ʿAbd al-Masīḥ said:
“O people of the Gospel, you surely know that Muḥammad is a prophet sent (by God), and that he has brought you the decisive word concerning your own figure. You also know that no people have ever entered into mutual imprecation against a prophet and survived: their elders perish and their young fail to grow. Should you proceed, it will utterly eradicate you. Therefore, if you insist on remaining attached to your religion and on persisting in what you say about your master, then make a pact of peace with the man and return to your lands.”
They requested this of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), asking him to levy the jizyah upon them and to send with them a trustworthy man; so he dispatched Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah. We have already explained this under the commentary on Āl ʿImrān (1), and the full account will appear in the Prophetic biography (2), God willing—in Him we place our trust.
The point is that once Allah, Exalted is He, had clarified the matter of the Messiah, He said to His Messenger:
“That is Jesus, son of Mary—the word of truth about which they dispute,”
meaning that he is a created servant, born of a woman who herself is one of Allah’s servants. Hence His words:
“It is not befitting for Allah to take a son; glorified is He! When He decrees a matter He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is,”
that is, nothing incapacitates Him, distresses Him, or burdens Him. Rather, He is the All-Powerful, who does whatever He wills: “His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”
His statement,
“Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path,”
completes Jesus’ speech to them while he was still in the cradle: he told them that Allah is his Lord and theirs, his God and theirs, and that this is the straight path.
Allah, Exalted, then says:
“But the factions differed among themselves; so woe to the disbelievers from the witnessing of a tremendous Day.”
Thus the people of that time—and those after them—differed over him. Some of the Jews said, “He is the son of adultery,” and persisted in their disbelief and stubbornness. Others, at the opposite extreme, said, “He is Allah.” Others said, “He is the son of Allah.”
The believers said, “He is Allah’s servant and Messenger, the son of His bond-woman, and His word which He cast to Mary, and a spirit from Him.” These are the saved, rewarded, supported, and aided; whoever departs from them in any of these particulars is a disbelieving, misguided ignoramus. The Most High, the All-Great, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing has threatened such people with His words: “So woe to those who disbelieve from the witnessing of a tremendous Day.”
Al-Bukhārī narrated: Ṣadaqah ibn al-Faḍl related to us, al-Walīd related to us, al-Awzāʿī related to us, who said: ʿUmayr ibn Hāniʾ related to me, who said: Junādah ibn Abī Umayya related to me, from ʿUbādah ibn aṣ-Ṣāmit, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:
“Whoever bears witness that there is no deity but Allah, alone without partner, that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger, and that Jesus is Allah’s servant and Messenger and His word which He delivered to…"