while writing a note about a presentation for Aligarh University, verse 3:64
was part of the note and information came from Corpus.Quran.com, as always, I
have added the translation from Muhammad Asad.
My personal
understanding of the verse is based on the belief that the entire
humanity, including different religions and traditions
subscribe to the oneness of the source and cause of creation. Even
though Christians assign divinity to Jesus, Jews to Ezra, Hindus to Vishnu,
Shiva and Brahma as representations of God, and others have similar and
differing beliefs, there is still an understanding that the source is one,
understanding is multiple.
God is advising to the be truthful, state your belief and acknowledge the
otherness of other's belief (109.6) , but come to common terms and
figure out how to work together. The best ones among you are the ones who learn
about each other. Knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to
acceptance and appreciation of another point of view.
Bottom line
- we have to create cohesive societies that function well
together and no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other.
Welcome to the Quranic Arabic Corpus, an annotated linguistic resource for the Holy Quran. This page shows seven parallel translations in English for the 64th verse of chapter 3 (sūrat āl ʿim'rān). Click on the Arabic text to below to see word by word details of the verse's morphology.
Chapter (3) sūrat āl ʿim'rān (The Family of Imrān)
3:64 (Asad) Say: "O followers of earlier revelation! Come unto that tenet which we and you hold in common: [49] that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall not ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, and that we shall not take human beings for our lords beside God." [50]And if they turn away, then say: "Bear witness that it is we who have surrendered ourselves unto Him." - [49] Lit., "a word [that is] equitable between you and us". The term kalimah, primarily meaning "word" or "utterance", is often used in the philosophical sense of "proposition" or "tenet" [50] Lit., "that we shall not take one another for lords beside God". Since the personal pronoun "we" obviously applies to human beings, the expression "one another" necessarily bears the same connotation. In its wider implication, the above call is addressed not merely to the Christians, who attribute divinity to Jesus and certain aspects of divinity to their saints, but also to the Jews, who assign a quasi-divine authority to Ezra and even to some of their great Talmudic scholars Sahih International: Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]." Pickthall: Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). Yusuf Ali: Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say ye: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will). Shakir: Say: O followers of the Book! come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah; but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. Muhammad Sarwar: (Muhammad), say to the People of the Book, "We must come to a common term. Let us worship no one except God, nor consider anything equal to Him, nor regard any of us as our Lord besides God." However, if they turn away from (the Truth), tell them, "Bear witness that we have submitted ourselves to the will of God." Mohsin Khan: Say (O Muhammad SAW): "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah. Then, if they turn away, say: "Bear witness that we are Muslims." Arberry: Say: 'People of the Book! Come now to a word common between us and you, that we serve none but God, and that we associate not aught with Him, and do not some of us take others as Lords, apart from God.' And if they turn their backs, say: 'Bear witness that we are Muslims.'
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