Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 57 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:57

۞ وَلَمَّا ضُرِبَ ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ مَثَلًا إِذَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْهُ يَصِدُّونَ

“And when the son of Mary was presented as an example,[1443] immediately your people laughed aloud.”

Saheeh International

Essence

When the son of Maryam was made a debating point, the Prophet's own people erupted in noise, as if cleverness were victory.

A reflection

The clever objection

The commentaries preserve the scene behind this ayah. The Prophet ﷺ had recited to Quraysh: you and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell (21:98). A sharp-witted man of Quraysh, ʿAbdullah ibn al-Zibaʿra, saw an opening. Do not the Christians worship ʿIsa, he asked? And you say he was a prophet and a righteous servant of Allah. If he is in the Fire, we are content to be there with our gods.

Quraysh were delighted. They laughed and raised their voices, sure the Prophet ﷺ had been silenced.

The objection sounds clever. It is not. One commentary points out that the ayah says mā taʿbudūn, what you worship, a word used of things without reason, such as their stone idols. It never meant prophets or angels. Another adds that it was addressed to Quraysh, who worshipped idols, not ʿIsa. And the Quran answered plainly: those for whom good has already been decreed by Us will be kept far from it (21:101). A report adds that the Prophet ﷺ said: whoever is content to be worshipped besides Allah is with those who worship him.

This is the shape of many modern objections too. Take a statement, stretch it past its meaning, and present the result as a contradiction. It wins applause. It does not find truth.

And here is the hopeful end of the story. One commentary calls him ibn al-Zibaʿra before his Islam. The man who scored the clever point later came to the very faith he was mocking.

A university debater wins a round by twisting her opponent's words. Afterwards, alone, she rereads his actual argument and realises he was right. She emails him that night.

Cleverness can delay the truth. It cannot defeat it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.