take the place of a father's sperm. Thus, Isa عليه السلام is also Allah's word, which the angel cast towards Maryam (peace be upon her), and he is His soul which Jibril عليه السلام brought to Maryam (peace be upon her). (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

171. 2 There are many sects among the Christians. Some consider Isa (Jesus) to be Allah, some consider him a partner of Allah, and some consider him the son of Allah. Then, those who consider him Allah believe in (three gods) and in Isa being the third of three (one from three). Allah Almighty is saying: refrain from saying three gods; Allah Almighty is only one.

171. O People of the Book! Do not go to extremes [1224] in your religion, and do not say anything about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah and His Word [225] which He conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and do not say, "Three" [226]. Refrain [227] from this; it is better for you. Allah is only One God. He is far above having a child. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him [228], and Allah alone is sufficient to manage the affairs of the universe.

[224]
What is Ghuluww (Excessiveness):

Ghuluww means such exaggeration that is irrational, whether this exaggeration is towards excess or deficiency. For example, regarding Isa, the belief of the Christians was that he was the son of Allah, and in complete contrast, the belief of the Jews was that he was not a prophet, but (God forbid) they considered him illegitimate. On this basis, they expended their efforts to crucify him. Thus, due to ghuluww regarding the same messenger, both major sects of the People of the Book went astray. For examples of ghuluww in the Ummah of Muhammad, see the footnote number 3 of Surah Al-Furqan.

[225]
The Belief in the Divinity of the Messiah:

This address is to the Christians who sometimes declared Sayyiduna Isaؑ as the son of God and sometimes as the third god among three gods, even though the same words are used in the Gospel regarding the miraculous birth of Isaؑ as are used in the Quran. That is, Isa was the Word of Allah and a spirit from Him. Then, when philosophical and monastic thoughts and ideas began to dominate Christianity, the word "Word," which was synonymous with the divine command or the word "Kun," was considered synonymous with "speech" and was regarded as one of the eternal attributes of Allah. And it was thought that this eternal attribute of Allah itself took form in the womb of Sayyidah Maryamؑ and appeared in the form of Isaؑ. And the meaning of "a spirit from Him" was taken to mean that the spirit of Allah itself entered the body of Isa, thus Isa was considered a manifestation of Allah Himself. These false beliefs gained acceptance because the miracles given to Isa supported their beliefs. However, there were countless things that strongly refuted their beliefs. For example, in the Gospel, great emphasis is placed on the divinity of only one God. Also, Sayyiduna Isaؑ and his mother were both created and temporal. Both used to eat food and were subject to all the human needs that all humans experience. Then, Isaؑ could not save himself from being crucified and from such a humiliating death, so how could he be God? Furthermore, Sayyiduna Isaؑ and his mother both worshipped the one God themselves and taught others the same. All these things strongly refute their claim of divinity.

[226]
The Complexity of the Doctrine of Trinity:

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is such a puzzle that they themselves cannot explain it to others, and that belief is that God, Isa, and the Holy Spirit are all three gods, and these three gods together are still one God. That is, they mix up monotheism and trinity in such a way that a person is left bewildered and still finds no satisfaction. For example, they give the example that a penny has three pies, and these three together make one penny. The objection was raised that when Sayyidah Maryamؑ and Isaؑ had not yet been born, was God incomplete? And if He was incomplete, then how did this universe come into existence? And who was ruling over it? In short, so many interpretations of this doctrine have been presented that Christians have split into dozens of sects. Yet, their belief remains «لا ينحل» and will remain «لا ينحل».

[227]
Hair-Splitting in Divine Attributes:

That is, refrain from saying three gods or from philosophical and monastic hair-splitting in the divine attributes, because whoever has delved into the divine attributes has only gone astray. It should be clear that the verses related to the divine attributes belong to the mutashabihat (ambiguous) verses, regarding which the command is that one should not pursue them. Because neither do commands and prohibitions depend on them, nor do matters of permissibility and prohibition, nor do they have any relation to human guidance. Therefore, they should be accepted as they are, that they too are revealed from Allah. Also, only those whose hearts are perverse pursue such verses. Therefore, O group of Christians! It is better for you to accept divine revelation as it is and refrain from such hair-splitting, and the divine revelation is that only Allah alone is God, He has no need of any daughter or son, and He is pure and free from such things.

[228]
That is, Allah is the owner of everything and everything is His possession, and offspring are not possessions but equals. Therefore, only one of these two things can be correct. If he is a possession, then he is not a son, and if he is a son, then he is not a possession. Moreover, when even before the birth of Isaؑ, Allah alone was running the entire system of the universe, then what need arose for Him to have a son? Therefore, use some reason.