Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:51
Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture, who believe in superstition and false objects of worship and say about the disbelievers, "These are better guided than the believers as to the way"?
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 explanation of His word: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi yuʾminūna bi-l-jibti wa-l-ṭāghūti — (Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt?)
Abū Jaʿfar [Ṭabarī] said: He, exalted is His praise, means thereby: Have you not seen with your heart, O Muḥammad, those who were given a share of the Book of Allah and who have known it — "who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt," that is to say: they hold the jibt and the ṭāghūt to be true and reject Allah, while they know that belief in those two is unbelief (kufr) and that holding them to be true is the ascribing of partners (shirk).
* * *
Then the scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of "the jibt" and "the ṭāghūt."
Some of them said: They are two idols which the polytheists (mushrikīn) worshipped besides Allah.
Mention of who said that:
9764 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: Ayyūb informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said: "The jibt" and "the ṭāghūt" are two idols.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" are the idols, and "the ṭāghūt" are the spokesmen (interpreters) of the idols.
Mention of who said that:
9765 - 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, concerning His word: "Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt": "the jibt" are the idols, and "the ṭāghūt" are those who stand before the idols and speak the lie on their behalf in order to lead the people astray.
* * *
And some men claimed that "the jibt" is the soothsayer (kāhin), and "the ṭāghūt" is a man of the Jews named Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, who was the lord (leader) of the Jews.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is sorcery (siḥr), and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
Mention of who said that:
9766 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥassān ibn Fāʾid, who said: ʿUmar, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "The jibt" is sorcery, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
9767 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥassān ibn Fāʾid al-ʿAbsī, on the authority of ʿUmar, the same.
9768 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, from someone who related it to him, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "The jibt" is sorcery, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
9769 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym informed us, saying: Zakariyyā informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: "The jibt" is sorcery, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
9770 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt," he said: "The jibt" is sorcery, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan in the form of a man to whom they bring their disputes for judgment, and he is the one who holds command over their affairs.
9771 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "The jibt" is sorcery, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan and the soothsayer (kāhin).
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is the sorcerer (sāḥir), and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
Mention of who said that:
9772 - Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: My father used always to say: "The jibt" is the sorcerer, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is the sorcerer, and "the ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer.
Mention of who said that:
9773 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning this verse: "the jibt and the ṭāghūt," he said: "The jibt" is the sorcerer, in the language of Abyssinia, and "the ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer.
9774 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Rufayʿ, who said: "The jibt" is the sorcerer, and "the ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer.
9775 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, that he said: "The ṭāghūt" is the sorcerer, and "the jibt" is the soothsayer.
9776 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His word: "the jibt and the ṭāghūt," he said: The one is sorcery, and the other is the satan.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is the satan, and "the ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer.
Mention of who said that:
9777 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt," [he said]: It was related to us that the jibt is the satan, and the ṭāghūt is the soothsayer.
9778 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the same.
9779 - 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, who said: "The jibt" is the satan, and "the ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is the soothsayer, and "the ṭāghūt" is the sorcerer.
Mention of who said that:
9780 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: "The jibt" is the soothsayer, and "the ṭāghūt" is the sorcerer.
9781 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, who said concerning the jibt and the ṭāghūt: "The jibt" is the soothsayer, and the other is the sorcerer.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, and "the ṭāghūt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf.
Mention of who said that:
9782 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt": "the ṭāghūt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, and "the jibt" is Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab.
9783 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: "The jibt" is Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, and "the ṭāghūt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf.
9784 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: "the jibt and the ṭāghūt," he said: "The jibt" is Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, and "the ṭāghūt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf.
* * *
Others said: "The jibt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan.
Mention of who said that:
9785 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "The jibt" is Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, and "the ṭāghūt" is the satan, who was in the form of a man.
Abū Jaʿfar [Ṭabarī] said: And the correct of what may be said concerning the explanation of "who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt" is that one says: they hold to be true two objects of worship besides Allah, which they worship besides Allah and which they take as two gods.
