Appearance
Verses 57–66
The verses forbid taking those who make mockery of God and His communications as friends from among the People of the Book and unbelievers, and enumerate some of their evil characteristics including their breaking the covenants of God and so on—the matters related to the theme of this chapter, that is, exhorting people to keep their promises and covenants and showing the demerit of going against promises, etc.
All the verses seem to be revealed in one context, although possibly some of them could have particular reason of revelation.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَكُمْ هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَالْكُفَّارَ أَوْلِيَاءَ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ٥٧
(5:57) O you who believe! Do not take for friends those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers; and fear Allah if you are believers.
al-Rāghib has said:
“al-Huz’ (secret jest,) sometimes it is used for something like a jest.” Then he says explaining la’ib: “They used the verb, la’ib when the doer does not have a correct purpose for his action.”
A thing is taken as a mockery and a jest when it is not handled seriously showing that it does not deserve any attention. Similarly, a thing is taken as a plaything and a joke when it is not intended for a correct reasonable purpose, is rather taken for some unrealistic themes. Thus, they take the religion for a mockery and a joke in order to show that it only serves some false motives—incorrect and not seriously. Had they taken it to be truly a religion or believed that its Legislator and the Caller to it as well as the Believers in it were truly serious and paid them the respect due to them, they would not have placed them in this place. So, they take the religion as a mockery and a jest to show that the religion does not have any reality or any established position; it is merely a toy to be played with and jested about.
It appears from the above that:
First: Those, whose friendship is forbidden, are described as “those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke”; this description points to the reason of this prohibition. As described earlier, friendship entails spiritual mingling and management of personal and sociological affairs. Obviously, a waliyy (friend) will not treat as a joke or a mockery those things, which his friend respects and pays honor to, and considers it more distinguished and honorable than everything, even his own self. It is therefore necessary not to take such a person as a friend and not to let him interfere in one’s spiritual and physical affairs.
Second: The verse is very appropriately addressed to: “you who believe,” as it stands parallel to: “those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke”; also there is the fine point of the genetic construction: “your religion”, (as it emphasizes their strong connection with the religion of Islam, and puts them on guard against the enemies’ manipulation).
Third: The clause: “and fear God if you are believers,” puts a sort of emphasis to the preceding wordings: “Do not take for friends those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke,” by repeating it in a more inclusive and comprehensive wording. Obviously, a believer who adheres to the cord of true faith cannot be pleased if the matters he believes in were to be taken as a mockery or joke. Therefore, these people, if they are truly associated with belief and are attached to the religion, are bound to fear God regarding those inimical persons and not to take them as friends.
Another possibility: The clause: “and fear God if you are believers”, may point to the verses which were revealed a little earlier, example, and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them. The meaning then will be as follows: Be afraid of God in taking them for a friend if you are not one of them. But the first meaning is more manifest.
وَإِذَا نَادَيْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ اتَّخَذُوهَا هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ٥٨
(5:58) And when you call to prayer they take it as a mockery and a joke; this is because they are a people who do not understand.
It confirms the preceding statement that the unbelievers take the religion of those who believe for a mockery and a joke. The call for prayer refers to the adhān, which was laid down in Islam before the legislation of the daily five prayers. It is said that adhān has not been mentioned in the noble Qur’an except in this place.
The pronoun “it” in “they take it” refers to the prayer, or to the verbal noun, the call, understood from the verb: “when you call to prayer.” A pronoun referring to a verbal noun may be brought in either gender.
The end clause: “this is because they are a people who do not understand,” puts their misdeed in its true perspective. It says that they take the prayer or the adhān for a mockery and a joke because they are a people devoid of understanding. As such, they cannot appreciate the underlying spiritual realities behind the pillars and acts of religious worship—the reality of servitude, the benefits of attaining nearness to God and convergence of life’s happiness in this world and the hereafter.
قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ هَلْ تَنْقِمُونَ مِنَّا إِلَّا أَنْ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَأَنَّ أَكْثَرَكُمْ فَاسِقُونَ ٥٩
(5:59) Say: “O People of the Book! Do you find fault with us (for ought) except that we believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before, and that most of you are transgressors.”
al-Rāghib has said: “al-Naqam and al-Naqim mean to deny, to vengeance through tongue or punishment; God says: and they did not find fault except because God and His Messenger enriched them out of His grace (); and they did not take vengeance on them for aught except that they believed in Allah … (); do you find fault with us … ()”
al-Naqimah is punishment, God says: Therefore We inflicted retribution on them and drowned them in the sea ().
