Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:159
And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness.
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.
(42) The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: وَإِنْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ ("And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death") (4:159)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of this:
Some of them said: The meaning of this is: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him," that is: in ʿĪsā (Jesus) = "before his death," that is: before the death of ʿĪsā. They explain this to mean that they will all hold him to be truthful when he descends to kill the Dajjāl (the Antichrist), so that all religions become one, and that is the pure religion of Islam, the faith of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him.
Mention of those who said that:
10794- Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: before the death of ʿĪsā the son of Maryam.
10795- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: before the death of ʿĪsā.
10796- Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning His statement: "but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: that is at the descent of ʿĪsā the son of Maryam; none of the People of the Book will remain but he will surely believe in him. (43)
10797- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: "before his death," he said: before ʿĪsā the son of Maryam dies.
10798- Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: before the death of ʿĪsā. By Allah, he is now indeed alive with Allah, but when he descends they will all believe in him.
10799- 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 there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he says: before the death of ʿĪsā.
10800- Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: before the death of ʿĪsā. (44)
10801- Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: before the death of ʿĪsā; when he descends all religions will believe in him.
10802- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: before the death of ʿĪsā.
10803- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: ʿĪsā, and he has not yet died.
10804- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Mālik, he said: none of them will remain at the descent of ʿĪsā but he will believe in him.
10805- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Mālik, he said: before the death of ʿĪsā.
10806- Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: when ʿĪsā the son of Maryam descends and kills the Dajjāl, there will not remain a single Jew on earth but he will believe in him. He said: that is the moment at which faith will no longer avail them. (45)
10807- Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," that is: that some people of the People of the Book will witness it when ʿĪsā is sent, and then they will believe in him, وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا ("and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them").
10808- Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn Zādhān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he said concerning this verse: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death" = Abū Jaʿfar said: I suspect that he only said: when ʿĪsā appears the Jews will believe in him.
* * *
Others said: by this is meant: and there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in ʿĪsā before the death of the person of the Book (the possessor of the Scripture). They explain this to mean that when he beholds [the truth], he distinguishes the true from the false, (46) for everyone upon whom death descends, his soul does not depart from him until the true is made clear to him from the false in his religion.
[Mention of those who said that]: (47)
10809- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: no Jew dies until he believes in ʿĪsā.
10810- Ibn Wakīʿ and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, both of them saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: his soul does not depart from him until he believes in ʿĪsā, even if he drowns, or falls down from a wall, or whatever death it may be.
10811- Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "but he will surely believe in him before his death," every possessor of a Book will surely believe in him, in ʿĪsā, before his death, the death of the possessor of the Book. (48)
10812- 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 Mujāhid: "he will surely believe in him," every possessor of a Book believes in ʿĪsā = "before his death," before the death of the possessor of the Book = Ibn ʿAbbās said: even if his neck were struck off, his soul would not depart from him until he believes in ʿĪsā.
10813- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the Jew does not die until he testifies that ʿĪsā is the servant of Allah and His messenger, even if he is dispatched in haste with the weapon [killed].
10814- Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥabīb ibn al-Shahīd related to me, saying: ʿAttāb ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Khaṣīf, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: it is in the reading of Ubayy: (before their death); there is no Jew who ever dies until he believes in ʿĪsā. It was said to Ibn ʿAbbās: what is your opinion if he falls from atop a house? He said: he utters it during the fall. (49) Then it was said: what is your opinion if the neck of one of them is struck off? (50) He said: his tongue stammers it. (51)
10815- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Khaṣīf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: no Jew dies until he believes in ʿĪsā the son of Maryam. He said: and even if he is struck with the sword, he utters it. He said: and even if he falls, he utters it while he is falling. (52)
10816- And Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: if a Jew were to fall from atop this house, he would not die until he believes in him = that is: in ʿĪsā. (53)
10817- Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of a freedman of Quraysh, he said: I heard ʿIkrima saying: if a Jew were to fall from atop the castle, he would not reach the ground until he believes in ʿĪsā.
10818- Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Hāshim al-Rummānī, on the authority of Mujāhid: "he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: and even if he falls from atop the house, he does not die until he believes in him. (54)
10819- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: no man of the People of the Book dies until he believes in him, even if he drowns, or falls down, or dies by anything.
10820- Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: his soul does not depart from him until he believes in him.
10821- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khaṣīf, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: none of them dies until he believes in him = that is: in ʿĪsā = and even if he falls from atop a house, he believes in him while he is falling.
10822- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: there is none among the Jews who departs from this world until he believes in ʿĪsā.
10823- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: none of them dies until he believes in ʿĪsā, peace be upon him, before he dies = [that is: the Jews and the Christians]. (55)
10824- Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Furāt, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: none of them dies until he believes in ʿĪsā before he dies. (56)
10825- Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: the death of the man of the People of the Book. (57)
10826- Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: there is no Jew who [dies] until he believes in ʿĪsā the son of Maryam. (58) Then a man of his companions said to him: how so, when the man drowns, or burns, or the wall falls upon him, or the beast of prey devours him? He said: his soul does not depart from his body until belief in ʿĪsā is cast into it.
10827- It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: none of the Jews dies until he testifies that ʿĪsā is the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
10828- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, concerning His statement: "he will surely believe in him before his death," he said: in the reading of Ubayy: (before their death). (59)
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Others said: the meaning of this is: and there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, before the death of the person of the Book.
Mention of those who said that:
10829- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, he said: ʿIkrima said: the Christian and the Jew do not die until they believe in Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him = that is, concerning His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the sound and correct statement that is closest to the truth is the statement of the one who says: the interpretation of it is: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in ʿĪsā before the death of ʿĪsā."
