Allah said:
[وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ
رَبِّى وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَـذَا صِرَطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ ]
(And verily, Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him. That is the
straight path.) Among those things which `Isa said to his people while he was in
his cradle is that Allah was his Lord and their Lord, and he commanded them to
worship Him alone. He said,
[فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَـذَا
صِرَطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ]
(So worship Him. That is the straight path.) Meaning, "That which I have come
to you with from Allah is the straight path.'' This means that the path is
correct; whoever follows it will be rightly guided and whoever opposes it will
deviate and go astray. Allah's statement,
[فَاخْتَلَفَ
الاٌّحْزَابُ مِن بَيْنِهِمْ]
(Then the sects differed,) means that the opinions of the People of the Book
differed concerning `Isa even after the explanation of his affair and the
clarification of his situation. They disagreed about his being the servant of
Allah, His Messenger, and His Word that He cast upon Maryam and a spirit from
Himself. So a group of them -- who were the majority of the Jews (may Allah's
curses be upon them) -- determined that he was a child of fornication and that
his speaking in his cradle was merely sorcery. Another group said that it was
Allah Who was speaking (not `Isa). Others said that he (`Isa) was the son of
Allah. Some said that he was the third part of a divine trinity with Allah. Yet,
others said that he was the servant of Allah and His Messenger. This latter view
is the statement of truth, which Allah guided the believers to. A report similar
with this meaning has been reported from `Amr bin Maymun, Ibn Jurayj, Qatadah
and others from the Salaf (predecessors) and the Khalaf (later generations).
Allah said,
[فَوْيْلٌ
لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن مَّشْهِدِ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ]
(so woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of a great Day.) This is a
threat and severe warning for those who lie about Allah, invent falsehood and
claim that He (Allah) has a son. However, Allah has given them respite until the
Day of Resurrection, and He has delayed their term out of gentleness and
confident reliance upon His divine decree overcoming them. Verily, Allah does
not hasten the affair of those who disobey Him. This has been related in a
Hadith collected in the Two Sahihs,
«إِنَّ اللهَ
لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»
(Verily, Allah gives respite to the wrongdoer until He seizes him and he will
not be able to escape Him.) Then, the Messenger of Allah recited the Ayah,
[وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ
رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ
]
(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He punishes the towns while they
are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful, (and) severe.) [11:102] In
the Two Sahihs it is also reported that the Messenger of Allah said,
«لَا أَحَدَ أَصْبَرُ
عَلَى أَذىً سَمِعَهُ مِنَ اللهِ، إِنَّهُمْ يَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُوَ
يَرْزُقُهُمْ وَيُعَافِيهِم»
(No one is more patient with something harmful that he hears than Allah.
Verily, they attribute to Him a son, while He is the One Who provides them
sustenance and good health.) Allah says,
[وَكَأَيِّن مِّن
قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَىَّ
الْمَصِيرُ ]
(And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing.
Then I punished it. And to me is the (final) return (of all).) [22:48] Allah,
the Exalted, also says,
[وَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ
اللَّهَ غَـفِلاً عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّـلِمُونَ إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ
تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الأَبْصَـرُ ]
(Consider not that Allah is unaware of that which the wrongdoers do, but He
gives them respite up to a Day when the eyes will stare in horror.)[14:42] This
is the reason that Allah says here,
[فَوْيْلٌ
لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن مَّشْهِدِ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ]
(So woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of a great Day.) referring to
the Day of Resurrection. It has been related in an authentic Hadith that is
agreed upon (in Al-Bukhari and Muslim), on the authority of `Ubadah bin As-Samit
who said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«مَنْ شَهِدَ أَنْ
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ
وَرَسُولُهُ، وَأَنَّ عِيسَى عَبْدُاللهِ وَرَسُولُهُ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا
إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِنْهُ، وَأَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ حَقٌّ وَالنَّارَ حَقٌّ،
أَدْخَلَهُ اللهُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنَ الْعَمَل»
(Whoever testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah
alone, Who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and
that `Isa was Allah's servant and Messenger, and His Word that He cast upon
Maryam, and a spirit from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are both real, then
Allah will admit him into Paradise regardless of whatever he did.)
[أَسْمِعْ بِهِمْ
وَأَبْصِرْ يَوْمَ يَأْتُونَنَا لَـكِنِ الظَّـلِمُونَ الْيَوْمَ فِى ضَلَـلٍ
مُّبِينٍ ]
[وَأَنْذِرْهُمْ
يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ إِذْ قُضِىَ الاٌّمْرُ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍ وَهُمْ لاَ
يُؤْمِنُونَ - إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَرِثُ الاٌّرْضَ وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا وَإِلَيْنَا
يُرْجَعُونَ ]
(38. How clearly will they see and hear, the Day when they will appear before
Us! But the wrongdoers today are in plain error.) (39. And warn them of the Day
of grief and regrets, when the case has been decided, while (now) they are in a
state of carelessness, and they believe not.) (40. Verily, We will inherit the
earth and whatsoever is thereon. And to Us they all shall be returned.)