4 4 . S U K . V K S i L j HA’ P, j ,
uato thee. Verily the likenefs of J esus in the fight of G o d ; is as the
likenefs of A dam : he-created him out of the duft, and then faid unto him,
Be ; and he was *. This is the truth from thy L o r d ; be not therefore one
of thofe who doubt: and whoever fliall difpute with thee concerning himb,
after the knowledge which hath been given thee, fay unto them; Come, l e t
us call together our fons, and your fons, and our wives, and your w i v e s ,
and our .felves, and your felves •, then let us make imprecations, and l a y
the curfe of G od on thofe who B e ' * . Verily this is a true hiftory: and t h e r e
is no G o d , but G od 5 and G od is woft mighty, and wife. If they t u r n
back, G od well knoweth the evil doers. Say, O ye who have received
the fcripture, come to a juft determination between us and you 4; that w e
worlhip not any except G o d , and afiociate no creature with him ; and t h a t
the one of us take not the other for lords', belide G o d . But if they turn
back, fay, Bear witnefs that we are true believers. O ye to w h o m
the fcriptures have been given, why do ye difpute concerning A braham*,
fince the Law and the Gofpel were not fent down until after him ? Do ye n o t
therefore underftand ? Behold ye are they who difpute concerning t h a t
which ye have fome knowledge in ; why therefore do ye difpute concerning
that which ye have no knowledge o f8 ? G od knoweth, but ye know n o t ,
A braham was neither a Jew, nor a Chriftian ; but he was of the true relie
ion, one refigned unto G o d , and was not of the number o f the idolaters.
Verily the men who are the neareft o f kin unto A braham, are they w h o
follow him ; and this prophet, and they who believe on h im : G od is t h e
patron
menfas are incfifputably confonantto the'doClrine
of all. the prophets and' fcriptures, and therefore
cannot be reafonably rejected 3.
c A n d th a t th e one o f us take not th e other for
lordsy &c.] Belides other charges of idolatry on
the J ew s a n d C h r ift ia n s , Mohammed accufed them
of paying too implicit an obedience to their
priefts and monks, who took upon them to pronounce
what things were lawful, and what unlawful,
and to difpenfe with the laws of God4.
f W h y do y e difpute concerning Abraham ?J'v iz.
By pretending, him to have been of your religion.
* Ye d ifpute concerning th a t w h ic h y e hav e font
knowledge in ; why th er efo r e do y e d ifp u te concernin
g th a t w h ic h y e h a v e n o knowledge o f f ] i. e. Ye
perverfely difpute even concerning thole things
which ye .find in theLaw andtheGofpel, whereby
it appears that they were both fent down long
after A b rab 'an f s time; why then will ye offer to
difpute concerning fuch points of Abraham 's religion,
of which your fcriptures lay nothing,
and of which'ye confequently can have no knowledge
sy
■ Jefus in the fight’of G od is as Adam, £s?<r]
He was'like to Adam in refpeCt of his miraculous
prodaCtion by the immediate power of G od x.
6 Him ;] Namely, Jefus.
« Let us call together our fons, See. and imprecate
the curfe of G od on thofe who lie.~\ T o explain
this paffage the commentators tell the following
ftory. That fome Chriftians, with their bilhop
named Abu Haretb, coming to Mohammed as am-
baffadors from the inhabitants of Najrdn, and en-
tringinto fome difputes with him touching religion
and the hiftory of JefmChrift, they agreed the
next morning to abide the trial here mentioned,
as a quick way of deciding which of them were
in the wrong. Mohammed met them accordingly,
accompanied by his daughter “Fatima, his fon
in law Ali, and his two grandfons, Hafan and
Hofein, and defiredi them to . wait till, he had faid
his prayers. But when they faw him kneel down,
their refolution failed them, and they durft not
venture to curfe him, but fubmitted to pay him
tribute 2. .
4 Let us come to a juft determination between us
andyou, &c ] That is, to fuch terms of agree-
1 JaLLALO’DDINj & < . % JaLL AI^DDIN, M^ReIDAWI’4 3
** A l Beidawj-
4* ftdeifii
Ch'a'p. 3- K O R A N . 45'
natron of the faithful. Some of thofe wfio have received the fcriptures defire
to feduce you ‘ , but they feduce thfmfelves only, and they perceive it-
not O ye who have received the fcriptures, why do ye not believe in thp
fio-ns of G o d , fince ye are witneffes of them ? O ye who have received the
fcriptures, why do ye clothe truth with vanity, and knowingly hide, the truthb?