Thus, the verse under discussion means: Do you deny or dislike from us anything except that we believe in God and in His revelation while you are transgressors. It is as people say: Do you disavow me for anything except that I am a chaste person and you are profligate? Do you find any fault with me except that I am wealthy and you are poor? This verse speaks in the same vein. Do you find any fault with us except that we are believers and most of you are transgressors?
Some people have said that the end clause gives the reason of their hostility; in other words, it means: You do not deny or dislike anything from us except because you are transgressors.
… that we believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before: It means, what has been revealed to us and to you. But the former revelation was not ascribed to them as an allusion against them—As they did not fulfil the covenant they had made with God and did not follow the commandments given in their books, so it was as though their books were not sent to them nor were they qualified to receive them.
The meaning: We do not differentiate between one revealed Book and the other; as such we do not make any difference between the messengers of God. It is an adverse allusion to the People of the Book that they make difference between one messenger and another and say: We believe in some and disbelieve in others. Also they used to say: Avow belief in that which has been revealed to those who believe (in) the first part of the day, and disbelieve (at) the end of it, (). God says: Surely those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and desire to differentiate between Allah and His messengers, and say: We believe in some and disbelieve in others and desire to take a way between (this and) that. These it is that are truly unbelievers, and We have prepared for the unbelievers a disgraceful chastisement (4:150–1).
قُلْ هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِشَرٍّ مِنْ ذَٰلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ۚ مَنْ لَعَنَهُ اللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ وَعَبَدَ الطَّاغُوتَ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَأَضَلُّ عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ ٦٠
(5:60) Say: “Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse than this in retribution near Allah? (It is he) whom Allah has cursed and brought His wrath upon, and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served the Satan; these are worse in place and more erring from the straight path.”
The exegetes have said that in this verse God tells His Messenger to address those who indulged in mockery of religion in a just manner bringing himself down to their level, in order to complete his proof against them. He should tell them that if they hated the believers because they believed in God and in what He has revealed to His messengers, then they should hate their own selves too, because they are worse in place and more erring from the straight path, because they are afflicted by divine curse and were changed into apes and swine and indulged in the worship of Satan. If they do not hate their own selves in spite of all these demerits and evils, which invite hatred, they have no reason to hate those who are less liable to any evil or demerit. They are the believers keeping firm on their belief—this is in case we accept that their belief in God and His Books is an evil; but we know that it can never be an evil. Accordingly, al-mathubah (lit. reward) here means recompense; probably it has been borrowed for end result and inseparable attribute, as may be inferred from the phrase: “near God”, which qualifies the clause: “worse than this in retribution”; because what is near God is permanent, enduring and unchangeable; and God has adjudged and ordered it. He says: … and what is with Allah is enduring … (); … there is no repeller of His decree … (). This recompense or retribution is therefore an enduring one because it is near God or with God.
There is a sort of reversal in this speech. Normally, the sentence should have been framed as follows: Being cursed and transmuted and worshipping the Satan is worse and more erring than believing in God and His Books. But here it says: He whom God has cursed and changed into apes and swine is worse in place and more erring. It puts the described person in place of the description or attribute; and this style is common in the Qur’an, as God says: … but righteousness is the one who believes in Allah and … ().
In short, the verse declares that if our belief in God and His revealed Books was an evil in your opinion, then I inform you of what is more evil than that, and which you should truly hate, and it is the characteristics, which is found in yourselves.
It has been said by some that the demonstrative pronoun: “this”, in the phrase: “worse than this”, points to the entire community of the believers that is mentioned in the clause: “find fault with us.” Accordingly the speech will be straight forward, without any reversal; and the meaning will be as follows: Shall I inform you of his who is worse than the believers, so that you should find fault with him? It is you yourselves who were afflicted with divine curse and transmutation and worshipped the Satan.
Someone else has said that, the pronoun, “this”, in the phrase: “worse than this”, points to the verbal noun, to find fault, to hate, which is hidden in the verb, “do you find fault with us.” The meaning: Should I inform you of what is worse than this fault-finding and hate of yours in retribution? Well, it is what you have been afflicted with, that is, the divine curse, transmutation, and so on.
