Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:57-66 - Quran Translation Commentary

57. You who believe ! Take not for friends such of those, who were given the Book before you, and disbelievers as make a jest and sport of your religion.¹⁷³ And fear Allah if you are (true) believers.

58. And when you call for prayer they take it as a mockery and fun. That is because they are a people who understand not.¹⁷⁴

59. Say: “O people of the Book! What else is the reason of your resentment against us than that we believe in Allah, and the revelation that has come to us and that which came before us, and that most of you are evil-doers?”¹⁷⁵

60. Say: “Shall I tell you of the worse fate than this that was meted out by Allah?¹⁷⁶ Those whom Allah has cursed,¹⁷⁷ on whom His wrath has fallen,¹⁷⁸ and some of whom he transformed into apes and swine,¹⁷⁹ and those who worshipped Taghut (rebels).”¹⁸⁰ These are the people whose position is the worst and they are far astray from the straight path .

61. And when they come to you, they say: “We believe ;” but they had come in disbelief and went away in the same, and Allah knows best what they were hiding.

62. And you will see many of them vying with one another in sin and transgression, and their devouring of illicit gain. Evil indeed are the things that they do.

63. Why do not the Rabbis and the theologians forbid them from uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden?¹⁸¹ Evil indeed is what they are doing.

64. And the Jews say: “Allah’s hand is tied up.”¹⁸² Their hands are tied up and they are accursed for what they said.¹⁸³–Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched;¹⁸⁴ He spends as He pleases.¹⁸⁵ And in fact, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord increases in most of them rebellion and disbelief.¹⁸⁶ And We have cast among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection.¹⁸⁷ Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it.¹⁸⁸ And they strive to do mischief on earth, and Allah loves not those who do mischief.

65. And had the people of the Book believed and been righteous, We should indeed have blotted out their sins and admitted them to the gardens of bliss.¹⁸⁹

66. And had they stood fast by the Torah and Injeel,¹⁹⁰ and the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord,¹⁹¹ they would have been fed from above them and from beneath their feet.¹⁹² Among them there is a group on the right path,¹⁹³ but many of them are of evil conduct.

Commentary

173. That is: To form friendships with such persons who make fun of Islam is detrimental to the self-respect of Muslims.

174. That is: They make fun of Azan, the call to the prayer. Azan or call to prayer is the symbol of Allah and it is an invitation to the people to come to worship Allah. To ridicule such a thing is not the act of a sane person, and such an unreasonable thing can be done only by a person who is a fool.

175. That is: You are annoyed with us only because we believe in every truth that has been revealed by Allah, whether it is the earlier Scriptures or the Quran. If apart from this, we have committed any other fault, show us. But if only our belief is disagreeable to you then it clearly means that you are bent on disobeying Allah, for no man of faith can adopt such an attitude with people following the right path.

176. That is: On account of your animosity to Islam, you are waiting for an adverse fate for us, but the pages of your own history are full with the examples of much worse fate, and you are going the same way. Therefore, instead of wishing for adverse consequences for others, think of the consequences that you are likely to encounter .

177. In the Bible, the mention of this curse is found at various places, e.g. You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not heed the words of this covenant................... they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing evil upon them which they cannot escape; though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.................................. ( Jeremiah II )

178. In the Bible it is written: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the wickedness which they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and serve other gods .............. Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured forth.” ( Jeremiah 44)

179. Allah had created them in the honourable species of man, and had also provided guidance for their moral and spiritual evolution. But when they failed to understand their high position and tried to lower themselves from the high position of mankind, Allah transformed their honour into disgrace and provided a great lesson for others by changing them into apes and swine.

This is a tragic happening which occurred with a group of the Jews due to their transgression. As regards the question as to how men were transformed into apes and swine, there is no need to try to interpret it by far-fetched explanations. Suffice it to say that the God who gives shape and features to man, can also distort his features in any way He likes. Therefore, if the faces of the men who distorted the religion of Allah were distorted into the faces of apes and swine, what is unbelieveable and astonishing in that !

180. By taghut is meant the mischievous and the rebellious people, and by worship is meant following them blindly and obeying them in sinful acts. Here the word worship has been used to mean excess in obedience. In explaining taghut, Imam Razi writes:

“One opinion is that by taghut is meant that calf which was worshipped, and another opinion is that it means the theologians of the Jews. And every person who obeyed some one in sinning against Allah’s command has, in reality, worshipped him ”.–(At-Tafseerul Kabir, Vol.12, p. 37).

What is stated in the verse means that obeying the rebels against Allah instead of obeying Allah implies worshipping them. This is the worst disgrace that can come to one’s lot. The history of the Jews is a witness to this fact that this disgrace had come to their lot.

