format_quote Originally Posted by
Muharar
I always found the bit about Uzayr to be strange. Sure we know about Jesus and the Christians but the Jews dont say Uzayr is the son of God.
Muharar,
This has been dealt with by islamqa.info. An extract of which states:
"...
A Jewish person is asking me about the Qur’an and saying: “We do not believe that ‘Uzayr the Prophet of God is the son of God, and there is no text that says that. We do not say that the hand of God is tied up, and we do not say that we are the sons of God or His loved ones.” And he does not believe in the Qur’an for this reason. I hope that you could please resolve this confusion. He is demanding proofs and says that these are mere fabricated claims against them.
Answer
Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
If that Jewish person were to give a little thought to the matters that he is confused about, he would realise that his problem stems from his arrogance and from his ignorance of his own religion and history, and his ignorance of the laws of God, may He be exalted.
If what Allāh, may He be exalted, said about his Jewish forefathers was not true, then those forefathers would have been quick to disbelieve the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and to criticise the Qur’ān for saying things that were not true about the beliefs and views of his Jewish forefathers. But that did not happen. This is indicative of the ignorance of this objector, and shows that he is simply speaking of something of which he has no knowledge. His forefathers would not have wasted this precious opportunity, if Allāh, may He be exalted, had said something about them that was not part of their views and beliefs!
Secondly:
We do not doubt the truth of what Allāh, may He be exalted, said about those Jews, for who is truer in speech than Allāh? But this confused Jew is ignorant of the fact that
in the Arabic language it is possible to attribute a view to a group of people without that necessarily meaning that it was the view of all of them; rather those who held that view may have been some of them, but the view may be attributed to all of them. The wisdom behind that in this case is that the silence of the rest of the group, and the fact that they did not denounce this view, means that they approved of it. In that case, it is valid to attribute it to the entire group.
Thirdly:
With regard to the things that Allāh, may He be exalted, mentioned in His Book, about which that Jewish person is confused,
Allāh, may He be exalted, did not say that they were in the Jewish Scriptures or part of their religion. Rather they were views and opinions that were said at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him),
or before that, by some group among the Jews, and Allāh, may He be exalted, revealed Qur’ān that spoke of that and warned them against those evil views of theirs. The fact that this Jewish person does not hold those views does not change the matter in the slightest. They were views that were definitely held, and disavowing them does not mean that they were not held by some people.
1. Their view that al-‘Uzayr is the son of God:
This view was narrated from some of the Jews of Madīnah, and was narrated from the Isfahānī sect of Judaism.
Al-Hāfiz Ibn Hajar (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: Ibn al-‘Arabī said in
Sharh at-Tirmidhi:
The Jews of our own time disavowed the idea that
al-‘Uzayr is the son of God, but this does not necessarily mean that this idea did not exist at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him), because that was revealed at his time, when the Jews were with him in Madīnah and elsewhere, and there is no report to suggest that any of them rejected that or commented on it. What appears to be the case is that those who held that view were a group among them, not all of them, based on the fact that those among the Christians who said that the Messiah was the son of God were a group among them, not all of them. So it may be that that group has now become extinct, just as the belief of most of the Jews changed from likening the attributes of Allāh to those of human beings to denying His attributes altogether, and the belief of the Christians in the “
Son” and the “
Father” became symbolic or metaphorical, and not to be taken literally.
Glory be to the Controller of the hearts.
End quote from
Fath al-Bārī (3/359).
Abū Bakr al-Jassās (may Allāh have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the words of Allāh, may He be exalted (interpretation of the meaning): “
And the Jews say: ‘Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of Allāh, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allah”[at-Tawbah 9:30], it was said that what is meant is a group among the Jews who believed in that. The evidence for that is the fact that the Jews heard that at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him) and did not deny it. This is like the view of one who says that “
the Khawārij believe in carrying out massacres and and killing children”, and what he means is a group among them and not all of them. And it is like your saying “
Banu Tamīm [a tribe] came to me”, and what you mean is some of them. Ibn ‘Abbās said: That was said by a group among the Jews who came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him) and said that. They were: Salām ibn Mashkam, Nu‘mān ibn Awfa, Shās ibn Qays, and Mālik ibn as-Sayf. So Allāh, may He be exalted, revealed this verse. There are none among the Jews who say that now, as far as we know; rather it was a group among them who said that, and they became extinct.
End quote from
Ahkām al-Qur’ān (4/299)
Al-Māwardī (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If it is said: if that was the view of some of them, why is it attributed to all of them? The answer is: because those who did not hold that view at the time when the Qur’ān was revealed did not deny it.
Hence it was attributed to all of them, even though only some of them expressed that view.
[...]
End quote from
Tafsīr al-Māwardī (2/353)
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyah (may Allāh have mercy on him) was asked about the verse in which Allāh, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “
And the Jews say: ‘Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of Allāh”[at-Tawbah 9:30], did all of them say that or only some of them? And concerning the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him), “
The Jews will come on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them: ‘What did you worship?’ And they will say: ‘ ‘Uzayr’” [agreed upon] – is this applicable to all of them, or not?
He replied:
Praise be to Allāh. What is meant by the Jews is a category of people , as in the verse in which Allāh, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “
Those (i.e. believers) unto whom the people (hypocrites) said, ‘Verily, the people (pagans) have gathered against you (a great army)’” [Āl ‘Imrān 3:173]. Allāh did not say “
all the people”, or “
all the people have gathered against you”. Rather what is meant here is a category of people. This is like when it is said that such and such a group is doing such and such, or certain people are doing such and such. If some of them hold that view and express it and the rest remain silent and do not object to it, then they all have a share in the sin of that view. And Allāh knows best.
End quote from
Majmū‘ al-Fatāwa (15/47)
What we have mentioned here is a principle that will refute the specious argument of that Jewish person. The views that Allāh, may He be exalted, narrated that the Jews held are undoubtedly proven from them, and this refers to some of them, not all of them. Attributing a view to a category of people, even though those who hold that view are a group among them, is a usage that is well known in Arabic, and the fact that those views are rejected now does not mean that they were never held in the past. [...]
Complete answer at:
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/1646...9N02otbVFhPVjB