Questions and Answers

The Story of Isa and Maryam · Compiled by Tawheed Institute Australia from Tafsīr al-Tasnīm

The story of ʿĪsā and Maryam runs across many verses of Sūrahs Āl ʿImrān, al-Nisāʾ and al-Māʾidah, and al-Tasnim’s commentary on it is long. This page gathers the questions readers most often ask, in the order of the story, each with a short answer drawn from what Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says. Each answer links to the passage in al-Tasnim, so you can read more.

0 questions

Maryam’s birth and her mother’s vow (3:35–36)

Who was Maryam’s mother, and what did she vow?

Maryam’s mother was Hannah, the wife of ʿImrān, who lost her husband while she was pregnant. Knowing that the servants of the Holy House were chosen from among boys, and hoping her child would be a boy, she vowed: My Lord, I dedicate to You what is in my belly, in consecration (3:35). Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that she did not intend to force the child into service. She gave up her own guardianship, entrusted the child to God, and left the choice of work to the child.

Why was she disappointed to have a girl?

Because of the nature of her vow. A child dedicated to the temple was meant never to leave it, and Imam al-Ṣādiq explains that the male is not like the female (3:36) because “the female menstruates and must leave the mosque, while one consecrated does not leave the mosque.” In serving the mosque and its worshippers, a male could not be compared with a female.

She also had reason to expect a son: according to a narration, God had revealed to ʿImrān that he would be given a blessed male child, and ʿImrān had told his wife.

Did the promise of a son ever come true?

Yes, but through Maryam. In a narration from Imam al-Ṣādiq, God had promised ʿImrān a blessed son who would heal the blind and the leper, bring the dead to life by God’s permission, and be a messenger to the Children of Israel. When God granted ʿĪsā to Maryam, he was the son promised to ʿImrān.

So, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says, God did give ʿImrān’s wife a male child, but through an intermediary. The Imam draws a lesson from it: if something said about a man is not fulfilled in him, it may be fulfilled in his child or grandchild.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 3:36 · A Discussion of the Narrations

Why does the Qur’an say God knew better what she had delivered?

To ease her sorrow. She did not know what she had given birth to: the son she was hoping for could never match the greatness of this daughter, who would become a mother without a husband and, with her son ʿĪsā, a sign for the whole world.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī stresses that the verse is about a “special daughter” and a “special son,” not about males and females in general. And because her mother placed both Maryam and her offspring under God’s protection from Satan, it is clear that she knew her daughter would have a child.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 3:36 · Selected Exegesis · Verse 3:36 · Selected Exegesis

Is it true that Satan touches every newborn except Maryam and ʿĪsā?

Narrations from the Prophet say that every child cries out at birth from Satan’s touch, except Maryam and her son, because her mother prayed: I commend her and her offspring to Your care against the outcast Satan (3:36). A barrier was placed between them, and Satan struck the barrier.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that this exception is relative. All the infallible prophets and guardians are also protected from Satan’s touch at birth. For example, the Prophet asked the same protection for ʿAlī, Fāṭima and their offspring when they married.

Growing up in the sanctuary (3:37–44)

Who looked after Maryam, and how was he chosen?

After Maryam’s birth, the family of ʿImrān, the community leaders and the trustees of the temple competed for the honour of raising her. They argued, then drew lots by casting into water special arrows, or the pens they used to write the Torah, and the lot fell to Zakariyyā.

Zakariyyā happened to be the husband of Maryam’s maternal aunt, but Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī points out that he became her guardian by lot, not by any right of custody. The Qur’an does not give the details of the lots, since they are a minor matter.

What was the food Zakariyyā kept finding with Maryam, and was it a miracle?

Imam al-Bāqir said that Zakariyyā would find with her winter fruits in summer and summer fruits in winter. When he asked, O Mary, from where does this come for you? she said, It comes from God (3:37).

Some later scholars deny that this food was miraculous. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī answers from the verse itself. If it had been ordinary food, Maryam would not have said “It is from God,” and Zakariyyā would not have been satisfied, since believers could have been bringing it to her each day. His prayer for a child also shows he had seen something extraordinary.

Did anything like Maryam’s provision happen to anyone else?

Yes. In a narration, Fāṭima told ʿAlī they had had nothing to eat for three days. ʿAlī borrowed a dinar, met al-Miqdād, who was hungry, and gave it to him. When ʿAlī came home, Fāṭima brought out a bowl of bread and meat and said, It is from God. Indeed God provides for whoever He wishes without reckoning. The Prophet compared this to Zakariyyā finding provision with Maryam in the sanctuary.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī sees ʿAlī’s self-sacrifice as one of the central elements of these narrations: this food was its fruit.

How could the Prophet Muhammad know these stories?

The Qur’an calls them accounts … from the Unseen (3:44). The Prophet had not read them in any book or heard them from anyone. There was no one among his unlettered people to teach him, and he was not present when they happened. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that knowledge of the unseen is possible only through God’s informing and permission.

He calls the claim that a Roman blacksmith taught the Prophet groundless: that man could barely speak simple Arabic, let alone the eloquent Arabic of the Qur’an.

Chosen above the women of the worlds (3:42–43)

Did the angels really speak to Maryam?

Yes. Maryam was muḥaddatha, one spoken to by angels. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that this speech reflected her dignity and brought her guidance and glad tidings. It was not the revelation of a law, which belongs to prophethood.

