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| Response to Ali Sina's article "Khairul Makerin: The Best Deceiver" |
| By Zuher |
This precise article is in response to Ali Sina's article "Khairul Makerin: The Best Deceiver" at following location:
http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/zafar.htm
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Ali Sina:
Khairul Makerin:
The Best Deceiver
2007/09/04
By Ali Sina
There is a verse in the Quran that says “they deceived and Allah deceived and Allah is the best deceiver.” (Q. 3:54)
وَمَكَرُواْ وَمَكَرَ اللّهُ وَاللّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ
Why would an all powerful God want to deceive, is something that only Muhammad can think of. Certainly, might and deception
are oxymoronic. A God that resorts to deception, can't be almighty. The entire career of Muhammad was filled with deception,
lies, manipulations and tricks. He even licensed his followers to malign him in order to win the trust of their victims and when
they lower their guards assassinate them.
My Response:
This is a very lame argument and totally false interpretation of the verse and an even more perverse commentary. Trust Sina
to come up with something as brazen as this. It is not Muhammad’s PBUH life that is filled with deception and lies, it is Sina who
exemplifies this with every type on his keyboard and of course resorts to the ostrich stand when caught with his pants down.
How ignorant of such an ill educated man as “Dr” Ali Sina. Let me show you how this man is drenched in lies and deceit. The
following are the translations of the same verse from various translators of the Holy Quran:
Yusuf Ali
(53) And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah. (54)
Pickthall
(53) And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers. (54)
Dr Mohsin
(53) And they (disbelievers) plotted [to kill 'Īsā (Jesus) A.S.], and Allâh plotted too. And Allâh is the Best of those who plot.
M H Shakir
(53). And they planned and Allah also planned, and Allah is the best of planners.
Not a single translation shows the word “makr” meaning deceive. All translations show that this word means plan, plot, scheme,
strategize etc. There is no synonym even in the farthest reaches of this word that bears any resemblance to deception or this
word’s synonym. Of course Sina concocts his own synonyms for words.
Ali Sina translation
There is a verse in the Quran that says “they deceived and Allah deceived and Allah is the best deceiver.” (Q. 3:54)
The Ali Sina version of the translation is quite akin to what the Sina psychological syndrome shows out characteristically. A
dubious means of translation to suit foul ends and to create discord among humans as regards the great religion of Islam and
The Holy Quran. It is not Allah SWT who is the best of deceivers, as Sina states or mistranslates and misrepresents, in fact with
this it seems Sina wants the title of “best of deceivers”. The only issue here is he has to do much better than this. This is not
deception. If anything it’s a shameful excuse for deception. Sina, the deceiver once gain does the “foot in the mouth” trick.
The actual exegesis of the verses:
Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him; this is the straight path' " (51). But when Isa perceived unbelief
on their part, he said: "Who are my helper to Allah?" The disciples said: "We are helpers of Allah: We believe in Allah and be
(our) witness that we are submitting ones (52). Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger;
so write us down with those who bear witness" (53). And they planned and Allah (also planned, and Allah is the best of
planners (54). And when Allah said: "O 'Isa! I am going to take you away completely and cause you to ascend unto Me and
purify you of those who disbelieve, and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the Day of Resurrection;
then to Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning that in which you differed (55).
QUR'AN: "'Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him...":
'Isa (a.s.) said it in order to cut off the excuse of those who were to believe in his divinity - either because he (a.s.) had
detected such tendency in them or because he was informed through revelation of these future happenings. It was a sincere
attempt to remove all chances of misunderstandings, as he had done when he added the proviso, "with Allah's permission",
while talking about creating a bird and bringing the dead ones to life. But it appears from his talk on the Day of Judgment as
quoted by the Qur'an in the verse 5:117 (I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with: That worship Allah,
my Lord and your Lord. . .), that he had said it in pursuance of the order of Allah and His revelation.
