Surah 5

AL MA’IDAH (The Table)

In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful2

1 O you who believe! Fulfil your obligations. Lawful to you are all four footed animals, with the exceptions named: but animals of the chase are forbidden while you are in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb: for God commands according to his will and plan.

2 O you who believe violate not the sanctity of the symbols of God, nor of the sacred month, nor of the animals brought for sacrifice, nor the garlands that mark out such animals, nor the people resorting to the sacred house, seeking of the bounty and good pleasure of their Lord. But when you are clear of the sacred precincts and of pilgrim garb, you may hunt and let not the hatred of some people on shutting you out of the sacred mosque lead you to transgression. Help one another in righteousness and piety, but help not one another in sin and rancour: fear God: for God is strict in punishment.

3 Forbidden to you are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on wish has been invoked the name of other than God; that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; than which has been partly eaten by a wild animal; unless you are able to slaughter it; that which is sacrificed on stone altars; forbidden also is the division of meat by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day those who reject faith have given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen submission as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, not by desire, to sin, God is indeed oft-forgiving, most merciful.

4 They ask you what is lawful to them as food. Say: Lawful to you are all things good and pure: and what you have thought your trained hunting animals to catch in the manner directed to you by God: eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of God over it: and fear God; for God is swift in taking account.

5 This day are all things good and pure made lawful to you. The food of the people of Al-Kitab is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them. Lawful in marriage are not only chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the people of Al-Kitab, revealed before your time, when you give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the hereafter he will be a loser.

6 O you who believe when you prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands and arms to the elbows; rub your heads with water; and wash your feet to the ankles. If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bath your whole body. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes from offices of nature, or you have been in contact with women, and you find no water, then take for yourselves clean sands or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands. God does not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that you may be grateful.

7 And call in remembrance the favour of God to you, and his convenient, which he ratified with you, when you said: we hear and we obey; and fear God, for God knows well the secrets of your hearts.

8 O you who believe stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well acquainted with all that you do.

9 To those who believe and do deeds of righteousness has God promised forgiveness and a great reward.

10 Those who reject faith and deny our signs will be companions of hell-fire.

11 O you who believe call in remembrance the favour of God to you when certain men formed the design to stretch out their hands against you, but God held back their hands from you: so fear God. And in God let believers put their trust.

12 In previous times, God took a covenant from Bani-Israel, and we appointed twelve captains among them. And God said: “I am with you: if you establish regular prayers, practise regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to God a beautiful loan, truly I will wipe out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resists faith, he truly wandered from the path of rectitude.

13 But because of their breach of their covenant, we cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard: they change the words from their right places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them,3 nor will you cease to find them barring a few ever bent on new deceits: but forgive them, and overlook their misdeeds: for God loves those who are kind.

14 From those, too, who call themselves Nasara,4 we took a covenant,5 but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them:6 so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will God show them what it is they have done.

15 O people of Al-Kitab! There has come to you our messenger, revealing to you much that you used to hide in Al-Kitab, and passing over much that is now unnecessary. There has come to you from God a light and a perspicuous book.

16 With it God guides all who seek his good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leads them out of darkness, by his will, to the light, guides them to a path that is straight.

17 Truly, they blaspheme who say that God is AL-MASIH7 Ibn Maryam.8 Say: Who then has the least power against God, if his will were to destroy AL-MASIH Ibn Maryam, and his mother,9 and everyone that is on the earth? For to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He creates what he pleases. For God has power over all things.

18 The Jews and the Nasara10 say: we are sons of God, and his beloved. Say: Why then does he punish you for your sins? No, you are but men, of the men he created: he forgives whom he pleases, and he punishes whom he pleases. To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between: and to him is the final goal.

19 O people of Al-Kitab! Now has come to you, making clear to you, our messenger, after the break in the series of our messengers, lest you should say: “There came to us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner”; but now has come to you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner. And God has power over all things.

