4. [an-Nisa, Medina 92]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَهْلَ
الْكِتَابِ
لاَ
تَغْلُواْ
فِي
دِينِكُمْ
وَلاَ
تَقُولُواْ
عَلَى
اللّهِ
إِلاَّ
الْحَقِّ
...
4: 171. O People of the Book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth.
C675. Just as a foolish servant may go wrong by excess of zeal for his master, so in religion people's excesses may lead them to blasphemy or a spirit the very opposite of religion.
The Jewish excesses in the direction of formalism, racialism, exclusiveness, and rejection of Christ Jesus have been denounced in many places. Here the Christian attitude is condemned, which raises Jesus to an equality with Allah: in some cases venerates Mary almost to idolatry: attributes a physical son to Allah: and invents the doctrine of the Trinity, opposed to all reason, which according to the Athanasian Creed, unless a man believes, he is doomed to hell for ever.
Let our Muslims also beware lest they fall into excesses either in doctrine or in formalism.
... إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ...
Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him:
... فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ...
so believe in Allah and His Messengers.
... وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ ثَلاَثَةٌ انتَهُواْ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ ...
Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you:
C676. Christ's attributes are mentioned:
- that he was the son of a woman, Mary and therefore a man;
- but a messenger, a man with a mission from Allah, and therefore entitled to honour;
- a Word bestowed on Mary, for he was created by Allah's word "Be" (kun), and he was: 3:59;
- a spirit proceeding from Allah, but not Allah:
his life and his mission were more limited than in the case of some other Messengers, though we must pay equal honour to him as a Prophet of Allah.
The doctrines of Trinity, equality with Allah, and sonship, are repudiated as blasphemies. Allah is independent of all needs and has no need of a son to manage His affairs.
The Gospel of John (whoever wrote it) has put in a great deal of Alexandrian and Gnostic mysticism round the doctrine of the Word (Greek, Logos), but it is simply explained here. (R).
... إِنَّمَا اللّهُ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ...
for Allah is One Allah: glory be to Him: (for Exalted is He) above having a son.
... لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَات وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ...
To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth.
... وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ وَكِيلاً ﴿١٧١﴾
And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
4: 171
Asad O followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds in your religious beliefs, and do not say of God anything but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God’s Apostle – His promise which He had conveyed unto Mary – and a soul created by Him [note 181]. Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, “ [God is] a trinity”. Desist [from this assertion] for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God. Asad
Pickthall .......And God is sufficient as Defender.
[[ Asad’s note 181 - ……”the announcement (risalah) which God bade the angels to convey to Mary, and God’s glad tiding to her” (a reference to 3:45) – which justifies the rendering of “kalimatuha” as “[the fulfillment of] his promise”. (See also surah 3, note 28.) As regards the expression, “a soul from Him” or “created by Him”, it is to be noted that among the various meanings which the word ‘ruh’ bears in the Quran (e.g., “inspiration” in 2:87 and 253), it is also used in its primary significance of “breath of life”, “soul”, or “spirit”: thus, for instance, in 32:9, where the ever-recurring evolution of the human embryo is spoken of: “and then He forms him [i.e., man]…and breathes into him of his spirit”……………]]
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21. [AL-Anbiyaa, Mecca 73]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَالَّتِي
أَحْصَنَتْ
فَرْجَهَا
...
21: 91. And (remember) her who guarded her chastity:
C2748. Mary the mother of Jesus.
Chastity was her special virtue: with a son of virgin birth, she and Jesus became a miracle to all nations. That was the virtue with which they (both Mary and Jesus) resisted evil.
... فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّوحِنَا...
We breathed into her of Our Spirit,
...وَجَعَلْنَاهَا وَابْنَهَا آيَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٩١﴾
and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples.
Other Versions:
21:91
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[[Asad’s notes - 87 This allegorical expression, used here with reference to Mary's conception of Jesus, has been widely - and erroneously - interpreted as relating specifically to his birth.
As a matter of fact, the Qur'an uses the same expression in three other places with reference to the creation of man in general - namely in 15:29 and 38:72, "when I have formed him... and breathed into him of My spirit"; and in 32:9, "and thereupon He forms [lit., "formed"] him fully and breathes lit., "breathed"]
into him of His spirit". In particular, the passage of which the last-quoted phrase is a part (i.e., 32:7-9) makes it abundantly and explicitly clear that God "breathes of His spirit" into every human being. Commenting on the verse under consideration, Zamakhshari states that "the breathing of the spirit [of God] into a body signifies the endowing it with life": an explanation with which Razi concurs . (In this connection, see also note 181 on 4 : 1 7 1 .)