QUR'AN: But when 'Isa perceived unbelief on their part, he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?":
The narration leaves unsaid his life story from his conception to the early days of his mission, because its important milestones
had already been mentioned in the good news given to Maryam. That is why this verse picks up the thread of narration from
the point when 'Isa (a.s.), after announcing his mission and showing the aforesaid miracles, faced resistance from his people. It
describes how he selected his disciples, how his people planned against him, and how Allah defeated their conspiracy by
purifying him, taking him away to Himself and making him to ascend to Him. And thus the story ends.
The narrative throws light on those aspects only which were immediately needed for clarifying the subject matter to the
Christians of Najran, whose delegation was then at Medina for discussion and argument. That is why many other points of the
story, mentioned in the Chapters of: 'The Women,' 'The Table,' 'The Prophets,' 'The Embellishment' and 'The Ranks,' have
been omitted in this one. The use of the word, perception or sense, in connection with unbelief - although disbelief is a matter
pertaining to heart - implies that their disbelief was so transparent that it could be perceived by external senses. It could
alternatively mean that when they, because of their disbelief, planned to harm and kill him, he sensed it and in this way
perceived their disbelief. The verse therefore means: When 'Isa perceived, i.e., felt, sensed and noticed the unbelief of the
Children of Israel - whose name was mentioned in the good news given to Maryam - he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?"
He asked this question as he wanted to distinguish and set apart a selected group of his people who would be solely dedicated
to truth; they would strengthen the power of religion and form the nucleus around which the structure of religion would be built -
they would be the centre from which the Divine Religion would spread. We find this phenomenon in every physical, social and
other powers: When a party begins its activities, it finds it necessary to take for itself a core of dedicated cadre, on which it gets
its strength. Otherwise, it could not pursue its activity and would become useless. In Islamic history, the same phenomenon is
seen in the pledges of allegiance of the mountain pass and the tree. The Messenger of Allah's aim in the two pledges was to
concentrate the full strength of Islam, reinforcing its power, in order that the Divine Mission could spread and succeed.
Thus 'Isa (a.s.) became sure that his mission was not suc¬ceeding in the Children of Israel - in a major part of them - and that
they were not ready to believe in him no matter what he did. He was afraid that if they succeeded in destroying his life, the
mission would fail and the difficulties would increase. Therefore, he wanted to make arrangements as a safeguard against that
eventuality. He sought help of a selected group in proceeding towards Allah. The disciples answered his call and thus were
distinguished from among the whole nation by their belief. It paved the way to distinguish belief from disbelief, by making the
faith victorious over faithlessness, spreading his mission and establishing proofs. Allah says: O you who believe! be helpers of
Allah, as 'Isa son of Mary am said to (his) disciples: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" The disciples said: "We are helpers of
Allah." So a party of the Children of Israel believed and another disbelieved: then we aided those who believed against their
enemy, and they became uppermost (61:14).
'Isa (a.s.) qualified his question, "Who are my helpers", with the phrase, "to Allah". He did so to awaken their longing and
arouse their eagerness to proceed towards Allah, to be near Him. And this was the real reason for asking this question. The
same was the idea behind the question, Who is it that will lend to Allah, a goodly loan . . . (2:245). It is the preposition "to". in
"my helpers to Allah", which implies the meaning of going or proceeding, etc. A similar connotation is found in the declaration of
Ibrahim (a.s.) as quoted in the Qur'an: Surely I go to my Lord: He will guide me (37:99).
Some commentators have said that "to" in the above sentence means "with"; the question according to them means: Who are
my helpers with Allah? But there is no evidence to support this explanation. Moreover, it is against the manners of the Qur'an
to count Allah in line with others. The Qur'an cannot count others as the helpers when it counts Allah as the Helper. Nor is it in
conformity with the manners of 'Isa (a.s.) which shines so brightly everywhere in his narrative in the Qur'an. Furthermore, the
reply of the disciples too does not support this interpretation. In case this meaning were correct, the disciples should have said:
'We are your helpers with Allah.' (Think over it).
