Surah al-Zukhruf

He also said:

Section

His words:

“And when one of them is given news of what he has ascribed to the Most Merciful as a likeness, his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed grief,”

resemble His words:

“And when the son of Mary is put forward as an example, your people immediately cry out in derision. They say, ‘Are our gods better, or he?’ They put him forward to you only for the sake of argument. Rather, they are a contentious people.”

It therefore seems—and Allah knows best—that putting forward a likeness refers to their making the Messiah His son and the angels His daughters. A child resembles its father, so they made him a likeness and counterpart to Allah. Alternatively, the meaning concerning the Messiah may be that he is an example comparable to their gods, since he was worshipped besides Allah.

On the first interpretation, those who put him forward as a likeness are comparable to those who ascribe a likeness to the Most Merciful: the Christians and the polytheists. On the second, the one who put him forward as an example was the one who invoked him to challenge His words:

“Indeed, you and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell.”

Thus, when Ibn al-Zibaʿrā said, “I will surely defeat Muhammad in argument,” and challenged him with the case of the Messiah, using it to dispute his statement, he had put him forward as an example, drawing an analogy between their gods and him. This interpretation is supported by His words:

“They put him forward to you only for the sake of argument.”

It is therefore clear that they are the ones who