⦗57–65⦘ “When the son of Mary was cited as an example, your people immediately raised an uproar over it. They said, ‘Are our gods better, or is he?’ They cited him to you only for the sake of argument. Indeed, they are a contentious people. He was only a servant whom We favored and made an example for the Children of Israel. Had We willed, We could have replaced you with angels succeeding one another on earth.”
Allah Most High says: “When the son of Mary was cited as an example”—that is, his worship was forbidden, and worshiping him was placed on the same footing as worshiping idols and false gods—“your people,” who deny you, “immediately raised an uproar over it.” That is, because of this example, they persisted obstinately in disputing with you, shouting and claiming that they had won the argument and prevailed.
“They said, ‘Are our gods better, or is he?’” meaning Jesus, since the worship of them all had been forbidden and they were treated alike in the warning directed against those who worshiped them. The following statement of Allah Most High had also been revealed: “Indeed, you and whatever you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell; you will enter it.”
Their unjust argument was as follows: “It is established in our understanding and yours, O Muhammad, that Jesus is one of Allah’s servants brought near to Him, for whom there is a good end. Why, then, did you equate him with these idols by forbidding the worship of them all? Were your argument not false, it would not contradict itself.
“Why did you say, ‘Indeed, you and whatever you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell; you will enter it’? According to them, this wording includes both the idols and Jesus. Is this not a contradiction? And a self-contradictory argument is necessarily false.” This is the fullest formulation by which they substantiate this specious argument [which] (1) delighted and elated them; they then began raising an uproar and congratulating one another.
Yet, praise be to Allah, it is among the weakest and most baseless of specious arguments. Allah placed the prohibition against worshiping the Messiah on the same footing as the prohibition against worshiping idols because worship is the exclusive right of Allah Most High. No created being deserves it—not the angels brought near to Him, nor the messengers He sent, nor any other created being. What possible objection, then, can there be to treating the prohibition against worshiping Jesus in the same way as the prohibition against worshiping anyone else?
The superiority of Jesus, peace be upon him, and his nearness to his Lord do not establish any distinction between him and the idols in this matter. Rather, he is as Allah Most High said: “He was only a servant whom We favored” with prophethood, wisdom, knowledge, and righteous deeds, “and made an example for the Children of Israel,” through whom they would recognize Allah Most High’s power to bring him into being without a father.
As for the statement of Allah Most High, “Indeed, you and whatever you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell; you will enter it,” it may be answered in three ways:
First, in the words “you and whatever you worship besides Allah,” the word mā denotes non-rational beings and therefore does not include the Messiah or anyone like him.
Second, the words are addressed to the polytheists of Mecca and its surroundings, who worshiped only idols and images, not the Messiah.
Third, after this verse Allah said: “Indeed, those for whom the best reward has already been decreed by Us will be kept far away from it.” There is no doubt that Jesus, the other prophets, and Allah’s righteous servants are included in this verse.
Allah Most High then said: “Had We willed, We could have replaced you with angels succeeding one another on earth.” That is, We could have replaced you with angels who would succeed you and dwell on earth, and We would then send them messengers who were angels like themselves. As for you human beings, you could not bear having angels sent to you. It was therefore out of Allah’s mercy toward you that He sent you messengers of your own kind, from whom you are able to receive the message.