QUR'AN: The disciples said: "We are helpers of Allah: We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones:
A man's "al-hawariyy" is the one exclusively attached to him. It is reportedly derived from al-hawr (intense whiteness; marked
contrast between the white of the corona and the black of the iris). The Qur'an has not used this word except for the close
companions of 'Isa (a.s.)
The sentence: "We believe in Allah", is a sort of explanation of their former declaration, "We are helpers of Allah". This too
supports the above exegesis that 'Isa's phrase, "my helpers to Allah", implies proceeding on the way leading to Allah, because
true belief is the prescribed way.
Was it their first entry into the circle of faith? Obviously not. The wordings used in verse 61:14 (. . . 'Isa son of Mary am said to
[his] disciples: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" The dis¬ciples said: "We are helpers of Allah. " So a party of the Children of
Israel believed. . .), show that it was a belief after belief. And there is nothing strange in it, as we have already explained that
the iman and islam are of various ranks, one upon the other.
Going a step further, look at the verse: And when I revealed to the disciples, saying, "Believe in Me and My messenger," they
said: "We believe and be our witness that we are the submitting ones" (5:111). It clearly shows that this reply of theirs was
based on a revelation from Allah; in other words, they were prophets. Therefore, the belief referred to in their reply was a belief
after belief.
Proceeding further, we find them saying: . . . and be our witness that we are submitting ones. Our Lord! we believe in what
Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger; so write us down with those who bear witness. The islam or submission to
which they have referred, is unconditional surrender and submission to all that Allah demands from them and desires for them.
This too implies that it was not the initial belief, but a belief after belief, because such submission is not found except in the
sincere believers; it is not within the reach of those who merely bear witness to the Oneness of God and the prophethood of
the Prophet. We have earlier explained in detail that every stage of iman is preceded by a relevant stage of islam. Their words:
"We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones," also point to this very fact: They used the verb for
belief (imply¬ing a new occurrence) and adjective for submission (implying a sort of permanence). The first stage of islam is
submission and generally bearing witness to the basic of religion. This is followed by a heartfelt belief in the above testimony in
principle. Then comes the second stage of islam and that is the sincere submission to the meaning of the said belief. When
this stage comes, all possibilities are removed of anger or annoyance with what Allah and His messenger has ordered. In other
words, the believer puts in practice the tenets of religion. It is followed by the second stage of iman. This is the stage when
deeds become sincere and the attributes of servitude are deeply ingrained in all actions and activities. This is followed by the
third stage of islam which means surrender to the love of Allah and to His will; such a Muslim does not love anything except
because of Allah and does not want anything except for Allah; then nothing happens on his hands except that which Allah
loves and desires, and the man's own love and desire are completely forgotten. It is followed by the third stage of [man, when
this servile submission permeates all his actions and deeds.
Keep in view this short description of the stages of islam and iman. Then ponder on the call of 'Isa (a.s.) as he said:
"there¬fore fear Allah and obey me. Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him; this is the straight path".
Note that he (a.s.) first told them to fear Allah and obey himself. And he gave the reason of that order, in these words, "Surely
Allah is my Lord and your Lord". That is, Allah is your Lord, O people of my nation, and He is also the Lord of His messenger
whom He has sent to you. Therefore, it is obligatory for you to fear Him by believing in Him, and to obey me by following me. In
short, you are obliged to worship and serve Him with piety and His fear, obeying His messenger, i.e., with belief and following.
This much is clearly understood from his words. That is why the fear of Allah and obedience of the prophet have been
changed to the phrase, "therefore worship Him"; He effected this change to make it clear that this order and this affair is
attributed to Allah, and that attribution becomes crystal clear in the worship. Then he said that this worship is a straight path - it
is a way that leads the walker to Allah.
