Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:52
But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, "Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah?" The disciples said, "We are supporters for Allah. We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].
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.
The explanation of the saying of Allah: فَلَمَّا أَحَسَّ عِيسَى مِنْهُمُ الْكُفْرَ قَالَ مَنْ أَنْصَارِي إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنْصَارُ اللَّهِ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ (52) (And when ʿĪsā perceived disbelief among them, he said: "Who are my helpers unto Allah?" The disciples said: "We are the helpers of Allah, we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we have submitted.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying, exalted be His praise: "And when ʿĪsā perceived disbelief among them", He means: when ʿĪsā found disbelief among them.
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"Al-iḥsās" (the perceiving) means the finding, the noticing, and of this is the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: هَلْ تُحِسُّ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ [Surah Maryam: 98] (Do you perceive even one of them?).
As for "al-ḥass", without the "alif", that means the destroying and the killing, and of this is His saying: إِذْ تَحُسُّونَهُمْ بِإِذْنِهِ [Surah Āl ʿImrān: 152] (when you were slaying them by His permission).
"Al-ḥass" also means affection and tenderness, and of this is the saying of al-Kumayt:
"Is there anyone who wept over the dwelling and hopes that it has compassion for him, or that the dwelling is brought to weep by the abundant water of the tear?" (56)
By his saying "an taḥissa lahu" he means: that it has tenderness for him.
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The explanation of the words is then: when ʿĪsā — among the Children of Isrāʾīl to whom Allah had sent him — found denial of his prophethood, and rejection of his word, and turning away from that to which he had called them concerning the matter of Allah, he said: "Who are my helpers unto Allah?", by which he means: ʿĪsā said: who are my helpers against those who reject the proof of Allah (57) and turn away from His religion and deny the prophethood of His prophet — "unto Allah", mighty and exalted?
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By his saying "unto Allah" (ilā Allāh) he means: "with Allah" (maʿa Allāh).
It is only fitting to say "ilā Allāh" in the meaning of "maʿa Allāh", because it is the custom of the Arabs that when they join one thing to another and then wish to report about both by combining the one with the other to which it is joined, they sometimes place, in place of "maʿa" (with), the word "ilā" (unto/towards), and sometimes they report about both with "maʿa". Thus one says: "al-dhawd ilā al-dhawd ibil" (the herd [joined] to the herd [makes] camels), in the meaning: when you join one herd to another, they become camels. But when the one thing is with the other, they do not say it with "ilā", and they do not place "ilā" in place of "maʿa".
It is not permissible to say: "qadima fulānun wa-ilayhi mālun" (so-and-so came, and unto him ilā wealth), in the meaning: and with him was wealth. (58)
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And in agreement with what we have said about the explanation of His saying "Who are my helpers unto Allah", a group of the scholars of explanation have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
7120 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying "Who are my helpers unto Allah": he says: with Allah. (59)
7121 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "Who are my helpers unto Allah": he says: with Allah.
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As for the reason why ʿĪsā, peace be upon him, sought help from the disciples whom he asked for help: concerning that there is disagreement among the scholars.
