[6645] My father narrated to us, Abu Hudhayfah narrated to us, Shibl narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Kathir, who heard Mujahid saying: The Children of Israel split into three sects regarding ‘Isa (Jesus). One sect said: 'He is Allah.' Another sect said: 'He is the son of Allah.' And another sect said: 'He is the servant of Allah, His messenger, and His spirit,' and this is the moderate one, and it is from the Muslim [followers] of the People of the Scripture.

[6646] Ahmad ibn ‘Uthman ibn Hakim al-Awdi reported to me in writing: Ahmad ibn al-Mufaddal narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, regarding "Certainly, they have disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the third of three,'" he said: The Christians say that Allah is the Messiah and his mother, and that is His saying: "Did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?'"

[The Second Aspect]

[6647] ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Hisinjani narrated to us, Sa‘id ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us, al-Mufaddal narrated to us: Abu Sakhr narrated to me regarding the saying of Allah: "Certainly, they have disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the third of three,'" he said: This is the saying of the Jews, 'Uzayr is the son of Allah,' and the saying of the Christians, 'The Messiah is the son of Allah,' so they made for Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—a third of three.

[6648] ‘Abd Allah ibn Jalal al-Dimashqi al-Rumi narrated to us, Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawwari narrated to us, Abu Sulayman al-Darani said: O Ahmad, by Allah, nothing moved their tongues to say 'the third of three' except Him, and had He willed, He would have taken away their tongues.

His saying, the Almighty: "Those who disbelieve among them will surely touch a painful punishment."

[6649] ‘Isam ibn Rawwad narrated to us, Adam narrated to us, from his father Ja‘far, from al-Rabi‘, from Abu al-‘Aliyah, regarding His saying: "A painful (alim) punishment," he said: Torturous (muji‘).

[6650] My father narrated to us, ‘Imran ibn Musa al-Tarsusi narrated to us, ‘Abd al-Samad ibn Yazid narrated to us, who said: I heard al-Fudayl saying: Regarding the servant's saying 'I seek forgiveness from Allah (astaghfiru Allah),' he said: Its interpretation is, 'Accept me.'

[6651] My father narrated to us, Abu Bakr ibn Bashshar narrated to us, Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, from Mansur, from Ibrahim, who said: The Messiah is the Truthful (al-Siddiq).