“To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever lies between them; He creates what He wills, and Allah is capable of all things.” (al-Māʾidah 17)

In this way the Almighty lays bare their unbelief and ignorance, while affirming that He alone is the Creator, fully able over everything, disposing of every affair, the Lord, Master, and God of all things.

Later in the same Sūrah He says:

“Those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved. The Messiah said, ‘Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Whoever associates anything with Allah, Allah has indeed forbidden him Paradise, and his abode will be the Fire. The wrongdoers will have no helpers.’ (5:72)

“Those who say, ‘Allah is one of three,’ have certainly disbelieved. There is no god whatsoever except One God. If they do not desist from what they say, a painful punishment will befall those among them who disbelieve. (5:73)

“Will they not then repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? Allah is All-forgiving, Ever-merciful. (5:74)

“The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They both used to eat food. Look how We make the signs clear to them, then look how they are deluded.” (5:75)

Thus Allah has decreed their disbelief, both legislatively and providentially. He tells us that such claims issued from them even though the messenger sent to them—Jesus son of Mary—had clearly shown them that he was a servant who is owned and created, fashioned in the womb, and that he called to the worship of Allah alone with no partner. He threatened them, if they opposed this, with the Fire, with loss of the everlasting abode, and with disgrace and humiliation in the Hereafter. Hence His words: “Whoever associates partners with Allah, Allah has indeed forbidden him Paradise, and his abode will be the Fire; the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.”

He, glorified be He, also said: “Those who say, ‘Allah is the third of three,’ have certainly disbelieved. There is no god except One God.” Ibn Jarīr and others explained that this refers to their doctrine of the three hypostases: the Hypostasis of the Father, the Hypostasis of the Son, and the Hypostasis of the Word that proceeds from the Father to the Son—despite the disputes among the Melkites, Jacobites, and Nestorians, upon whom be Allah’s curses. We shall explain their differences and the three councils they convened in the time of Constantine son of Constantius, three hundred years after the Messiah and three hundred years before the mission of Muhammad.

Hence Allah says: “There is no god except One God,” meaning that there is no deity but Allah alone—without partner, equal, peer, consort, or child. He then warned and threatened them: “If they do not desist from what they say, a painful punishment will surely befall those among them who disbelieve.” Afterwards, in His mercy and kindness, He invited them to repent and seek forgiveness for these grave enormities that lead to the Fire: “Will they not then repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? Allah is All-forgiving, Ever-merciful.”

He next described the condition of the Messiah and his mother, stating that he is a servant and a messenger and that “his mother was a woman of truth,” meaning she was not unchaste as the Jews—may Allah curse them—assert. This also indicates that she was not a prophetess, contrary to what some of our scholars have claimed. The words, “They both used to eat food,” allude to what inevitably issues from them as it does from others; anyone in such a state—how could he be a deity? Exalted is Allah far above what they say and the ignorance they reveal.

And he said