Transliteration:( ittakhazooo ahbaarahum wa ruhbaanahum arbaabammin doonil laahi wal Maseehab na Maryama wa maaa umirooo illaa liya'budooo Ilaahanw Waa hidan laaa ilaaha illaa Hoo; Subhaanahoo 'ammaa yushrikoon )
They have taken their priests and monks as gods besides Allah [75], and also the Messiah, son of Maryam [76], while they were commanded to worship none but One God. None is worthy of worship except Him [77]. Exalted is He above what they associate with Him [78].
This teaches that to obey anyone as one obeys Allah Almighty and His Beloved Prophet ﷺ is tantamount to giving that person the status of God. True obedience to the righteous scholars, saints, and pious persons, however, is in accordance with Divine teachings and in obedience to the Holy Prophet ﷺ. Allah commands: "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger ﷺ and those who have power of command over you" (Surah An-Nisa 4:59). The Christians and Jews would obey their priests in opposition to Allah and seek forgiveness through them. Hence, the phrase "besides Allah" is used to emphasize that Muslims reject such beliefs about saints or religious leaders.
They took Hazrat Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him) as God by declaring him the son of God, which implies sharing the same divine nature or genus as the Father, a belief rejected in Islam.
The People of the Book were similarly commanded in the Torah and Injil to worship none but the One True God alone.
Despite different rulings regarding them, the people of the Book are classified here as polytheists due to their association of partners with Allah.
The tafsir of Surah Taubah verse 31 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Taubah ayat 30 which provides the complete commentary from verse 30 through 31.
(9:31) They take their rabbis and their monks for their lords apart from Allah,[31] and also the Messiah, son of Mary, whereas they were commanded to worship none but the One True God. There is no god but He. Exalted be He above those whom they associate with Him in His Divinity.
31. “They have taken their rabbis and monks as their lords”. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself explained its true significance. According to a tradition, when Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), who was formerly a Christian, came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the intention of understanding Islam, he asked several questions in order to remove his doubts. One of these was: “This verse accuses us of taking our scholars and monks as our lords. What is its real meaning. For we do not take them as our lords.”
As a reply to this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) put him a counter question: “Is it not a fact that you accept as unlawful what they declare to be unlawful, and lawful what they declare to be lawful?” Adi confessed, “Yes, it is so.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “This amounts to making them your lords.” Incidentally, this tradition shows that those who themselves set limits to the lawful and the unlawful without the authority of Allah’s Book, assume for themselves the rank of godhead, and those who acknowledge their right of making laws take them as their lords.
It should be noted that they have been charged with (a) attributing sons to Allah, and (b) giving the right of making laws to others than Allah. These are to prove that their claim that they believed in Allah is false, even though they should believe in His existence. But such a wrong conception of Allah makes their belief in Allah meaningless.
[467]- By their obedience to them rather than to what Allāh ordained. [468]- By their worship of him in conjunction with Allāh.
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