Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:77
Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allah and their [own] oaths for a small price will have no share in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them or look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them; and they will have a painful punishment.
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 His statement: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلا أُولَئِكَ لا خَلاقَ لَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلا يَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (3:77) (Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price — for them there is no share in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them, nor look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor purify them, and for them there is a painful chastisement.) (3:77)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His praise: indeed, those who take in exchange — by abandoning the covenant of Allah, which He enjoined upon them, and His charge, which He charged them with in the Books that Allah sent down upon His prophets, namely the covenant to follow Muḥammad, to hold him to be truthful, to acknowledge him, and to acknowledge that which he brought from Allah — and by their lying oaths, by which they make permissible for themselves what Allah has forbidden them of the property of the people that was entrusted to them — "a price," that is to say: a contemptible compensation and exchange-price from the perishable goods of the worldly life and its paltry possessions — "for them there is no share in the Hereafter," He says: indeed, those who do that have no portion in the good things of the Hereafter, and no share in the bliss of the Garden (janna) and that which Allah has prepared therein for its inhabitants, to the exclusion of others.
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And we have already set forth earlier how the scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of "the share (al-khalāq)," and we have demonstrated which of their statements concerning it is the most correct, in a manner that is sufficient.
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As for His statement, "and Allah will not speak to them," by it He means: and Allah will not speak to them with that which gladdens them — "nor look at them," He says: and He will not turn toward them with goodness, out of Allah's loathing (maqt) toward them, as in the statement of one person to another: "Look at me as Allah looks at you," in the sense of: turn toward me with affection as Allah turns toward you with goodness and mercy — and as one says to a man: "May Allah not hear your supplication," by which is meant: may Allah not answer you, while nothing remains hidden from Allah. And as the poet said:
I called upon Allah, until I feared that Allah would not hear what I said.
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And His statement "nor purify them," that is to say: and He will not cleanse them from the defilement of their sins and their unbelief — "and for them there is a painful chastisement," that is to say: and for them there is an agonizing chastisement.
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The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the occasion on account of which this verse was sent down, and concerning who was meant by it.
Some of them said: it was sent down concerning rabbis among the rabbis of the Jews.
Mention of who said that:
7278 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: This verse, "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," was sent down concerning Abū Rāfiʿ, and Kināna ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq, and Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, and Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab.
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And others said: no, it was sent down concerning al-Ashʿath ibn Qays and an adversary of his.
Mention of who said that:
7279 - Abū al-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever takes an oath in which he swears falsely, in order thereby to seize the property of a Muslim wrongfully, will meet Allah while He is angry with him." Then al-Ashʿath ibn Qays said: By Allah, that concerned me: there was between me and a man of the Jews a piece of land which he denied me. I brought him before the Prophet ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: "Do you have proof?" I said: No! Then he said to the Jew: "Swear." I said: O Messenger of Allah, then he will swear and take away my property! Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," the verse.
7280 - Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed us, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn ʿAdī, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa and al-ʿUrs, that they both related to him, on the authority of his father ʿAdī ibn ʿUmayra, who said: There was between Imruʾ al-Qays and a man from Ḥaḍramawt a dispute, and they brought it before the Prophet ﷺ. He said to the man from Ḥaḍramawt: "Your proof, otherwise his oath." He said: O Messenger of Allah, if he swears, he takes away my land! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever takes a false oath in order thereby to seize the right of his brother wrongfully, will meet Allah while He is angry with him." Then Imruʾ al-Qays said: O Messenger of Allah, and what is there for one who relinquishes it (the land), while he knows that it is truly his right? He said: The Garden. He said: Then I take you as witness that I have relinquished it. Jarīr said: I was with Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī when we heard this report from ʿAdī, and Ayyūb said: Indeed, ʿAdī said in the report of al-ʿUrs ibn ʿUmayra: and then this verse was sent down: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," to the end of the verse. Jarīr said: but I did not retain it from ʿAdī that day.
7281 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Others said: indeed, al-Ashʿath ibn Qays brought a dispute, he and a man, before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, over a piece of land that was in his (al-Ashʿath's) hand and that belonged to that man — he had appropriated it to himself through his position of power in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya). The Prophet ﷺ said: "Produce your proof." The man said: No one will testify for me against al-Ashʿath! He said: Then for you there is his oath. Al-Ashʿath stood up to swear, and then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down this verse. Then al-Ashʿath refused the oath (nakala) and said: I take Allah as witness and I take you as witnesses that my adversary is truthful. And he returned to him his land, and added to it a large addition from his own land, out of fear that something of the man's right would remain in his hand; and it belonged to the offspring of that man after him.
7282 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Shaqīq, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, who said: Whoever takes an oath in order thereby to acquire property in which he swears falsely, will meet Allah while He is angry with him. Then Allah sent down the confirmation of that: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," the verse. After that al-Ashʿath ibn Qays came out to us and said: What did Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān relate to you? We told him what he had said, and he said: He has spoken the truth; it was sent down concerning me! There was between me and a man a dispute over a well, and we brought our dispute before the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Your two witnesses or his oath." I said: Then he will swear and pay no heed to it! Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever takes an oath in order thereby to acquire property in which he swears falsely, will meet Allah while He is angry with him." Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down the confirmation of that: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," the verse.
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And others said with that which follows:
7283 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related it to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwud ibn Abī Hind informed me, on the authority of ʿĀmir: that a man displayed his merchandise at the beginning of the day, and when the end of it came, a man came who bargained with him. He swore that he had refused it at the beginning of the day for such-and-such, and that, were it not that it was evening, he would not sell it for that. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price."
7284 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwud related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
7285 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," the verse, up to: "and for them there is a painful chastisement" — Allah has placed them in the position of the sorcerers.
7286 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: that ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn used to say: Whoever takes a false oath in order thereby to seize the property of his brother wrongfully, let him take his place in the Fire. Someone said to him: Is this something that you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said to them: Indeed, you find that (in the Qurʾān). Then he recited this verse: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price," the verse.
7287 - Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Masrūqī related to me, saying: Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Hishām, who said: Muḥammad said, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn: Whoever takes a coerced (maṣbūra) oath, let him take his place in the Fire with his face. Then he recited this entire verse: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price."
7288 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: Indeed, the false oath is among the major sins (al-kabāʾir). Then he recited: "Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price."
7289 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, that ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd used to say: We were of the opinion, while we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that among the sins that are not forgiven is: the coerced oath (yamīn al-ṣabr), when the one who takes it swears falsely therein.
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