When the angels told her to be devout, to prostrate and to bow, she was not given new rulings. She received an inner inclination towards these acts, just as the mother of Mūsā received a revelation of what to do, not a new law.

Was Maryam a prophet?

Commentators disagree. Al-Zamakhsharī went too far one way: he held that the wonders around Maryam were not hers, since only prophets can perform them. Al-Qurṭubī went too far the other way and called her a prophet, since angels brought her revelation.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī takes the middle path. The wonders were truly hers, but extraordinary acts are not limited to prophets. Anyone who reaches the station of sainthood (wilāya) can perform them. Her speaking with angels was “informative prophethood,” not the prophethood that brings a law, and she followed the religious law of Zakariyyā.

In what way was Maryam chosen “above the women of the worlds”?

The verse mentions two choosings: God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of all worlds (3:42). Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that the first concerns her own being: God chose her from among the children of the prophets. The second compares her with other women. God chose her from all women, past and future, to become a mother without a husband.

It does not mean she surpassed every woman in knowledge and piety. Imam al-Bāqir likewise explains the second choosing as her being chosen to bear ʿĪsā without a man.

Is Maryam the greatest woman of all time?

In a narration from Imam al-Ṣādiq, the angels spoke to Fāṭima as they had to Maryam. When Fāṭima asked whether Maryam was not the one preferred above the women of the worlds, they replied that Maryam was the leader of the women of her own time, while Fāṭima is the leader of the women of the first and the last.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that Fāṭima was chosen for knowledge, piety and other virtues, while Maryam was chosen for bearing a child without a husband. Other narrations name four outstanding women: Maryam, Āsiya, Khadīja and Fāṭima.

What does it mean that God “purified” Maryam?

Not only purification from menstruation. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that purified you (3:42) covers purity from every moral vice, outward and inward purity, and her clearing from the false accusations people made against her.

God cleared her name through ʿĪsā: He made him speak in the cradle, and so declared her innocent.

The annunciation and the virgin birth (3:45–47)

Why is ʿĪsā called “a Word from God”?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that a word is whatever reveals something hidden. In that sense, all creation is God’s words, since every creature is a sign of the unseen. The “word” here is a created reality, not a word made of letters.

ʿĪsā deserves the name in a special way. His spirit has a special bond with God, and, like Adam, he came into being through the divine command Be. Without a father, and born without the normal course of pregnancy, he shows God’s power more clearly.

What does the title “Messiah” mean?

Masḥ means wiping something with the hand. Several reasons have been given for the title. ʿĪsā travelled widely; he healed the sick by touching them; his body was anointed at birth; or Gabriel passed his wing over him to protect him from Satan. It is also the Arabic form of the Hebrew Mashīḥ, used for spiritual leaders.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī sums it up: either God touched him with the hand of His mercy, or his own hand became a channel of divine blessing that brought life wherever it reached: He has made me blessed, wherever I may be.

Why is he called “son of Mary”?

Elsewhere, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī notes, the Qur’an repeats “ʿĪsā son of Maryam” to refute those who called him the son of God or one of a trinity. But this verse comes before his birth, so here the name is part of the glad tidings: the child would be hers alone, without a husband.

That is why Maryam was astonished. Had the angels said, for example, “ʿĪsā son of Zayd,” it would have been news of a marriage, and nothing to wonder at.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 3:45–46 · Characteristics of Jesus (a.s.)

Did Maryam have a husband? How could she have a child?

She had no husband, and she asked: My Lord, how shall I have a child seeing that no human has ever touched me? (3:47). Some say she was asking whether the child would come through marriage. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī finds that incomplete: the angels’ good news was that she would become a mother just as she was, and So it is means her child is certain.

Nor was the birth the effect of suggestion or of hearing good news. Like the birth of Yaḥyā, it was a special gift from God, and attributing it to supernatural causes is more fitting.

What does “Be, and it is” mean?

Al-Ṭabrisī read it as a figure of speech for the speed and ease of God’s work. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī holds that it is truly a command and its fulfilment. The command is not one of words, though: when God wills something, it comes into being without the usual causes and means.

Imam ʿAlī said God’s “Be” is not a sound that strikes or a call that is heard; His speech is His action.

Why did ʿĪsā speak as a baby?

To prove his prophethood and his mother’s purity. Maryam had been honoured for years; when asked about her unexpected child, she signalled that she was fasting, which only increased suspicion. Only a miracle could reveal the truth, so she pointed to the cradle, and the child spoke.

His words were a miracle too: in the cradle he spoke as prophets speak at forty: I am a servant of God! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī adds that the miracle belongs to mother and child together, since he spoke at her sign.

Was ʿĪsā already a prophet as a baby?

Yes. Imam al-Bāqir was asked whether ʿĪsā was God’s proof to the people of his time when he spoke in the cradle. He replied that on that day ʿĪsā was a prophet and the proof of God, though not yet a messenger, and he cited ʿĪsā’s words, He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that “not a messenger” means he had not yet been commanded to convey and spread religious rulings, although he was already a prophet who knew the Torah and followed it.

ʿĪsā’s miracles and message (3:48–51)

What miracles did ʿĪsā perform?

By God’s permission, ʿĪsā formed a bird from clay and breathed into it. It became a real, living bird with all its organs, made without an egg or growth in a womb. He healed the blind and the leper and brought many of the dead back to life. He also told people what they had eaten and what they had stored in their houses.

Imam ʿAlī counted among the beings never carried in a womb “the bat that Jesus son of Mary created and it flew by God’s permission.”

