Ruku 265 ع

Important Words:

مریم (Mary) is probably a compound word consisting of مر and یم and possesses, in Hebrew, a variety of meanings. Some of these meanings are: 'bitter sea'; 'drop of the sea'; 'star of the sea'; 'bitterness'; 'mistress or lady'. The word also means 'exalted'. It may also mean 'pious worshipper'. From two alternative roots the word might also mean, 'the rebellious', or 'the corpulent'. It seems that among the Jews and the Arabs corpulence was considered as a mark of beauty and girls who were corpulent were considered beautiful and therefore named Maryam. Maryam also seems to be a popular name among the Jews in the time of Jesus. See also 3:37.

شرقیاً (to the east) means, (1) facing the east; (2) to the east. مکاناً شرقیاً means, a place to the east; a place facing the east; a place in which the sun shines; an open dwelling place (Lane).

الکتاب (the Book) may refer both to the Bible and the Quran.

Commentary:

It seems relevant and necessary to mention, as a prelude to the somewhat detailed account of Jesus’ fatherless birth as given in the next several verses, some facts related about Mary in the Quran and the Bible.

The New Testament sheds practically no light on the life of Mary before she became pregnant. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke give an extremely brief and discursive description of her circumstances before the above important event took place while Mark and John are completely silent over it. According to Matthew, Mary, on being married to Joseph, was found to be with a child. Joseph intended secretly to put her away but was refrained from taking this extreme step by an angel saying to him in a dream: "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife" (Matt. 1:19, 20). According to Luke, Mary was a relation of Zachariah’s wife and used to go to their house. Apart from this unimportant additional fact Luke leaves us quite in the dark about Mary’s account prior to her marriage with Joseph. But the Quran gives us a much more detailed account of Mary’s family, the circumstances that attended her birth, the vow of her mother, her childhood being dedicated to the service of the Church and lastly of her having conceived Jesus (3:36-38).

The present Surah, however, gives a still more detailed account of Mary having conceived Jesus and of what happened to her and to Jesus after his birth and after he was commissioned with his divine mission. The Quran has provided us with all necessary details about Mary that have any bearing on the important subject of prophethood which was about to be transferred from the House of Israel to that of Ishmael and which forms the principal thesis of the present Surah. If anything the Bible has given a very sorry picture of Jesus and his relations with his mother. Whereas the Quran depicts him to be kind, dutiful and very compassionate towards his mother, the Gospels show that he did not like his mother because she did not believe in him (Matt. 12:46-50). Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21 show that besides Mary, Jesus’ other relations did not believe in him while the Gospel of John keeps discreetly silent over this painful subject. We also know that the Jews used to taunt Jesus by saying that if his mission was true why his own relations did not believe in him (Matt. 13:55-56). Some of his relations and friends went so far as to lay hold on him for they said that he was beside himself (Mark 3:21). This attitude of disbelief on the part of his relatives towards Jesus had made him so bitter that when he was being taken to Calvary to be put on the cross and his mother appeared on the scene, he addressed her saying 'Woman, behold thy son!' (John 19:26). And when on another occasion a woman being very much impressed by his discourse said: 'Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked' (Luke 11:27), he retorted: 'Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it' (Luke 11:28), which signified that he could not even bear his mother being praised.

Such is the picture which the Gospels have drawn of the unenviable relations between Jesus and his mother. But the description is not only self-contradictory, it also offends against human nature and intelligence. The Quran, however, presents both these blessed and holy persons in quite a different light. Regarding Jesus it says that he was kind and loving, obedient and dutiful to his mother and that he was not haughty and rude (19:33) while about Mary it states that she was a pious, chaste and truthful woman and was a great worshipper of God and that God purified her, accepted her and chose her above the women of the world (3:43, 44; 5:76; 66:13). How great is the difference between the unenviable picture of Mary drawn by the Gospels and the beautiful description given of her in the Quran. Whereas the Biblical description is highly derogatory and self-contradictory, the Quranic description is not only consistent with the dignity of a highly righteous woman but is also more akin to truth and facts of history.

As the verse shows Mary withdrew herself to a place to the east. Special mention has been made of "a place to the east" in the verse, in order, perhaps, to point to the time-honoured custom of the Jews that they attached special significance to مشرق (east) and considered it sacred. They believed that the birth of the first man took place in the east where God planted a garden (Gen. 2:8). The Babylonians by whose traditions the Jews became much impressed as they had lived under them as captives also looked upon the east as "the gate of light" (Ezekiel 11:1). Matthew 2:2 and Revelation 7:2 also shed some light on the importance of the east. Both the Jews and Christians hold the east in special respect. They build their places of worship facing the east. This is why special mention has been made in the present verse "of a place to the East" and Mary has been described as having gone to "a place which was facing the east."

For a somewhat detailed note on the early life of Mary see vv. 3:36, 37, 38.

3:43.

Important Words:

روحنا (Our angel). For the different meanings of the word روح see 2:88; 4:172 & 16:3.

Commentary:

The expression فتمثل لھا بشرا سویا signifies that the Divine glad tidings about the birth of a great son was conveyed to Mary not in the form of spoken words which she could hear or which flowed from her mouth. The revelation to her took the form of a dream or vision. She saw in a vision that an angel came to her in the form of a healthy man and conveyed to her the Divine Message about the birth of a son. In fact, it is the Word of God which at the time of revelation takes different forms and which when it came to Mary took the form of a man appearing in a dream. So it was no spirit that had entered Mary’s body. The vision was but a manifestation of God’s great power.

Christians try to derive a false satisfaction from the words روحنا alleging that according to the Quran, the Divine Spirit or God Himself had entered Mary’s body and that as a result thereof she became pregnant and therefore Jesus who was born as the result of that conception was the son of God. The Quran lends no support whatsoever to this blasphemous and preposterous dogma but condemns and denounces it in the strongest possible terms (5:73-74; 19:89-91). What the verse says is only this that an angel of God (روح means an angel) appeared to Mary in a vision in the form of a man and gave to her the glad tidings of the birth of a son.

