They said: “We desire to partake of it that our hearts be satisfied and we know that you did speak the truth to us, and that we are its witnesses.” (114) Jesus, son of Mary, then prayed: “O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a repast from the heavens that shall be a festival for the first of us and for the last of us and a Sign from You. And provide us with sustenance for You are the Best Provider of sustenance.” ▶
56 Since the disciples have been mentioned here, the continuity of the subject is interrupted for a moment in order to introduce another incident connected with the disciples. This clearly shows that Jesus’ direct disciples considered him merely a human being and a servant of God; they did not entertain any notion that their master was either God or God’s partner or son. Jesus, too, had presented himself to them as a servant of God and made no claim to having Divine status or authority.
253
Al-Ma’idah 5: 115–17
(115) Allah said: “I shall indeed send it down to you; then I shall afflict whoever among you disbelieves with a chasti- sement wherewith I will afflict none (else) in the world.” (116) And imagine when thereafter Allah will say: “Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to people: ‘Take me and my mother for gods beside Allah?’,57 and he will answer: “Glory to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to. Had I said so, You would surely have known it. You know all what is within my mind whereas I do not know what is within Yours. You, indeed You, fully know all that is beyond the reach of perception. (117) I said to them nothing except what You commanded me, that is: “Serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord. ▶
57 The Christians were not content merely with deifying Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They even turned Mary, the mother of Jesus, into a full-fledged object of worship. The Bible does not contain even the remotest suggestion that Mary was in any way either divine or superhuman. During the first three centuries after the Messiah, such a concept was totally alien to Christian thinking. Towards the end of the third century of the Christian era, however, some theologians of Alexandria employed, for the first time, the expression “Mother of God” in connection with Mary. Subsequently, belief in Mary’s Divinity and the practice of Mariolatry spread among Christians.
254
Al-Ma’idah 5: 118–20
I watched over them as long as I remained among them; and when You did recall me, then You Yourself became the Watcher over them. Indeed, You are witness over everything. (118) If You chastise them, they are Your servants; and if You forgive them, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise,” (119) Thereupon Allah will say: “This day truthfulness shall profit the truthful. For them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow. There they will abide for ever. Allah is well-pleased with them, and they well-pleased with Allah. That indeed is the mighty triumph.”
(120) To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them and He has full power over everything.
255
Al-An[am 6: 1–3
(Livestock)
(Makkan Period)
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
(1) All praise is due for Allah alone, Who created the heavens and the earth, and brought into being light and darkness, and yet those who have rejected the call of the Truth ascribe others to be equals to their Lord. (2) He it is Who has created you out of clay, and then decreed a term (of life), and has also appointed another term, a term determined with Him.1 Yet you are in doubt! (3) And He it is Who is the One True God in the heavens and the earth. He knows your deeds – both secret and open – and knows fully whatever good or evil you do.
1 This alludes to the Hour of Judgement when all human beings, regardless of the time in which they lived, will be brought back to life and summoned to render their account before their Lord.
256
Al-An[am 6: 4–7
(4) Yet every time a Sign of their Lord comes to them, they run away from it, (5) and thus they gave the lie to the Truth that has now come to them. Soon they will come upon some news concerning what they had mocked at.2 (6) Have they not seen how many a people We have destroyed before them? People whom We had made more powerful in the earth than you are and upon whom We had showered abundant rains, from the heavens and at whose feet We caused the rivers to flow? And then (when they behaved ungratefully) We destroyed them for their sins, and raised other peoples in their place.
(7) (O Messenger), had We sent down to you a book in- scribed on parchment, and had they even touched it with their own hands, the unbelievers would still have said: “This is nothing but plain magic.” ▶
2 The allusion here is to the Migration (Hijrah) and the numerous victories destined to follow it in quick succession. When this allusion was made, the unbelievers could not have guessed what kind of news they would receive, and even the Muslims could not have imagined the developments that were about to unfold.
257
Al-An[am 6: 8–12
(8) They also say: “Why has no angel been sent down to this Prophet?”3 Had We sent down an angel, the matter would surely have long been decided and no respite would have been granted them. (9) Had We appointed an angel, We would have sent him down in the form of a man – and thus We would have caused them the same doubt which they now entertain.
(10) And indeed before your time, (O Muhammad), many a Messenger has been scoffed at; but those who mocked at them were encompassed by the Truth they had scoffed at. (11) Say: “Go about journeying the earth, and behold the end of those who gave the lie (to the Truth).”
