قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْاْ إِلَى كَلَمَةٍ سَوَاء بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلاَّ نَعْبُدَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَلاَ نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضاً أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُولُواْ اشْهَدُواْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ (٦٤)

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَا أُنزِلَتِ التَّورَاةُ وَالإنجِيلُ إِلاَّ مِن بَعْدِهِ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ  هَاأَنتُمْ هَؤُلاء حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُم بِهِ عِلمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ  مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ إِنَّ أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِإِبْرَاهِيمَ لَلَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ وَهَـذَا النَّبِيُّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَاللّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (٦٥-٦٨)

وَدَّت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يُضِلُّونَكُمْ وَمَا يُضِلُّونَ إِلاَّ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ وَأَنتُمْ تَشْهَدُونَ  يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَلْبِسُونَ الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (٦٩-٧١)

وَقَالَت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ آمِنُواْ بِالَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَجْهَ النَّهَارِ وَاكْفُرُواْ آخِرَهُ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ  وَلاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ لِمَن تَبِعَ دِينَكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْهُدَى هُدَى اللّهِ أَن يُؤْتَى أَحَدٌ مِّثْلَ مَا أُوتِيتُمْ أَوْ يُحَآجُّوكُمْ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ اللّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ  يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ (٧٢-٧٤)

وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لاَّ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلاَّ مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَآئِمًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الأُمِّيِّينَ سَبِيلٌ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ  بَلَى مَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ وَاتَّقَى فَإِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ (٧٥-٧٦)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً أُوْلَـئِكَ لاَ خَلاَقَ لَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلاَ يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللّهُ وَلاَ يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلاَ يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (٧٧)

وَإِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِيقًا يَلْوُونَ أَلْسِنَتَهُم بِالْكِتَابِ لِتَحْسَبُوهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ (٧٨)

مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ اللّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُواْ عِبَادًا لِّي مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلَـكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ  وَلاَ يَأْمُرَكُمْ أَن تَتَّخِذُواْ الْمَلاَئِكَةَ وَالنِّبِيِّيْنَ أَرْبَابًا أَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْكُفْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ أَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ (٧٩-٨٠)

[Tell them]: “O People of the Book!1 Come to what is common between you and us:2 that we will worship none but God, that we will associate none with Him, and that none of us shall make other deities besides God.”3 If they turn away, say: “Bear witness, then, that we submit to God.”4 (64)

People of the Book! Why do you argue about Abraham even though the Torah and the Gospel were only revealed after him? Then do you not understand even this?5 Indeed, you are the ones who have argued about things of which you have some knowledge. Must you now argue about that of which you have no knowledge at all? And [in reality] God knows, but you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian; he was but a devoted Muslim6 and he was also not among the Idolaters.7 Those who followed Abraham are more entitled to ascribe themselves to him. After this, this Prophet is entitled [to this ascription] and those who professed faith in him and God is a companion of such faithful.8 (65-68)

[Believers!] a group from among the People of the Book desires to somehow make you deviate from the right path; and [in reality] they mislead none but themselves, but they know not. People of the Book! Why do you deny God’s revelations when you bear witness to them?9 People of the Book!10 Why do you mingle truth with falsehood when you know it?11 (69-71)

And a group of the People of the Book says: “Believe in that which is revealed to believers in the morning and deny it in the evening so that they may themselves abandon their faith12 and do not listen to anyone except those of your own faith” – Tell them [O Prophet!]: “Guidance in reality is the guidance of God!”13 – [so do not listen to it] lest such a thing which is bestowed on you is bestowed on others14 or that they dispute with you in your Lord’s presence.15 Tell them: “Grace is in the hands of God: He bestows it on whom He will. God is munificent and all-knowing.16 He is merciful to whom He chooses; His blessings are immense.”17 (72-74)