Even the Gospels repudiate this fantastic dogma. According to them Mary had conceived only of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 1:18-20; Luke, l:35). Thus according to Christians’ own admission Jesus, at best, was the son of the Holy Ghost. But if they believe that he was the son of God then they shall also have to admit that the Holy Ghost is God. But they accept neither of these propositions. So whereas the Quran strongly condemns and denounces the Christian dogma of sonship of Jesus, the Gospels too do not support it. What the Quran says is simply this that an angel appeared before Mary in the form of a man and gave her from God the glad tidings of the birth of a great son.

Commentary:

It is worthy of note here that the Divine attribute الرحمن (Gracious), has been repeatedly used in this Surah. This Surah deals with all the basic dogmas of Christianity and it is this attribute of God which cuts at the root of these false doctrines and demolishes them. If God is Gracious, then He can forgive the sins of His servants and if He can forgive their sins, then there is no need for anybody to give his blood in order to save mankind. As is apparent from the previous verse it was a mere vision that Mary had seen, and it generally happens that when a person sees a thing in a vision which he does not like in his waking state, he does not like it when he sees it in a vision. When Mary saw the angel standing before her in the form of a man she, being a virtuous young woman, was naturally frightened and perplexed as she would have been frightened and perplexed if she had seen him in her state of wakefulness and it is therefore quite natural that she sought Divine protection from him.

3:46.

Commentary:

The word 'Messenger' shows that the angel was only the bearer of a Divine Message and the message or glad tidings which he brought was about the birth of a great son to Mary. So he had come not to give Mary a son but only the glad tidings about the birth of a son.

The expression لاھب لک only signifies that the angel had appeared to Mary to give her the certain and sure tidings about the birth of a son. The glad tidings was so certain of being fulfilled that it seemed as if the son had already been given to her. This is what the angel had conveyed to Mary because who does not know that it is God Who bestows a son and not an angel. An angel’s mission is confined only to conveying the wish and decree of God.

3:48; 19:9.

Commentary:

The incident referred to in this and the preceding verses took place in a vision, and in a vision or dream a person experiences different kinds of sensations at different occasions. Sometimes his feelings and talk in the dream are subject to and under the effect of the dream that he sees while at another time they are not, and he feels and talks as he would feel and talk if he were awake. For example, if in a dream a person is glad over the death of his son, his feelings will be regarded as under the effect of the dream because in his state of wakefulness no sane person would be glad over the death of his son. So if the words spoken by Mary when she saw the angel in her vision were under the effect of the vision, then they would signify that when the glad tidings were given to her about the birth of a son she had a pleasant surprise whether God would work such a miracle as to give her—a virgin—a son. But if the words be regarded as a natural expression on her part when the tidings of the birth of a son were given to her then they would signify that she was completely perplexed and horror-struck at the thought that a son should be born to her—a virgin. In the former case hers would be a very pleasant surprise at the great favour that God was going to do her and in the latter case it would be an expression of bewilderment indicating the horrified state of her mind.

The words 'no man has touched me' show that Mary thought that the glad tidings about the birth of a son to her meant that the child would be born to her without contracting a regular marriage, otherwise there was no sense in her denying having known any man. The words, 'neither have I been unchaste' show that whereas in the previous clause she had denied having known any man lawfully i.e. in a married state, these words refer to her denial of having known any person unlawfully i.e. outside legal wedlock. In her reply to the angel she seemed to be thinking of the circumstances of her life in the Temple and of her vow of celibacy which obviated the possibility of her having any offspring. If she thought that the promise made in the preceding verse referred to the birth of a son as a result of her conjugal relations in some future time, as some commentators of the Quran think, then there was no occasion for her to express any surprise.

3:41, 48; 19:22; 51:31.

Important Words:

مقضیا (decreed) is derived from قضی. They say قضی امراً i.e. he decreed or ordained or commanded the thing (Lane). See also 15:67.

Commentary:

The words, It is easy for Me, signify that a most unusual and apparently impossible thing such as to cause a child to be born without the instrumentality of a father is quite easy for God to bring about. The expression, that We may make him a Sign unto men, implies the fatherless birth of Jesus. That birth was indeed a great Sign for the Israelites. It pointed to the impending transition of prophethood from the House of Israel to that of Ishmael. It also constituted a warning to the Israelites in the sense that they had become spiritually so corrupt and morally so degenerate that no male among them was fit enough to become the father of a Prophet of God. So God decreed to bring about Jesus’ birth independently of a father. Jesus had an Israelite mother only and had no father. As the final step in the process of transition, however, the Great and Noble Messenger who was to follow him was to have neither an Israelite father nor an Israelite mother. He was to appear from another people, from among the Ishmaelites, the brethren of the Israelites, in accordance with the Divine promise made to Moses (Deut. 18:18). It is in this sense that Jesus has been spoken of as 'a Sign of the Hour' in the Quran (43:62), i.e. a Sign of the time when prophethood was to have passed from the Israelites to the Ishmaelites. See also Introduction to this Surah.

Jesus has also been spoken of 'as a mercy from Us.' He was a mercy from God in the sense that he taught meekness and humility to the Jews who had become hard-hearted and conceited to the core. He was also a mercy in the sense that he came as a forerunner of the Holy Prophet who himself 'was sent as a mercy for all the worlds' (21:108). Again Jesus was a divine mercy inasmuch as he paved the way for the revelation of the Quran which has also been referred to as 'a mercy from the Lord' (29:52; 43:33). But this use of the words, 'That We may make him a Sign unto men and a mercy from Us' should not be understood to entitle Jesus to any special spiritual status. Other persons and prophets of God have also been styled 'as a mercy and a Sign from God' in the Quran (2:260; 7:74; 10:93; 21:108).

The expression, and it is a thing decreed, means that God had decreed that a fatherless son would be born to Mary and that this Divine decree was irrevocable. The Quran has used two words قدر and قضا to express the sense of Divine decree. They are sometimes erroneously taken one for the other. But while قدر means designing or determining, قضی means decreeing. When a scheme or plan is only designed to be put into execution, it is called قدر but when it is decreed by God that it should be carried into actual effect, it is named قضاء. The fatherless birth of Jesus was a قضاء (Divine decree) of God and not a قدر.