After issuing that call, he perceived their disbelief, and he felt that there was no ground for hoping that their general public
would accept true faith. Therefore, he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" He was seeking helpers for proceeding on this
straight path to which he had invited the people. That is the path of servitude - the piety and obedience. The disciples
answered his call accepting the same thing he had asked for. They said: "We are helpers of Allah." Then they proceeded to
explain it in these words: "We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones." The submission here refers to
their obedience and following. It was for this reason that when they humbly and beseechingly spoke to their Lord, telling Him
what they had promised 'Isa (a.s.), they changed the word, submission, to the following; and expanded the circle of belief to
cover all that was revealed by Allah. They said: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the
messenger."
It means that they believed in all that Allah had revealed, and in what He had taught 'Isa son of Maryam of the Book and the
Wisdom and the Torah and the Injil, and they followed the messenger in this matter. You will appreciate that it is among the
highest ranks of belief, not its lower ones.
The disciples did not say: We believe in Allah and we are submitting ones. Instead they asked 'Isa (a.s.) to be their witness
regarding their submission and following. They did so in order that they should have a proof when they spoke to their Lord and
said: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger." It was as though they said: Our Lord!
This is our condition and Thy messenger is our witness for it.
QUR'AN: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger; so write us down with those who bear
witness":
It is direct quotation of what the disciples said - without using an introductory phrase, like, 'They said.' This dramatic style of the
Qur'an (as we have mentioned somewhere) puts the audience in a position where they seem to hear the words directly from
the speakers - not through a narrator. They asked their Lord to write them down with those who bear witness. And they based
this prayer on their Islam and Iman both. A messenger conveys his message when he explains what Allah has revealed to him -
both in words and in practice. He teaches the tenets of religion and himself acts upon them. Those who shall bear witness that
the messenger conveyed the Divine Message to his people shall do so by learning the message from the messenger and
following him in the shari'ah. In this way, it will be seen that the messenger himself practices what he tells others to do - he
does not ignore it nor does he transgress it.
Apparently, this witnessing refers to their testimony that the messenger had truly conveyed the message, as Allah says in the
verse: Most certainly then We will question those to whom (the messengers) were sent, and most certainly We will question the
messengers (7:6). As for the witnessing mentioned in the verse 5:83 (And when they hear what has been revealed to the
Messenger, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears on account of the truth that they recognize; they say: "Our Lord! we
believe, so write us down with the witnesses."), it refers to bearing witness for the truth of the messengership not for conveying
the message. And Allah knows better.
Another possible explanation: They had asked the messenger to be witness for their islam; thereafter they prayed to Allah to
write them down with those who bear witness. Probably they wanted Allah to write them among those who shall bear witness for
deeds, as appears from the prayer of Ibrahim and Isma'il (a. s.) quoted in the Qur'an: "Our Lord! and make us both submissive
to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a group submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion . . . (2:128). Refer for
details to what we have written under that verse.
QUR'AN: And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners:
The planners were the Children of Israel, as appears from the preceding verse, "But when 'Isa perceived unbelief on their part
...". It is simple here that in the context of the whole narration, it shows out the actual events on the issue of the prophet hood
of Isa PBUH, the events unfolding thereafter and what Allah intended to do in pre-emptive strategies of the disbelievers who
had hatched a plot to crucify Isa PBUH. I ask what is wrong in pre-empting and planning against an ugly and deceitful plot
against ones enemies. Don’t all people try and do that especially towards the challenges offered by their competitors in the
business markets, rival factions in a military level even at a personal level against those one may face harm. It would be a truly
stupid person who would walk into a trap set by his/her rivals especially when one possesses the sagacity of pre-empting such
harm. What are vaccines, if not pre-emptive planned out mitigation against effect of preventable diseases? Unless Sina wants
us to believe that this is also “deception” in disguise. Let us not fall for this obtuse approach to the interpretation and
translation of the verses of the Quran purely aimed at maligning the Quran and creating a divide between Muslims and Non-
Muslims.
Sina is the liar, as is evident from several of his articles when he interprets and represents the Quran. He is a liar and not a
very good one as well. Sina is a diseased and deranged individual with the thinking capacity even lower than beings prior to
evolution and he portrays it quite proudly. I challenge him to come forth and debate on the above interpretation and be
prepared to be torn into pieces.
Ends ...
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Ali Sina:
Khairul Makerin:
The Best Deceiver
2007/09/04
By Ali Sina
There is a verse in the Quran that says “they deceived and Allah deceived and Allah is the best deceiver.” (Q. 3:54)
وَمَكَرُواْ وَمَكَرَ اللّهُ وَاللّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ
Why would an all powerful God want to deceive, is something that only Muhammad can think of. Certainly, might and deception
are oxymoronic. A God that resorts to deception, can't be almighty. The entire career of Muhammad was filled with deception,
lies, manipulations and tricks. He even licensed his followers to malign him in order to win the trust of their victims and when
they lower their guards assassinate them.
My Response:
This is a very lame argument and totally false interpretation of the verse and an even more perverse commentary. Trust Sina
to come up with something as brazen as this. It is not Muhammad’s PBUH life that is filled with deception and lies, it is Sina who
exemplifies this with every type on his keyboard and of course resorts to the ostrich stand when caught with his pants down.
How ignorant of such an ill educated man as “Dr” Ali Sina. Let me show you how this man is drenched in lies and deceit. The
following are the translations of the same verse from various translators of the Holy Quran:
Yusuf Ali
(53) And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah. (54)
Pickthall
(53) And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers. (54)
Dr Mohsin
(53) And they (disbelievers) plotted [to kill 'Īsā (Jesus) A.S.], and Allâh plotted too. And Allâh is the Best of those who plot.
M H Shakir
(53). And they planned and Allah also planned, and Allah is the best of planners.
Not a single translation shows the word “makr” meaning deceive. All translations show that this word means plan, plot, scheme,
strategize etc. There is no synonym even in the farthest reaches of this word that bears any resemblance to deception or this
word’s synonym. Of course Sina concocts his own synonyms for words.
Ali Sina translation
There is a verse in the Quran that says “they deceived and Allah deceived and Allah is the best deceiver.” (Q. 3:54)
The Ali Sina version of the translation is quite akin to what the Sina psychological syndrome shows out characteristically. A
dubious means of translation to suit foul ends and to create discord among humans as regards the great religion of Islam and
The Holy Quran. It is not Allah SWT who is the best of deceivers, as Sina states or mistranslates and misrepresents, in fact with
this it seems Sina wants the title of “best of deceivers”. The only issue here is he has to do much better than this. This is not
deception. If anything it’s a shameful excuse for deception. Sina, the deceiver once gain does the “foot in the mouth” trick.
The actual exegesis of the verses:
Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him; this is the straight path' " (51). But when Isa perceived unbelief
on their part, he said: "Who are my helper to Allah?" The disciples said: "We are helpers of Allah: We believe in Allah and be
(our) witness that we are submitting ones (52). Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger;
so write us down with those who bear witness" (53). And they planned and Allah (also planned, and Allah is the best of
planners (54). And when Allah said: "O 'Isa! I am going to take you away completely and cause you to ascend unto Me and
purify you of those who disbelieve, and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the Day of Resurrection;
then to Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning that in which you differed (55).
QUR'AN: "'Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him...":
'Isa (a.s.) said it in order to cut off the excuse of those who were to believe in his divinity - either because he (a.s.) had
detected such tendency in them or because he was informed through revelation of these future happenings. It was a sincere
attempt to remove all chances of misunderstandings, as he had done when he added the proviso, "with Allah's permission",
while talking about creating a bird and bringing the dead ones to life. But it appears from his talk on the Day of Judgment as
quoted by the Qur'an in the verse 5:117 (I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with: That worship Allah,
my Lord and your Lord. . .), that he had said it in pursuance of the order of Allah and His revelation.
QUR'AN: But when 'Isa perceived unbelief on their part, he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?":
The narration leaves unsaid his life story from his conception to the early days of his mission, because its important milestones
had already been mentioned in the good news given to Maryam. That is why this verse picks up the thread of narration from
the point when 'Isa (a.s.), after announcing his mission and showing the aforesaid miracles, faced resistance from his people. It
describes how he selected his disciples, how his people planned against him, and how Allah defeated their conspiracy by
purifying him, taking him away to Himself and making him to ascend to Him. And thus the story ends.
