Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:279
And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.
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: فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا فَأْذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
(And if you do not do so, then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His saying "and if you do not do so": if you do not leave what remains of usury (ribā).
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The reciters differ over the reading of His saying "then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger."
The general reading of the reciters of the people of Medina is: "فَأْذَنُوْا" with a short alif in "fa-ʾdhanū," and with a fatḥa over the dhāl, in the meaning of: be aware and informed.
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Others read it — and this is the general reading of the reciters of Kūfa — as: "فَآذِنُوا" with a long alif in His saying "fa-ʾdhinū" and with a kasra over the dhāl, in the meaning of: inform others than yourselves, announce it to them, and notify them that you will fight them.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two readings therein is the reading of the one who read "fa-ʾdhanū" with a short alif and a fatḥa over the dhāl, in the meaning of: know that and be certain of it, and be informed by Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — that this concerns you.
We have preferred this only because Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — has commanded His Prophet ﷺ to issue an ultimatum to whoever persists in his shirk in which dwelling is not permitted to him, and to kill the apostate (murtadd) among them who turns his back on Islam in any case, unless he returns to Islam — whether the polytheists (mushrikīn) have made known to him that they will fight him or not. Since the one to whom this is commanded can be nothing other than one of two cases: either he was a polytheist who persisted in his shirk in which that is not permitted to him, or he was a Muslim who then apostatized and thereby inaugurated the war — whichever of the two cases it was, war was declared upon him, not that he was commanded to announce it should he resolve upon that. For if it were left to him, and he persisted in consuming usury while deeming it permissible, and the Muslims did not announce the war, then it would not be obligatory upon them to fight him; and that is not the ruling concerning him in either of the two cases. Thus it is known that he is the one upon whom the war is declared, not the one who announces it.
And according to this explanation the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) explained it.
Mention of who said that:
6261 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا (O you who believe, fear Allah and leave what remains of usury), up to His saying "then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger": Whoever persisted in usury and does not free himself from it, it is a right upon the imam of the Muslims that he summon him to repentance; if he then frees himself from it — well and good, and if not, then he strikes off his neck.
6262 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Rabīʿa ibn Kulthūm related to us, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: On the Day of Resurrection it is said to the consumer of usury: "Take up your weapon for war."
6263 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Rabīʿa ibn Kulthūm related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, something similar.
6264 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ * فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا فَأْذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ (And leave what remains of usury, if you are believers. And if you do not do so, then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger): Allah threatened them with death, as you hear, and made their blood licit, wherever they are found.
6265 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, something similar.
6266 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "And if you do not do so, then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger" — He threatened the consumer of usury with death.
6267 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: His saying "then take notice of a war from Allah and His Messenger" means: be certain of a war from Allah and His Messenger.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: All these narrations indicate that His saying "then take notice of a war from Allah" is a notification from Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — to them of war and killing, not a command to them to inform others.
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The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَإِنْ تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ
(And if you repent, then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by that: "if you repent," that is, leave the consuming of usury and return to Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — "then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth" of the debts you hold against the people, without the increase that you have added thereto as usury on your part, as in:
6268 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And if you repent, then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth" — and the wealth they had outstanding upon the shoulders of the men; He granted them the principal sums of their wealth when this verse was revealed. As for the profit and the surplus: that is not due to them, and it is not fitting for them to take anything of it.
6269 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: Allah abolished usury and assigned to them the principal sums of their wealth.
6270 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "and if you repent, then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth," he said: What they had outstanding as debt — He permitted them to take the principal sums of their wealth, and not to increase anything upon that.
6271 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And if you repent, then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth" which you provided as a loan, and the usury lapses.
6272 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: It was related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said in his sermon on the day of the Conquest: "Verily, the usury of the jāhilīya is wholly abolished, and the first usury with which I begin is the usury of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib."
6273 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in his sermon: "Verily, all usury is abolished, and the first usury that is abolished is the usury of al-ʿAbbās."
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The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: لا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلا تُظْلَمُونَ (279)
(You do no wrong and you are done no wrong.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by His saying "you do no wrong" by taking the principal sums of your wealth that belonged to you before the imposition of usury, at the charge of your debtors among them, without the profits thereof that you added as usury at the charge of those from whom you took that — such that you would take from them something that is not due to you to take, or that did not belong to you previously. "And you are done no wrong" — he says: nor will the debtor who gives you that, without the usury you had imposed upon him on account of the increase in connection with the deferment of the term, deprive you of a right you have against him by withholding it from you — for whatever exceeds the principal sums of your wealth was no right of yours against him, such that by withholding it from you he would be committing a wrong against you.
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And in accordance with what we said about that, Ibn ʿAbbās used to speak, as did others of the people of interpretation.
Mention of who said that:
6274 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And if you repent, then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth, you do no wrong" — by practicing usury, "and you are done no wrong" — by being shortchanged.
6275 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying "then you are entitled to the principal sums of your wealth, you do no wrong and you are done no wrong," he said: You will fall short of nothing of your wealth, and you will take nothing falsely acquired that is not permitted to you.