Important Words:

انتبذت (she withdrew) is derived fromنبذ. They say نبذہ i.e. he cast, threw or flung it away. انتبذ means, he withdrew or retired aside or apart from others; separated himself from others. انتبذ عن القوم means, he withdrew or retired from his people. انتبذ مکاناً قصیا means, he retired to a place from his family; he retired to a distant place from his people (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

How Mary came to conceive Jesus without the agency of a husband is one of those divine secrets which at present may be considered beyond human intellect to fathom. It may be regarded as above the ordinary natural law as we now know it. But the knowledge of man, at best, is limited. He has not been able to comprehend all divine secrets. There are mysteries in nature which man has not been able to solve as yet; perhaps he may never be able to solve them. Among them may be included the fatherless birth of Jesus. God’s ways are inscrutable and His powers limitless. He Who could create the whole universe by uttering the word, کن (be), surely can bring about such changes in matter as should make this apparently insoluble mystery yield to a solution.

Medical science, however, has not altogether ruled out the possibility, from a purely biological standpoint, under certain conditions, of natural parthenogenesis or the production of a child by a female without any relation to a male. Medical practitioners call attention to this possibility as a result of a certain type of tumour, which is occasionally found in the female pelvis or lower body. Such tumours which are known as arrhenoblastoma are capable of generating male sperm cells. If living male sperm-cells are produced in a female body by arrhenoblastoma the possibility of self-fertilization of a woman, even though virgin, cannot be denied. That is to say, her own body would produce the same result as though sperm-cells from a man’s body had been transferred to hers in the usual way, or by a physician’s aid. Recently a group of gynaecologists in Europe have published data to prove instances of childbirth where the mother had had no contact with a male (Lancet). For a detailed note on parthenogenesis see 3:48.

Jesus’ birth is perhaps not altogether unique in this respect that he was born without the agency of a human father. Cases are on record of children having been born without fathers for which see Enc. Brit. under "Virgin Birth" and "Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine" published by W. B. Saunders & Co., London.

If we dismiss all these possibilities, then Jesus’ birth will have to be regarded, God forbid, as illegitimate. Christians and Jews are both agreed that the birth of Jesus was something out of the ordinary—the Christians holding it as supernatural and the Jews as illegitimate (Jew. Enc.). Even in the family birth register, the birth of Jesus was recorded as such (Talmud). This fact alone should constitute a valid proof of Jesus’ birth being out of the ordinary. Joseph, Mary’s husband, according to the Gospels, had not established conjugal relations with her till after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:25). So the words, 'she conceived him', refer to this extraordinary conception of Mary without the agency of any man.

The words, 'a remote place', refer to Bethlehem which is about seventy miles south of Nazareth. There Joseph took Mary sometime before Jesus’ birth which took place in that town.

Important Words:

مخاض (pains of childbirth) is derived from مخض. They say مخض اللبن i.e. he churned the milk and took the butter out of it. مخض الشیء means, he violently agitated the thing.مخضت المرأة means, the woman suffered the pains of childbirth. مخاض means, the pains of childbirth (Lane & Aqrab).

منسیاً(a thing forgotten) is derived from نسی (nasiya). نسیا لشیء means, he forgot the thing. نسیاًmeans, anything forgotten or worthy of being forgotten or anything that must be forgotten. It also means, one who is counted for nothing, who is despised; a thing which the members of a caravan leave behind as worthless or of little use or importance. منسیاً also means, a thing that is forgotten or neglected. The use of these two words together in this verse denoting the same sense is intended to intensify the sense of forgetting or neglect (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

As it appears from the Gospels there was no room in the inn in which Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have stayed in the open field and Mary might have betaken herself to the trunk of a palm-tree in order to take rest under its shade and possibly also to find some support in her throes of childbirth.

The words, 'had become a thing quite forgotten' indicate the extreme severity of the pains of childbirth. In the case of first delivery the throes of childbirth ordinarily are extremely severe and in the intensity of pain women generally give utterance to some such words as those spoken by Mary.

Important Words:

تحتھا (beneath her). تحت means, beneath, below or under; the lower part. The word also signifies the low, base, vile or ignoble or depressed persons. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, لا تقوم الساعة حتی تظھر التحوت و تھلک الوعول i.e. the hour of resurrection will not come until the low or depressed people prevail and the rich and high-placed persons perish; or as some say, until the treasures that are beneath the earth appear (Lane &Taj).

The word تحت meaning beneath, below and also the slope and declivity of a mountain (Lane), the verse signifies that the voice came to Mary from the side of the slope of the mountain where the fountain was and not from beneath her own body as is popularly believed. As a matter of fact Bethlehem is situated on a rock 2350 ft. above sea-level and is surrounded by very fertile valleys. There are fountains in this rock, one of which is known as the 'fountain of Solomon'. Another fountain is situated at a distance of about 800 yards to the southeast of the town. From these fountains water is supplied to the town of Bethlehem. The words of the verse only mean that the angel called to Mary from the side of the fountain which was situated in the slope (تحت) of the mountain.

Mary stood in need of water for drinking and for washing herself and the swaddling-clothes. So the voice of the angel indicated to her the direction where the fountain lay. One of the fountains was flowing at a distance of about 800 yards to the south-east of Bethlehem and Joseph and Mary, we are told, finding no accommodation in the town had to lie in the open field at some distance from the town.

The verse seems to point to a beautiful likeness which Jesus had with another Prophet of God—Ishmael. We are told that when Ishmael suffered from extreme pangs of thirst in the wilderness of Mecca and his mother Hagar in vain searched for water, the voice of the angel came to her saying that God had caused a fountain of water to flow from under the feet of Ishmael (Bukhari). The verse thus entitles Jesus to no particular distinction. Apart from the fatherless birth of Jesus the significance of which has been fully explained in the Introduction to the present Surah, Jesus possesses no distinction. He was only one of so many Divine Messengers.

Commentary:

According to this verse the birth of Jesus took place at a time when fresh dates are found on palm-trees in Judaea. That season evidently is in the months of August and September but according to the view generally accepted by Christians, Jesus was born on 25th December which day is celebrated all over the Christian world every year with great fervour. Now this Christian view is contradicted not only by the Quran but also by history and even by writers of the New Testament itself. Writing about the time of Jesus’ birth Luke says: "And there were shepherds in the same country (Judaea) abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flocks (Luke 2:7, 8). Commenting on this statement of Luke Bishop Barns in his book, Rise of Christianity, on page 79 says: "There is, moreover, no authority for the belief that December 25 was the actual birthday of Jesus. If we can give any credence to the birth-story of Luke, with the shepherds keeping watch by night in the fields near Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus did not take place in winter, when the night temperature is so low in the hill country of Judaea that snow is not uncommon. After much argument our Christmas day seems to have been accepted about A.D. 300". This view of Bishop Barns is supported by writers of the articles on "Christmas" in Encyclopaedia Britannica and Chambers Encyclopaedia. In Encyclopaedia Britannica we have:

The exact day and year of Christ’s birth have never been satisfactorily settled; but then the fathers of the Church in A.D. 340 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely chose the day of the winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most important festival. Owing to changes in man-made calendars, the time of the solstice and the date of Christmas day vary by a few days (15th edition, vol. 5, pp. 642 & 642A).