وَإِذَا جَاءُوكُمْ قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَقَدْ دَخَلُوا بِالْكُفْرِ وَهُمْ قَدْ خَرَجُوا بِهِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْتُمُونَ ٦١
(5:61) And when they come to you, they say: “We believe”; and indeed they come in with disbelief and indeed they go forth with it; and Allah knows best what they concealed.
Here God exposes their hidden hypocrisy, and that they keep in their hearts what God is not pleased with—when they meet the believers. So He says: When they come to you they claim that they have believed while actually they come to you with disbelief and they go forth with the same disbelief. Their entry and exit both take place in the same one condition that is, disbelief without any change; they merely pretend to believe while God knows what they concealed of treachery and perfidy.
Accordingly the clause: and indeed they come in with disbelief and indeed they go forth with it, means: Their condition in disbelief has not changed at all; the nominative pronoun, hum (they) has been added for emphasis, to show that disbelief has firmly taken root in their hearts.
It has been said that the said clause indicates that they take turns from one condition of disbelief to another.
وَتَرَىٰ كَثِيرًا مِنْهُمْ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَأَكْلِهِمُ السُّحْتَ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ٦٢ لَوْلَا يَنْهَاهُمُ الرَّبَّانِيُّونَ وَالْأَحْبَارُ عَنْ قَوْلِهِمُ الْإِثْمَ وَأَكْلِهِمُ السُّحْتَ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ ٦٣
(5:62–63) And you will see many of them striving with one another to hasten in sin and exceeding the limits, and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired; certainly evil is that which they work. Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired? Certainly evil is that which they work.
Apparently, the word “sin,” indicates their rashly plunging into the religious verses revealed to the believers, and speaking regarding religion’s cognition what would cause disbelief and transgression, as is shown by the clause: “their speaking of what is sinful,” in the latter verse.
Accordingly, the three items, that is, sin, transgression, and eating of what is unlawfully acquired, encompass samples of their transgression in words and deeds. They indulge in verbal misdeeds (and it is the sin in words) and misdeeds in actions—and it can be either against other believers (and it is transgression against them) or against their own selves, e.g. their eating what is unlawfully acquired, like interest, bribe, and things like that. Then God has condemned all these activities and said: “Certainly evil is that which they work.” Then He has strongly rebuked their doctors of law and scholars of religion for their keeping silent and not prohibiting them from committing these grave sins and misdeeds, although they are aware that these are very grave sins. So He says: “Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired? Certainly evil is that which they work.”
The former verse speaks of “sin and exceeding the limits, and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired,” while the latter speaks only of “what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired.” The omission of exceeding the limits in this verse indicates that sin and exceeding the limits are one and the same—sin is exceeding the divine limits verbally, which stands parallel to exceeding those limits in action, an example of which is seen in eating unlawful things.
Accordingly, the clause: “striving with one another to hasten in sin and exceeding the limits, and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired,” aims at exposing their one fault of words (and it is sin and exceeding the limits) and another one of deeds, and it is their eating of what is unlawfully acquired.
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ ۚ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا ۘ بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنْهُمْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا ۚ وَأَلْقَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۚ كُلَّمَا أَوْقَدُوا نَارًا لِلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا اللَّهُ ۚ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا ۚ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ ٦٤
(5:64) And the Jews say: “The hand of Allah is tied up!” Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases; and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and in unbelief; and We have put enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection; whenever they kindle a fire for war Allah puts it out, and they strive to make mischief in the land; and Allah does not love the mischief makers.
The Jews did not agree that the laws of religion could be abrogated, and, for this reason, they did not accept that Torah could be abrogated; rather they rebuked the Muslims for abrogation of some of their laws. Similarly, they did not accept the doctrine of al-badā’ in matters of creation, as is seen from various Qur’anic verses. We have elaborated this topic in the first volume of this book, under the verse: Whatever signs We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it, (). Some light has been thrown on it in other places too.
The verse: “And the Jews say: ‘The hand of God is tied up!’” Might be referring to their above mentioned views; however, the following clause in their rebuttal: “Nay both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases”, does not leave room for such interpretation. It rather shows that they had uttered these sinful words particularly with reference to sustenance:
Either they had said it especially about the believers, because generally they were afflicted with poverty and their condition was straitened. So, they talked in this way as a mockery against God, alluding that He does not have power to give riches to His believing servants nor can He rescue them from need and humiliation. But this opinion is not worthy of consideration, because the verse is in the chapter of “The Table”, which was revealed (in the last years of the Prophet’s life) when the Muslims enjoyed abundance of livelihood and lived a pleasant and luxurious life.