[You expect from them that in the matter of your prophet, they will act justly18] and [on their side, the situation is that] among the People of the Book there are some who, if you trust them with a heap of wealth, will return it to you intact; and there are others who, if you entrust them with a single dinār, will not hand it back unless you forcefully demand it from them.19 This is because they say: “We shall not be held blameworthy in the matter of these unlettered.”20 And [it is a fact that] they deliberately say of God what is untrue. Indeed, why not?21 [the way of God is that] He who keeps his covenant with Him and remains pious [is liked by Him] because God loves the pious.22 (75-76)

[On the other hand], those who sell the covenant of God23 and their own oaths24 for a trivial price shall have no share in the world to come. And God will neither speak to them, nor look at them, nor purify25 them [from their sins] on the Day of Judgement. In fact, a grievous punishment awaits them [there]26. (77)

And there are some among them who while reading the Book of God twist their tongues so that you may think that what they are reading is written in the Book whereas it is not written in it. And they say: “This is from God,” whereas it is not from God and [in this manner] they deliberately ascribe falsehood to God.27 (78)

[Not only this, they also forge a lie on the Prophet of God and don’t even think that] it is not befitting for a human being to whom the Almighty gives His Book and the ability to decide and carry out the responsibilities of prophethood [according to it], then he should say to people: “Serve me instead of God.” [No] in fact [he will only say]: “Be devoted servants of God28 because you have taught and studied the Book of God.” Nor will he ask you to make the angels and the prophets as your god; Will he ask you to commit disbelief once you have become Muslims?29 (79-80)

(Translated from Ghāmdī’s al-Bayān by Shehzad Saleem)

1. Though the address here is in general, it is evident from the preceding discourse that it is directed at the Christians.

2. This call has been given by the Qur’ān in exactly the same manner as it itself has urged people to adopt: people should be called towards God through wisdom and sound counsel. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

… a special feature of this methodology of wisdom is that if there is some commonality in views, it should be discussed first. A person should not needlessly and recklessly present views which are unique to him. Thus the Qur’ān here has also adopted this method. Since the People of the Book were recipients of divine guidance, they were fully aware of the teaching of monotheism and also claimed to be its vociferous advocates. Their scriptures contained this teaching of tawhīd in a very explicit manner. If they had become incriminated with various forms of polytheism, it was not because there was any room for it in their religion, but it was through the path of religious innovation that they were led into it. This was in total contradiction to what their prophets and scriptures had taught them. Moreover, by following the mutashābihāt issues they fabricated baseless arguments in favour of polytheism. The Qur’ān called upon them to take heed of this commonality of tawhīd: Muslims and Christians both believe that no one except God should be worshipped nor partners be associated to Him and nor anyone be regarded as the Lord. Why then have they associated others in worshipping God in violation of this established and recognized reality of tawhīd. What have invested their scholars and monks, and their Pharisees and jurists and sufies with the status of  أرباب من دون الله (Lords besides God). (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 112)

3. The implication is that the People of the Book should analyze their beliefs and see which of these beliefs have sprung from following religious innovations and issues which relate to the mutashābihāt. After this analysis, such spurious beliefs should be discarded and the pure tawhīd taught by the Prophets of God should be adopted. Here a specific mention of the fact that no deities besides God should be set up refers to the authority which the People of the Book had invested their clergy with regarding what is prohibited and what is permissible. The reason is that regarding someone as an absolute law-giver and then obeying him is like worshipping him. At another place, the Qur’ān has clarified that such an attitude is equivalent to make something as one’s Lord.

4. These words express acquittal and renunciation. The People of the Book should be witness to the fact that Muslims have fulfilled their responsibility by communicating to them that tawhīd is the real essence of Islam. If a person deprives oneself of it, he can never reach the Almighty.

5. The Jews, Christians and the Idolaters of Makkah – all three would try to present Abraham (sws) in support of their errant views. Here the Qur’ān has referred to their dispute: each of these say that Abraham (sws) held the same views as they hold even though both the Torah and the Gospel were revealed centuries after him; how could then Abraham (sws) be a Christian or a Jew? In frenzy of their denial of the truth, they are not being able to grasp this simple fact.

6. The implication is that Abraham (sws) was obedient to God and solely adhered to the path of the truth. He had never adopted the wavered ways of polytheism.

