CHAPTER 5, VERSES 110-111
إِذْ قَالَ اللَّـهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ اذْكُرْ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَتِكَ إِذْ أَيَّدتُّكَ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ تُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًاۖ
وَإِذْ عَلَّمْتُكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَۖ
وَإِذْ تَخْلُقُ مِنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ بِإِذْنِي فَتَنفُخُ فِيهَا فَتَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِيۖ
وَتُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ وَالْأَبْرَصَ بِإِذْنِيۖ
وَإِذْ تُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِيۖ
وَإِذْ كَفَفْتُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَنكَ إِذْ جِئْتَهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ إِنْ هَـٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١١٠﴾ وَإِذْ أَوْحَيْتُ إِلَى الْحَوَارِيِّينَ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِي وَبِرَسُولِي قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّنَا مُسْلِمُونَ ﴿١١١﴾
When Allãh shall say: “O ‘Īsã, son of Maryam!
Remember My favour on you and on your mother, when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, (so that) you spoke to the people in the cradle, and when grown up; and when I taught you the Book and the Wisdom and the Tawrãt and the Injīl; and when you made out of clay the figure of a bird by My leave, you breathed into it and it became a bird by My leave; and you healed those born blind and the lepers by My leave; and when you raised the dead by My leave; and when I held back the Children of Israel from you when you had come to them with clear signs, but then those of them who disbelieved said: 'This is nothing but clear sorcery' (110). And (recall) when I revealed to the disciples: 'Believe in Me and My messenger'; they said: 'We believe and bear witness that we are Muslims'“ (
111).
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COMMENTARY
These two and the subsequent verses (which narrate the story of the coming down of the Table and those which describe what Allãh shall ask ‘Īsã, son of Maryam [a.s.] regarding the people's taking them as two gods besides Allãh, and the reply which he will offer), all are related with the theme of the Chapter with which it had begun: It began with the call to fulfil the covenant and give thanks for favours, and cautioning against breaking the contract and being ungrateful to divine bounties. In this way, the end of the chapter fully returns to its beginning, andunity of intended theme are
preserved.
QUR’ÃN:
When Allãh shall say: “O ‘Īsã, son of Maryam! . and when you raised the dead by My leave: The verse counts many of the clear signs which had appeared on his hand, but it is counted in a way that shows Allãh's grace on him and his mother together. These favours are mentioned in almost similar words in the chapter of “The House of ‘Imrãn”, where Allãh narrates the angels' talk with Maryam when they came to give her the good news of ‘Īsã's birth. Allãh says: When the angels said: “O Maryam! Surely Allãh gives you good tidings of a Word from Him whose name is the Masīh, ‘Īsã son ofMaryam, . .
And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of mature age, . And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom, and the Tawrãt and the Injīl. And (make him) a messenger to the Children of Israel: 'That I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird; then I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allãh's leave; and I heal the blind and the leper, and bring to life the dead, by Allãh's leave . (3:45-49).
Meditation on the context of the verses makes it clear why the signs which apparently were exclusively connected with the Christ, have been counted as bounties bestowed on him and on his mother together, as the verses of the third chapter indicate; because good tiding is given concerning a bounty, and here the case is the same. Whatever signs and bounties were connected with Jesus, e.g. being born without a father, being strengthened by the Holy Ghost, creating flying birds, healing the blind and the leper and raising the dead to life by Allãh's permission, were miraculous signs of Maryam to the same degree as they were related to ‘Īsã (peace be upon both). They both together were bestowed the divine favours, as Allãh says: “rememberMy
favour on you and your mother”.
Also, the same is indicated by the divine words: . and We made her and her son a sign for all peoples (21:91), as He has counted both of them together as one sign, not two.