Chambers Encyclopaedia says: In the second place the winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun, and at Rome 25th December was observed as a pagan festival of the nativity of Sol-invictus. The Church, unable to stamp out this popular festival, spiritualized it as the feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.

These statements of the two Encyclopaedias are further supported by Peake’s "Commentary on the Bible". In this book on page 727 Peake says: "The season (of Jesus’ birth) would not be December; our Christmas day is a comparatively late tradition found first in the West." Thus recent historical research into the origins of Christianity has established the fact beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus was not born in December.

How in the light of historical research into the origins of Christianity and Luke’s statement that Jesus was born at a time when "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:7-8) the belief ever came to be entertained by Christians that Jesus was born in December, seems very surprising indeed. According to this statement of Luke, Jesus certainly was born in summer when shepherds abide in the field in Judaea, keeping watch over their flocks at night which is only possible in summer. The incident referred to in Luke very probably took place in the month of August or September when fresh dates are found on palm-trees in Judaea. This is the time when according to the Quranic verse under comment Jesus was born and when his mother Mary was directed by God to "shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree; it will cause fresh dates to fall upon thee". Thus the Gospel of Luke inadvertently has lent wonderful support to the Quranic view about the birth of Jesus having taken place in the month of August or September which is the season of fresh ripe dates in Judaea. Moreover, there is ample and very reliable historical evidence also to show that Jesus was born in the month of August or September. In his "Dictionary of the Bible" Dr. John D. Davis, under the word "year" writes that dates become ripe in the Jewish month of Elul; and in Peake’s "Commentary on the Bible" (page 117) we have that the month of Elul corresponds to the months of August-September. Furthermore Dr. Peake says, "J. Stewart (When did our Lord actually live?) arguing from an Angora temple inscription and a quotation in an old Chinese classic which speaks of the Gospel story reaching China A.D. 25-28 puts the birth of Jesus in 8 B.C. (Sept. or Oct.) and the crucifixion on Wednesday in A.D. 24."

From the above statements of the two Encyclopaedias supported by quotations from the "Commentary on the Bible" by Dr. Arthur S. Peake, M.A., D.D., the fact becomes quite clear that Jesus was born in the Jewish month of Elul which corresponds to the months of August-September when dates ripen in Judaea, and not on 25th December as the Christian Church would have us believe. And that is the view expressed by the Quran.

One more fact in this connection demands careful examination. Sometime before Jesus’ birth Joseph had taken Mary to Bethlehem, a town about seventy miles to the south of Nazareth, the native place of Joseph and Mary. Luke states that Joseph did so because with Quirinius as governor of Syria, Augustus Caesar had ordered that all should go to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the city of David (Luke 2:1-4). But history does not support this statement of Luke. No census was ever taken in the year of Jesus’ birth nor was there any governor of Syria of this name at that time. According to Josephus, one of the greatest of all Jewish historians, the first census ever to be taken was held seven years after Jesus’ birth and the governors of Syria ten years before his birth till Herod’s death were Stiplus Wardus, Sentiris and Titnis (Enc. Brit. under "Chronicle").

It seems incredible that in the face of such reliable historical evidence Luke should have invented this story of the census. There must have been some very compelling reasons for him to do so. It appears that in a desperate search for an excuse to explain why Joseph and Mary undertook such a long and arduous journey to Bethlehem in the latter’s extremely weak state of health and her pregnancy, Luke seems to have stumbled over the fact of a census having taken place in that town which, in fact, had been held seven years after the date that he has assigned to it. He deliberately predated the census by seven years in order to show that both the events—the census and Jesus’ birth, took place at the same time. Writing history about seventy or eighty years after the actual event he perhaps thought that this historical anachronism would not be detected after such a long time. Thus by placing the census, which had occurred seven years later, in the year of Jesus’ birth Luke persuaded himself to believe that he had succeeded in explaining away the fact as to why Joseph had exposed his ailing wife to the rigours of a long and hard journey to Bethlehem in the advanced state of her pregnancy.

But the difficulty still remains that if, as history shows, there had been no census at the time of Jesus’ birth, then why Luke was so anxious to invent the whole story of the journey to Bethlehem and why it was undertaken. In fact the difficulty was of Luke’s own creation. It was this, that while narrating the account of the immaculate conception of Mary he had stated that great and wonderful miracles had begun and had continued to appear till Jesus’ birth. He feared that if no valid reason were given of this journey of Joseph and Mary, then they would be legitimately accused of being weak of faith and people would naturally say that after having witnessed so many miracles at the time of the conception they were still afraid of public criticism and scandal-mongering and that in order to hide the fact of conception and later birth they had left Nazareth. But the hard reality was there that they had undertaken the journey to Bethlehem, a far-off place. Luke probably thought that people would rightly ask that if immediately after the conception miracles and Divine signs had really begun to appear, then where was the necessity for Joseph to conceal Mary’s pregnancy and the subsequent birth of Jesus, and if there existed no such necessity why did Joseph and Mary undertake that hard and fatiguing journey in the state of her extremely delicate health? Thus the invention of great miracles having taken place at the time of the conception forced Luke to forge the event of the census and also the story that he had undertaken the journey to Bethlehem in order to attend it. But he need not have invented or predated the fact of the census. The whole thing was quite simple and could have been easily explained. Luke could easily have written that Mary had miraculously conceived a child while in the temple and was afterwards married to Joseph who himself was quite convinced of her chastity as he had seen a vision to that effect (see 3:47). But because he feared that he would not be able to convince others of this fact, and because he was afraid of scandal-mongering on the part of the people, therefore, he had to take Mary to a far off place before her pregnancy had become too patent to be concealed any longer. But this he would not do because in that case the whole story of great miracles having attended Mary’s conception would have gone to pieces. This is how the whole difficulty arose and one invention led to another.