Or, they said it because of the famine and draught, which had made their lives miserable, disturbed their economic system, and lowered their standard of living, as appears from some of the traditions that explain the reason of revelation. But this explanation too does not agree with the context of the verses, because evidently the verses expose their various characteristics like their enmity and treachery against the Muslims whom they hated to the extreme. These verses do not allude to the sinful talks they had uttered regarding their own selves.
Or, they said it when they heard the Qur’anic verses, example: Who is it that will lend to Allah a goodly loan (). So they said: “The hand of God is tied up! He is not able to obtain the necessary funds to spend in His requirements for propagating His religion and reviving His mission.” They had said it as a mockery and a jest against God, as appears from some other traditions relating to the cause of revelation.
This explanation appears nearer to reality.
In any case, this ascription—that the hand of God was tied up and He was overpowered in His plans, when some adverse situation had developed—does not go against their religious teachings nor is it alien to the descriptions and comments found in the present Torah. According to Torah, there were many things which God was unable to do and which prevented Him from enforcing His will time and again, as strong persons hinder weaker ones in their activities. You may look at the stories of the prophets, like Adam and others as they appear in Torah.
So, many aspects of their belief allow them to ascribe to God what is totally against the sanctity of His status, although in the present context they had uttered these words as a jest and mockery—we know that every action of a man emanates from some aspects of belief which he holds and which encourages him to do it.
“Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say”: It is an invocation of evil against them, of the same type which they had ascribed to God, and which went so clearly against His sanctity and sacredness—their declaration that God’s hand was tied up and He has no power to do what he pleases. Accordingly, the clause: “and they shall be cursed for what they say”, is in explanatory conjunction with the clause: “Their hands shall be shackled”, inasmuch as their hands being shackled displays the divine curse on them, because God’s speech is His action, and He curses someone only through penalizing him with punishment either in this world or the next. Thus, this curse means a punishment equal to shackling of their hands or more total and comprehensive.
Someone has opined that: “Their hands shall be shackled”, is (not a curse, but) a statement showing that they have already been inflicted with chastisement because of their arrogance against God in saying: “The hand of God is tied up!” But the former interpretation is more understandable.
Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases: It is the rebuttal of their claim: “The hand of God is tied up!”
The sentence: “both His hands are spread out”, is an allusion to His all-encompassing firmly rooted power; and such usage is very common.
God has said: “both His hands” (although the Jews had used singular in their talk, “The hand of God is tied up!”) in order to show His complete and perfect power; as is the case in the verse: He said: “O Iblīs! What prevented thee that thou shouldst do obeisance to him whom I created with My two hands? Art thou proud or art thou of the exalted ones?” (), as it indicates or rather clearly shows the use of perfect power in Adam’s creation; or as they say: ‘You do not have two hands on her, to emphasize absence of every power and every favor.’
The dictionaries often give various meanings for ‘hand’ other than the body organ, like power, strength, favor, ownership and so on. However, the fact remains that word was originally coined for the said organ, and it is used in other meanings as allusion, because all other meanings have some affinity with various aspects of the hand, example: magnanimity and spending is related to it in its management and raising up or putting down.
Therefore, when the Book or Sunnah ascribes hand to God, its connotation changes with the context. For example, in the clauses: “both His hands are spread out ()”; and: whom I created with My two hands (), “hands” means power and its perfection; and in the clauses: … in Thine hand is the good … (); Therefore glory be to Him in Whose hand is the Kingdom of everything … (); Blessed is He in Whose hand is the Kingdom, … () and other such verses, “hand” means kingdom and authority; likewise, in the verse: Be not forward in the presence of Allah and His Messenger () the phrase means ‘in the presence of’ as translated above.
The clause, “He expends as He pleases” elaborates the clause, “both His hands are spread out.”
… and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and in unbelief: The context shows that this and the sentences coming after it aim at elaborating the foregoing clauses, “And the Jews say: ‘The hand of God is tied up!’ Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say.”
The sentence under discussion indicates that their arrogance against God and their utterances like, “The hand of God is tied up!” are not something unexpected from them, because they have been steeped in transgression and disbelief from their earliest days; and it has emanated from their oppression and envy. When a man with such characteristics sees that God has given someone else excellence over him and bestows on that person estimable favors, his inordinacy and disbelief is bound to increase.
