(91–94) “And remember the woman who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her through Our Spirit and made her and her son a sign for all peoples. * Indeed, this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me. * Yet they divided their affair among themselves; all shall return to Us. * So whoever does righteous deeds while he is a believer—his efforts will not be disregarded, and We are surely recording them for him.”
That is: Remember Mary—peace be upon her—praising her, making known her rank, and proclaiming her honor. He said: “the woman who guarded her chastity.” That is, she protected herself from what was unlawful and from even approaching it. Indeed, she refrained even from lawful relations, for she did not marry because she was occupied with worship and devoted all her time to serving her Lord.
When Gabriel came to her in the form of a well-proportioned human being, perfect in form and beauty, she said, “I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you are God-fearing.” Allah therefore rewarded her in kind and granted her a child without a father. Rather, Gabriel—peace be upon him—breathed into her, and she conceived by Allah’s permission.
“And We made her and her son a sign for all peoples”: she conceived him and gave birth to him without anyone having touched her; he spoke in the cradle, cleared her of the suspicions harbored by her accusers, and spoke about himself while still in that state; and Allah brought about through him the well-known extraordinary events and miracles. Thus she and her son were a sign for all peoples, spoken of generation after generation and a lesson for those who take heed.
After mentioning the prophets—peace be upon them—He addressed all people, saying: “Indeed, this community of yours is one community.” That is, these messengers just mentioned are your community and your leaders, whom you follow and whose guidance you emulate. They all adhere to one religion and one path, and their Lord is also one.
For this reason, He said: “And I am your Lord”—the One who created you and nurtured you through My blessings in religion and worldly life. Since the Lord is one, the Prophet is one, and the religion is one—namely, worshipping Allah alone, without partner, through every form of worship—it is your task and duty to uphold that worship. For this reason, He said: “so worship Me.” By using fa (“so”), He linked worship to what preceded it as an effect is linked to its cause.
What was fitting was that they unite upon this matter and not divide over it. But rebellion and transgression would allow nothing except division and fragmentation. For this reason, He said: “Yet they divided their affair among themselves.” That is, the factions claiming to follow the prophets split into sects and scattered. Each claimed that the truth was with it and falsehood with the other faction: “Each faction rejoices in what it has.”
It is well known that those among them who are right are those who follow the upright religion and the straight path, taking the prophets as their guides. This will become manifest when the veil is lifted, obscurity disappears, and Allah gathers mankind for decisive judgment. The truthful will then be distinguished from the liar. Hence He said: “All”—all the divided sects and everyone else—“shall return to Us,” meaning that We will recompense them in full.
He then explained in detail how He will recompense them, both explicitly and by implication. He said: “So whoever does righteous deeds”—that is, the deeds legislated by the messengers and encouraged by the scriptures—“while he is a believer” in Allah, His messengers, and what they brought, “his efforts will not be disregarded.” That is, We will neither let his efforts go to waste nor nullify them; rather, We will multiply their reward many times over.
“And We are surely recording them for him.” That is, preserving them for him in the Preserved Tablet and in the scrolls ⦗531⦘ held by the recording angels. Meaning: whoever performs no righteous deeds, or performs them without being a believer, is deprived and has lost both his religion and his worldly life.