Tafsir of Az-Zukhruf 43:57

"And when the son of Mary was presented as an example, behold, your people laugh at it."

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited to the Quraysh: "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell" (Al-Anbiya: 98), they were deeply offended.

Abdullah ibn al-Ziba‘ra said: "O Muhammad, is this specifically for us and our gods, or for all nations?"

The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: "It is for you, your gods, and all nations."

Ibn al-Ziba‘ra exclaimed: "I have defeated you, by the Lord of the Kaaba! Do you not claim that Jesus, son of Mary, is a Prophet and praise him and his mother? You know that the Christians worship them. Ezra is worshipped, and the angels are worshipped. If these are in the Fire, then we are content to be with them along with our gods."

The Quraysh rejoiced and laughed, and the Prophet (ﷺ) remained silent. Then Allah revealed: "Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has preceded from Us..." (Al-Anbiya: 101), and this verse was revealed.

The Meaning: When Abdullah ibn al-Ziba‘ra presented Jesus, son of Mary, as an example and argued with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) regarding the Christians' worship of him, "behold, your people"—the Quraysh—"laugh at it" (or yaṣiddūn): They raise a clamor and noise out of joy, delight, and laughter at what they heard from him—the silencing of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) through his argument—just as a crowd raises a din when they are challenged by an argument and then find a way to overcome it.

Those who read it as yuṣiddūn (with a damma) derive it from ṣudūd (turning away), meaning: because of this example, they turn away from the truth. It is also said to be from ṣadīd (clamor), both being linguistic variants.

"And they said, 'Are our gods better, or is he?'" They mean: "Our gods, in your view, are not better than Jesus; if Jesus is firewood for Hell, then the status of our gods is trivial."

"They did not present this for you except for argument" They did not present this example except for the sake of disputation and seeking to prevail in speech, not to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

"Rather, they are a contentious people" They are intense in their disputation; their habit is wrangling, as in the verse: "a contentious people" (Maryam: 97).

The truth is that the verse "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah" was intended only for idols. Likewise, the Prophet’s (ﷺ) reply was intended for idols. It is impossible that he intended the Prophets and angels. However, Ibn al-Ziba‘ra, with his cunning, deception, and malice, saw that the wording of the divine speech was susceptible to a general interpretation. Despite knowing that only idols were intended, he found a path for his trickery and shifted the meaning to encompass every object of worship other than Allah, using the method of sophistry, argumentation, and stubbornness. He became insolent, so his Lord answered him: "Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has preceded from Us..." (Al-Anbiya: 101), indicating that the verse specifically concerns idols. Furthermore, the literal phrasing "what you worship" (mā ta‘budūn) is used for non-rational beings.

Alternative Interpretations:

• The Angels: It is said that when they heard: "The example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam" (Al-Imran: 59), they said: "We are better guided than the Christians, for they worshipped a human, while we worship angels." Thus, this verse was revealed. In this view, their question "Are our gods better, or is he?" is a preference for their gods (the angels) over Jesus.
• The Prophet (ﷺ): It is said that when the verse about Jesus was revealed, they said: "Muhammad only wants us to worship him, as he is worthy of worship even if he is a human, just as the Christians worshipped the Messiah." In this view, the pronoun in "or is he" refers to Muhammad (ﷺ), and their comparison was intended to mock and ridicule him.
• The Comparison: It is possible they meant: "We have not said anything innovative, nor done anything abominable; the Christians made the Messiah the son of God and worshipped him, and we are more moderate than them in speech and action, for we attributed angels to Him, while they attributed humans." They were told: "The path of the Christians is polytheism, and your path is similar polytheism. Your attempt to distance yourselves from your state by what you have brought is merely a false analogy based on falsehood."

"He is not but a servant" Like all other servants, "We favored him" by making him a sign—creating him without a cause, just as We created Adam—and We honored him with Prophethood and made him a wondrous lesson, like a proverb for the Children of Israel.