Surah Maryam

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

Section

“Surah Maryam”

Its central theme is the realization of worship devoted to Allah alone, and the affirmation that the elect of creation are His servants. Every honor and lofty rank lies in this relationship to Him. It also refutes those who exaggerate this relationship to Allah, going so far as to attribute Jesus to Him as His offspring, and those who err concerning the reality of servitude and the honor it entails, denying the blessings Allah has bestowed upon His chosen servants.

He opens it with His words:

“An account of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zechariah.”

It recounts his calling upon his Lord in a quiet voice and Allah’s gift of John to him, followed by the account of Mary and her son, and his words:

“Indeed, I am a servant of Allah,”

and so forth. In this account, He sets out a refutation both of those who go to extremes concerning the Messiah and of those who disparage him, denying the blessings Allah bestowed upon him. He then commands His Prophet to recount Abraham, his call to worship Allah alone, his forbidding his father to worship Satan, and Allah’s bestowal