Story of Jesus- part 13
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَـٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًۭا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْمَسِيحَ ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓا۟ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَـٰهًۭا وَٰحِدًۭا ۖ لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
9:31 They make of their rabbis and their monks, and of the Christ, son of Mary, lords besides God. Yet they have been ordered to worship none but the One God, other than whom there is no deity. Exalted be He above those to whom they ascribe divinity.
The phrase “أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَـٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًۭا” is mentioning that people have taken the rabbis, monks, religious leaders, pious people and saints as their Lord besides God. From the literal context, the verse is somehow talking about the people from Jesus’ time, mainly the Children of Israel. Jesus was sent to them to correct the understanding of the message of Torah which was his mission. People took Jesus not as the message bearer but as the lord. Not only him but afterwards the rabbis and monks such as those living spiritually as well to be the lord. I wonder what the message of this verse is and what do I make out of it for my life now? I am not here to criticize the people who followed Jesus or the later generations, that would not have anything to do with me. The message I can take is that I should not be taking the religious leaders as my Lord. The religious leaders are mentioned in the Quran as “أَوْلِيَاء”, the ones close to their lord and I respect them. How would I be taking them or even Jesus as my Lord?
I understand that the knowledge of spiritual leaders comes from their studying the message of God brought by the prophets. I respect them for their efforts in understanding the message that they share with me that I can learn from. I should understand that they are not the source of the knowledge that they transfer to me. How about monks who are not represented to transfer knowledge? They are following the message and trying to be pious people as God oriented men to their best abilities; how would I regard them? I would also respect them. However, I have to be careful not to elevate the status of anyone as to be my Lord, making it a worshiping attitude such as whatever they say must be correct, whatever advice they give must be correct since they are not receiving revelation from God. I should be aware that all the virtues, qualities that one has are given to them; they are not the origin of their knowledge and virtues, but from their Creator. They are human beings like you and me. I appreciate the effort they put in and would evaluate and verify what they tell me. All what they do, they practice and tell us is their understanding from the source of the revelation they received from God. Only the prophets receive the message and transfer it to the people without confusing them with their understanding. Even the prophets’ practices and virtues are not necessarily a direct universal message but after being educated and inspired from God; They are not the origin of their virtues and knowledge.
The life of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) demonstrated that it was not the personality of Muhammad but the message that he brings which should be paid attention to. The famous narration mentions that some people were sitting on the floor and when the prophet (pbuh) walked in, they all stood up. The prophet (pbuh) told them “What are you doing my friends, are you going to put me in a position of Jesus as the Christian people did?” This shows the importance of being careful in elevating the status of a personality rather than the message that is being delivered. The virtuous life is respected but be careful of not elevating their personality which is given by their Creator. They are created beings; their qualities are also created by their Creator.
Continuing with the phrase “أُمِرُوٓا۟ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَـٰهًۭا وَٰحِدًۭا ۖ” translated as “they have been ordered to worship none but the One God.” What is the difference between “وَٰحِدًۭا ۖ” and “أَحَدٌ”?
The term “أَحَدٌ” is the Absoluteness of God as to be the Creator of each individual being. As an example, for the tree to exist, absolute qualities are needed. Whoever creates the tree must be the creator of the whole universe. The term “وَٰحِدًۭا ۖ” has a slightly different meaning which comes from certain scholars where by looking at the creation of the whole universe shows that it must be the act of creation of an Absolute Being. At the end both terms refer to the Absolute Being but depends from which perspective we look. For example, if I look at the door in an apartment, the architect that placed that door at that location, at a certain position and size must know the design of the whole apartment. Knowing the whole apartment requires knowing the whole floor’s position in relation to the other floors of the building. This requires knowing each and every floor and thus the whole building. This analogy helps us understand the concept of “أَحَدٌ” as Absoluteness of the Architect of the universe. Whereas the term “وَٰحِدًۭا ۖ” starts from seeing the whole building in our analogy and seeing that whoever designed and arranged the whole building must have the knowledge to design each floor, apartment and door which also concludes on the designer or architect of the universe being an Absolute Creator.
The verse indicates that humans are ordered to worship an Absolute being which means that my human qualities do not accept any idea other than the Absoluteness of the Creator. The qualities are given to me to confirm none other than the Absolute Creator. I should not corrupt myself by using the free choice that I have been given and contradict the purpose of my qualities to deny the Absoluteness of the Creator.
The phrase “سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ” translated as “exalted be He above those to whom they ascribe divinity” which implies that my conclusion should be beyond my capacity as in whatever I can ascribe divinity to, it is beyond that. When I conclude on the Absoluteness of the Creator, I imply that that being has no defect or anything lacking. For example, if I get an idea that something of this universe creates something. That does not fit within my being, i.e. it is not allowed when I use my reasoning and human qualities. I realize that these things cannot be the source of their own existence. The saints, rabbis, and messengers need to eat, breathe as they are created beings; they get old and die. This tells me that the things in the universe need to be given existence and cannot be the creator. My conclusion confirms that there must be an Absolute Creator who should lack nothing.