The narrative throws light on those aspects only which were immediately needed for clarifying the subject matter to the
Christians of Najran, whose delegation was then at Medina for discussion and argument. That is why many other points of the
story, mentioned in the Chapters of: 'The Women,' 'The Table,' 'The Prophets,' 'The Embellishment' and 'The Ranks,' have
been omitted in this one. The use of the word, perception or sense, in connection with unbelief - although disbelief is a matter
pertaining to heart - implies that their disbelief was so transparent that it could be perceived by external senses. It could
alternatively mean that when they, because of their disbelief, planned to harm and kill him, he sensed it and in this way
perceived their disbelief. The verse therefore means: When 'Isa perceived, i.e., felt, sensed and noticed the unbelief of the
Children of Israel - whose name was mentioned in the good news given to Maryam - he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?"
He asked this question as he wanted to distinguish and set apart a selected group of his people who would be solely dedicated
to truth; they would strengthen the power of religion and form the nucleus around which the structure of religion would be built -
they would be the centre from which the Divine Religion would spread. We find this phenomenon in every physical, social and
other powers: When a party begins its activities, it finds it necessary to take for itself a core of dedicated cadre, on which it gets
its strength. Otherwise, it could not pursue its activity and would become useless. In Islamic history, the same phenomenon is
seen in the pledges of allegiance of the mountain pass and the tree. The Messenger of Allah's aim in the two pledges was to
concentrate the full strength of Islam, reinforcing its power, in order that the Divine Mission could spread and succeed.
Thus 'Isa (a.s.) became sure that his mission was not suc¬ceeding in the Children of Israel - in a major part of them - and that
they were not ready to believe in him no matter what he did. He was afraid that if they succeeded in destroying his life, the
mission would fail and the difficulties would increase. Therefore, he wanted to make arrangements as a safeguard against that
eventuality. He sought help of a selected group in proceeding towards Allah. The disciples answered his call and thus were
distinguished from among the whole nation by their belief. It paved the way to distinguish belief from disbelief, by making the
faith victorious over faithlessness, spreading his mission and establishing proofs. Allah says: O you who believe! be helpers of
Allah, as 'Isa son of Mary am said to (his) disciples: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" The disciples said: "We are helpers of
Allah." So a party of the Children of Israel believed and another disbelieved: then we aided those who believed against their
enemy, and they became uppermost (61:14).
'Isa (a.s.) qualified his question, "Who are my helpers", with the phrase, "to Allah". He did so to awaken their longing and
arouse their eagerness to proceed towards Allah, to be near Him. And this was the real reason for asking this question. The
same was the idea behind the question, Who is it that will lend to Allah, a goodly loan . . . (2:245). It is the preposition "to". in
"my helpers to Allah", which implies the meaning of going or proceeding, etc. A similar connotation is found in the declaration of
Ibrahim (a.s.) as quoted in the Qur'an: Surely I go to my Lord: He will guide me (37:99).
Some commentators have said that "to" in the above sentence means "with"; the question according to them means: Who are
my helpers with Allah? But there is no evidence to support this explanation. Moreover, it is against the manners of the Qur'an
to count Allah in line with others. The Qur'an cannot count others as the helpers when it counts Allah as the Helper. Nor is it in
conformity with the manners of 'Isa (a.s.) which shines so brightly everywhere in his narrative in the Qur'an. Furthermore, the
reply of the disciples too does not support this interpretation. In case this meaning were correct, the disciples should have said:
'We are your helpers with Allah.' (Think over it).
QUR'AN: The disciples said: "We are helpers of Allah: We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones:
A man's "al-hawariyy" is the one exclusively attached to him. It is reportedly derived from al-hawr (intense whiteness; marked
contrast between the white of the corona and the black of the iris). The Qur'an has not used this word except for the close
companions of 'Isa (a.s.)
