Uh...What? Ezra THE son of God.

[resistingrexmundi]

And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!

We see this verse in the Qu'ran denouncing the Jews for calling Ezra (Uzair), the son of God. This seems really odd to me considering that when Jesus made this claim a few centuries later they tried to stone Him and eventually succeeded in having Him crucified. (though only because Jesus allowed it) So at what point did the Jews call Ezra the son of God?

I have only managed to find the term "son of God" in one place in the OT.

Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 

This was a manifestation of Jesus in the OT. Though Jews would reject that, what we can agree on is that it is not in reference to Ezra. Furthermore sons of God is used to describe many in the Bible. However their is only one instance where the term became a point of contention. That was when Jesus made the claim to be the "only begotten" son of God.

So either God was mistaken when He passed this "revelation" down to Muhammad or Muhammad was mistaken. Since this is supposed to be the word of God though does that not eradicate the possibility of their being a mistake? Chances are that Muhammad, like so many times before, shot his mouth off with only enough information on Judaism and Christianity to get him tied in a knot literarily.

Before I get a reply that the verse could also be translated that "the Jews call Uzair a son of Allah" the point must be made that this title "a son" is not unique and therfore one must wonder why Muhammad would pick Ezra out. Secondly the OT at no point even calls Ezra "a son" of God. And since the OT is the source of authority on religious matters for the Jews that is where one would have to find such a claim to make that point valid.

Any muslim is welcome to try and explain this apparent discrepency in their book to me.

God bless

[Peter]

And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!

We see this verse in the Qu'ran denouncing the Jews for calling Ezra (Uzair), the son of God. This seems really odd to me considering that when Jesus made this claim a few centuries later they tried to stone Him and eventually succeeded in having Him crucified. (though only because Jesus allowed it) So at what point did the Jews call Ezra the son of God?

You brought to my attention that the translation I usually use, the most sanitized and calculated version by Yusuf Ali says A son of God:

009.030
YUSUFALI: The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
PICKTHAL: And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!
SHAKIR: And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!

But if Muslims use the Ali translation then they have to nullify all the verses where any of the "sons of God" are even referenced.

But using the article "the" doesn't make any sense at all. Jews thought Ezra was THE Son of God???

[Peter]

Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 

That's funny. A little while back I did a short study of this verse, and just earlier today as I was starting the "sonship" category it occurred to me to do it again.

[Imam_ahmad]

Assalaimu alaikum,

On the issue of Ezra in the Qur'an. It isn't referring to the Jews of that time(old Testament), but rather to the Jews, or a sect of Jews residing in Arabia during the advent of Islam.

[Peter]

Assalaimu alaikum,

On the issue of Ezra in the Qur'an. It isn't referring to the Jews of that time(old Testament), but rather to the Jews, or a sect of Jews residing in Arabia during the advent of Islam.

Hello Ahmed, thank you for joining the forum, and welcome!

The suggestion may come from Old Testament verses regarding the Jews promised Son in Messianic prophesies like these:

Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Recognized in the New Testament as fulfilled by Jesus Christ:

Act 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

[Peter]

This was a manifestation of Jesus in the OT. Though Jews would reject that, what we can agree on is that it is not in reference to Ezra. Furthermore sons of God is used to describe many in the Bible.

While the Jews were looking for a promised son, the subject you mention here could be the reference the Quran makes:

Surah 9.30 The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah...

Which I always took to mean that Muslims are prohibited from even recognizing "sons of God" like you and I.

As in this reference:

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

http://www.islamandthetruth.com/gospel_of_john.htm

[resistingrexmundi]

On the issue of Ezra in the Qur'an. It isn't referring to the Jews of that time(old Testament), but rather to the Jews, or a sect of Jews residing in Arabia during the advent of Islam.

The problem with this view is that it represents an inequity in the way Muhammad dealt with the people of his time. All Christians call Jesus the Son of God. The idea that Muhammad was only refering to a specific sect of Jews is misguided when one considers there is no historic evidence that Jews considered anyone a son of God in the same sense that Christians believe Jesus to be. Jesus' sonship is unique as he is the only begotten. Secondly if Muhammad were only referring to a specific sect of Jews then this "revelation" isn't timeless. It isn't meaningful today.

God bless

[Peter]

This was a manifestation of Jesus in the OT. Though Jews would reject that, what we can agree on is that it is not in reference to Ezra. Furthermore sons of God is used to describe many in the Bible.

While the Jews were looking for a promised son, the subject you mention here could be the reference the Quran makes:

Surah 9.30 The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah...

Which I always took to mean that Muslims are prohibited from even recognizing "sons of God" like you and I.

As in this reference:

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

http://www.islamandthetruth.com/gospel_of_john.htm

Though I have to correct myself and take that back, since I just checked other translations and the article "the" is used:

9.030
YUSUFALI: The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!

All the rest are more clear regarding the singular entity:

PICKTHAL: And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!
SHAKIR: And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!
ASAD 9:30 AND THE JEWS say, "Ezra is God's son," while the Christians say, "The Christ is God's son." Such are the sayings which they utter with their mouths, following in spirit assertions made in earlier times by people who denied the truth! [44] [They deserve the imprecation:] "May God destroy them!" [45] How perverted are their minds! [46]