Surah Al-Maaida (5) — Ayah 110

(Ayah 110)➊ Since questioning the messengers will be to rebuke and reproach the rebellious people of the nations, and the Christians will be the most deserving of reproach, as they made ‘Isa (peace be upon him) a deity and attributed to Allah a wife and children (from which Allah is far above), therefore, in the presence of all the messengers, Allah will mention His favors upon ‘Isa (peace be upon him) and then question him. The purpose of this is to refute the Christians. (Kabir)
➋ {اِذْ اَيَّدْتُّكَ بِرُوْحِ الْقُدُسِ:} That is, Jibril (peace be upon him) was appointed to assist you. This is the first favor mentioned.
➌ {وَ اِذْ تَخْلُقُ مِنَ الطِّيْنِ:} Here, the word {’’ تَخْلُقُ ‘‘} is used only in the sense of making an outward form and appearance, as in the hadith where, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say to the image-makers: [ أَحْيُوْا مَا خَلَقْتُمْ ] [ بخاری، اللباس، باب عذاب المصورین یوم القیامۃ : ۵۹۵۱ ] “Give life to what you have created.” Only Allah is the Creator in the sense of creating and giving life. See Surah Al ‘Imran (49).
➍ {كَهَيْـَٔةِ الطَّيْرِ بِاِذْنِيْ:} In this verse, the phrase {’’ بِاِذْنِيْ ‘‘} (by My command) appears four times, to show that if it were not for Allah’s command, ‘Isa (peace be upon him) could not have shown these miracles, and this is the case with every prophet’s miracles. They are neither all-knowing of the unseen, nor do they have authority over every matter; whatever is told to them by Allah or whatever authority is given to them, only that is within their knowledge and power.
➎ {وَ اِذْ كَفَفْتُ بَنِيْۤ اِسْرَآءِيْلَ … :} Just as the Jews plotted to kill ‘Isa (peace be upon him), and then Allah protected him from their evil and raised him up to Himself—for details, see Surah Al ‘Imran (55) and Surah An-Nisa’ (158)—this too was a favor.
➏ {اِنْ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّبِيْنٌ:} The deniers of the prophethood of ‘Isa (peace be upon him) declared his miracles to be manifest sorcery. The wretched ones could not understand that curing those born blind and lepers, and raising the dead, is not possible for any magician, no matter how skilled he may be in magic. Moreover, practicing magic is the work of sinful and wicked people, whereas they themselves saw that ‘Isa (peace be upon him) was commanding them to worship and obey the One Allah. The basis of this action of the Jews was envy, and it is true that {’’ كُلُّ ذِيْ نِعْمَةٍ مَحْسُوْدٌ ‘‘} people envy everyone who is blessed.

110. 1. By this is meant Jibril (Gabriel) as has been mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse number 87.

110. 2. He spoke while in the cradle, when Maryam (Mary) (peace be upon her) brought her newborn (child) to her people, and when they expressed astonishment at seeing the child and inquired about him, then by Allah’s command, Isa (Jesus) spoke in infancy. And by speaking in maturity is meant, after being honored with prophethood, his preaching and invitation.

110. 3. Its explanation has already been mentioned in Surah Al-Imran, verse number 48.

110. 4. The mention of these miracles has also already been mentioned in the aforementioned Surah, verse number 49.

110. 5. This is a reference to the plot that the Jews had prepared to kill and crucify Isa (peace be upon him), from which Allah saved him and raised him up to the heavens. See Surah Al-Imran, verse 54.

