Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:89
And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming that which was with them - although before they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved - but [then] when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allah will be upon the disbelievers.
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 commentary on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ
(And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess" — and when there came to the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl, whose characteristics He, whose praise is exalted, has described, "a Book from Allah." By "the Book" He means the Qurʾān, which Allah sent down upon Muḥammad ﷺ. And "confirming what they already possess" means: confirming that which they possess of the Books that Allah sent down before the Qurʾān. As:
1518 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess" — and that is the Qurʾān, which was sent down upon Muḥammad, confirming what they possess of the Torah and the Gospel.
1518 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess" — and that is the Qurʾān, which was sent down upon Muḥammad ﷺ, confirming what they possess of the Torah and the Gospel.
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The commentary on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَكَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ مَا عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ
(And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved, but when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved" — namely: these Jews — who, when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming what they possessed of the Books that Allah had sent down before the Furqān, did not believe in it — used to pray for victory by means of Muḥammad ﷺ. And the meaning of "praying for victory" (al-istiftāḥ) is "seeking aid" (al-istinṣār); they sought, by means of him, Allah's aid against the polytheists of the Arabs, before his being sent — that is to say: before he was sent. As:
1519 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda al-Anṣārī, on the authority of a number of sheikhs among them, who said: By Allah, concerning us and concerning them — that is to say: concerning the Anṣār and concerning the Jews who were their neighbors — this account was sent down, namely: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess, and they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved." They said: We had subdued them for a long time during the jāhiliyya — and we were the people of polytheism (shirk), while they were the People of the Book — and they used to say: "Verily, a prophet whose sending is now near, whose time already casts its shadow ahead, will kill you just as ʿĀd and Iram were killed." But when Allah, exalted be His mention, sent His messenger from the Quraysh and we followed him, they did not believe in him. Allah says: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it."
1520 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the mawlā of the family of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, or ʿIkrima the mawlā of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: The Jews used to pray for victory over the Aws and the Khazraj by means of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before his being sent. But when Allah sent him from the Arabs, they did not believe in him and denied what they used to say about him. Then Muʿādh ibn Jabal and Bishr ibn al-Barāʾ ibn Maʿrūr, a brother of the Banū Salama, said to them: O community of Jews, fear Allah and become Muslims, for you used to pray for victory over us by means of Muḥammad ﷺ, while we were people of polytheism, and you informed us that he would be sent and described to us his characteristics! Then Salām ibn Mishkam, a brother of the Banū al-Naḍīr, said: He has brought us nothing that we recognize, and he is not the one about whom we used to tell you! Then Allah, whose praise is exalted, sent down concerning that His statement: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess, and they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved, but when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it — so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers."
1521 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the mawlā of the family of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, or ʿIkrima, related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
1522 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved" — he says: they sought aid through the coming of Muḥammad ﷺ against the polytheists of the Arabs — by that he means the People of the Book. But when Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ and they saw him emerge from a people other than their own, they did not believe in him and envied him.
1523 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAlī al-Azdī, concerning Allah's statement: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved" — he said: the Jews used to say: O Allah, send for us this prophet who will judge between us and the people; they prayed for victory — sought aid — by means of him against the people.
1524 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAlī al-Azdī — and he is al-Bāriqī — concerning the statement of Allah, whose praise is exalted: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory," and he mentioned the like of it.
1525 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved" — the Jews used to, before that, pray for victory by means of Muḥammad ﷺ against the disbelieving Arabs, and they said: O Allah, send this prophet whom we find in the Torah, so that he may punish them and kill them! But when Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ and they saw that he was sent from a people other than their own, they did not believe in him out of envy toward the Arabs, while they knew that he was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whom they found written down with them in the Torah: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it."
1526 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, he said: The Jews used to seek aid by means of Muḥammad ﷺ against the polytheists of the Arabs; they said: O Allah, send this prophet whom we find written down with us, so that he may punish the polytheists and kill them! But when Allah sent Muḥammad and they saw that he was from a people other than their own, they did not believe in him out of envy toward the Arabs, while they knew that he was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then Allah said: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it — so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers."
1527 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And when there came to them a Book from Allah, confirming what they already possess, and they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved, but when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it." He said: The Arabs used to pass by the Jews and harass them, and they found Muḥammad ﷺ in the Torah and asked Allah to send him, so that together with him they might fight the Arabs. But when Muḥammad came to them, they did not believe in him, because he was not from the Banū Isrāʾīl.
1528 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ concerning His statement: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved." He said: They used to pray for victory over the disbelieving Arabs through the coming of the Prophet ﷺ, and they hoped that he would emerge from among them. But when he emerged and they saw that he was not from among them, they disbelieved, while they nevertheless knew that he was the Truth and that he was the Prophet. He said: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it — so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers."
1529 — He said: Ibn Jurayj related to us, and Mujāhid said: They prayed for victory by means of Muḥammad ﷺ; it is said: that he would emerge. "But when there came to them what they recognized" — and he was from a people other than their own — they did not believe in him.
1530 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said — and Ibn ʿAbbās said: They used to pray for victory over the disbelieving Arabs.
1531 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to me, saying: Sharīk related to me, on the authority of Abū al-Jaḥḥāf, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it." He said: They are the Jews; they recognized Muḥammad as being a prophet and did not believe in him.
