Quranic Verses Christians Cite for Jesus’ Divinity

Yes, indeed, these Christians—possessed of strange and peculiar minds—have argued in favour of the Divinity of the Messiah, peace be upon him, on the basis of these verses mentioned below:

First verse:

—Surah at-Tahrim, 66:131

Second verse:

—Surah an-Nisa’, 4:172, Ruku‘ 232

The proof of the Christians—In these verses, as acknowledged by Muslims, Allah the Exalted has declared the Messiah, peace be upon him, to be His spirit and the spirit of Allah is no less than Allah the Exalted; in fact, it is God Himself.

Rebuttal—O ye Christians! If such proofs are to be considered effective in advancing the argument, then you should, in fact, say that Gabriel, peace be upon him, is also God (God forbid!), because the Holy Quran has similarly used the word(Our spirit) concerning Gabriel(as), in the same way thathas been used in the first verse of the question regarding our Esteemed Holiness, the Messiah, peace be on him. Ponder over this verse:

—Part 16, Surah Maryam, Ruku‘ 23

Thus, Mary screened herself off from the people, then We sent (Allah says) Our spirit to her, and he appeared to her in the form of a perfect man.

Lest someone fall in doubt that here too the Messiah is meant, they should read the accompanying two verses:

—Part 16, Surah Maryam, Ruku‘ 24

Thereupon Mary said, ‘I seek refuge with the Gracious God from thee if indeed thou dost fear Him.’ Said (the spirit of God, Gabriel, to her), ‘I am only the angel sent by thy Lord and I have come so that I may bestow on thee a righteous son (the glad tiding of it is meant).’

In fact, what is required is that even the breath of our Esteemed Holiness Adam, peace be upon him, concerning which God has used the word —Ruhi [My Spirit], should be God:

—Part 14, Surah al-Hijr, Ruku‘ 35

So when I have fashioned him (Adam) in perfection and have breathed into him of My Spirit (breath), fall ye down in submission to him.

Indeed, the spirits of all men should be God, since in the Holy Quran it is stated regarding the human species that their spirit is the spirit of God:

—Surah as-Sajdah, 32:9–10, Ruku‘ 1

Then He made the progeny of Adam from an extract of an insignificant fluid. Then He fashioned him aright and breathed into him a spirit that came from Allah.

The fact of the matter is that when any word issues forth from someone’s mouth with the intent of being heard by another, then at that point in time, there is a person who is there to say the words and there is a second who is there to hear the words. The speaker has a meaning of the words he speaks and in that speech of his there is a specific objective. He speaks those words for that very meaning and purpose, but the one who hears those words, likely understands those words and meanings in the light of a particular bent of mind and belief, and renders their meaning inconsistent with the bent of mind and mission of the speaker of those words. It is for this reason that the speaker of the words has to explain the meaning of his words or the competent and just-minded listeners need to understand the words of the speaker keeping in mind the mission and manner of the speaker.

For example, when our Master, the Arab Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke the word —Allah in —La ilaha illallah or —Bismillah, Allah the Exalted, Himself, through Whose revelation he had proclaimed this word of Tauhid [the Oneness of Allah] to the people, informed him that your addressees are Christians who believe the Messiah to be the Son of God or they are the idolaters of Arabia who call the angels the daughters of Allah the Exalted. By the word —Allah they will certainly understand such an allah who is a father, a son, and who has daughters. Or it could be that those who hear your message are Zoroastrians who hold the belief that there is a partner of the Yazdan God who is the creator of evil and who is called Ahriman. And Yazdan is such under whom thousands of bright heavenly stars, the lords of species are working. So, you say to them that by the word —Allah, I do not mean that thing which you call allah but it is something else. As stated,

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—Surah al-Ikhlas, 112:2–5

Readers! Such exactly was the case with the word —ruh. When the Christians heard this word, they immediately began interpreting it according to their bent of mind and beliefs. However, it would have been appropriate for them to look at the tenor and the mission of the Quran and they should have interpreted the meaning of ruh on that same tenor and in accord with it. If they could not do this, then at the very least, they should have taken the meanings of the Quranic word ruh in accord with the Arabic language since the Noble Quran was revealed in the Arabic language. So, let me inform them in what context the Quranic word ruh has been employed and then I will explain the other meanings of this word in the Arabic language. Many will be shocked by these statements to see what egregious errors people are engrossed in as they research this word ruh whereas the issue is very clear.