The Jews believed that they were lords, and the most developed nation of the world; they called themselves People of the Book, were proud of their doctors of law and scholars, and of their knowledge and wisdom; they called all other nations gentiles. Now, they saw that a Divine Book was revealed to a people who until then submitted to the Jewish knowledge and Book—as was the case between them and the Arabs in the Days of Ignorance. Then they looked in that Book and found it truly a Book revealed by God as a Guardian over all Divine Books of yore. They realized that it contained clear truth, sublime teaching, and complete guidance. They felt that this Book would subdue them and put them to shame in the very field that was the source of their pride, that is, the knowledge, and the Book. Naturally, they became alarmed and outraged, and their transgression and disbelief increased.
Their increase in transgression and disbelief has been ascribed to the Qur’an inasmuch as no sooner had their unjust and envious souls seen the revelation of the Qur’an and realized the true knowledge and manifest Call contained in it, than they rose up in transgression and disbelief.
Moreover, God has often attributed in His Book guiding and causing to go astray to Himself. For example: All do We aid—these as well as those—out of the bounty of your Lord, and the bounty of your Lord is not confined (); And We reveal of the Qur’an that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the unjust (). Causing someone to go astray—or something similar to it – is considered blameworthy, if it is done initially, without any cause. But if it done as a retribution of moral depravity or sins committed by the one gone astray, then there is nothing wrong in such causing to go astray; because the man’s depravity has brought down the divine wrath on him as a recompense of his wrong-doings. As God says: … but He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors (); … but when they turned aside, Allah made their hearts turn aside … ().
Ultimately, the statement that the Qur’an increases in their inordinacy and disbelief, means that they are deprived of divine help, and God does not bring them out of their inordinacy and disbelief to submission to His will and acceptance of the true Call. This topic was explained in the first volume of this book under the verse: but He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors ().
Let us return to our original discussion. The verse: “and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase inordinacy and in unbelief;” aims at removing any astonishment as to how could those people who called themselves the People of the Book and claimed to be the sons and beloveds of God, could dare to utter this contemptuous and insulting sentence that the hand of God was tied up.
They are most certainly steeped in inordinacy and disbelief, a trace of which is seen in this statement; and it is bound to be followed by signs after hideous signs; and this is what is inferred from the verb having the prefix of the la of oath and suffix of the nun of emphasis.
The verse mentions inordinacy before disbelief, keeping in view the natural sequence, because disbelief is among the vestiges and results of inordinacy.
… and We have put enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection: The pronoun “them” refers to the Jews, as is evident from the position of the sentence within the talk relating particularly to the Jews, although it had initially covered the People of the Book in general. Accordingly, the enmity and hatred points to the discord and difference that is found in their various sects and schools of thought. God has pointed to it in various places in His Book; for example: And certainly We gave the Book and the Wisdom and the Prophecy to the Children of Israel, and We gave them of the goodly things, and We made them excel the nations. And We gave them clear arguments in the affair, but they did not differ until after knowledge had come to them, revolting among themselves; surely your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differed (45:16–7), apart from other similar verses.
It seems that enmity points to the hate that is accompanied by transgression in action, and hatred indicates aversion of the heart, even if it does not show in action. The combination of the two in the verse indicates a hate that causes injustice against another party and the one, which does not reach that stage.
The clause: “till the Day of Resurrection”, obviously shows that their ummah will continue up to the end of the world.
… whenever they kindle a fire for war Allah puts it out: To kindle a fire is to inflame it, and to put it out is to extinguish it. The meaning is clear. There is another possibility that the clause: “whenever they kindle a fire”, explains the preceding clause: “and We put enmity and hatred …” Thus the meaning will be as follows: Whenever they kindled a fire of war against the Prophet and the believers, God puts it out by reviving their internal discords and differences.
The context points to the divine decree that their endeavours in kindling the fire of war against the divine religion and against the Muslims (because of their belief in God and His signs) are bound to fail. However, it does not cover those wars, which the Jews might wage against the Muslims, not for religious motive, but because of politics, or because of ideas of racial or national superiority.
… and they strive to make mischief in the land; and God does not love the mischief-makers: al-Sa’y (translated here as strive) literally means moving quickly, running; fasādan shows the motive of action, that is, to make mischief. However, God does not love the mischief-makers; and He will not leave them free to achieve what they want, so their endeavours to make mischief in the land are bound to fail. And God knows better.
