Surah Ali 'Imran, Ayah 54

The Disciples Give Their Support to `Isa

Allah said,

فَلَمَّآ أَحَسَّ عِيسَى

(Then when `Isa came to know), meaning, `Isa felt that they were adamant in disbelief and continuing in misguidance. He said to them,

مَنْ أَنصَارِى إِلَى اللَّهِ

(Who will be my helper in Allah's cause) Mujahid commented, "Meaning, who would follow me to Allah" However, it appears that `Isa was asking, "Who would help me convey the Message of Allah ﷺ"

The Prophet said during the Hajj season, before the Hijrah,

«مَنْ رَجُلٌ يُؤْوِينِي حَتَّى أُبَلِّغَ كَلَامَ رَبِّي؟، فَإِنَّ قُرَيْشًا قَدْ مَنَعُونِي أَنْ أُبَلِّغَ كَلَامَ رَبِّي»

(Who will give me asylum so that I can convey the Speech of my Lord, for the Quraysh have prevented me from conveying the Speech of my Lord.) until he found the Ansar. The Ansar helped the Prophet and gave him refuge. He later migrated to them, they comforted the Prophet and protected him from all his enemies, may Allah be pleased with them all. This is similar to what happened with `Isa, for some of the Children of Israel believed in him, gave him their aid and support and followed the light that was sent with him. This is why Allah said about them;

Commentary

In these verses the miraculous event of the Ascension of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus Christ) has been mentioned. "And they made a move" refers to the evil designs of the Jews who planned to arrest him and to get him crucified.

The next sentence i.e. "and Allah made a move" refers to the plan designed by Allah Almighty to save his prophet ` Isa (علیہ السلام) from their ill designs. They sent one of them to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) to arrest him and Allah changed his face totally and made him resemble Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and raised Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) to heavens, while that person was crucified under the mistaken identity. How Allah had planned to save ` Isa (علیہ السلام) from their clutches was disclosed to him when his enemies came to arrest him. The details of these disclosures have been mentioned in verse 55.

Explanation of important words in the verse

Some sects which deny, contrary to the belief of the entire Muslim community, the Ascension of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus Christ), his being alive in the heavens and his descension towards the later times, have worked through the words and meanings of these verses to open doors of distortion in the Qur'anic text. Therefore, it seems appropriate that these words be explained in some details.

Let us begin with وَاللَّـهُ خَيْرُ‌ الْمَاكِرِ‌ينَ translated as and Allah is the best of those who make moves'. The word, مکر makr in Arabic denotes a subtle and secret move or plan. If this is for a good purpose, it is good; and if this is for a bad purpose, it is bad. It was why the restriction of saiyy سِّٰی : evil) was placed with مکر makr (: move, plan) in: وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ‌ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا (And evil plan besets none but its perpetrator - 35:43).

The Qur'anic word, مکر makr, is used exclusively for conspiracy, evil plan and strategy in the everyday idiom of the Urdu language (in which this commentary was originally written), therefore, it should not be equated with the Arabic usage. This is the reason why Allah has been called: خَيْرُ‌ الْمَاكِرِ‌ينَ 'Khair al-Makirin' here.

The verse means that the Jews started making a series of conspiracies and secret schemes against Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) going to the limit of convincing the ruler of the time that he was a heretic (God forbid) all bent upon changing the Torah and was going to make apostates of everybody. The ruler ordered the arrest of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . While this was the scene on one side, the subtle and secret move made by Allah Almighty was countering their evil plans more effectively, which has been mentioned in the verses coming next.

The religious leaders of the Israelites refused to believe in Jesus Christ. In any society, it is the leading lights who have access to all resources, and, in addition to being in possession of religious seats, they become the representatives of religion in the eyes of the people. This being so, if someone is rejected by these influential people, not only is he deprived of life’s resources, but even after losing all for the sake of truth, he remains a heretic in people’s eyes. In such circumstances, the most difficult of tasks is to support a preacher of truth. It means testifying to his veracity in a general atmosphere of suspicion and opposition. It amounts to siding with the truth when it stands alone and unsupported. When the truth is presented in all its purity, all those who are leading a life of untruth feel on the defensive—especially those who, by having pasted the label of truth on their lives, have secured a position of honour in society. It is such as they who rise to suppress the call of truth, setting the people against the caller by putting wrong constructions on his words. When this does not work, they finally plan to resort to the use of power in order to annihilate both the call and the caller. But God’s succour is always with the preacher. That is why no opposition to him succeeds in suppressing the truth, and he is able to complete his mission. Those who oppose the call of truth are mischief-makers in the eyes of God. This is because they stop potential believers from reaching the path of Paradise. No evil can be greater than obstructing the path of those intent upon entering God’s Paradise.