Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:90
Just as We had revealed [scriptures] to the separators
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Then the exegetes differed concerning who is meant by His statement الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ (the dividers). Some said: by this are meant the Jews and the Christians, and they said: their dividing consisted in this, that they divided the Qurʾān and made it into pieces — in some parts they believed and others they rejected.
Mention of those who said that:
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān al-Ramlī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Ẓabyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning the statement of Allah: كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: They are the Jews and the Christians; in some parts they believed and in others they rejected the faith.
Abū Kurayb and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, they said: Hushaym related to us — he said: Abū Bishr informed us on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: They are the People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb); they divide the Book and made it limbs upon limbs, in some parts they believed and in others they rejected the faith.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muʾammal related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Ẓabyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: those who in some parts believed and in others rejected the faith.
Ibn al-Muthanná related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Abū Ẓabyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ are the People of the Book. الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: they believed in some parts and rejected the faith in others.
Maṭar ibn Muḥammad al-Ḍabbī related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, he said: Abū Bishr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — that he said concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ : They are the People of the Book.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — that he said concerning this verse كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ : They are the People of the Book; in some parts they believed and in others they rejected the faith.
Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym related to us — he said: Abū Bishr informed us on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: They are the People of the Book; they divided it and made it limbs, in some parts they believed and in others they rejected the faith.
Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: They divided it and made it limbs like the limbs of the slaughtered animal.
Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan — he said: They are the People of the Book.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ — he said: They are the Jews and the Christians of the People of the Book; they divided the Book, made it limbs — that is to say: parties — in some parts they believed and in others they rejected the faith.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ are the People of the Book; but they were called al-Miqtasimūn (the dividers) because some of them, out of mockery of the Qurʾān, said: This sūra is mine, and others said: This one is mine.
Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima — that he said concerning this verse الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ : They mocked; this one said: the Sūra al-Baqara is for me, and that one said: the Sūra Āl ʿImrān is for me.
Others said: They are the People of the Book, but they were called al-Miqtasimūn (the dividers) because of their dividing of their own Books, and their fragmenting of them by some of them believing in a part of them and rejecting another part, and others rejecting what the former believed and believing in what the others rejected.
Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid — كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — he said: They are the Jews and the Christians; they divided their Book and made it limbs.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to me, he said: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthanná related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ — he said: the People of the Book — they divided it and falsified it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ — he said: the People of the Book.
Others said: by this is meant by name a particular group from among the disbelievers of Quraysh.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — five men of Quraysh who reviled the Book of Allah.
Others said: by this is meant a group from the people of Ṣāliḥ — those who conspired to attack Ṣāliḥ and his family.
Mention of those who said that:
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us — he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning كَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ : those who swore an oath against Ṣāliḥ. He recited the statement of Allah the Exalted: وَكَانَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلا يُصْلِحُونَ — they swore by Allah until the verse was completed.
Some said: They are people who divided the roads of Mecca at the time of the coming of the pilgrims; the inhabitants of Mecca sent them into the mountain passes and charged some of them to make known, in the direction they were heading — to whoever asked them about the Prophet of Allah ﷺ among the arrivals — that he should say: he is possessed; and another: he is a poet; and some: he is a sorcerer.
The most correct position concerning this, in my opinion, is: Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to make known to his people who reviled the Qurʾān and had divided it, that he is a warner to them of the wrath of Allah the Exalted and His punishment which will descend upon them because of their disbelief and their denial of their prophet — just as it descended upon the Miqtasimīn before them and among them. It is also possible that by al-Miqtasimīn are meant the people of the two Books (the Tawrāt and the Injīl), because they divided the Book of Allah: the Jews accepted a part of the Tawrāt and denied another part, and denied the Injīl and the Furqān; the Christians accepted a part of the Injīl and denied another part, and denied the Furqān. And it is also possible that by this are meant the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh, because they divided the Qurʾān — some called it poetry, others sorcery, and others tales of the ancients. And it is also possible that both groups are meant. And it is also possible that by the Miqtasimīn are meant those who conspired against Ṣāliḥ from among his people. But when there is no proof in the revelation that one of these three groups is meant above the others, neither in a narration from the Messenger ﷺ nor in sound reason, and the apparent meaning of the verse encompasses the mentioned possibilities, then it is obligatory to understand that it refers to everyone who has divided the Book of Allah by denying some parts and affirming others, and who has conspired in disobedience to Allah — upon whom the swift retribution of Allah in the worldly life descended before the revelation of this verse. For they are, for the like disbelievers, a lesson, and for those who take heed from it, an admonition.
