The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 712
CH. 9 AT-TAUBAH PT. 10 اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا their مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا إِلَهَا وَاحِدًا ۚ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ سُبْحَنَهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُوْنَ. 31. They have taken learned men and their monks for lords beside Allah. And so have they taken the Messiah, son of Mary. And "they were not commanded but to worship the One God. There is no God but He. Too Holy is He for what they associate with Him!1191 "12:41; 17:24; 98:6. with him. at means, he fought or Elsewhere the Quran says that the warred against him, at means, may God curse him; or may He drive him from His mercy (Lisān & Aqrab), The expression also means, may God make war against him, which cannot result except in such a one being destroyed (Mufradāt). See also 2:62. Commentary: After having dealt at some length with the idolatrous beliefs and practices of the pagans of Arabia, the Quran proceeds in this verse to deal with the polytheistic beliefs and practices of Jews and Christians. Those of the Jews who lived in Medina looked upon Ezra as the son of God. Similarly, a sect of Jews living at Hadramaut in the south of Arabia believed him to be the son of God. The remnants of this sect continued to linger till the end of the fourth century A. H. (Qasṭalānī & Dāwūd, Zāhirī). As this doctrine of the Jews, which appears to be sectional, was a later innovation and did not subsist long, present Jewish sources make no mention of it, but that does not affect the real situation. Israelites were rather free in attributing sons to God (5:19). pagan sources. This verse also shows that these blasphemous doctrines were not taught to Christians and Jews by their Prophets but were later borrowed by them from Incidentally, this claim of the Quran constitutes a proof of its Divine origin, because here it states a fact which was not known to the world even two centuries ago and has been only recently brought to light by modern research. A study of the origins of the Christian Faith has now established the fact that Jews and Christians borrowed their later doctrines from Babylonian and Roman pagan sources. The words, Allah's curse be on them, when spoken by man signify only an imprecation but, when spoken by God, they imply a prophecy of the destruction of the person or persons about whom they 1152 are uttered. 1191. Important Words: رهبان learned men) and) احبار For (monks) see 5:45 and 5:83 respectively.