in their own right. Thus, what they say is shown to be untenable in every respect.

Fifth:

It may be said: Scholars and ordinary people alike know that what distinguished the Messiah was that he was created without a father. Since he had no human father, the Christians made the Lord his father. This was the argument the Christians of Najrān used when debating the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They said, “If he is not the Son of Allah, then tell us: who is his father?” It is therefore clear that the Christians claimed literal sonship for him. The statements quoted from their scholars are merely their reinterpretation of the doctrine to remove an enormity that no rational person would countenance. Otherwise, there is no intelligible basis for calling him the Son of Allah that applies uniquely to him. It is thus clear that the Christians made him the Son of Allah, holding that Allah made Mary pregnant and that Allah is his father. That could only occur by depositing a part of Himself within her, whereas He—glorified be He—is the Self-Sufficient. Their claim also entails that Mary is His consort and wife. This is why they worship her as a deity, as Allah has related concerning them.

Whatever other meaning they assign to Jesus’ sonship would neither distinguish Jesus from anyone else nor amount to sonship. Rather, they have spoken like some Arab polytheists, who said that He married into the jinn and that they bore Him the angels. If they say that He took him as a son by choosing him, then this is the action-based sense; its refutation will follow, if Allah Most High wills.

As for His words, Most High:

“And a spirit from Him,”

these do not mean that a part of Allah came to be within Jesus. Rather, min (“from”) indicates the point of origin, as He says: “And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens