Surah Al-Imran Ayat 55 (3:55 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(3:55) (And it was part of His scheme) when Allah said: ‘O Jesus! I will recall you^[51] and raise you up to Me and will purify you (of the company) of those who disbelieve,^[52] and will set your followers above the unbelievers till the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me you shall return, and I will judge between you regarding what you differed.

51. The expression used is mutawaffika. The original meaning of tawaffa is to take and receive. To ‘seize a person’s sou!’ constitutes the figurative rather than the literal meaning of the word. Here the word is used in the sense of recall’, for example, the recall of an official from his work. The Israelites had persisted in their disobedience, and despite repeated warnings and admonitions their collective behaviour had become increasingly corrupt. They had killed a succession of Prophets and were out to shed the blood of all those who invited them to righteousness and moral rectitude. In order to complete His argument against them, and to give them a last chance to reform themselves, God sent to them two great Prophets, Jesus and John the Baptist. These Prophets carried with them such overwhelming proof of their designation by God that no ground was left for anyone to disbelieve in them, except those who were obstinately hostile to the Truth and who had become exceedingly bold in their opposition to it.

Yet the Israelites let this last opportunity slip away. They not only spurned the message of the Prophets but also brazenly indulged in many other atrocious crimes. One of their chiefs had John beheaded at the behest of a dancing girl, and their priests and scribes conspired to have Jesus put to death by the Roman authorities. Further admonition would have been a sheer waste of time. God, therefore, decided to recall His Prophet and condemned the Israelites to perpetual disgrace.

It should be noted that this whole discourse (verses 3: 33 ff.) is devoted to repudiating the Christian belief in the godhead of Jesus, and to reforming their beliefs. The main reasons for the spread of these false beliefs were: (i) the miraculous birth of Jesus; (ii) the miracles which he performed; and (iii) his ascension into heaven (which is mentioned categorically in the Christian scriptures). The Qur’an confirms the miraculous birth of Jesus and asserts that this fatherless birth is a manifestation of God’s omnipotence. God creates whomsoever He wills and in the manner He chooses. This extraordinary birth neither proves that Jesus was God nor that he had any share in God’s godhead. The miracles of Jesus are also verified by the Qur’an; in fact it enumerates them one by one. The Qur’an, however, makes it clear that Jesus performed these miracles in accordance with God’s will, and not of his own innate power.

Had the traditions cherished by the Christians regarding Jesus’ ascension into heaven been without foundation, they would have been told that he whom they regarded as either God or the son of God had died long ago and become part of the earth, and that if they wanted to satisfy themselves on that score they could go and witness for themselves his grave at a certain place. But not only does the Qur’an not make any categorical statement that Jesus died, it employs an expression which, to say the least, contains the possibility of being interpreted as meaning that he had been raised into heaven alive. Further, the Qur’an tells the Christians that Jesus, contrary to their belief, was not crucified. This means that the man who cried out at the end of his life: ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?’, that is, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27: 46), and the one whose image was seen on the cross was not Christ; God had already raised Christ into heaven.

As for those who try to interpret these Qur’anic verses as indicating the death of Jesus, they actually prove only that God is incapable of expressing His ideas in clear, lucid terms.

52. The words ‘those who disbelieve’ here refer to the Jews whom Jesus had invited to believe, and who had refused that invitation. The expression: ‘your followers’, if it denotes the true followers of Jesus, can only mean Muslims. Should ‘followers’ signify all those who profess allegiance to Jesus, it would include both Christians and Muslims.

Ibn-Kathir

55. And (remember when Allah said: “O `Isa! I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify ﴿save﴾ you from those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute.” 56. “As to those who disbelieve, I will punish them with severe torment in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.” 57. And as for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, Allah will pay them their reward in full. And Allah does not like the wrongdoers. 58. This is what We recite to you of the verses and the Wise Reminder.

Allah said,

(I will take you and raise you to Myself) while you are asleep. Allah said in a similar Ayat,

(It is He Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep).) ﴿6:60﴾, and,

(It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep.) ﴿39:42﴾.

The Messenger of Allah used to recite the following words when he would awaken;

(All the thanks are due to Allah Who brought us back to life after He had caused us to die (sleep), and the Return is to Him).

