Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of the Exalted, whose praise is exalted: قُلْ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ فَاتَّبِعُوا مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (3:95) (Say: "Allah has spoken the truth; so follow the religion of Ibrāhīm, the upright in faith, and he was not among the polytheists (mushrikīn).")

   Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: He, whose praise is exalted, means thereby: "Say" — O Muḥammad ﷺ — "Allah has spoken the truth" in what He has informed us with His word: كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ كَانَ حِلًّا لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ (All food was lawful for the Children of Israel), and that Allah did not forbid to Israel and to his children the veins, nor the flesh of the camels, nor their milk, and that this was only something that Israel forbade to himself and to his children without Allah having forbidden it to them in the Torah — and in everything which He has conveyed to His servants as a report, you are [far from it]. And you, O community of the Jews, are the liars in your claim that this prohibition was imposed upon you by Allah in the Torah, the fabricators of falsehood against Allah in your ascribing to Him that which is not the truth. "So follow the religion of Ibrāhīm, the upright in faith, and he was not among the polytheists" — He says: if you, O Jews, are in the right in your claim that you adhere to the religion which Allah was pleased with for His prophets and messengers, "then follow the religion of Ibrāhīm," the friend of Allah (khalīl Allāh), for you know that it is the truth which Allah was pleased with as a religion from His creatures and with which He sent His prophets — that is the upright faith (al-ḥanīfiyya), namely steadfastness in Islam and its ordinances, and not Judaism, Christianity, or polytheism.

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   And His word: "and he was not among the polytheists" — He says: he did not assign in his worship any partnership to anyone of His creatures. So too you, O Jews: let not one among you take another as lords besides Allah, whom you obey just as Ibrāhīm obeyed his Lord. And you, O community of idolaters: do not take the idols and images as lords, and do not worship anything besides Allah, for Ibrāhīm, the friend of the Most Merciful — his religion was the pure devotion of worship to his Lord alone, without identifying anyone with Him therein. So too you: devote worship purely to Him and assign no partnership to anyone with Him in worship, for you all acknowledge that Ibrāhīm was upon the truth and upon right guidance. Follow therefore that which you have all acknowledged to be correct of his upright religion, and abandon that over which you differ concerning the remaining religions besides it, O factions, for those are innovations which you have introduced against that which you have agreed to be the truth. For that which you have agreed to be correct and true from the religion of Ibrāhīm, that is the truth which I was pleased with and with which I sent My prophets and messengers; and all the rest is the falsehood which I accept from no one of My creatures who brings it to Me on the Day of Resurrection.

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   And He, whose praise is exalted, said only "and he was not among the polytheists," meaning thereby: and he was not among their number and their allies. That is because the polytheists belong to one another in reinforcing one another in their unbelief and in supporting one another. Thus Allah declared His friend Ibrāhīm free of belonging to them or to their helpers and their allies. And He, whose praise is exalted, meant by the polytheists only the Jews, the Christians, and the remaining religions other than the upright faith. He said: Ibrāhīm was not among the adherents of these polytheistic religions, but he was an upright one in faith (ḥanīf), one submitted to Allah (a Muslim).

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   Footnotes:

   (22) In the manuscript it reads "in everything which He conveyed..." with the omission of the wāw, whereas the correct reading is what is in the printed edition. It is connected to the earlier saying: "Allah has spoken the truth in what He conveyed to us...". And His word "you are far from it" — the construction is: "Allah has spoken the truth... you are far from it," that is to say: you are not truthful.

   (23) In the printed edition: "you, O community of the Jews, the liars..."; the correct reading is the addition of the wāw as in the manuscript. The construction is: "and you ... the liars ... the fabricators ..." with the nominative in both, as the predicate of "you."

