Surah Maryam, Ayah 37

`Isa is the Servant of Allah and not His Son

Allah, the Exalted, says to His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ, `This is the story which We have related to you about `Isa,' upon him be peace.

قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ الَّذِى فِيهِ يَمْتُرُونَ

((It is) a statement of truth about which they doubt.) lThis means that the people of falsehood and the people of truth are in disagreement, of those who believe in him and those who disbelieve believe in him. For this reason most of the reciters recited this Ayah with Qawlul-Haqq (statement of truth) as the subject, referring to `Isa himself. `Asim and `Abdullah bin `Amir both recited it Qawlal-Haqq (statement of truth) referring to the story in its entirety that the people differed about. It is reported from Ibn Mas`ud that he recited it as Qalal-Haqqa, which means that he (`Isa) said the truth. The recitation of the Ayah with the Qawlul-Haqq being the subject referring to `Isa, is the most apparent meaning grammatically. It has support for it in the statement of Allah after the story of `Isa,

Commentary

ذَٰلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ

"This is ` Isa, the son of Maryam." - 19:34.

The beliefs of the Jews and the Christians about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) were on such opposite extremes that the Christians exalted him to such a level of reverence that they regarded him as the son of Allah. The Jews on the other hand, denigrated him maliciously and called him (God forbid) the illegitimate son of Yusuf (Joseph) the carpenter. Allah Ta` ala has pointed out the error of both the views in these verses and clarified the correct position.

The phrase قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ (translated in the text as 'the word of truth' in the normal reading is with fathah on the letter Lam (لَ ). In this case the sentence along with its understood words will run like اَقُولُ قَولَ الحَقِّ that is, 'I say the word of truth'. However, in some readings the letter 'Lam' in 'Qawl' is rendered with Dammah i.e. قَوْلُ الْحَقِّ. In this case the sentence will mean that Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہا السلام) himself was a word of truth. It is, then, analogous to the title of کَلِمَۃُ اللہِ (the word of Allah) which is given to him to denote that he was born directly by the word of Allah, having no connection with an apparent cause in this world. (Qurtubi)

The miraculous birth of Jesus was an extraordinary event; trying to explain it, Christian scholars have formulated peculiar dogmas. But there is always a limit one cannot cross in offering explanations; to account for the Messiah’s extraordinary birth by suggesting that he is the son of God definitely amounts to going beyond all limits, because attributing children to God negates the very concept of the unity of God. Quite apart from this, there are innumerable extraordinary and wonderful events in the universe that we see every day. In fact, every single thing in this world is in itself a kind of marvel. Now, if anyone comes across anything of this nature, he must realize that God has created it, just as He has created other countless wonders.