110. 6. The opponents of every prophet, after seeing the divine signs and miracles, have always declared them to be magic, whereas magic is merely a skill of trickery, which has nothing to do with the prophets (peace be upon them). Moreover, the miracles manifested at the hands of the prophets were demonstrations of the power and might of Allah, the All-Powerful, because they occurred only by Allah’s command and His will and power. No prophet had the authority to perform any miracle whenever he wished, without Allah’s command and will. That is why, even here, you can see that with every miracle of Isa (peace be upon him), Allah has said four times “bi-idhni” (by My permission), that every miracle happened by My command. This is the reason that when the polytheists of Makkah demanded various miracles from the Prophet ﷺ, the details of which are mentioned in Surah Bani Isra’il, verses 91–93, in response the Prophet ﷺ said: (Subhana Rabbi hal kuntu illa basharan rasoola) “My Lord is pure,” meaning He is free from the weakness that He cannot show these things—He can show them, but whether His wisdom requires it or not, or when it will require it, only He knows, and He decides accordingly. But I am only a human and a messenger, meaning I do not have the power to show these miracles on my own. In any case, the miracles of the prophets have nothing to do with magic. If it were so, magicians would have been able to counter them, but the incident of Musa (Moses) (peace be upon him) proves that even the greatest magicians gathered from all over the world could not counter the miracle of Musa (peace be upon him), and when they clearly realized the difference between a miracle and magic, they became Muslims.

And (remember) when Allah will say, "O Jesus [158], son of Mary! Recall My favor upon you and upon your mother [159], when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit so that you spoke to people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught you the Book and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel; and when, by My command, you made from clay the shape of a bird, then breathed into it, and it became a bird by My command; and you healed the one born blind and the leper by My command; and when you brought forth the dead by My command; and when I restrained the Children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear signs, but those of them who disbelieved said, 'This is nothing but clear magic.'"

[158] That is, first all the prophets will be asked collectively what response their people gave to them or to what extent their call was accepted, then each prophet will be asked the same question individually. And the questioning and answering of ‘Isa (peace be upon him) is mentioned in particular because his community had made several gods independently.

[159] Before the questioning and answering, Allah Almighty mentioned His favors upon ‘Isa (peace be upon him). These favors are mentioned repeatedly throughout the Noble Quran. Most of them are gathered and mentioned at this place. And they are as follows:

(1)
Allah Almighty’s Favors Upon ‘Isa and His Mother:

The greatest favor upon ‘Isa (peace be upon him) and his greatest virtue was that he was born from the breath of Jibril. His birth occurred in a miraculous and extraordinary manner, apart from the natural way. That is why he is called Ruhullah (the Spirit of Allah) and Kalimatullah (the Word of Allah).

(2) The favor of Allah upon his mother Maryam was that He declared her innocent from the accusation of the Jews.

(3) ‘Isa (peace be upon him), at a very young age, when a child does not even learn to speak, used to speak in such a manner as a mature and wise person converses.

(4) At the age of twelve, he used to recite the passages of the Torah fluently from memory, so much so that the great scholars and Pharisees of the Jews would be astonished at this situation. Then, at the age of thirty, he was granted prophethood, and the Injil was revealed to him.

(5)
The Miracles of ‘Isa:

Perhaps it was the effect of this breath of Jibril that he would make a bird out of clay, then blow into it, and that bird would become a living bird by Allah’s command and begin to fly.

(6) Also, by the effect of this breath of Jibril or the support of the Holy Spirit, when he would pass his hand over the eyes of someone born blind, that person would become able to see by Allah’s command, and his eyes would become completely healthy and able to see.

(7) If he passed his hand over the body of a leper, that person would become completely healthy by Allah’s command.

(8) If he told a dead person lying in a grave to rise, that person would come out of the grave alive by Allah’s command.

(9) Despite so many miracles, the Children of Israel denied him and said, “You are a magician, and all your feats are nothing but magic.” Therefore, they became intent on harming him and tried to crucify him, but Allah saved him from them and raised him up to Himself.

(10) When all the people of the Children of Israel became his enemies and no one believed, Allah inspired the disciples to believe in Him and in ‘Isa (peace be upon him), and to be determined to help and support him in every way.

In short, the favors that Allah Almighty bestowed upon Sayyiduna ‘Isa (peace be upon him) are being mentioned to indicate that if he were Allah or the son of Allah, what need would he have for these favors? Also, all the events from the birth of Sayyiduna ‘Isa to his being raised up to Allah are such that they indicate the servitude (‘ubudiyyah) of Sayyiduna ‘Isa (peace be upon him).