   (24) The addition between brackets renders the statement complete in its correct form.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى جل ثناؤه : قُلْ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ فَاتَّبِعُوا مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (95) قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: " قل "، يا محمد =" صدق الله "، فيما أخبرنا به من قوله: كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ كَانَ حِلا لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ ، وأن الله لم يحرم على إسرائيل ولا على ولده العروقَ ولا لحومَ الإبل وألبانَها، وأنّ ذلك إنما كان شيئًا حرّمه إسرائيل على نفسه وَوَلده بغير تحريم الله إياه عليهم في التوراة = وفي كل ما أخبر به عباده من خبر، (22) دونكم.وأنتم، يا معشر اليهود، الكذبةُ في إضافتكم تحريم ذلك إلى الله عليكم في التوراة، (23) المفتريةُ على الله الباطل في دعواكم عليه غير الحق =" فاتبعوا ملة إبراهيم حنيفًا وما كان من المشركين "، يقول: فإن كنتم، أيها اليهود، محقين في دعواكم أنكم على الدّين الذي ارتضاه الله لأنبيائه ورُسله =" فاتبعوا ملة إبراهيم "، خليل الله، فإنكم تعلمون أنه الحق الذي ارتضَاه الله منْ خلقه دينًا، وابتعث به أنبياءَه، ذلك الحنيفية -يعني الاستقامة على الإسلام وشرائعه- دون اليهودية والنصرانية والمشركة. * * * وقوله: " وما كان من المشركين "، يقول: لم يكن يشرك في عبادته أحدًا من خلقه. فكذلك أنتم أيضًا، أيها اليهود، فلا يتخذ بعضكم بعضًا أربابًا من دون الله تطيعونهم كطاعة إبراهيم ربه = وأنتم يا معشرَ عبدة الأوثان، فلا تتخذوا الأوثان والأصنام أربابًا، ولا تعبدوا شيئًا من دون الله، فإن إبراهيم خليل الرحمن كان دينُه إخلاص العبادة لربه وحدَه، من غير إشراك أحد معه فيه. فكذلك أنتم أيضًا، فأخلصوا له العبادة ولا تشركوا معه في العبادة أحدًا، فإن جميعكم مقرُّون بأنّ إبراهيم كان على حقّ وَهدْى مستقيم، فاتبعوا ما قد أجمع جميعُكم على تصويبه من ملته الحنيفية، ودعوا ما اختلفتم فيه من سائر الملل غيرها، أيها الأحزاب، فإنها بدَع ابتدعتموها إلى ما قد أجمعتم عليه أنه حق، فإن الذي أجمعتم عليه أنه صوابٌ وحق من ملة إبراهيم، هو الحق الذي ارتضيتُه وابتعثتُ به أنبيائي ورسلي، وسائرُ ذلك هو الباطل الذي لا أقبله من أحد من خلقي جاءَني به يوم القيامة. * * * وإنما قال جل ثناؤه: " وما كان من المشركين "، يعني به: وما كان من عَدَدهم وأوليائهم. وذلك أن المشركين بعضهم من بعض في التظاهر على كفرهم. ونصرةِ بعضهم بعضًا. فبرأ الله إبراهيم خليله أن يكون منهم أو [من] نصرائهم وأهل ولايتهم. (24) وإنما عنى جل ثناؤه بالمشركين، اليهودَ والنصارَى وسائر الأديان، غير الحنيفية. قال: لم يكن إبراهيم من أهل هذه الأديان المشركة، ولكنه كان حنيفًا مسلمًا. ----------------- الهوامش : (22) في المخطوطة"في كل ما أخبر..." بحذف الواو ، والصواب ما في المطبوعة. وهو معطوف على قوله آنفا: "صدق الله فيما أخبرنا به...". وقوله: "دونكم" ، سياقه"صدق الله ... دونكم" ، يعني فأنتم غير صادقين. (23) في المطبوعة: "أنتم يا معشر اليهود الكذبة..." والصواب إثبات الواو كما في المخطوطة. وسياقه"وأنتم ... الكذبة ... المفترية ..." بالرفع فيهما ، خبر"أنتم". (24) الزيادة بين القوسين يستقيم بها الكلام على وجهه.