Surah Al-Imran

Among the Children of Israel, Jesus presents himself as confirming the Torah while also speaking of his mission to make some earlier prohibitions lawful. To understand these two responsibilities, we must distinguish between revealed scripture and what had become established in society over generations in the name of religion. Not all beliefs, rulings, and religious restrictions prevalent among a people necessarily originated in the divine Book. Some might be commands from God, some restrictions that a person imposed on himself, and some statements and interpretations of religious leaders that gradually came to occupy the place of divine rulings. The Qur’an itself provides evidence of these different situations concerning the Children of Israel.

Jesus’ declaration, “وَمُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ”, shows that his mission was not separate from the guidance of earlier prophets. In Al-Maidah 5:46, Jesus son of Mary is likewise described as confirming the Torah, and the Gospel is described as a book containing guidance and light. Jesus therefore did not come to deny earlier revelation, but to bear witness to its divine truth. Confirming the Torah, however, did not mean endorsing every statement, interpretation, and tradition that human beings had attributed to it throughout history. Fidelity to revelation is not the same as submission to everything that has circulated in revelation’s name.

This distinction becomes more significant in “وَلِأُحِلَّ لَكُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ”. Jesus says he has come to make lawful for the Children of Israel some of what had been forbidden to them. “Baʿd,” some, indicates that the statement concerns lifting part of the prohibitions, not all of them. Another important point is that “hurrima” is a passive verb: the verse does not state who prohibited those things. To identify the origins of those restrictions, we must turn to other Qur’anic evidence.

Ali Imran 3:93 states that before the Torah was revealed, foods were lawful for the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself. This is a clear example of a restriction originating in a person’s own choice. On the other hand, An-Nisa 4:160 and Al-Anam 6:146 speak of prohibitions that God Himself imposed because of the wrongdoing and transgression of a group among the Children of Israel. Earlier restrictions therefore did not all have the same origin, and they cannot be treated without examination as permanent and universal rulings of the Torah.

Alongside these cases, the Qur’an exposes the involvement of religious authorities in attributing human statements to God. In Ali Imran 3:78, some among the People of the Book presented statements in such a way that people would think they came from God’s Book, although they were not from it. At-Tawbah 9:31 also speaks of those who took their scholars and monks as lords instead of God. This evidence shows that among some groups of the People of the Book, human authority had risen to a position in which a religious leader’s words could be accepted as a religious command. The involvement of scholars in creating or entrenching some religious restrictions is thus a possibility with Qur’anic support, although verse 3:50 itself does not specify which prohibitions addressed by Jesus had been created by those scholars.

What is clear from Jesus’ own words is relief by divine authorization. To people living under earlier rulings and restrictions, he announces that some of what had been forbidden to them is now made lawful. This relief shows that a religious restriction cannot be regarded as permanently binding simply because it is old. Even a prohibition that God Himself imposed under particular circumstances can be lifted by His permission. Likewise, what human beings have added to religion without divine authorization must not be imposed on people in the name of fidelity to God.

Yet this same danger reappeared among Jesus’ followers. In Al-Hadid 57:27, the Qur’an speaks of the compassion and mercy God placed in the hearts of his followers, then mentions monasticism that they introduced although God had not prescribed it for them. Thus, even after a prophet came who lifted some earlier restrictions, people again developed a religious practice that did not originate in a prescribed divine command. A person may choose a difficult path for themselves intending to seek God’s pleasure, but good intentions alone do not establish that the path is a divine obligation for everyone.

This experience in the history of the Children of Israel and Jesus’ followers also offers a clear warning to Muslims today. We too may make religion difficult for ourselves and others by appealing to assorted reports, inherited legal opinions, and the views of religious leaders. Sometimes, concerning eating certain animals, using gold and silk, music, keeping dogs, growing a beard, and many daily activities, rulings and details are constructed that people regard as God’s definitive commands without clear evidence being presented from the divine Book. Anyone who declares these matters obligatory or forbidden in God’s name must show where The God has prescribed such a ruling. The fame of a report or the age of a legal opinion does not itself turn it into revelation.

If clerics, muftis, and other religious leaders declare things lawful or forbidden without divine evidence, and people place their words in the position of God’s final command, the same danger of taking human beings as lords recurs that the Qur’an condemns in At-Tawbah 9:31. A scholar may teach, offer evidence, and help people understand the Book, but has no right to turn a personal opinion into binding religious law without God’s authorization. An-Nahl 16:116 also explicitly prohibits inventing designations of lawful and forbidden and falsely attributing them to God. This subject is examined in detail in “Halal and Haram in the Qur’an: Divine Legislative Authority and the Danger of Associating Partners in Religion”.

Nevertheless, the relief Jesus brought did not mean he possessed independent authority to change religion. He himself says, “وَجِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ”: I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. In the preceding verse, Ali Imran 3:49, the signs of his mission are presented with an emphasis on God’s permission. Making some prohibitions lawful was therefore also part of his divine mission, not independent legislation in opposition to the Lord. Jesus spoke with revelation and a divine sign and called people to God’s command.

This truth becomes clearer at the end of the verse: “فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ”. Jesus first commands people to be mindful of God and then to obey him. Obedience to him is obedience to a messenger who has come with a divine mission and authorization; it does not confer the status of an object of worship or independent legislative authority on a human being. In Ali Imran 3:51, God also states through Jesus’ words that his Lord and the people’s Lord are one, and that they must worship that Lord. Jesus’ path therefore does not end in servitude to himself; it returns people to the service of The God.

The lesson of this verse for us today is clear: fidelity to religion means fidelity to revealed truth, not the unquestioning defense of every inherited ruling and custom. Jesus confirmed the Torah while lifting some earlier prohibitions by God’s permission. No one therefore has the right to sanctify human-made restrictions in the name of religion and close again the paths God has opened for His servants. Just as making lawful what God has forbidden without His permission is not acceptable, forbidding what He has permitted also means assuming the position of divine legislation. The prophets’ path is a call to truth and service to God, not the addition of chains that He has not prescribed for His servants.

• Ali Imran 3:49 — The signs of Jesus’ mission and the emphasis on God’s permission.
• Ali Imran 3:51 — God as the Lord of Jesus and the people, and the command to worship Him.
• Ali Imran 3:78 — Attributing non-divine statements to the Book and to God.
• Ali Imran 3:93 — The restriction Israel imposed on himself before the Torah was revealed.
• An-Nisa 4:160 — God’s prohibition of some wholesome things because of wrongdoing among the Children of Israel.
• Al-Maidah 5:46 — Jesus as confirming the Torah and receiving the Gospel.
• Al-Maidah 5:48 — Confirmation of earlier scriptures and differences in the law and way of communities.
• Al-Maidah 5:87 — The prohibition on forbidding wholesome things God has made lawful.
• Al-Anam 6:146 — Special divine restrictions imposed on a group among the Jews.
• Al-Araf 7:157 — Making wholesome things lawful, prohibiting corrupt things, and lifting earlier burdens and chains in the mission of the unlettered messenger.
• At-Tawbah 9:31 — Taking scholars and monks as lords instead of God.
• An-Nahl 16:116 — The prohibition on attributing invented permissions and prohibitions to God.
• Az-Zukhruf 43:63 — Jesus coming with wisdom and clarifying some disagreements.
• Al-Hadid 57:27 — Monasticism introduced by Jesus’ followers although God had not prescribed it for them.