Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:51
Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is the straight path."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِيمٌ (3:51) ("Verily, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Qurʾān-reciters differed over the reading of His statement "Verily, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him."
The majority of the Qurʾān-reciters in the cities read it: (إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ) with a kasra on the "alif" of "inna," as the beginning of a new statement.
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Some read it: (أَنَّ اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ), with a fatḥa on the "alif" of "anna," with the interpretation: "and I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, namely that Allah is my Lord and your Lord," whereby "anna" refers back to "the sign" and forms its substitution (badal).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct reading, in our view, is the one which the Qurʾān-reciters in the cities adhere to, namely the kasra on the "alif" of "inna" as a beginning, on account of the agreement of the authoritative proof among the Qurʾān-reciters regarding its correctness. That upon which they are agreed is a binding proof, and that by which an isolated individual departs from that consensus is merely a personal opinion. And one may not set a personal opinion against the binding proof.
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Although this āyah is outwardly a statement, it contains the decisive proof of Allah for His Messenger Muḥammad — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — against the delegation from the people of Najrān who disputed with him. For Allah, Mighty and Exalted, informs that ʿĪsā (Jesus) was free of that which was ascribed to him by whoever attributed to him something other than that with which he described himself: namely that he was, before Allah, a servant like all the other servants among mankind on earth, except that Allah — exalted is His praise — had distinguished him with prophethood and with the evidentiary signs which He gave him as proof of his truthfulness — just as He also gave the other messengers besides him signs and proofs of their truthfulness — and as proof of his prophethood.