20 Remember Musa said to his people: “O my people! Call in remembrance the favour of God to you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what he had not given to any other among the peoples.

21 O my people enter the holy land which God has assigned to you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will you be overthrown, to your own ruin,

22 They said: O Musa, in this land are a people of exceeding strength: never shall we enter it until they leave it: if they leave, then shall we enter.

23 Among God-fearing men were two11 on whom God had bestowed his grace. They said: “Assault them at the gate: once you are in, victory will be yours; But in God put your trust if you have faith.”

24 They said: “O Musa! While they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go, you and your Lord, and fight you two, while we sit here and watch.”

25 He said: “O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother: so separate us from this rebellious people!”

26 God said: “Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: in distraction will they wander through the land: but sorrow not over these rebellious people.”

27 Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam.12 Behold they each presented a sacrifice to God: it was accepted from one, but not from the other. The latter said: Be sure I will slay you. Surely, said the former, God accepts the sacrifice of those who are righteous.

28 If you stretch your hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against you to slay you: for I fear God, Lord of the universe.

29 For me, I intend to let you draw on yourself my sin as well as yours, for you will be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong,

30 The soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became one of the lost ones.

31 Then God sent a raven, which scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. Woe is me said he; was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother? Then he became full of regrets.

32 On that account we ordained for Bani-Israel that if anyone slew a person who had neither committed murder nor wickedness in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole people:13 and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.14 Then although there came to them our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of then continued to commit excesses in the land.

33 The punishment of those who wage war against God and his messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the hereafter;

34 Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

35 O you who believe do your duty to God, seek the means of approach to him, and strive with might and main in his cause: that you may prosper.

36 As to those who reject faith, if they had everything on earth, and twice repeated, to give as ransom for the penalty of the day of judgment, it would never be accepted of them. Their would be a grievous penalty.

37 Their wish will be to get out of the fire, but never will they get out therefrom: their penalty will be one that endure.

38 As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands: a punishment by way of example, from God, for their crime: and God is exalted in power.

39 But if the thief repent after his crime, and amend his conduct, God turns to him in forgiveness; for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

40 Do you not know that to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom he pleases, and he forgives whom he pleases: and God has power over all things.

41 O messenger! Let not those grieve you, who race each other into unbelief, among those who say “We believe” with their lips but whose hearts have no faith; or it be among the Jews — men who will listen to any lie — will listen even to others who have never so much as come to you. They change the words from their right times and places: they say, “If you are given this, take it, but if not, beware!” If anyone’s trial is intended by God, you have no authority in the least for him against God. For such, it is not God’s will to purify their hearts. For them there is disgrace in this world, and in the hereafter a heavy punishment.

42 They are fond of listening to falsehood, of devouring anything forbidden. If they do come to you, either judge between them, or decline to interfere. If you decline, they cannot hurt you in the least. If you judge, judge in equity between them. For God loves those who judge in equity.

43 But why do they come to you for decision, when they have the Taurat15 with them? In it is the command of God; yet even after that, they would turn away. For they are not people of faith.

44 It was we who revealed the Taurat:16 in it is guidance and light. By its standard the Jews have been judged, by the prophets17 who submitted to God’s will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of God’s book, and they were witnesses to it: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If anyone fails to judge by what God has revealed, they are unbelievers.

45 In it we ordained for them: 

“life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal.” 18 

But if anyone remits the retaliation by way of charity, it is an act of atonement for himself. And if any fail to judge by what God has revealed, they are wrongdoers.

46 And in their footsteps we sent ‘ISA19 Ibn Maryam, confirming the Taurat that came before him. We sent him the Injil,20 in which is guidance and light, and confirmation of the Taurat that came before him. It is guidance and an admonition to those who fear God.21

47 Let the people of the Injil judge by what God has revealed in it. If anyone fails to judge by what God has revealed, they are rebels.22

48 To you we sent Al-Kitab in truth, confirming Al-Kitab that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that has come to you. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If God had so willed, he would have made you a single people, but his plan is to test you in what he has given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to God; it is he that will show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute;

49 And this he commands: judge between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they beguile you from any of that which God has sent down to you. And if they turn away, be assured that for some of their crimes it is God’s purpose to punish them. And truly most men are rebellious.

50 Do they then seek after a judgment of ignorance? But who, for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgment than God?

51 O you who believe take not the Jews and the Nasara23 for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them is of them. Truly God guides not a people unjust.

52 Those in whose hearts is a disease you see how eagerly they run about among them, saying: we do fear lest a change of fortune bring us disaster. Ah, perhaps God will give victory, or a decision according to his will. Then will they repent of the thoughts which they secretly harboured in their hearts.

53 And those who believe will say: are these the men who swore their strongest oaths by God, that they were with you? All that they do will be in vain. And they will fall into ruin.

54 O you who believe if any from among you turn back from his faith, soon will God produce a people whom he will love as they will love him, lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of God, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the grace of God, which he will bestow on whom he pleases. And God encompasses all, and he knows all things.

55 Your friends are God, his messenger, and the believers — those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly.

56 As for those who turn to God, his messenger, and the believers — it is the fellowship of God that must certainly triumph.

57 O you who believe! Take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery or sport — whether among those who received Al-Kitab before you, or among those who reject faith; but fear God, if you have faith.

58 When you proclaim your call to prayer, they take it as mockery and sport; that is because they are a people without understanding.

59 Say: O people of Al-Kitab! Do you disapprove of us for no other reason than that we believe in God, and the revelation that has come to us, and that which came before, and that most of you are rebellious and disobedient?

60 Say: Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, by the treatment it received from God? Those who incurred the curse of God and his wrath, those of whom some he transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil; these are worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path.

61 When they come to you, they say: we believe: but in fact they enter with a mind against faith, and they go out with the same. But God knows fully all that they hide.

62 You see many of them racing each other in sin and rancour, and eating things forbidden. Evil indeed are the things that they do.

63 Why don’t the rabbis and the doctors of law forbid them from uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden? Evil indeed are their works.

64 The Jews say: God’s hand is tied. May their hands be tied and may they be accursed for what they utter. No, both his hands are widely outstretched: he gives and spends of his bounty as he pleases but the revelation that comes to you from God increases in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Among them we have placed enmity. And hatred until the day of judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, God extinguishes it; but they ever strive to do mischief on earth. And God loves not those who do mischief.

65 If the people of Al-Kitab believe and do right, we indeed will blot out their iniquities and admit them to gardens of bliss.

66 If they stand fast by the Taurat, the Injil, and all the revelation sent to them from their Lord, they will enjoy happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil.

67 O messenger! Proclaim what has been sent to you from your Lord. If you did not, you would not have fulfilled and proclaimed his mission. And God will defend you from men who mean mischief. For God guides not those who reject faith.

68 Say: “O people of Al-Kitab! You have no ground to stand upon unless you stand fast by the Taurat, the Injil and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.” It is the revelation that comes to you from your Lord, that increases in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But sorrow not over people without faith.

69 Those who believe, those who are Jews, the Sabians and the Nasara, any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

70 We took the covenant of Bani-Israel and sent them messengers. Every time there came to them a messenger with what they themselves desired not — some they called impostors, and some they slew.

71 They thought there would be no harm, so they became blind and deaf; yet God turned to them; yet again many of them became blind and deaf. But God sees well all that they do.

72 They blaspheme who say: “God is AL-MASIH Ibn Maryam.” But AL-MASIH said: “O Bani-Israel! Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever joins other gods with God, God will forbid him the garden, and the fire will be his abode. There will for the wrongdoers be no one to help.24

73 They blaspheme who say: God is the third of three:25 for there is no god except one God.26 If they desist not from their word, truly a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.

74 Why do they not turn to God, and seek his forgiveness? For God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

75 AL-MASIH Ibn Maryam is the Messenger of God; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They both had to eat their food. See how God makes his signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!

76 Say: “Will you worship besides God, something which has no power either to harm or benefit you? But God hears and knows all things.”

77 Say: “O people of Al-Kitab! Exceed not in your religion the bounds of what is proper, trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by, who misled many, and strayed from the even way.

78 Curses were pronounced on those among Bani-Israel who rejected faith, by the tongue of Dawud27 and of ‘ISA Ibn Maryam:28 because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses.

79 Nor did they forbid one another the iniquities which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds which they did.

80 You see many of them turning in friendship to the unbelievers. Evil indeed are the works which their souls have sent forward before them with the result, that God’s wrath is on them, and in torment will they abide.

81 If only they had believed in God, in the prophet, and in what has been revealed to him, never would they have taken them for friends and protectors, but most of them are rebellious wrongdoers.

82 Strongest among men in enmity to the believers will you find the Jews and pagans; and nearest in love to the believers will you find those who say, “We are Nasara.” This is because among them there are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.

83 And when they listen to the revelation received by the messenger, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth: they pray: “Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses.

84 “What cause can we have not to believe in God and the truth which has come to us, seeing that we long for our Lord to admit us to the company of the righteous?”

85 And for this their prayer has God rewarded them with gardens, with rivers flowing underneath—their eternal home. Such is the reward of those who do good.

86 But those who reject faith and deny our signs shall be companions of hell-fire.

87 O you who believe! Make not unlawful the good things which God has made lawful for you, but commit no excess: for God loves not those given to excess.

88 Eat of the things which God has provided for you, lawful and good; but fear God, in whom you believe.

89 God will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but he will call you to account for you deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths you have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus does God make clear to you his sign, that you may be grateful.

90 You who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, dedication of stones, and divination by arrows, are an abomination, of Shaitan’s handiwork: hate such abomination, that you may prosper.

91 Shaitan’s plan is to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God, and from prayer: will you not then abstain?

92 Obey God, and obey the messenger, and beware: if you turn back, know that it is our messenger’s duty to proclaim in the clearest manner.

93 On those who believe and do deeds of righteousness there is no blame for what they ate, when they guard themselves from evil, and believe, and do deeds of righteousness, or again, guard themselves from evil and believe, or again, guard themselves from evil and do good. For God loves those who do good.

94 You who believe God does but make a trial of you in a little matter of game well within reach of your hands and your lances, that he may test who fears him unseen: any who transgress thereafter, will have a grievous penalty.

95 O you who believe kill not game while in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb. If any of you does so intentionally, the compensation is an offering, brought to the Kaba, of a domestic animal equivalent to the one who killed, as adjudged by two just men among you; or by way of atonement, the feeding of the indigent; or its equivalent in fasts: that he may taste of the penalty of his deed. God forgives what is past: for repetition God will exact from him the penalty. For God is exalted, and Lord of retribution.

96 Lawful to you is the pursuit of water game and its use for food, for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel; but forbidden is the pursuit of land game; as long as you are in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb. And fear God, to whom you shall be gathered back.

97 God made the Kaba, the sacred house, an asylum of security of men as also the sacred months, the animals for offerings, and the garlands that mark them: that you may know that God has knowledge of what is in the heavens and on earth and that God is well acquainted with all things.

98 Know that God is strict in punishment and that God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

99 The messenger’s duty is but to proclaim. But God knows all that you reveal and conceal.

100 Say: “Things that are bad and things that are good are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad may dazzle you. So fear God, O you that understand, that you may prosper.”

101 You who believe ask not questions about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you ask about things when the Quran is being revealed, they will be made plain to you, God will forgive those: for God is oft-forgiving most forbearing.

102 Some people before you did ask such questions, and on that account lost their faith.

103 It was not God who instituted a slit ear she-camel, or a she-camel let loose for free pasture, or idol sacrifice for free pasture, or idol sacrifice for twin births in animals, or stallion camels freed from work it is blasphemers who invent a lie against God; but most of them lack wisdom.

