Six words.
Fear Allah and obey me.
They appear in the Qur’an twice, in two different surahs, on the lips of Issa al-Masih. Allah records them both times. Without correction. Without qualification. Without rebuke.
Before we study them, read them slowly. Slow enough that the weight lands.
وَمُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيّْ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَلِأُحِلَّ لَكُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَجِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبُّكُمْ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ
“And I have come to you, confirming the Tawrat which was before me, and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. So fear Allah and obey me.”
Surah Al-Imran 3:50 | quran.com/3/50
وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ رَبَّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِيمٌ
“And Issa said: Fear Allah and obey me.”
Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:63 | quran.com/43/63
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ رَبَّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِيمٌ
“Truly Allah is my Lord and your Lord. Therefore worship Him. This is the Straight Way.”
Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:64 | quran.com/43/64
Does any other prophet in the Qur’an speak this way?
Read carefully. You will not find another.
The other messengers say, fear Allah. They speak about Allah. They point to Allah. They deliver the word of Allah.
Issa says, fear Allah, and obey me. One command. Two parts. Inseparable.
How can this be said without shirk?
Only one way. The speaker has been given an authority by Allah Himself that no other messenger has been given.
Allah records the command. Allah preserves it, unchanged, for fourteen centuries. Allah does not say, do not speak this way. He writes it into His book.
A book in which Allah preserved a false claim without correction would not be a trustworthy book. So the claim is not false. The authority is real. Allah granted it.
What does Surah 3:50 add to this?
Something remarkable. Issa says he has come to make lawful part of what was forbidden.
Think of what this means. Who has the authority to change what Allah has made forbidden? Only Allah.
No prophet carries this. A prophet transmits the law. He does not change it. To change the law is the prerogative of the One who gave it.
Yet in the Qur’an, Issa al-Masih says this authority has been given to him. And Allah does not rebuke him. Allah records it and moves on.
What kind of obedience is he asking for?
The next ayah tells us.
Truly Allah is my Lord and your Lord. Therefore worship Him. This is the Straight Way.
The obedience to Issa does not replace the worship of Allah. It is the path to it. Issa says, Allah is my Lord and your Lord. Worship Him. And the way of true worship is the Straight Way, which Surah 43:61 has already told us is to follow Issa.
From the Injil
“And the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
Injil, Matthew 7:28-29 | bible.com/bible/111/MAT.7.28-29
The other teachers said, it is written, or, thus says the Lord. Issa said, I say to you.
The crowd noticed it. The Qur’an records the same. The Injil records the same. Two books. One voice.
A Parable
A great king had many servants. All of them faithful. All of them honoured.
But the king had one son. From childhood he had taught the son the ways of the kingdom. The son knew the king’s heart. When the son spoke in the kingdom, his word carried the full weight of the king’s own.
One day a hard question arose among the servants. They debated long into the night. They could not agree. They sent word to the king.
The king sent his son.
The son arrived. He heard the question. Then he said, plainly, here is what is to be done.
Some of the servants were uneasy. Why did the king not send a written decree? Why only the son, speaking on his own authority?
An older servant answered them. He said, because the son speaks for the king. The king gave him this. To obey the son is to obey the king. There is no space between them.
The wise servants did what the son said. The kingdom flourished.
Have you feared Allah all your life?
Most who are reading this have. It is the foundation of every prayer, every fast, every honest moment before our Lord.
But have you obeyed Issa al-Masih?
This is the question the Qur’an puts before you. Not us. The Qur’an.
Bring the question to Allah in sujud tonight. Let it rest with Him until Fajr.