All of this explains how their hands are tied up and how they are cursed because of their demeaning utterances; they shall never succeed in achieving what they aimed at by waging war after war against the Prophet and the Muslims, and for which they were continuously trying to make mischief in the land.
وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ آمَنُوا وَاتَّقَوْا لَكَفَّرْنَا عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَأَدْخَلْنَاهُمْ جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ ٦٥
(5:65) And if the People of the Book had believed and guarded (against evil) We would certainly have covered their evil deeds and We would certainly have made them enter gardens of bliss.
The talk again returns to the condition of People of the Book in general as was the case in beginning; and it ends on description of the favors they have missed in this world and the next—the gardens of bliss there and the happy life here.
The taqwā mentioned after belief means abstaining from the forbidden things and guarding against the sins which bring down divine wrath and chastisement of fire in their wake. Such sins are ascribing a partner to God and all those major sins, which God has threatened with fire. Accordingly, the evil deeds mentioned here which God has promised to cover would mean minor misdeeds; and it fits the theme of the verse: If you avoid great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your (small) sins and cause you to enter an honorable place of entering ().
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ أَقَامُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ لَأَكَلُوا مِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَمِنْ تَحْتِ أَرْجُلِهِمْ ۚ مِنْهُمْ أُمَّةٌ مُقْتَصِدَةٌ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ سَاءَ مَا يَعْمَلُونَ ٦٦
(5:66) And if they had kept up the Torah and the Gospel and that which was revealed to them from their Lord, they would certainly have eaten from above them and from beneath their feet; there is a party of them keeping to the moderate course, and (as for) most of them, evil is that which they do.
The Torah and the Gospel mentioned here refer to the two Divine Books which the Qur’an says were revealed to Moses and Jesus (peace be on them), rather than the Old and the New Testaments which these people have got in their hands and which have reportedly been extensively manipulated and altered by succeeding generations.
Apparently, the clause: “that which was revealed to them from their Lord”, refers to all scriptures attributed to various prophets, which these people have got, like the Psalms of David which the Qur’an calls Zabūr, and other such Books.
The opinion that this clause refers to the Qur’an is not sustainable, because the Qur’an with its sharīʾah has abrogated the laws of the Torah and the Gospel, and therefore there is no reason to count it with them and to express the desire that they should have kept those Books up together with the Qur’an which had abrogated them. May be some one would say that to follow the Qur’an is to follow also the Torah and the Gospel; for when one acts on the abrogating rules in Islam, one acts on the sharīʾah of Islam in its totality—which includes the abrogating and the abrogated rules together, because the divine religion is one, and its parts are not in conflict with one another; utmost that can be said is that some laws are temporary, are valid up to a fixed time without any contradiction. But this view is not correct, because God describes this act as “keeping up” that is firmly preserving something on its roots. Such expression is not suitable for abrogated laws per se; so the Torah and the Gospel could correctly be kept up at the time when they were not abrogated by any other sharīʾah; and the Gospel did not abrogate the sharīʾah of the Torah except in some minor aspects.
Moreover, the clause: “that which was revealed to them from their Lord”, refers to the Books, which were revealed to the Jews and the Christians, and we have never seen the Qur’an to be described as being revealed to them.
Obviously, this clause refers to the scriptures, which were revealed after the Torah and the Gospel, including various kinds of revelations sent to the prophets of the Israelites, like the Psalms of David, etc. To keep those Books up means diligently obeying the divine laws contained in those Books, and believing the gnosis of genesis and return which God had described therein. It is a far cry from manipulating those truths through alteration, concealment, and abandonment. If they had properly kept up the Books they would certainly have eaten from above them and from beneath their feet.
The eating mentioned in this clause alludes to a life of ease and comfort, whether it is through eating or using some other luxuries. The use of “eating” for general management and unrestricted enjoyment is common in the language.
The clause, “from above them” indicates from the heaven, and “from beneath their feet” means from the earth. The sentence alludes that they would enjoy the blessings of the heaven and the earth, and would be encompassed by those blessings. It is the same theme which is given in the verse: And if the people of the towns had believed and guarded (against evil), We would certainly have opened up for them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they rejected, so We overtook them for what they had earned ().