As for the description of Mary as allati ahsanat farjaha; idiomatically denoting "one who guarded her chastity" (lit, "her private parts"), it is to be borne in mind that the term ihsan - lit., "[one's] being fortified [against any danger or evil]" - has the tropical meaning of "abstinence from what is unlawful or reprehensible" (Taj al-'Arus), and especially from illicit sexual intercourse, and is applied to
a man as well as a woman: thus, for instance, the terms muhsan and muhsanah are used elsewhere in the Qur'an to describe, respectively, a man or a woman who is "fortified [by marriage] against unchastity". Hence, the expression allati ahsanat farjaha, occurring in the above verse as well as in 66 : 1 2 with reference to Mary, is but meant to stress her outstanding chastity and complete abstinence,
in thought as well as in deed, from anything unlawful or morally reprehensible: in other words, a rejection of the calumny (referred to in 4:156 and obliquely alluded to in 19:27-28) that the birth of Jesus was the result of an "illicit union".
88 For my rendering of the term ayah as "symbol", see surah 17, note 2, and surah 19, note 16. ]]
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32. As-Sajdah (Prostration), 30 verses
Mecca Period 75
[[Ruby’s note – I think it is indicated in these verses when a human becomes a human [this is also critical for the issue of abortion, etc.] is when a human has all his/her parts mature to look like the ultimate shape a human comes out of the mother then the spirit is blown into it and that could be the point since when a human can be considered a full human. Before that point it may be a living thing and not full human.]]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
ذَلِكَ
عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ
وَالشَّهَادَةِ
الْعَزِيزُ
الرَّحِيمُ
﴿٦﴾
32: 6. Such as He, the knower of all things, hidden and open, the Exalted (in power), the Merciful;
الَّذِي
أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ
شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ...
32: 7. He Who has made everything which He has created most Good.
C3636. Allah's creation in itself is good: it is beautiful, in proper proportions, and adapted for the functions it has to perform.
... وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنسَانِ مِن طِينٍ ﴿٧﴾
He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay,
C3637. Man is asked to contemplate his own humble beginning. His material body (apart from life) is a piece of earth or clay, which is another term for primeval matter.
Matter is therefore the first stage, but even matter was not self-created. It was created by Allah.
ثُمَّ
جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ
مِن
سُلَالَةٍ مِّن
مَّاء مَّهِينٍ
﴿٨﴾
32: 8. And made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised:
C3638. Then comes life and the reproduction of life.
We are still looking at the purely physical aspect, but it is now a stage higher; it is an animal.
Its reproduction is through the sperm or semen, which is a quintessence of every part of the body of man. Yet it issues from the same part of his body as the urine, and is therefore despicable in man's sight. It is a living cell or cells, summing up so much ancestral life-history.
ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِ...
32: 9. But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit.
C3639. The third stage is indicated by "fashioned him in due proportion". Cf. 15:29.
After fertilization of ovum by the sperm, an individual life comes into existence, and it is gradually fashioned into shape, its limbs are formed; its animal life begins to function; all the beautiful adaptations come into play.
The fourth stage here mentioned is that of distinctive Man, into whom Allah's spirit is breathed. Then he rises higher than animals.
وَجَعَلَ
لَكُمُ
السَّمْعَ
وَالْأَبْصَارَ
وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ...
And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding):
C3640. As a complete man he gets the higher faculties.
The five animal senses I understand to be included in the third stage. But in the fourth stage he rises higher, and is addressed in the second person, "you," instead of the third person "him".
He has now the spiritual counterpart of hearing (i.e., the capacity of hearing Allah's Message) and seeing (i.e., the inner vision), and feeling the nobler heights of love and understanding the bearings of the inner life (both typified by the Heart). Yet with all these gifts, what thanks does unregenerate or corrupted man give to Allah?
... قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٩﴾
little thanks do ye give!
Asad’s Version:
(32:6) Such is He who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind: 5 the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace,
(32:7)[Assad] who makes most excellent everything that He creates. 6 Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay; 7
(32:8) then He causes him to be begotten 8 out of the essence of a humble fluid;
(32:9) and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit:' and [thus, O men,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds: 10 [yet] how seldom are you grateful!
