Commentary
And when it was as if it was said: What is that verse which you named "a verse" after what you brought of the wondrous things? He said: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾, the Gatherer of the Attributes of Perfection, ﴿is my Lord and your Lord﴾, meaning our Creator and our Sustainer. I and you are in that one law. And the reading of the one who opened with "Indeed" is clearer in meaning. ﴿So worship Him﴾, meaning the one I have called you to, ﴿is a straight path﴾. I and you are equal in it. I do not call you to anything except that I am the first to act upon it. I do not claim that I am a god, nor do I call to the worship of other than Allah, the Most High, as the Dajjal claims and is deceived by the liars upon whom miracles appear as a test from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, for His servants. They make them a means for superiority in the land and for elevating themselves above the people. The prophets came with warnings against them and the falsification of their conditions. To this points the saying of Jesus, peace be upon him, in what will come from the Gospel of John that whoever speaks from himself is only seeking glory for himself. As for the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him, he is truthful and there is no injustice in him. And to similar matters, the Torah guided, for it made the sign of the truthfulness of the truthful and the falsehood of the liar the call. Whoever's call is to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, must be believed. Whoever denies him is doomed, and whoever calls to other than him must be denied. Whoever believes him is doomed. He said in the fifth book of it: And when you enter the land which Allah, your Lord, gives you, do not do like the deeds of those peoples. And let there not be among you anyone who buries his son or daughter in the fire as a vow to the idols, nor anyone who seeks the teaching of the soothsayers, nor anyone who takes by the evil eye, nor let there be among you anyone who practices divination, nor a magician, nor anyone who performs incantations, nor anyone who goes to the soothsayers and the diviners seeking them and asking them about the dead. For indeed, everyone who does these deeds is unclean before Allah, your Lord. And for this uncleanness, Allah will destroy these peoples from among you. But be humble and submissive before Allah, your Lord. For indeed, these peoples whom you inherit used to obey the soothsayers and the astrologers. As for you, Allah, your Lord, does not give you like this, but He will establish for you a prophet from your brethren like me. So obey that prophet as you obeyed Allah, your Lord, at Horeb on the Day of Gathering when you said: We do not hear the voice of Allah, our Lord, nor do we witness this great fire lest we die. So Allah said: How good is what you have spoken! I will raise for them a prophet from their brethren like you and I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them what I command him. And the man who does not accept the words of the prophet who speaks in My name, I will take vengeance on him. As for the prophet who speaks and dares in My name and says what I did not command him to say and speaks in the names of other gods, let that prophet be killed. And if you say in your hearts: How can we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? If that prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and his saying does not come to pass or does not happen, then that saying is not what the Lord has spoken, but that prophet has spoken with boldness and shamelessness. So do not fear him and do not be alarmed by him. And he said shortly before that: And when Allah destroys the peoples to which you go and eradicates them from among you and you inherit them and dwell in their land, take heed, do not follow their gods after Allah destroys them from among you, and do not ask about their gods, nor say: How did these peoples worship their gods until we do like their deeds? And do not do like their deeds before Allah, your Lord, for they acted with all that which Allah abhors and burned their sons and daughters for their gods. But the saying which I command you, keep it and act upon it! Do not add to it or take away from it anything. If a prophet arises among you or one who interprets dreams and performs a sign or a wonder and says: Let us go and worship other gods which you do not know, do not accept the words of that prophet or the dreamer, for he only wants to test you to know whether you love Allah, your Lord. Keep His commandments and fear Him and listen to His words and worship Him and cling to Him. As for that prophet and the one who dreamed dreams, let him be killed, for he has spoken with sin before Allah, your Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and rescued you from servitude, so he intended to lead you astray from the path which Allah, your Lord, commanded you to walk upon. And eradicate the evil from among you. And if your brother, the son of your mother and father, or your daughter, or your spouse, or your friend entices you saying: Let us go and follow other gods which you have not known, you nor your forefathers, from the gods of the peoples which are around you - near to you or far away - from the ends of the earth to its farthest - do not accept his words, nor obey him, nor feel pity for him, nor have mercy on him, nor shield him, nor show kindness to him, but kill him with a killing, and begin with him. You shall kill him first, then all the peoples shall begin with him, and stone him with stones until he dies, for he intended to lead you astray from the worship of Allah, your Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and rescued you from servitude. And all the children of Israel shall hear of this, and they shall be alarmed so that they do not return to do such evil among you. And if you hear that in a village of the villages which Allah has given you, a people have committed a sin and led the people of their village astray and said to them: Let us go and worship other gods which you do not know, investigate diligently and ask well. If the word which has reached you is certain and this uncleanness has been committed in that village, kill the people of that village with the sword, and kill every one in it from the women and children and animals with the sword, and gather all its spoils outside the village and burn the village with fire and burn all its spoils before Allah, your Lord. And the village shall become a heap of ruins forever and shall not be rebuilt. And let nothing of its destruction cling to your hands so that the Lord may turn away His anger from you and show you mercy and pour out His mercy upon you and answer you and have mercy upon you and multiply you as He said to your forefathers. This is if you hear the word of Allah, your Lord, and keep His commandments which I have commanded you today, and do good deeds before Allah, your Lord. If you do this, you will be for Allah, your Lord, not guilty, and you will not become like the wild beast, nor shall you cut your faces and between your eyes for the dead, for you are a pure people for Allah, your Lord. And Allah, your Lord, has chosen you to be for Him a beloved people better than all the peoples of the nations.
It has become clear from all of this that 'Isa, blessings and peace be upon him, is a confirmer of the Torah in calling to the oneness of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. The greatest sign of the truth of the true Prophet is his exclusive calling to Allah, exalted is He, and his equality between himself and all those whom he calls in turning to Him, worshiping Him, and humbling themselves before Him. The sign of the liar is his calling to other than Allah. In this and similar matters, which will come from the Gospel in Surah An-Nisa, there is a warning against the Dajjal and his likes. It has been established that the intended meaning of the verse in this verse is what has been previously mentioned regarding the news that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is the Lord of all and the command to worship Him. This is as it comes from the command of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, to our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in His saying: 'Say, O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you' [Aal Imran: 64] until His saying: 'And let not some of us take others as lords besides Allah' [Aal Imran: 64].
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