Some of them said: the reason for that was that which:-
7122 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related it to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: When Allah sent ʿĪsā and commanded him to call [to the faith], the Children of Isrāʾīl repudiated him and drove him out. So he set out, he and his mother, wandering over the earth. He alighted in a village at the home of a man, who received them hospitably and was good to them. Now in that city there was a tyrannical, transgressing king. One day the man came, and worry and grief had befallen him, and he entered his house while Maryam was with his wife. Maryam said to her: what is the matter with your husband? I see him grieved! She said: do not ask! She said: tell me! Perhaps Allah will remove his distress! She said: we have a king who imposes upon every man among us a day on which he feeds him and his soldiers and gives them wine to drink, and if he does not do so, he punishes him. And his turn has come today, the day on which he wants us to prepare it for him, and we do not have the means for it! She [Maryam] said: tell him not to worry, for I will command my son to pray for him, so that it will be provided. Maryam spoke to ʿĪsā about that, and ʿĪsā said: O mother, if I do that, there will be evil in it. She said: do not concern yourself with that, for he has been good to us and has honored us! ʿĪsā said: then tell him: when that draws near, fill your cooking pots and your jars with water, and then inform me. (60) He said: when he had filled them, he informed him, and he [ʿĪsā] prayed to Allah, whereupon what was in the cooking pots turned into meat, broth, and bread, and what was in the jars into wine the like of which the people had never seen, and with it food. (61) When the king came, he ate, and when he drank the wine, he asked: where does this wine come from? He [the host] said to him: it comes from such-and-such a land. The king said: but my wine is brought to me from that land, and it is not like this! He said: it comes from another land. When it became confusing to the king, it weighed heavily on him, and he [the host] said: then I will tell you: I have a boy who asks Allah for nothing but that He gives it to him, and he prayed to Allah and so made the water into wine. The king — and he had a son whom he wished to make his successor, but who had died a few days before and who was the most beloved of all creatures to him — said: if a man has prayed to Allah until He made the water into wine, then he will surely be answered, so that he may bring my son to life! He summoned ʿĪsā and spoke with him, and asked him to pray to Allah to bring his son to life. ʿĪsā said: do not do that, for if he lives, it will be evil. The king said: that does not concern me, will I not see him? Then it does not concern me what happens. ʿĪsā, peace be upon him, said: if I bring him to life, will you then let me and my mother go wherever we wish? The king said: yes. He prayed to Allah, and the boy lived. When the people of his kingdom saw that he was alive again, they cried out to arms and said: this one has devoured us, until, when his death drew near and he wished to make his son his successor, he would devour us anew as his father devoured us!! So they fought one another, and ʿĪsā and his mother went away. A Jew accompanied them, and the Jew had two loaves of bread with him, and ʿĪsā had one loaf with him. ʿĪsā said to him: share with me. The Jew said: yes. But when he saw that ʿĪsā had only one loaf with him, he regretted it. When they slept, the Jew wanted to eat the [extra] bread, and when he had taken a bite, ʿĪsā said to him: what are you doing? Then he would say: nothing! Then he would throw it down, until he had eaten the whole loaf. When morning came, ʿĪsā said to him: bring out your food! He brought one loaf, and ʿĪsā said to him: where is the other loaf? He said: I had only one with me. ʿĪsā kept silent toward him, and they went on. They passed by a shepherd, and ʿĪsā called out: O owner of the sheep, give us a sheep from your flock to slaughter. (62) He said: yes, send your companion to fetch it. ʿĪsā sent the Jew, and he brought the sheep; they slaughtered it and roasted it. Then he said to the Jew: eat, but do not break any bone. They both ate. (63) When they were satisfied, ʿĪsā threw the bones into the skin, struck them with his staff, and said: rise, by the permission of Allah! And the sheep rose and bleated. He said: O owner of the sheep, take your sheep. The shepherd said to him: who are you? He said: I am ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam. He said: you are the sorcerer! And he fled from him. ʿĪsā said to the Jew: by Him who brought this sheep to life after we had eaten it, how many loaves did you have with you? He swore that he had only one loaf with him. Then they passed by an owner of cattle, and ʿĪsā called out and said: O owner of the cattle, give us a calf of these cattle to slaughter. He said: send your companion to fetch it. He said: go, O Jew, and bring it. He went and brought it. He slaughtered it and roasted it, while the owner of the cattle looked on, and ʿĪsā said to him: eat, but do not