The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 5
renaissance of Islam through the Promised Messiah would also take place largely on the lines on which the birth, rise and spread of Christianity had taken place. The present Surah thus constitutes a third link in the chain in which Surahs Bani Isra'il and Kahf form respectively the first and second links. In fact, these three Surahs deal with the same subject and follow the same pattern in dealing with that subject. The concluding connection between Surah Kahf and the present Surah is that whereas towards the end of Surah Kahf great emphasis was laid on the Shari'ah and Divine Unity, the present Surah opens with the subject of Jesus' birth and other relevant and important incidents in his life because Jesus' birth and his death were to give rise to two very dangerous misconceptions regarding the Shari'ah and Divine Unity and it was necessary to remove these two misconceptions. Subject Matter In the abbreviated letters at the head of the Surah a comparison has been instituted between Christian and Islamic doctrines and attention has been drawn to the fact that while originally Christianity was a divine religion, later on some false doctrines and dogmas found their way into its teaching. As these doctrines run counter to Divine attributes, a brief account of Jesus' birth has been given to refute them. This account is preceded by a brief mention of Prophet Zachariah, because according to Biblical prophecies Prophet Elijah I was to have descended from heaven "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5); and Jesus on being asked by the Jews about Elijah who was to have appeared before him answered that he was John who had come in his power and spirit (Matt. 11:14,15;17:12; Mark 9:13), and that Elijah was not to have come from heaven but like all mortals was to have been born of an earthly mother in the form of another man who was John (Matt. 11:11; Luke 7:28). While giving an account of Jesus, the Quran proceeds to describe the manner of his birth before beginning to deal with his claims and his teachings, because with the unusual birth of Jesus without the agency of a human father the foundations were laid of the transfer of prophethood from the House of Israel to that of Ishmael. The details of the implied significance of this exceptional manner of birth are briefly as follows: 1919