Did ʿĪsā actually perform these miracles, or did he only have the power to?

The author of al-Manār and his student Rashīd Riḍā argued that the verse speaks only of ʿĪsā’s power to do these things, not of their actually happening. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī rejects this. It goes against the plain meaning of the verse and comes from an outlook opposed to accepting miracles; he calls it exegesis by personal opinion.

In his reading, each of these miracles happened many times, and it was not merely that ʿĪsā could have performed them.

Why does ʿĪsā keep saying “by God’s permission”?

Some said only giving life needed God’s permission, since it is hardest. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī disagrees: the phrase applies to every miracle in the verse, and in Sūrat al-Māʾida “by My leave” is repeated four times.

He explains that ordinary people did not find ʿĪsā’s miracles easy to accept. So he kept reminding them that the miracles came by God’s permission. That way they would see them as signs of his prophethood, and no one would imagine a trinity or think he was the son of God. Each miracle is a sign from God, not from ʿĪsā himself.

Did ʿĪsā really bring a dead person back to an ordinary life?

A narration from Imam al-Ṣādiq says yes. ʿĪsā had a close friend who died while he was away. At the mother’s wish, ʿĪsā prayed at the grave, and her son came out alive. Given the choice, the young man chose to live on, and he lived another twenty years, married and had children.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī notes that death and sleep are alike: in both, the soul is taken. The soul’s return after sleep is common. Its return after death is rational but uncommon, so it is unlikely, not impossible.

Was ʿĪsā sent only to the Children of Israel?

No. ʿĪsā was one of the prophets of firm resolve (ulū l-ʿazm), whose mission is not limited to one people. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that a messenger to the Children of Israel (3:49) means his mission began with them and reached all of them, not that it was confined to them.

The logic of the Qur’an, the content of the Gospel, ʿĪsā’s own conduct and the practice of the believers of his time all show that his message went beyond the Children of Israel, though it began with them.

Did ʿĪsā keep the Torah or change it?

Both. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī distinguishes “religion” from “religious law.” Religion, the shared principles of all the prophets, which the Qur’an calls Islam, never changes, and ʿĪsā confirmed it. Religious law, the detailed rulings for each era, can change, and by God’s command ʿĪsā made lawful some things the Torah had forbidden. So confirming and changing do not contradict each other.

Some of these prohibitions had been punishments for the wrongdoing of the Jews. According to ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm, they concerned the Sabbath, fats and certain birds.

The disciples, the plot and the raising of ʿĪsā (3:52–55)

Who were the disciples, and why were they called ḥawāriyyūn?

When ʿĪsā saw the open disbelief of many of the Children of Israel, he devoted himself to training a group of pure, sincere followers. Through them he could reach society and defend his religion.

Some said they were called ḥawāriyyūn because they were washermen who whitened clothes. Imam al-Riḍā said this was what people claimed. In truth, they were called so because they were pure in themselves and purified others from the filth of sin through preaching and reminding. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī adds that the Qur’an is concerned with purity of spirit, not with people’s trades.

How can God be said to “plot”?

Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī and al-Ṭabrisī held that “plotting” is used of God only to mirror the word used for the plotters. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī adds that the whole of creation is God’s army. Plotters and their plots are within His power, and He can turn the harm of their schemes back on them.

God is the best of plotters (3:54) because His plan is the strongest, and also the most just: it rests on justice mixed with forgiveness and kindness. He never breaks a promise, though He may choose not to carry out a threat.

Does “I will take you” mean that ʿĪsā died?

Not necessarily. The word tawaffī means taking something completely, and the Qur’an uses it for both death and sleep. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says that reading it as death without evidence is the mistake the author of al-Manār made. On its own, the verse does not settle whether ʿĪsā is now alive or dead.

He adds that the verse means neither death nor ordinary sleep, so with reliable evidence we must look for a third kind of “taking.” The narrations that say ʿĪsā is alive therefore agree with the Qur’an.

Where was ʿĪsā raised to?

God has no place, so Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that ʿĪsā’s raising “toward God” was not a movement to a location. It was a raising in rank and spirit, like that of Idrīs, raised to a station exalted. It was also a special blessing: his birth and life were full of miracles, and so was his departure.

A narration from Imam al-Riḍā adds detail: ʿĪsā was raised from the earth alive, his soul was taken between heaven and earth, and when he was raised to heaven his soul was returned to him.

The likeness of Adam and the mubāhala (3:59–61)

Why does the Qur’an compare ʿĪsā to Adam?

Some went too far about ʿĪsā, calling him God’s son or one of a trinity; others accused his mother. The comparison answers both: like Adam, ʿĪsā had no father, and Adam had no mother either. Anyone who accepts Adam’s creation should all the more accept ʿĪsā’s.

According to a narration, the Christians of Najrān asked the Prophet, “Then who is his father?” He was told to reply: what do you say about Adam? Was he not a created servant who ate, drank and married? Who was his father? They fell silent, and the verse was revealed.

Why is the Prophet told “do not be among the doubters”?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that an infallible prophet still has religious duties; infallibility does not mean freedom from obligation. The difference is that he never does wrong, either on purpose or out of forgetfulness. His infallibility is a gift from God, not something belonging to his own essence.

The emphasis comes here because the mubāhala is about to take place. The verse first states that all truth is from God, then forbids doubt, so that nothing can be doubted about the mubāhala’s legitimacy.

What is a mubāhala, and why did the Prophet propose it?