7. The implication is that just as Abraham (sws) had no relation with Judaism and Christianity, similarly, he had no relation with the Idolaters of Makkah. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

… this has been stated out of the general context of the sentence because it consisted of a disavowal of the Idolaters who are not directly addressed in this sūrah. As has been explained earlier, this sūrah is specifically addressed to the People of the Book, in particular the Christians. If the Idolaters are rebutted in some of their views, it is in a secondary manner. What is stated here is also stated in a secondary manner and the need to mention it, as indicated earlier, arose because just as the Jews and Christians would present the name of Abraham (sws) in support of their innovations and deviant views, in a similar manner, in fact even more vehemently, the Idolaters of the Quraysh would present his name in their support; they went as far as to claim that the religion they were following was inherited by them from Abraham (sws). (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 115)

8. The implication is that if God is their guardian, He will help them and also grant them dominance over their enemies.

9. Whatever facts are stated in these verses are already known to them and they had vouched to bear witness to them before the world.

10. A repetition of this word is to express reproach and yearning: in spite of the fact that they are People of the Book they are trying to mislead people.

11. This is a reference to the interpolations of the People of the Book regarding the Baytullāh, the chronicles of Abraham (sws) and the predictions made by their prophets about the advent of Muhammad (sws). The words وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (when you know it)  show that the scholars of the Jews present in the time of the revelation of the Qur’ān were aware of these interpolations.

12. Mentioned here is a ploy the Jews, while declaring themselves to be compatriots of the Muslims, had adopted to harm the Prophet (sws) and his call. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, while explaining it, writes:

One of the tricks was that their leaders trained some of their people to first openly declare faith in Islam so as to be regarded as Muslims and later dissociate themselves from it by recounting some flaws in this faith. They would have thought that one of the benefits of this trick would be to shake the faith of new converts to Islam as they would be induced to think that there indeed were some flaw in this faith because of which the literati find themselves repelled by it after drawing close to it. The second benefit would be that through this trick they would be able to nullify the influence of Islam on their own common masses; when they would see that some well-read people from among them had forsaken Islam after tasting it, their own inclination to accept it – the inclination produced in them through the efforts of the Muslims – would be affected negatively. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 119)

13. This is a parenthetical sentence which is meant to rebut a notion right at the time when it was presented. The real discourse is: وَلاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ لِمَن تَبِعَ دِينَكُمْ أَن يُؤْتَى أَحَدٌ. The word مَخَافَةً (lest) or one of similar meaning is suppressed before the word أَن as per the linguistic principles of Arabic. The Jews would vehemently emphasize on the people whom they sent to profess faith in Islam to not attest to any prophet not belonging to the Israelites. Since all their erroneous views were based on this very premise, the Qur’ān stopped them at the very instance they brought up this issue: What sort of fierce bias has overcome them? The real guidance is the guidance of God whether this comes from an Israelites prophet or an Ishmaelite one; everyone should be a seeker of this guidance; salvation can only be attained on its basis; Judaism or Christianity will not provide it.

14. The implication is that this should not happen that the position of religious leadership which they have today should also be acquired by some other group also. Reference here is to the Ishmaelites among whom the Prophet Muhammad (sws) was born. The Qur’ān has kept this implicit because the Jews would not say this from their tongues.

15. This is a reference to the absurd fear these people have that if today someone from them utters something in favour of the Almighty, Muslims will use it against them on the Day of Judgement.

16. The implication is that the decisions of God are not based on prejudices like those of the addressees of the Qur’ān; thus they have great flexibility. God is munificent and knows everything. He knows who is worthy of what and who is not.

17. While explaining the two things which are referred to in this sentence, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

… firstly to the fact that the messengerhood of Muhuammad is a great mercy and blessing and secondly to the fact that it is a great favour of the Almighty on the Ishmaelites that the Almighty selected their clan for sending a prophet among them. There are two obvious corollaries of this: Firstly, it is the obligation of the Ishmaelites that they value and honour this favour of the Almighty and show gratitude to Him. Secondly, it is  in spite of the anger and envy of the Israelites that the Almighty has blessed them with this favour. It is up to Him to choose whomsoever He wants for His favour. His choice and will are governed by nothing except wisdom. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 122)

18. Justice in this matter meant that they should honestly state the predictions which were made by their prophets and which had been entrusted to them by these prophets.