104 When it is said to them: “Come to what God has revealed; come to the messenger”: they say: “Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.” What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?

105 O you who believe guard your own souls: if you follow right guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray. The goal of you all is to God: it is he that will show you the truth of all that you do.

106 O you who believe when death approaches any of you, take witnesses among yourselves when making bequests, two just men of your own or others from outside if you are journeying through the earth, and the chance of death befalls you. If you doubt, detain them both after prayer, and let them both swear by God: we wish not in this for any worldly gain, even though the beneficiary be our near relation: we shall hide not the evidence before God: if we do, then behold the sin be upon us.

107 But if it gets known that these two were guilty of the sin of perjury, let two others stand forth in their places, nearest in kin from among those who claim a lawful right: let them swear by God: we affirm that our witness is truer than that of those two, and that we have not trespassed: if we did, behold the wrong be upon us.

108 That is most suitable: that they may give the evidence in its true nature and shape, or else they would fear that other oaths would be taken after their oaths. But fear God, and listen: for God guides not a rebellious people.

109 One day God will gather the messengers together, and ask: “What was the response you received?” They will say: “We have no knowledge: it is you who know in full all that is hidden.”

110 Then God will say: “O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Recount my favour to you and to your mother. Behold! I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit,29 so that you spoke to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught you Al-Kitab and wisdom, the Taurat and the Injil. And behold, you make out of clay the figure of a bird, by my leave, and you breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by my leave, and you heal those born blind, and the lepers, by my leave. And behold! You bring forth the dead by my leave. And behold! I restrained Bani-Israel from you when you showed them the clear signs. And the unbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’

111 “And behold! I inspired the disciples to have faith in me and my messenger; they said, ‘We have faith, and bear witness that we submit to God’.”

112 Behold! The disciples said: “O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Can your Lord send down to us a table set with food from heaven?” Said ‘ISA: “Fear God, if you have faith.”30

113 They said: “We only wish to eat of it and satisfy our hearts, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle.”

114 ‘ISA Ibn Maryam said: “O God our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set with food, that there may be for us — for the first and the last of us — a solemn festival and a sign from you; and provide for our sustenance, for you are the best provider.”

115 God said: “I will send it down to you; but if any of you after that resists faith, I will punish him with a penalty such as I have not inflicted on anyone among all the peoples.”

116 And behold! God will say: “O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Did you say to men, “Worship me and my mother as gods besides God?” He will say: “Glory to you! Never could I say what I had no right to say. Had I said such a thing, you would indeed have known it.31 You know what is in my heart, though I know not what is in yours. For you know in full all that is hidden.

117 “I never said to them anything except what you commanded me to say, namely, ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord’; and I was a witness over them while I lived among them; when you took me32 you were the watcher over them, and you are a witness to all things.

118 “If you punish them, they are your servants: if you forgive them, you are the exalted in power, the wise.”

119 God will say: “This is a day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are gardens, with rivers flowing beneath—their eternal home: God will be well-pleased with them, and they with God: that is the great salvation.