A mubāhala is a solemn mutual prayer in which each side asks God to curse the liar. It was proposed to the Christian delegation of Najrān. Wisdom, good counsel and the best kind of debate, the comparison with Adam, had already been used, and only a miracle remained.

The invitation was fair. It did not say “so that God destroys you,” but “so that God destroys the liars, whoever they might be.” Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that a curse means being cut off from God’s mercy, on which every being depends to go on existing.

Whom did the Prophet bring, and who are “our sons, our women and ourselves”?

“Our sons” were al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, the Prophet’s grandsons through his daughter. “Our women” here means daughters, and only Fāṭima was present. “Ourselves” must be someone closer to the Prophet than his children. It cannot be the Prophet himself, since no one calls himself. It refers to someone who is like his own self, and that was ʿAlī alone.

Imam al-Riḍā gave the same answer to al-Maʾmūn and called this ʿAlī’s greatest virtue in the Qur’an.

What happened at the mubāhala?

In the narrations, the Najrān leaders agreed that if the Prophet came with his followers, they would go ahead, but if he came with his own family, they would not, “for he would not put forward his family members unless he were truthful.”

The next morning he came with ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. Their bishop said, “I see faces that if they were to ask God to remove a mountain from its place, He would remove it.” They asked to be excused, and the Prophet made peace with them in return for a tax.

Can mubāhala still be done today?

Yes. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī calls mubāhala a general principle and a lasting miracle. It is not limited to the story of ʿĪsā, and can be used for any established truth that someone denies.

Imam al-Ṣādiq told a companion whose opponents rejected clear verses to invite them to mubāhala. He was to purify himself for three days, fast and perform ablution, go out with the other person to the desert, interlock the fingers of their right hands, and begin by calling the curse on himself if he were the one denying the truth.

Was ʿĪsā killed or crucified? (4:157)

Was ʿĪsā crucified?

No. The Qur’an says they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them (4:157). Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that they neither killed him in the ordinary way nor crucified him. The matter became confused for them: they executed or crucified someone who was not ʿĪsā but resembled him.

The claims that he was killed or crucified rest on doubt and conjecture, not knowledge. The divine report, by contrast, gives definite knowledge that neither took place.

Why does the verse deny both killing and crucifixion?

Because the two are not the same. Crucifixion is a particular kind of killing, and a person can be hung on a cross and survive. If the verse had denied only the killing, someone could still say he was crucified, so it denies both.

The closing words, and certainly they did not kill him (4:157), sum it all up: here “kill” covers both killing and crucifixion. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī reads them as saying that no certain killing took place, only a doubtful and mistaken one.

If ʿĪsā was not crucified, who was?

The commentary says plainly: it is not known who was killed, but the Messiah was neither killed nor crucified. A narration from Abū Jaʿfar tells that ʿĪsā asked his twelve companions who would take on his likeness, and a young man volunteered and was crucified in his place. Another view says God cast his likeness onto one of the leaders of the plot, which Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī considers unlikely.

The details, he notes, cannot be established from a single, unreliable report. He finds it not unlikely that, in the turmoil, the attackers mistook someone who resembled him.

The Gospels say he was crucified. What does the commentary say about that?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are not the true Gospel God gave ʿĪsā. They are notes of his teaching that his disciples wrote down after him, and since the disciples were not infallible in receiving, remembering or writing it, error is possible. The Gospel of Barnabas, which Christians do not accept, denies the crucifixion.

Nor is the crucifixion proven by widespread report: the report goes back to a small group who watched the scene, and the matter was confused for them.

“God raised him to Himself” (4:158)

What does “God raised him to Himself” mean?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī rules out two readings. It cannot mean God moved ʿĪsā to another land for safety, since his mission covered the whole earth and wherever he went he would still have to preach. Nor can it mean a raising in rank, since ʿĪsā always had that, as other prophets do, while this verse is about him alone.

That leaves three possibilities: he died naturally and God raised his soul; he ascended to heaven, as some narrations suggest; or God hid him, alive, from human sight, in an occultation like that of the Imam of the Age.

Is ʿĪsā still alive?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī holds that Rather God raised him up toward Himself (4:158), read with the verses around it, shows that ʿĪsā was neither killed nor crucified but raised alive, body and soul. Two clues point this way. The word “rather” turns away from killing and crucifixion, which would not fit if only his soul had departed. And the pronouns all refer to the same person, not just to his soul.

Even so, he says there is no definitive Qur’anic evidence that settles the matter beyond doubt.

Do Muslims have to believe that ʿĪsā is alive?

No. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that whether ʿĪsā is alive or dead today is neither a principle of religion nor one of its practical rulings. What must be believed is his prophethood, his place among the resolute prophets and that he was given a book.

It is a scholarly question that needs rational proof or reliable transmitted evidence. Reason allows both his departure and his being alive now, and there is no decisive transmitted evidence, although the narrations point more clearly than the verses do.

Was ʿĪsā taken up to heaven?

The verse speaks of raising “toward God”, not “to heaven”, and God has no physical place: It is He who is God in the sky, and God on the earth (43:84). Similar wording is used of Ibrāhīm and Lūṭ going toward their Lord, which means a spiritual journey. So the verse itself does not mention heaven.

Some narrations do speak of his ascension to heaven, and Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says it is rationally possible that he lives in one of the heavenly spheres. But relying on that needs a narration with a reliable chain.

His return with the Mahdī (4:158–159)

Will ʿĪsā come back?

