Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:75

(The Messiah, son of Mary, is not but a messenger) is a fresh commencement intended to establish the truth from which there is no escaping, and to clarify the true state of him—peace be upon him—and the state of his mother. It first points to the qualities of perfection by which they were distinguished, such that they became among the most perfect individuals of the species, and secondly to the description shared between them and the rest of human beings, indeed, the rest of animals. In this, there is a gradual lowering of them from their persistence, and guidance toward repentance and seeking forgiveness. Meaning: he—peace be upon him—is restricted to the message, hardly exceeding it to that which the Christians claim concerning him—peace and blessings be upon him.

This is the meaning of His Exalted saying: (Messengers have passed on before him). This description of him as a "messenger" warns of his being characterized by that which contradicts divinity; for the passing of messengers before him indicates that he, too, will pass, and this necessitates the impossibility of divinity. That is, he is nothing but a messenger like the messengers who passed before him. Allah the Exalted distinguished him with some signs, just as He distinguished each of them with others. Perhaps what others were distinguished with is more astonishing and strange than what he was distinguished with; for if he—peace and blessings be upon him—revived the dead from among bodies whose nature it is to live, then Moses—peace be upon him—revived the inanimate. And if he was created without a father, then Adam—peace be upon him—was created without father or mother. From where, then, do you derive your description of him as divine?

(And his mother is a woman of truth) means his mother, too, is nothing but like all other women who adhere to truthfulness or belief, and exaggerate in being characterized by it. From where, then, do you derive your description of her with that which is far removed from her peers? The intended meaning of "truthfulness" here is the truthfulness of her state with Allah the Exalted. It is also said: her truthfulness in her innocence from what the Jews accused her of. The intended meaning of "belief" (tasdiq) is her belief in what Allah the Exalted related about her in His saying: "And she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures." This is reported from al-Hasan and chosen by al-Jubba'i. It is also said: her belief in the prophets. Regardless, the form is for exaggeration, like "sharib" (a heavy drinker). It is argued that it is from "al-sidq" (truthfulness), because the standard in forms of exaggeration is to derive them from the triliteral root, but what has been related perhaps supports that it is from the doubled root. The exclusivity indicated is understood from the context and the conjunction, as the second scholar (al-Allamah) stated; some have paused at this, but that is not the place for it. Those who hold that Mary—peace be upon her—was not a prophet have used this verse as evidence. That is, His Exalted station only mentioned in this context the most noble of her qualities, which is "truthfulness" (al-siddiqiyyah), just as He mentioned the "message" for Jesus—peace and blessings be upon him—in such a context. If she—peace be upon her—had the rank of prophethood, He—the Exalted—would have mentioned it rather than "truthfulness," for it is undoubtedly higher than it. Yes, the majority hold that there is no station between prophethood and truthfulness; this is another matter that causes no harm to what we are discussing.

(Both of them used to eat food) is a fresh commencement that has no place in grammatical inflection, clarifying what was indicated by their being like other individuals of humanity, or even individuals of the animal kingdom, in their need for what sustains the body from nourishment. Thus, the intended meaning of "eating food" is its literal sense; this is reported from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them. It is also said: it is a metonymy for relieving oneself, because whoever eats food needs to excrete. This is a matter that, in terms of taste, is repulsive to the mouths of those who claim their divinity, because it contains—along with the indication of the need that contradicts divinity—a conventional ugliness. The intention is nothing but to refute the Christians in their putrid claim and their loathsome belief.

It is said: the verse, in placing their qualities of perfection first and delaying their human deficiencies later, is on the pattern of His Exalted saying: "Allah pardon you, why did you give them permission?" where He, the Exalted, placed the pardon before the reproof of him—peace and blessings be upon him—so that he would not be troubled by the suddenness of it.

And His Exalted saying: (See how We make the signs clear to them) is an expression of astonishment at the state of those who call upon them for divinity and do not refrain from it after He has clarified the truth of the state to them with a clarification around which no suspicion hovers. The address is either to the Master of those addressed—peace and blessings be upon him—or to everyone who is capable of it. "How" is the object of "make clear," and the sentence is in the position of the accusative, acting as a suspension for the verb before it. The "signs" refer to the proofs; that is, see how We clarify the definitive proofs to them which declare the falsehood of what they say.

(Then see how they are deluded) means how they are turned away from listening to them and contemplating them due to the corruption of their readiness and the baseness of their souls. The discussion here is the same as what passed before it. Repeating the command to "see" is for the sake of exaggeration in astonishment, and "then" is to show the disparity between the two astonishments—meaning, our clarification of the signs is an astonishing matter in its own right, reaching the ultimate limits of verification and clarity, and their turning away from it, despite the absence of anything that justifies it and the gathering of everything that necessitates accepting it, is more astonishing and more wondrous. It is possible that it is in its literal sense, and the intended meaning is to indicate the duration and extension of the time of clarifying the signs—that is, despite the length of that time, they are not affected, and they are deluded.