19. This is the reason pointed out by the Qur’ān about their dishonesty regarding religion: how can people who hesitate in returning the trivial treasures of this world entrusted to them be expected to show honesty in such a serious matter entrusted to them: they were required to bear witness about the veracity of a prophet before the whole world. However, the Qur’ān has also clarified here that the honest among them will not refrain from bearing such witness and soon or late will embrace Islam after testifying to the prophethood of Muhammad (sws).

20. The Jews believed that the prohibition mentioned in the Torah about illegally devouring the wealth of others is not related to other nations; they would call the Ishmaelites as the unlettered and regard them to be amongst such nations. Thus the ruling of their clergy about the Ishmaelites was that there was nothing wrong in usurping their wealth: the Almighty has allowed this to them.

21. Why should they not be blamed? The law of God is the same for everyone. Breaking one’s word and being dishonest is prohibited for each and every person. The Almighty has not allowed any person or nation to be selective in this regard.

22. There is an ellipsis of the answer to the condition in this verse. I have unfolded it in the translation. This is an overall comment on all the aforementioned crimes of the Jews. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī explains:

The implication is that this notion of the Jews is absolutely wrong that they have a special status before the Almighty on account of which they regard themselves to be superior to others and do not have any responsibility towards the unlettered Ishmaelites. In reality, only those people hold status and position in the eyes of God who abide by their covenant with Him and who, in all circumstances, remain within the limits prescribed by such a covenant. People who adhere to such an attitude are pious in the sight of the Almighty and God befriends such pious people only; those who have no qualms in crossing the limits set by God and still claim to be pious and loved ones of the Almighty are only making castles in the air. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 124)

23. The covenant referred to here is the one which was taken from the Jews regarding the sharī‘ah of the Almighty and the last prophet of God.

24. This refers to the oaths they had sworn at the time of making a covenant to support and back the prophets of God, in particular the unlettered prophet. In verse 81 ahead, this covenant and these oaths are mentioned.

25. The implication is that their crimes are not such that the Almighty may cleanse them after a little punishment; such is the heinous nature of their crimes that their only punishment can be eternal Hell.

26. Everyone can have an idea of the extent of hate and disgust for the Jews concealed in the words of the verse. The status they had been invested with by the Almighty and the way He dealt with them thereafter entailed that they be treated thus. Details are mentioned in Sūrah Baqarah. A person who is aware of them will not be surprised at this hate and disgust expressed.

27. This is a mention of one of the schemes which the People of the Book had adopted to evade their responsibilities with respect to the covenant they had made with God. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, explains:

This crime was perpetrated by both the Jews and the Christians. We have already mentioned the word marwah as an example of this false ascription. It occurs in the Torah in the account of Abraham (sws) as the place where he was directed to sacrifice his son. The Jews have altered this incident of sacrifice in various details by suppressing some details and fabricating others. Among these is their distortion of the recital and pronunciation of the word marwah. They called it by various names as Muryā, Mūryā and Muriyāh and Mūrah. The purpose was to make it imply some place in the Bayt al-Maqdis instead of the famous hill of Makkah and in this manner sever the relationship of Abraham (sws), his migration and the incident of sacrifice from the House of God. The purpose of these interpolations was to misdirect the predictions found in the Torah about the advent of the last prophet among the Ishmaelites. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 128)

28. The Arabic word used is رَبَّانِيِّينَ. It is the plural of رَبَّانِي which mean “a person who serves God and is devoted to Him.” This word seems to have come into Arabic from Hebrew

29. Here the Qur’ān addresses the sanity found in Jews and Christians and even the Quraysh of Makkah and informed them that they have wrongly attributed their superstitious beliefs to their illustrious prophets. No prophet of God ever tries to lead away their followers from faith and belief into disbelief and polytheism. Wherever one sees this, one should conclude that it is only the result of the changes brought over by people who have gone astray. It cannot be regarded as something which a prophet of God calls to.