The narrations say he will. Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī is reported as saying that ʿĪsā lived thirty-three years in this world, was raised to heaven, and will descend to earth in Damascus and kill the Antichrist (Dajjāl). A narration from the Prophet describes him arriving in Jerusalem as the leader there is about to lead the dawn prayer: the leader steps back, but ʿĪsā places his hand between his shoulders and tells him to go forward.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says the descent itself poses no problem. ʿĪsā will descend when the Mahdī appears and pray behind him.

Will he be a prophet when he returns?

No. When he descends, ʿĪsā will not hold the office of prophethood. Some theologians objected that this would mean taking prophethood away from a prophet. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, citing Fakhr al-Rāzī’s answer, explains that the prophethood of every prophet ended with the mission of Muḥammad.

So ʿĪsā’s prophethood is not stripped from him; its period has simply ended, whether he descends or not, and after his descent he follows the religion of Muḥammad.

“Every one of the People of the Book will believe in him” (4:159)

What does “every one of the People of the Book will believe in him before his death” mean?

“In him” is ʿĪsā; the question is whose death is meant. If it were ʿĪsā’s, the verse would cover only the few People of the Book alive when he returns. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī prefers that it means each of them. No prophet has been disputed as much as ʿĪsā, from his birth to his death. As each of them dies, his spiritual eye opens, his guesses about ʿĪsā fall away and the truth becomes clear. Jews then believe in his prophethood, and Christians that he is neither God nor the son of God, only God’s messenger.

Will that last-moment belief help them?

Not for everyone. From 3:55, which speaks of ʿĪsā’s followers being set above the faithless until the Day of Resurrection, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī concludes that some People of the Book remain disbelievers. Not all of them come to a willing, beneficial faith before death. Some believe only under compulsion, when the truth becomes clear to them in the throes of death, and that faith does not benefit them.

What the verse stresses, he says, is that the truth about ʿĪsā is made plain, not the believing of the People of the Book.

Some narrations say “him” means the Prophet Muḥammad. Which is right?

The two do not conflict. The context of the verses is about ʿĪsā, so “him” refers to him. Narrations that refer it to the Prophet are, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains, an application (jarī) of the verse. Once the Prophet’s mission replaced the law of ʿĪsā, the People of the Book had to believe first in Muḥammad and, through him, in ʿĪsā and the earlier prophets. At death the truth of both becomes clear to them.

Other narrations apply the verse in the same way to Imam ʿAlī and the Ahl al-Bayt.

How will ʿĪsā be a witness against them on the Day of Judgment?

Every prophet will bear witness to the deeds of his community, and ʿĪsā will testify to the deeds of the Christians. Testifying then requires having witnessed their deeds in this world, so he is well aware of what they do.

Yet in 5:116–117 ʿĪsā tells God he was a witness over them only while he was among them. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that these are two kinds of witnessing: in his lifetime, a guardianship that carried responsibility; at the Resurrection, testimony. The true watcher is God, and ʿĪsā is a manifestation of His witnessing.

“Do not exaggerate in your religion” (4:171)

Who is being told “do not exaggerate in your religion”?

The address O People of the Book covers both Jews and Christians, since both went to extremes. The Jews fell short: they thought ʿĪsā had a father and slandered his mother. The Christians went too far, raising him above the bounds of humanity and calling him the son of God.

But the rest of the verse shows that it is speaking to the Christians, and “exceed the bounds” here means going too far. Do not attribute anything to God except the truth (4:171) warns against saying false things about God.

Does “a spirit from Him” mean ʿĪsā is part of God?

No. “From” here shows the source of his existence: he is from God, not a part of God. A Christian physician at the court of Hārūn al-Rashīd once argued from this phrase that the Qur’an makes ʿĪsā part of God. Al-Wāqidī replied with all is from Him (45:13): if “from” always meant “part of”, everything in the heavens and the earth would be part of God.

All human spirits are attributed to God, though some spirits, like those of Adam and ʿĪsā, are specially chosen.

What does “do not say three” mean?

It forbids the Trinity. True faith in God and His messengers means holding the Creator free of any spouse or child, and not raising His messengers above messengership. Some Christians took God, Christ and the Holy Spirit as three gods; another group, as 5:116 indicates, took God, Maryam and Christ.

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī shows that every form is impossible: God as one kind with three instances, God as a whole made of three parts, or three independent gods. Belief in the Trinity is disbelief and polytheism.

God’s servant, and the angels brought near (4:172)

Why does the Qur’an say ʿĪsā “would never disdain” to be God’s servant?

It is another argument against his divinity and the Trinity: how can he be God, or one of three gods, when he calls himself God’s servant? The wording, ʿabdan lillāh rather than ʿabd Allāh, spells out the “of” and so stresses his servanthood.

His great gifts do not make him disdainful, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains, because he knows that every perfection shining in him is borrowed light from God. No perfection, not even raising the dead or healing the blind, makes him turn from worship.

Why are the angels mentioned alongside him?

If being born without a father, working miracles or being near to God were reasons to place ʿĪsā above servanthood, the angels have neither father nor mother, are near to God and work wonders by His leave. Even ʿĪsā’s miracles came through the help of the Holy Spirit. Yet the angels never turn away from worship; they worship God more than others.

The mention may also answer the polytheists of the Hijaz, who called the angels the children of God.

“God is the Messiah”, the Trinity and “do not exaggerate” (5:72–77)

Did ʿĪsā ever claim to be God?