120 To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, and it is he who has power over all things.

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  1. God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
  2. the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
    Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 
    Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
    Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
    Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
    Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
    Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎
  3. 5:13 When the Jews recited the Taurat, there seems to have been those who publicly read the text incorrectly and even ignored whole sections of the Taurat if it wasn’t to their liking. There is no hint that they changed the actual text of the Taurat. ↩︎
  4. 5:14 Nasara, Arabic for Nazarenes, one of the early names given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH by the Jews (see Injil, Acts 24:5). ‘ISA himself was called the Nasrani, or the Nazarene, possibly because he was raised in the city of Nazareth. The Injil says that ‘ISA “came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nasrani.” (Injil, Matthew 2:23). The name “Christian” was a nickname given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH later, by Greek-speaking outsiders to the faith (Injil, Acts 11:26). ↩︎
  5. 5:14 This “covenant” is so important in the teaching of the Injil that the Injil itself came to be known as the “New Covenant” or “New Testament.” ↩︎
  6. 5:14 It is not surprising that the Nasara among the Arabs forgot part of the message of the Injil, since the Injil was not revealed in Arabic. It wasn’t until many years later that the Injil was translated into Arabic so that Arabs could finally read the Injil in their mother tongue. ↩︎
  7. 5:17 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH.  Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
  8. 5:17 This verse condemns a heretical sect of Christians of that time who were also condemned by the faithful followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH for a belief called Modalism or Sabellianism. The members of the sect came to be called Modalists. They failed to make a proper theological distinction between God and ‘ISA AL-MASIH. ↩︎
  9. 5:17 Here an error is condemned which stated that ‘ISA and Maryam were two gods in addition to God. It is doubtful that anyone holds such a belief today. The orthodox Christian Trinity involves God, ‘ISA as God’s Son, and the Holy Spirit. Maryam is not a part of that Trinity. Verse 116 alludes to the same error, “And behold! God will say: “O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Did you say to men, “Worship me and my mother as gods besides God?” He will say: “Glory to you! Never could I say what I had no right to say. Had I said such a thing, you would indeed have known it.” It would be a mistake to think that Christians today hold to this belief. ↩︎
  10. 5:18 Nasara, Arabic for Nazarenes, one of the early names given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH by the Jews (see Injil, Acts 24:5). ‘ISA himself was called the Nasrani, or the Nazarene, possibly because he was raised in the city of Nazareth. The Injil says that ‘ISA “came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nasrani.” (Injil, Matthew 2:23). The name “Christian” was a nickname given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH later, by Greek-speaking disbelievers (Injil, Acts 11:26). ↩︎
  11. 5:23 The two god-fearing men were Yusha son of Nun and Qalib son of Jephunneh. The full story is found in the Taurat, Numbers chapter 13. Yusha son of Nun later succeeded Prophet Musa as leader of Bani-Israel. The book bearing his name is found in the Taurat immediately following the writings of Prophet Musa. ↩︎
  12. 5:27 That is, Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain). Habil and Qabil had each offered a sacrifice to God. Habil’s was an animal sacrifice, Qabil’s was an offering from his harvest. The sacrifice in which the life of the animal was offered was accepted by God; the other was not. But Qabil became angry and killed his brother Habil. The story is related also in the Taurat, Genesis, chapter 4. ↩︎
  13. 5:32 This explains how the death of the righteous and innocent ‘ISA AL-MASIH could have value enough for all mankind. ‘ISA “did not sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (Injil, 1 Peter 2:22). For the sinless ‘ISA to then die at the hands of wicked men would be the same thing as if each and every person had been killed. As the Injil declares, “One died for all, therefore all died. He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15). ↩︎
  14. 5:32 This verse repeats a principle set down in an ancient Jewish commentary on Genesis 4:10 of the Taurat, called the Mishnah Sanhedrin. In Genesis 4:10, God says to Qabil: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.” The ancient commentary says this, “As regards Cain [Qabil] who killed his brother, the Lord addressing him does not say, ‘The voice of your brother’s blood cries out,’ but ‘the voice of his bloods’; — meaning not his blood alone, but that of his descendants; and this to show that since Adam was created alone, so he who kills an Israelite is, by the plural here used, counted as if he had killed the world at large; and he who saves a single Israelite is counted as if he had saved the whole world.” (NOTE: in the Hebrew language, the Taurat uses the plural ‘bloods’ instead of singular ‘blood.’) ↩︎