Hearken! First the word ruh has been spoken in the meaning of the Word of Allah and it is for this reason that the Holy Quran has been called ruh.

Proof:

1.

—Part 25, Surah ash-Shura, Ruku‘ 57

And thus have We revealed to thee a —ruh (the Quran) by Our command. Thou didst not know what the Book was, nor the faith.

2.

—Part No. 14, Surah an-Nahl, Ruku‘ 18

He sends down the angels with the ruh (Divine Word) by His command on whomsoever of His servants He pleases, and in this Word He commands, ‘Tell these idolaters that there is no one beside Allah, Who is endowed with the perfect attributes and free of all defects and worthy of being obeyed. So, remain obedient to Him.’

3.

—Part 15, Surah Bani Isra‘il, Ruku‘ 109

People ask you as to what this Quran is. Say , ‘The Quran is the ruh by the command of my Lord; and you lack knowledge (so that you do not understand such a clear statement).’

Second use is to refer to Gabriel as ruh because he is the one to bring the Divine Word, as is said:

1.

—Part 19 Surah ash Shu‘ara’, Ruku‘ 1110

The Spirit (Gabriel), Faithful to the Trust, has brought down this Quran upon your heart so that you may warn the disobedient ones regarding their disobedience.

2.

—Part 16 Surah Maryam, Ruku‘ 211

Thus, Mary put up a screen between herself and the people. Then We sent (Allah says) Our ruh to her, and the ruh appeared to her in the form of a perfect man. Thereupon Mary said, ‘I seek refuge with the Gracious God from thee if indeed thou dost fear God.’ (The ruh of God, Gabriel, said to her) ‘I am only a Messenger sent by thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a righteous son.’ (This angel had come to convey the glad tiding.)

—Part 14, Surah an-Nahl, Ruku‘ 1412

You say to them, ‘The Spirit of holiness (Gabriel) has brought it (this Quran) down from thy Lord step by step gradually and this Quran is accompanied with perfect truth. And since the Messiah, peace be upon him, was one who brought the Divine Word and came to make people understand the Divine Word, he too was called ruh as is said:

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And the Messiah is a divine word (is a manifestation of this holy Divine Word and glad tiding of God which Gabriel had brought) which He sent down to Mary, and he is a ruh from Him.

The human breath has also been called ruh in the Noble Quran, as is said:

3.

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Then He made the progeny of Adam from an extract of an insignificant fluid. Then He fashioned him aright and breathed into him a ruh which came from Allah.

And He says:

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So when I have fashioned him in perfection and have breathed into him My ruh, fall down in submission to him.

This very breath and soul is called ruh in the Arabic language as well. Take note of Zur Rummah whose ancient poetic expression is:

Thus, I said to him (to the companion by my side), ‘Lift up this fire to your mouth and make it glow bright and give it life with your blowing, and make your blowing firewood for this fire for the sake of the cooking pot.’

This couplet of Zur Rummah is present in Tajul-‘Urus Sharah Qamusul-Lughah. Look under the root —ruh where, after writing the meaning of this very ruh as being the Divine Word etc. etc., it is stated:

I heard from Abul-Hathim—he said ruh is in fact the breath of man and it flows through the whole body of man and when it leaves, the man can no longer breathe, and when it departs totally, the eyes remain opened whence they were [looking] until they are closed.

It is this very thing that in the Persian language is called ruh— jan [life]. The word is masculine (and is spoken in the feminine form as well). It is likely that ordinary living things are called for this very reason, where it is said:

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Indeed, the word ruh has a very broad range of meanings in the holy books as well. Yes, divine ruh connotes a very wide range of meanings in the holy scriptures. Here are a few such meanings that are appropriate for this discussion:

• In the meaning of the air that blows over water: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.—Genesis 1:2

• In the meaning of the breath by which man is said to be alive: When I shall open your graves and shall bring you out of your graves, then shall you know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My spirit in you and ye shall live.—Ezekiel 37:12–14

• In the meaning of the Divine Word: And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.—1 Samuel 16:13

• Indeed evil spirits have also been referred to as the spirit of God, as is written: But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.—1 Samuel 16:14

Now remains the thing that Allah the Exalted or—it should be said—the Quran has called the Messiah, peace be upon him, its spirit. So, as previously stated, just this much cannot prove that the Messiah is God because Allah the Exalted in the Holy Quran has also declared Gabriel, peace be upon him, and the breath of man to be His Spirit as well. The fact of the matter is that all creations are indeed the creations of Allah the Exalted. Since the Messiah, peace be upon him, was His elect servant and one charged with the duty of delivering His Word, it is for this reason he was called ruh—spirit. In every language such annexations are for the purpose of respect and honour, as for example the she-camel of Saleh is referred to in the Noble Quran as —the she-camel of Allah, and Allah calls the virtuous people as meaning His servants.

