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EXCERPTS FROM SURAH
AL-NISAA'
(Surah 4)
يَا أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءكُمُ الرَّسُولُ بِالْحَقِّ مِن
رَّبِّكُمْ فَآمِنُواْ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ وَإِن
تَكْفُرُواْ فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضِ وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
يَا أَهْلَ
الْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلاَ
تَقُولُواْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْحَقِّ إِنَّمَا
الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ
وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ
مِّنْهُ فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلاَ
تَقُولُواْ ثَلاَثَةٌ انتَهُواْ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ
إِنَّمَا اللّهُ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَن
يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَات
وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ وَكِيلاً
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O Mankind: Allah's
Messenger has brought you the truth
from your Lord.
Believe (then in him); it is best for you.
And if you disbelieve,
then, to Allah belongs all that is in the
Heavens and Earth, and
Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise.
O' People of the
Scriptures! Commit no excesses in your religion,
and do not say of Allah
anything but the truth.
Verily, Jesus the
Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of
Allah, and His word
which He bestowed on Mary,
and a spirit
(proceeding) from Him
Believe therefore in
Allah and His Messengers, and say not "Trinity"—
Refrain from so saying,
it is best for you.
Verily, verily, Allah
is only One; glory be to Him,
Far be it from Him that
He should have a son
His is all that is in
the Heavens and on Earth.
Allah is sufficient as
a protector.
AYAH: 170-171
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يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءكُمُ الرَّسُولُ
بِالْحَقِّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَآمِنُواْ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ
O Mankind: Allah's Messenger has brought you the
truth from your Lord. Believe (then in him); it is
best for you.
The Quran confirms the Heavenly religions, but at
the same time rejects the man-made falsehoods and
changes that have crept into them. Islam came with
the truth as the final and complete work of Allah.
This Divine masterpiece will remain unchanged to the
last moment on earth, because Allah has taken it upon
Himself to safeguard it.
Ø
The Holy Quran was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) in
pieces, and over a 23 year period, generally answering
the needs of the moment. These Divine Messages showed
the way to humanity clearly, elastically, and
convincingly.
Ø
Allah (swt) commands mankind to believe in His
revelations. Belief in Allah's Message and its
application will be their salvation.
Ø
This command has two implied meanings:
-
the glad tidings that belief is best for them now
and after they die, and
-
the implied warning that to reject faith leads to
trouble during present life and to Hell in the
Hereafter.
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وَإِن تَكْفُرُواْ فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضِ وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
And if you disbelieve, then, to Allah belongs all that
is in the Heavens and Earth, and Allah is All-Knowing
and All-Wise.
The people who do not believe in Allah or the Holy
Quran are reminded that they shall return to Him for
all things belong to Him.
Allah urges mankind to comply and follow the
Divine Message, but reminds us that whether they
follow or not does not diminish Allah's glory or
power, for everything in existence belongs to
Him. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise, (belief in Allah
and His Message brings out the best in humanity and
lack of belief brings out the worst). Allah remains
indispensable and His Dominion remains all engulfing.
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يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلاَ
تَقُولُواْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْحَقِّ
O' People of the Scriptures! Commit no excesses in
your religion, and do not say of Allah anything but
the truth.
Allah (swt) addresses the people of the
Scriptures, especially the Christians. "Commit no
excesses in your religion," He says, followed by
saying, "and don't say anything of Allah except the
truth." The Jews went to excess with their
exclusiveness and rejection of Jesus the Messiah.
The Christians went to greater excess with the concept
of the Trinity. The Truth is Tawhid, the absolute
Oneness of Allah.
The Quran enjoins on the Christians to adhere to
the truth, Allah's absolute Oneness. Allah is the
Creator and He is to be worshiped by the
created; the created are the humans, including the
Prophets, among whom is Jesus (may peace be unto him).