The sentence: "We believe in Allah", is a sort of explanation of their former declaration, "We are helpers of Allah". This too
supports the above exegesis that 'Isa's phrase, "my helpers to Allah", implies proceeding on the way leading to Allah, because
true belief is the prescribed way.
Was it their first entry into the circle of faith? Obviously not. The wordings used in verse 61:14 (. . . 'Isa son of Mary am said to
[his] disciples: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" The dis¬ciples said: "We are helpers of Allah. " So a party of the Children of
Israel believed. . .), show that it was a belief after belief. And there is nothing strange in it, as we have already explained that
the iman and islam are of various ranks, one upon the other.
Going a step further, look at the verse: And when I revealed to the disciples, saying, "Believe in Me and My messenger," they
said: "We believe and be our witness that we are the submitting ones" (5:111). It clearly shows that this reply of theirs was
based on a revelation from Allah; in other words, they were prophets. Therefore, the belief referred to in their reply was a belief
after belief.
Proceeding further, we find them saying: . . . and be our witness that we are submitting ones. Our Lord! we believe in what
Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger; so write us down with those who bear witness. The islam or submission to
which they have referred, is unconditional surrender and submission to all that Allah demands from them and desires for them.
This too implies that it was not the initial belief, but a belief after belief, because such submission is not found except in the
sincere believers; it is not within the reach of those who merely bear witness to the Oneness of God and the prophethood of
the Prophet. We have earlier explained in detail that every stage of iman is preceded by a relevant stage of islam. Their words:
"We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones," also point to this very fact: They used the verb for
belief (imply¬ing a new occurrence) and adjective for submission (implying a sort of permanence). The first stage of islam is
submission and generally bearing witness to the basic of religion. This is followed by a heartfelt belief in the above testimony in
principle. Then comes the second stage of islam and that is the sincere submission to the meaning of the said belief. When
this stage comes, all possibilities are removed of anger or annoyance with what Allah and His messenger has ordered. In other
words, the believer puts in practice the tenets of religion. It is followed by the second stage of iman. This is the stage when
deeds become sincere and the attributes of servitude are deeply ingrained in all actions and activities. This is followed by the
third stage of islam which means surrender to the love of Allah and to His will; such a Muslim does not love anything except
because of Allah and does not want anything except for Allah; then nothing happens on his hands except that which Allah
loves and desires, and the man's own love and desire are completely forgotten. It is followed by the third stage of [man, when
this servile submission permeates all his actions and deeds.
Keep in view this short description of the stages of islam and iman. Then ponder on the call of 'Isa (a.s.) as he said:
"there¬fore fear Allah and obey me. Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore worship Him; this is the straight path".
Note that he (a.s.) first told them to fear Allah and obey himself. And he gave the reason of that order, in these words, "Surely
Allah is my Lord and your Lord". That is, Allah is your Lord, O people of my nation, and He is also the Lord of His messenger
whom He has sent to you. Therefore, it is obligatory for you to fear Him by believing in Him, and to obey me by following me. In
short, you are obliged to worship and serve Him with piety and His fear, obeying His messenger, i.e., with belief and following.
This much is clearly understood from his words. That is why the fear of Allah and obedience of the prophet have been
changed to the phrase, "therefore worship Him"; He effected this change to make it clear that this order and this affair is
attributed to Allah, and that attribution becomes crystal clear in the worship. Then he said that this worship is a straight path - it
is a way that leads the walker to Allah.
After issuing that call, he perceived their disbelief, and he felt that there was no ground for hoping that their general public
would accept true faith. Therefore, he said: "Who are my helpers to Allah?" He was seeking helpers for proceeding on this
straight path to which he had invited the people. That is the path of servitude - the piety and obedience. The disciples
answered his call accepting the same thing he had asked for. They said: "We are helpers of Allah." Then they proceeded to
explain it in these words: "We believe in Allah and be (our) witness that we are submitting ones." The submission here refers to
their obedience and following. It was for this reason that when they humbly and beseechingly spoke to their Lord, telling Him
what they had promised 'Isa (a.s.), they changed the word, submission, to the following; and expanded the circle of belief to
cover all that was revealed by Allah. They said: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the
messenger."