181. It signifies that in a corrupt society the learned men and the leaders have a great responsibility for reforming the people. It is among the duties of these learned men, etc. to forbid people from committing sins and especially from earning by illegal means and devouring forbidden things. But when a section of the learned men itself suffers a moral setback, then it not only does, not forbid people from doing evil things but itself indulges in that. As is popularly known the forbidden chicken becomes lawful for the Qazi. Ibn Jarir Tabari says that no other verse is more forceful than this one for rousing the ulema from slumber. He has quoted Ibn Abbas in support of his statement (See Tafseer Tabari part 6, p.193).

This is a mirror which the Quran has placed before the Muslims so that thier ulema may see their faces in it.

182. When they used to be asked to spend in the cause of Allah, they used to say that Allah’s hand is tied up, that is He has become a miser , that is why He is asking them to spend for Him. They are being reproached for this blasphemy of theirs.

183. It shows that one who utters derogatory remarks against Allah deserves to be cursed.

184. Allah’s ma’rifat or recognition has been explained in the Quran in a very simple, natural and understandable way. Therefore, in reply to the blasphemous words of the Jews meaning that Allah has become miserly, the meaning of what has been stated here-both His hands are widestretched–is quite clear. But later on the polemicists (Mutakallimin) started discussions as to what is meant by the hands of Allah, etc. Such kinds of discussions are not only useless but also divert the reader’s minds to other channels, away from the main purpose and dawah of the Quran, and their minds are occupied by unnecessary arguments. That is why Quran has forbidden to go into ‘mutashabihat’ (allegorical references), and this was the practice of the earlier sages (Salaf Saleheen) that they used to avoid interpreting them. Imam Razi writes: “ As regards the question, what is implied by hand and what is its reality, we leave its understanding to Allah, and this was the method that was adopted by our righteous forefathers (Salaf Saleheen).” –(At-Tafseerul Kabir, Vol.12, page 43)

185. That is: He is very generous and magnanimous for His slaves and He is ruling over them with extreme graciousness.

186. That is :Prejudice has made them blind. That is why they grasp only misguidance from true guidance.

187. Kindling of fire of hatred and rancour among the Christians was mentioned in Verse No.14. In this verse is mentioned the casting of enmity and hatred among the Jews. The atmosphere of hostility that is found between the Jews and the Christians is very deep rooted, and in this connection each group has compiled its own history. Therefore, it is likely that temporarily there may be a clear atmosphere between them in view of certain considerations, but to remove the indelible stain in their bosoms is not possible for anyone. Therefore, they will continue to go at each other’s throats. (For further explanation Note No.78 may be seen).

188. Whenever the Jews tried to foment a war, Allah arranged to put it down. Had He not done so, the earth would have witnessed great disaster. Whatever battle the polytheists of Makkah waged against the Muslims, they were all incited by the Jews. With the help of their scheming minds, they always tried to foment discord among the Muslims and the infidels, but Allah had been protecting Muslims from being destroyed from this fire of war .

Even today Israel (Jews) is actively busy in inciting war and fomenting trouble, which goes to prove the truthfulness of the holy Quran.

And had they stood fast by the Torah and Injeel, and the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have been fed from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them there is a group on the right path, but many of them are of evil conduct. (Al-Quran)

189. That is: If the people of the Book had accepted the faith preached by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and had they adopted righteousness, then Allah would have forgiven them, their past sins and would have admitted them to the blissful gardens of Paradise.

190. Standing fast by or establishing the torah and Injeel means to follow scrupulously the original Torah and the original Injeel (Gosepl), and not the amended Torah and Gospel. For further explanation Notes No.143 and 197 may be seen.

191. That is: The holy Quran: Standing fast By Allah’s Book means to make it one’s guidance and the law of life.

192. Means worldly favours and bounties. In the Torah, it is written:

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. (Leviticus. 26: 3,4)

“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your GOD. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.’’ (Deuteronomy 28: 2,3)

But it should be clearly understood that Quran offers the worldly benefits as a result of obedience to Allah and not as the main objective and motivating force. That is why these blessings and favours have been mentioned in the Quran by the way, while seeking the pleasure of Allah and glory in the Hereafter has been presented as the main motivating force for offering worship and obedience to Allah. This fact has been repeated in the Quran so often and in such an effective way that it has become a specific characteristic of the Islamic Dawah, and without exception this has been the thrust of the missions of all the prophets. In the amended Torah the aspect of the Hereafter has been subdued and the worldly benefits of the obedience to Allah have been repeatedly mentioned as the main objective for worship and obedience. It shows how much the minds of the editors of the Torah were influenced by the world and its glamour.

Even today when the influenced minds present the Islamic Dawah, they do it by presenting the material and worldly benefits of the Islamic system in beautiful words; The aspect of the Hereafter is presented by the way. This method of Dawah is neither of the prophets nor of the Quran nor can it change the inner man.

193. This was the group of the people of the Book which was on the right path, though it was small in number. When the message of Quran became clear to them, they accepted it and embraced Islam.