Sūrat Maryam
Section 7 of 17 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
I Am the Servant of Allah
The child then speaks. This is ʿĪsā (peace be upon him), and his first words are innī ʿabdu Allāh — I am the servant of Allah:
قَالَ إِنِّى عَبْدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِىَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِى نَبِيًّا وَجَعَلَنِى مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَـٰنِى بِٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَٱلزَّكَوٰةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا وَبَرًّۢا بِوَٰلِدَتِى وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِى جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا وَٱلسَّلَـٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا
“Spoke he (the baby), “Verily I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book, and made me a prophet, and He has made me a blessed one wherever I be, and has enjoined Salāh and Zakāh upon me as long as I am alive, and (He has made me) good to my mother, and he did not make me oppressive (or) ill-fated. And peace is upon me the day I was born, the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised alive again.”” (19:30–33)
He begins with servanthood: not prophet, not God — and the latter would in any case be false upon his lips. That opening is itself significant. He continues: Allah has given me the Book, which is to say that He will give me the Book; He has made me a prophet; He has made me blessed wherever I may be; He has enjoined upon me prayer and zakāh for as long as I live; He has not made me arrogant; and peace is upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive.
The weight of all this falls on a single point: that he is not a god. He is a prophet, and the servant of Allah. The passage then states it outright:
ذَٰلِكَ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ ۚ قَوْلَ ٱلْحَقِّ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ مَا كَانَ لِلَّهِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ مِن وَلَدٍ ۖ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥٓ ۚ إِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“That is ‘Īsā, the son of Maryam, to say the truth in which they (Christians) are disputing. It is not for Allah to have a son. Pure is He. When He decides a thing, He simply says to it, “Be” and it comes to be.” (19:34–35)
Such is ʿĪsā the son of Maryam. It does not befit Allah to take a son — He is exalted above it. When He decrees a matter, He says to it only "Be", and it is.