It may be added here that the whole-trouble of fixing the date of Jesus’ birth seems to have arisen from a confusion of the date of Mary’s conception. The pregnancy of Mary seemed to have taken place sometime in November or December and not in March or April as the Church historians would have us believe. When after four or five months’ conception, pregnancy became too obvious to be concealed any longer, Joseph was prevailed upon to take Mary to his house in the month of March or April of the next year. Thus Christian historians mistake the date when Joseph took Mary to his house for the date of her actual conception which had taken place four or five months earlier. As recent research into the origins of Christianity has proved that Jesus was not born in December but in August-September, therefore the conception could not have taken place in March or April. So the Quranic view that Jesus was born in August or September is based not only on historical facts but is also quite in accordance with Luke’s own narrative and therefore is the only safe and sensible conclusion.

It also appears from the present verse that Mary was lying in a sheltered place in the upper part of the hill and the date-palm was standing on the slope and therefore she could easily reach to its trunk and shake it. That the territory of Bethlehem abounded in date-palms is clear from the Bible (Judges 1:16) and from "A Dictionary of the Bible" by Dr. John D. Davis, D. D.

Moreover, the fact of Mary having been guided to a fountain, as mentioned in the preceding verse, in order to drink of its water and wash herself, points to Jesus’ birth having taken place in the month of August or September because in the icy cold weather of Judaea in December Mary could not have washed herself in the open.

Commentary:

Some commentators of the Quran are of the view that Mary was commanded completely to abstain from talking. But that is not the case. Like Zachariah she was directed to abstain from talk as far as possible, but not completely, and to devote all her time in the remembrance of God. The expression فقولی (and say) itself shows that the command about abstaining from talk was not unqualified. A new baby had been born and as the birth of a new child was likely to attract the casual visitor or the passer-by and induce him to ask the mother unnecessary and vexatious questions about its parentage etc.; so in order to cut

short the possible embarrassing conversation Mary was commanded to say that she had vowed a fast to the Gracious God that she would indulge in no useless talk. Thus while on the one hand her silence conserved her physical strength, on the other she could have more time to devote to the remembrance of God.

Important Words:

جئت (thou hast done). جاء زید means, Zaid came. جئت زیداًmeans, I came to Zaid. جئت بهmeans, I brought him. جاءت بولد means, she gave birth to a child. جاء بشیءmeans, he did, executed or performed a thing; he said or uttered a thing. جئت شیئا حسناmeans, I did a good thing. The Quranic expression, لقد جئت شیئا فریا means, thou hast done a strange thing or a thing hitherto unknown (Lane & Aqrab).

فریا (strange) is derived from فری (fariya) which means, he was or became confounded or perplexed, and was unable to see the right course. أفری فلانا means, he blamed or censured such a one; افری الشیء means, he cut or slit the thing. They say ھو یفری الفری i.e. he effects what is wonderful in his deed. فری means, a thing forged or fabricated or unknown or unheard of. The words لقد جئت شیئا فریا mean, thou hast done a thing hitherto unknown; or a thing deemed strange; or a thing great of magnitude or gravity. فری applied to a man means, a forger or fabricator of lies. افتری کذبا means, he forged or fabricated a lie or falsehood (Lane & Aqrab).

تحمله (carrying him) is derived from حمل. They say حمل الشیء i.e. he carried the thing. حمله علی ظھرہ means, he bore him on his or its back. حملت المرأة means, the woman became pregnant. حمل القران means, he memorized the Quran. حمله الحمل means, he helped him or assisted him to lift the load; or he assisted him in his work; he gave him a beast to ride; لتحملھم (9:92) means, that thou shouldst mount them (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradat). See also 7:177.

Commentary:

By the words 'carrying him' some people are led to think that the verse refers to the time of the childhood of Jesus when Mary carried him in her arms. But this is an obvious misconception. The verse, in fact, refers to the time when Jesus had attained to prophethood as is clear from vv. 31-34 wherein he says, I am a servant of Allah, He has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet;…and has enjoined upon me Prayer and alms-giving so long as I live. Surely Jesus was not made a Prophet in his childhood, nor did he say his Prayers and give Zakah at that time. It appears from the Gospels that after Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem, in pursuance of a Divine command Joseph had taken him and Mary to Egypt where they lived for some years and it was after the death of Herod that the family came back to Nazareth and dwelt there (Matt. 2:13-23). There was also a Biblical prophecy to the effect that Jesus would come to his people along with his mother riding an ass (Matt. 21:4-7). Jesus and Mary were actually riding asses when they entered Jerusalem. Thus the expression تحمله (carrying him or mounting him) may possibly refer to that prophecy of the Bible.

Moreover the expression حمله as shown under "Important Words" above, also means, he helped him and assisted him in his work.

According to this signification of the word حملthe verse under comment would mean that Mary came to her people with Jesus while she believed in him and helped him in his mission. The expression serves a twofold purpose. On the one hand it refers to the fulfilment of the Biblical prophecy (Matt. 21:4-7) and on the other disposes of the accusation (also contained in the Bible) that Jesus’ brothers and his mother did not believe in him. In any case this verse does not refer to the childhood of Jesus but to the time when prophethood had already been bestowed upon him and he had begun addressing his Message to his people.

The manner of expression adopted in regard to the birth and prophethood of Jesus is quite like that adopted about John (Yahya) in verses 12 and 13of the present Surah. Verse 12 relates to Zachariah having received the happy news of the birth of a son and v. 13 to the period when his son Yahya had become a Prophet, the remaining incidents in Yahya’s life having been omitted because the Quran is not a book of history that it should give the complete picture of the life of a man. In the same way the preceding three verses give a brief description of Jesus’ birth and the present verse comes straight to the time when he had become a Prophet of God. The fact that v. 23 speaks of Mary having withdrawn to a remote place also belies the inference that she had come from that remote place carrying Jesus in her arms.

The words, 'thou hast done a strange thing' contain a double taunt. They refer to the calumny of Mary having given birth to an illegitimate son and to Jesus having falsely laid claim to prophethood. As shown under "Important Words" above the word فری also means a forger of lies. Thus by using this word the elders of the Jewish people called Mary a bad woman and Jesus a forger of lies and a false Prophet.

