Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:17

(Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, "Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary.") That is, no one but the Messiah is God. Just as one might say, "Generosity is piety," or "Allah Almighty is the Era (al-Dahr)," meaning the Bringer of Events, and no one else is the bringer of events. The limitation (qasr) here is of the predicate-subject (al-musnad ilayh) to the predicate (al-musnad), unlike your saying, "Zayd is the one departing," for its meaning is that no one but Zayd is departing. The ones who hold this view, according to the famous account, are the Jacobites, who claim that Allah Almighty may indwell in the body of a specific human or in his spirit.

It is said: None of the Christians explicitly stated this, but because they claimed that divinity (lahut) resided within him while simultaneously professing unity and saying, "There is no god but one," the conclusion followed that Allah Almighty is the Messiah. Thus, the logical consequence of their statement was attributed to them to clarify their ignorance and expose their creed. Al-Raghib said: If it is said, "No one claimed that Allah Almighty is the Messiah, rather they said the Messiah is Allah Almighty," this is because, in their view, the Messiah is composed of divinity (lahut) and humanity (nasut). Therefore, it is correct to say, "The Messiah is the divinity, and he is the humanity," just as it is correct to say, "The human is an animal," despite his being composed of elements. However, it is not correct to say, "The divinity is the Messiah," just as it is not correct to say, "The animal is the human." It is said: They claimed he is the Messiah based on another premise other than what you mentioned, which is what is narrated from Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi: When Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) was raised, a group of the scholars of the Children of Israel gathered and said, "What do you say about Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him)?" One of them replied, "Do you know anyone who gives life to the dead except Allah Almighty?" They said, "No." He said, "Do you know anyone who heals the blind and the leper except Allah Almighty?" They said, "No." They said, "Then Allah Almighty is nothing but that which possesses this description," meaning the reality of divinity is in him. This is like your saying, "Generosity is Zayd," meaning the reality of generosity is in Zayd. Upon this is their statement: "Indeed, Allah is the Messiah." End quote. You know that, despite the claim that those who believe in union (ittihad) assert that the object of worship is restricted to the Messiah—as the structure of the text indicates—no objection holds.

(Say, "O Muhammad" to rebuke them, expose the falsity of their corrupt statement, and silence them.) It is sometimes said that the address is to anyone capable of it. The fa in His saying, (So who can prevent [anything] from Allah, if He intended to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth entirely?) is a conjunction to an implied phrase or the response to a deleted condition. Man (who) is interrogative for the sake of denial and reprimand. Mulk (ownership/power) here means total control and preservation through decisiveness; the intent is: "Who can prevent or is capable," as in the saying: "I have reached a state where I do not carry arms, nor do I own the head of the camel, if there is a conflict." Min Allah (from Allah) is connected to it, with an implied genitive, meaning: "The matter is not as you say," or, "If it were as you claim, then who could prevent anything from His power and will?"

It is the right of one who is a god that neither he nor any of his affairs—nor anything among existing things—would be subject to the power of another, let alone be incapable of repelling anything when it is directed toward his destruction. Since his incapacity is clear and beyond doubt, it becomes evident that he is far removed from what you say about him.

The intent by "destruction" is death and non-existence absolutely, not resulting from wrath or anger. The Messiah was singled out in the way they attributed divinity to him, as his attribute was mentioned alongside him in a position where pronouns could have been used, to add emphasis and to assert that he, from that very perspective, is subject to the subjugation and sovereignty of Allah Almighty. It is said: He was described as such to alert [the reader] that he is a created being to whom power was applied without doubt, because he was born from a mother. Specifying the mother by mention, despite her inclusion in the generality of the conjoined nouns, is to emphasize further the incapacity of the Messiah. Perhaps her inclusion in the sequence of those whose destruction is postulated—even though her death had already occurred—is to intensify the rebuke and further confirm the content of the statement by making her condition an example for the state of the rest of those whose destruction is postulated.

Generalizing the will for destruction, despite the goal being achieved by restricting it to Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), is to intensify the gravity of the matter and demonstrate the perfection of incapacity by clarifying that all are under the subjugation and sovereignty of Allah Almighty, and none are capable of repelling what is intended for them, let alone what is intended for others. It serves to signal that the Messiah is an example for the rest of creation in his being subject to destruction, just as he is an example for them in his incapacity and lack of entitlement to divinity; this was stated by Mawla Abu al-Sa'ud. "Entirely" (jami'an) is a state (hal) of the conjoined items; it is also permitted to be a state of "who" (man) exclusively, due to its generality.

His saying, (And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them)—meaning whatever is between the two ends of the physical world—encompasses what is in the heavens, such as angels and others, and what is in the depths of the earth and the seas, such as creatures. It is said: This is a declaration that all are under the subjugation and sovereignty of Allah Almighty, following the indication that some are as such. That is, to Him alone belongs the dominion of all existents and absolute disposal over them: creating, annihilating, giving life, and causing death; not to anyone else, neither independently nor by participation. Thus, it is a verification of the exclusivity of divinity to Him, following the clarification of its negation from other than Him. It is also said: It is another proof for the negation of the divinity of Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), because if he were a god, he would possess the dominion of the heavens and the earth and what is between them. It is also said: It is a proof for the negation of his being a son (peace and blessings be upon him) by clarifying that he is a subject, as he is included under the generality; it is known that being a subject negates sonship.

His saying, (He creates what He wills) is a new sentence, brought forth to clarify some of the decrees of dominion and divinity in a way that removes the doubts that befell them regarding the Messiah (peace be upon him) due to his birth without a father, his creating birds, his healing the blind and the leper, and his raising the dead. Ma (what) is an indefinite noun described by the clause, occupying the place of an accusative for the source (masdariyya), meaning: "He creates whatever creation He wills." At times, He creates from no origin, like the creation of the heavens and the earth, for example; and at other times, from an origin, like the creation of some of what is between them. This, too, is diverse: sometimes He originates from an origin not of its species, like the creation of Adam and many animals; sometimes from an origin of the same species, either from a male alone, like the creation of Eve, or from a female alone, like the creation of Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), or from both, like the creation of the rest of humanity. He creates without the mediation of any created things, and He may create through the mediation of another creature, such as the creation of the bird at the hands of Jesus (peace be upon him) as a miracle for him, and the raising of the dead, and the healing of the blind and the leper. Thus, all of that should be attributed to Him, not to the one upon whose hand it was performed; this has been stated by more than one.

It is said: The sentence was brought here to clarify what is intended by His saying, "And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth," etc., according to what the context requires. Ma is also in the accusative for the source (masdariyya). It is said: It is permissible for it to be a relative noun in the accusative as the object, meaning: "He creates that which He wills to create." The sentence is intended to clarify that the power of Allah Almighty is more vast than the world of existence. In any case, His saying, (And Allah is over all things competent) is a concluding supplement confirming the content of what preceded it, and an expression of the Majestic Name for the sake of the aforementioned reasoning and to strengthen the independence of the sentence.