break any bone. When they were finished, he threw the bones into the skin, struck them with his staff, and said: rise, by the permission of Allah. And it rose and lowed. He said: take your calf. He said: and who are you? He said: I am ʿĪsā. He said: you are the arch-sorcerer! Then he fled from him. The Jew said: O ʿĪsā, you have brought it to life after we had eaten it! ʿĪsā said: by Him who brought the sheep to life after we had eaten it, and the calf after we had eaten it, how many loaves did you have with you? He swore by Allah that he had only one loaf with him. They went on, until they alighted in a village. The Jew alighted in the upper part of it and ʿĪsā in the lower part of it. The Jew took a staff like the staff of ʿĪsā and said: now I will bring the dead to life! And the king of that city was sick, severely sick, and the Jew went around and called out: who seeks a physician? Until he came to the king of that village, and he was told of his ailment. He said: let me in to him, and I will cure him, and if you see that he has died, then I will bring him to life. They said to him: the ailment of the king has already exhausted the physicians before you; there is no physician who treats him whose treatment accomplishes anything, but the king commands that he be crucified. (64) He said: let me in to him, and I will cure him. He was let in to him and took the leg of the king and struck him with his staff until he died, and he kept striking him with his staff while he was dead, saying: rise, by the permission of Allah! Then he was taken to be crucified. That reached ʿĪsā, and he came to him while he had already been raised upon the wood. He [ʿĪsā] said: do you see [that], if I bring your king to life for you, that you will release my companion for me? They said: yes. Then Allah brought the king to life for the sake of ʿĪsā, and he rose, and they brought the Jew down. He [the Jew] said: O ʿĪsā, you have shown me the greatest favor of all people; by Allah, I will never leave you. ʿĪsā said — according to what Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī — to the Jew: I adjure you by Him who brought the sheep and the calf to life after we had eaten them, and brought this [king] to life after he had died, and took you down from the trunk after you had been raised upon it to be crucified, how many loaves did you have with you? He said: and he swore by all this that he had only one loaf with him. He [ʿĪsā] said: it is well! They went on, until they passed by a treasure that had been dug up by the beasts of prey and the wild animals. The Jew said: O ʿĪsā, whose is this wealth? ʿĪsā said: leave it, for it has owners who will perish over it. But the soul of the Jew remained covetous of the wealth, while he did not wish to disobey ʿĪsā, and so he went on with ʿĪsā. Then four men passed by the wealth, and when they saw it, they gathered around it. Two of them said to their two companions: go and buy for us food, drink, and beasts of burden to load up this wealth. The two men went and bought beasts of burden, food, and drink, and the one said to his companion: shall we put poison in the food of our two companions, so that when they eat, they die, and the wealth is between you and me? The other said: yes! And they did it. The other two said: when they bring us the food, let each of us rise against his companion and kill him, so that the food and the beasts of burden are between you and me. When those two brought their food, they rose and killed them, and then they sat down at the food and ate of it, and they died. ʿĪsā was informed of that, (65) and he said to the Jew: bring it out, so that we may divide it. He brought it out, and ʿĪsā divided it into three. The Jew said: O ʿĪsā, fear Allah and do not wrong me, for it is only I and you!! What are these three [portions]? ʿĪsā said to him: this is for me, and this is for you, and this third [portion] is for the owner of the bread. The Jew said: if I tell you the owner of the bread, will you give me this wealth? ʿĪsā said: yes. He said: I am he. ʿĪsā said: take my share, your share, and the share of the owner of the bread, that is your share of this world and the hereafter. When he picked it up and walked a little with it, he was swallowed by the earth. (66) And ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam, went on and passed by the disciples while they were catching fish. He said: what are you doing? They said: we are catching fish. He said: will you not come along, so that we may catch people? They said: and who are you? He said: I am ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam. Then they believed in him and went with him. That is the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: "Who are my helpers unto Allah? The disciples said: we are the helpers of Allah, we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we have submitted."
7122m - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād ibn Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying "And when ʿĪsā perceived disbelief among them, he said: who are my helpers unto Allah", the ayah, he said: he sought help, and the disciples helped him, and he prevailed over them.
