Surah Az-Zukhruf (43) — Ayah 58

(Ayah 58) ➊ {وَ قَالُوْۤا ءَاٰلِهَتُنَا خَيْرٌ اَمْ هُوَ:} The explanation of this sentence has already been mentioned in the above exegesis.
➋ {مَا ضَرَبُوْهُ لَكَ اِلَّا جَدَلًا بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ خَصِمُوْنَ:} That is, these polytheists mentioned the Messiah (peace be upon him) only for the sake of argument, otherwise they know well that Muslims mention him with honor and respect not as a deity, but as an honored servant of Allah. The reality is that these people are extremely argumentative, that they fabricate the speaker’s intent and start arguing and making noise.
➌ Most exegetes have stated the reason for the revelation of these verses as follows: When this verse was revealed: « اِنَّكُمْ وَ مَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ حَصَبُ جَهَنَّمَ » [ الأنبیاء : ۹۸ ] (Indeed, you and those whom you worship besides Allah are the fuel of Hell), Abdullah bin Zib’ara said that besides Allah, Jesus son of Mary is also worshipped; if he goes to Hell, then we also accept our deities going to Hell. Upon hearing this, the polytheists made a lot of noise that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been rendered speechless. Then this verse was revealed: « الَّذِيْنَ سَبَقَتْ لَهُمْ مِّنَّا الْحُسْنٰۤى اُولٰٓىِٕكَ عَنْهَا مُبْعَدُوْنَ » [ الأنبیاء : ۱۰۱ ] “Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] from Us has preceded, they will be removed far from it.” And verse (57) of this surah was revealed: « وَ لَمَّا ضُرِبَ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ مَثَلًا اِذَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْهُ يَصِدُّوْنَ » “And when the son of Mary was presented as an example, suddenly your people shouted at it.” ({’’زِبَعْرٰي‘‘} With kasrah on the zā’, fatḥah on the bā’, and sukoon on the ‘ayn, after the rā’ is alif maqsoorah; this is Abdullah bin Zib’ara, who later became Muslim. {رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ })
This exegesis is narrated from Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) with a good chain. [ دیکھیے مشکل الآثار، باب بیان مشکل ما روي عن رسول اللّٰہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم في المراد بقول اللّٰہ عزوجل : «إنکم و ما تعبدون من دون اللّٰہ حصب جھنم » ، ح : ۹۸۶ ] In Musnad Ahmad, this narration is from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) in these words: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to the Quraysh: [ يَا مَعْشَرَ قُرَيْشٍ! إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ يُعْبَدُ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ فِيْهِ خَيْرٌ ] “O assembly of Quraysh! The reality is that no one is worshipped besides Allah in whom there is any good.” They said: “O Muhammad! Do you not say that Jesus was a prophet and a righteous servant among Allah’s servants? So if you are truthful, then the Messiah and their deities have become equal.” (Saying this, they started making noise) Then Allah revealed this verse: «وَ لَمَّا ضُرِبَ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ مَثَلًا اِذَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْهُ يَصِدُّوْنَ » [ الزخرف : ۵۷ ] “When the son of Mary was presented as an example, suddenly your people shouted at it.” [ مسند أحمد : 318/1، ح : ۲۹۲۴ ] The researchers of the Musnad have called its chain good (hasan).
It should be clear that this exegesis narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) is not contrary to the exegesis given above according to the context of the verses, because it is established in the principles of exegesis that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) {’’نَزَلَتْ فِيْ كَذَا‘‘} (this verse was revealed about so-and-so) also say this regarding those incidents to which a verse applies. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would also recite a previously revealed verse on such occasions. It is obvious that the polytheists, whose habit was to argue and dispute, would rarely let any opportunity for argument pass by. Among such occasions was the revelation of: « اِنَّكُمْ وَ مَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ حَصَبُ جَهَنَّمَ » [ الأنبیاء : ۹۸ ], and the noise the disbelievers made about it, the verse: « وَ لَمَّا ضُرِبَ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ مَثَلًا اِذَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْهُ يَصِدُّوْنَ» applies fully to it, as Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said.

58. 1. To refute shirk and clarify the insignificance of false deities, when the polytheists of Makkah were told that their deities would also go to Hell with them, what was meant were those stone idols which they worshipped, not those righteous people who, during their lives, called people to tawheed. However, after their deaths, their followers began to consider them as deities as well. Regarding them, the Noble Quran has clearly stated that they will remain far from Hell.

58. And they said, "Are our gods better [56], or is he (Jesus)?" They only bring up this example to argue with you. In fact, they are a quarrelsome [57] people.

[56] The polytheists of Makkah made a commotion that if all deities besides Allah will be fuel for Hell, then how is Sayyiduna Isa ؑ better than our deities, and how are our deities inferior to him? In that case, we would consider our own deities to be better.
[57] That is, the polytheists do not engage in such debates so that if they receive a reasonable answer, they will accept it. Rather, they do so because such contentious argumentation has become part of their nature. And they are engaged in trying to entangle the truth in disputes so as to prevent people from coming closer to the truth.