And fome of thofe to whom the fcriptures were given, fay, Believe in that
which hath been fent down unto thofe who believe, in the beginning of
the day ; and deny it in the end thereof; that they may go back from their
faithc : and believe him only who followeth your religion. Say, Verily the
true direftion is the direaion of G o d , that there maybe given unto fome other
a revelation like unto what hath been given-unto you. Will they difpute with
you before your L ord ? Say, Surely excellence is in the hand of G o d , he giv-
cth it unto whom he pleafeth ; G od is bounteous and wife: he will confer
peculiar mercy on whom he pleafeth y. for G od is indued with great beneficence.
There is o f thofe who have received the fcriptures, unto whom i f
thou truft a talent, he will reftore it unto thee4;, and there is alfa of them,,
unto whom if thou; truft a dinar, he will not reftore it unto thee,, unlefs thou
hand over him continuallywith great urgency . This they do becaufe they fay.
We
d Yhere is of thofe who have received thé ferip-r
tures, unto whom i f thou truft a talent he will reftore
*7j]As an inftance of this, the commentators
bring Abdallah Èbn Saldm, a Jew, very intimate
with Mohammed *, to whom one of the
Koreijh lent 1200 ounces of gold, which he very
punctually repaid at the time appointed.1 .
c 1here is alfo of them unto whom i f thou truft
a 'dinar, Be will'not- reftore'it, &c.] Al Beiddwi
prodtrces an example of fuch a piece -of injuftice
in one Phineas EbnAzura,a Jew, who borrowed
a dinar, which is a gold coin worth about ten
fhillings, of a Koreifhite, and afterwards had the
confcience to deny it.
But the perfon more, direCtly ftruck at in this
paffage, was the above mentioned Caab Ebn al
AJhraf, a moft inveterate enemy of Mohammed
and his. religion,, of whom Jallalo'ddin relates
the, fame ftory as al Beiddwi does of Phineas.
This Caab after the battle of Bedr went to Mecca,
and there, to excite the Koreijh to revenge them-
felves, made and recited verfes lamenting the
death of thofe who were llain in that battle, and
reflecting very feverely on Mohammed; and he
afterwards returned to Medina, and had thebold-
nefs .to repeat them publickly there alfo; at which
Mohammed was fo exceedingly provoked, that he
proferibed him, and fent a party of men to kill
him,, and he was circumvented and flain by Mo'-
hammed
* Some of fhofe to whom the fcriptures were given
fill to feduce you, &c.] This paffage was reveaiei
when the Jews endeavoured to pervert Hodbeifa,
Ammar,ssad Moddh to their religion '.
k Why do ye clothe truth with vanity, and knowingly
hide the truth ?] The Jews and Chriftians
are again accufed of corrupting the fcriptures,
and iliiiisg the prophecies concerning Mohan-
med. jL "
1 The commentators to explain this paffage fay;
that Caab Ebn al AJhraf and Malec Ebn al Seif
(two Jews of Medina) advifed their companions,
when the Kebfo was changed 2, to make as if
they believed it was done by the divine direction»
and to pray towards the Caaba in the morning,
but that in the evening they fhould pray as-formerly
towards the temple of Jerufalem; that
Mohammed's followers, imagining the Jews were
better judges of this matter than themfelves,
might imitate their example. But others fay
thefe were certain Jezvifh priefts. of Khaibar,
who direCled fome of their people to pretend
in the morning that they had embraced Moham-
medifm, but in the clofe of the day- to fay that
they had looked into their books of fcripture,
and confuited their Rabbins, and could mot find
that Mohammed was the perfon deferibed and intended
in the law; by which trick they . hoped
to raife doubts in the minds; of the Mobamm&r
dans 3.
1 Idem.' 2' See before, c. 2. p : - 17. 3 A l BbiDAWi,' A See P rideaux’« L i f e o f M a h om ^
tft 33- ^AJBnIDAWI, Ja LI*AfcO’DDI-N.. .