وَيُعَلِّمُهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ {48}

48. "And He will teach him the Book, and the wisdom, and the Torah and the Evangel."

Commentary:

In commentary books provided by both main Islamic schools of thought, it is cited that the purpose of the Qur'anic phrase 'He will teach the Book' is 'writing, and teaching how to write' and the purpose of /hikmah/ (wisdom) is being conversant unto the merits, effects, goodness and evils of things, deeds morals and beliefs, whether those things belong to this world or to the coming world.

Explanations:

1. One of the principles and conditions of leadership is knowing the necessary things -being conversant unto science, wisdom, and the contents of the heavenly Books.

"And He will teach him the Book, and the wisdom, and the Torah and the Evangel."

2. At any time, the leader of a community should have conversance of the former incidents and laws. (Jesus (a) was taught Torah which was from the time of Moses.)

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وَرَسُولاً إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنِّي قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُبْرِئُ الأكْمَهَ والأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْيِـي الْمَوْتَى بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ {49}

49. "And (He will make Jesus) a Messenger to the Children of Israel, (saying): 'Verily, I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I will make for you like the figure of a bird out of clay, then I will breathe into it, and it shall become a bird by Allah's leave; and I will (also) heal the blind and the leprous and will raise the dead to life by Allah's leave; and I will inform you of what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Verily in that is a sign for you if you (indeed) are believers. "

Commentary:

This verse points to the miracles of Jesus (a). At first it says:

"And (He will make Jesus) a Messenger to the Children of Israel..."

Then, the Qur'an continues saying that he was commissioned to tell people:

"...I have come to you with a sign from your Lord..."

This sign was not only a single sign but it had also some numerous branches; thus:

"... I will make for you like the figure of a bird out of clay, then I will breathe into it, and it shall become a bird by Allah's leave..."

Then, it refers to his second miracle and states about the treatment of refractory diseases in some ordinary ways. It says:

"... and I will (also) heal the blind and the leprous... "

No doubt these subjects, especially for the physicians and scholars of that time, were some undeniable miracles.

In the third stage, it points to another miracle, saying:

" ...and will raise the dead to life by Allah's leave..."

This phenomenon is something that is considered among miracles and extraordinary actions at any time or period. The writer of Majma'-ul-Bayan, the commentary, says that Jesus (a) raised many dead persons to life. Among them, it happened that he saw a dead was being carried in a coffin on the shoulders of people. Jesus (a) prayed for the dead one to bring him back to life again when the dead raised to life and came down from people's shoulder. Then he wore clothes and returned to his home and, later, he got a son. [21]

Another time Jesus (a) raised a ten-year-old girl to life when it was one day after her death. She returned home and, after a length of time, she married and borne an offspring.

These kind of miracles also occurred abundantly by, and at the time of the Prophet of Islam (s) and Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali (a) and other Imams from Ahlul-Bayt (a). For example, one day a man from Kufah, an ancient city in Mesopotamia, came to Hadrat Rida in Khorasan, located in the east of Iran, and said:

"O' progeny of the Messenger of Allah! the inhabitants of Kufah have seen many miracles from your ancestor, Amir-ul- Mu'mineen Ali (a) and, now, I ask you to do a miracle so that I can take it as a present to the people of Kufah."

Hadrat Rida (a), addressing the man, said: "What do you want that I do?" "My mother has died," the man said: "I ask you to invocate that Allah raises her to life."

Imam Rida told him: "Return home and you will find your mother alive." When the man reached home in Kufah, he found his mother alive. He announced to people that the happening was the miracle of Imam Rida. So, that woman lived for some years after that and finally she died again. [22]

It is noteworthy that the reason that Jesus (a) was given those kinds of miracle was that at his time the science of medicine had progressed vastly. So, Allah appointed his miracle of the same knowledge of that time so that Jesus (a) could overcome the scientists and scholars of his time, expert in that field, in order that his prophet hood be proved.

The similar case happened for Moses, son of 'Imran (a), when sorcery had gone to its climax and had spread very vastly. Allah gave him the miracle of Rod to nullify their magic, and made the sorcerers unable to bring something like that.

The knowledge and art of the people at the time of our prophet, Muhammad Mustafa (s), was rhetorics and elegance. Therefore, Allah manifested the miracle of the Qur'an to them: the surprising tone and the wonders of statements, and the marvellous style of the word of Allah, all of which made those people unable to bring the like of it.

However, in the fourth stage, it refers to the hidden secrets of people. Usually everybody has some personal affairs in his / her life that are mysteries and others rarely know them, but Jesus (a) said:

"...and I will inform you of what you eat and what you store up in your houses..."

At the end, the verse, referring to all of these four divine miracles, says:

"... Verily in that is a sign for you if you (indeed) are believers."

It is understood from the content of the above mentioned verse, as well as the similar verses of this sense in the Qur'an, that the saints and Messengers of Allah can, by His leave, interfere in the world of nature and creation, when it is necessary. They can cause some incidents to happen which are extraordinary and different from the natural process of the current affairs. This matter is something higher than Master-ship /wilayah/ (in religion, i.e. guardianship over people), which, in Islamic literature, idiomatically is called: /wilayat takwini/ i.e. (genetic authority).

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[21] Majma' ul-Bayan, Vol. 2, P. 446

[22] 'Ithbat-ul-Huda, Vol. 6, P. 149 (Persian version)