The verse says that “Exalted be He” meaning that God is beyond any defect attributed to Him which is from God’s perspective. I have to look from my perspective where I cannot confirm any idea about something to be the source of existence but lacks perfection of Absoluteness. I am looking at my capacity where I cannot confirm by concluding a being to be the source of the existence of anything if it lacks perfection of Absoluteness. Practically, we may say if God is wise, why did this event happen? It means our conclusion is lacking the perfection of Wisdom. This lack of perfection for Absoluteness is unacceptable by my human qualities which rejects that idea. Whatever has a beginning has an end; the universe which has a beginning and an end and subject to the order cannot give existence to a particle. The Quran is encouraging me to check myself if I have such an idea where created things show any signs of perfect Absoluteness. By giving the examples of rabbis, monks and prophet Jesus, check if I have this nature to confirm that created things have absoluteness.
وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا
4:157 As for their saying, “We have killed the Christ, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God.” However, they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear as if it had been so. Those who disagree are confused, having no [real] knowledge to follow, only supposition. They did not kill him with certainty.
The scenario is presented as people claim that Jesus Christ has been killed. Prophet Jesus is emphasized here as to be the Messenger of God, “رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ”. Why is the phrase “Messenger of God” added here? That’s where the answer lies, one cannot kill the message of God. They can kill the body or personality of a person but not the message of the messenger of God. Can I kill the message by denying it, rejecting it or ignoring it? No, the message is always there. My reality needs the messenger of God. One cannot kill the messenger of God. For example, the Prophet Muhammad is dead now; It does not mean that His message brought to humanity is killed. What makes one the messenger is the message of God. One may deny the message but they cannot destroy the message which is always there. Can one kill the knowledge a book transfers to us just by burning or tearing off the paper sheets of the book? Knowledge still exists in the minds of the people who have read the book.
All human questions are with me such as why am I in this world? Where am I going? I cannot disregard these questions, perhaps I can try to forget for sometime by distracting myself but they always linger and are hardwired within me. The questions require that there must be the message of God who is my Creator and therefore by giving me the ability to ask these questions, He must answer them.
The word “ٱلظَّنِّ” is used here to mean that they thought that they killed the messenger but in reality, they did not. One has the choice to follow the message or not, it is always out there. The messenger is not the body but is known for the message that he carries. For example, someone deciding to close the Mathematics department at an educational institution does not mean that Mathematics is no longer there, that they can get rid of it.
وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَـٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ إِنِّى رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقًۭا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَىَّ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَمُبَشِّرًۢا بِرَسُولٍۢ يَأْتِى مِنۢ بَعْدِى ٱسْمُهُۥٓ أَحْمَدُ ۖ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ قَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَا سِحْرٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ
61:6 And when Jesus the son of Mary said, “O children of Israel, I am God’s Messenger to you, confirming what is available of the Torah, and bringing good news of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” But when he came to them with clear evidence, they said, “This is obvious magic.”
Prophet Jesus is clarifying that he is employed by God as His messenger. He is fulfilling his duty as a continuation of God’s message that is available through Torah. He confirms the previous prophets’ messages and updates any misunderstandings of the message. This does not mark the end of the message but it continues as God sends other messengers to revive the message and keep it alive.
For example, if the computer no longer has an operating system program, what good would the computer be for? As long as this universe and human beings exist, there must be some instructions for me to decipher the meaning of my existence. Human beings are created to know the reality of their existence, the purpose in why they exist. If I am created with the ability to question and understand then definitely I must have guidance to help me understand the meaning in existence. That is the reason that messengers of God are sent to mankind.
It is interesting to note that the Quran never criticizes the prophets. For example, it doesn’t say that Moses is wrong but the message became corrupted and I will send you a new revived message. Whenever a message is corrupted, it will be continued with a new message.
The Quran uses the word “أَحْمَدُ” translated as the name “Ahmad” to follow him as the messenger. Scholars refer to this Arabic word to mean a comforter, or in Greek “parakletos” or “paraclete”, someone who is a helper or a counselor. The word “Ahmad” can be understood to be referring to the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) but we can also understand it generally as to when the message is corrupted, definitely a fresh one must be introduced. The verse indicates that the message of God will always be there. Killing the body does not destroy the message of God. The Quran guarantees that the Quranic message will not be corrupted. Interpretations of the message is a whole different matter.
The phrase “But when he came to them with clear evidence”, in this specific case may be referring to the Children of Israel which means that any group of people who see themselves as the followers of any prophetic message or God’s religion. Philosophers on the other hand say that they are following their reasoning and some others may be following some other person’s ideas. Whoever claims to follow God’s message which is revelation, can be represented as the “Children of Israel”.
Prophet Jesus’ message is lost now, only some pieces remain where the rest are narrations about his life, and interpretations of his message by some people as translations, which lack the real meaning of the original text. When the message is corrupted or lost, “Ahmad” will revive the message always with “clear evidence” accompanied and confirmed by the universe. My human senses too should be able to confirm the message and be convinced. Some folks may say these extraordinary things happening in the universe is “obvious magic” and the message of the prophet is made up of words by a man. That is to say, it is not God’s revealed message because they don’t want to submit. Not that it doesn’t make sense to them but they do not come with real evidence and make excuses. They attribute it to nature as real evidence. What and where is nature, please demonstrate it to me!
Whoever creates me must present me with the message that I will be able to confirm. The prophet brings the message with clear evidence, so that I may see the truthfulness of the message using the qualities that I am given under the witnessing of the universe.