Commentary:

Some Christian writers in their ignorance of the Arabic language have accused the Quran of an historical anachronism inasmuch as it has spoken of Mary as sister of Aaron. Instead of regretting their own ignorance they have blamed theQuran of ignorance. The question of Mary having been called the sister of Aaron in the Quran was put before the Holy Prophet himself and he told the questioner whether he did not know that the Israelites used to name their children after their Prophets and saints (Bayan, vol. 6, p. 16; Jarir vol. 16, p. 52).

Mary has been here called the sister of Aaron and not that of Moses though both were brothers, for whereas Moses was the founder of the Jewish Law, Aaron was the head of the Jewish priestly class (Enc. Bib. & Enc. Brit. under "Aaron") and Mary also belonged to the priestly order. Tabari has related an incident from the life of the Holy Prophet which gives us an insight into the meanings of the Arabic words اب(ab), عم (‘amm),اخت (ukht) etc. When once Safiyyah, the Holy Prophet’s wife, and incidentally a Jewess by descent, complained to the Holy Prophet that some of his other wives had called her a Jewess in contempt, the Prophet told her to return the taunt by saying that Aaron was her father, Moses her uncle and Muhammad her husband. Surely, the Holy Prophet knew that Aaron was not Safiyyah’s father nor Moses her uncle. This tradition shows that the application of these Arabic words is by no means confined to the above-mentioned blood relations.

Mary might have been called a sister of Aaron by way of reproach or taunt inasmuch as another Mary, the real sister of Aaron and Moses’ stepsister or his sister-in-law, had charged him (Moses) with having unlawfully married a woman (Numbers 12:1). A reference to this accusation is also to be found in the Quran in 33:70. Thus the elders of the Jews, by calling Jesus’ mother sister of Aaron, meant that as Mary, the sister of Aaron had, by accusing Moses of unlawfully marrying a woman, committed a heinous crime, so did she, like her namesake, commit a heinous act of giving birth to an illegitimate child. See also 3:36.

Important Words:

For المھد see 3:47.

Commentary:

The words 'she pointed to him' indicate that Mary knew what answer Jesus would give if the elders of the Jews addressed their question to him. These words may also indicate that Mary knew that if she declared herself innocent nobody would believe her. The only evidence of her innocence was her son. She meant that such a holy and righteous son whom God had endowed with such noble qualities could not be the result of an immoral union and that his virtues and good qualities by themselves constituted a sufficient vindication of her innocence. So she pointed to him. The words may also signify that when the Jews accused Mary of adultery she felt embarrassed and pointed to Jesus who had by that time become a Prophet. Some Muslim commentators of the Quran seem to feel a peculiar delight in attributing all sorts of miracles to Jesus. By their misguided reverence for him they have virtually raised him to the pedestal of Divinity. In the words, How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle, they seem to have discovered one such miracle of Jesus. Among all men, even among all the great Prophets of God he alone, they say, could talk while yet a child in the cradle. But the talk which he gave to the elders of the Jews and which is contained in the next four verses (vv.31-34) could not possibly be the talk of a child and if it was, then the facts described therein were a tissue of lies. Jesus says:(a) "God has made me a Prophet"; (b) "He has given me the Book"; (c) "He has enjoined me to say Prayers and give the Zakah"; (d) "He has made me dutiful to my mother and has not made me haughty", and (e) "Peace was on me the day I was born, and peace there will be on me the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised up to life again." All these affirmations from the lips of a baby sound like so many lies and who would call these lies a miracle? Jesus was neither a Prophet at that time, nor did he say Prayer or give Zakah or was given a Book. Moreover, these commentators appear to ignore the quite obvious fact that at another place in the Quran (3:47) this miracle is stated as having consisted in Jesus’ speaking to the people in the cradle and when of middle age (فی المھد وکھلاً). But talk by a man when he is کھل i.e. of middle age, is no miracle; and by joining the word مھد (cradle) with the word کھل (of middle age), the Quran implies that the talk of Jesus in مھدand when he was کھل (of middle age) was no miracle in the sense in which it is understood by the commentators, but it was a miracle in the sense that he spoke words of exceptional wisdom and intelligence in childhood as well as in middle age. The joining of these two words also implied a prophecy that Jesus would not die young but would live up to a good ripe age. This prophecy did constitute a real miracle. But if the word مھدwere to be taken in the sense of "period of preparation" which is also one of the meanings of this word, the verse یکلم الناس فی المھد و کھلاً (3:47) would mean that he would speak to people words full of extraordinary wisdom and spiritual knowledge much beyond his years and experience, both in the period of preparation which is youth and in his middle age. Thus the words, How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle, present no difficulty. When Mary, on being taunted by the elders of the Jews, directed their attention to Jesus, they disdained to talk to him and contemptuously said, how could they talk to "a child in the cradle" i.e. a mere boy, who was born and brought up before their very eyes. Old and learned people are wont to talk like that when invited to learn wisdom from one who is much younger to them in age. The words merely constitute an expression of contempt and disdain for Jesus. See also 3:47.

Commentary:

"The Book" refers to the Torah and the verse signifies that God had given Jesus a special knowledge of the Torah which was denied to the elders and learned men of the Jews.

Commentary:

This verse implied a mighty prophecy. The prophecy was that Jesus’ people would put him on the cross and would compel him to flee his country and seek refuge in a foreign land. But the grace and blessings of God would attend him wherever he would go. After the crucifixion Jesus’ mission appeared to have been a complete failure but he travelled to the east—to Afghanistan and Kashmir, where his cause progressed and triumphed. See also 4:158 & 23:51.

19:15, 33.

Commentary:

The present and the preceding two verses refer to a period when Jesus had already become invested with prophethood. It is an insult to human intelligence and common sense and to belie facts of history and also to betray one’s utter lack of knowledge of the Quranic style and Arabic idiom to say that the words of vv. 31-33 were spoken by Jesus while he was yet a child and therefore constituted a great miracle. A mere babe who sucked the breast of his mother could not say that he was a most obedient and faithful servant of God or that God had given him a Book or that he said Prayers and gave alms or that he was dutiful to his mother and was not haughty. All this talk seems to be a tissue of lies. Jesus could not and did not do any of these things while yet a baby but rather when he had attained to prophethood. It may be argued that the miracle consisted in the fact that Jesus could talk while yet a baby in the cradle but this purpose could equally have been served by his speaking only a few words. If only he had rebuked the elders of the Jews for calumniating his mother in a single sentence they would surely have been taken aback and completely confounded and the purpose of the miracle would have been fully served. But where was the necessity of putting a long discourse in Jesus’ mouth which was not true? The truth is that the miracle did not lie in the supposed infantile talk of Jesus but in the imagination of the commentators themselves.