The words: “when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit (so that) you spoke to the people”, apparently show that the strengthening with the Holy Spirit was the cause that enabled him to talk to the people. That is why the clause: “you spoke to the people”, is attached to the preceding sentence without any intervening conjunction; it indi-cates that the strengthening and the speaking together constitute one action, made up of a cause and its effect. Allãh on occasions has only mentioned one of the two - either cause or its effect as is seen in the preceding verses: . you spoke to the people in the cradle, and when grown up . (5:110); . and We gave to ‘Īsã, son of Maryam, clear evidence, and aided him with the Holy Spirit. . (2:253)
Apart from that, if the strengthening with the Holy Spirit is taken to mean sending revelation through the Spirit, it was not reserved for ‘Īsã, son of Maryam (a.s
.) and all the messengers shared it with him; moreover, the verse's context rejects this meaning.
The words: “and when I taught you the Book and the Wisdom and the Tawrãt and the Injīl”. It may be inferred from it that ‘Īsã (a.s
.) received this knowledge at one go, through a single divine command, without any graduality. Also, it may be understood from the facts that all actions have been combine together and are governed by only one adverb of time, 'when'.
The clauses: “and when you made out of clay the figure of a bird by My leave, . and you healed those born blind and the lepers by My leave;” The context, because the word 'when' is not repeated, shows that creating of the bird and healing of the blind and the lepers had happened at the same time; and mention of creation of bird contains the proviso: “by My leave”, as the matter of creation is very important because it entails bestowal of life; that is why the Qur’ãn has paid special attention to this clause and mentions its being done by divine leave, although the divine leave is also mentioned at the end of the sentence. But the divine Book did not like keeping the hearers in suspense even for a few moments, lest they think for a few seconds that some one besides Allãh can independently bestow life. And Allãh knows better.
The words: “and when you raised the dead byMy
leave”. Raising the dead alludes to making them alive. It clearly indicates that this miracle that had appeared on his hand, had involved those dead bodies, which were buried in graves, and he (a.s.) has put life into them and brought them out of the graves to this worldly life. The sentence shows that this miracle had taken place many times. Other themes connected with this verse were explained under the verses of the third chapter, and may be referred to if necessary.
QUR’ÃN:
and when I held back the children of Israel from you . 'This is nothing but clear sorcery': It shows that the Israelites wanted to harm him, but Allãh held them back from it. It tallies with what Allãh has mentioned in the chapter of “The House of ‘Imrãn”, in his stories: And they planned and Allãh (also) planned, and Allãh is the best of planners (3:54)
QUR’ÃN:
And (recall) when I revealed to the disciples: 'Believe inMe
and . that we are Muslims' “: It agrees with the third chapter's verse 52: And when ‘Īsã perceived their disbelief, he said:”Who will be my helpers unto Allãh?” The disciples said: “We will be Allãh's helpers: We believe in Allãh; and bear witness that we are Muslims.”
It is clear from the above that the belief of the disciples, men-tioned in this verse (And when I revealed to the disciples: “Believe in Me and My messenger”, they said: “We believe . .”) is other than their first belief in ‘Īsã (a.s.); because the above verse 3:52 apparently shows that it had happened in later days of his Call, while the disciples [who answered it] were the foremost and the first in believing in him and had remained adhered to him.
Moreover, the verse 3:52 (. . he said: “Who will be my helpers unto Allãh?” The disciples said: “We will be Allãh's helpers: We believe in Allãh; and bear witness that we are submitting ones.”), apparently shows that this Call was given to obtain their commitment for helping the divine religion, not for initial belief in Allãh. That is why the verse ends on the words: “and bear witness that we are Muslims.” The word, “Muslims”, here indicates that they were ready to submit to the divine order by establishing Allãh's Call and enduring the affliction in His cause. Obviously, this stage comes after the basic belief in Allãh.
Now, it is clear that this verse relates the story of taking the cov-enant from the disciples.
There are some other themes related to this verse, which were given in the chapter of “The House of ‘Imrãn”.
