34 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"The Messenger of God (SAAS) then arose just as 'Abd All~h b. al-Ziba'ra
al-Sahml approached and sat down.
"Al-Walid b. al-Mughira spoke to him, 'I swear, al-Nadr b. al-H~ith's fore-
going argument with Ibn 'Abd al-Murcalib (i.e. Muhammad) was indeed short
lived! Muhammad (silenced him by) claiming that we and those gods of ours we
worship are to be firewood for hell-fire!'
"'Abd All& b. al-ZibaCra replied, 'If I'd found hi saying that, I'd have
disputed with him. Ask Muhammad: "Is everything besides God that is
worshipped, along with those who worship them, to be firewood for hell? We
worship angels, the Jews worship Wzayr, and the Christians worship Jesus."'
"Al-Walid and those with him at the meeting were impressed by what Ibn
alLZiba'ra had said, and thought he had made a cogent and winning argument.
"This was reported to the Messenger of God (SAAS) who replied, 'All those
wanting to be worshipped aside from God will be there in hell with those who
worship them. Those people merely worship devils, and those they (the devils)
have ordered them to worship.'
"God Almighty then revealed, 'Those to whom good has already gone from
us will be kept far away from it (hell). They will not hear its slightest sound, but
will remain forever in what it is they have so desired"' (surat al-Anblya'; XXI;
v.101-2).
This verse is referring to Jesus, 'Uzayr and those rabbis and monks who lived
in obedience to God Almighty. And regarding their assertion that they were
worshipping angels and that these were the daughters of God, He sent down:
"And they say that God the Beneficent has taken a son for himself. All glory be to
Him! No, (not that) but they are honoured servants" (sorat al-Anbzy~'; XXI, v.26).
And then there were the verses following that.
Concerning the good impression made upon the polytheists by what
al-Ziba'r~ said, God sent down: "And when the son of Mary is mentioned as an
example, your people make a great outcry. They ask, 'Are our gods better, or is
he?' They only raise this objection for argument's sake. They really are
contentious people!" (swat al-Zukhrux XLIII, v.57-8).
This argumentation they pursued was futile.
And they were aware of that, because they were an Arab people. It is part of
their language that ma, i.e. "that which," in the above quotation implies in
Arabic something that does not think. The statement: "You, along with that
which you worship besides God are the firewood for hell; you are on your way
there" (sorut al-Anbtyci'; XXI, v.98) refers to the rocks fashioned as idols. It does
not include the angels that they claimed to be worshipping inside these images.
Nor does it include Jesus, Wzayr or any of the holy persons because that item of
language, ma, cannot include them, directly or by implication.
They well knew that the comparison they were making to Jesus, son of Mary,
was futile. As the Ahnighty stated, "They only rase this objection for argument's
sake. They really are contentions people" (sorat al-Zukhruf;' XLIII, v.57-8).