In this and the preceding two verses Jesus has been described as saying that (1) he is a servant of God; (2) God has given him the Book; (3) He has made him a Prophet; (4) He has made him blessed; (5) He has enjoined upon him Prayer and alms-giving; (6) He has made him dutiful to his mother and that (7) He has not made him haughty and unblessed. All these words put in Jesus’ mouth by the Quran have been amply supported and corroborated by the Bible:

(1) As regards Jesus’ being a humble servant of God, subject to human weaknesses and frailties and to the demands and calls of nature and not being God or Son of God, the Bible says:

And when he had fasted forty days and nights, he afterwards hungered (Matt. 4:2).

But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, –but the father (Mark 13: 32).

And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is God (Mark 10: 18).

(2) About the fact that Jesus was given a Book which he followed and taught, the Bible says:

Think not that I come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:17, 18).

(3) The Bible also supports the Quranic statement that Jesus was only a Prophet of God and not God or the Son of God. It says:

And He that sent me is with me (John 8: 29).

Neither came I of myself, but He sent me (John 8: 42).

He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, (Isaiah 61: 1-3; Luke 4: 15-22).

And the multitudes said, This is the Prophet, Jesus, of Nazareth of Galilee (Matt. 21:11).

(4) About Jesus’ being blessed the Bible depicts Elizabeth, the mother of John, as saying to Mary, the mother of Jesus:

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Luke 1: 42).

And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked (Luke 11: 27).

(5) The fifth thing that the Quran tells us about Jesus is that God had enjoined upon him Prayer and alms-giving. About this the Bible says as follows:

And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed (Luke 5: 16).

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22: 44).

Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s (Matt. 22: 21).

(6) Last of all, Jesus has been described as being humble and blessed with success. In regard to this the Bible says:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matt. 11: 29).

Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass (Matt. 21: 5).

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16: 33).

19:16.

Commentary:

The words, and peace there will be on me the day I shall die, show that Jesus did not die on the cross, for death on the cross, according to the Bible, is an accursed death (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). It cannot be said about a person who died an accursed death that he died a blessed and peaceful death. But the mere fact of a person being put on the cross or meeting a violent end does not conflict with the idea of peace and blessedness to which this verse refers. It is an accepted fact of history that the Prophet Yahya was murdered while in jail but the words "peace was on him the day he died" have also been used about him in v. 16 above. So these words have been used about Jesus and Yahya to show that both these Prophets succeeded in their missions, and a person who succeeds in his mission and whose work is carried on after his death and who is remembered with love and respect cannot be said to have suffered death or to have been deprived of "peace". Jesus has left behind him a large community of followers and Yahya’s name is remembered with love and respect. Thus both Jesus and Yahya died a blessed death and enjoy everlasting peace.

The words, peace was on me the day I was born may also be understood as containing a hint that the birth of Jesus was out of the ordinary. These words have also been used about Yahya in verse 16 above because his birth, too, took place in extraordinary circumstances. He was born when his father had reached an extremely old age and his mother was barren.

The expression, the day I shall be raised up to life again, may also imply: "The day when I shall be raised again in the form of another Prophet who will testify to my truth." The implied reference may be to the Holy Prophet who bore witness to the truth of Jesus.

Commentary:

Perhaps there is no individual of any prominence in religious history about whom so many and so far-reaching differences exist as about Jesus, the son of Mary. The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims all hold widely different views about Jesus’ birth, the manner of his death, and about the account of his life. The Jews believe that he was born out of legal wedlock and therefore his birth was illegitimate. He was a false Prophet and therefore deservedly met an accursed death on the cross. The Christians hold that Jesus’ mother became conceived of the Holy Ghost, therefore he was the son of God. He persuaded himself to be put on the cross and by his death he atoned for the sins of all humanity. He remained dead for three days and then rose up to heaven. He is a part of the Holy Trinity and yet is God Himself. Orthodox Muslims believe that he was miraculously born without the instrumentality of a father as the result of a special Divine decree. He was an Israelite Prophet. The Jews tried to crucify him but instead succeeded only in crucifying another person who by God’s special decree was made to look like Jesus and Jesus bodily went up to heaven where he is sitting by the right hand of God and will someday descend from heaven to win for Muslims the kingdom of the whole world. The so-called modernists among Muslims think that he was the son of Joseph the carpenter, and died a natural death, and so there was nothing miraculous or unusual about his birth, death or his life. He was only an Israelite Prophet. The orthodox Ahmadis, however, believe that his birth took place without the agency of a father as the result of a special Divine decree, and that this unusual form of birth constituted a rebuke and a warning to the Israelites that on account of their persistent rejection of truth and God’s Messengers, and their immoral practices the whole Israelite nation had been rendered quite unfit to give birth to a Prophet of God and therefore prophethood, in accordance with God’s covenant with Abraham, was transferred from the House of Israel to that of Ishmael (see Introduction to this Surah). They further believe that Jesus was hung on the cross by the Jews but did not die there and was taken down from it alive and for three days remained in a tomb hewn out of a rock and then travelled to Kashmir to preach his Message to the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. He lived up to the ripe old age of 120 years, died a natural death and lies buried in Khanyar street in Srinagar, Kashmir. In fact, the existence of so many and so serious differences about Jesus implies a rebuke to Christians that there is nothing certain about their god.

The expression "son of Mary" (ابن مریم) is Jesus’ distinctive name. Whereas on the one hand it seems to point to his fatherless birth, on the other it confers on him a name which is incapable of being confused with that of anybody else. The Gospels have also used for Jesus the epithet ابن آدم (son of man) but this epithet has been used in the Bible for other persons also. So ابن مریم (son of Mary) is at once a distinctive and descriptive name of Jesus.

10:69; 17:112; 18:5; 19:89; 21:27; 25:3; 39:5.

