(And when the son of Mary is quoted as an example…) [43:57]. Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Isma‘il ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> Hisham ibn ‘Ammar> al-Walid ibn Muslim> Shayban ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman> ‘Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud> Abu Razin> Abu Yahya, the client of Ibn ‘Afra’> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to the Quraysh: ‘O Quraysh, there is no good in anyone who is worshipped beside Allah’. They said to him: ‘Do you not claim that Jesus was a Prophet and a righteous slave? If what you claim is true, he is like a deity to them’. As a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (And when the son of Mary is quoted as an example)”. We have already mentioned this story and the debate of Ibn al-Zib‘ara with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, upon dealing with the occasion of revelation of Allah’s saying (Lo! Ye (idolaters) and that which ye worship beside Allah are fuel of hell…) [21:98].
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
