(6–9) “And remember when Jesus, son of Mary, said, ‘O Children of Israel, I am Allah’s messenger to you, confirming the Torah that came before me and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmad.’ Yet when he came to them with clear proofs, they said, ‘This is manifest magic.’ * Who is more unjust than one who fabricates lies against Allah while being called to Islam? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. * They seek to extinguish Allah’s light with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it. * He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over every religion, even though the polytheists hate it.”
The Most High informs us of the obstinacy of the earlier Children of Israel, whom Jesus, son of Mary, called, saying to them: “O Children of Israel, I am Allah’s messenger to you.” That is: Allah sent me to call you to goodness and forbid you from evil, [and He supported me with manifest proofs]. Among the things demonstrating my truthfulness is that I am “confirming the Torah that came before me.” That is: I have brought what Moses brought of the Torah and divinely revealed laws. Had I falsely claimed prophethood, I would have brought something contrary to what the messengers brought. I also confirmed the Torah that came before me in that it had spoken of me and given glad tidings of me, so my coming and being sent fulfilled its words. “And giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmad.” He is Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Hāshimite Prophet.
Thus Jesus—peace be upon him—like the prophets (1), confirmed the prophet who preceded him and gave glad tidings of the prophet who would follow him. Liars, by contrast, contradict the prophets in the most extreme manner and differ from them in their qualities, character, commands, and prohibitions. “Yet when he came to them”—that is, when Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whose coming Jesus had foretold, came to them—“with clear proofs,” meaning evident proofs demonstrating that he was indeed the one foretold and that he was [truly] Allah’s Messenger,
“they said,” obstinately opposing and denying the truth, “This is manifest magic.” This is among the most astonishing of all things: a messenger whose messengership had [indeed] become clear—clearer than the midday sun—was declared to be a magician whose magic was manifest! Can there be any abandonment to error greater than this? Can any fabrication be greater (2) than this fabrication, which denied him the messengership known to be his and attributed to him that from which he was the furthest of all people?
“Who is more unjust than one who fabricates lies against Allah” in this and other matters, when he has no excuse and his argument has been cut off, for “he is being called to Islam,” whose proofs and clear evidences are explained to him? “And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people”: those who remain unwavering in their wrongdoing, from which no admonition turns them back and no explanation or proof deters them. This applies especially to those wrongdoers who confront the truth in order to reject it and support falsehood. Allah therefore says of them: “They seek to extinguish Allah’s light with their mouths”—that is, through the corrupt statements they utter in an attempt to refute the truth. Yet these statements (3) have no basis in reality; rather, they only increase the discerning person’s awareness of the falsehood they follow. “But Allah will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it.” That is, Allah has guaranteed that He will grant victory to His religion, perfect the truth with which He sent His messengers, and spread (4) His light throughout every region. Even if the disbelievers hate it and, driven by their hatred, employ every means they can use (5) to extinguish Allah’s light, they will be defeated.
They have become like someone who blows with his mouth at the orb ⦗860⦘ of the sun (6), trying to extinguish it. They neither attain their aim nor spare their minds from being deemed deficient and flawed.
He then mentions the cause of the Islamic religion’s ascendancy and victory, both tangible and spiritual, saying: “He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth”—that is, with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds:
knowledge that guides to Allah and to His abode of honor, guides to the finest deeds and character, and guides to what brings well-being in this world and the Hereafter.
“And the religion of truth” means the religion to be professed and through which the Lord of the worlds is worshiped. It is true and genuine, with no deficiency or flaw affecting it. Rather, its commands nourish hearts and souls and bring comfort to bodies, while abstaining from what it prohibits provides safety from evil and corruption (7). Thus, the guidance and religion of truth with which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent constitute the greatest evidence and proof of his truthfulness. This proof will endure for as long as the world remains: the more a rational person reflects upon it, the more joy and insight it brings him.
“To make it prevail over every religion” means to raise it above all other religions through proofs and evidence, and to grant its adherents who uphold it victory by sword and spear. As for the religion itself, this quality remains inherent in it at all times. No one can attempt to vanquish or dispute it without it defeating him and leaving him speechless; thus, it retains ascendancy and dominance. As for those who profess to follow it, if they uphold it, are illuminated by its light, and follow its guidance in the affairs of both their religion and worldly life, then likewise no one can stand against them, and they will inevitably prevail over the adherents of other religions. But if they neglect it and content themselves with merely claiming affiliation with it, that will not benefit them. Their neglect of it will instead become the cause of their enemies gaining power over them. This is known to anyone who surveys the course of events and considers the earlier and later generations of Muslims.