It means that they believed in all that Allah had revealed, and in what He had taught 'Isa son of Maryam of the Book and the
Wisdom and the Torah and the Injil, and they followed the messenger in this matter. You will appreciate that it is among the
highest ranks of belief, not its lower ones.
The disciples did not say: We believe in Allah and we are submitting ones. Instead they asked 'Isa (a.s.) to be their witness
regarding their submission and following. They did so in order that they should have a proof when they spoke to their Lord and
said: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger." It was as though they said: Our Lord!
This is our condition and Thy messenger is our witness for it.
QUR'AN: "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger; so write us down with those who bear
witness":
It is direct quotation of what the disciples said - without using an introductory phrase, like, 'They said.' This dramatic style of the
Qur'an (as we have mentioned somewhere) puts the audience in a position where they seem to hear the words directly from
the speakers - not through a narrator. They asked their Lord to write them down with those who bear witness. And they based
this prayer on their Islam and Iman both. A messenger conveys his message when he explains what Allah has revealed to him -
both in words and in practice. He teaches the tenets of religion and himself acts upon them. Those who shall bear witness that
the messenger conveyed the Divine Message to his people shall do so by learning the message from the messenger and
following him in the shari'ah. In this way, it will be seen that the messenger himself practices what he tells others to do - he
does not ignore it nor does he transgress it.
Apparently, this witnessing refers to their testimony that the messenger had truly conveyed the message, as Allah says in the
verse: Most certainly then We will question those to whom (the messengers) were sent, and most certainly We will question the
messengers (7:6). As for the witnessing mentioned in the verse 5:83 (And when they hear what has been revealed to the
Messenger, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears on account of the truth that they recognize; they say: "Our Lord! we
believe, so write us down with the witnesses."), it refers to bearing witness for the truth of the messengership not for conveying
the message. And Allah knows better.
Another possible explanation: They had asked the messenger to be witness for their islam; thereafter they prayed to Allah to
write them down with those who bear witness. Probably they wanted Allah to write them among those who shall bear witness for
deeds, as appears from the prayer of Ibrahim and Isma'il (a. s.) quoted in the Qur'an: "Our Lord! and make us both submissive
to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a group submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion . . . (2:128). Refer for
details to what we have written under that verse.
QUR'AN: And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners:
The planners were the Children of Israel, as appears from the preceding verse, "But when 'Isa perceived unbelief on their part
...". It is simple here that in the context of the whole narration, it shows out the actual events on the issue of the prophet hood
of Isa PBUH, the events unfolding thereafter and what Allah intended to do in pre-emptive strategies of the disbelievers who
had hatched a plot to crucify Isa PBUH. I ask what is wrong in pre-empting and planning against an ugly and deceitful plot
against ones enemies. Don’t all people try and do that especially towards the challenges offered by their competitors in the
business markets, rival factions in a military level even at a personal level against those one may face harm. It would be a truly
stupid person who would walk into a trap set by his/her rivals especially when one possesses the sagacity of pre-empting such
harm. What are vaccines, if not pre-emptive planned out mitigation against effect of preventable diseases? Unless Sina wants
us to believe that this is also “deception” in disguise. Let us not fall for this obtuse approach to the interpretation and
translation of the verses of the Quran purely aimed at maligning the Quran and creating a divide between Muslims and Non-
Muslims.
Sina is the liar, as is evident from several of his articles when he interprets and represents the Quran. He is a liar and not a
very good one as well. Sina is a diseased and deranged individual with the thinking capacity even lower than beings prior to
evolution and he portrays it quite proudly. I challenge him to come forth and debate on the above interpretation and be
prepared to be torn into pieces.
Ends ...
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