That is because "the jibt" and "the ṭāghūt" are two designations for everything that is honored with worship besides Allah, or with obedience, or with submission to it, regardless of what that honored object is, whether it be a stone, a man, or a satan. And since that is so, and the idols which the people of the pre-Islamic ignorance (jāhiliyya) worshipped were honored with worship besides Allah — then they were jiboet and ṭawāghīt (idols). Likewise the satans whom the unbelievers (kuffār) obeyed in disobedience to Allah, and likewise the sorcerer and the soothsayer whose word was accepted among the people who ascribed partners to Allah. And likewise Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab and Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, for these two were obeyed among the people of their religious community among the Jews, in disobedience to Allah and in unbelief in Him and in His messenger; thus they were two jiboet and two ṭawāghīt.
* * *
And I have already set forth the basis from which the ṭāghūt is called "ṭāghūt," in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
* * *
The explanation of His word: wa-yaqūlūna li-lladhīna kafarū hāʾulāʾi ahdā mina alladhīna āmanū sabīlan (51) — (And they say to those who disbelieve: these are better guided on the way than those who believe.) (51)
Abū Jaʿfar [Ṭabarī] said: He, exalted is His praise, means thereby: and they say to those who denied the oneness of Allah and the message of His messenger Muḥammad ﷺ: "these" — by which He means: these whom Allah has characterized as unbelievers — "are better guided," that is to say: more correct and more right — "than those who believe," that is to say: than those who held Allah and His messenger to be true and acknowledged what their prophet Muḥammad ﷺ brought them — "on the way," that is to say: the path.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar [Ṭabarī] said: And this is merely a comparative statement. The meaning of the word is: that Allah characterized those who were given a portion of the Book, of the Jews — with their veneration of someone other than Allah through worship and with their submission to him through obedience — in unbelief in Allah and His messenger and disobedience to them both, in that they said: that the people who are unbelievers in Allah have more right to the truth than the people who believe in Him, and that the religion of those who deny Allah and His messenger is more right and more correct than the religion of those who hold Allah and His messenger to be true. And it was mentioned that this was a characteristic of Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, and that it was he who said that.
Mention of the reports that were transmitted in accordance with what we have said:
9786 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf came to Mecca, Quraysh said to him: Are you the scholar (ḥabr) of the people of Medina and their lord? He said: Yes. They said: Do you not see that cut-off one, cut off from his people, who claims that he is better than us, while we are the people of the pilgrimage, the people of the tending [of the Kaʿba], and the people of the providing of water? He said: You are better than him. [Ibn ʿAbbās] said: Then it was revealed: inna shāniʾaka huwa al-abtar [surah Al-Kawthar: 3] (Verily, your hater, he is the cut-off one), and it was revealed: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi yuʾminūna bi-l-jibti wa-l-ṭāghūti up to His word: fa-lan tajida lahu naṣīran (then you will find for him no helper).
9787 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning this verse: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi, then he mentioned something similar.
9788 - And Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to me, saying: Khālid al-Wāsiṭī informed us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf came to Mecca, and the polytheists said to him: Judge justly between us and this cut-off cut-off one, for you are our lord and the lord of your people! Then Kaʿb said: By Allah, you are better than him! Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi, to the end of the verse.
9789 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: that Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf went to the polytheists among the unbelievers of Quraysh and incited them against the Prophet ﷺ, and commanded them to fight him, and he said: We are with you, we shall fight him. They said: You are People of the Book, and he is a man of a Book, and we are not safe that this is a stratagem of yours! If, then, you wish that we should set out with you, prostrate yourself to the ground before these two idols and believe in them. That he did. Then they said: Are we better guided or Muḥammad? For we slaughter the fat-humped she-camel, we give milk over the water, we maintain the bond of kinship, we host the guest, and we circle this House; while Muḥammad has severed his bond of kinship and has departed from his land? He said: Rather, you are better and better guided! Then it was revealed about him: "Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt, and who say to those who disbelieve: these are better guided on the way than those who believe."