  15. 5:43 A clear statement that the true Taurat was in the hands of the Jews at the time this verse speaks. ↩︎
  16. 5:44 Taurat, derived from Torah (Hebrew) which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to, 
    1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
    2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
    3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. ↩︎
  17. 5:44 There were many prophets from among the Jews after Prophet Musa. They are mentioned by name in the Taurat and Injil. They include such notable prophets as Yusha, Samuel, Uzair, Dawud, Sulayman, Shaya, Armiya, Dhul-kifl, Daniel, Yunus, Zakariyya. Their histories or prophecies can be read online here by looking in the table of contents of the Taurat, or by doing a search for their name. ↩︎
  18. 5:45 Of the three possible source verses for this Taurat quotation, the closest correspondence is found in Exodus 21:23-25 where we read, “But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.” The other two possible source verses are Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. ↩︎
  19. 5:46 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH SAVES.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
  20. 5:46 Injil, derived from Euangel (Greek) and means “good news” or “Gospel” (old English for ‘good news’). Depending on context, Injil can refer to, 
    1. the whole Christian New Testament containing 27 books, 
    2. the first 4 books of the New Testament, that is, the Injil or Gospel ccording to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, or,
    3. the message or “good news” of forgiveness of sins through ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed in the holy Injil (or New Testament). ↩︎
  21. 5:46 The Injil of ‘ISA Ibn Maryam was not given to abrogate the Taurat. As the Injil says, “Do not think that I came to abrogate the Taurat or the Prophets. I did not come to abrogate, but to fulfil. For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Taurat, until all things are accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17,18). Likewise, the Quran never claims to abrogate the previous scriptures, rather it “confirms” them, or testifies to their truthfulness. The study course “Eternal Word” deals with this subject at length. ↩︎
  22. 5:47 The people of the Injil (also called Nasara or Christians) must follow the Injil or be labelled “rebels.” Obviously, if they were obligated to “judge by what God has revealed in it,” the Injil must have still been pure and free from tampering, as it is to this day. ↩︎
  23. 5:51 Nasara, Arabic for Nazarenes, one of the early names given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH by the Jews (see Injil, Acts 24:5). ‘ISA himself was called the Nasrani, or the Nazarene, possibly because he was raised in the city of Nazareth. The Injil says that ‘ISA “came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nasrani.” (Injil, Matthew 2:23). The name “Christian” was a nickname given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH later, by Greek-speaking disbelievers (Injil, Acts 11:26). ↩︎
  24. 5:72 Polytheism (belief in many gods) is condemned. ↩︎
  25. 5:73 The “three” are identified in Surah 5:116: “And behold! God will say: O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Did you say to men, Worship me and my mother as gods besides God?” ↩︎
  26. 5:73 God is not one of three gods. God is the one and only true God. Tri-theism (belief in three gods) is condemned. That is not the same however, as belief in the tri-une God (trinity). Believers in God as tri-une confess “there is no god but one God,” and they would never say, “God is the third of three.” ↩︎
  27. 5:78 The holy Zabur of Prophet Dawud has frequent calls for God’s judgment on wicked men. For example, “Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve.” (Zabur, chapter 28, verse 4). Another passage says, “Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see. Let their backs be continually bent.” (Zabur, chapter 69:22,23). The last reference is quoted by the holy Injil in Romans 11:9,10. ↩︎
  28. 5:78 An example would be when Prophet ‘ISA AL-MASIH declared, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Injil, Matthew 23:27,28). ↩︎
  29. 5:110 Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God; not an angel or created being, but the uncreated, eternal Spirit of God himself who was present and active at the creation of heaven and earth (see Taurat, Genesis 1:2), and today lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God. ↩︎
  30. 5:112 This may well be a reference to the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 men mentioned several times in the Injil.  ↩︎
  31. 5:116 The holy Injil agrees with this statement. The Injil teaches that Maryam, mother of ‘ISA was a holy woman, but only a woman, not a goddess to be worshipped. ↩︎
  32. 5:117 “You took me” (Arabic–tawaffa) could also be translated “you caused me to die.” It is a euphemism meaning that God brought about the death of ‘ISA AL-MASIH. The same word is used in Surah 32:11– “Say: The Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will take your souls (tawaffa, or cause you to die): then shall you be brought back to your Lord.” ↩︎