Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:102
A people asked such [questions] before you; then they became thereby disbelievers.
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: قَدْ سَأَلَهَا قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ ثُمَّ أَصْبَحُوا بِهَا كَافِرِينَ (5:102) (A people before you asked for it, and then became disbelievers in it. (5:102))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: A people before you asked for the signs (āyāt), and when Allah granted them to them, they became deniers of them, denying that they would be a proof for the truth of that for which they were adduced as an argument against them, and a demonstration for the correctness of that for which they were set as a demonstration in confirmation. Like the people of Ṣāliḥ, who asked for the sign, and when the she-camel came to them as a sign, they hamstrung her; and like those who asked Jesus for a table that would descend upon them from heaven, and when it was given to them, they became disbelievers in it; and what resembles that.
Thus Allah, the Exalted, warned the believers in His Prophet ﷺ against treading the path of those who were before them among the communities that perished through their disbelief in the signs of Allah when these came to them upon their asking for them. So He said to them: Do not ask for the signs, and do not investigate matters which, if they were disclosed to you, would grieve you, for a people before you asked for the signs, and when these were given to them, they became disbelievers in them. As is the case with that:
12817 - 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: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَسْأَلُوا عَنْ أَشْيَاءَ إِنْ تُبْدَ لَكُمْ تَسُؤْكُمْ (O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if they were disclosed to you, would grieve you) — He forbade them to ask about the like of what the Christians asked concerning the table, after which they became disbelievers in it; therefore Allah forbade that.
12818 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "A people before you asked for it" — a people before you asked for the signs, and that was when it was said to him [the Prophet]: Turn al-Ṣafā into gold for us.