Trinity or the belief in three Gods or God in
three parts was well recorded in the histories of
Egyptian, Greek, and other societies. Such
misconceptions found their way into early
Christianity, although they were foreign to
Christianity.
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إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ
اللّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ
مِّنْهُ
Verily, Jesus the Messiah, son of Mary, was only a
Messenger of Allah, and His word which He bestowed on
Mary, and a spirit (proceeding) from Him
Allah describes Jesus the Messiah in very clear
terms as a Prophet like all other Prophets. He
is a Messenger of Allah, a human like any of
us, but with the high honor of being Allah's Prophet.
ØThe
Messiah Jesus
(in Ayah: 72-76)
received Revelations from Allah through Gabriel
Jubra'eel),
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was given powers to perform miracles through the
Power of Allah,
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was a human who ate, slept, and needed to rest, and
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Jesus was created without a father by Allah's
decree, just as Adam was created without a
father or mother by Allah's decree. What may
be unfamiliar to our minds doesn't mean Allah does
not do the unfamiliar. What may seem impossible to
us is not impossible to Allah.
Ø
Therefore Jesus the Messiah is Allah's Messenger and a
Prophet of His. He was like other Messengers of Allah
be it Abraham (Ibrahim), Jacob (Ya'qoob), Ishmael
(Isma'eel), Moses (Musa), or the final one Muhammad
(pbuh).
Ø
Prophet Jesus had the distinction of being born
without a father. One may ask "How was it done?" The
answer is in the second half of the same Ayah, it
says, "and His word which He bestowed on Mary, and
a spirit proceeding from Him." To explain this we
ought to know that if Allah (swt) decides to create
something He says: "Be and it will be done,"
such is Allah's capacity, and such is His Will.
Therefore, when Allah says that Jesus was His Word
which He bestowed on Mary, Allah means He put forth
an order to specifically perform the creation of Jesus
through Mary without the means of sexual contact with
a father.
Ø
And "a spirit proceeding from Him" means Allah
put life into this new creation, that He blew the
breath of life into this creature as He did with
Adam.
Ø
It is the will of Allah that decided to do so for some
special reason that only He knows.
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فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ
ثَلاَثَةٌ انتَهُواْ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ
Believe therefore in Allah and His Messengers, and say
not "Trinity"—Refrain from so saying, it is best for
you.
Allah (swt) commands to what is best, to
believe in Him and His Messengers, and to reject the
Trinity. Jesus and other Messengers were the
creations of Allah with the distinguished honor of
Prophethood.
Ø
Allah the Creator is to be worshiped by the
created, we and all the Prophets are to worship
and dedicate ourselves to Him.
Ø
"Say not Trinity" Allah commands the
Christians, and He follows that by saying "Refrain
from so saying, it is best for you."
Ø
Allah wants to set things right and put them in their
proper perspective. Allah is the Truth and wants
accuracy about Him. He revealed this Ayah because
falsehoods must be rejected and the truth must take
their place. The Trinity is a Falsehood.
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إِنَّمَا اللّهُ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَن يَكُونَ
لَهُ وَلَدٌ
Verily, verily, Allah is only One; glory be to Him,
Far be it from Him that He should have a son
Once more this Ayah testifies to Allah's Oneness.
Glory be to Him, far be it from Him to have a son,
since having a son would be an extension to what will
perish, and lead to the formation of subsequent
generations. And by this it will mean that there is a
beginning and an end to each which clashes with the
nature of Allah Almighty who has no beginning or
end. Allah is eternal, different in His essence
from His creatures, and the falsehood of attributing a
son to Him contradicts His Essence.
In other words, for Allah to have a son would mean
that He was born and will die, which is in conflict
with Allah's nature.
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لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَات وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ وَكَفَى
بِاللّهِ وَكِيلاً
His is all that is in the Heavens and on Earth. Allah
is sufficient as a protector.