The verse proves that the belief and good deeds of the human species have an effect on the good of the creative system inasmuch as it has a connection with this species. So if this species behaved properly the whole system of the world would remain good, because it would fulfil what is necessary for a happy life of man—by repelling the misfortune and abundance of blessings.
Many other Qur’anic verses prove it in clear words: Corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on account of what the hands of men have wrought, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, so that they may return. Say: Travel in the land, then see how was the end of those before; most of them were polytheists (); And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought … (), apart from other such verses. We have mentioned in the second volume of our book some matters relevant to the effects of human deeds.
… there is a party of them keeping to the moderate course, and (as for) most of them, evil is that which they do: al-Iqtiṣād is to adhere to al-qaṣd (the middle course); thus the moderate group is the one which keeps to the middle course in religious affairs and submits to the commandments of God.
The talk is a fresh start to describe that all that has been attributed to them—their exceeding the limits imposed by God, their disbelief in divine signs, their affliction by divine wrath and the curse on their bands—portrays the condition of their majority; and that is why all these evils have been ascribed to them; however, there is among them a moderate group which is above these demerits. This is an example of the justice the divine speech contains, as it does not ignore anyone’s right, and shows appreciation of reviving the affairs of truth however little it may be.
This reality has been alluded to in many preceding verses, but not so clearly; for example, the divine words: … and that most of you are transgressors (); And you will see many of them striving with one another to hasten in sin and exceeding the limit … (); and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and in unbelief ().
Examining Narrations
- al-Qummī writes under the verse: And when they come to you they say: “We believe;” “It was revealed about ʿAbdullāh b. Ubayy, when he pretended to accept Islam, while they had come in with disbelief. (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: The context clearly shows that these verses were revealed about the People of the Book, not about the hypocrites, except if this verse is claimed to be revealed alone.
- The same book says about the words: and indeed they go forth with it, that is, they went forth with disbelief, without faith. (ibid.)
- al-Kulaynī narrates through his chain from Abū Baṣīr, from ʿUmar b. Riyāḥ, from Abū Jaʾfar that he said, “I told him, ‘I have been informed that you say that whoever divorced in contravention to sunnah you do not consider his divorce (to be) anything.’ Abū Jaʾfar said, ‘It is not I that say so; but God, the Mighty, the Great, says it. Why by God! Were we to give you legal opinion with injustice, we would have been worse than you. Verily, God says: Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired? (al-Kāfī)
- al-ʿAyyāshī narrates from Abū Baṣīr that he said, “I said to Abū ʿAbdillāh, ‘Verily, ʿUmar b. Riyāḥ thinks that you have said, “There is no divorce except with proof (that is, with two just witnesses).”’” Abū Baṣīr said that (the Imam, a.s.) said, “It is not I that have said so, but God, the Blessed, the Sublime, says it. Why, by God! Were we to give you legal opinion with injustice, we would have been worse than you. Verily, God says: Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law. (al-Tafsīr)
- al-Shaykh narrates through his chain from Ibn Abī ʿUmayr, from Hishām b. Sālim, from Abū ʿAbdillāh regarding the words of God, the High: And the Jews say: “The hand of Allah is tied up.” “He said that they used to say, ‘He has concluded all affairs.’” (al-Majālis)
Author’s comment: al-ʿAyyāshī has narrated this connotation in his al-Tafsīr from Jacob b. Shu’ayb and Ḥammād from the same Imam.
- al-Qummī narrates (from the same Imam, a.s.) that he said, “They used to say, ‘God has concluded all affairs; He does not bring forth other than that which He had ordained in the first ordination.’ Therefore, God rebutted them and said: Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases, that is, He brings (something) forward and puts (another) back, and He increases and decreases; to Him belong al-badā’ and volition.” (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: al-Ṣadūq has narrated this theme in his Maʾāni al-akhbār, through his chain, from Isḥāq b. ʿAmmār, from the one who heard it, from al-Ṣādiq.
- al-ʿAyyāshī narrates from Hishām al-Mashriqī from Abu al-Ḥasan al-Khurāsānī, (that is, al-Riḍā), that he said, “Indeed God is as He has described Himself, the One, on Whom all depend, the Light.” Then he said, “Rather, both His hands are spread out.” (Hishām says,) “I said to him, ‘Well, does He have two hands like this?’—and I pointed with my hand to his hand. He said, ‘If He were like this, He would have been a created thing.’” (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: al-Ṣadūq has narrated it in al-‘Uyūn, through his chain from al-Mashriqī from the Imam.
