Why the Qur’an Criticizes Calling Scholars Lords — Ali Shukri Amin
First published on my writing site: www.aliamin.info/2026/08/why-the-quran-criticizes-calling-scholars-lords/
By Ali Shukri Amin. I first wrote this as a comment on r/AcademicQuran, in the thread “The Talmud has many figures called "my son" by God so why does the Quran single Eliezer Ben Hycarnus?”, copied here as written.
If we take the hadith of ‘Adi bin Hatim to have historical value, then the Qur’anic criticism of taking their monks & rabbis (ahbarahum wa ruhbanahum) as lords other than Allah was tied to legislative Lordship (Hakimiyyah), not direct deification. In Rabbinic tradition the Haver (Hibr in Arabic) has legislative authority, as a Talmudic “son of god.”
Therefore, the jurisprudential prominence of Eliezer & his capacity to legislate independently of Allah as a “son of god” constitutes a kind of legal deification. This is contrasted with the Christian theological deification.
It seems that the Quran is in discourse with statements of Eliezer that we can find in the Mishnah, just as it seems it is in discourse with Jacob of Serugh (or at least the traditions surrounding both figures).
Posted August 12, 2026. Read it on Reddit.
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