At-Tawba (The Repentance)

31. “They have taken their rabbis and their monks and Messiah, son of Mary, as (their) lords apart from Allah, while they were commanded to worship but One God; there is no god but He; Pure is He and Exalted is He from what they associate (with Him).”

The Qur’ānic term /’ahbār/ is the plural form of /hibr/ which means ‘scholar, learned’; and the Arabic term /ruhbān/ is the plural form of /rāhib/ with the meaning of ‘monk’. These people, with all their saintliness, are servants and worshippers of God, not objects of worship.

Unconditioned obedience from Jewish rabbis and Christian monks is a kind of worship done by the Jews and the Christians. Imam Sadiq (as) said:

“Whoever obeys a person in sinning Allah; he has worshipped him.”1

The verse says:

“They have taken their rabbis and their monks and Messiah, son of Mary, as (their) lords apart from Allah, while they were commanded to worship but One God; there is no god but He...”

Thus, obeying other than Allah unconditionally is a sort of serving other than Allah.

To worship the prophets, exaggerating about them, and considering them as son(s) of God is attributing partners to God. The verse continues saying:

“…Pure is He and Exalted is He from what they associate (with Him).”