- al-Ṣadūq narrates through his chain from Muḥammad b. Muslim that he said, “I asked Jaʾfar, and said, ‘(What is the explanation of) His word, the Mighty, the Great: O Iblīs! What prevented thee that thou shouldst do obeisance to him whom I created with My two hands? ().’ (The Imam), said, ‘Hand in the language of Arabs is (used) for power and favor; He has said: And remember Our servant David, the powerful (), (lit: owner of hands); and the heaven, We created it by hands, (that is, by power) and verily We are expanding (); and He has said: and He strengthened them with a spirit from Himself ();’ (the Imam said) ‘that is, He gave them strength; and it is said, “I owe that man a bright hand,” that is, a boon and grace.’” (Maʾāni al-akhbār)
- al-Qummī writes in his al-Tafsīr about the word of God: And if they had kept up the Torah and the Gospel—that is, the Jews and the Christians—they would certainly have eaten from above them and from beneath their feet—from above them (alludes to) rain, and from beneath their feet, vegetation.
- al-ʿAyyāshī narrates under the divine word: there is a party of them keeping to the moderate course, from Abu al-Ṣahbā’ al-Kubrā that he said, “I heard ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (who) invited Ra’s al-Jālūt and the Bishop of the Christians and said, ‘I am going to ask you of a matter—and I know it better than you do—so do not conceal (it).’ Then he called the Bishop of the Christians and said, ‘I adjure you by God, Who sent down Gospel to Jesus, and put blessings on his foot, and (because of which, Jesus) healed the blind and the lepers, and removed the pain of the eye, and made for you birds out of clay and he informed you of what you ate and what you stored.’ (The bishop) said, ‘I would tell truth (even) for less than that.’
“So ʿAlī, said, ‘Into how many (sects) were the Israelites divided after Jesus?’ He said, ‘No, by God! Not even a single sect.’ Then ʿAlī said, ‘You have told untruth. By God, that there is no god except Him! Indeed they had divided into seventy-two sects; all of them are in the Fire except one sect. Verily, God says: there is a part of them keeping to the moderate course, and (as for) most of them, evil is that which they do; it is that which shall be saved.’” (al-Tafsīr)
- The same book narrates from Zayd b. Aslam, from Anas b. Mālik, that he said, “The Messenger of God, used to say, ‘The ummah of Moses divided into seventy-one sects, seventy of them were in the Fire and one in the Garden; and the ummah of Jesus into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of them is in the Fire and one is in the Garden; and my ummah will rise over the two sects together with one group in the Garden, and seventy-two (of their sects) (will go) to the Fire.’ They (the companions) said, ‘Who are they? O Messenger of God!’ He said, ‘The groups, the groups.’” (ibid.)
- Jacob b. Yazīd said, “Whenever ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, narrated this ḥadīth from the Messenger of God, he used to recite the (verse of the) Qur’an: And if the People of the Book had believed and guarded (against evil) We would certainly have covered their evil deeds … evil is that which they do; and he also recited, and from among those We created, there is a group who guide with truth and they do justice with it—that is, the ummah of Muḥammad.”
This is a strange claim. See ch.62, vr.9: O you who believe! When the call is made for prayer on Friday, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah … (Trans.) ↩︎
al-Musāra’ah puts emphasis on al-sur’ah (hastening); it is opposite of al-buṭ’ (tardiness). The difference between al-sur’ah and al-’ajalah (hurrying), as inferred from usage of these words is this: al-sur’ah is more relevant to the actions of body, while al-’ajalah is more concerned with activities of heart. It is not unlike the difference between al-khuḍū’ (to bow, to defer) and al-khushū’ (to submit, to be humble); and between al-khawf (fear) and al-khashyah (dread, apprehension). al-Rāghib has said: “al-Sur’ah is opposite of al-buṭ’; it is used in description of bodies and actions; it is said: saru’a (he hastened); its nomen agentis is sarī’ (hastener); and (they say): asra’a and musri’ in the same meanings.”
It has been said that al-musāra’ah and al-’ajalah are synonymous; but al-musāra’ah is mostly used for good works; the use of this word here, although the context is of bad deeds, and al-’ajalah would have been more appropriate—is aimed at showing that they indulge in it as if they were doing a good work. But this seems far-fetched. (Auth.) ↩︎
al-Mīzān (Eng.), vol.3. (Trans.) ↩︎