No. Verse 5:72 calls the belief that God is the Messiah, son of Mary disbelief, and answers it from within the verse. The very title “the Messiah, son of Mary” shows that he was created, since the child of a created being is created, and a created being cannot be a god. And ʿĪsā’s own words, worship God, my Lord and your Lord, are a confession of his servanthood: he himself never claimed divinity.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:72 · Selected Exegesis

Who are the “three” in “God is the third of three”?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī mentions two possibilities: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as some have said, or God, the Messiah and Maryam, citing verse 5:116, where God asks ʿĪsā whether he told people to take him and his mother as two gods besides God. Either way, he says, both forms of trinity are impossible and false.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verses 5:73–74 · The Meaning of “Third of Three”

Why does the Qur’an mention that ʿĪsā and Maryam “used to eat food”?

It is a simple proof, put in words ordinary people can grasp: anyone who needs food is a needy, dependent being, while God needs nothing. In a narration, Imam ʿAlī explains that God openly mentions the human limits of the prophets because He knew some people would take them as gods, as happened with the son of Maryam. The masses go by what they see, so these facts are stated plainly to guard against exaggeration.

Is the door of repentance closed to those who believed in the Trinity?

No. Right after the warning of a painful punishment, verse 5:74 asks: Will they not repent to God and seek His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving, Merciful. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that the Qur’an taught them tawḥīd and opened the path of repentance for their return from disbelief; the question is really an urging to repent and seek forgiveness.

What is the “exaggeration” the People of the Book are told to avoid?

Verse 5:77 warns them not to go to excess (ghuluww) in their religion. The Christians went beyond the limit in love, calling ʿĪsā God, “the third of three” and the son of God. The Jews fell short out of enmity, slandering Maryam and calling ʿĪsā the son of an unchaste woman. The true, balanced position is that ʿĪsā is God’s servant and messenger, and Maryam is pure and chosen by God.

Can a person go to excess in hatred as well as in love?

Yes. Imam ʿAlī said: “Two types of men will perish because of me: an excessive lover and a slanderous hater.” Those who loved him too much raised him above being human, and his spiteful enemies called him an unbeliever. Since verse 5:77 speaks to both Jews and Christians, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says the excess it forbids can include both: too much in friendship and too much in enmity.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:77 · The Meaning of Excess (Ghuluww)

God’s favours to ʿĪsā and his mother (5:110)

When does God remind ʿĪsā of His favours?

On the Day of Resurrection. The verses around 5:110 begin with the day God will gather the messengers, and go on to God’s questioning of ʿĪsā (5:116–117) and this day truthfulness shall benefit the truthful (5:119). Some exegetes placed it at the time ʿĪsā was raised up, but these signs point to the Resurrection. The past tense is used because what is certain to happen can be spoken of as already done.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:110 · The Setting of the Address

Why are ʿĪsā’s favours also counted as favours to his mother?

God says, remember My blessing upon you and upon your mother. The Qur’an calls Maryam and her son together a sign for all the nations, since no one before or after has been born from a mother alone. So the support God gave ʿĪsā is in reality support for both mother and child. When a child reaches a high station and blessing, his mother is blessed through it too.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:110 · The Command to Remember Divine Blessings

What did the Holy Spirit do for ʿĪsā?

When I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit is like a heading, and the rest of the verse lists what that support was: speaking to people in the cradle and as an adult; being taught the Book, wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel; making a bird from clay that came to life; healing the blind and the leper; raising the dead; and being protected from the Children of Israel who plotted against him.

Did ʿĪsā speak in the cradle only to clear his mother’s name?

Not only that. Some exegetes thought so, but his words as a baby carried much more: I am a servant of God; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet…. In the cradle the very fact that he spoke was a miracle. Why mention his speaking as an adult? Because his words were revelation, backed by the Holy Spirit, and not ordinary speech.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:110 · Examples of Divine Support

The miracles “by My leave” (5:110)

Was ʿĪsā’s clay bird just a statue that came to life?

ʿĪsā did more than shape the outside of a bird. As a manifestation of God’s creative power, he made a real bird’s form, with brain, heart and digestive system, and breathed into it, and by God’s leave it became a real, living bird. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī contrasts this with the Samiri’s calf: it never truly came to life, but was a figure that made a sound as air flowed through it.

Why does the verse keep repeating “by My leave”?

So that no one would imagine, even for a moment, that ʿĪsā did these things by his own power. Every miracle, the bird, the healing and the raising of the dead, came about by God’s permission, just as angels act by God’s permission. This permission was given to ʿĪsā alone: if anyone else shaped a clay bird and breathed into it, it would not come to life.

Did ʿĪsā raise more than one person from the dead?

The verse says when you would bring forth the dead by My leave. “The dead” is a plural, which suggests that ʿĪsā brought many people back to life. A narration tells of a friend whom ʿĪsā raised from the grave; he lived twenty more years, married and had children. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī notes the chain of such reports is weak, but the verse itself speaks of miracles that truly happened, not just a power he had.

Why were ʿĪsā’s miracles about healing?

Imam al-Riḍā was asked why Mūsā came with the staff, ʿĪsā with medicine and Muḥammad with speech. He said God sent ʿĪsā at a time when chronic diseases had appeared and people needed medicine, so he brought them from God what they had nothing like. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī adds that a miracle matches the most advanced skill of its time, so that God’s proof is made clear.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:110 · A Discussion of the Narrations

If ʿĪsā gave life to the dead, doesn’t that make him divine?

