Selected Exegesis

The Jews, through negligence (tafrīṭ) regarding Jesus the Messiah, slandered his pure mother. In contrast to this negligence, which was responded to in the previous verses,(95) is the excess (ifrāṭ) of the Christians who considered that personage to be the son of God.

Both groups, Jews and Christians, had exaggeration (ghuluww) in their religion,(96) and the general address “O People of the Book” (yā ahl al-kitāb) encompasses both of them. However, based on the subsequent sentences and the context of the verse, those addressed are the Christians, and “excess” (ghuluww): “do not exceed” (lā taghlū), which means transgression and passage toward excess and negligence, in this verse means excess and extremism in religion, not encompassing both.

The verse warns the People of the Book against excess (ghuluww) in their religion and against any false speech about God, and calls them to the necessity of adhering to truth in beliefs: “O People of the Book! Do not exceed the bounds in your religion, and do not attribute anything to God except the truth” (yā ahl al-kitāb lā taghlū fī dīnikum wa-lā taqūlū ʿalā llāh illā l-ḥaqq). The expression “do not attribute… to God” (lā taqūlū ʿalā llāh) indicates slander, because slanderous speech against any person is harsh opposition to them, and its clear example is attributing falsehood to them.

Negligence and shortcoming in the knowledge of God, and excess and extremism regarding the prophets and elevating them beyond the limit of humanity, became the foundation for the Christian belief in the Trinity (tathlīth) and worship of the threesome.

The Qur’an, in order to combat the extremist thought of Christians who consider Jesus the Messiah to be one of the three gods, always mentions the name of the Messiah with the description “son of Mary”; not that, like the mention of other prophets, it brings only the name of that personage. The verse under discussion also, in order to refute the aforementioned excessive notion and show the path of truth, calls Jesus the Messiah the son of Mary and the messenger of God who was born by His will without a father. He is God’s Word (kalima) given to his mother and a spirit (rūḥ) from God.

Factors such as the characteristics of Jesus, the limited capacity of the people of that era, the reasonable and acceptable expressions of the age of the Gospel’s revelation, and the gradual evolution of colloquial literature, especially the Qur’anic expression “Word of God” (kalima Allāh): “and His Word that He cast toward Mary” (wa-kalimatuh alqāhā ilā Maryam) (with attention to the special relationship of the word or the one who speaks), could have provided the ground for some delusions and excesses (ghuluww). Unaware that other divine prophets are also each a divine word (kalima) and likewise recipients and listeners of such a word in the realm of creation (takwīn).

In summary, all contingent existence are divine words (kalimāt);(97) however, the friends of God (awliyāʾ) are perfect words (kalimāt tāmma),(98) and Jesus too, since he is God’s supreme word (kalima), was separately called a divine word.(99) That personage is both God’s Word (kalima) and the recipient and listener of it.(100)

The word “from” (min) in “and a spirit from Him” (wa-rūḥun minhu) indicates the source of creation, not a sign of distinction and partiality; meaning the existence of the Messiah is from God; not that he is a part of God. Of course, all human spirits (arwāḥ) are attributed to the Lord; however, just as some individuals are chosen (muṣṭafā) and some are selected (mujtabā), some spirits also have a characteristic that God, the Bestower of gifts, is aware of what He has given them.

The verse continues by asking Christians to have faith in the One God and His messengers.

Faith in the One God and His messengers means declaring the Creator free from having a spouse and child and not attributing a status higher than messengership (risāla) to His sent ones.

God after the call to faith has expressed the incompatibility of true faith with the Trinity (tathlīth) and considers the good and happiness of the People of the Book to lie in avoiding the worship of the threesome (thalātha). Of course, the scope of the Qur’an’s proof encompasses all types of Trinity (tathlīth) and duality (tathniya), because with the establishment of monotheism (tawḥīd), other than that is negated.

In any case, belief in the Trinity (tathlīth) is disbelief (kufr) and polytheism (shirk),(101) and the Trinity - meaning belief in the divinity of God, the Messiah, and Mary(102) or in the threefold gods of the Father (God), the Son (the Messiah), and the Holy Spirit - in any form is impossible and false; whether God is conceived as a universal matter (amr jāmiʿ) that has three individuals (three instances); or God is a reality composed and compounded of three parts;(103) or neither universal nor composite but collective (jamīʿ), meaning each of those three are independent gods.

God, the Most High, is holy (quddūs) from every kind of Trinity and glorified (subbūḥ) from every type of incarnation (ḥulūl), union (ittiḥād), partnership (sharika), and the like.

The verse, after refuting every kind of Trinity, in order to declare God free from having a child and to remove any delusion about having offspring, emphasizes the oneness of God and presents His ownership and sovereignty over the entire universe; what is in the heavens and the earth belongs to the One God, and He alone undertakes their guardianship and management and is sufficient and best for their guardianship and management.