We have only said that this is closer to the truth than the other statements, because Allah, exalted be His praise, has determined for every believer in Muḥammad, peace be upon him, the ruling of the believers, with respect to mutual inheritance, the performance of the prayer over him, and the joining of his young children to his ruling within the religious community. Now if every possessor of a Book were to believe in ʿĪsā before his death, then it would necessarily follow that the possessor of a Book, when he dies in his own creed, would be inherited only by his young children, or those of them who are adults and belong to the people of Islam, if he has a young or adult Muslim child. And if he has no young or adult Muslim child, then his inheritance would be disbursed where the property of a Muslim is disbursed who dies without having an heir, and then his ruling would be the ruling of the Muslims with respect to the prayer over him, the washing of him, and the burial of him. (60) For whoever dies as a believer in ʿĪsā has died as a believer in Muḥammad and in all the messengers. That is because ʿĪsā, the blessings of Allah be upon him, came with the confirmation of Muḥammad and of all the messengers, the blessings of Allah be upon them. So whoever holds ʿĪsā to be truthful and believes in him, holds Muḥammad and all the prophets and messengers of Allah to be truthful. Likewise, whoever believes in Muḥammad is a believer in ʿĪsā and in all the prophets and messengers of Allah. It is therefore not possible that anyone who denies Muḥammad be a believer in ʿĪsā.
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If anyone supposes that the meaning of the Jew's belief in ʿĪsā, which Allah mentions in His statement: "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," is merely his acknowledgement that he is a prophet sent by Allah, without his confirmation of all that he brought from Allah = then he has supposed wrongly.
That is because it is not possible for anyone to be ascribed to the acknowledgement of the prophethood of a prophet while he denies him in any part of what he brought of revelation and what was sent down from Allah. Rather, it is not possible for anyone to be ascribed to the acknowledgement of the prophethood of any of the prophets of Allah, for the prophets came to the communities with the confirmation of all the prophets and messengers of Allah. So whoever denies a part of the prophets of Allah in what they brought to their community from Allah, has denied all the prophets of Allah in that to which they called of the religion of Allah for the servants of Allah. And since that is so = and since all the people of Islam are agreed that every possessor of a Book who dies before his acknowledgement of Muḥammad, the blessings of Allah be upon him, and of what he brought from Allah, (61) is judged according to the ruling of the religious community upon which he was during the days of his life, (62) without anything of his rulings with respect to his person, his property, and his children, the young and the old among them, being changed by his death from what it was during his life = the evidence indicates that the meaning of the statement of Allah: (63) "And there is none among the People of the Book but he will surely believe in him before his death," is only: but he will surely believe in ʿĪsā before the death of ʿĪsā, and that this pertains to a specific group of the People of the Book, and that thereby the people of a [particular] time among them are meant, and not the people of all times who have existed after ʿĪsā, and that this will take place at his descent, like that which:-
10830- Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to me, saying: Yazīd related to me, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ādam, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said: The prophets are brothers of paternal half-brotherhood (sons of one father from different mothers): their mothers are different, but their religion is one. And I am the closest of people to ʿĪsā the son of Maryam, because between me and him there was no prophet. And he will descend; when you see him, recognize him, for he is a man of medium stature, inclining toward redness and whiteness, with straight hair, as if his head were dripping though it has not become wet, clothed in two pale-yellow garments. He will shatter the cross, kill the swine, abolish the jizyah (the poll-tax for non-Muslims), make property flow abundantly, and fight the people for Islam, until Allah causes all religions to perish in his time except Islam. And Allah will cause the Messiah of misguidance, the liar, the Dajjāl, to perish in his time. And in his time security will descend upon the earth, so that the lions graze together with the camels, and the leopards together with the cattle, and the wolves together with the sheep, and the boys = or: the children = play with the snakes, without them harming one another. Then he will remain on earth as long as Allah wills = and perhaps he said: forty years = and then he will die, and the Muslims will perform the prayer over him and bury him. (64)
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As for the one who said: by His statement "he will surely believe in him before his death" is meant: he will surely believe in Muḥammad, peace be upon him, before the death of the possessor of the Book - that is something for which there is no comprehensible basis, for it is = besides its baselessness from the aspect by which we have demonstrated the baselessness of the statement of the one who said: "by it is meant: he will surely believe in ʿĪsā before the death of the possessor of the Book" = all the more baseless in that Muḥammad, peace be upon him, was not mentioned in the verses that precede it, such that it would be permissible to attach the "hāʾ" in His statement "he will surely believe in him" to a mention of him. For His statement "he will surely believe in him" stands in the context of the mention of ʿĪsā, his mother, and the Jews. It is therefore not permissible to turn the statement away from that to which it belongs in its context toward something else, except on the basis of evidence to which one must submit, whether from the indication of the clear text of the sent-down revelation, or from a narration of the Messenger by which a proof is established. But as for mere assertions, those are not impossible for anyone [to make].
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The interpretation of the verse is thus = since the matter is as we have described (65) =: and there is none among the People of the Book but there is one who will surely believe in ʿĪsā before the death of ʿĪsā = and the word "man" (one) after "illā" (but) is omitted because the statement points to it, so that one could suffice with that pointing without mentioning it explicitly, like all the rest of its examples that preceded and of which we have given the exposition.
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The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا ("and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them") (4:159)
Abū Jaʿfar said: by this He, exalted be His praise, means: and on the Day of Resurrection ʿĪsā will be a "witness" against the People of the Book, that is: a witness against them, with respect to the denial of whoever among them denied him, and the confirmation of whoever among them held him to be truthful, regarding that which he brought them from Allah, and regarding his conveying of the message of his Lord, (66) like that which:-
10831- Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: "and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them," that he conveyed to them that with which he was sent. (67)
10832- Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them," he says: on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them that he conveyed the message of his Lord, and that he acknowledged servitude [to Allah] for himself.
