the Book in truth so that it might judge between people concerning the matters over which they differed. None differed about it except those who had been given it, after the clear proofs had come to them, out of mutual envy among themselves. Then, by His permission, Allah guided those who believed to the truth of that over which they had differed, and Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path. ⦗2:213⦘

We have already quoted what Saʿīd ibn al-Biṭrīq related about them: a senior patriarch of theirs would come to a church that had originally been built for an idol worshipped by the polytheists. He would scheme until he persuaded them to worship, in place of the idol, another created being of higher rank—such as an angel or a prophet. Thus, in Alexandria the pagans had a sanctuary containing an idol named “Mikāʾīl.” The Christians turned it into a church called “Michael the Angel,” and they began to worship the angel after having worshipped the idol and slaughtered animals for it.

This merely shifted them from committing shirk by worshipping one creature to shirk by worshipping another creature of higher status. Those earlier people used to erect temples and place in them idols named after the heavenly bodies—such as the Sun, Venus, and the like. The innovators among the Christians then moved them on to the worship of certain angels or of certain prophets.

For this reason the Exalted said:
“It is not for any human being to whom Allah has given the Book, judgment, and prophethood to say to the people, ‘Be servants to me instead of Allah,’ but rather, ‘Be people of the Lord because of what you teach of the Book and what you study.’ Nor would he order you to take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he command you to disbelief after you have submitted?” ⦗3:79-80⦘