The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 363
PT. 6 AL-MĀ'IDAH CH. 5 قُلْ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ Say, will you worship. 77 لَكُمْ ضَرًّا وَّلَا نَفْعًا وَاللهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ ?power to do you harm or good الْعَلِيمُ beside Allah that which has no And it is Allah Who is All- Hearing, All-Knowing. 707 قُلْ يَاهْلَ الْكِتَبِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمُ Say, "O People of the. 78 غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا أَهْوَاءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ Book, exceed not the limits in the matter of your religion derived from "6:72; 10:107; 21:67; 22:13. b4:172. (afaka). They say i. e. he changed his or its state or condition or manner of being; he turned him or it away or back from a thing; he turned him away or back by lying; he changed or perverted his judgement or opinion; or he deceived or beguiled him. They say of i. e. the man was turned away or turned back from good by deceit or guile. (afaka) or (affaka) also means, he told a lie or uttered a falsehood which, in essence, is the same as changing the state of a thing (Lane). Commentary: The verse advances a number of arguments against the alleged divinity of Jesus. Firstly, it points out that Jesus was no better than other Messengers of God in any way. He enjoyed no higher status. He showed no miracles the like of which were not shown by other Prophets. In fact, the greatest miracle ascribed to him by his followers is that of the alleged raising of the dead. But the Bible ascribes similar miracles to other Prophets also (see 2 Kings 4:16-35; 13:21). 803 The second argument mentioned by the verse against his alleged divinity is that he was born of a woman. Being born of a human being, he could not be divine. Moreover, a child is known to inherit some of the prominent traits of the physical and moral make-up of its parent. Jesus, being born of a woman must have inherited her nature and her qualities and so he could not be God. Again, being human, he was, like other human beings, subject to the natural laws of hunger and of satisfying it by taking food and he was subject also to the natural phenomena that ensue. By describing the mother of Jesus as "a truthful woman", the Quran has refuted the Jewish incidentally allegations concerning the birth of Jesus. 707. Commentary: Jesus, who is looked upon as God, had no power to do either harm or good to any person. He could not, rather cannot, hear prayers nor does he know the needs of men that he may satisfy them; for it is Allah alone Who is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.