Allah said,

(And because of their disbelief and allegations against Maryam and because of their saying “We killed Al-Masih `Isa, son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allah, ـ but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared that way to them) until,

(For surely; they killed him not But Allah raised him up unto Himself. And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise. And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) but must believe in him before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he ﴿`Isa﴾ will be a witness against them.) ﴿4:156-159﴾

`His death’ refers to `Isa, and the Ayah means that the People of the Book will believe in `Isa, before `Isa dies. This will occur when `Isa comes back to this world before the Day of Resurrection, as we will explain. By that time, all the People of the Book will believe in `Isa, for he will annul the Jizyah and he will only accept Islam from people. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Al-Hasan said that Allah’s statement,

(I will take you) is in reference to sleep, for Allah raised `Isa while he was asleep.

Allah said,

(And purify ﴿save﴾ you from those who disbelieve) by raising you to heaven,

(And I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve, till the Day of Resurrection)

This is what happened. When Allah raised `Isa to heaven, his followers divided into sects and groups. Some of them believed in what Allah sent `Isa as, a servant of Allah, His Messenger, and the son of His female-servant.

However, some of them went to the extreme over `Isa, believing that he was the son of Allah. Some of them said that `Isa was Allah Himself, while others said that he was one of a Trinity. Allah mentioned these false creeds in the Qur’an and refuted them. The Christians remained like this until the third century CE, when a Greek king called, Constantine, became a Christian for the purpose of destroying Christianity. Constantine was either a philosopher, or he was just plain ignorant. Constantine changed the religion of `Isa by adding to it and deleting from it. He established the rituals of Christianity and the so-called Great Trust, which is in fact the Great Treachery. He also allowed them to eat the meat of swine, changed the direction of the prayer that `Isa established to the east, built churches for `Isa, and added ten days to the fast as compensation for a sin that he committed, as claimed. So the religion of `Isa became the religion of Constantine, who built more then twelve thousand churches, temples and monasteries for the Christians as well as the city that bears his name, Constantinople (Istanbul). Throughout this time, the Christians had the upper hand and dominated the Jews. Allah aided them against the Jews because they used to be closer to the truth than the Jews, even though both groups were and still are disbelievers, may Allah’s curse descend on them.

When Allah sent Muhammad , those who believed in him also believed in Allah, His Angels, Books and Messengers in the correct manner. So they were the true followers of every Prophet who came to earth. They believed in the unlettered Prophet , the Final Messenger and the master of all mankind, who called them to believe in the truth in its entirety. This is why they had more right to every Prophet than his own nation, especially those who claim to follow their Prophet’s way and religion, yet change and alter his religion. Furthermore, Allah abrogated all the laws that were sent down to the Prophets with the Law He sent Muhammad with, which consists of the true religion that shall never change or be altered until the commencement of the Last Hour. Muhammad’s religion shall always be dominant and victorious over all other religions. This is why Allah allowed Muslims to conquer the eastern and western parts of the world and the kingdoms of the earth. Furthermore, all countries submitted to them; they demolished Kisra (king of Persia) and destroyed the Czar, ridding them of their treasures and spending these treasures for Allah’s sake. All this occurred just as their Prophet told them it would, when he conveyed Allah’s statement,

(Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession in the land, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion which He has chosen for them. And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they worship Me and do not associate anything with Me.) ﴿24:55﴾.

Therefore, Muslims are the true believers in `Isa. The Muslims then acquired Ash-Sham from the Christians, causing them to evacuate to Asia Minor, to their fortified city in Constantinople. The Muslims will be above them until the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, he, Muhammad , who is truthful and who received the true news, has conveyed to Muslims that they will conquer Constantinople in the future, and seize its treasures.

Allah said,

(And I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute. As to those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe torment in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.)

This is what Allah did to the Jews who disbelieved in `Isa and the Christians who went to the extreme over him. Allah tormented them in this life; they were killed, captured, and lost their wealth and kingdoms. Their torment in the Hereafter is even worse and more severe,

(And they have no Waq (defender or protector) against Allah) ﴿13:34﴾.

(And as for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, Allah will pay them their reward in full) in this life, with victory and domination, and in the Hereafter, with Paradise and high grades,

(And Allah does not like the wrongdoers.)

Allah then said,

(This is what We recite to you of the verses and the Wise Reminder.) meaning, “What We narrated to you, O Muhammd, regarding `Isa, his birth and his life, is what Allah conveyed and revealed to you, sent down from the Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet). So there is no doubt in it. Similarly, Allah said in Surah Maryam;

(Such is `Isa, son of Maryam. (It is) a statement of truth, about which they doubt (or dispute). It befits not Allah that He should beget a son. Glorified be He. When He decrees a thing, He only says to it: “Be!” and it is.)