Surah Al Ma'idah Tafseer

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا التَّوْرَاةَ فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ يَحْكُمُ بِهَا النَّبِيُّونَ الَّذِينَ أَسْلَمُواْ لِلَّذِينَ هَادُواْ

Verily, We did send down the Tawrah (to Musa), therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets who submitted themselves to Allah's will, judged the Jews.

and these Prophets did not deviate from the law of the Tawrah, change or alter it,

وَالرَّبَّانِيُّونَ وَالَاحْبَارُ

And (also) the Rabbaniyyun and the Ahbar...,

wherein Rabbaniyyun refers to the worshippers who are learned and religious,

and Ahbar refers to the scholars,

بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُواْ مِن كِتَابِ اللّهِ

for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's Book,

meaning, they were entrusted with the Book of Allah, and they were commanded to adhere to it and not hide any part of.

وَكَانُواْ عَلَيْهِ شُهَدَاء فَلَ تَخْشَوُاْ النَّاسَ وَاخْشَوْنِ وَلَا تَشْتَرُواْ بِأيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلً وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me and sell not My verses for a miserable price. And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.

There are two ways to explain this Ayah and we will mention the later.

Another Reason Behind Revealing these Honorable Ayat

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Abbas said,

"Allah sent down the Ayat,

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers),

فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ

(Such are the unjust), (5:45) and,

فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

(Such are the rebellious), (5:47) about two groups among the Jews.

During the time of Jahiliyyah, one of them had defeated the other. As a result, they made a treaty that they would pay blood money totaling fifty Wasaq (of gold) (each Wasaq approx. 3 kg) for every dead person from the defeated group killed by the victors, and a hundred Wasaq for every dead person the defeated group killed from the victors.

This treaty remained in effect until the Prophet came to Al-Madinah and both of these groups became subservient under the Prophet. Yet, when the mighty group once suffered a casualty at the hands of the weaker group, the mighty group sent a delegation demanding the hundred Wasaq. The weaker group said, `How can two groups who have the same religion, one ancestral lineage and a common land, have a Diyah that for some of them is half of that of the others We only agreed to this because you oppressed us and because we feared you. Now that Muhammad has come, we will not give you what you asked.'

So war was almost rekindled between them, but they agreed to seek Muhammad's judgment in their dispute. The mighty group among them said (among themselves), `By Allah! Muhammad will never give you double the Diyah that you pay to them compared to what they pay to you. They have said the truth anyway, for they only gave us this amount because we oppressed and overpowered them. Therefore, send someone to Muhammad who will sense what his judgment will be. If he agrees to give you what you demand, accept his judgment, and if he does not give you what you seek, do not refer to him for judgment.'

So they sent some hypocrites to the Messenger of Allah to try and find out the Messenger's judgment. When they came to the Messenger, Allah informed him of their matter and of their plot. Allah sent down,

يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ لَا يَحْزُنكَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْكُفْرِ

(O Messenger! Let not those who hurry to fall into disbelief grieve you), (5:41) until,

الْفَاسِقُونَ

(Such are the rebellious). (5:47)

By Allah! It is because of their problem that Allah sent down these verses and it is they whom Allah meant."

Abu Dawud collected a similar narration for this Hadith.

Abu Jafar Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn Abbas said that;

the Ayah in Surah Al-Ma'idah,

فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُم أَوْ أَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ

(either judge between them, or turn away from them...) until,

الْمُقْسِطِينَ

(Those who act justly), (5:42) was revealed concerning the problem of blood money between Bani An-Nadir and Bani Qurayzah.

The dead of Bani An-Nadir were being honored more and they received the full amount of Diyah, while Qurayzah received half the Diyah for their dead. So they referred to the Messenger of Allah for judgment and Allah sent down these verses about them.

The Messenger of Allah compelled them to adhere to the true judgment in this matter and made the Diyah the same for both groups and Allah knows best about that matter."

Ahmad, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded this Hadith from Abu Ishaq. Al-Awfi and Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said that these Ayat were revealed about the two Jews who committed adultery, and we mentioned the Hadiths about this story before.

It appears that both of these were the reasons behind revealing these Ayat, and Allah knows best.

This is why Allah said afterwards,

وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعَيْنَ بِالْعَيْنِ

(And We ordained therein for them:Life for life, eye for eye) until the end of the Ayah, (5:45) which strengthens the opinion that the story of the Diyah was behind revealing the Ayat as we explained above.

Allah knows best.

Allah said,

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.

Al-Bara' bin Azib, Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman, Ibn Abbas, Abu Mijlaz, Abu Raja' Al-Utaridi, Ikrimah, Ubaydullah bin Abdullah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri and others said that;

this Ayah was revealed about the People of the Book.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri added that;

this Ayah also applies to us.

Abdur-Razzaq said that Ath-Thawri said that Mansur said that Ibrahim said that;

these Ayat, "Were revealed about the Children of Israel, and Allah accepted them for this Ummah."

Ibn Jarir recorded this statement.

Ali bin Abi Talhah also stated that Ibn Abbas commented on Allah's statement,

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers),

"Whoever rejects what Allah has revealed, will have committed Kufr, and whoever accepts what Allah has revealed, but did not rule by it, is a Zalim (unjust) and a Fasiq (rebellious) and a sinner."

Ibn Jarir recorded this statement.

Abdur-Razzaq said,

"Ma`mar narrated to us that Tawus said that Ibn Abbas was asked about Allah's statement,

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم

(And whosoever does not judge...).

He said, `It is an act of Kufr.'

Ibn Tawus added,

`It is not like those who disbelieve in Allah, His angels, His Books and His Messengers.'

Ath-Thawri narrated that Ibn Jurayj said that Ata said,

`There is Kufr and Kufr less than Kufr, Zulm and Zulm less than Zulm, Fisq and Fisq less than Fisq."'

Waki` said that Sa`id Al-Makki said that Tawus said that,

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers),

"This is not the Kufr that annuls one's religion.