3:80 Aal-i-Imraan (The Family of Imraan)

{ ولا يأمركم أن تتخذوا الملائكة والنبيين أربابا } وهذا تعميم بعد تخصيص، أي: لا يأمركم بعبادة نفسه ولا بعبادة أحد من الخلق من الملائكة والنبيين وغيرهم { أيأمركم بالكفر بعد إذ أنتم مسلمون } هذا ما لا يكون ولا يتصور أن يصدر من أحد من الله عليه بالنبوة، فمن قدح في أحد منهم بشيء من ذلك فقد ارتكب إثما عظيما وكفرا وخيما.

ثم قال الله تعالى "ولا يأمركم أن تتخذوا الملائكة والنبيين أربابا" أي ولا يأمركم بعبادة أحد غير الله لا نبي مرسل ولا ملك مقرب "أيأمركم بالكفر بعد إذ أنتم مسلمون" أي لا يفعل ذلك إلا من دعا إلى عبادة غير الله ومن دعا إلى عبادة غير الله فقد دعا إلى الكفر والأنبياء إنما يأمرون بالإيمان وهو عبادة الله وحده لا شريك له كما قال تعالى "وما أرسلنا من قبلك من رسول إلا نوحي إليه أنه لا إله إلا أنا فاعبدون" وقال تعالى "ولقد بعثنا في كل أمة رسولا أن اعبدوا الله واجتنبوا الطاغوت" الآية وقال "واسأل من أرسلنا من قبلك من رسلنا أجعلنا من دون الله آلهة يعبدون" وقال إخبارا عن الملائكة "ومن يقل منهم إني إله من دونه فذلك نجزيه جهنم كذلك نجزي الظالمين".

No Prophet Ever Called People to Worship him or to Worship Other Than Allah

This Ayah 3:79 means, it is not for a person whom Allah has given the Book, knowledge in the Law and prophethood to proclaim to the people, "Worship me instead of Allah," meaning, along with Allah. If this is not the right of a Prophet or a Messenger, then indeed, it is not the right of anyone else to issue such a claim.

This criticism refers to the ignorant rabbis, priests and teachers of misguidance, unlike the Messengers and their sincere knowledgeable followers who implement their knowledge; for they only command what Allah commands them, as their honorable Messengers conveyed to them. They also forbid what Allah forbade for them, by the words of His honorable Messengers. The Messengers, may Allah's peace and blessings be on all of them, are the emissaries between Allah and His creation, conveying Allah's Message and Trust. The messengers indeed fulfilled their mission, gave sincere advice to creation and conveyed the truth to them. Allah's statement,

وَلَـكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّـنِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَـبَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ

(On the contrary (he would say), "Be you Rabbaniyyun, because you are teaching the Book, and you are studying it.") means, the Messenger recommends the people to be Rabbaniyyun. Ibn `Abbas, Abu Razin and several others said that Rabbaniyyun means, "Wise, learned, and forbearing." Ad-Dahhak commented concerning Allah's statement,

بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَـبَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ

(because you are teaching the Book, and you are studying it.) "Whoever learns the Qur'an deserves to become a Faqih (learned)."

وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ

(and you are studying it), preserving its words.

Allah then said,

وَلاَ يَأْمُرَكُمْ أَن تَتَّخِذُواْ الْمَلَـئِكَةَ وَالنَّبِيِّيْنَ أَرْبَابًا

(Nor would he order you to take angels and Prophets for lords.) The Prophet does not command worshipping other than Allah, whether a sent Messenger or an angel.

أَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْكُفْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ أَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

(Would he order you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah's will) meaning, he would not do that, for whoever calls to worshipping other than Allah, will have called to Kufr. The Prophets only call to Iman which commands worshipping Allah Alone without partners. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ نُوحِى إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنَاْ فَاعْبُدُونِ

(And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad ) but We revealed to him (saying): "None has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me".) 21:25,

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ

(And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid Taghut (all false deities).") 16:36, and,

وَاسْئلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَآ أَجَعَلْنَا مِن دُونِ الرَّحْمَـنِ ءَالِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ

(And ask those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you: "Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Gracious (Allah)") 43:45

Allah said concerning the angels,

وَمَن يَقُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّى إِلَـهٌ مِّن دُونِهِ فَذلِكَ نَجْزِيهِ جَهَنَّمَ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِى الظَّـلِمِينَ

(And if any of them should say: "Verily, I am a god besides Him (Allah)," such a one We should recompense with Hell. Thus We recompense the wrongdoers.) 21:29.

He would never order you read lā ya’murukum to denote a new clause meaning ‘God would not order you’; or if read lā ya’murakum it would be a supplement to yaqūla ‘he should say’ meaning ‘it belongs not that… a mortal should order you’; to take the angels and the prophets as lords in the way that the Sabaeans have taken the angels the Jews Ezra and the Christians Jesus. Would He order you to disbelieve after you have submitted? He would not do this.

The infallibility of the Prophets

The verse implies that a person whom Allah invests with the Book, the Wisdom and the power of making decisions, and places him on the great station of prophethood is always faithful to his mission when he communicates the Divine message to people and calls on them to be-come His faithful servants. That he starts moving people away from the worship of only one God and starts asking them to become his own worshippers or the worshippers of some other creatures is something he can never do. If so, this would mean that the one whom Allah had sent as his messenger did not, in fact, deserve this designation. Any government of this world, when appointing someone to an office of responsibility, always takes two factors into consideration:

1. Does the incumbent have the ability to comprehend and execute government policy?

2. How far can he be expected to execute government directives, and to hold its subjects in a stable stance of loyalty? No king or parliament would ever appoint someone as its representative or ambassador about whom there exists the least doubt of indulging in anti-government activity, or deviation from its policy or directives. However, it is possible that the government may have failed to make a correct assessment of a person's ability or loyalty. But with Allah even that element of doubt does not exist. If He knows about a man that he would not over-step the bounds of loyalty and obedience to Him, even in the slightest degree, then it is impossible that he could, later on, prove to be contrary to that assessment. Otherwise, it would mean that Divine knowledge is defective (we seek refuge with Allah! ) Right from here, the question of the ` ismah1 (infallibility) of the prophets, (علیہم السلام) becomes clear. Now that the blessed prophets are free of minor sins, how can the probability of doing shirk (the major sin of associating others with Allah) or making revolt against Allah remain valid?

1.` Ismah' means a special protection given to someone by Allah which makes him refrain from sins. For the purpose of brevity we may translate it as 'infallibility' – editor

In this, there is the necessary refutation of the Christians who claimed that it was Masih (علیہ السلام) who asked them to have belief in his sonship and godhead. Also chastised were the Muslims who had gone to the Holy Prophet . ﷺ trying to find out if it was all right for them to prostrate before him rather than greet him with the usual سلام salam. Also admonished were the people of the Book who had invested their rabbis and monks with the station of God. Refuge with Allah! (Tafsir ` Usmani)