In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)! Did you say unto men: 'Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?' " He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden and unseen.
"Never did I say to them aught except what You (Allah) did command me to say: 'Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. (This is a great admonition and warning to the Christians of the whole world).
"If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise ." (Qur'an 5 : 116-118)
The Christians were not content merely with deifying Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They even turned Mary, the mother of Jesus, into a full-fledged object of worship. The Bible does not contain even the remotest suggestion that Mary was in any way either divine or superhuman. During the first three centuries after the Messiah, such a concept was totally alien to Christian thinking. Towards the end of the third century of the Christian era, however, some theologians of Alexandria employed, for the first time, the expression 'Mother of God' in connection with Mary. Subsequently, belief in Mary's divinity and the practice of Mariolatry began to spread among Christians. Even then, however, the Church was not prepared to accord official approval to this belief and denounced the Mariolaters as heretics. It was not until the Council of Ephesus in 431 that the Church officially used the expression 'Mother of God' for Mary. The result was that Mariolatry began to spread fast within the Church itself, so much so that, by the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, Mary had become so important a deity that she obscured even the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Statues of Mary adorned the cathedrals. She became the object of rites and worship. People addressed their prayers to her. She was regarded as the one who responded to people's supplications, who heeded people's grievances and complaints, who relieved them in distress, who provided support and succour to the helpless. For a devout Christian there could be no greater source of comfort and inner strength than the belief that he enjoyed the support and patronage of the 'Mother of God'. In the preamble of his code, Justinian had declared Mary to be the defender and supporter of his empire, and his general, Marses, sought Mary's guidance on the battlefield. Heraclius, a contemporary of the Prophet (peace be on him), had a picture of Mary on his standard and he was confident that by her grace the standard would never be lowered. Several centuries later the Protestants argued strongly against Mariolatry during the movement which led to the Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church has, nevertheless, managed so far to cling to Mariolatry in one form or another.
Allah will also speak to His servant and Messenger, `Isa son of Maryam, peace be upon him, saying to him on the Day of Resurrection in the presence of those who worshipped `Isa and his mother as gods besides Allah,
(O `Isa, son of Maryam! Did you say unto men: `Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah') This is a threat and a warning to Christians, chastising them in public, as Qatadah and others said, and Qatadah mentioned this Ayah as evidence,
("This is a Day on which the truthful will profit from their truth.'') (5:119) Allah's statement,
(Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say)...) contains Allah's direction for `Isa to utter the perfect answer. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "`Isa will be taught his argument in reply to what Allah will ask him,
(And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O `Isa, son of Maryam! Did you say unto men: `Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah') (5:116).'' Abu Hurayrah then narrated that the Prophet said that Allah taught `Isa to say,
(Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say)...) Ath-Thawri narrated this Hadith from Ma`mar from Ibn Tawus from Tawus. `Isa's statement,
(Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it.) means, had I said it, You, my Lord, would have known it, for nothing escapes Your knowledge. Rather, I have not said these words nor did the thought even cross my mind, this why he said,
(You know what is in my inner self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the Knower of all that is hidden and unseen. Never did I say to them ought except what You (Allah) did command me to say...) and convey,
(Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.) I only called them to what You sent me with and commanded me to convey to them,
(Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord) and this is what I conveyed to them,
(And I was a witness over them while I dwelled amongst them,) I was a witness over what they did when I was amongst them,
(but when You took me ﴿up﴾, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things.) Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "The Messenger of Allah stood up once and gave us a speech in which he said,
(O people! You will be gathered to Allah while barefooted, naked and uncircumcised;
(As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it.)
The first among the creation who will be covered with clothes will be Ibrahim. Some men from my Ummah will be brought and taken to the left (to the Fire) and I will yell, `They are my followers!' It will be said, `You do not know what they innovated after you (in religion).' So I will say just as the righteous servant (`Isa) said,
(And I was a witness over them while I dwelled amongst them, but when You took me ﴿up﴾, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the Almighty, the All-Wise.)
(It will further be said, `These people kept reverting back on their heels after you left them.')'' Al-Bukhari also recorded this Hadith in the explanation of this Ayah. Allah said;
(If You punish them, they are Your servants, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the Almighty, the All-Wise.) All matters refer back to Allah, for He does what He Wills and none can question Him about what He does, while He will question them. This Ayah also shows the crime of the Christians who invented a lie against Allah and His Messenger, thus making a rival, wife and son for Allah. Allah is glorified in that He is far above what they attribute to Him. So this Ayah (5:118) has tremendous value and delivers unique news.
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