Most egregious argument—Jesus is Kalimah—Of all the arguments that I have heard in support of the Divinity of Christ, the most astonishing argumَent is that which the Christians have derived from the term —kalimah [word]. The Christians claim that since the Messiah, peace be upon him, is the word of Allah, he must be God.

Rebuttal—If in the idiom of the Holy Quran something being called the —kalimatullah, ‘the word of Allah’ is an argument in support of that thing being God, then all the words of Allah would have to be God. For example, it is stated in the Holy Quran that:

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And surely Our word has gone forth respecting Our servants, the Messengers.

Now, hear the commentary on this as to what kind of a َ—kalimah [word] that was:

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Verily, they (those very Messengers of Allah) who would be helped by Allah the Exalted; And verily it is Our host (Messengers and their followers) who would certainly be victorious. And He said:

—Part 8, Ruku‘ 1419

And those to whom We gave the Book know that this Quran has been sent down from thy Lord with perfect truth and wisdom; so be thou not, or become thou not, of those who doubt. And the word of thy Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice. There is none who can change His words; and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

And He said:

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And Allah humbled the word of those who disbelieved, and it is the word of Allah alone which is firm and supreme.

In the Old and the New Testaments as well, the —kalimatullah [word of Allah] has been used in the meaning of word of God and the command of God. Hearken!

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.—Psalms 33:6

And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, the Prophet—1 Akhbar al-Ayyam 17:3 [1 Chronicles 17:3]

The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.—Luke 3:2

There are many other such expressions in the previous holy scriptures. If something could be Allah precisely by virtue of being ِلمۃ ک هللا—kalimatullah, then all those complete sentences that came to the Prophets, peace be upon them all, and their holy followers by way of Divine discourse and communications from their Lord, should all be God. May Allah protect us! The reality is that before the birth of the Messiah, peace be upon him, Allah the Exalted communicated a word of glad tiding concerning him to his mother, the Ever Truthful Mary, peace be upon her, and told her about his birth, or it was for the reason that he was bestowed upon Mary the Truthful by special Divine command, that he was called kalimah—the word.

Now, I wish to conclude this discussion with this passage of the Holy Quran:

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When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I will surely give you the full reward or cause you to die and will raise you to Myself, and will clear you from the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then—O ye who claim to be the followers!—to Me shall be presented the case of you all, and I will judge between you concerning that wherein you differ.’

Commentary: The followers of the Messiah, peace be upon him, are either the people of Islam or the Christians and from among those who disbelieved in him, those who are of the first rank are the Jews whose real land is Canaan and whose ka‘bah [the direction they face during prayers] is Jerusalem. Of the second grade are the Zoroastrians—the fire-worshippers, and of the third grade are the Zoroastrians of India. The higher grade followers are governing over the higher grade disbelievers and the lower grade followers are governing over the lower grade disbelievers.

‘Then as for those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe punishment in this world and in the next, and no ruling power shall help them; in fact, no one shall help them. And as for those who believe and do good works, He will pay them their full rewards. And Allah loves not the wrongdoers.’ That is what We recite unto thee of the Signs of your Prophethood and the Reminder, full of wisdom.

Now Allah gives the verdict regarding the difference between the followers which was promised.

Surely, Jesus is like a human being. The human being was created by Allah the exalted from dust, then in his second, third birth selected him for a new life as a Prophet and he became such. This is the truth from thy Lord (the Messiah was nothing more than just a human being; miracles, wonders, excellent teachings—all these things are found among Prophets even though they are mortals), so be thou not, or become thou not, ever of those who doubt. And if some foolish one, despite this proof, even now disputes with thee, you should deal with such foolish ones by calling them to engage in a prayer duel and say, ‘Come, let us call our children and your children, and our women and your women, and our men and your men; then let us pray humbly and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie.’

This certainly is a clear, excellent and true account. There is none worthy of obedience save Allah; and surely, it is Allah Who is the Mighty, the Wise. But if they turn away, then remember that Allah knows the mischief-makers well. Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you—that we obey none but Allah the Exalted, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they do not even agree to what is acceptable by both sides, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to Allah and we are Muslims.’