TRADITIONS
[as-Sadūq] narrates through his chain from Abū Ya‘qūb al-Baghdãdī that he said, “Ibn as-Sikkīt said to Abu 'l-Hasan ar-Ridã (a.s.), 'Why did Allãh send Mūsã ibn ‘Imrãn with his shining hand, staff and magical implements, and ‘Īsã with medical implements, and Muhammad (s.a.w.a.), with speech and sermons?'
“Abu 'l-Hasan (a.s.) said, 'Verily, when Allãh, the Sublime, sent Mūsã (a.s.) magic was prevalent among the people of his time; so Mūsã (a.s.) brought to them from Allãh, the Sublime, what they did not have and was beyond their power to (bring) its like; with it he nullified their witchcraft and established through it the proof against them. And verily Allãh, the Sublime, sent ‘Īsã at a time when chronic deseases had spread and the people were in (dire) need of medicine; so he brought to them from Allãh, the Sublime, like of which they did not have, and with which he gave life to the dead and healed the blind and the lepers by Allãh's permission and established through it the proof against them. And verily Allãh, the Sublime, sent Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) at a time when lectures, talks and poetry were prevalent among the people of his time; so he brought to them the Book of Allãh, sermons and wisdom with which he nullified their talk and established through it the proof against them.'
“Ibnu 's
-Sikkīt said, 'I have not ever seen as you (are) today. Now, who is today the proof against the creatures?' He said, '(It is) reason, with it is recognized he who speaks the truth about Allãh and it confirms him, and the lier against Allãh, and it refutes him.'Ibnu 's
-Sikkīt said, 'This is, by Allãh, the reply.'“ (
Ma‘ãni 'l-akhbãr)
Muhammad ibn Yahyã narrates from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Hasan ibn Mahbūb, from Abū Jamīlah, from Abãn ibn Taghlib and others, from Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s.), that he was asked, “Had ‘Īsã ibn Maryam raised anyone after his death (so that) he ate, got sustenance for a time and begot?” He said, “Yes. Verily, he had a friend, his brother in Allãh, the Blessed, the Sublime; and ‘Īsã (a.s.) used to pass by him and be his guest; and verily ‘Īsã lost contact with him for sometime, then came to him to greet him; so his mother came out and he (‘Īsã) asked her about him; she said, 'He is dead, O Messenger of Allãh!' So he said, 'Do you like to see him?' She said, 'Yes.' And he said, 'Tomor-row I shall come to you so that I raise him to life by the permission of Allãh, the Sublime.'
“When the morning came, he came to her and said, 'Come with me to his grave.' They both proceeded until they reached his grave. So, ‘Īsã (a.s.) stood there,then
prayed to Allãh, to Whom belong Might and Majesty. Then the grave opened wide and her son came out alive. When his mother saw him and he saw her, they both wept. ‘Īsã (a.s
.) had mercy on them, and told him (the son), 'Do you like to remain with your mother in the world?' He said, 'O Messenger of Allãh! (Will it be) with eating, sustenance and a [fixed] period?Or without eating, sustenance and a period?'
‘Īsã (a.s.) said to him, 'With eating, susten-ance and a period; you will live twenty years, will marry and beget.' He said, 'Then, yes.'”
(The Imãm) said, “So ‘Īsã (a.s
.), gave him to his mother; and he lived for twenty years and begot off-spring.” (al-Kãfī
)
Muhammad ibn Yūsuf as-San‘ãnī narrates from his father that he said, “I asked AbūJa‘far
(a.s.), about (the verse): And when I revealed to the disciples. He said, 'They were inspired.'“ (
at-Tafsīr, al-‘Ayyãshī)
The author says:
The word, revelation, has been used in the meaning of inspiration, in many places in the Qur’ãn. For example: AndWe
revealed to the mother of Mūsã: “Suckle him . (28:7); And your Lord revealed to the bee, saying: “Make hives in mountains . (16:68); that your Lord revealed to her (i.e. the Earth), (99:5).
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Author: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
