Translation
It is a confirmation of disbelief (in God) for those who say: “God is the Christ, Son of Mary,” whereas Christ himself said: “O Children of Israel, Serve God, who is my Sustainer and your Sustainer.” Whoever associates anybody (or anything) with God, he is forbidden entry to Paradise, and his residence will be in Hellfire. Those who propagate evil (false beliefs), there are no helpers for them. It is also a confirmation of disbelief (in God) for those who say: “God is one of the three, whereas there is no god but One God.” If they do not desist from such false assertions, grievous consequences will fall on them due to their persistent denial (of truth). Why do they not then turn to God and ask for forgiveness? God is Ever Forgiving and Merciful.
Christ, son of Mary, was an Apostle (of God), and many apostles have passed away before him. His mother was a woman of great virtue and truthfulness. They both ate food (like other creatures of God). See how We make the matters clear to them; yet see how they continue to deny (the truth). Say (to them): “Do you worship besides God such an entity that cannot control any good or harm for you? God is All Hearing and All Knowing.” Say: “O People of the Book, do not extend the boundary of your faith without justification, and refrain from the errant views of people who have themselves gone astray, led many people astray, and continue to stray from the right path (even to this day).”
Those who disbelieve from among the Children of Israel, they have already been chastised by David and Jesus, Son of Mary (Psalms 78:21–22, 31–33 and Matthew 12:34, 23:33–35, for example), for their rebellion and persistent transgressions against God’s guidance. They did not discourage and prohibit one another against evil (in the society). Evil was indeed what they did (evil acts and not removing evil from society). You see many of them more aligned with those who disbelieve (than with those who aspire to belief), and their minds (and earthly desires) push them toward evil so that God is displeased with them, and they earn chastisement as a result. If they truly believed in God and abided by the revelations, then they would not befriend those (who deny the truth), and many of them do transgress. You will find the people most hostile to those who have faith are the Jews and those who worship idols, whereas nearest to the faithful are those who say: “We are Christians.” They have priests and monks among them and they are not arrogant. 316
Interpretation
316 Attention is being drawn here from a historical perspective to the new followers of faith. Each group that was given revelations before—Jews and Christians alike—had confounded their faith in God by either trivializing such faith or corrupting it by adding partners to God. Beyond tampering with faith, they have also introduced corrupt practices and evil ways in their respective societies, leading to further deviation from the guidance of God. After 1,500 years of the revelation of the Qur’an, it is very appropriate to look inside the Muslim communities themselves and see if we have also trivialized our faith in God and persist in social norms and practices that goes against the guidance of God. It is fundamentally important that each individual, community, and nation do such analysis and retrospection to find that the sort of issues that God warned the early Muslim about Jews and Christian, have already afflicted the later generations of Muslims, including the current generation. A new generation of clerics and so-called scholars has come into the picture telling the faithful to do things that are contrary to true faith. Muslims in general have given up on the personal responsibility to understand faith and the guidance from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s traditions, instead opting to follow these clerics and scholars in blind allegiance. Political leadership has been usurped by corrupt and inept leaders due to people’s apathy to actively engage in guiding one another and their leaders. Worldly gains and immoral pursuits have gained widespread prevalence in societies, as corruption has taken deep root in many Muslim countries. I do not think it would be inaccurate to say that God’s displeasure is as acute with respect to Muslims of today as it was with Jews and Christians of yesterday.
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REFLECTION
For people of faith, the Qur’an provides windows of insight and guidance through which we need to see ourselves and others and not dwell on the past conduct of our adversaries—it will only perpetuate our current mistrust of one another and delay any hope for creating a better world where faith and goodwill prevail, irrespective of our affiliations with specific labels of Muslims, Jews, or Christians.
ACTION
We all need to get back to our common root of faith in God and commitment to uphold human dignity for all. We need to use the teachings of the prophets to analyze our conduct, reaffirm our common origin as children of Adam and Eve, and put in practice our equal obligations and rights to serve from each other and from the resources of the world, a gift from God given to all of humanity.
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Key Arabic Term
96. siddiqat (a woman of great virtue and truthfulness—in reference to Mary, Mother of Jesus)