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Others said: the reason why ʿĪsā sought help from those whom he asked for help was that those against whom he asked the disciples for help wished to kill him.
Mention of who said that:
7123 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And when ʿĪsā perceived disbelief among them", he said: they denied [him] and wished to kill him, and that is when he asked his people for help — "he said: who are my helpers unto Allah? The disciples said: we are the helpers of Allah."
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"Al-anṣār" (the helpers) is the plural of "naṣīr" (helper), (67) just as "al-ashrāf" is the plural of "sharīf" (noble), and "al-ashhād" the plural of "shahīd" (witness).
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As for "al-ḥawāriyyūn" (the disciples): the scholars of explanation differed over the reason why they were called "ḥawāriyyūn".
Some of them said: they were so named because of the whiteness of their clothing.
Mention of who said that:
7124 - Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, he said: among what my father transmitted is: he said: Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, on the authority of Maysara, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: they were called "al-ḥawāriyyūn" because of the whiteness of their clothing.
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Others said: they were so named because they were fullers who whitened the clothing.
Mention of who said that:
7125 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Abī Arṭāh, he said: "al-ḥawāriyyūn" are the washers who whiten the clothing, who wash them.
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Others said: they are the chosen ones of the prophets and their purest elect.
Mention of who said that:
7126 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Rawḥ ibn al-Qāsim, that Qatāda mentioned a man from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and said: he belonged to the ḥawāriyyūn. It was said to him: who are the ḥawāriyyūn? He said: those who are fit for the caliphate.
7127 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Bishr related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra, on the authority of Abī Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying "when the disciples said", he said: the chosen ones of the prophets.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and the most plausible of the sayings that we have mentioned about the meaning of "al-ḥawāriyyūn" is the saying of him who said: "they were so named because of the whiteness of their clothing, and because they were washers."
That is because "al-ḥawar" among the Arabs is an intense whiteness, and therefore the finely sifted flour is called "al-ḥuwwārā" because of its intense whiteness, (68) and therefore the man with intense whiteness in the eyeballs is called "aḥwar", and the woman "ḥawrāʾ". It is possible that the disciples of ʿĪsā were named for what we have mentioned, namely their whitening of the clothing, and that they were fullers, and that they then became known through the companionship of ʿĪsā and his choice of them for himself as companions and helpers, whereupon that name became attached to them and came into use, until every intimate associate of a man from his companions and helpers was called his "ḥawārī". Therefore the Prophet ﷺ said:
7128 - "Verily, every prophet has a ḥawārī (intimate associate), and my ḥawārī is al-Zubayr." (69)
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— He means his intimate associate. And the Arabs also call the women whose dwelling places are the villages and cities "ḥawāriyyāt", and they were so named only because of the predominance of whiteness among them. Of this is the saying of Abū Jalda al-Yashkurī: (70)
"Say to the white ones [town women] that they should weep for someone other than us, and let none but the barking dogs weep for us." (71)
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And by his saying "the disciples said" he means: these whose characteristic is what we have mentioned, namely their whitening of the clothing, said: "we believe in Allah", we believe in Allah, and bear witness, O ʿĪsā, that we have submitted (muslimūn).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and this is a report from Allah, mighty and exalted, that Islam is His religion with which He sent ʿĪsā and the prophets before him, not Christianity and not Judaism — and it is an acquittal from Allah of ʿĪsā from those who clung to Christianity and conformed to it, just as He acquitted Ibrāhīm of all religions other than Islam. And that is an argument from Allah, exalted be His remembrance, for His prophet ﷺ against the delegation of Najrān, as:-
7129 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "And when ʿĪsā perceived disbelief among them" and hostility (72) — "he said: who are my helpers unto Allah? The disciples said: we are the helpers of Allah, we believe in Allah", and this is their saying by which they obtained the favor of their Lord — "and bear witness that we have submitted", not as these say who dispute with you about it — he means the delegation of the Christians of Najrān. (73)
