Tafseer of The Dunes · Al-Ahqaf · 46:10
Say, "Have you considered: if the Qur'an was from Allah, and you disbelieved in it while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed while you were arrogant...?" Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.
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, the Exalted: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly? Verily, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people'") (10)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: say, O Muḥammad, to these polytheists (mushrikīn) who said about this Qurʾān, when it came to them, "This is clear sorcery" — (have you considered) O people, (if) this Qurʾān (is from Allah) and He who sent it down upon me, (and you) reject (Him by it) — He says: and you deny it.
And His word: وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar") — the exegetes differed over its explanation. Some of them said: its meaning is: and a witness from the Children of Israel has testified, and that is Mūsā ibn ʿImrān, peace be upon him, to something similar, that is to say: to something that resembles the Qurʾān. They said: and that which resembles the Qurʾān, to which Mūsā testified with affirmation, is the Torah.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Masrūq concerning this verse: وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar") — by it he contended against those who disbelieved among the inhabitants of Mecca: the Torah resembles the Qurʾān, and Mūsā resembles Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Dāwūd was asked about His word: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it'")... the verse. Dāwūd said: ʿĀmir said: Masrūq said: by Allah, it was not sent down concerning ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām; it was only sent down at Mecca, and ʿAbd Allāh became a Muslim only in Medina, but it is a disputation by which Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, contended against his people. He said: and then was sent down: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly'"). He said: the Torah resembles the Qurʾān, and Mūsā resembles Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; they believed in the Torah and in their messenger, while you have rejected.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, he said: I heard Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: there are people who claim that the witness from the Children of Israel to something similar is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, but ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām became a Muslim only in Medina. And Masrūq informed me that the "Ḥā-Mīm" sūras were sent down only at Mecca, and it was only a disputation by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with his people. Then He said: أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Have you considered, if it is from Allah"), meaning by it the Qurʾān, وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ ("and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed") — Mūsā and Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon them both, with regard to the Criterion (al-furqān).
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: there are people who claim that the witness to something similar is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, but I know that better; ʿAbd Allāh became a Muslim only in Medina. And Masrūq informed me that the "Ḥā-Mīm" sūras were sent down only at Mecca, and it was only a disputation by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with his people. Then He said: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'"), meaning by it the Criterion (al-furqān), وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar") — that which resembles the Torah is the Criterion; to the Torah Mūsā testified, and Muḥammad testified to the Criterion, may Allah bless them both and grant them peace.
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Dāwūd informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Masrūq, concerning His word قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'"), the verse, he said: the Islam of Ibn Salām took place in Medina, and this sūra was sent down at Mecca; it was only a disputation between Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his people. Then He said: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar'"), he said: the Torah resembles the Criterion, and Mūsā resembles Muḥammad; and he believed in it while you behaved arrogantly. Then He said: this man of the Children of Israel believed in his prophet and his book, while you behaved arrogantly, and you denied your prophet and your book. إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي ("Verily, Allah does not guide")... up to His word هَذَا إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ ("This is an ancient falsehood").
And others said: by His word وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar") is meant ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. They said: and the meaning of the statement is: and a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar to this Qurʾān, with affirmation. They said: and that which resembles the Qurʾān is the Torah.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf al-Tinnīsī related to us, he said: I heard Mālik ibn Anas relate, on the authority of Abī al-Naḍr, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, on the authority of his father, he said: I never heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say of anyone walking upon the earth that he is of the people of Paradise, except of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. He said: and concerning him was sent down: وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar").
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to us, he said: Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī related to us, he said: Shuʿayb ibn Ṣafwān related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr related to us, that Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām said: ʿAbd Allāh said: concerning me was sent down قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'")... up to His word فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("and believed, and you behaved arrogantly").
ʿAlī ibn Saʿd ibn Masrūq al-Kindī related to me, he said: Abū Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of the son of the brother of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām said: concerning me was sent down وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly. Verily, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people").
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'")... the verse, he said: there was a man of the People of the Book who believed in Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said: we find him in the Torah; and he was the most excellent man among them and the most learned among them concerning the Book. Then the Jews disputed with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said: "Are you content that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām judge between me and you?" "Will you believe?" They said: yes. Then he sent for ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām and said: "Do you testify that I am the Messenger of Allah, described in the Torah and the Gospel?" He said: yes. Then the Jews turned away, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām became a Muslim. He is the one about whom Allah, exalted is His praise, said: وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly") — He says: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām believed.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning His word وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar"), he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'")... the verse — we used to relate that he is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, who believed in the Book of Allah, in His messenger, and in Islam; and he was among the rabbis of the Jews.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar")? He said: that is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar") — the witness is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, and he was among the rabbis, among the scholars of the Children of Israel. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent to the Jews, and they came to him. He asked them and said: "Do you know that I am the Messenger of Allah, that you find me described among you in the Torah?" They said: we do not know what you say, and we reject what you have brought. He said: "What kind of man is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām among you?" They said: our scholar and our best. He said: "Are you content that he judge between me and you?" They said: yes. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent for ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, and he came to him. He said: "What is your testimony, O Ibn Salām?" He said: I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah, and that your book has come from Allah. Thus he believed and they rejected. Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says: فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("and believed, and you behaved arrogantly").
