'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, said: "And the Jews said, 'Uzayr is the son of Allah,' and the Christians said, 'The Messiah is the son of Allah.' That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. May Allah fight them! How are they deluded?" It is widely mentioned in the books of the people of knowledge that a group from the Jews said this statement. It has been narrated that only Finhas said it. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that four of their scholars said it: Salam ibn Mishkam, Nu'man ibn Abi Awfa, Shas ibn Qays, and Malik ibn al-Sayf. Al-Naqqash said that no Jew remains who says it; they have become extinct. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If one says it, it is appropriate for the group to be associated with the ugliness of the statement due to the prominence of the one who said it among them. The sayings of the prominent are always well-known among the people and are used as evidence. From this, it is established that the group can say the words of their prophet. 'Asim and al-Kisai read: 'Uzayr is the son of Allah' with the tanween on 'Uzayr.' The meaning is that 'son' - on this - is a news of initiation about 'Uzayr.' This is the most correct of the opinions because it is the intended meaning against them. 'Uzayr' and similar names can decline whether they are foreign or Arabic. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read: 'Uzayr is the son of Allah' without the tanween on 'Uzayr.' Some of them said: 'Son' is a news about 'Uzayr,' and the tanween was omitted from 'Uzayr' due to the meeting of the two consonants. This is similar to the reading of the one who read: 'Ahad Allah al-Samad.' Abu Ali said: This is common in poetry, and al-Tabari recited regarding this: 'You will find me with the prince generous and with the spear fierce and brave, when 'Atif al-Sulami fled.' Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The alif - on this reading and interpretation - is established in 'son.' Some of them said: 'Son' is an attribute of 'Uzayr,' just as you say: 'Zayd ibn Amr.' The attribute and the attributed are treated as one name, and the tanween is omitted when the two consonants meet as if they were one word. The meaning is: 'Uzayr is the son of Allah, our deity and god,' or the meaning is: 'Our deity or god is 'Uzayr, the son of Allah.' Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The analogy of this reading and interpretation is that the alif should be omitted from 'son,' but it is established in the writing of the mushaf. From all this, it follows that the reading with the tanween in 'Uzayr' is the strongest.

Al-Tabari and others narrated that the Children of Israel were afflicted by trials and calamities - and it was said a disease - and Allah removed the Torah from them during that time, and they forgot it. Their scholars had buried it as soon as they felt that calamity. When the duration prolonged, the Torah was completely lost. Allah preserved it in the memory of 'Uzayr as a favor to him. He said to the Children of Israel: 'Indeed, Allah has preserved the Torah for me,' so they began to study it from him. Then the buried Torah was found, and it was equal to what 'Uzayr was studying. They went astray at that point and said: 'This can only be the son of Allah.' The apparent meaning of the Christians' saying that the Messiah is the son of Allah is that it is a sonship of lineage, as the Arabs said about the angels. Likewise, this is what the saying of Al-Dahhak, Al-Tabari, and others implies. This is more grievous in disbelief. Abu al-Ma'ali said: The Christians unanimously hold that the Messiah is a god and that he is the son of the god.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is said that some of them believe it to be a sonship of affection and mercy. This meaning also does not permit the term sonship to be applied to him, and it is disbelief due to the confusion that arises from the aspect of lineage. Likewise, the Jews disbelieved in their saying: 'Uzayr is the son of Allah,' and their saying: 'We are the children of Allah.' In the speech of the Arabs, the metaphor of sonship exists as an expression of lineage and associations that occur between things when the matter is not ambiguous and when the matter of lineage is not impossible. At that time, the saying of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was: 'The war has embraced us, and we have embraced it, so we are its children, and it is our mother.' He means the association. From this is the saying of Hurayth ibn Mihsan:

'Children of glory, their mothers did not sit with them, And their fathers are sons of truth, so they gave birth.'

And from this: son of a shade, son of water, son of the wayfarer, and similar to that. And from it is the poet's saying:

'And the earth carries us, and it was our mother.'

And from it is one of the interpretations of his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: 'No child of fornication will enter Paradise,' meaning one who is associated with it. The other interpretation is that one who is ambiguous in the matter will not enter it. The two interpretations regarding the Christians' saying: 'The Messiah is the son of Allah,' as previously mentioned in the description and the report, except that the noise of the tanween has risen here. And 'Uzayr is a prophet from the prophets of the Children of Israel.

And His saying, the Most High: 'With their mouths' includes two meanings; one of them is: their obligation to the statement and the confirmation of it, as He said: 'They write the scripture with their own hands' [Al-Baqarah: 79], and as His saying: 'And no bird flies with its wings' [Al-An'am: 38]. The second meaning in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'With their mouths' means it is simple, there is no proof or evidence against it. The utmost clarification is that it is said with the mouths as a mere claim.

'They resemble' is the reading of the majority, and its meaning is: they imitate and match. Only 'Asim among the seven reciters and Talhah ibn Musarif read: 'They resemble' with the hamzah, meaning it is from 'daha'a,' which is the dialect of Thaqif meaning 'to resemble.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And whoever says that this is taken from their saying: "a woman is dhahiyah," which is one who does not menstruate, and it is said: the one who has no breasts, is called that because of her resemblance to men, his saying is incorrect. Abu Ali said this because the hamzah in "dhahaa" is original, while in "dhahiyah" it is extra, like "hamra'". And if the pronoun in "yudaahee'oon" refers to the Jews and Christians altogether, then the reference in His saying: ﴿those who disbelieved before﴾ is either to the polytheists of the Arabs when they said: "the angels are the daughters of Allah," and they are the first disbelievers, which is the saying of Al-Dahhak, or to previous nations before them, or to the first group of the disbelievers among the Jews and Christians. And "yudaahee'oon" could refer to the contemporaries of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And if the pronoun in "yudaahee'oon" refers only to the Christians, then the reference in "those who disbelieved before" is to the Jews. And on this, Al-Tabari explained, and Al-Zahrawi narrated it from Qatadah.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿May Allah fight them﴾ is a general supplication against them for various types of evil. It is known that whoever Allah fights is the defeated and killed. Al-Tabari narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that the meaning is: May Allah curse them. And ﴿how are they turned away﴾ means: how they are directed and how they go. And the place of this intended action has been replaced with an evil action that befalls them, and that is clear in speech as when you say: "May Allah curse the disbeliever, how he perishes," as if you are imposing upon him destruction. And it is as if it is a decree upon them in this verse that they are turned away, and its meaning is: they are deprived and diverted from good. And the land that is ma'fooka is the one that has not received rain. Abu Ubaidah said: (yudaahee'oon) means: they are limited.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: He means: from your saying: "a man is mahdood," meaning: deprived, he does not attain good, and it is as if it is from the ifk which is lying. So it is as if the ma'fook is one whose lies are denied, thus he does not encounter good. And it is possible that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿how are they turned away﴾ is the beginning of a statement of inquiry, meaning: by what reason and from what direction are they diverted from the truth after it has become clear to them?

And "qaatala" in this verse means "qatala," and it is a mutual action from one. And all of this is clear.