A Christian Catholicos told Imam al-Riḍā that whoever revives the dead is a lord worthy of worship. The Imam replied that the prophets Elisha and Ezekiel did the same, yet no one worshipped them. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains: something done independently would be a sign of lordship, but what is done by God’s permission is a sign of God’s creative power, not the lordship of the one He permits.

Why did some people call ʿĪsā’s miracles “plain magic”?

Out of stubborn denial. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says two opposite errors were made about ʿĪsā. His excessive friends, out of misplaced love, made him divine and the Son of God; his enemies, out of hostility, called his works magic. Both are false: he did not create by his own essence but was a manifestation of the true Creator, and he did nothing on his own, since everything was by God’s leave.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:110 · The Obstinacy of Stubborn Disbelievers

The disciples and the Table from heaven (5:111–115)

Were the disciples prophets, since God “inspired” them?

No. The word awḥaytu here means inspiration (ilhām), as when God “inspired” the bee or the mother of Mūsā, and not the revelation of a law given to prophets. The disciples were told to have faith in Me and My messenger, so they were certainly not prophets themselves. It was an inspiration to act, placing in their hearts the resolve to believe and to stand by ʿĪsā.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:111 · The Meaning of Revelation in the Verse

The disciples already believed, so why were they told to “have faith”?

Because it was a time of danger. Some people were plotting to rise up against ʿĪsā, so God placed it in the hearts of the disciples, his closest and earliest companions, to renew their pledge to God and His messenger and to support him. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī compares it to the pledges of ʿAqaba and Riḍwān made by the early Muslims. He notes that Christ’s religion too included defending the faith.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:111 · Renewal of Covenant in Times of Danger

When the disciples asked “Can your Lord send down a table?”, did they doubt God’s power?

No. They were ʿĪsā’s close students with firm faith, and even the weakest believer knows God has power over all things. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī rejects the view of al-Zamakhsharī and Fakhr al-Rāzī that they had doubts. Their question was about whether it fit God’s wisdom, as one says “the king cannot answer every petitioner.” ʿĪsā’s reply, be wary of God, faulted their wording, not the request itself.

Why did the disciples want the Table?

They gave four reasonable aims (5:113): to eat from it, as Mūsā’s people had manna and quails; that their hearts might be at rest; to know more surely that ʿĪsā had told them the truth; and to be witnesses to it for others. Because these aims were sound, ʿĪsā accepted their request, unlike the idle demands for miracles that the Prophet’s opponents made, which went unanswered.

How did ʿĪsā improve the disciples’ request?

He made it more than a request for a new miracle. He began with praise, O God, our Lord, a phrase used only here among the Qur’an’s supplications. He named its purpose: a festival for the first and last of us and a sign from You. And where they spoke of eating, he asked for provision (rizq), naming God the best of providers: the One whose providing is shown through every other provider.

Did the Table actually come down, and what was on it?

Yes. God’s words I will indeed send it down to you are an explicit promise, so denying that it came down is not acceptable. The details are another matter. Narrations speak of loaves and fish, or bread and meat, but they are single reports, and Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says the verse shows that the Table came down, while its details still need reliable evidence.

Why was such a severe punishment threatened for disbelieving after the Table?

Whoever receives a blessing must be grateful, and ingratitude risks losing it. But one who asks for a blessing through a prophet, and has that prayer answered, must avoid ingratitude altogether, because God may punish him severely and without parallel. “Unparalleled” does not necessarily mean the most severe of all, but a punishment whose like has not been found.

Were those who disbelieved in the Table turned into pigs or other animals?

Some narrations say so, but Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī finds them hard to accept. The Qur’an confirms the disciples’ faith, so they cannot have been turned into swine. And the verse apparently promises a punishment like no other, past or future, while the Qur’an itself says Sabbath-breakers were earlier turned into apes. Since these reports’ chains cannot easily be verified, the verse’s plain meaning stands.

ʿĪsā’s answer on the Day of Judgment (5:116–118)

Why will God ask ʿĪsā, “Did you tell people to take me and my mother as gods?”

God knows the answer; the question is a rhetorical one that rebukes ʿĪsā’s community. It is asked before everyone on the Day of Resurrection, and it means: you did not tell them this, so on whose command did they take you and your mother as gods? The titles “son of Mary” and “mother” themselves point to why neither can be divine: one was born and the other gave birth.

What does it mean to “take” someone as a god?

To “take as god” is to bow before someone, see him as having power of his own, and obey him without condition. It is not the same as believing he has creative influence in the world. So the Qur’an says Christians took their scribes and monks as lords, and one who follows his desires has taken his desire as his god. For Maryam, the Qur’an only ever speaks of “taking as god”.

How does ʿĪsā answer God’s question?

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī finds a chain of reasoning in his reply. First, Glory be to You! It is not for me to say what I have no right to say: as God has no partner and a prophet utters no falsehood, ʿĪsā could not have said it. Second, had I said it, You would have known it, and nothing exists that God does not know, so he did not say it. Third: You know what is in my self.

What does ʿĪsā mean by “I do not know what is in Your self”?

Here nafs means God’s very essence, not a soul or spirit. Only God knows all the unseen, so ʿĪsā cannot know God’s essence. His reply goes beyond the question, perhaps out of deep humility and courtesy before God. A narration from Imam al-Bāqir says the Greatest Name has seventy-three letters: seventy-two were given to Adam and inherited by the prophets, and God kept one hidden.

