Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:101
And when a messenger from Allah came to them confirming that which was with them, a party of those who had been given the Scripture threw the Scripture of Allah behind their backs as if they did not know [what it contained].
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.
The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (101)
(And when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what they already possessed, a group of those who had been given the Book cast the Book of Allah behind their backs, as though they did not know.) (101)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying ولما جاءهم (and when there came to them), the Exalted means: the scribes of the Jews and their scholars from among the Children of Israel — and by رسول (a messenger) He means: Muḥammad ﷺ. As:
1643 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying ولما جاءهم رسول (and when there came to them a messenger), he said: when Muḥammad ﷺ came to them.
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As for His saying مصدق لما معهم (confirming what they already possessed): what is meant by this is that Muḥammad ﷺ confirms the Torah and that the Torah confirms him, in the sense that he is a prophet of Allah, sent to His creatures.
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As for the explanation of His saying ولما جاءهم رسول من عند الله مصدق لما معهم (and when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what they already possessed): this refers to that which the Jews possessed, and that is the Torah. Allah, exalted is His praise, declared that when the messenger of Allah ﷺ came to the Jews from Allah, confirming what they had in their hands of the Torah — namely that Muḥammad ﷺ is a prophet of Allah — نبذ فريق (a group cast away). By this He means: that they denied him and rejected him after they had first acknowledged him, out of envy toward him and out of unjust enmity against him. And His saying من الذين أوتوا الكتاب (of those who had been given the Book): they are the scholars of the Jews, to whom Allah had granted the knowledge of the Torah and what is in it. And by His saying كتاب الله (the Book of Allah) He means the Torah.
And His saying وراء ظهورهم (behind their backs): they placed it behind their backs. This is a figurative expression; it is said of everyone who rejects a matter that ought to have concerned him: "So-and-so has placed this matter behind his back, and has put it behind his back," by which is meant: he turned away from it, turned against it, and departed. As:
1644 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ولما جاءهم رسول من عند الله مصدق لما معهم نبذ فريق من الذين أوتوا الكتاب كتاب الله وراء ظهورهم (and when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what they already possessed, a group of those who had been given the Book cast the Book of Allah behind their backs), he said: when Muḥammad ﷺ came to them, they brought the Torah forward against him and disputed with him by means of it, but the Torah and the Qurʾān were in agreement. So they cast the Torah away and took the book of Āṣaf, and the magic of Hārūt and Mārūt. And that is His saying كأنهم لا يعلمون (as though they did not know).
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And the meaning of His saying كأنهم لا يعلمون (as though they did not know): it is as though these who cast away the Book of Allah — from among the scholars of the Jews, who broke the covenant with Allah by failing to act according to that which they had obligated themselves before Allah to act upon — did not know what was in the Torah concerning the command to follow Muḥammad ﷺ and to confirm him. And this is, from Allah, exalted is His praise, an announcement concerning them that they denied the truth while they knew it and recognized it, and that they opposed the command of Allah and resisted it while they knew that it was obligatory upon them. As:
1645 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying نبذ فريق من الذين أوتوا الكتاب (a group of those who had been given the Book cast away), he says: a group of those who had been given the Book broke "the Book of Allah behind their backs, as though they did not know": that is to say that the people did indeed have knowledge, but that they corrupted their knowledge, and denied and disbelieved and concealed.
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Footnotes:
(85) In the printed edition it reads: "and His saying: they cast it behind their backs," where "they cast it away" has been struck out, because al-Ṭabarī cited the verse in its entirety and this wording has been inserted into it.
(86) In the tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr (1:247) there is an addition, after his saying: "and Mārūt, and it did not agree with the Qurʾān, and that is the saying of Allah." And Āṣaf: he was the scribe of Sulaymān. He knew the Greatest Name, and he wrote everything down by order of Sulaymān, and buried it beneath his throne. When Sulaymān died, the devils brought it out, and wrote between every two lines magic and disbelief (Ibn Kathīr 1:248).