1532 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb, saying: Bishr related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved." He said: They used to lay claim to superiority, saying: We will aid Muḥammad against them. But they were not so; they lied.
1533 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I asked Ibn Zayd about the statement of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: "And they used to, before that, pray for victory against those who disbelieved, but when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it." He said: The Jews used to pray for victory over the disbelieving Arabs, saying: Verily, by Allah, if the prophet of whom Mūsā and ʿĪsā brought glad tidings, Aḥmad, were to come, then we would have the upper hand over you! And they supposed that he would be from among them, while the Arabs were around them, and they used to pray for victory over them by means of him and seek aid by means of him. But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in him and envied him. And he recited the statement of Allah, whose praise is exalted: كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ (as disbelievers, out of envy from themselves, after the Truth had become clear to them) [Surah Al-Baqarah: 109]. He said: It had become clear to them that he was a messenger, and precisely through that Allah caused the Aws and the Khazraj to benefit from what they used to hear from them: that a prophet would emerge.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to ask us: Where then is the answer (the main clause) to His statement: وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ?
The answer is: The scholars of the Arabic language disagree concerning its answer. Some of them said: It belongs to that whose answer is omitted, on account of the sufficiency of the addressees' understanding of its meaning, and on account of what has already been mentioned of similar cases elsewhere in the Qurʾān. The Arabs are accustomed to do that when the sentence becomes long: they bring forward matters that require answers, and then omit those answers, because their listeners — through their understanding of its meaning — do not need the mention of the answers. As He, whose praise is exalted, said: وَلَوْ أَنَّ قُرْآنًا سُيِّرَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ أَوْ قُطِّعَتْ بِهِ الأَرْضُ أَوْ كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَى بَلْ لِلَّهِ الأَمْرُ جَمِيعًا (And if there were a Qurʾān by which the mountains could be set in motion, or by which the earth could be split open, or by which the dead could be spoken to... Rather, to Allah belongs the command entirely) [Surah al-Raʿd: 31], where He omitted the answer. The meaning is: "And if there were a Qurʾān, other than this Qurʾān, by which the mountains could be set in motion, then that would have occurred with this Qurʾān" — on account of the sufficiency of the listeners' knowledge of its meaning. They said: So it is also with His statement: وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ.
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And others said: The answer to His statement وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ lies contained in the "fāʾ" that occurs in His statement: "but when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it," and the answer to both conditional clauses lies in "they did not believe in it," just as you say: "when you stood up — and when you came to us — you acted well," in the meaning of: "when you came to us, while you had stood up, you acted well."
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The commentary on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ (89)
(So the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers)
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already in the foregoing sufficiently demonstrated what is the meaning of "the curse" (al-laʿna) and what is the meaning of "disbelief" (al-kufr), with that in which there is sufficient content.
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The meaning of the verse is therefore: So the abasement and banishment of Allah is upon those who deny what they have recognized of the truth which obligates them toward Allah and His prophets — those who reject what was established with them as valid concerning the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ. In Allah's, Mighty and Exalted, report about the Jews — through that which Allah reported about them by His statement: "But when there came to them what they recognized, they did not believe in it" — lies the clear exposition that they deliberately did not believe in Muḥammad ﷺ, after the proof of his prophethood had come to be established against them and Allah had cut off their excuse by His having sent His messenger to them.
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Footnotes:
(1) See what has already preceded in this part 2: 524.
(2) In the Sīra of Ibn Hishām 2: 190: "we had subdued them in superiority" (ʿalawnāhum ẓahran).
(3) In the Sīra of Ibn Hishām 2: 190: "and we were people of polytheism, while they were people of a Book."
(4) In the Sīra of Ibn Hishām 2: 190: "we will kill you together with him...," and so it stands also in Ibn Kathīr 1: 230, and it appears that this is the correct reading.
(5) The report 1519 — this has the status of a marfūʿ narration (attributed to the Prophet), because it is an account of events in the time of the prophethood, which were the occasion for the revelation of the verse, to which the verse refers. The likely thing is that it is connected (mawṣūl), because ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda al-Anṣārī al-Ẓafarī al-Madanī is a trustworthy tābiʿī, and he narrates on the authority of "a number of sheikhs among them," that is to say his relatives from the Anṣār. And for that reason we have given preference to its being connected. Al-Suyūṭī in 1: 87 took over this report and attributed it to Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Abū Nuʿaym, and al-Bayhaqī, the last two in the Dalāʾil.
(6) The report 1520 — in the Sīra of Ibn Hishām 2: 196.
(7) The narration 1523, 1524 — ʿAlī al-Azdī al-Bāriqī is ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Walīd al-Bāriqī. He narrated from Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Hurayra, and ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and he transmitted in mursal form from Zayd ibn Ḥāritha. From him narrated Mujāhid ibn Jabr, who was one of his contemporaries. Ibn ʿAdī said: He does not have many narrations, and he is in my judgment without objection (lā baʾsa bihi) (Tahdhīb 7: 358, 359).
(8) The narration 1529 — this is an isnād whose beginning has fallen away, and I do not know what it is. Its wording too is confused (muḍṭarib).
(9) I am in doubt about this last sentence, whether there is in it a corruption (taḥrīf).
(10) See Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1: 59.
(11) See what has already preceded ("disbelief") 1: 255, 382, 522, and in this part ("the curse") 2: 328.
