the polytheists who said:

“Trade is only like usury,”

and those who compared carrion to properly slaughtered animals, saying, “Do you eat what you yourselves have killed, yet refuse to eat what Allah has killed?” They thus took the determining factor in the original case to be its having been killed by a human being. Another example is the analogy drawn by those who compared the Messiah to their idols, saying, “Since our gods will enter the Fire because they were worshipped besides Allah, the Messiah should likewise enter the Fire.” Allah Most High said:

“When the son of Mary was cited as an example, your people burst into laughter.”

“They said, ‘Are our gods better, or is he?’ They cited him to you only for argument’s sake. Indeed, they are a contentious people.”

This was the basis of Ibn al-Ziba'rā’s argument when Allah revealed:

“Indeed, you and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell. You will enter it.”

“Had these been gods, they would not have entered it. And all will remain there forever.”

The address here is to the polytheists, not the People of the Book. The polytheists did not worship the Messiah; they worshipped only idols. What is meant by His words, “what you worship,” is the idols. Thus, the verse did not include the Messiah, either in its wording or in its meaning.

Whoever claims that the verse is general and includes the Messiah, but that clarification of his exclusion was delayed, is mistaken. Had that been correct, the polytheists’ argument would have been valid. For anyone who addresses others in general terms encompassing both truth and falsehood, without clarifying his intent, leaves himself open to objection. Yet Allah Most High said:

“When the son of Mary was cited as an example.”

That is, they were the ones who cited him as an example, as He said:

“They cited him to you only for argument’s sake.”

That is, they made him an example with which to compare their gods, drew an analogy between their gods and him, and put him forward as a counterexample