Surah Al-Maaida (5) — Ayah 77

(Ayah 77) ➊ {قُلْ يٰۤاَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوْا فِيْ دِيْنِكُمْ ……:} After refuting the Jews and Christians separately, now both are addressed. (Kabir) The Christians exaggerated in the matter of the Messiah (peace be upon him), and a human whom Allah Almighty granted prophethood and made a sign of His perfect power [ديكهيے زخرف : ۵۹۔ مومنون : ۵۰] they placed him at the rank of deity. On the other hand, the Jews declared him a liar, treated him with extreme disrespect, slandered him and his mother, and sought to kill him. In fact, according to the Jews and Christians, the Jews crucified the Messiah (peace be upon him) and shattered his ribs. (Kabir, Ibn Kathir) The reality is that whatever corruption has entered the religion, it is due to this very exaggeration (leaving the path of moderation). That is why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) repeatedly advised the Muslims: “Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of Mary (peace be upon them). I am only His servant, so call me the servant and Messenger of Allah.” [ بخاری، أحادیث الأنبیاء، باب : {واذكر في الكتاب مريم ……:} ۳۴۴۵ ] But the Muslims also exaggerated to such an extent that they gave their imams the rank of prophets, made it obligatory to act upon their unsupported statements, and declared anyone who did not do so to be irreligious. They adopted the belief that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) possesses divine attributes, that he hears and knows everything, and that his command prevails in the universe. Some even considered Allah and the Messenger to be one and the same entity. If anyone refutes them, they say that such a person does not believe in the saints, the Prophet, or Allah Almighty. Whereas we believe Allah to be our deity, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to be our Messenger, and the saints to be the close servants of Allah, but we do not consider the saints to be prophets, nor the Messenger to be Allah Almighty.

➋ {قَدْ ضَلُّوْا مِنْ قَبْلُ ……:} It was first said: « قَدْ ضَلُّوْا مِنْ قَبْلُ» (They went astray before this), and at the end it was again said: «وَضَلُّوْا عَنْ سَوَآءِ السَّبِيْلِ » (And they strayed from the straight path). Although these two statements appear to be the same, the scholars have written that the first refers to their having gone astray, and the second {’’ ضَلُّوْا ‘‘} refers to their remaining firm upon that misguidance until now. It is also possible that the first misguidance refers to doctrinal misguidance and the second to practical misguidance. That is, do not follow those before you who made any prophet (such as Uzair or Isa, peace be upon them) a deity, accused any prophet (such as Dawud, the Messiah, his mother, and Lut, peace be upon them) of adultery and so on, and killed some. With these actions, they themselves went astray and led others astray, and until the end did not come to the straight path. “Do not follow them” shows that these misguidances came to them due to imitating those before them; you should not do this.

77. 1. That is, do not exceed the limits in following the truth, and do not exaggerate in the veneration of those whom you have been commanded to honor, by elevating them from the rank of prophethood to the position of divinity, as you did in the case of Hazrat Masih (Jesus) عليه السلام. Exaggeration has always been the greatest source of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and misguidance in every era. When a person has devotion and love for someone, he greatly exaggerates in their praise. If he is an imam or religious leader, then considering him infallible like a prophet, and attributing divine qualities to a prophet, is a common thing. Unfortunately, Muslims too have not remained safe from this exaggeration. They have also exaggerated in the status of some imams, and have given preference to their opinions and statements, even the fatwas and jurisprudence attributed to them, over the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

77. 2. That is, do not follow the people before you who, by making a prophet into Allah, went astray themselves and led others astray as well.

Say, "O People of the Book! Do not go to extremes in your religion unjustly, and do not follow people who went astray before and led many astray [123], and strayed from the right path."

[123]
The Philosophy of Misguidance?

These people are the same Greek philosophers whose thoughts and ideas influenced the Christian scholars and monks, leading them to invent the doctrine of the Trinity in the fourth century CE. Then, due to the patronage of the government, this doctrine gained popularity. From this, it is also evident that philosopher-type people are themselves misguided and also become a cause of misguidance for others. For examples of excessiveness among Muslims, see [ديكهئے سورة فرقان كا حاشيه نمبر 2]
And Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Those who split hairs (due to sectarianism) have perished.” He said this three times. [مسلم۔ كتاب العلم۔ باب النهي عن اتباع متشابه القرآن]