Does “when You took me” (5:117) mean that ʿĪsā died?

Not necessarily. The word tawaffā means taking the soul in full, and the Qur’an uses it for sleep as well as death, so it does not prove that ʿĪsā died. And even if it did refer to death, this conversation takes place on the Day of Resurrection, so it says nothing about when that happened. Whether ʿĪsā’s appearance in the time of the Mahdī is a descent or a return, he leaves to separate research.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:117 · The Death of Jesus

Is ʿĪsā pleading for the Christians when he says “If You punish them… if You forgive them…”?

He is neither complaining nor interceding. He does not say “punish them”; they are Your servants is a compassionate phrase, and if You forgive them, You are the Mighty, the Wise means God is free to forgive. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī notes that the sin in question is the gravest one, polytheism, and that even the threat against polytheists does not rule over God. And ʿĪsā does not say “because they disobeyed You”: no law stands above God to bind what He does.

Why did the Prophet recite this verse all night?

Abū Dharr reports that the Prophet prayed one night repeating If You punish them, they are Your servants… in bowing and prostration until morning. Asked why, he said he had asked his Lord for intercession for his community, and it was granted, reaching those who associate nothing with God. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī adds that disbelievers and polytheists will not be included in any intercession on the Day of Resurrection.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:118 · A Discussion of the Narrations

“This is the day the truthful benefit from their truthfulness” (5:119)

Why does truthfulness benefit people only on that Day?

On the Day of Resurrection all secrets are open, so no one can seriously lie; even Satan speaks the truth then, but it does him no good. The Hereafter is the time of results, not of deeds. So the only truthfulness that helps on that Day is the truthfulness a person lived by in this world.

Is truthfulness only about telling the truth?

No. Truthfulness (ṣidq) is anything that matches reality: in belief, in character and in action, not only in speech. That is why the Qur’an calls keeping a covenant truthfulness and counts the faithful as the truthful, though they are reporting nothing. Likewise, falsehood is any belief, character or conduct that goes against the reality it claims.

Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:119 · The Universality of Truthfulness

What is the “great success” promised to the truthful?

The truthful receive two rewards: gardens with flowing rivers, the bodily joys of Paradise, and above that, the station of God’s good pleasure: God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī explains that God’s pleasure is greater than the garden, and the two together are the “great success” in the full sense.

Verse 3:35

Verse 3:36

Verse 3:37

Verse 3:42

Verse 3:43

Verse 3:44

Verses 3:45-46

Verse 3:47

Verses 3:48-49

Verses 3:50-51

Verses 3:52-53

Verse 3:54

Verse 3:55

Verse 3:59

Verse 3:60

Verse 3:61

Verse 4:157

Verse 4:158

Verse 4:159

Verse 4:171

Verse 4:172

Verse 5:72

Verses 5:73–74

Verse 5:75

Verse 5:76

Verse 5:77

Verse 5:110

Verse 5:111

Verse 5:112

Verse 5:113

Verse 5:114

Verse 5:115

Verse 5:116

Verse 5:117

Verse 5:118

Verse 5:119

Questions and Answers ​

Maryam’s birth and her mother’s vow (3:35–36) ​

Who was Maryam’s mother, and what did she vow? ​

Why was she disappointed to have a girl? ​

Did the promise of a son ever come true? ​

Why does the Qur’an say God knew better what she had delivered? ​

Is it true that Satan touches every newborn except Maryam and ʿĪsā? ​

Growing up in the sanctuary (3:37–44) ​

Who looked after Maryam, and how was he chosen? ​

What was the food Zakariyyā kept finding with Maryam, and was it a miracle? ​

Did anything like Maryam’s provision happen to anyone else? ​

How could the Prophet Muhammad know these stories? ​

Chosen above the women of the worlds (3:42–43) ​

Did the angels really speak to Maryam? ​

Was Maryam a prophet? ​

In what way was Maryam chosen “above the women of the worlds”? ​

Is Maryam the greatest woman of all time? ​

What does it mean that God “purified” Maryam? ​

The annunciation and the virgin birth (3:45–47) ​

Why is ʿĪsā called “a Word from God”? ​

What does the title “Messiah” mean? ​

Why is he called “son of Mary”? ​

Did Maryam have a husband? How could she have a child? ​

What does “Be, and it is” mean? ​

Why did ʿĪsā speak as a baby? ​

Was ʿĪsā already a prophet as a baby? ​

ʿĪsā’s miracles and message (3:48–51) ​

What miracles did ʿĪsā perform? ​

Did ʿĪsā actually perform these miracles, or did he only have the power to? ​

Why does ʿĪsā keep saying “by God’s permission”? ​

Did ʿĪsā really bring a dead person back to an ordinary life? ​

Was ʿĪsā sent only to the Children of Israel? ​

Did ʿĪsā keep the Torah or change it? ​

The disciples, the plot and the raising of ʿĪsā (3:52–55) ​

Who were the disciples, and why were they called ḥawāriyyūn? ​

How can God be said to “plot”? ​

Does “I will take you” mean that ʿĪsā died? ​

Where was ʿĪsā raised to? ​

The likeness of Adam and the mubāhala (3:59–61) ​

Why does the Qur’an compare ʿĪsā to Adam? ​

Why is the Prophet told “do not be among the doubters”? ​

What is a mubāhala, and why did the Prophet propose it? ​

Whom did the Prophet bring, and who are “our sons, our women and ourselves”? ​

What happened at the mubāhala? ​