Surah At-Tawba
Chapter 9 · Verse 31 · Revealed in Madinah
“They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
Fighting the Jews and Christians is legislated because They are Idolators and Disbelievers
Allah the Exalted encourages the believers to fight the polytheists, disbelieving Jews and Christians, who uttered this terrible statement and utter lies against Allah, the Exalted. As for the Jews, they claimed that `Uzayr was the son of God, Allah is free of what they attribute to Him. As for the misguidance of Christians over `Isa, it is obvious. This is why Allah declared both groups to be liars,
ذلِكَ قَوْلُهُم بِأَفْوَهِهِمْ
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
Commentary
The four verses cited above mention how astray the learned and the devoted and the abstaining among the Jews and Christians had gone and what blasphemies of word and deed they had come up with. The word: اَحبَار (ahbar) is the plural form of حبر (hibr) and رھبان (ruhban) is the plural of راھب (rahib). Hibr refers to a religious scholar among the Jews and Christians while a rahib denotes someone who devotes to worship and abstains from a worldly role in life.
What does this verse bring up for you today?