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: it reached me that when ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām wished to become a Muslim, he said: O Messenger of Allah, the Jews know that I am among their scholars, and that my father was among their scholars, and I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah, and that they find you described among them in the Torah. So send for so-and-so — and he named of the Jews whom he named — and conceal me in your house, and ask them about me and about my father, for they will tell you that I am the most learned among them and that my father was among the most learned among them. Then I will go out to them and testify that you are the Messenger of Allah, and that they find you described among them in the Torah, and that you have been sent with the guidance and the religion of truth. He said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did that, and concealed him in his house, and sent for the Jews. They entered upon him, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "What is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām among you?" They said: the most learned among us in person, and the most learned among us concerning his father. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Have you considered: if he becomes a Muslim, will you become Muslims?" They said: he will not become a Muslim — three times. Then he called him and he came out, and then said: I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah, and that they find you described among them in the Torah, and that you have been sent with the guidance and the religion of truth. Then the Jews said: this we did not fear from you, O ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. He said: then they departed as disbelievers. Thereupon Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down concerning this: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly'").
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed, and you behaved arrogantly"), he said: this is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām; he testified that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his book are truth, and that he is truth in the Torah. Thus he believed, and you behaved arrogantly.
Abū Shuraḥbīl al-Ḥimṣī related to me, he said: Abū al-Mughīra related to us, he said: Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī, he said: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out and I was with him, until we entered the synagogue of the Jews at Medina on a festival day of theirs. They found our entering upon them disagreeable. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them: "O assembly of the Jews, show me twelve men who testify that there is no god but He, and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah, then Allah will remove from every Jew under the surface of heaven the wrath (al-ghaḍab) with which He is wrathful against him." He said: then they fell silent, and none of them answered him. Then he repeated it a third time, but none answered him. Then he turned away and I was with him, until we were about to go out. Then a man called out behind us: stay as you are, O Muḥammad. He said: then he turned around, and that man said: what kind of man do you know me to be among you, O assembly of the Jews? They said: by Allah, we do not know that there was among us a man more learned concerning the Book of Allah, nor more understanding than you, nor than your father, nor than your grandfather before your father. He said: then I testify by Allah that he is the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whom you find in the Torah and the Gospel. They said: you lie. Then they rejected his word and said something evil to him. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them: "You lie, we will never accept your word; just now you praised him with the good with which you praised him, but now that he has believed, you have denied him and said what you have said, so we will never accept your word." He said: then we went out, the three of us: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and I, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. Thereupon Allah sent down concerning him: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah'")... the verse.
And the correct view concerning this, according to us, is that what Masrūq said concerning its explanation is more in accord with the apparent meaning of the Revelation, because His word قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ ("Say: 'Have you considered, if it is from Allah and you reject it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar'") stands in the context of the reproach by Allah, the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, of the polytheists of Quraysh, and as an argument against them in favor of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This verse is of the same kind as all the other verses before it, and there had been before that no mention of the People of the Book nor of the Jews, such that this verse would be directed toward the notion that it was sent down concerning them; and there is no indication that points to turning the statement away from the reports about those whose mention preceded. Nevertheless, the reports are transmitted from a group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that by it is meant ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, and upon this the majority of the exegetes rely; and they were more learned concerning the meanings of the Qurʾān, and the cause for which it was sent down, and what was meant by it.
So the explanation of the statement, if that is so, is: and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām testified — and he is the witness from the Children of Israel — to something similar, that is to say: to something that resembles the Qurʾān, and that is the Torah. And that is his testimony that Muḥammad is recorded in the Torah as a prophet whom the Jews find described among them in the Torah, just as it is recorded in the Qurʾān that he is a prophet.
And His word فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ("and believed, and you behaved arrogantly") — He says: thus ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām believed, and affirmed Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and what he has brought from Allah, while you behaved arrogantly against believing in that in which ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām believed, O assembly of the Jews. إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ ("Verily, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people") — He says: verily, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people to attaining the truth and the guidance of the straight path, those who have wronged themselves by bringing upon themselves the wrath of Allah on account of their disbelief in Him.