9790 - 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, who said: When what had occurred between the messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Jews of the Banū al-Naḍīr had taken place — when he came to them to ask their help concerning the blood-money (diya) of the two ʿĀmirīs, and they wished to do harm to him and his companions, whereupon Allah informed His messenger of what they were intending — and the messenger of Allah ﷺ returned to Medina, Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf fled, until he came to Mecca, and he concluded with them a pact against Muḥammad. Then Abū Sufyān said to him: O Abū Saʿd, you are a people who read the Book and possess knowledge, and we are a people who possess no knowledge! Inform us, then: is our religion better or the religion of Muḥammad? Kaʿb said: Lay before me your religion. Abū Sufyān said: We are a people who slaughter the fat-humped she-camel, give water to the pilgrims, host the guest, maintain the house of our Lord, and worship our gods whom our forefathers worshipped; and Muḥammad commands us to abandon this and to follow him! He said: Your religion is better than the religion of Muḥammad, so hold fast to it. Do you not see that Muḥammad claims that he was sent with humility, while he marries of the women whatever he wishes! And we know no dominion greater than dominion over women!! That is when He says: "Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in the jibt and the ṭāghūt, and who say to those who disbelieve: these are better guided on the way than those who believe."
9791 - 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 Mujāhid, who said: It was revealed about Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf and the unbelievers of Quraysh, [who] said: the unbelievers of Quraysh are better guided than Muḥammad "ʿalayhi al-salām"! Ibn Jurayj said: Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf arrived, and Quraysh came to him and asked him about Muḥammad, whereupon he made his affair seem trivial and insignificant, and informed them that he was one gone astray. [Mujāhid] said: Then they said to him: We adjure you by Allah, are we better guided or he? For you know that we slaughter the fat-humped camels, give water to the pilgrims, maintain the House, and give food to whomever the wind brings? He said: You are better guided.
* * *
Others said: Rather, this characteristic is the characteristic of a group of the Jews, among whom was: Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab; and it was they who said to the polytheists what Allah has reported of them that they said to them.
Mention of the reports concerning that:
9792 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, from the one who related it to him, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Those who gathered the confederates (al-aḥzāb) from Quraysh, Ghaṭafān, and the Banū Qurayẓa were: Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, Sallām ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq Abū Rāfiʿ, al-Rabīʿ ibn al-Rabīʿ ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq, Abū ʿAmmār, Waḥwaḥ ibn ʿĀmir, and Hawdha ibn Qays. As for Waḥwaḥ, Abū ʿAmmār, and Hawdha, these were of the Banū Wāʾil, and the rest of them were of the Banū al-Naḍīr. When they arrived at Quraysh, [the Qurayshites] said: These are the scholars (aḥbār) of the Jews and the people of knowledge concerning the earlier scriptures, so ask them: is your religion better or the religion of Muḥammad? They asked them, and they said: Rather, your religion is better than his religion, and you are better guided than he and than whoever followed him! Then Allah revealed about them: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi yuʾminūna bi-l-jibti wa-l-ṭāghūti, up to His word: wa-ātaynāhum mulkan ʿaẓīman (and We have given them a tremendous dominion).
9793 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi yuʾminūna bi-l-jibti wa-l-ṭāghūti, the verse, [he] said: It was mentioned to us that this verse was revealed about Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, and two men of the Jews of the Banū al-Naḍīr, who met Quraysh at a pilgrimage gathering (mawsim). The polytheists said to them: Are we better guided or Muḥammad and his companions? For we are the people of the tending [of the Kaʿba] and of the providing of water, and the people of the Sacred Precinct? They said: No, rather you are better guided than Muḥammad and his companions! While they both knew that they both were lying; only envy toward Muḥammad and his companions drove them to that.
* * *
Others said: Rather, this is the characteristic of Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab alone, and it was he whom He meant by His word: "and they say to those who disbelieve: these are better guided on the way than those who believe."
Mention of who said that:
9794 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi to the end of the verse, [he] said: Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab came to the polytheists, and they said: O Ḥuyayy, you are people of scriptures, so are we better or Muḥammad and his companions? He said: We and you are better than they! That is His word: a-lam tara ilā alladhīna ūtū naṣīban mina al-kitābi up to His word: "and whomever Allah curses, for him you will find no helper."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar [Ṭabarī] said: And the most correct of the statements concerning this is the statement of the one who said: that this is a report from Allah, exalted is His praise, about a group of the People of the Book among the Jews. And it is possible that it was the group which Ibn ʿAbbās mentioned in the report that Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad transmitted on the authority of ʿIkrima or Saʿīd, or that it was Ḥuyayy and another with him, whether Kaʿb or another.
