"And among them there is indeed a group who twist their tongues in (reading) the Book, so that you may deem it to he from the Book, while it is not from the Book. And they say, 'It is from Allah", while it is not from Allah. And they tell lies about Allah knowingly. [78] It is not (possible) for a man that Allah gives him the Book, the wisdom and the prophethood, then he starts saying to the people "Be my worshippers aside from Allah" rather, (he would say), "Be men of the Lord; as you have been teaching the Book, and as you have been learning it." [79] Nor is it (possible for him) that he bids you to hold the angels and the prophets as Lords. Shall he bid you to disbelief, after your having become Muslims?"[80] (3:78-80)

Commentary

It was during the presence of the deputation from Najran that some Jews and Christians had said: 'O Muhammad, do you want us to worship you the way Christians worship Jesus, son of Mary?' He said: 'I seek refuge with Allah that we worship someone other than Allah or call on others to do so. Allah Almighty has not sent us to do that.' Thereupon, this verse was revealed.

The Infallibility Of The Prophets (Peace be upon them all)

The verse implies that a person whom Allah invests with the Book, the Wisdom and the power of making decisions, and places him on the great station of prophethood is always faithful to his mission when he communicates the Divine message to people and calls on them to be­come His faithful servants. That he starts moving people away from the worship of only one God and starts asking them to become his own worshippers or the worshippers of some other creatures is something he can never do. If so, this would mean that the one whom Allah had sent as his messenger did not, in fact, deserve this designation. Any government of this world, when appointing someone to an office of responsibility, always takes two factors into consideration:

1. Does the incumbent have the ability to comprehend and execute government policy?

2. How far can he be expected to execute government directives, and to hold its subjects in a stable stance of loyalty? No king or parlia­ment would ever appoint someone as its representative or ambassador about whom there exists the least doubt of indulging in anti-government activity, or deviation from its policy or directives. However, it is possible that the government may have failed to make a cor­rect assessment of a person's ability or loyalty. But with Allah even that element of doubt does not exist. If He knows about a man that he would not over-step the bounds of loyalty and obedience to Him, even in the slightest degree, then it is impossible that he could, later on, prove to be contrary to that assessment. Otherwise, it would mean that Divine knowledge is defective (we seek refuge with Allah!) Right from here, the question of the 'ismah ['Ismah' means a special protection given to someone by Allah which makes him refrain from sins. For the purpose of brevity we may translate it as 'infallibility' - editor.] (infallibility) of the prophets (A.S), becomes clear. Now that the blessed prophets are free of minor sins, how can the probability of doing shirk (the major sin of associating others with Allah) or making revolt against Allah remain valid?

In this, there is the necessary refutation of the Christians who claimed that it was Masih (A.S) who asked them to have belief in his sonship and godhead. Also chastised were the Muslims who had gone to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him trying to find out if it was all right for them to prostrate before him rather than greet him with the usual salam. Also admonished were the people of the Book who had invested their rabbis and monks with the station of God. Refuge with Allah! (Tafseer 'Usmani) (Ma'ariful Qur'an)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 13th December 2011

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