Explanation of the author's statement: And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: "O People of the Book, do not exaggerate in your religion."

The Shaykh : He said: "And the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic — meaning the chapter on the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic —:

O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion

يا أهل الكتاب لا تغلو في دينكم

[An-Nisa 4:171]

" And what comes after that, at the end of the verse?
The student: .

The Shaykh : .
His saying: This is an address to the People of the Book, and the People of the Book are the Jews and the Christians, and the Book is the Torah and the Gospel.
Meaning do not exceed the limit, whether in praise or in disparagement. The situation is indeed so regarding the People of the Book in general, for they exaggerated in praise of 'Isa ibn Maryam and exaggerated in disparagement. Who are those who exaggerated in praise? The Christians. They praised him by making 'Isa ibn Maryam the son of Allah and making Him the third of three. And the Jews exaggerated in disparaging him, saying: "His mother is a fornicator and he is the child of fornication." May Allah curse them, and I seek refuge in Allah. So both parties exaggerated in their religion and exceeded the limit between excess and deficiency. And this is what He, Glorified and Exalted is He, said about Himself, that He is a One God, the One, the Self-Sufficient. This is what He said about Himself: .
The Messiah means: What is the Messiah? 'Isa ibn Maryam. He is attributed to his mother to cut off the claim of the Christians who attribute him to Allah. The Messiah 'Isa ibn Maryam is the Messenger of Allah, not His son, not His son, but He is a Messenger, refuting the claim of the Jews that he is a liar. Refuting their claim that he is the son of fornication. And in His saying "and His Messenger," there is a refutation of the claim of the Christians that he is a god, meaning "and His Messenger." His word which He cast to Maryam, when He said: "Be," and he was. And a spirit from Him, meaning that Allah, the Exalted, made 'Isa ... from the descendants of Adam, of body and spirit, and Allah, the Exalted, added His spirit to him as an honor and a distinction, like His saying, the Exalted, to Adam: This is for honor and distinction. To whom is the address? To the People of the Book. The last of them, their seal, and their best is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). What does "three" mean? Meaning do not say three. What is the meaning of "three"? Meaning do not say that Allah is the third of three. Stop, it is better. What is its grammatical parsing? It is the predicate for the omitted "let it be," meaning stop, let it be better for you.
And what comes after that?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : I forgot the rest. Meaning to exonerate Him from having a child, to exonerate Him from having a child. And that is because He is the Owner of the heavens and the earth, and among them is 'Isa ibn Maryam. He is Rich, not in need of a child to succeed Him in His creation, and Praiseworthy, praised for the perfection of His attributes and His not resembling the creation. The point of this verse is His saying: He prohibited exaggeration because exaggeration entails many harms, among which are:
That it places the one exaggerated about above his station if it is praise, and below it if it is disparagement.
And among them: That it leads to the worship of this one who is exaggerated about, as is the reality of the people of exaggeration.
And among them: That it prevents the exaltation of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, because the soul, as you know, is either occupied with falsehood or with the truth. And if it is occupied with exaggeration about this created being, praising him and exalting him, it becomes attached to him and forgets what is obligatory for Allah, the Exalted, in terms of His rights. So these are three harms of exaggeration.
Curse 'Isa.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Placing him above his station or below it if it is disparagement.
The student: Meaning below it if it is disparagement.

The Shaykh : Very well.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes. Meaning that it necessitates the heart becoming attached to this one who is exaggerated about, until it makes him forget the remembrance of Allah and the performance of His obedience. The third? The pen has dried up.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : This is it: if he is occupied with this, it prevents him from the path of Allah.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, that it leads to the worship of this created being. The first ... and the second ... and the third: he worships other than Allah, it leads to worshipping other than Allah.
The fourth harm: If the one exaggerated about exists, he becomes proud of himself, arrogant, and pleased with himself, and this is a harm that corrupts the one exaggerated about. Yes, this is if it is praise. And if it is disparagement, it necessitates enmity and hatred, and the establishment of wars and calamities between this one and that one.
The important thing is that exaggeration has great harms. For this reason, Allah prohibited it, saying: .
And His saying: What is religion? It was previously mentioned that religion is used for the deed and the reward, and what is intended here is the deed, meaning do not make your worship exaggeration. Yes, does this include exaggeration in the created beings and others? Does this include exaggeration in acts of worship or not?
Yes, it includes it. Exaggeration in acts of worship is included in this, such as a person overburdening himself with worship and tiring himself, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited this. And such as increasing beyond what is prescribed, like throwing large stones, for example, or prolonging the prayer, or coming with extra dhikr after the prayers, or otherwise. Yes? So this covers exaggeration in religion from every angle. Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : What harms?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : More than what is prescribed.