All that is in the heavens and on earth belongs to
Allah (swt), be it people, Prophets, material goods,
treasures, or whatever. They belong to Him in
absolute terms.
Allah as the Sovereign Being oversees us and
directs us, corrects and leads us, and He sends down
the truth so that we learn and benefit by it.
Therefore, it suffices for all humans to relate to
Allah as a creature relates to his Creator directly
and without the need of any intermediary.
In other words, our relationship with Allah will
remain clear, direct, simple and true. It will be a
direct relation of the created to their Creator,
whose basis is the loving supervision of Allah to His
creatures.
Allah is the benefactor, there to put comfort in
the hearts of man. Allah is the best Sponsor, glory
be to Him.
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This selection in
brief:
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The Message of Islam is the truth
from the Lord. Allah confirms that what Muhammad
(pbuh) has brought is the truth from the Lord.
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The best that happens to a person is
to believe in the Message of Islam.
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He who disbelieves in the Message of
Allah will hurt himself.
-
Allah commands the Christians and
Jews to say of Allah the truth, and that Jesus
Christ was:
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a Messenger of Allah,
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Allah's word which He bestowed on
Mary (the word "Be", and it was fulfilled),
and
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a spirit proceeding from Allah
to put life in him.
-
Allah commands mankind to refrain
from the concept of Trinity, since this is
blasphemy.
-
Allah emphasizes once more that He
is One, without a son.
-
Everything belongs to Allah in true
terms.
MEANING
OF WORDS
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O
mankind
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يَا أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ
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has
brought you
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قَدْ جَاءكُمُ
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the
Messenger |
الرَّسُولُ
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the
truth |
بِالْحَقِّ
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from your Lord |
مِن رَّبِّكُمْ
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so,
believe
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فَآمِنُواْ
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it
is best for you |
خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ
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and
if
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وَإِن |
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you
disbelieve |
تَكْفُرُواْ
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verily
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فَإِنَّ
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to
Allah |
لِلَّهِ
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all
that is in |
مَا فِي
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heavens |
السَّمَاوَاتِ
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and
earth |
وَالأَرْضِ
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and
Allah is |
وَكَانَ اللّهُ
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All‑Knowing |
عَلِيمًا
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All‑Wise |
حَكِيمًا
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O'
People of the
Scriptures |
يَا أَهْلَ
الْكِتَابِ
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commit no excesses |
لاَ تَغْلُواْ
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in
your religion |
فِي دِينِكُمْ
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and
don't say |
وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ
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of
Allah |
عَلَى اللّهِ
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except the truth |
إِلاَّ الْحَقِّ
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verily
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إِنَّمَا
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Jesus the Messiah |
الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى
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son
of Mary |
ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ
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Messenger of
Allah |
رَسُولُ اللّهِ
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and
His word |
وَكَلِمَتُهُ
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which He
bestowed |
أَلْقَاهَا
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on
Mary |
إِلَى مَرْيَمَ
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and
a spirit
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وَرُوحٌ
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proceeding from
Him |
مِّنْهُ
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so
believe |
فَآمِنُواْ
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in
Allah |
بِاللّهِ
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and
His Messengers |
وَرُسُلِهِ
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and
say not |
وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ
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Trinity |
ثَلاَثَةٌ
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refrain from so
saying |
انتَهُواْ
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it
is best for you |
خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ
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Verily, verily |
إِنَّمَا
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Allah
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اللّهُ
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One
Allah |
إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ
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glory be to Him |
سُبْحَانَهُ
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far
be it from Him |
أَن |
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He
should have |
يَكُونَ لَهُ
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a
son
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وَلَدٌ
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His |
لَّهُ |
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all
that is |
مَا فِي
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in
heavens |
السَّمَاوَات
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and
all that is |
وَمَا فِي
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on
earth |
الأَرْضِ
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and
sufficient
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وَكَفَى
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is
Allah |
بِاللّهِ
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as
a benefactor |
وَكِيلاً |
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