Important Words:

ماکان للّٰه (It does not befit the Majesty of Allah). They say ماکان له i.e. (1) it does not befit him; behove him; it is inconsistent with his dignity; it is not proper for him; (2) it is beyond his power to do so. In the present verse ماکان للّٰه means, it is inconsistent with the Majesty of Allah or it does not befit His Holiness (Aqrab, Lane & Mufradat). See also 2:35.

Commentary:

The words ان یتخذ من ولد express two senses (a) that He should have a son; and (b) that He should adopt someone as His son. When it is inconsistent with God’s Majesty to adopt someone as His son, it is all the more repugnant to His Holiness and Glory to have a real son. These words repudiate the Christian belief, namely (i) that God has adopted Jesus as His son or (ii) that Jesus is God’s son.

Christians believe that Jesus was God’s son. The onus for proving such a manifestly absurd belief lies on them. They base this belief on the assumption that the Bible calls him the son of God. But in the Bible other persons have also been called or addressed as sons of God. Jesus enjoys no special prerogative in this respect and is therefore no more a son of God than those persons who have also been addressed as such.

The Bible says:

(a) "Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God" (Luke 20: 36);

(b) "For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jer. 31:9);

(c) "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name" (Matt. 6:9);

(d) "For if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matt. 6:14);

(e) "That your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11: 25);

(f) "Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" (Luke 12: 30);

(g) "We have one Father, even God" (John 8: 41);

(h) "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephes. 4:6);

(i) "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn" (Exod. 4:22).

The Bible rather supports the Quranic statement, viz.it does not befit the Majesty of Allah to take unto Himself a son.He is the One Lord, God, Who has, or needs, no son.

It says:

(a) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4);

(b) "I am the Lord, that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images" (Isa. 42:8);

(c) "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12: 29);

(d) "To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty" (Jude 1: 25);

(e) "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory forever and ever" (I Timothy 1: 17).

The verse under comment gives three reasons why God does not stand in need of a son:(1) if God were supposed to have a son, He must be subject to carnal desires and must have a wife to satisfy them; (2) He must be subject to decay and death because the procreation of species which the attribution of a son to God implies, is the characteristic of mortals; and (3) He must require a helper to assist Him in His work or to continue his work after His death. But God as represented by Islam is completely free from all these defects and therefore needs no son. In fact, the Christian dogma of sonship of Jesus is an insoluble riddle and beyond human comprehension. If Jesus is God’s son, then God will have to be admitted as incapable of carrying on the affairs of the universe alone and unaided, and therefore will have to be accepted as imperfect and defective. But because God is Perfect and All-Powerful, therefore He needs no son and no helper. Again, according to the Christian dogma each of the three deities, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, being perfect can and should carry on the work of the universe unaided and yet these three combine to do the thing which each one is able to accomplish by himself. This is absurd.

Those who are ignorant of Arabic language pretend to find in the word کن (be) a ground for their belief in the eternity and indestructibility of matter and soul. They argue in this way. This word shows that there had already existed something to which the order کن (be) was given. But in the Arabic language this word, besides being addressed to a thing, is also used to express a greatly felt desire. In an expedition the Holy Prophet’s very brave and loyal companion, Abu Khaithamah happened to be absent. The Prophet keenly felt his absence. When in the midst of the battle he saw from a great distance a rider coming to him at full speed he exclaimed کن ابا خیثمة i.e. would that it were Abu Khaithamah; and lo! it was really Abu Khaithamah (Halbiyyah). So an Arab would use the word کن when he would passionately desire a thing to happen.

According to this sense of کن the expression کن فیکون would mean that when God desires or intends that a thing should be, it comes into being or that when God expresses a desire it takes a concrete form. The words lend no support to the view that soul and matter are primeval or eternal. See also 2:117-118.

3:52; 5:73; 43:65.

14:3; 38:28; 51:61.

Important Words:

الاحزاب (parties) is the plural of حزب which means, a party or group of men; a party of men who agree in their ideas and actions (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse means to say that in spite of the fact that the followers of Jesus followed one Book, held the same basic beliefs and their religious practices were almost the same, they differed among themselves. Some of them said that Mary was an ordinary woman who gave birth to the son of God, others believed that she was God’s wife and was therefore "Divine". Yet some others among them believed that Jesus was only a man and a Prophet of God. He had, like other Prophets, manifested in himself some Divine attributes, and there were others who said that he was God Incarnate. Some others believed in three separate Divine persons i.e. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, each of them being perfect God; others said that they are only three manifestations of the One God i.e. in one capacity God is Father, in another capacity He is Son and in the third capacity He is the Holy Ghost.

So the followers of Jesus, in spite of believing in the same Book and possessing the same basic doctrines and principles of religion, became split up into many sects.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that the faculties of seeing and hearing of disbelievers will become much more keener and sharper on the Day of Judgement, because the veil will be lifted from their eyes and ears and they will realize that they were in the wrong; but that realization being too late will prove to be of no use to them.

2:168; 6:32; 39:57.

Commentary:

The words اذ قضی الامر means, (1) when the decree of God will be announced; (2) when decision will be made according to truth and justice.

The expression وھم لا یؤمنون in addition to the meaning given in the text may also signify that though on the Day of Decision the realization will dawn on disbelievers that they were in the wrong, yet having become accustomed to untruth and disbelief, they will not become reconciled to it and their hearts will continue to suffer from the rust, and they will continue to wander in the wilderness, of disbelief and consequently will suffer Divine punishment.

15:24; 28:59.

Commentary:

As the Surah deals with the false Christian beliefs and the rise, progress and prosperity of Christian nations, and with the ultimate destruction of their material might and power the word الارض (the earth) here signifies the vast parts of the world over which they will hold sway; and the expression من علیھا (who are thereon) points to the large numbers of Christian people who at that time will be inhabiting the earth and dominating it.

The verse embodies two prophecies: (a) the Christians will first come to rule over almost the whole earth, and will be dominating it by their large numbers, and (b) then as a result of their disbelief they will be deprived of their world dominion which will ultimately be given to the followers of Islam. It points to the present great material power and grandeur of Christian nations and their subsequent destruction and to the ultimate spread and triumph of Islam. The words, And to Us will they all be returned, signify that Western Christian nations will ultimately accept Islam.